← The Jim Acosta Show
The Jim Acosta Show
Olivia Troye and Chuck Rocha On Trump's Dictator Birthday Bash, the Brutal Treatment of Sen. Padilla, and the need for a new Latino political movement in this country.
01:02:43
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- [00:00]
Jim Acosta
It is. And welcome to the Jim Acosta show on this Friday. It is a mess. Trump's presidency is unraveling. His promises to be a peacemaker and unifier are going up in smoke in both Los Angeles and especially in the Middle east right now. Trump promised a golden age. This looks more like a shit show, and it's getting worse by the day, as you can see. With me, my guest, Olivia Troy. Chuck Rocha joining a little later on. But, Olivia, I mean, here's what Trump promised during his second inaugural address. Not that he was serious about this, but this is what he said. He said, quote, my proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That's what I want, to be, a peacemaker and a unifier. He also said our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable. He said stop all wars. And look what's happening in the Middle east right now. The US Military is helping intercept missiles that Iran is firing in retaliation at Israel as we speak.
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Chuck Rocha
Yeah.
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Olivia Troy
You know, he ran an entire campaign about that. Right. He said that all the things that were happening during the Biden administration wouldn't happen under him if he was in the Oval Office. And how's that playing out? So here we are. And, you know, my bigger concern, Jim, is the fact that with Biden, we knew that we had foreign policy professionals, experts across the board, regardless of whether you agree with their, you know, views or stances or how they conduct the foreign policy. Regardless of we did have people that knew what the heck they were doing. Now we are in an administration where they have. The first thing I thought about with this attack was the fact that they've just gutted the National Security Council. So right now that would be turning into a 24 hour machine of response right now, trying to figure out, like, where it stands, where's the intelligence, how the briefings are coming along, where are military civilians, American civilians, like what the targets are, potentially all of this would be happening in discussions. And I'm just curious as to who is in the driver's seat for these things, because when you look at the personalities of the people running policy right now in the Trump White House, at the nsc, all of the experts and professionals have pretty much been sent home.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I remember after October 7th, when Biden was in office, Tony Blinken was doing a lot of shuttle diplomacy. He was going back and forth from Washington to the Middle east. And, you know, the Biden administration was doing its Best to, you know, persuade Prime Minister Netanyahu to not allow this to become a wider regional conflict because of the unpredictable nature of it. You just don't know where it's going to go, how big it's going to get, how deadly it's going to get. As you can see right now, Iran is firing these retaliatory strikes, and some of those are penetrating that iron dome that Trump wants to emulate.
- [02:46]
Olivia Troy
Yeah. And Trump said he was going to stay out of this. Right. That was the first thing he said at the beginning. His first statement was, I'm staying out of this.
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Jim Acosta
Well, right.
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Olivia Troy
We're not. We're involved. And, you know, I'm just curious as to what was really happening then during these negotiations with Iran, because now here we are today. So what actually was the plan here? Was there an actual plan and strategic plan? Was there coordination? I mean, what did we know? When did we know it? These are all the questions that I think the Hills should be asking if we can actually, you know, get any sort of semblance of diplomacy happening in the Hill, given everything that's happening on a daily basis, where we can actually have serious discussions about foreign policy again for our country. But I think we're far from that right now, given the way the Republicans are behaving and a lot of the mudsling and, you know.
- [03:34]
Jim Acosta
Oh, no question about it. And I want to get to that in a segment because you worked on the national security staff for Mike Pence during the first Trump administration. You know how these things go down. And the first time around, you had serious individuals in some of these very important jobs. H.R. mcMaster, you had James Mattis, General James Mattis as the Defense Secretary. This time around, you have Pete Hegseth.
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Olivia Troy
Yeah. Imagine the coordination on signal right now. I wonder what's going on.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah, right.
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Olivia Troy
I kind of hope that they add, like, I really want to get added. How do I get in?
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Jim Acosta
Yeah, I fucked out. That's a chat room you don't want to be in. Honestly, it comes with. It comes with some other stuff that we don't want to talk about on this program.
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Olivia Troy
It comes with fist pumps.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah. But I mean, look at the backdrop that we're going to see this weekend. We have this military parade and Kim Jong Un dictator birthday bash for Donald Trump. Dan Scavino, one of Trump's top aides, was tweeting out this video of all these soldiers hopping off the back of these vehicles. And it looks like something out of North Korea. It is unreal. It is unbelievable. As those funny chyrons used to say, what, 10 years ago or something like that. And, you know, we shouldn't laugh too much because inside the military, apparently, Olivia, they're very worried about what may take place here in Washington tomorrow. Helene Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent for the New York Times. She's reporting that some current and ex military officials are worried about a possible Tiananmen Square moment during these festivities because of the birthday party coinciding with the 250th anniversary celebration of the US Army. There are a lot of wheels in motion right now. They're juggling a lot right now, putting this together. But she said this earlier on the daily podcast, the New York Times podcast. They're also worried about a potential Tiananmen Square moment where you have a protester standing in front of a tank. I mean, imagine something like that. I mean, we just don't know what's going to. Everything is a tinderbox right now.
