← The Jim Acosta Show
The Jim Acosta Show
Michael Cohen on Trump's wasting taxpayer money and April Ryan on covering the Trump White House for a second time.
01:02:09
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- [00:00]
Jim Acosta
Welcome, everybody, to the Jim Acosta Show. It's Monday, February 17th. It is President's Day. You can see on the bottom of the screen right there, Michael Cohen is joining me. He's going to be talking with me in just a few moments. Get you caught up on everything that's happening. I do want to tell you a little bit about some breaking news out of Toronto before we get to some of the other day's news. The Toronto Star reporting that a plane has crashed at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. Appears to have flipped upside down. One pediatric patient was transported to the hospital with critical injuries according to flight radar 24. This is according to the Toronto Star. The Delta Airlines flight from Minneapolis arrived at 2:13pm the plane had room for about 75 passengers. And the airport confirms on social media that all passengers and crew have been accounted for. We're waiting to find out yet whether there are any fatalities, but there are some injuries at this point. So I'm going to tell you more about that as the hour goes on, if we get more information. But I do want to talk to Michael about this. It is President's Day here in the United States, even if the current president has been sounding less than presidential over the weekend. I'm sure you saw this. Trump posted this message on X saying, quote, he who saves his country does not violate any law. The White House social media account reposted that message. Ladies and gentlemen, observers immediately noticed that Trump was apparently quoting Napoleon, who made himself emperor in the 1800s. Senator Adam Schiff spoke for many Democrats when he tweeted that Trump had spoken like a true dictator. Trump, in the meantime, spent his Sunday at the Daytona 500, a trip that cost taxpayers billions of dollars at a time when he and Elon Musk are slashing workers in the federal government, all in the name of efficiency. A week ago, Trump attended the Super Bowl. All of this raising the question, no, the question is not, does he get his tickets on StubHub? It is, doesn't he have more important things to do? Or has he delegated all of that to Elon Musk? For his part, Elon Musk was threatening prominent journalists last night on a social media platform. He Posted this at 9:15pm Quote, 60 minutes are the biggest liars in the world, according to Elon Musk. He said they engaged in deliberate, a deliberate deception to interfere with the last election. He goes on to say this. They deserve a long prison sentence. That is Elon Musk talking about the people, the fine journalists at 60 Minutes. Absolutely outrageous. 60 Minutes had just aired a critical piece on Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Let's talk about all this with Michael Cohen. He. He's the host of the Mea Culpa podcast, author of Revenge. Michael is also on Substack. Glad to have him back. Michael. Are we calling this Michael Mondays? I know you, Jim.
- [02:56]
Michael Cohen
It should be. Because every time we get together, there's always fireworks. In fact, anybody wants to join my substack, what I did is I did almost like a little take off of Trump. Mine is called the Real Michael Cohen. People know Donald's old handle of the Real Donald Trump. Mine is the Real Michael Cohen going. You know, can I expand on something you just brought up?
- [03:18]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [03:19]
Michael Cohen
So we have the President of the United States, first time, first time ever, attending the super bowl and then attending the Daytona 500. Now, while I understand, I mean, you know, being President of the United States affords you many opportunities, I do also just want to acknowledge that no president ever before has done this. And not because they're not football or racing car racing fans, but simply because the cost, the cost to the taxpayer, to you and to me and to all of your listeners, is over $30 million between these two events. No, I read it in the paper. 30 million.
- [04:00]
Jim Acosta
I saw that, too.
- [04:01]
Michael Cohen
It's over $30 million. Now, again, I don't have the exact numbers and I've never look through the budget, but I'm just quoting what other legitimate news sources have said.
- [04:12]
Jim Acosta
Yep.
- [04:13]
Michael Cohen
At the time, that they are cutting children's cancer research because they claim that our budget, our government's budget is too fat and needs to be cut by 33%. Almost $2 trillion.
- [04:31]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [04:32]
Michael Cohen
Does it really make sense then to afford the President and his cronies and his family and their sycophantic friends box seats or, you know, seats in order to watch the Daytona 500? If you're that much of a fan, just, I don't know, have a television set brought into the Situation Room because there seems to me to be a lot of situations going on.
- [05:00]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And, Michael, I mean, it's not just Trump and Ivanka showing up at the Super Bowl. It's not just Trump and a few aides showing up at the Daytona 500. You know this all too well. There's a whole entourage. There's a whole Secret Service. There's a fleet of Secret Service people who have to show up. This is a very expensive proposition. This is not just, you know, jumping on StubHub and grabbing a few tickets.
- [05:26]
Michael Cohen
No, no, no. It's not. In fact, think about the additional cost to the town of Daytona right there in Florida or in Louisiana, New Orleans, for the Super Bowl. Think about the police that have to be. Literally from the time that that aircraft takes off to the time that it is returned back to D.C. you have the police escorts round the clock. Every person in the super bowl is going to have to be double screened. FBI, Secret Service, the whole 9 yards police force. We're talking about a serious amount of money and a serious amount of money when again, you're cutting things such as child cancer research.
- [06:13]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And also, I mean, he was already president once before. So the cool part, the fun part of being president, going to things with big events with lots of people, he's already done that. And so one would think you're coming into office, you're promising to lower inflation as soon as you come into the Oval Office. That has not happened yet. You're promising to end the war in Ukraine as soon as you come into the Oval Office. That has not happened yet. He has an inbox. I mean, presumably. But it seems as though he is delegating basically everything that is important in terms of what the President should be doing to other people. He sends J.D. vance off to Munich to trash our European allies and to strike fear in the hearts of American allies in NATO, suggesting that perhaps, you know, we're not going to have Ukraine's back and so on. And so, I mean, does Trump think that this is like that movie, Dave, where the guy just shows up and he gets that and he just gets to have a good time? You know, remember he had the big.
- [07:14]
Michael Cohen
I could do robotic arms and I should do Dave. You know, Jim, let me also turn around and say I listened to Republicans, specifically Doge, Elon Musk and his team.
- [07:28]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [07:29]
Michael Cohen
Just demean the entire United States government based upon $40,000 in a grant that was paid to review climate change in Sri Lanka because for whatever reason is they felt that they needed that in order to understand it more on a global matter. So they're basically attacking every institution over $40,000 in a grant to do research. But yet again, $30 million, it's like to. It doesn't really matter.
