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The Jim Acosta Show
Mehdi Hasan on Trump Third Term Threats and Katie Phang on NY Attorney General in Court.
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- [00:00]
Mehdi Hassan
Foreign.
- [00:07]
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 and decency, for that matter. Trump has bulldozed the East Wing of the White House, and our democracy just might be next. He's scheming to interfere in next year's midterms. And one of his top allies, Steve Bannon, predicts Trump will serve a third term after winning reelection in 2028, even though the Constitution says he can't do that. My big guest is Mehdi Hassan, who spoke at the no Kings rally last week. That was pretty cool. He's also the founder of Zateo. And Mehdi, that was cool to see up there on stage and riling people up. You're good at that.
- [00:42]
Mehdi Hassan
Thank you very much. If we can't rile ourselves up right now, then when. Jim. Yes, there was. It's not like I lacked material. You know, I went up there, they said, speak about immigration and speak about democracy, speak about Gaza. I was like, there's a lot to say about all of those things, and especially in relation to Donald Trump. Yeah, I mean, it was a great crowd. I think they said 7 million people across the country in D.C. there were hundreds of thousands of people. It was a great. It was a really good atmosphere, Jim. It was a very kind of carnival family day atmosphere. So funny to hear Republicans saying, this is a hate rally. These people are Hamas. It's like, have you looked at these people? And then they spent all of Saturday. I don't know if he's all Ted Cruz and others saying, oh, look, it's just old white people. I'm like, the Republican Party is now at war with old white people.
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Jim Acosta
Oh, yeah. Batting down the hatches. That sounds like their base. And nobody attacked the Capitol. And. And.
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Mehdi Hassan
No, exactly. Yeah.
- [01:31]
Jim Acosta
They dressed like animals. And it was. It was what you would expect. But we need to jump right into this, because the reason why I booked you, and I just want to tell everybody, you know, I saw Meti's tweet and I. I read the tweets. I reacted to his tweet. You triggered me. No, but Mehdi tweeted. They're literally shouting it out loud. They're planning to overturn the Constitution, democracy. They're not hiding it, they're bragging about it. And the media are just ignoring it, or worse, normalizing it. He was talking about Steve Bannon saying that Trump's going to go for a third term. And I mean, I've been talking about this for A while now. I mean, I think it's totally plausible that he'll just start running for reelection. He'll just start running for the caucuses and in the primaries and the weak kneed, cowardly state party officials will just let him get on the ballot and stuff. And I just think there's a scenario where he could do this.
- [02:20]
Mehdi Hassan
Yeah.
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Jim Acosta
Just to take this one bite at a time. Your thoughts?
- [02:23]
Mehdi Hassan
So I agree with you in the sense that people aren't taking it seriously. I've been talking about this for a while. I said this in 2019, like, this is not a man who leaves office voluntarily. And we saw that in January 2021. And when I wrote that piece for the Intercept in May of 2019, I think I was only the second person in America in print to say, next year Donald Trump will not leave. And people said, oh, you're crazy. You're from Britain. You don't understand America. The Secret Service will walk him out. We have a system. And then we had the first non peaceful transfer of power in American history. So there's nothing in this man's constitution, if I can use that phrase, that says he's going to leave office voluntarily. He. And when we talk about third term, Jim, let's just be very clear. A third term means forever. Like there's no third term. And then he decides not to go for a fourth term. Like third term means, it's Donald Trump forever. It just basically means elective dictatorship. So that's what it means. As we say, everything about him says he's not going to leave voluntarily. We all know that if he does leave, he's got all sorts of legal liabilities once again, again, once he leaves. So he's got an incentive to stay in office. He's building a $250 million, whatever it is, ballroom, as my colleague Peter Rothblitz pointed out. Let me do a plug for our new morning newsletter, First Draft. As he points out in this morning's first draft, a man doesn't renovate his home and then leave. There is a reason they're spending so much money. And he's going to call it the Donald Trump Ballroom. This is his long term plan. And it's not just about running. Again, look at that image. Just a metaphor for our country. Unreal metaphor for our country right now.
- [03:47]
Jim Acosta
At least the Washington Post put it on the front page, you know.
- [03:50]
Mehdi Hassan
Yes, yes, that. But this is a bigger story. Steve Bannon telling the FT once again. It's not the first time. Bannon has said this multiple times. Bannon has said he is going to be on the ballot. He is going to be in power in 2028. Trump himself has kind of jumped around, Jim. He's kind of jokingly, non. Jokingly said, I'm thinking about it. People want me to do it. He said recently at events, people want a dictator. People keep telling me they like dictators.
- [04:12]
Jim Acosta
And he's got the hats.
- [04:13]
Mehdi Hassan
He got the hats which he hands out to foreign leaders and he hands out to Schumer and Jeffries, who should have got up and walked out the moment he put those hats on the table. But that speaks volumes about the Democrats. Look, serious point here is he doesn't even have to run in 28. All he has to do is say, we're not going to have any elections. There's a national emergency, there's an act of terror, there's a war. I don't know if you saw his meeting with Zelenskyy recently, where Zelenskyy was asked by the press, why aren't you having elections in Ukraine? And Zelensky said, we can't have elections. We're a third of our country is occupied. When the war is over, we will have elections. And Trump's ears perk up and he says, oh, so you're saying that if you have a war, you don't have to have an election. And then he adds a laugh to give him the, you know, deniability. Oh, I'm just joking. But his little brain is whirring. He is thinking, in 28. And we've had this before, by the way, Jim. Rudy Giuliani, after 9 11, privately insisted on canceling elections and staying in office as an emergency mayor. That was shot down at the time by others. But this time round, there's either the option of canceling elections or there's this other insane plan. But nothing's insane in Trump's America, which is like you make him speaker of the House and then the president and vice president. Right? And then he becomes president, because the constitution in the 22nd and 12th amendments only says you can't run for president. It doesn't say you can't be president. This is kind of insane legal pedantry they're looking at. And you don't have to be a member of the House to be speaker, so he could be speaker without being elected to that. The whole thing is insane. But then again, this is Trump's America. Insane is actually possible.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I just. For the folks who haven't seen, I want to play the ban in sound because you know, I know people say, oh, he's crazy. You have to write him off. He's nuts. He wears multiple shirts and he has pens and everything, but let's play it and talk about it.
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Steve Bannon
Accommodated. With that 22nd amendment, there's many different alternatives. At the appropriate time, we'll lay out what the plan is.
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Jim Acosta
But there's a plan.
- [05:56]
Steve Bannon
We had longer odds in 16 and longer odds in 24 than we got in 28. And President Trump will be the President of the United States, and the country needs him to be President of the United States. We have to finish what we started. Trump is a vehicle. I know this will drive you guys crazy, but he's a vehicle of divine providence. He's an instrument.
- [06:14]
Jim Acosta
He.
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Steve Bannon
He's very imperfect. He's not churchy, not particularly religious.
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Jim Acosta
No, he's not.