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Olivia Troy
It is. And there's been an entire stage and president said throughout the week, right. He went to Fort Bragg, he gave that speech in front of the military. It was very political. It was like something we've never seen, super overly partisan. And then the response where they staged the soldiers behind him. I've talked to a lot of military leaders who were, who found that incredibly upsetting to see that play out. And then now we've got, you know, what's happened in California with the National Guard, and now we've got the wannabe dictator parade, because that's what I call it, because that's what he's always wanted. I mean, Trump has been braving this since his first administration and cooler, braver minds prevailed during that time. Now there's no one there. They're there to enable him and he's going to do this. So I am concerned about, about a moment like that. I'm concerned. I am concerned about violence. I am. I mean, there's no way how this is not bubbling below the surface. And thinking we briefly. Well, you and I were talking about this earlier today. I'm concerned about sort of the bad actors that are also looking to exploit opportunities.
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Jim Acosta
People like the proud boys. Yeah, yeah. You were bringing this up with me earlier today, and the Wall Street Journal is reporting that, you know, some of the far right proud boys are circulating memes on places like Telegram saying, shoot a couple, the rest will go home. You just have to impale a few of them. It's riot season again. These are some of the messages that are being circulated. It's not just disgusting.
- [06:53]
Olivia Troy
Those types of messages were the same types of messages that were circulated before January 6th of 2021. I was tracking that very closely. I was concerned that there would be violence. This is exactly the same type of rhetoric that they pushed. I mean, they were apparently pushing gun tutorials this week on there for how to carry this out. So this is very serious. And I'm not saying this to scare people because I want people to have their voices heard and I want people to show up for the no Kings counter protests and rallies that should happen. But it's also why we should be vigilant about our surroundings and really have each other's backs and pay attention to what we're seeing here. Because I know Trump also wants to violence. Let's not feed it. He wants it, he feeds off of it. This is his law and order. I say that in quotes moment that he craves all the time. And so I think he. He is looking to provoke this, I think, and that is why you're seeing all of this play out this way. I don't think that it's one offs, Jim. I actually think that this is strategically coordinated about what they've been doing the past couple of weeks. And then the lead up to this parade.
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Jim Acosta
No, there's no question about it. And he is trying to ratchet up the tensions in this country. And I mean, just the visuals of, you know, National Guard troops in la, the Marines showing up in LA over the wishes of the Governor Gavin Newsom there, and then tanks on parole parade in Washington D.C. i mean, is this what people really voted for? Did you really vote for the optics of a military dictatorship in the United States of America? People, I mean, I know the people on here didn't vote for that, but my God, is this what we want our country to look like to the rest of the world? Is this what we want our country to look like to our children? That's not what we grow up with in this country. Our parents and grandparents took care to make sure they did not elect lunatics who saw themselves as a wannabe dictator. And because of that, we didn't grow up in that kind of a country. But it just goes to show you, Olivia, you drop these guardrails and you put the wrong people in power, you put the fringe, the American far right fringe, in power, and all bets are off.
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Olivia Troy
Yeah. And I think this show of power that Trump is trying to exhibit by displaying the military like that, the one thing I also thought about was the fact that we have all of this military Equipment and all of soldiers and officers here in town while there's basically significant conflict brewing over in the Middle East. And I'm watching this thinking, okay, I really hope that nothing bad happens here in Washington D.C. because right now the distraction is this military parade that Trump has decided he wants for the sake of his own birthday party. Right. And then I'm also thinking about the amount of money that this is costing and I'm also thinking about seeing the, these jarring optics in Washington D.C. for those that aren't here. Let me tell you, like it, it actually is reminiscent of, it's worse actually. It's 9, 11. That's what it reminded me of. Right. Walking down the streets a militarized. Like it's. Yeah, that's what it looks like here in D.C. right now.
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Jim Acosta
No, no, they were closing down the National Mall. They, they put up the cages up, I called them the freedom cages. They put the freedom cages up around the White House complex and all around D.C. and but you raised a good point, Olivia. And that is, you know, one of the, one of the consequences of politicizing the military is that the military does not keep its eye on the ball. When the military is being used for political reasons, like being deployed to Los Angeles for basically a law enforcement matter. They shouldn't be involved in that, quite frankly. And when you have them coming to Washington, put on a dictator like parade, military parade for the President, they're taking their eye off the ball. Their eye is off the ball somewhat. And what is happening right now in the Middle east stuff is blowing up in the Middle east right now. I mean, the military should be sharply focused and solely focused on making sure the situation between Iran and Israel does not spiral out of control and get to a point where the whole region is going up in flames. And to me, that is what the commander in chief should be focused on, not nursing his bruised ego and his damaged psyche. It should be what he promised during his inaugural address. Not that that, not that, not that that was ever genuine on his part, but about, you know, peace around the world. I mean, that's what he promised. He's, he's certainly not delivering it.