- [08:06]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [08:06]
Michael Cohen
As long as Donald gets a chance and his, again, his cronies, they get a chance to enjoy something like the super bowl or the Daytona 500.
- [08:16]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of work to do, but, you know, he also spends a lot of his time on social media, you know, like, I guess, like teenagers do. And I mean, I Don't know about you, Michael. I mean, yeah, I'm on social media some. I do substack. I just don't have a lot of time. He seems to have a lot of time to play on social media, as does Elon Musk. And Trump posted this message over the weekend quoting Napoleon. He who saves his country does not violate any law. Can we just talk about this for a moment, Michael, because you've talked about this before. You feel as though Trump would basically like to be a king in this country. And that's not to engage in hyperbole. You just actually believe that. And when he puts messages like this out there, people might say, oh, he's just trolling. He's trying to own the libs. He's trying to, you know, start up, you know, trouble with. With folks. I find this to be very troubling.
- [09:10]
Michael Cohen
Well, I think what he's doing at this point in time is he's taking the Supreme Court decision, which was presidential immunity.
- [09:20]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [09:21]
Michael Cohen
And he's even expanding it further. We see that right now in. In a slew of litigation based upon the executive orders that have been written. I wrote about that in my substack the other day.
- [09:34]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [09:34]
Michael Cohen
But I. This is not. This is not a joke. And nobody should take it as just some sort of let's own the libs and so on. He already owns the libs. Let's be clear about something. While. While Democrats and libs and whoever else that they want to say are out there and they're trying to, on a regular basis, denigrate Trump, you know, they make all these statements about him. Let me be very clear. That's not the way to beat Donald Trump. All right? Not in the slightest. What basically you're doing there, the whole art of trying to denigrate somebody like Trump, it doesn't work. He is given a pass because of all of the crazy, chaotic things that he does. But I want your followers to understand something and understand this crystal clear at this present time, despite all of the chaos that we have seen over the course of now going into week four, imagine 93% of Republicans, 93% of the GOP highest, ever believe he is doing a great job. I'll go one step further. 54% in a poll of all Americans say that they are pleased with the job that Donald is doing. Which is exactly why, after reading that poll while he was at the Daytona 500 and he was questioned, he turned around and he made a very bold statement that in just three short weeks, we're already making America great, that we are already doing great things and America's on its way back.
- [11:19]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, well, and I think part of that is because, and Michael, you and I were talking about this a little bit before we got started here live, is that you have to hit them with facts, you have to hit them with the truth, you have to hit him with data, you have to hit them with information going, you know, mano a mano with insults and that sort of thing. This is not a Comedy Central roast. This is the future of this country that we're talking about here. And I think one of the issues is that we all have to have this sort of common lived experience with Trump 2.0 to get the full scope of what he is doing. For example, the Associated Press reporting this. Michael, let me lay this one on you. The Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation's nuclear weapons program in an about face that has left workers confused and Experts cautioning that Doge's blind cost cutting will put communities at risk. Three U.S. officials who spoke to the Associated Press said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration were abruptly laid off last week, with some losing access to their email before they learned they were fired, only to try to enter their offices on Friday to find out they were locked out. They're now in the process of trying, trying to rehire some of these people because they said, oh, oh, we shouldn't lay off the people who are trying to keep us safe from the nukes. I mean, my God, this is always.
- [12:46]
Michael Cohen
The problem with this group of people. And this is not the Donald Trump that I remember for almost a decade and a half of being affiliated with, where he acts impulsively without thinking of the consequences and then allows things like this to happen, only then to try to figure out how to undo the damage that has been done. We saw this in the first administration in 2017 when they attempted to do it with what they called the immigration ban, which was not Muslim ban. That entire thing was written, coordinated and directed by both Steve Bannon and Steve Miller. And I remember sitting in the Oval Office with Trump and he said to me, what did you? What do you think of this immigration ban? And I said, Mr. President, I said, let me be very clear about something, you know, and I know that that's not what it is. That's a fucking Muslim ban. And it's wrong. And you know, it's wrong. And he was like, yeah, it didn't roll out the way we wanted. But don't worry, don't worry. Next time, you know, next time we'll get it right. This is the problem. You don't have opportunities to get things right that are so wrong. Like what you're referring to with the nuclear, with the nuclear employees. Why? Because Iran, Russia, China, right, They're all looking and they're waiting for the moment that America drops the guard. This is like think about Star Trek. They dropping the shield, waiting. And you got the Klingons floating around out there in space waiting for the shields to drop so that they could blast you. That's what's going to happen here.
- [14:32]
Jim Acosta
No, you're absolutely right. And the Klingons are loving this one. When yes, when you have teenagers and 20 somethings, kids who are right out of college who are still working on their personal hygiene being tasked by Elon Musk with going through various agencies of the departments of the federal government to. To find ways fraud and abuse. I mean Michael, when you and I were 19, 20, 21 years old, my goodness. I mean I was still working on like how to ask a girl out on a date. You know, like. I mean those are things that I'm.
- [15:04]
Michael Cohen
Probably a little more advanced with you in that field maybe so.
- [15:08]
Jim Acosta
Michael, that I. That I will say fact check. True. But honestly, 19 and 20 year olds, they must be giddy over at the Kremlin. They must be giddy in Beijing.
- [15:19]
Michael Cohen
Are you kidding? Isn't the word by the way, this.
- [15:22]
Jim Acosta
Isn'T the first is like their Super Bowl.
- [15:25]
Michael Cohen
Of course it is. They're just waiting for these mistakes to happen so that they can go ahead and infiltrate our systems. We already know every day there are multiple hack attempts and yet these kids aren't even out of college yet. One of them is just finished high school. Imagine that. They're giving the keys to the castle to a kid who just finished high school. As a person who has had his IRS documentation stolen not once but twice. The first time was by an IRS agent out of San Francisco. He was actually found guilty. Instead of giving him the full force that he was supposed to get going on the Finston system, downloading it, giving it to Avenatti, giving it to Ronan Farrow to write about it. This is all up to a five year cross criminal. You know, they gave him one year probation. But it just happened to me again with a guy named Charles Edward Little John. It happened again. It was a contractor with the irs. The reason why I bring this up is because somebody who's 19 years old, is susceptible to a honey pot. They're susceptible to all sorts of games that they just don't understand. They're completely ill equipped. I don't care how, how good of a coder the kid is or how smart. He's ill equipped to take on the likes of a Vladimir Putin, a GPing, or any of these other monarch rulers, dictators, supreme leaders. Yeah, when they want, when they want to get him.