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Steve Bannon
But he's an instrument of divine will. And you could tell this of how we've. How he's pulled this off. We need him for at least one more term.
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Jim Acosta
Right.
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Steve Bannon
And he'll get that in 28.
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Mehdi Hassan
You're not driving me crazy.
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Katie Fang
I'm really.
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Mehdi Hassan
I'm trying to understand the coherence of.
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Katie Fang
The things you've just told me.
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Mehdi Hassan
On the one hand, you've said the.
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Katie Fang
Constitution is fit for purpose. Secondly, you've said that President Trump needs another term, Even though the 22nd amendment makes pretty clear that he cannot have another term.
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Jim Acosta
And why does it make that clear?
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Katie Fang
Because he's on his second term already.
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Steve Bannon
At some point in time, we will make sure we go through Zanny and define all those terms.
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Katie Fang
But you will be undermining the spirit of that amendment.
- [06:58]
Jim Acosta
No, no, it's the actual amendment.
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Mehdi Hassan
It's not spirit. Look, this is how they win, Jim. You just.
- [07:03]
Jim Acosta
This is how they win.
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Mehdi Hassan
I know the editor of the Economist immediately concede ground to Bannon. This is how Bannon wins. He comes on with people who are not prepared for him. It's not the fucking spirit.
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Jim Acosta
It's.
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Mehdi Hassan
It is the wording of the Constitution. And every constitutional law, almost every constitutional order you can find, says it is very clear. You cannot do this. They may have a John Eastman view, like they had a John Eastman view of Mike Pence's view. You know, the Vice president's role on January 6th, which was bullshit. No, they can't do it. But he's laying the groundwork. They're normalizing it. The more they talk about it, the more you become. Start going, well, he could do it. By the way, we don't even have time to get into the latter half of that clip where he talks about Trump being an instrument of divine providence. That sounds good.
- [07:41]
Jim Acosta
The whole. And I tell people, you know, it may be God's divine will, but not in the way you think, you know.
- [07:46]
Mehdi Hassan
Yes. Plague of locusts. Plague of locusts, that's right. Biblical punishments that he uses instruments for. No, of course he's not a religious man. This is a man who was asked for his favorite book in the Bible. He said all of it. I can't name one. But the. But on this specific issue of Bannon talking about it, they do have a plan. He made it very clear there, like, we will lay out the plan. It is about getting the Supreme Court on side for this insanity. And we know the Supreme Court will get on board for all sorts of insanity. And here's the other point, by the way. Don't dismiss Bannon. Bannon is the guy who, in 2020, Mother Jones found a recording of Bannon saying, we're not going to accept the result. We're just going to say, we don't accept it. It's not a win for Biden, and we're going to contest it. That's the plan. That's exactly what Trump did, or version of it. The idea that Bannon is not intimately involved in everything that's going on in the White House is absurd. Sorry, there's unprofessional.
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Jim Acosta
The thing about Bannon is he intellectualizes for the maga, Right. This insane authoritarianism that they're trying to ram down our throat. I mean, that's what he does, by the way.
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Mehdi Hassan
He's loving it. I tweeted last night, he's not joking. There's a huge crisis coming. And he posted on Getter or whatever that right wing side is, he retweeted me saying, not joking. And I don't think he's joking. Look, he may not be successful. That's a separate issue. Can Democrats. Can Big D and small D Democrats stop this authoritarian. And that's a different argument. But is he intending to do this? Yes, he very much is. Take him seriously and literally.
- [09:07]
Jim Acosta
And we should talk about the East Wing of the White House, because you mentioned at the top of this, I mean, some news that I saw just this afternoon, and that is that Trump, this, according to Katherine Falders at abc, is likely to name the ballroom after himself. The Donald J. Trump. The President Donald J. Trump Ballroom. And I guess the Jeffrey Epstein Ballroom is not gonna work. I guess they're not gonna go with that. But did you have some thoughts on.
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Mehdi Hassan
This, a couple of things. One, one is there's no mandate for this. Of course, they never mentioned it during the election campaign. They never said they're gonna spend $250 million doing this. Nobody voted for this. Yesterday, when Caroline Levitt was asked in the press secret, you know, this wasn't supposed to be the priority. She goes, this is Donald Trump's priority. She said it's the main thing he's working on. Not health care or jobs or incomes or investment. No, no, this is the main thing. The ballroom. And, and I believe her, you know, like a stopped clock. I think she's telling the truth. I think it is.
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Jim Acosta
I know there are people saying, oh, she was taken out of context. She was just talking about the construction.
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Mehdi Hassan
Poor old Caroline Levitt, my colleague Caroline.
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Jim Acosta
I don't know. We don't know. We don't. I guess you can go in her head and ask her if that was the case. But my colleague Swin, maybe big priority.
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Mehdi Hassan
Jim, my colleague Swin Soup sang reports this morning in our first Draft newsletter that he has had Trump people tell him in the past that Trump has always had plans for a, quote, Saddam Hussein style White House and ballroom and, you know, turn it into Mar a Lago. And it is very Saddam style.
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Jim Acosta
I think after they build this, they'll say, oh, well, the West Wing doesn't match anymore. Let's blow that up and do that one next.
- [10:32]
Mehdi Hassan
That's what he likes, right? He loves construction. He's a real property guy. Look, I would say there'. One, there's. You know, if I was a Democrat running for 20, 28 presidential primaries, I would make part of my platform. It would win the base. I would say, vote for me. If I get elected to the White House, the first thing I will do is rename it the Barack Hussein Obama Ballroom.
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Jim Acosta
So don't bulldoze it. You think keep.
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Mehdi Hassan
No, no, I would rename it after the person Trump hates the most. Because, Jim, think about it. Once it's built and he's done it all, the thing that will kill him is his name coming off of it.
- [11:04]
Jim Acosta
That's true. And, and maybe just call it the Hussein Ballroom, because that's the part that's the Hussein, that's the party hates the most.
- [11:12]
Mehdi Hassan
Since it's. Then it could be like Saddam Hussein or Barack Hussein about. You could pick your Hussein, depending on what your perspective is of the ballroom.
- [11:19]
Jim Acosta
Oh, my God. And, and I guess, you know, this is par for the course. This is what we should expect, that he would just blow up the east wing of the right White House. Without asking, buddy, can you imagine if.
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Mehdi Hassan
Joe Biden or Barack Obama.
- [11:33]
Jim Acosta
Exactly.
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Mehdi Hassan
I hate to play that game, but your head will. By the way, did you see Barack Obama did an interview the other day with Mark Maron and Barack Obama is now playing the. Can you imagine if Obama did it? He literally said in the middle of the interview, can you imagine if I had sent National Guard to Texas overruling Greg Abbott? So like even Barack Obama, Joe Biden sit there on their own going, fuck, if we had done this.
- [11:53]
Jim Acosta
Exactly. Done this, they could have gone away with so much. They could have done the FEMA trailers or whatever it was.