- [11:19]
Olivia Troy
No. And it's a real shame because he is not. Also, it, it just takes away, in my opinion, it does take away from the Army's 250th birthday celebration. Right.
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Jim Acosta
Because it is which we should celebrate that. Yeah.
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Olivia Troy
Service and heroes and patriotism. And we should be united in that. Right. I mean, that's the really, the terrible thing is that he's created this moment. He's like, manipulated it to his narrative. And it really should be something that we should all be united behind and honestly not be in this situation where he's created distrust with the military now by his actions. Right. He's the one doing this across the country, and he's creating distress with law enforcement by putting the law enforcement in bad situations, bringing the National Guard in. I mean, again, the military is his pond, and that's how he views it when there are really serious matters going on in the world where all of these people that are going to be there to laud him tomorrow should really be focused on instead.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah, well. And you know what? Maybe it'll rain on his parade. The weather looks a little iffy for tomorrow. We'll see. I see a lot of the comments with thunderclouds and lightning bolts and rain and so on. Maybe that's what's going to take place. We'll see.
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Chuck Rocha
I mean, I thought about it.
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Olivia Troy
I mean, this is the man who did not want to go to the World War I memorial, remember, because they rained his hair and he didn't want to visit the graves of Marines which he's now using, who he called suckers and losers. So we'll see. We'll see if he has a wherewithal to show up for his own parade tomorrow.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah, that'll be interesting. I sense a rad Maga hat perhaps being placed on top of his head, maybe instead of a crown, which is an improvement, I suppose, on no Kings Day. But you know, Olivia, the other thing we have to talk about, because my blood was just absolutely boiling yesterday, I was just hopping pissed off, mad about the treatment of Senator Alex Padilla. I just could not believe that a United States senator. I mean, I can believe, but at the moment, I could not believe that a United States senator would be treated in that fashion. I mean, the way that the Trump administration and their sycophants on Fox tried to clean this up and claim that, you know, Padilla was going in there and trying to disrupt a press conference and that he was charging at Kristi Noem and he was doing all. I mean, he was telling another story on MSNBC that they opened the door for him, that they knew he was there. I mean, that it was just absolutely a disgraceful display. And to see him treated in that fashion, it just irritated the living hell out of me. And it made me think, you know, we gotta do more than this. We can't just sit by and watch what's taking place right now. And I think that's what that was, the feeling, the spirit that struck Alex Padilla, you know, he's a mild mannered guy. He doesn't cause drama up on capitalism. He's the last guy to do that. But he was listening to Kristi Noem say things like, we're gonna liberate Los Angeles. Who the hell are you to say you're gonna liberate a US City? The city of Los Angeles needs to be liberated from Donald Trump. It seems to me right now. That's the way it looks to me. Yeah. And Alex Padilla was just speaking his mind and good for him.
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Olivia Troy
Well, and he was actually also pointing out what he was trying to say. If you listen, you know, when you listen to the video, he's saying like you're playing the same six criminals over and over again. He's trying to prove the point that you're blanketing everything to do this, this bidding of this extremism and these policies. And, you know, the people are standing up to this. That's what he was trying to say. Right. And he also, I think, was what was incredibly upsetting is that after he says who he is repeatedly, they still handcuff him and they force him to the ground. And you can see it in the video where they are forcing him to the ground. And I think it's incredibly upsetting that we have people in elected office who are not irate about this because.
- [15:09]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, what has happened to the Republican Party? I mean, Mike Johnson wants to censure Alex Padilla. Give me a break.
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Olivia Troy
Yeah. I mean, how about protecting the decorum and your own branch, right? I mean, what happens to that? Or are you going to let the Trump administration bully you every single day? Which is what's happening. And it's happening definitely on the Republican side. But I'm also concerned about the reaction from some of the Democrats. I mean, you cannot give this a pass. And so, like, no, I don't know, Jim, what are you, you should run for office.
- [15:43]
Jim Acosta
Me?
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Olivia Troy
Yeah, why not? We need people to take a stand.
- [15:48]
Jim Acosta
You know what I, you know what I think? I mean, I, this is something that I, I, I, I do think about because, I mean, there's, there's doing, you know, a show, there's, there's, you know, doing podcasting, there's speaking out, there's, you know, talking to people about the way you feel about this country and how it needs to go in a better direction. And I, it just absolutely infuriates me to see what is taking place with Hispanic people. In this country, with Latino people in this country. They are absolutely being treated. We are absolutely being treated. I know you're Mexican American background, my dad's a Cuban refugee. We are absolutely being treated like third class citizens in this country. And this is a moment for, I think the Latino population in America to rise up and make its voices heard. I'm going to talk about this with Chuck Rocha in a little bit too. I think maybe we need to have a million Latino march in Washington. I mean, we need to have a peaceful, nonviolent resistance movement in this country that reminds the people in power, people like Donald Trump, that we are not second and third class citizens. We are Americans and we have the same rights and we're a better country than this. Just brutalizing and beating up Hispanics in this country. They don't even care if he's a United States senator, for Christ's sake.