- [16:58]
Jim Acosta
Well. And I mean, this gets us to what the Washington Post reporting that Doge is seeking access to a heavily guarded Internal Revenue Service system that includes detailed financial information about every taxpayer, business and nonprofit in the country. According to the Washington Post. A draft of the memorandum obtained by the Washington Post says that one of the software engineers, this guy named Gavin Kleger, don't know who he is, this is, according to the Washington Post, is set to work at the IRS for 120 days, though the tax agency in the White House can renew his deployment for the same duration. His primary goal of the IRS is to provide engineering assistance and it's modernization consulting. Okay, But Reuters says that according to this is, according to a Reuters report from earlier this month, the same person has listed his job on LinkedIn as a special advisor to the director at the Office of Personal Management and has apparently been on social media reposting items there that boost white supremacists and misogynists online. And so these are some of the people that, that are being brought in by Elon Musk to do this sort of stuff. I mean, you know, what the hell's going on here?
- [18:06]
Michael Cohen
We're lost. You know, what's happened is, and again, we're not fighting. And I'm waiting to see how the new head of the dnc, Jim Martin, is going to do things, which I hope are substantially different than the former head, Jamie Harrison. Because allowing Trump and this team, allowing Elon Musk to do things like this, all that, all that's happening at this point in time is there's groups of law firms that are out there, democracy law firms, they call themselves, who are filing injunctions preventing kids like this 19, 20 year old from having the access or Elon Musk being authorized to allow people. Imagine that Elon Musk, who's not even, I don't know, is Doge a department? Is it an agency? We don't know what the hell it is it.
- [19:02]
Jim Acosta
But I've covered Politics for nearly 20 years in D.C. covered two presidential administrations. Elon Musk is apparently a special government employee or something along those lines. Where he, he's basically like a contractor to the government. He has a staff that has office space, apparently the eeob, but at the same time, they appear to be unaccountable, unelectable. I mean, what the hell is going on?
- [19:31]
Michael Cohen
And given the full set of keys to the doors. I mean, that's the thing. I worked for Congressman Joe Moakley in 1987 when I was a junior in college. And then 88, part Moakley and then part Michael Dukakis. I remember walking around with the badge keys. Nobody had keys to the castle. Elon Musk, who is not even an elected official, is part of an organization, this Doge Department of Government Efficiency. We don't know if it's a department, is it an agency, is it a program? I have no idea what it even is, but he's literally capable of, of bringing his kid into the Oval Office during a press conference to answer questions while the President sat there looking sort of very secondhand. And as somebody, again, who has watched Trump do this now since 2006, 2007, I've never seen Trump look like that. Being second fiddle, this guy has the authority to give to 19, 20, 21 year olds all the keys to the castle.
- [20:40]
Jim Acosta
I don't get it. But, but, Michael, it's more than just what's happening at Doge. Our justice system has been turned upside down. This is something that just came out today, New York Times reporting. Trump said on Monday, that's today. He had nominated the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, Ed Martin, a far right election denier who sat on a board that raised cash for the Capitol riders, according to the New York Times, and push for their, their, their pardons and so on, to run the office on a permanent basis. Trump has named Ed Martin, an election denier to run the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C. apparently, Ed Martin was, was on the premises at the, on the capitol grounds during January 6th and so on. I mean, this is just outrageous that somebody like this.
- [21:30]
Michael Cohen
No, it's Jim. I'm sorry. It's expected.
- [21:33]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [21:34]
Michael Cohen
Donald Trump told you who he was during the beginning of the campaign, all the way through. If you are an election denier, there is no seat for you at the table. So it is no surprise that this individual is an election denier who now received this very significant position there in D.C. servant. Anybody who is not an election denier, anybody that doesn't believe, for example, that 60 Minutes did things improper, or ABC with Stephanopoulos or MSNBC or CBS or any of them. Right. Anybody that doesn't believe whatever it is that Trump says does not have a seat at the table.
- [22:18]
Jim Acosta
He wants an administration, and I'm not saying this in a hyperbolic way or he wants an administration of Kool Aid drinkers. He wants an administration of people who will turn the truth upside down, who will look through the looking glass like Alice in Wonderland and see up as down and black as white. It is outrageous. I mean, to think that you would put an election denier in at the U.S. attorney's office is just unreal to me. And the fact that you have a whole. You have a whole slew of election deniers throughout the federal government now. I mean, this is the problem. And, and these are the folks who are going to try to whitewash January 6th, what took place on January 6th, whitewash what took place in the 2020 election. Trump trying to overturn the 2020 election, and so on.
- [23:04]
Michael Cohen
Now, tell that to the sick Nick family. Tell that to my friend Harry Dunn, or tell that to any of the other officers that were beaten, battered, or unfortunately now deceased. Say it to them about how that January 6th didn't take place, that the defendants are not insurrectionists, but rather mere hostages and defendants in weaponization of the Department of Justice. We are in a very, very dangerous place.
- [23:37]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [23:37]
Michael Cohen
We are, as far as the future of our democratic republic is concerned. And one of the things, again, we have to blame ourselves. I didn't throw out those numbers for just no point. 93% of the GOP, which amounts to approximately 30%, 33% of our country. It's very simple, the math here. 1 3rd Republican, 1 3rd Democrat, 1 3rd Independent. Now, it's not exactly. But just for math sake and simplicity, that's how we'll do it. 93%. Let's even give him the additional 7%. He's got the entire Republican Party literally in his fist. And that's why we're watching as people who are completely unqualified to run certain departments are receiving their confirmations because the senators, the GOP senators are feckless. They are spineless, and they don't care as long as Donald Trump leaves them alone and doesn't primary them because they don't give a crap about the country. They only care about their power and their position.
- [24:51]
Jim Acosta
Well, and many of these Republicans will tell you privately that they know all too well that what is taking place right now is, is not. Is not good. And that what Trump is up to is obviously highly destructive and is going to cause many problems in this country for a long Long time. And there's also the matter, Michael, of what is taking place in New York City. The mayor there, Eric Adams, according to the top prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, who just resigned, she is alleging that there's some sort of quid pro quo type of arrangement between Eric Adams and the Trump administration, that he's going to get a pardon in exchange for help helping Trump carry out these mass deportations. This is the latest thing that just came out today, the New York Times. Four top New York City officials are expected to resign in the coming days after the outgoing U.S. attorney for Manhattan accused the mayor of trading cooperation with that mass deportation agenda for a dismissal, I should say a dismissal of his criminal indictment. That's according to three people with knowledge of the plan. That's according to the New York Times. I mean, it's.