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Mehdi Hassan
No. Meanwhile, he had to deal with the tan suit.
- [12:01]
Jim Acosta
That's right. They could have done the reeducation camps. They could have done it. They had their chance. But no, it's so true. And I, and I, it does bother me. People are saying, oh, that's so lazy to, you know, you know, get involved in that kind of intellectual argument. No, it's not.
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Mehdi Hassan
It's the only way of reminding people of the hypocrisy and the normalization of this by our media. By the way, on the, on the craziness of the White House. I don't know if you've seen that. I just saw this before I came on with you.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Mehdi Hassan
The White house website, White House.gov now has a history of the White House page.
- [12:27]
Jim Acosta
We should show this.
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Mehdi Hassan
Let's show major events called Major events page. And this is the kind of stuff they have, Bill Clinton's affair. They've got Barack Obama in a turban. One of the most racist images that the Clinton campaign actually put out in 2008, which has nothing to do with the White House. It was from way before he was president. There's an image of, there's an image of, oh my God.
- [12:47]
Jim Acosta
Anti trans thing.
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Mehdi Hassan
There's, there's also Hunter Biden in the tub. And they look like, oh, a packet of crack cocaine was found in the White House. And maybe it was hunters. And it's like, this is the official government White House website. We have never been governed by people this childish, this insecure, this petty, this indecent, this crass, this amateurish, this partisan. And I don't know, I really don't know how we recover from this as a country.
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Jim Acosta
Well, they're vandalizing the American government's website. I mean, that's what they're doing.
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Mehdi Hassan
The precedent, Jim, like, how do you, once you've done this, how do you go back, like it's never been done in 100 years. The worst presidents didn't behave like this.
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Jim Acosta
I, I mean, I think it's a great ex. I mean, it's a great. We should, you and I should maybe have a panel discussion where we talk about this. How do we put the pieces back together again? I mean, there are two schools of thought. One is it's sort of the James Talarico school, which is you, you elect somebody just so decent and kind and wonderful that it just magically washes away all of the vitriol and bile that we've all been drowning in. Or do you have someone who comes in and says, listen, yes, we're gonna do to you what you did to us.
- [13:55]
Mehdi Hassan
And did you see? Do you see? Jesse Waters last night on Fox said, I'm really worried about Stephen Miller and Tom Homan. I don't like Biden's pardons, but Trump should give them preemptive pardons on the way out too, to protect them. And I'm like, first of all, how many crimes have they committed? Nine months in that you're already talking about preemptive pardons in 2028. Number two, the hypocrisy of it. But number three, the naivety of Jesse Waters. I wish we had a Democratic Party that would actually pose a threat to Miller and Oban. He has nothing to worry about. I wish the Democratic Party would actually go after.
- [14:25]
Jim Acosta
And I'm glad you mentioned that because I do want to get into. I just saw this afternoon that Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House leader, has now endorsed Azoran Momdani for mayor of New York. And it's taken a long, long time. I saw you posted about that too. And, you know, I, I guess maybe I'm more of a creature of Washington, where I get it a little bit, why it took him so long. But to me, Mamdani's campaign, this is where I think the Democratic Party doesn't get it. It's a vibe based campaign. I'm just for the olds and the, the mediums and the, you know, the Gen Xers who are too old to understand this. It's a vibe that is happening in New York right now. I think that's why Mom, Donnie is doing so well.
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Mehdi Hassan
I, I half agree with you. I half disagree. It's clearly there is vibes. Clearly there's the social media campaign. Clearly this guy is once in a generation political community, a communicator, has great charisma. He's good, fantastic on camera. He could have been a Hollywood actor in another city. The way he delivers lines. He's got natural sense of humor. I interviewed him recently. Very funny guy, very charming. He's not like me. He doesn't have resting, angry Muslim face. He has a very smile, big smile. He can.
- [15:29]
Jim Acosta
That's what we like about you.
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Mehdi Hassan
He can charm. Yes, I like it too, but I can't run for office because of it. But he can, he can appeal to independents and Republicans and nonpartisans because he just comes across as so natural and authentic. So that's all true. The kind of the vibe of Mamdani, the young people, the social media blitz. But it's not just vibes, right? He's. He's tied it to a very specific substantive campaign about affordability, about radical policy ambitions, about not letting you know Republicans define the terms of the debate, about not backing down from policies when you're attacked. Democrats are so used to being told, oh, they told, they asked me how I can pay for that. I can't, so I'm going to drop that policy. They asked me for a 70 page document to explain what I'm doing. Or they called me a socialist, so I dropped him. He has not done that. He's stuck to his policies, stuck to his guns. And I think that's what you're going to see in a lot of primaries next year, Jim. You're going to see a lot of wannabe, especially when he wins. If he wins November 4th, you're going to see all these copycat mum dannies. Right? You're already seeing some of them. The problem for a lot of them is it's just the vibes. And that's not enough. There has to be some substance. It can't just be a slick video. It has to also be, okay, but what are you offering us?
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Jim Acosta
That's right. And forgive me if I've been too simplistic in the way I describe it. I just. That's of an umbrella term maybe because it's Friday and I'm just tired. But, but part of it is, part of the vibe is. It's an anti Democratic establishment movement that he has created in Manhattan and progressives in New York. I mean, I used to live in New York City.
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Mehdi Hassan
He's kind of written. He's written the wave. It's there.
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Jim Acosta
Yes.
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Mehdi Hassan
And he's there. And it's. And it's other cities and other states. Grand Platinum in Maine. Have you seen, have you seen the polling today from Maine? His polls have gone up, not down, since the Nazi tattoo story.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah, what's the deal with the tattoo. He had this tattoo.
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Mehdi Hassan
I'm not. I'm not defending the tattoo. The tattoo is absurd. And his defense is not great. I'm just like a Pete. He's. The anger at the establishment is so great that even a Nazi tattoo is not stopping him from beating the sitting Democratic governor, but by double digits in the polls. So this anger is everywhere. Bernie gets it. AOC gets it. Platner gets it. You know who doesn't get it? Hakeem Jeffries. You know who else doesn't get it? Chuck Schumer, who still shamefully has not endorsed.
- [17:26]
Jim Acosta
But let me ask you this. Does it make more sense, though, for Mainers to have the governor of Maine be the Democratic candidate? I mean, I get that, you know, people are fired up and they're ready to eat the furniture and people are pissed off and no kings and all that. I totally get it. I. I'm right there with you. But at the same time, if you don't have the majority, you know, that's.
- [17:44]
Mehdi Hassan
No, no, it's a fair question. I do think it's a legitimate debate. In fact, we hosted a debate on Zatteo yesterday because I myself am torn on this. While I sympathize with Platinus platform, I like him as a guy. Clearly, the energy, the vibes are what we need. I'm not also going to dismiss the fact that there's a lot of scandals associated with him and who knows what else will come out. And the sitting Democratic governor did win by double digits in 2022, so he's very viable.