- [17:12]
Olivia Troy
Well, and I thought the most powerful thing was afterwards where he, he spoke and he said, if they're doing this to me, imagine what they're doing to others across the country. And that's 100% true. I mean, we're seeing it, right? We're seeing them show up in people's homes. We're seeing them where the lady, you know, she thought that their house was being attacked and robbed and her family was sitting outside. I think it was in Oklahoma where I showed up. And they had the wrong house. And she's sitting out there and they're threatening her, they're arresting innocent people, they're bullying people. And just where does it end? And I mean, look, we watched that last night and it hurt my heart to see my mom watching this and seeing it happen to someone like Alex Padilla, who has worked so hard and he's representative of our culture, you know, having grown up on the border and I have relatives in California. And it was really telling to hear watch her because she was watching the clip and it's the first time she'd seen it. And she said, ave Maria purisima. And it meant like, oh my God, Holy mother of God. Right? Like, I mean, she was in shock. And I think that was the feeling that I think we all had was sort of like, I cannot believe. And I could tell that. And she looks at me and she was like, what is happening to our country? Because she came here as an immigrant, so proud, right?
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Jim Acosta
And I've talked about this so many times too. My dad came to this country when he was 11 years old, came with my grandmother. They were treated with kindness. They were treated with decency. They were treated with respect. My dad and my grandmother were given coats and sweaters at the local Presbyterian church in Fairfax County, Virginia. And this was back in the 1960s. We're showing more compassion and more of a welcoming spirit to immigrants back in the 1960s than we are today. What are we doing in this country right now? So when you mention that I think you should run for office, I think. I think I would love to see more Latinos run for office in this country. Honestly, I really would. I would love to see it, because I think it's just necessary. I think it's time for people to rise up and make their voices heard. What we're seeing right now is just. It's just totally unacceptable. And when I saw Alex Padilla get tackled to the ground yesterday, it made me think, they're not going to stop. You know, you've got a puppy killer. And the Secretary of Homeland Security, who the hell does she think she is, going down to see cotton and strutting her stuff? Give me a break. Saying, we're going to liberate la. We need to be liberated from Donald Trump. That's what we need.
- [19:41]
Olivia Troy
Yeah. And you know what they do? They're just fanning the base for violence. Right. Because it's the same language that they used for Michigan. Donald Trump used that a few years ago.
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Jim Acosta
That's right.
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Olivia Troy
It's like, liberate Michigan and guess who got the threats? The governor did.
- [19:55]
Jim Acosta
And it's the same kind of language they used before January 6th. Yes. Yeah, it's the same kind of language. I mean, Olivia, it just makes me so. It makes me so mad, and it makes me. It does make me want to do something. It makes me want to do something. It makes me want to do more than just sit on the sidelines and watch this unfold. And I'm asking myself this question. Can I sit here on the sidelines and watch this unfold for the next three years and just talk about it and talk to you about it and talk to folks like Mike Fanone about it and Chuck Rocha, who's going to be on. And I love all those guys, and I love talking to you guys about it, but there's a part of me that wants to do something about it. Nobody tackled Marjorie Taylor Greene when she was dressed like Cruella deville and acting like a jackass at the Capitol. Come on.
- [20:43]
Olivia Troy
Their response is interesting to watch play out on what happens with this. And I think I saw, you know, good on Lisa Murkowski. She's the one that was like, this is completely unacceptable. But she. I mean, she has opened primaries in her state. Right. She has said that. That is why she is able to really take a stand against us in this movement that has taken over the Republican Party. But, you know, I think there's something to be said. I mean, we convened the town hall. There were a lot of powerful messages in it. We triggered Fox News and Megyn Kelly and everyone else.
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Jim Acosta
Oh, my God, they lost their shit.
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Olivia Troy
I know. They really. I mean, they were so mad at the Taco hat. I gotta come up with something else.
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Jim Acosta
But can you imagine if I got out there and did. And did something like this? What they would do over at Fox.
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Olivia Troy
They would lose their.
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Jim Acosta
I mean, Jesse Watters would absolutely shit his pants. Sean Hannity would absolutely piss his pants. Like the baby that he is, like the baby man that he is, he would absolutely pee his pants all over that studio. And, I mean, I. My attitude is like, something's got to happen. Something's got to happen in this country. Something's going to have to happen, and it needs to be done in the spirit of nonviolent protest. Political. Nonviolent protests that. You know, the kind of tradition that you and I grew up with in this country, Olivia. The stuff that we were taught about to be proud of in this country. And I just. I would love to see a million Latinos down on the mall. You know, Trump wants to roll the tanks out for his birthday. I'd love to see a million Latinos down on the National Mall saying, try to sort out the legals from the illegals now, you fascist, authoritarian jerks. I would love to see it.