- [25:58]
Michael Cohen
You're not, again, what is happening to.
- [26:00]
Jim Acosta
Our justice system in this country.
- [26:02]
Michael Cohen
Yeah, you're not talking one person here. You're talking to three people with knowledge. Let me be clear. This is not new. This is not the first time that Donald Trump has weaponized the Department of Justice. I wrote an entire book, revenge, about it. All right? Let me be clear about something. You don't even need to take my word for it. Jeffrey Berman, who was the head, he was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York appointed by Trump while he recused himself for the case. That original case dealing with me went ahead and he was contacted, literally, Bill Barr contacted Jeffrey Berman several times to talk about whitewashing all the charges that were brought against me so that Trump's name would be literally expunged from those charges. And only other charges that had nothing to do with Trump should be piled on. Jeffrey Berman didn't. He was another coward. Didn't have the decency to go ahead and to contact the authorities. Didn't tell, certainly my lawyer didn't tell the acting attorney, who was a guy named Kazami, didn't tell anybody. But, you know when he decided to release that information? When he got a book deal.
- [27:22]
Jim Acosta
Unbelievable.
- [27:23]
Michael Cohen
When he got a book deal. So this is not new to Trump. He knows this playbook and he's going to play it again and again and again because so far, he hasn't been stopped.
- [27:34]
Jim Acosta
Well, Michael, what I think we need to do is. I like the idea of Michael Mondays. Yeah, we, we burned through 30 minutes pretty quickly there. And, you know, I just, you know, I'm a little concerned that, I mean, I just want to know what you think, Michael. I mean, when, how what is your sense of how we should handle all of this moving forward? Because when you see Trump go out there and he sound, he's sounding like Napoleon, basically saying if you're, if you're trying to save the country, it's okay to break the law, in his view. I mean, that's a signal in so many different ways. It's a signal to himself, obviously, in light of that Supreme Court immunity decision. Like you were saying, I saw some people making the comment that it's a signal to people like the folks he pardoned from January 6, that these are folks who could sort of act like his personal militia moving forward. I mean, there's just a lot of different ways to look at this that I find deeply concerning. But it sounds like what you were saying earlier, Michael, is that you can't, you can't get so upset about this that you're foaming at the mouth and engaging in ad hominem attacks. Let's expand on that just a little bit before, before we let you go. I think that's a very important comment.
- [28:56]
Michael Cohen
Yeah, it is, because there is a way within which to get the misinformation, disinformation, mal information.
- [29:07]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [29:08]
Michael Cohen
Out of the. We'll call it the news ecosphere. Right. And that's like with shows like yours or with substack shows like yours or, or mine or like, you know, with our various different podcasts and so on, you have to listen to facts. But that's where, that's where people have.
- [29:27]
Jim Acosta
A right to be pissed. I'm just going to say right now, by the way, absolute right to be pissed. I do not say in any way, shape or form that you don't have a right to be pissed.
- [29:37]
Michael Cohen
Absolutely have a right to be pissed, by the way. Right. There's only one problem. The plurality of Americans elected Donald Trump in 2024. All right? Our job is to flood the news sphere, the news ecosphere, with facts, hard facts. And you see how, like when you and I always engage in these conversations, we're talking about the same thing. Right. We stay with two or three topics and that's it. The problem that Jamie Harris and Democrats made, they made it too difficult. Trump beat the entire Democratic narrative with three words, gasoline and groceries. He did it the first time around with build the wall or Lock her up. He's a three word Charlie. Right. And that's how he beat the Democrats again in 2024. And I want to be clear, what we need to do is stay on just a few topics and each and every individual who has your platform, you, your voice, your knowledge and your, and your passion for the truth have to be out there with the same message because Democrats are always on their own message, for God's sakes. You had Mark Cuban on one message. You had what's his name from LinkedIn on another message, Jim Acosta on a third message, Michael Cohen on a fourth message, Midas Touch Network on a fifth message. And everybody on the same message, which is what I watched and I was a part of in 2016, where every day message boards were sent out to every single what you want, who was part of the team. They got the same comments. It's why when you listen to Republicans, they're always using the same words. They always just parrot one another. So it's repetition, like the McDonald's or the burger King jingle.
- [31:42]
Jim Acosta
That's right. That's right. And, and you know, I, yeah, you got to take your hat off to the messaging discipline and so on. There's no question about it. Michael, let's keep doing this. We're going to make Michael Mondays a thing. And the great Michael Cohen, great to see you as always. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it. See you next time on this program. Michael Cohen, thanks very much.
- [32:03]
Michael Cohen
Thank you, Jim.
- [32:04]
Jim Acosta
Good to see you. Followers, thanks for your commitment. Appreciate it always. All right, that was Michael Cohen, everybody. Now, the next thing I want to try to do here is I want to bring in somebody who has just joined Substack. So this is going to be one of those experiences. We sort of had something like this happen the other day where we were. I can't, I think it was maybe Carvel or somebody like that. I'm going to try to bring on April Ryan into the, into this discussion in just a moment. I love April Ryan so much. She was my colleague. She and I were colleagues in the White House correspondence press corps there back during the first Trump administration, also during the second Obama administration. I was there with April. April, of course, predated my work there at the White House. She's been working hard at the White House for many, many years. And she has a lot of great perspectives on all of this because April, you know, she is another person who calls him like she sees him, and that's what makes her just absolutely a national treasure. And I'm going to try to get April into this discussion and we're going to do that in just a moment. The other thing I want to tell you about, as we're bringing in April, some other news to tell you about. Ukraine, Washington Post reporting that top U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss the war in Ukraine as Washington and Moscow race to advance Trump's bid to broker an end to the conflict and potentially conclude a long period of frigid relations. That, according to the Washington Post. That's, that's a lot of flowery language coming from the Washington Post. Very well written article there. But basically, to boil it down, Marco Rubio is going to Riyadh to have a discussion with the Russians about the future of Ukraine. One of the questions, of course, that needs to be asked about in all of this is where does Ukraine fit in to these discussions? Ukraine obviously has to have a seat and at the table. The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been courageously battling the Russians to defend his country, has been asking. He was just on Meet the Press with Crispin Walker the other day saying he wants to be at the table for those discussions. And so that's a highly important thing that needs to be asked in all of this. And, of course, if the US and the Russians think that they can just negotiate an end of the war in Ukraine without the Ukrainians at the table, it's just not going to work. First of all, the Ukrainians, they don't want to be left out of the discussion, and they still want to fight for their country. And so that. That's critically important. Now, I'm trying to bring Abel Ryan into all of this because I want to talk about another thing that, you know, you've been watching this program. Last week, you heard me talking about the way that the Trump White House has been going after the Associated Press because the Associated Press refuses to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. So they've taken away the Associated Press's spot in the White House pool when it comes to covering the president in the Oval Office, when it comes to being on Air Force One and so on, I want to bring April into this. I am trying to bring her in as we speak. And there she is. There's April Ryan right there. April Ryan. Great to see you. It was like pushing buttons. And then April appeared magically. How are you?