- [18:06]
Jim Acosta
But she stood up to Trump and she did remember that.
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Mehdi Hassan
She did stand up. She's super old, Jim. She said she's only going to run for one term at a time when the Democratic Party gerontocracy has been really bad.
- [18:15]
Jim Acosta
But again, the Republicans don't care. Like, this is what I say to the Democrats. If you want to win, what do they used to say? If you want to live like the Republicans, vote for the Democrats. And I think it's Harry Truman similar situation. Chuck is 170 years old.
- [18:30]
Mehdi Hassan
Oh, yeah. The hypocrisy of the right is there.
- [18:32]
Jim Acosta
I'm just saying around on a cart, you know.
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Mehdi Hassan
So the debate we had yesterday, we had Cenk Weger on from the Young Turks, who was defending platinum, and he made the point, which I think is a good point, which is we have imbibed too easily this idea that centrists, or whatever you want to call them, establishment Democrats are just inherently ipso Facto more electable. And I'm not sure the record is always the case. Look, in Maine, they've tried to defeat Susan Collins many times. Sarah Gideon, I think spent $60 million and lost. So I think there is an argument for the left of the party to say, we tried your way multiple times in Maine. Why don't we try something different? A guy who's authentic, is an oysterman, is winning by double digits in the polls, is pulling out huge crowds in the cold and the rain. I do think there's a fair argument that's not to dismiss the kind of controversy surrounding Grand Platinum. I'm just saying it is a 79 year old. I think she's 79. One promising, promising one term. And you know, and we have a.
- [19:23]
Jim Acosta
We have a 79 year old president who wants to run forever. I mean, so I don't know. To me it's sort of like, you.
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Mehdi Hassan
Know, look, whoever the candidate is, I.
- [19:31]
Jim Acosta
Hope they beat a helmet.
- [19:32]
Mehdi Hassan
You know, whoever the candidate ends up being, I hope they beat Susan Collins, who is one of the worst Republicans in the Senate. In many ways, she's worse than the MAGA people because at least the MAGA people are open about what they believe and want. She plays this fake moderate game while enabling the Trump agenda every turn. Enabling concern, this reactionary court at every turn. Yeah, I'm concerned. What about my favorite. I think he's learned his lessons. Remember, that will be inscribed on her tombstone. So, yes, she needs to be defeated.
- [19:59]
Jim Acosta
That's like right next to the ones who said, I didn't read the tweet, but. And then Trump sending the aircraft carrier towards Venezuela. Are we going to go to war with Venezuela to distract from the Epstein files? Is that the next distraction to come? We. They shut down the government, they bulldozed the White House, now we're going to go to war.
- [20:16]
Mehdi Hassan
Yeah. We published an op ed recently from Wes Bryant, who's a former military man, saying that, you know, we are sleepwalking into a war with Venezuela because we're not even really talking about it. It's not like war where we have protests on the streets and massive debates in the, in the House and Senate. It's almost. Democrats have been AWOL again. Schumer, Jeffrey is completely awol because they don't want to see this. They don't want to be seen as pro Maduro. Right. So they can't bring themselves just to say what Donald Trump is doing is completely wrong. It's dangerous, it's escalation, it's illegal, it's murder. Jim, let's just be very clear. They're killing fishermen in the Caribbean. And I think they've. They shot the 10th boat today. It was yesterday or today.
- [20:50]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
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Mehdi Hassan
10Th boat went down. And he said, we killed eight guys or six guys. We've lost track of how many people they have just killed. And we got. And I, I don't know. You know, you were obviously at cnn, so you weren't able to get angry in the way I was, but I got angry. When Barack Obama was drone striking people, it became his. One of the biggest critiques of Obama, legitimate critiques, was he, you know, he was dubbed the drone president. He killed people, including an American citizen, without a trial. Right. And that was a legitimate critique. Why are we giving a pass to Donald Trump as he's just drone striking fishermen in the Caribbean. He's killing unknown people. We know they're innocent because they just got two of them and then sent them back without any charges or arrest or trial. So we know.
- [21:28]
Jim Acosta
I mean, I'm sorry, the drones. Do the drones know for certain that these are drug cartel people? I mean, I just don't see how that's even possible.
- [21:35]
Mehdi Hassan
In fact, we know from New York Times reporting and other reporting that these people are not narcotics. They've spoken to their families who've said, no, no, this is my husband. He's a fisherman. We can prove it. So they're killing these people. And yes, Donald Trump is ramping up on Venezuela. He shut down Rick Grenell, a man I cannot stand, never thought, I'm gonna have to go take a shower after this gym. But I'm gonna defend Rick Grenell, a man I've clashed with on social media. Horrible right wing troll, but he was the envoy to Venezuela and he was actually trying to tamp things down. He had a good relationship, direct line with Maduro, got some American detainees released, hostages released, and Trump basically fired him, sidelined us to stop it. You know, you're. Don't.
- [22:09]
Jim Acosta
I wonder if some weird twisted way, if Trump thinks this is a way to claw back some Hispanic voters going into the midterms or something along those lines.
- [22:17]
Mehdi Hassan
I mean, it's so hard to read this one, but I would say the irony of the guy insisting he be given a Nobel Peace Prize while he ramps up for an illegal, unprovoked war of aggression against a country in Latin America.
- [22:29]
Jim Acosta
Hey, I want to bring in a friend here just before you go, Mehdi, because I know you have to go in just a couple seconds. Is Katie in the room. Katie is in the house.
- [22:36]
Mehdi Hassan
Katie fat. How are you doing? It's our ex MSNBC reunion. It's been too long. How are you?
- [22:43]
Jim Acosta
Stars of cable unite. Here you go.
- [22:45]
Mehdi Hassan
Or maybe stars of cable uniting.
- [22:48]
Katie Fang
It's like the crossover event that had happened, that needed to happen. And then, of course, Jim makes me come in after the exceptionally eloquent and remarkable Mehdi Hassan. Sound like you. I'm just not as smart. So I'm.
- [23:02]
Mehdi Hassan
You're smarter. And I just do the renting with my. With. With my anger. We are the.
- [23:07]
Jim Acosta
You defended Rick Grenell. So I don't know how I'm going.
- [23:09]
Mehdi Hassan
To take a shower right now.
- [23:11]
Jim Acosta
Where we put the score at the bottom. Medis score just like went down like 10 digits, you know, Can I.
- [23:16]
Mehdi Hassan
Can I. In my defense, I defended Rick Grell to prevent a war of aggression. But in. But I would say this. The X stars of cable news can just be clear to be watching with bigger audiences now.
- [23:25]
Jim Acosta
That's true.
- [23:26]
Mehdi Hassan
Just saying.
- [23:27]
Jim Acosta
Independent media. It's here.
- [23:28]
Mehdi Hassan
Just saying.
- [23:29]
Jim Acosta
It's here to stay.
- [23:30]
Katie Fang
Well, Mehdi, you were one of the. You were one of the frontiersmen. Let's put it that way.