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Olivia Troy
I mean, they're having a hard time distinguishing that now, anyways, so I think that we should all band together and show up.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah, I think we should do it. Well, you got me thinking about this, Olivia. I have to be honest with everybody.
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Olivia Troy
I'm gonna continue to stir the pot on this. I think that people should run, and I think people are looking for people that are gonna. They're gonna take a stand. I mean, we're not in an era where we can just kind of sit back and watch the Republican Party behave this way. And they, you know, they play to win. Yeah, they fight to win.
- [22:58]
Jim Acosta
And I wanna see the Democrats just show a little more fight. You know, there. There are folks in the party who do that. People like Jasmine Crockett. I don't want to paint with too broad of a brush, because there are some who really have shown the capacity to fight but they just need a hell of a lot more of it, it seems to me.
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Olivia Troy
Yeah. And I think people are looking for inspiration, and, you know, I think we've got to band together. That's why we're doing. You know, there'll be the rallies tomorrow where we're going to push back on this while, you know, we have the cosplaying dictator, although he really is sort of really embodying that now while, you.
- [23:32]
Jim Acosta
Know, war is raised. A good point. If it's pouring down rain tomorrow, Donald Trump. Do you dare to, you know, expose the hair? Do you dare to expose the hair, I guess is the question that I have to ask. If it's pouring down rain tomorrow, you know, will he go out there and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Army? Was this all just about him having a Kim Jong un, like, birthday party? That's the question that I have.
- [24:00]
Olivia Troy
But certainly the rehearsals happening certainly look that way.
- [24:03]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. Well, go see the. And go out to the no Kings protest tomorrow. I'll be doing a live event with Don Lemon and Joy Reed. Olivia, we should get you involved in that as well. Get you out there, and we might hear from you as well out there, from what I understand. We'll see.
- [24:18]
Olivia Troy
I'll be at one of the rallies locally, so you'll definitely see me out there.
- [24:22]
Jim Acosta
Awesome. All right, Olivia, you stirred the pot. We'll see what happens next. Thanks for coming on. Really appreciate it. Good to see you.
- [24:28]
Olivia Troy
All right, take care.
- [24:29]
Jim Acosta
All right. Thanks, Olivia. My pal, Olivia Troy, as always, stirring the pot, trying to get me to do things that are probably, you know, things I probably shouldn't do.
- [24:39]
Chuck Rocha
But.
- [24:39]
Jim Acosta
But you know what? Gosh, I'm just. I gotta think about this, man. I just, you know, there's. There's a part of me that's just like, I can't, you know, can we. How much more of this can we take, ladies and gentlemen? You know, are we really going to just watch this continue for the next two or three years and just sort of, you know, guys like me just going to sit on the sideline? I just. I don't know if I can do it. There's Chuck Rocha. Chuck, how are you, man?
- [25:07]
Chuck Rocha
Speaking of doing things you shouldn't do. Welcome in Chuck Rocha. This seems like the right time for me to be here.
- [25:13]
Jim Acosta
What have I gotten myself into? A tangled web we weave.
- [25:18]
Chuck Rocha
What a tangled web we're living in right now.
- [25:20]
Jim Acosta
No kidding, my man. No kidding. I mean, this is some shit that we're watching right now. And you know, listen, I know one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you is first of all, I mean, I know you know Alex Padilla and you and I were texting back with one another yesterday. What they did to him, to me, it just made my blood boil so much. And this is why I was having the conversation with Olivia and I. It just got me thinking, like, we gotta do more about this. And if it's a million Latino march in dc, if it's more of us running for office and getting out there and. And pounding the pavement and talking to the people, I. Something's gotta happen. Something's gotta happen.
- [25:57]
Chuck Rocha
I couldn't agree more. And I appreciate you going live yesterday. I know you reached out to me and you and Maria went live. And who would have thought I launched my substack on a Wednesday. And this one, I thought, shit couldn't get no crazier, it gets even worse. Crazier.
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Jim Acosta
That's right.