- [35:29]
April Ryan
Hi, Jim. I'm good. This President's Day is very interesting. Oh, thank you, guys. I see all the hearts.
- [35:36]
Jim Acosta
Look at all these hearts.
- [35:37]
April Ryan
We're back together again. Hello, everybody. We're back under crazy circumstances yet again.
- [35:44]
Jim Acosta
Yes, yes, as you like to call me, your brother from another mother and you are my sister from another mister. Yes, we got that out of the way. And you wrote about President's Day today, April. And why did you want to write about it? Obviously, we're seeing some unpresidential behavior these days. We're in interesting times as we. As some of us, like to say.
- [36:04]
April Ryan
Yeah, why did I write about President's Day? Because when you think about the day, you have to be honest with yourself.
- [36:13]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [36:14]
April Ryan
And the honesty is today. I don't recognize what I've covered for the last 28 years. I don't recognize it at all. From the mug shot on the wall leading into the Oval Office to the doge, this new organization called doge, they.
- [36:42]
Jim Acosta
Have the mug shot hanging outside the Oval Office.
- [36:45]
April Ryan
You didn't know that? Oh, the New York Times, a bunch of.
- [36:48]
Jim Acosta
Oh, my God, yes.
- [36:51]
Michael Cohen
Are you.
- [36:52]
Jim Acosta
People are saying, yes, I missed that one.
- [36:53]
April Ryan
I talked about that this morning. Child, you need to call me more. So look. But that. And then you have Doge. Doge going to the IRS today to make it leaner. But how do you make it leaner when you're getting people's information? This administration, the first time we know this, they're retaliatory in the worst ways. I don't want to say a name that I've already seen, but I saw something that was on. I saw something was already on social about somebody they went after. They talked about how much money they have, how many millions of dollars, the houses they had, they had, et cetera. That stuff is private.
- [37:47]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [37:49]
April Ryan
That stuff is dangerous to have in the wrong hands.
- [37:54]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [37:58]
April Ryan
I'm trying to make it make sense, but where it's going. Yeah, I'm trying.
- [38:09]
Jim Acosta
I know. And it makes you wonder, what should we take more seriously? When Trump is. When Trump is out there sounding like Napoleon on social media and saying, you know, basically implying that he's above the law, or should we be paying more attention to Elon Musk? Getting access is people getting access to the IRS and all of that sensitive personal data. I mean, it's almost one of those. Like Rachel Maddow says, don't watch what they say, watch what they do. I mean, to me, that's extraordinary.
- [38:38]
April Ryan
And I'm gonna go even further. Maya Angelou said, when they show you who they are, the first time, believe them. So, look, so here's the deal. You say Trump is trying. Trump, or trying to present the picture that he's above the law. He is above the law. A convicted felon with his mugshot outside the Oval Office is President of the United States. He has been a convicted felon. He has been impeached twice. This is fad. He is President of the United States. Now, when it comes to Elon Musk, I'm reading your comments. Somebody said he's proud of it. He is. Because that photo is like his victory photo. It's his victory lap. I beat it. I'm Superman. They tried to get me, and I'm still here.
- [39:32]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [39:33]
April Ryan
When it comes to Elon Musk, this situation is dangerous. There's so many conflicts of interest. His organization is now going to the FAA or trying to deal with air traffic control and stuff.
- [39:49]
Michael Cohen
Right.
- [39:52]
Jim Acosta
Faa, cdc, you name it.
- [39:54]
April Ryan
First of all, they. They fired so many people in the FAA prior to.
- [40:00]
Jim Acosta
Yep.
- [40:01]
April Ryan
And then we had this deadly plane crash above the Potomac. Nobody's talking about that.
- [40:08]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [40:09]
April Ryan
And then we've had subsequent more plane crashes because they're cutting. See, what people don't understand is they are cutting into these departments. They are cutting essential people. Not knowing exactly what you're doing, you're crackling the workforce. Right. They're cutting the workforce. And, you know, it's at our expense. Think about this. The cdc. There are seven airborne viruses right now in this nation to include the flu that I'm trying to get over that I got at the White House. Jim.
- [40:41]
Jim Acosta
I'm sure. I'm sure you did. I did.
- [40:42]
April Ryan
No, no, no, no, no. I did.
- [40:44]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [40:44]
April Ryan
And I'm on antibiotics now. But no one from the CDC is talking about this. There is. People are talking about the bird flu. We haven't heard anyone talk about this because they have gutted the cdc. They have already fired the vaccine investigators.
- [41:02]
Jim Acosta
Unreal.
- [41:05]
April Ryan
But the face of health is who. Robert Kennedy Jr. So we are gutting things. We don't know what we're doing and why. And then you wonder why planes are hitting each other and falling out the sky. You wonder why we're getting sick and nobody's talking about it. And then. Let's talk about the irs.
- [41:25]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [41:26]
April Ryan
If you're making it leaner. It's about dealing with the people. Why are you going into our information? They're trying to cut education. What does that do for people in iep, those public school programs? What does it do for people who need the kids, who need special education? Does it mean that we have to send our kids to private school? Many of us can't afford it.
- [41:52]
Jim Acosta
That's right. The public school system is one of the. I mean, it's one of the pillars of this country. Think about what public education has done for America. I mean, I wouldn't be here Without a public education. I went to Fairfax county public schools. So great.