- [23:34]
Mehdi Hassan
I do like. I do like to say I was one of the first. I will take that, Katie. I will bank that. But I. I was one of the first to make the jump and start something on substack and on YouTube. I was delighted to see Jim come over. And since then, Joy. And since then you. And since then Terry Moran. And may there be many more.
- [23:50]
Katie Fang
There will be.
- [23:51]
Jim Acosta
Absolutely.
- [23:51]
Katie Fang
But I miss you.
- [23:52]
Jim Acosta
Maybe Jesse Waters. No, he'll never leave. No.
- [23:55]
Mehdi Hassan
All right. Next time you've got to get me and Katie on together. I have to run now, but let's do it.
- [23:58]
Jim Acosta
I would love to do it. Mehdi Crockett, great to see you. King of the wild frontier of independent media. Maddie, good to see you, man. I got him right there at the end.
- [24:08]
Katie Fang
His face was priceless. My God, that was awesome. Do you see his face?
- [24:13]
Jim Acosta
You can't get many. I mean, he's just too. He's. He moves too fast. That's the thing for an old guy.
- [24:18]
Katie Fang
He moves like before. We kind of dive into the substance. I gotta tell you, man, like, Mehdi and I were very close when he was at originally Peacock. Right. Which was that failed venture that they tried to do. And then at msnb, dc and you guys are great. We had such a great time. There were some. Enjoy. Read.
- [24:36]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [24:36]
Katie Fang
There are some people that were very. Just authentically the real deal. And that is no.
- [24:42]
Jim Acosta
And, and I, I love when we collaborate, like when you and I do stuff and we bring others in and there's breaking news. There was like, the comey news that one night you jumped in and all these others came. I mean, it's just, it's just fun to do it. And I think we all sort of, like, feed off of each other's energy. And there's sort of a. Because, you know, when we host our own shows, we're sort of at home and we're talking to other folks and there's zoom places and all that stuff, and it's. And when we collaborate, there's like a. There's like a special sauce that gets created. I don't know what it is.
- [25:11]
Katie Fang
It's a different energy. I agree. I enjoy it. So thanks for having me today. It's a great way to end an insane week. I'm glad to spend it with you. I bust out the booze. It's a little early. I don't want to offend Jim Acosta's people, so I'm like, I don't know, I guess I'll leave.
- [25:26]
Jim Acosta
Oh, it's five o' clock somewhere and it's almost five o' clock here. So it, I say it, I, I do a show, called It Friday from time to time, and we just, we just go for it. You know what I mean?
- [25:35]
Katie Fang
Like my kind of Friday.
- [25:37]
Jim Acosta
Totally. But I mean, we should get into this. Tish James, I mean, Letitia James, the state Attorney General of New York, I mean, it is kind of bizarro Twilight Zone world where we are now seeing Trump's political enemies going through the justice system, the federal justice system. This is not trumped upstate, you know, charges that are full of, at the state or local level. This is, this is federal court, which used to be, I thought, sacred in this country, but it's no longer. Your thoughts on, on what we saw earlier today. She, she obviously entered a plea of not guilty. She's asking it be tossed out for reasons of eventual prosecution and so on.
- [26:14]
Katie Fang
But your thoughts, I mean, you could still keep the trumped up part of it, though, but.
- [26:19]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, well, that's true.
- [26:20]
Katie Fang
Federal charges. I want to. Well, first of all, everybody's seeing her walk out right now after the hearing. And standing next to her is Abby Lowell. And I want to give Abby Lowell a massive shout out. He is incredible. An exceptional lawyer to his credit, has defended Republicans, Democrats, you name it. Right. Like, he is truly the justice's blind lawyer that we could find. But I want everybody to stop for a second and understand that this is a lawyer, Letitia James, who's the attorney general for the state of New York, who had to enter a criminal courtroom today, Jim, in front of a federal judge and have to enter a plea against federal charges that have been brought by a woman who has never practiced criminal law, whose only claim to fame is blowout hair and a pretty face. And at this point, you know, thinks that these are the things that are going to gain her some type of poll position when it comes to favorability with felon Trump. And I'm talking about Lindsey Halligan, who, I will be clear, I love my insurance defense lawyers that are out there. You guys rock.
- [27:25]
Jim Acosta
Absolutely.
- [27:26]
Katie Fang
But you guys also know how to stay on your wheelhouse, and she does not. And if you think about it as a lawyer, as somebody who has pursued fraud against so many different people, including the Trump family, she had to go to court, Jim, and she had to stand up. And you know what she did, though? She did not use a lawyer to enter her plea. She stood up, head held high, and said, not guilty. And I find that to be incredibly powerful. She could have just had Abby Lowell say, my client pleads not guilty to the charges, but she didn't. And the other kind of point behind what happened today is Trump's going for the humiliation aspect of this gym. And she actually had to have her right to remain silent read to her in open court, which had to be humiliating. Right. But she didn't show it. She has the best poker face of a lot of people that I know. But the, we'll eventually get to the real meat of it. But there's a couple of few things I just want to tell folks that came out of today. One, yeah. The, the disqualification of Lindsay Halligan due to her, the invalidity of her appointment that is being challenged by Tish James as well as James Comey. And today there's been a merger, those arguments. So both of those cases, in terms of trying to get the, you know, Lindsay Halligan tossed off of it, those will travel together, which is good. In addition, there's a trial date in January. So for those of you that think that, you know, there's some slow thing, this is the rocket docket, man. This thing hauls out.
- [28:58]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [28:59]
Katie Fang
And so she, like James Comey, she's going to go to trial. And more and more evidence is coming out as it's being dripped and drabbed out that's being released to the public. That underscores that there is no case here against Attorney General Letitia James. And I am just looking forward to the day where Halligan has mud on her face on this one because assuming argument, if she makes it that far, Jim. But hell, yeah, Abby Lowell will school her and Pat Fitzgerald on behalf of James Comey will school her. She doesn't know what's coming, and I'm glad she deserves it.
- [29:31]
Jim Acosta
Well, let's play a little bit of what the attorney general said, because I think it would be good to hear some of what she said. And she summed it up nicely. I think.
- [29:40]
Letitia James
This justice system, which has been used as a tool of revenge and a weapon against those individuals who simply did their job and who stood up for the rule of law.
- [30:01]
Katie Fang
We stand with you.
- [30:04]
Letitia James
And a justice system which unfortunately is nothing being used as a vehicle of retribution. But my faith is strong and my faith is I have this belief in the justice system, in the rule of law, and I have a, and I have a belief in, in America and all of its individuals who have stood with me, not only in New York, but all across this nation.
- [30:38]
Jim Acosta
A tool of revenge. I mean, a vehicle of retribution. Those are the words that she used.