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Chuck Rocha
And not only. And I know we're going to talk about this crazy military parade, but let me level set with folks that are listening and thank all the folks that are subscribing to my substack as well, and all the great friends and I know you'll be with me next week. That we're not supposed to be doing so much political talk. If we can ever get out of a news cycle where it's not just a hose of crazy shit coming at us. Alex Padilla is a dear friend of mine. I've worked for Alex and been a friend of his now for at least 15 years. When he moved to DC, y' all should know that he didn't have a truck. I have a pickup truck. Which won't surprise none of you. I helped him move into his apartment. He's got an amazing wife and some beautiful kids. And I want to say this about Alex. Excuse me, Senator Padilla. He's Alex to me. Yeah, maybe. And Jim, you've interviewed him and you probably know this is. He's one of the most soft spoken, yes, even keeled, nice guys. And now if there was going to be somebody who stormed into a press conference, a lady, Jim Acosta, or if they were to raise some hell, a lot. Chuck Rocha. That's some shit me and Jim would do. Alex Padilla is not the one who's going to be marching into a press conference to get arrested. And I remind all of you, if you haven't been watching the news, he was escorted in from another meeting in the building where he has an Office. He's got an office in this federal building. It went through security and he had an FBI agent and another member of the security walk him into the press conference. They knew he was there. Security brought him and said, let's go do this, because when this wraps up, they can start their other meeting. Like this was not. People have reached out to me because it would have been a very Chuck Rocha thing to actually stage something like this to get some attention. Oh, yeah, no, it was Alex Padilla being Alex Padilla, just a good public servant.
- [27:57]
Jim Acosta
It just rose up within him. It seems to me he was hearing what the puppy killer, Kristi Noem was saying at the press conference about liberating Los Angeles. When Los Angeles does need to be liberated, but it needs to be liberated from Donald Trump. He needs to. He needs to call off the flying monkeys, you know, I mean, you know, get the military out of la. They shouldn't be distracted by political stuff like this. It's absolutely ridiculous.
- [28:22]
Chuck Rocha
And Donald Trump is doing this on purpose. And he's doing this on purpose, as we all know, because he wants to incite something.
- [28:28]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [28:29]
Chuck Rocha
He wants to have this to talk about. He wants to see a few bad actors burn a few cars, spray paint something on a brick wall with like, see out of control. These people are out of control. When 99.9% of the folks that are protesting, some of them, my friends, are law abiding, they go there and they raise their signs up, they let their voice heard and they go home in the evening and they meet the curfew because you have a few bad actors. Donald Trump knew that. And he knew that he would overreact by sending all these people there to be able to act tough. If I know anything about growing up as a Mexican redneck, those folks who are trying to act tough ain't really tough. No, it's the other folks you should watch out. Like the Alex Padillas, the quiet man in the corner is the one who is tough.
- [29:14]
Jim Acosta
That's right. Yeah. And you know, Senator Padilla is just trying to ask some questions. And I mean, I don't. How can you blame him for wanting to ask some questions? He is the United States Senator for the state of California and he has every right to question the Secretary of Homeland Security about what's going on in his state. And what's been happening in his state and across the country has just been absolutely outrageous. You know, they have not been targeting criminals and gang members. They're targeting moms and kids and abuelas. This is what Donald Trump's mass deportations. That's what it looks like.
- [29:46]
Chuck Rocha
And I talked to Alex's team yesterday or this morning actually, and they were like, look, we've been trying to get some answers out of the secretary. They have sent letters, they have made phone calls. They wanted to know, like, what is the plan? He represents this area. He represents this entire state. You should know that. He was raised in Pacoima, which is just north of downtown la. Alex talks about this, and I think he's mentioned this on your show before. His dad was a short order cook and worked as a short order cook most of his life. And his mama was a maid.
- [30:17]
Jim Acosta
Like, that's right.
- [30:18]
Chuck Rocha
And then he would graduate high school, he would get. Go to college and undergrad in California, then go to MIT and become a teacher.
- [30:27]
Jim Acosta
Unreal.
- [30:28]
Chuck Rocha
Live the American dream. And he is an exact reflection, much like my family. We're gonna talk about this next Wednesday on my substack. And Jim's family. Our families have got to realize their wildest dreams in seeing these two kids that are on this sub stack right now, the kids of immigrants who get to do this work. And we're so honored and we believe in the American dream so much. Cause we've got to live it just like Alex Padilla. Yeah.
- [30:56]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. Alex Padilla is the reason why the American dream is what it is. He is the epitome of the American dream. As you said. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley. This is according to the New York Times. Raised by churchgoing parents. Worked as a short order cook. His father worked as a short order cook, as you said. His mother worked as a house cleaner. He made his way to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I mean, that's. That is the American dream. Chuck, you know, you coming up from your roots down in Texas. You know, I came up from my Cuban American roots in Northern Virginia. That's what this country's all about. You give people a chance. You give people a chance to work hard and play by the rules, and good things can happen.
- [31:37]
Chuck Rocha
And this is what happened in our system. And folks need to ground themselves when they talk about immigration. Our immigration system has been literally broken for years. And when 911 happened, this horrible tragedy on 9 11, we shut down our immigration system. So if you wanted to come here legally and you wanted to go through the process, the process now takes 8, 9, 10 years. A lot of people who work for me have been through this process, and it's long and arduous and everybody tries to do it. And they want to do it the right way. But sometimes you have circumstances where you don't have the privilege to wait 10 years.