- [42:07]
April Ryan
Baltimore, Baltimore City and Baltimore county for me. But what they're trying to do is make it states rights. You know, the states. The states are in charge of the programming and everything. And then they're saying, if you teach woke black. Let's just call woke is black or brown. If you teach anything about the history, you get federal funding, funding extracted. I don't know where we're going, but this is scary. And right now, going back to the irs, why, if you're going to make it leaner, cut staff.
- [42:39]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [42:41]
April Ryan
Why are you going into people's private information? Because we know there's retaliatory mindset there and the information received will be used against people.
- [42:49]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, well. And that's the scary thing. And they'll say up and down. Oh, no, we would never do anything like that. And I mean, it just makes me wonder, well, why do they have somebody who is a digital whiz kid going into this? Why are they giving him access to this kind of information? I mean, it just seems to me.
- [43:06]
April Ryan
Him and his son, he and his son go into places together like they did the Oval Office.
- [43:12]
Jim Acosta
This is not Disney World. This is not, you know, this is. We're not going for a ride on Space Mountain here. This is the private information of millions of Americans. And April, I do want to ask you, because you're a veteran White House correspondent. You've been there longer than just about anybody in that White House.
- [43:27]
April Ryan
28 years. I'm the longest serving black White House correspondent. Yeah, there you go.
- [43:33]
Jim Acosta
Say it. You can say it on my show every time you come on.
- [43:36]
April Ryan
And our numbers are going up. People are watching. Guys, we miss each other. And I'm glad that there's a place to talk. Jim, thank you for this, people. Somebody just said, get Pete Buttigieg. He's probably trying to lay. Everybody is laying low. They're terrified.
- [43:51]
Jim Acosta
It is. It's a scary time. But what about this thing with the Associated Press? Because the Associated Press won't say Gulf of America. I've said on my program. I said it on my program last week. I'm not going to say golf of America. You can do whatever you want. You can. You can get as many.
- [44:05]
April Ryan
What are you doing to the dog?
- [44:07]
Jim Acosta
There's a little dog out. There's a little dog that's friends with Duke who wants to play. And they're just going to have to wait. They're just going to have to wait. I do want to get into this because having worked at the White House under Trump, and they took my press pass and they tried to come after you, and they.
- [44:24]
April Ryan
Yes, immediately. Because if you. If they would have taken yours, I would have been out of there. I'll never forget that. Was that. Was. That was the press conference right after the midterm elections.
- [44:35]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [44:35]
April Ryan
And they tried to say, you guys will remember. I remember it like it was yesterday. You were trying to hold onto the mic and the intern was trying to take it, and they tried to make it seem like you.
- [44:46]
Jim Acosta
They did the doctor video.
- [44:47]
April Ryan
Yeah, yeah. Doctor video. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was the White House press secretary at the time. And then I was sitting up maybe two rows in or three rows in from the podium, and I said, Mr. President, what about voter suppression? I have your voter suppression. And he responded to me. So when he responded, I said, I didn't tell you to stand up. Sit down. And I was like, but when a president of the United States responds to you for the reverence to the office, you stand up, you give him reverence.
- [45:18]
Michael Cohen
That's right.
- [45:19]
Jim Acosta
You try. I tried.
- [45:20]
April Ryan
And then it just proceeding. It just went down a bad road.
- [45:27]
Jim Acosta
You can go back and look at that press conference, and you can ask the question, who was the rudest person in the room that day? And there's no question about it. It was Donald Trump. He was the rudest person in the room on that day.
- [45:37]
April Ryan
That was a press conference where Yamiche had asked, are you a white nationalist? That press conference was off the chain. And then the next day, I'm minding my business. He's supposed to be going somewhere. I get a call from the company that we used to work from. He's talking about. I said, what is he saying? I'm trying to get myself together for the day. And he said, well, he's talking about you, how you might be next. I said, okay. So I listened to it, and I was in shock. He said that April Ryan is rude. I was in shock because what the press is there to do is we have done, you and I together, along with the Associated Press, who's been there since pooling began.
- [46:18]
Jim Acosta
Exactly.
- [46:19]
April Ryan
Since pooling began. They are the standard bear. They write the style book for how we speak, how we write, how you read, what is written by the press. We are there to ask questions of a United States president when checks and balances are gone. The. The founding white fathers of this nation, who I'm sure had slaves wrote into the Constitution, First Amendment, freedom of the press. Because when the checks and balances don't balance out or check out. The accountability falls on us.
- [46:53]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [46:53]
April Ryan
And the problem is you have people in power who feel. How dare you even ask me a question. But we're not asking a question for us. We're asking questions that the American people want answers to. That's right. Of questioning an American president. And without giving the person's name. It's out there. It's out there. She's a friend. Like, you know how you and I call each other?
- [47:19]
Jim Acosta
Yep.
- [47:19]
April Ryan
I reached out to that reporter. Are you okay?
- [47:22]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [47:23]
April Ryan
And they said yes. And I said, if you need anything, just let me know. But here's the thing. One of the reporters, the first reporter, was not the person. This person who's gotten the brunt of it, but the person who's gotten the brunt of it, from the airplane to going in, happens to be a black woman.
- [47:42]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. Darlene. Yeah.
- [47:44]
April Ryan
I. I'm not saying any names.
- [47:46]
Jim Acosta
Okay. Sorry. You're right. But I love her, and I. I work with her as well. And the people at the Associated Press, I just want to say, are absolutely wonderful people. We're competitive. We bump into each other, go into these press conferences and stuff like that, but they're absolutely dedicated, hardworking people. And, April, what is the answer to this? Because I think the AP should take the administration to court. I think there should be op EDS in every newspaper for every news organization.
- [48:13]
April Ryan
Okay, that part. Okay. You're right about that. It's about the First Amendment, the fight for the First Amendment. It's about the fight for the pillars that the Founding Fathers put in place. That's being challenged by this administration.
- [48:29]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [48:30]
April Ryan
You know, when we talk about patriotism, patriotism is adhering to what the founding. The principles that the Founding Fathers put in place, but these are not being adhered to now. There's a reshaping of government and laws without voting for it, without. You know, it's.