- [30:43]
Katie Fang
He said, I will be your retribution president, did he not? And those idiots that didn't really listen to what he had to say. I mean, it's. She echoes what James Comey said, which is, I still believe in our system. You would expect people that are now being victimized by a weaponized system to rail against the system. Jim. And what have they said? Both of them have said, I still believe in the rule of law and I believe in our system. And that, and I think that's incredibly powerful because people are so tired of just feeling like they're constantly under assault that to be reminded that even those that are truly in the crosshairs of Donald Trump right now, that they still believe in the integrity of our system, should make us feel better. That when we continue to go back to that system to seek justice, that there's a reason why we're doing that.
- [31:33]
Jim Acosta
No, I think that's so right. And, but here's. I need to ask the layman questions because I think the layman questions are important here. And, and they betray my ignorance. But why couldn't the judge just say right off the bat today, this is horseshit and not so many words. I'm throwing this out right now. I don't understand. In the, in the Comey case and in Comey Raymond and in the Tish James Raymond and these federal judges must know in the back of their heads. I'm just waiting for my moment to say we're throwing this out. Right. I just have to think.
- [32:05]
Katie Fang
And her judge, and her judge is a, I mean, all these judges are incredibly bright, but her judge, especially Letitia James's judge, is just a spectacular judge. He's a Biden appointee and just really amazing. So the reason why is we have now become a little bit used to the theatrics of TV and the movies. Right? I know that. So that doesn't happen. But that being said, I want to kind of, kind of lob something back at you, which is, can you imagine how much shit would happen that would come from the Republicans and on Fox News and from Trump if the judge would have done that today instead of actually having some measure of the process kind of spool out a little bit? Now, look, her lawyer, Abby Lowell. Motion to dismiss for selective and vindictive prosecution. Motion to disqualify Lindsey Halligan. Right. I mean, there's a million and million one things that are coming down the pipeline that are a, almost a la carte menu for the judges that are on Comey and on James to pick and choose and say, I grant that motion to dismiss. And remember though, any of these things are going to be appealed. Right. And so because of that, there's going to be some measure of scrutiny. And so if you're a judge and you don't believe in the, in these prosecutions, but you're smart, you're going to want to use some strategy and you're going to want to kind of wait for a really good opportunity to lower the boom in a way that's most.
- [33:27]
Jim Acosta
Impactful, that makes sense. And it, and it also, I guess, inspires, or you at least hope it inspires some confidence in MAGA world that our justice system is supposed to operate in a certain way. But I mean, to me, there's a part of me that just thinks the judges should just throw this out, because to me, you know, this shouldn't even be, you know, in front of a judge in the first place. I think we are already doing damage to our federal judiciary with these cases being brought forward, and that just having an arraignment hearing adds kind of a veneer of credibility that, that it just doesn't deserve. And I know what you're saying, like, we got to protect the process for future presidents, future generations. And maybe that's, that's what we have to hold on to here. But it just, it, it pisses me off that he's Able to use the system in this fashion.
- [34:18]
Katie Fang
Yeah, it's, it's the true weaponization of the system, of the process and the procedures. But I will, I will say this, though, Jim. You know, at this point, it's a kind of interesting peeling back and opening of the curtain into a process of, of asking ourselves, how fair is the grand jury process? Right. Like, how fair are certain of these steps in the, in the judicial system that a lot of us are privileged to have not had to go through it before. Right. And then that's why our jobs, you, me, Mehdi, and others, that's why it's so important for us to have conversations about the, the, the gross, I call it, partisan hackery of Lindsay Halligan. Right. And Alina Haba and others. Todd Blanche. Right. All of these people. That job becomes so critically important, especially in independent media, where we don't have to worry about watching our words, watching our tone, being too aggressive about calling it out for what it is. This is when we have that, that the obligation to continue the education that we do. And part of that does include expressing our disgust that this woman today, an accomplished lawyer, has to go and defend herself in this way. And by the way, you can'. Just do this for free. You have to crowdfund to be able to pay for these attorney speeches. This whole thing is so expensive, and it's meant to break you. It's meant to break you. It is.
- [35:47]
Jim Acosta
We need to switch gears because I want to make sure we have some time to talk about the, the founder of the crypto exchange Binance. He's, he's, he was convicted and, and he's gotten a pardon now from Trump. And this guy Zhao was involved in boosting Trump's family crypto, whatever you want to call it. To me, it seems like a scam that they've been able to grow this crypto empire while he's been in office, and Zhao has helped with that, and now he's gotten a pardon out of it. And Caroline Levin put out a tweet saying Trump has exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency. The war on crypto is over. I mean, it's almost like we're just announcing to the world that we're opening up the floodgates to corruption through this bitcoin crypto shit. But, I mean, your thoughts on. You understand my thoughts, but your thoughts on this, because it's just out in the open.
- [36:45]
Katie Fang
It's Actually, such a great juxtaposition to what we just talked about, the integrity, the nobility of somebody like Letitia James, who's an Attorney general. And then you compare that to Zao, who, again, his nickname is CZ now, he was the founder of Binance, which is a huge cryptocurrency platform. And just a couple of years ago, he pled guilty to money laundering and had to go do four months in prison, which for some people may not be a lot. But at the same time, the company Binance actually had to pay $4.3 billion and was banned from operating in the United States. Why? Because they were facilitating money laundering for entities and people and groups like Hamas. Okay? They were providing a platform wherein there was no checks and balances, where you had these horrible things that were going on transactionally. And so the Department of Justice, the sec, and others locked it down and said, you can't do this anymore. So now what happened is this with Zhao getting the pardon from Donald Trump, which, by the way, World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency thing for the Trump family. ZHAO Was given five. Gave five, Bill. Excuse me.
- [37:58]
Mehdi Hassan
They made.
- [37:58]
Katie Fang
The Trump family made $5 billion in profits. And Zao has been in talks to buy into a stake into World Liberty. So it's all of this disgusting quid pro quo. But here's the thing with Zao getting a pardon, as we know now, your conviction is gone. Means he's no longer a convicted felon, so he's not a share. You know, shareholders get nervous, and people get nervous if they're like, oh, wow, the leader of the company is a convicted felon. Well, no, actually, if you're not and you're pardoned and you're back in the US Then you're going to be able to get better commercial relationships. The other thing I want to talk about is this. Finance hosts World Liberty Financial Cryptocurrency. And so when we talk about how absolutely incestuous that is, there's also a guy named Justin Sun I want to bring up. He had a pending fraud case by the SEC, and he invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial, and suddenly his SEC investigation and fraud case has stopped. And now the SEC has posits a civil case against Binance because of all of this, Binance has reached out to Trump allies for more than a year, Jim, to make this deal. The greasing of the palms has been going on, and so the corruption is legion. And it just goes to show that the true criminals are being pardoned and let out like The Insurrectionist, for example. And instead they're wasting time, money and really values by going after people like Tish James and, and James Comey.