- [32:10]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [32:11]
Chuck Rocha
You have living in a life or death situation in Central America where there's gang members who want to rape your kids, kill your wife, get you. That's right, Drag, you know? So you escape and you come to where, as Ronald Reagan, a Republican, said, the shining city on the Hill that says, we will take you. And you will have a process that you could go through for emergencies like this called asylum. And we will have asylum judges to say, if you're coming here and you're running for your life, we will take care of you. And then we will give you temporary status until you get to this other thing. People forget about that. People forget that there are immigrants every day in this country paying Social Security and Medicare benefits that they will never get to see the repercussions of because they're not a US Citizens, but they're paying this.
- [32:58]
Jim Acosta
No, listen, my dad worked at Safeway grocery stores for 40 years. He worked in the checkout line until he couldn't stand up anymore. Paid into Social Security, paid into Medicare. He now gets to enjoy those programs now, thank goodness. But he came from a country that was a totalitarian dictatorship in Cuba. And what's the Trump administration been doing to Cuban immigrants, what they've been doing to Venezuelan immigrants? They're taking away their temporary protected status. I mean, there was a time in this country, Chuck, when we would say, we're going to offer you asylum if you're trying to escape a military dictatorship. And now we're just slamming the door shut on those folks, too. Where is Marco Rubio in all of this? Where is Ted Cruz in all of this? This is what I was asking yesterday on my show. Where are the human beings in this administration? Do they exist? Are they still human beings? I mean, my God, how can you stomach what took place with Alex Padilla yesterday? And of course, you have on Fox News and in the Republican Party up on Capitol Hill, they're making excuses for all of this and saying it was Padilla who crossed the line, which goes back to what you were saying earlier. Chuck Padilla's not that kind of a guy. He's not a showboat.
- [34:09]
Chuck Rocha
He's not that guy.
- [34:10]
Jim Acosta
He's just not that guy.
- [34:11]
Chuck Rocha
No, Alex Padilla is not the guy. There's lots of guys like that out there that would love to get this exposure and this attention, but he is not. He is a true, true public service. I can tell you without Speaking out of school. I've told Alex Padilla many times about an idea that Alex Padilla is like, that's a little too close to the line or that's a little too. Like, he is very cautious because he don't want to do anything that looks bad on him, looks bad on his constituents, any kind of political ploy, that ain't who he is. Like, we talk about this all the time with his good friend, Congressman Tony Cardenas. And Tony is always talking about how and him. And you should know that Tony and the senator and the congressman, they were roommates here in D.C. actually, Alex Padilla ran Tony Carton as first his campaign. Wow. And he would tell stories about how like he is. Like, all the things that me and Tony wish we were because we get a little passionate, even keeled. Let's be cautious. Let's make sure we get everything down. Like, it's just not his move. And going back to what you're saying about immigration, what Donald Trump is doing is he's doing things that wants to divide us, because there's lots of things, even with redneck white boys that I grew up with in East Texas, those boys who I love, who are Republicans and Trumpers, when you sit and talk to them about farm workers, about, oh, Jose down in the street, who's been here Maybe undocumented for 20 years, who works at the Taqueria, or other folks in the community, they get that and they're with you. But Donald Trump wants to poke at the differences so he can pull us apart.
- [35:47]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [35:48]
Chuck Rocha
Instead of looking at the bigger percentage of things that actually pull us together as humans because it's good for him politically, much like this crazy damn parade that they're having here in our city this weekend.
- [36:00]
Jim Acosta
Well, and, you know, he. Dan Scavino, who works for Trump, tweeted out a video showing soldiers, you know, arriving. It looks like a scene out of North Korea. And, you know, the Atlantic is reporting that, you know, the Trump team is offering top donors a dedicated VIP experience as part of. As one of the components of tomorrow's parade. So he's not only politicizing the US Military, he's exploiting it for political fundraising purposes. I mean, it's just unreal. And then we're having these do King protests happening in a thousand communities nationwide tomorrow. And it just makes me wonder, going back to a question I asked earlier, Chuck, where do we go from here? You're an organizer. You worked with the Bernie campaign. The Bernie campaign was. I mean, they were masters in political organization, political mobilization. And it makes me wonder, do we need a million Latino march in this country? Do we need more Latinos running for office? What's the solution? I think we need more. You just need more of what we're kind of seeing here and there in spurts. Just not enough of it to push back on this stuff.
- [37:07]
Chuck Rocha
The average age of a Latino in America is 26. The average age of a Latino voter in America is 30, 31. We're just as much younger demographic. Me and my friend Jim Acosta are second and third generations of groups of folks who come here a long time ago. Now, I tell you that for a reason. That's because our electorate is younger, our diaspora is younger. And young Latinos now are trying to look to who. And they overperformed historical norms and voted for Donald Trump at a bigger rate than they have. That should be said and seen, because that's how much anxiety economically is in the community. So they're looking for an escape. And I think what you're describing, that's not tied to Joe Biden or Donald Trump, but saying our voice, we're here, we're American.