- [48:49]
Jim Acosta
But don't you think that they're trying to. This is a test case. They're going to punish the AP for not calling it the Gulf of America. They've already. One of the. But Reuters is doing the same thing, and they're saying. And they're saying that, you know, because of the other things that they've reported on over the years that, you know, the Associated Press has done all these bad things. Baloney. They're covering the news. They're in almost every country in the world. They're in every state. Billions of people consume their news. And they're absolutely Essential. And I just wonder if the press needs to do something more than just, oh, well, you know, here they go, going after the ap.
- [49:24]
April Ryan
Let me say this, let me say this. One of the things we have to do is to continue to go in and report, to continue to do our work. And AP has even with this shaking or rattling, Jim, they are going in doing their work. The reporters have flown. They didn't get on Air Force One, but they've flown to Florida to do their work. And the great thing about it is many of our colleagues are like, okay, so this is what's going on. They're giving them information to help out because this is an unprecedented time. I knew the first day when we went into that briefing room, that's the day I got sick, actually. But the first day we went into the briefing room, when they said. When Caroline Levitt said, we will have Breitbart and Axios. And that's true, too. I'm going to give them this, that there are organizations out here, new organizations, social media organizations that have more followers than some of the traditional organizations. I give them that. Yeah, that's bad.
- [50:30]
Jim Acosta
That's fine.
- [50:30]
April Ryan
However, how do we do this? How do we change this? How do we make it so that everyone can ask a question instead of, I'm gonna take your seat. You not flying on the plane?
- [50:44]
Jim Acosta
Well, and that's my question is, at what point does the press have to do more? You know, I've said that maybe, you know, outlets should think about not going to the briefings if they're going to be.
- [50:55]
April Ryan
I don't know. No, no, no, no, no. I don't agree with that. I don't agree. And I'm going to tell you why I don't agree with that.
- [51:00]
Jim Acosta
Please.
- [51:00]
April Ryan
Yeah, go ahead, Jim. And I understand why you would say you want to boycott or pick it. I don't agree with that. And the reason why I don't agree with that.
- [51:08]
Jim Acosta
Go ahead.
- [51:10]
April Ryan
On the international front and on the domestic front, we need to know what's going on. And if we don't show up, the only information that the American public and the world will get are those tweets from the president. No, I hear that you don't have anyone with the accountability and adding. So that's the piece that I fear. We need to still be there.
- [51:34]
Jim Acosta
I agree. I agree. I do wonder, though, if. If it's the AP today, who it is tomorrow, and you know that, you know that, do they start going down the list? Well, you guys aren't saying Gulf of America, now you're punished. And you're not saying Gulf of America or you did this thing the other day that you said something that was not nice about the president. Now you're going to get punished. And at some point, you know, are we going to do more than just go in there and take it? I mean, that's just my question.
- [52:05]
April Ryan
I mean, you know, when I'm gonna say this. I learned a lot from the first time, okay, from that first administration. I'm sitting in a house that I had to move my house for this. You know, my husband's sitting on the other side listening to this, fuming. Okay? He's sitting right here fuming because of what happened the first time.
- [52:24]
Jim Acosta
I remember.
- [52:25]
April Ryan
And he doesn't want.
- [52:26]
Jim Acosta
You got threats. I know.
- [52:27]
April Ryan
Yeah, you got threats, threats. I got threats. And he's like, he doesn't want to see this happen again. What we need to do is continue to do our work and be professional. They're going to be upset. AP is not the only one doing this. Reuters is doing the same thing, calling it the Gulf of Mexico. Still.
- [52:47]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [52:48]
April Ryan
You know, I don't want you to.
- [52:49]
Jim Acosta
Get in trouble, April, for saying that by saying Gulf of Mexico.
- [52:52]
April Ryan
You know, but it. But. But this is. These are waters that not just our maps look at, but maps from around the world. You know, people, this is deeper than just. I'm just going to rename it. Aren't there some other things you have to do to rename it? Aren't you supposed to go for international bodies?
- [53:12]
Jim Acosta
I mean, to me, that's the crazy thing about this, is that is he just going to start renaming states and, you know, Washington, D.C. and there's a congresswoman from New York who wants Trump's birthday to be a holiday.
- [53:24]
April Ryan
I mean, I saw that today.
- [53:27]
Jim Acosta
At some point, the madness needs to stop. That's all I'm saying. Maybe we don't have to boycott. Maybe we go in there and keep. I've seen a couple people make the comment. April, donate to the Associated Press. And that is a beautiful thing to do for folks who don't understand. The Associated Press is a cooperative news organization that does rely on reader support. So if folks want to go out there, I'll say it right now. I encourage folks to support the Associated Press. Donate to the Associated Press. I'm going to do it today, I'm going to do it tonight, and let's try to help these guys out.
- [53:59]
April Ryan
Good for you. I'm happy that you want to do that. But for me, there are other Things. I think what I have to do is continue to do my job. Like that story today that I wrote that's on substack, about the discontent of the problem presidency. We explain in these last 28 years that I've been a White House correspondent, how things have devolved, right? And it's not just from social media, because think of this. Somebody brought it up. Keith Boykin. I love Keith Boykin. He brought up a great point. He said, well, I don't think it just started during Bill Clinton. I said, yeah, but he said, well, what about Nixon? What about lbj? I said, but think about this. I said, we were talking about the modern age and social media and all of that played into it. But during Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton was the first president where the personal attacks were public. And that's when it all started. Bill Clinton started to devolve. And then you had George W. Bush and questions of the legitimacy of if he were president or not. Not because of his race, not because of where he was born, but because there was that fight, remember, with pregnant chads. Hanging chad.
- [55:08]
Jim Acosta
Oh, yeah.
- [55:09]
April Ryan
He and Al Gore.
- [55:10]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [55:10]
April Ryan
Remember that?
- [55:10]
Jim Acosta
Of course. Of course.
- [55:11]
April Ryan
I remember being in Nashville with Al Gore when he was getting ready to concede and he pulled back. I said, oh, my gosh.
- [55:17]
Jim Acosta
But, April, George W. Bush, correct me if I'm mistaken here, was always respectful and kind towards you.
- [55:24]
April Ryan
Oh, he was, yeah. Yeah, he was. He was. He was great towards me. Yeah, he was great. And we. I have had a great relationship with every president I've covered. I have. It's been challenging with this president the first term. I have not had an issue yet. I'm going in to work. I'm not going in to cause fights. But you know what? I'm going to ask, you know, the questions, and, you know, I'm going to follow up.