- [39:28]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And it also, I mean this, this, the cz, whatever you want to call them, case, what it, what it uncovers to me is there's this whole world you talk about people, you know, like my folks, blue collar folks, you know, I can tell you right now they don't understand all of this crypto stuff. And, and it just, it feels like a Ponzi scheme, it feels like a pyramid scheme. It feels like they're just people making money off of thin air. And there have to be some rules of the road, you know, for currency exchanges. And if crypto wants to be deemed a legitimate currency or something that gets traded back and forth, there have to be rules of the road. And what the Trump administration seems to be saying through this pardon, is that, ah, all bets are off. Just whatever the you guys want to do, just go for it, man. Just make as much money as long as we're getting a cut.
- [40:18]
Katie Fang
But it's so on brand. I mean, think about it. They'll take a $400 million jet from Qatar. Who doesn't have clean hands, right? Qatar has been letting Hamas hide out in that country. Right. And then you allow this platform to have all of this dirty transactions going. It just goes to show Donald Trump only wants to benefit himself. I cannot begin to stress this more. And everything we're seeing, from this disgusting ballroom to this binance, right? It's all for him. It's not for us. He would never, ever break bread with us. Right. You don't see him inviting.
- [40:54]
Jim Acosta
Definitely not me.
- [40:57]
Katie Fang
Fuck. I was saying, somebody today, is he going to put our asses in that bunker or are you going to stick us in Guantanamo at this rate, Jim? But like, you know, he would never break bread with the, quote, average Joe that he asked to vote for him. So this populist president bullshit is so transparently over. But you know what, Jim? We both know that unfortunately though, our American farmers are getting burned right now with the 40 billion going to Argentina. Our soybean farmers, our cattle farmers, everyday Americans that aren't going to have health insurance, the subsidies will be gone, their premiums are going to skyrocket, the rural hospitals are closing. People are going to start feeling they're gonna, they're gonna see the light, Jim. And I'm sorry to say this, but it'll be the find out part of all of it.
- [41:37]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. You know, and I, I just think that it's, it's sad and it's tragic. And I, it's unfortunate that real people are going to get hurt, but I think that is, that might be the turning point as people are getting hurt and they're starting to feel it in their wallet that, you know, or their businesses are going under or their farms are going under. They're going to realize that this guy at the White House is just looking out for his fellow fat cats and people who he wants to party with in the Golden Ballroom and President Liberace's.
- [42:07]
Katie Fang
Ballroom, you know, and in the meantime, which is so tacky, but in the.
- [42:10]
Jim Acosta
Meantime and so tacky.
- [42:12]
Katie Fang
I mean, Venezuela, let's just randomly go to war with Venezuela. It's just what people, like Americans are going to die now, right? Like something's going to happen.
- [42:23]
Jim Acosta
And I, I think this is his latest Epstein distraction. I think this is, you know, you know, the ballroom thing that, that lasted for a week. He's got to come up with something else. So let's make the media worry that he's going to go to war and that'll be next week's thing, you know, and he may change. He'll have his ADHD moment and he'll change his mind and focus on something else.
- [42:41]
Katie Fang
The next distraction, mark my words, even though there's nothing there, as was the fact with these other cases, he's going to indict Adam Schiff. Just watch. That's going to be the next.
- [42:50]
Jim Acosta
Well, and, and let's talk about that, because yesterday there was all this reporting, Kendallanean was reporting, I think, with Carol Lennig, that there was a prosecutor there in Maryland who said, you know what? We've looked at this. There's no case. And then Todd Blanche comes out of.
- [43:04]
Katie Fang
The woodwork and the same thing happened for Tish James, and they wipe their asses with it. And they say, well, it doesn't fit with our agenda, so we're gonna silence you, fire you, or ignore you, and we're just going to move ahead.
- [43:16]
Jim Acosta
No, I think Adam Schiff, I'm very worried about that. I'm worried about John Brennan. I think, think Trump is going down his list. And that is why these judges who are handling these cases, like Comey, like Tish James, all they need to do, all the prosecutor or the defense needs to do is show the judge his truth. Social posts, I mean, the president himself has said, these are the people, A, B, C, D, these are the people I want you to go after. It should be case dismissed. The president's not allowed to do that in this country. Can't put your thumb on the. On the scales of justice.
- [43:45]
Katie Fang
Well, I will say this very quickly. There is a shining light example, Kilmar, Abrego Garcia, who truly, if. If there was an example of vindictive prosecution, it's that poor man. Okay, so there's a judge in Tennessee a few weeks ago who said, you know what, Kilmar? I'm gonna. I'm gonna let you have discovery and an evidentiary hearing on your motion to dismiss for selective and. Selective and vindictive prosecution. And that judge cited to Todd Blanch's own words on Fox News and otherwise to show that. And so these are very high burdens. They're very high standards to meet to deal with selective and vindictive prosecution under the law. But I agree with you. There is enough there for the defenses collectively and, and think about it. There's so much overlap that when you get a good ruling in one, it's going to help in another. And we're kind of building this coalition against the Trump administration. But we are seeing certain judges that are saying, not on my watch. And they're fighting the good fight. And that's why it's always important to recognize when they do that defense of democracy, because they really are the ones. They're the guardrails that used to exist in Trump term 1.0 and that we don't really see in Trump term 2.0.
- [44:54]
Jim Acosta
Let's hope they can hold. Please hold. Guardrails. Judge Guardrail, we need you. Katie, great to see, as always. I knew this was going to be a great discussion. We were both just like, it's the end of the week. It, let's go. And that's what we got. So this is what.
- [45:08]
Katie Fang
That's how I roll all the time, even when it's not a Friday. But you know what, though, Jim? This is why I enjoy spending time with you. Because I always say it's the authenticity of who we are that is the most important thing that we have to offer. And our. Our emotional spectrum, like you've just exhibited today, runs the gamut from, you can laugh about it, you can be angry, you can be pissed, you can be scared. You know, you can be frustrated, but you can have some determination. I like to say we're gonna turn our despair into determination, Jim, and that's what we're doing together.
- [45:38]
Jim Acosta
Absolutely. I so agree with that. And you are misdetermination. Katie Fang. So appreciate the time, as always. Great to see you.
- [45:46]
Katie Fang
Tell Dookie, I say Hello?
- [45:48]
Jim Acosta
I will. He's. He's on my mug. He was whimpering outside the door. I hate to say it. He. We. We closed the door because he almost knocked something over the other day. So.
- [46:00]
Katie Fang
He'S lying over here.
- [46:01]
Jim Acosta
Oh, I will. I'll let him. I'll pass on the message. Thank you, Katie.
- [46:05]
Katie Fang
Bye, guys.
- [46:06]
Jim Acosta
Bye. Bye. Good to see you. I know, and I'm sure the comments are like, let Duke in. Let Duke in. I guess we could let Duke in if there's a way to let Duke in. I don't know, he may have gone upstairs and just said, screw it. I'm gonna go to sleep on the sofa. But my. You know, this is. This is the kind of week that tries a man's soul. And as you guys know, the White House is near and dear to me. I spent seven and a half weeks of my life, you know, covering the White House from my old place during Barack Obama's second term and then Donald Trump's batshit crazy first term. And, you know, I just developed a lot of affection for the place. You know, it meant something to me. Just about every day when I was racing to get to a live shot or racing to get. Get to a press conference on time, and I would come through those gates and I would see the White House, and here I am. You know, my mom worked in restaurants, my dad worked in grocery stores. You know, guys like me, we're not supposed to be a chief White House correspondent and have a fancy title like that. And I just always thought, wow, this is what America is all about. This is really cool. And, you know, yes, it was bananas at times. There's no question about it. But that House symbolizes so much to me. And so when I see the front page of the Washington Post, my hometown newspaper, grew up in Northern Virginia, right outside Washington, D.C. when I see my hometown newspaper, and by the way, you know, it still says, democracy dies in darkness there at the top of the Washington Post, and just below it, it says the East Wing is now only a memory. And it's just gone. It's just gone. And, you know, sure, they can try to defend it. They can. And. And they're trying to troll the public now. They're trying to troll Democrats and critics. And people who say this is nuts, which is just about everybody, even Republicans, if you ask them privately, will tell you this is absolutely nuts. And what is even more egregious, possibly more egregious than the destruction of the East Wing, is the way the White House is trying to defend it by vandalizing WhiteHouse.gov the website for the White House, for the United States of America. And they have vandalized the website for the White House with pictures of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky and all kinds of other, you know, these, these guys are the arm fart contingent, the people running the White House website these days. But this is their way of justifying. They put this up last night, ladies and gentlemen. They put this up last night when there were all these attacks coming in their direction. Hillary Clinton attacked and so on, and said, said, how dare you do this? And so they put this up. They, they try to take a shot at trans people. Because that's what they always do. They just always, you know, when in doubt, Donald Trump and his people go after trans people in this country. It's shameful, it's disgusting, it's obnoxious, but it's just un American. It's un American. It's un American. To on your own unilaterally, without talking to anybody outside of the executive branch of government, to knock down the east wing of the White House. It's just un American. Donald Trump this week has committed a crime against all of us, you and me, and the American people who care about this country, who care about this, this building that symbolizes so much. And no, it's not because I, I watched too many episodes of the west wing in the 90s and 2000s, although it was a great show and it was a great era. But, no, this means something to me. This is personal. This White House, this, this center, this focal point of our democracy was attacked this week by the President of the United States.
- [50:27]
Mehdi Hassan
Hello.
- [50:28]
Jim Acosta
And it means so much to me that, you know, I'm really, I'm going into this weekend not just pissed. You know, I venture talk about, you know, all the things that, that piss me off. And I know they piss you off, too. But I am also, also going to this weekend a little, just a little sad, a little sad that this was taken away from us. I will tell you. You know, one of the most memorable moments I had at the White House, it was a night that looked like this was the last night I reported from the White House for CNN. And it was January 19, 2021. We had just gone through January 6th. Trump had been kicked off of social media because the country was worried he was going to incite another insurrection. And I remember being there on the grounds of the White House, that's the north lawn of the White House, and looking back and just saying, I hope we're Going to be okay. I hope we're going to be okay. And the next morning, folks may not remember this. The next morning, January 20, the Inauguration Day for Joe Biden. I, I was the one who rode with Donald Trump on Air Force One. I was in the White House press pool that day, rode with Donald Trump on Air Force One to drop his ass off in Mar A Lago. And remember they had the whole departure ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. And The Donald Trump Jr. Was crying and Eric Trump was crying and Ivanka and Jared, they were crying. Everybody was, they were all crying. I wasn't crying. I was like, I was like, yes, he's gang, get the out of here. But no, I got on Air Force One and we flew down and we dropped him off at the airport there in Palm Beach. And I remember thinking to myself, my God, I, I can't believe we got through this. My God, I can't believe we got, we got him out of D.C. we got him out of the White House. He's on his way. Please, God, let this man never come back to Washington D.C. and of course, he gets elected back into the White House. But I will always tell people, and I will say this here, is that we were lucky as hell to get rid of him the first time. We were lucky as hell to get rid of him the first time. And my deep concern, my deep concern is that he has learned from that experience and that he has no plans of leaving the next time. He has no, he has no plans of leaving the next time via an election. And when Steve Bannon is talking about Donald Trump is going to run for president in 2028, he's going to win in 2028, he's going to be president again. That people need ready for that. They are dead serious, ladies and gentlemen. They are dead serious. He believes everything that he is saying there. And he is one of these evil sons of whispering in Donald Trump's ear on a regular basis. And they are all saying it. When Stephen Miller the other day was saying, oh, my God, this, this country was going to, it was going to be over for this country if you had not become president again, this is the kind of psychotic that they are saying to him on a daily basis. And my concern is, is that, folks, the leveling of the east wing of the White House is just the beginning. It is just the beginning. And these corporations who have signed on to be sponsors of his ballroom, you have to understand what you have signed up for. You have gotten in league with a man who is deeply unwell not just deeply unserious, he is deeply unwell. Think about how unwell you have to be to unilaterally take down the fucking east wing of the White House, which had the presidential movie theater, it had all of these wonderful memories, Eleanor Roosevelt's old office, the whole nine yards, just wiped it out. How unwell do you have to be as the President of the United States to do such a thing? And Steve Bannon is saying he's going to run for a third term. And Stephen Miller is saying, my goodness, if Donald Trump was not President Trump, we would all be finished. Ladies and gentlemen, going into this weekend, don't be angry, don't be sad. Go into this weekend with a clear eyed determination of what is needed in the months ahead. A clear eyed determination of what is needed in the months ahead. And that is everything you've got. Everything you've got has to be put into this next year. We're almost to the November elections that are going to take place in Virginia and New Jersey. One year from now, about one year from now will be the November midterms of 2026. You are going to have to give it everything you've got to save this country from a madman who calls himself president. A madman who wants to name this ballroom after himself. Who the does he think he is, Saddam Hussein? I think he does. I think he does. And so please understand, this is all riding on you. We have to rebuild that East Wing and put it back just, just the way it was. And we're gonna have to rebuild this country and put it back the way it was. When he's gone, there will be no third term. And you and I, the American people, we're going to make sure that's the case. My thanks to Media Son. My thanks to Katie Fang. Thanks everybody for watching. I don't say this enough, but I'm going to say it here. Don't forget to subscribe. Don't forget to click the like buttons. Don't forget to hit those heart buttons. It does make a difference with all the algorithms and all the stuff that people have come up with for social media these days. It means a lot to me, too. And thank you everybody for tuning in day after day, week after week. It means so much to me still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a great weekend. I'll see you next time.
- [56:59]
Letitia James
I've heard from just about every jurisdiction in this nation who have said, stand up and be tall and never ever cow down or back down or break or bend. So there's no fear today. No fear. No fear. No fear. No fear that justice will rain down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.