- [55:58]
Jim Acosta
A tough question is not picking a fight.
- [56:01]
April Ryan
I'm not picking a fight.
- [56:02]
Jim Acosta
That's an important, important question that you ask in a pointed fashion, perhaps. Maybe it's more pointed for me than other folks.
- [56:12]
April Ryan
I'm not going to pick a fight. I'm going in there to ask questions about a community that is underserved, a community that has the highest numbers of negatives in almost every category, not just the black community. But, you know, I ask questions about everything all the time.
- [56:27]
Jim Acosta
All the time. That's exactly right. And we need folks like you, April, doing the work. I've toyed with the idea of, you know, maybe I should go and re, you know, apply for a white trespass. Oh, Lord, April, what do you think about that? Should I reapply for a press.
- [56:46]
April Ryan
And I'll be videoing the whole thing?
- [56:49]
Jim Acosta
I don't want to cause any heart attacks over there at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But I have thought about, should I go out there and reapply?
- [56:55]
April Ryan
You're a journalist, Your journalist.
- [56:58]
Jim Acosta
I'm right here on Substack, which is a great outlet. I've been writing pieces already. They may not like the pieces that I write. They may not like the questions that I ask, but, you know, it's my constitutional right to do that. And I. You know, when you have Elon Musk going on social media saying that the people at 60 Minutes deserve long prison.
- [57:17]
April Ryan
Sentences, 60 Minutes is a standard bearer of news. My God.
- [57:22]
Jim Acosta
Anyway, they're going after the AP, they're going after 60 Minutes. That's what they're trying to do.
- [57:26]
April Ryan
But see, they went after me the first time because they thought I was by myself and they could do it. But now they realized I wasn't going anywhere. And I've heard that President Trump said that I have a backbone. He was surprised. Everybody was surprised. I'm like, why were you surprised? I didn't do anything wrong.
- [57:44]
Jim Acosta
And he will respect people who stand their ground. People he will respect people who stand tough and ask the hard questions. May not like it, but my experience has been he will respect it. He may not like you, but he will respect it much more than the people that kiss his butt.
- [58:01]
April Ryan
I'm going to tell you this. This is uncharted territory. The first term of Donald John Trump was an experiment. And I think people heard. People heard the impeachment twice. They saw January 6th, but then when. And that's one of the reasons why Joe Biden won. But Joe Biden did not follow through on some of the promises. And I believe that's why they were not extended a second term. Donald Trump got 3. 3 million more people. The Democrats lost 7 million that they could have had.
- [58:47]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, very true.
- [58:49]
April Ryan
It's not about eggs.
- [58:51]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, you're right.
- [58:53]
April Ryan
It's not about eggs. It was not about the price of eggs. Trust me.
- [58:57]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, well, April, let's keep this conversation going. I love the fact that we got you on. We got you on Substack. You are.
- [59:04]
April Ryan
This is my first Substack video I had. Look, today on presidency. I wrote my first article for Substack, and I'm on the video now. Guys, if you. You want to follow me, I am now @ black press USA. Follow me there. All of my stuff. I'm gonna start putting a lot of my stories here on subsidiary. Can I do that? Put my stuff.
- [59:25]
Jim Acosta
Absolutely. You can. I'll show you. We'll show you.
- [59:27]
April Ryan
Yeah. Because I'm just learning.
- [59:30]
Jim Acosta
We'll all get. We're on Team April here.
- [59:32]
April Ryan
I'm on Team Jim. I've always been Team Jim. It's my brother from another mother. But look, since we've been on here, we've jumped by a thousand people. So you need to have me on a little bit more.
- [59:42]
Jim Acosta
I think so. I. We do this on a weekly basis is what we need to do. April. Ryan, I. I just love you to death. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Right back to you. Give my best to your husband and all your loved ones. Thank you.
- [59:55]
April Ryan
Right here. He's. He's. He's kind of. He's. He's pensive. He's like, oh, gosh. Because this is a. Mom serious. This is one of those moments that people. We gotta pray for one another who have to go into that building because you don't know. You don't know what it looks like, what it tastes like, what it feels like.
- [60:14]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [60:15]
April Ryan
And when you walk out, you don't know what you're going to be faced with. So it's right.
- [60:18]
Jim Acosta
I love. And I love those guys dearly. The folks in the press corps, foreign press as well. They're just wonderful people. And. And of course you most more than any of them. But.
- [60:31]
April Ryan
But I'm going to say this to you before I go. And I'm gonna let you go. I've talked too long and too much.
- [60:36]
Jim Acosta
No, you're wonderful.
- [60:36]
April Ryan
But listen, when we were there and I remember this. People were calling us hams. And they were like, ah. And when we. I remember when I went for help. Well, what do you want us to do? People from the. Then in the Association. Correspondence Association. We had to take it upon ourselves.
- [60:54]
Jim Acosta
I remember.
- [60:55]
April Ryan
You know, and they were calling us hands. But look at what's happening now.
- [60:59]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [61:01]
April Ryan
So.
- [61:03]
Jim Acosta
But that's why we're going to be there for them and I. Oh, I am. Yeah. And we're going to support our colleagues and our friends in the press. And I'm always on Team April. I'll be there every step of the way. Let's follow April's reporting everywhere she goes.
- [61:18]
April Ryan
Oh, thank you, April.
- [61:20]
Jim Acosta
It's great to talk to you. Thank you so much.
- [61:22]
April Ryan
It's great to be with you. You look good. You look better than you did on tv.
- [61:26]
Jim Acosta
I'm much more relaxed now.
- [61:27]
April Ryan
I know.
- [61:28]
Michael Cohen
Doesn't it do that to you?
- [61:29]
Jim Acosta
My blood pressure's come down, like, 100%.
- [61:34]
April Ryan
All right, you take care of yourself. Love you.
- [61:36]
Jim Acosta
All right. Love you, too, April. Take care. All right, have a great day. Bye. Bye. All right, folks, the great April Ryan. I can't end it any better than that. April is one of my favorite people in the entire world. You can just tell that when she reports. She does it from the heart, and that's what makes her so special. Thanks to everybody for joining me on this Monday, on this President's Day, and thanks to Michael Cohen as well. Really appreciate everybody joining us. And I'll see you tomorrow. Take care, everybody. Have a good one.