- [37:58]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [37:59]
Chuck Rocha
I'm as American as anybody else. I'm just like you, white boy, white girl. You're Irish, you're French, your German immigrants. We are the next wave of who those were back in the days when even they were discriminated against.
- [38:12]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [38:13]
Chuck Rocha
To say that we're all Americans, that we all wave the red, white and blue, because we've all got to experience that. And we shouldn't let a wannabe dictator drive us apart. And we should be looking at what the best of it is by having rallies around the country. Not where you're destroying things.
- [38:28]
Jim Acosta
Correct.
- [38:28]
Chuck Rocha
Where you're waving American flags and you can have some of your Mexican or Honduras flags as well. But saying I'm an American and I'm happy that my family came from this country and sacrificed everything like Jim Acosta's father did when he got out of tyranny to come here to experience the biggest dream.
- [38:47]
Jim Acosta
That's why I got George Washington over here, I got Statue of Liberty over here. Greg, the plant's been moved outside that, you know, he needs a little son. But, you know, my dad and people talk about all the Mexican flags. The Mexican flags. You know, I don't want to explain this one more time. You know, when I was growing up and was a young kid in the. In the mean streets of Northern Virginia and Fairfax county, they weren't so mean. They're actually Pretty nice. They weren't like East Texas. My dad would, he would want us to watch ABC's Wide World of Sports. He would want to watch this boxer Teo Stevenson, whenever Teo Stevenson would box on ABC's Wide World of Sports. He was such a huge fan of Cuban boxing because it was one of the things next to baseball that they did really well back then. And he flew the Cuban flag in the house. Did he fly the Cuban flag because he was a Castro guy? No, for Christ's sake. He and my grandmother, they fled Cuba. They're far from being Castro lovers. If that were the case, they would be back in Cuba and I wouldn't exist. I wouldn't be sitting here with you right now. But there is something about national pride or pride in your heritage. You see this on St. Patrick's Day. You see the Columbus Day parades in New York where people show their Italian American pride. In la, you have a lot of people who say, we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us. Our folks have been here for generations. And so to me, it just speaks to a lot of ignorance on the right about the Latino experience in this country. And this is why I come back to political mobilization. Chuck. Not to go on a rant or keep talking too long. I really think that what is needed in this country and is a mainline, front level, front of the pack, Latino presidential candidate, you need it to. If it's aoc, fine, whoever, that's fine. You need that to happen. You can't have just the Democratic Coalition representing Latinos in this country because Donald Trump and the Republicans, they're going to do their dirty tricks. MAGA is going to do their dirty tricks to try to peel off a couple of layers from that onion to get just enough votes to win here or there. It just seems to me this community needs leadership and it needs it now. Maybe it's Alex Padilla, I don't know, but it needs it now.
- [40:56]
Chuck Rocha
I think you're right. And I've been fighting for this and you know this in the toils of the consulting world because there's not a lot of brown Latino consultants that can help even well intentioned white people ground their message in a place that's right as we're becoming the fastest growing population and we're electing people like a Ruben Gallego. Matter of fact, hat tip to Ruben Gallego and his beautiful wife Sidney. Today we should be announced that they had a brand new baby boy. His name is.
- [41:25]
Jim Acosta
Oh, congratulations.
- [41:27]
Chuck Rocha
Cooper Gray Gallego hit the ground today running and he's got a. He's now the proud father of three little, three little kids. And Ruben Gallego is a, is an example of what's possible. And one of those leaders, a guy that grew up with a single mother on the streets of Chicago would end up getting a privilege to go to Harvard on a scholarship and then go fight in the Marines as an enlisted man.
- [41:51]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [41:51]
Chuck Rocha
And, and I remember that his story so resonated. But we need more of those stories to your point, because people see themselves in that. Yeah, people are like, ask me all the time, Chuck, how did you get Ruben to over perform so much in the race in Arizona? Is because he was very authentic on who he was.
- [42:05]
Jim Acosta
Very authentic. Very authentic.
- [42:07]
Chuck Rocha
Like he.
- [42:08]
Jim Acosta
And he.
- [42:09]
Chuck Rocha
Go ahead.
- [42:09]
Jim Acosta
He helped defend the Capitol on January 6th. He was there trying to help out on January 6th. I mean, this is a guy who is battle hardened and I would keep your eye on him. I agree with you. I think he's going to be out.
- [42:21]
Chuck Rocha
There and I think there's. But there's more. Ruben Gallegos is my point. Ruben hasn't said he's going to run for president, obviously. He just had a baby today with his wife, Sidney. So they have a young family. There's a lot of responsibilities. There's a lot of privilege that goes with being able to run for office. You have to be away from your family. You have to make sacrifices and raise money. And because of what I described earlier, which is our average age, it's harder when you're young like that, when you ain't, excuse my language, you ain't got your shit together yet. You ain't got no money where you can become a public official. So people that make that sacrifice and then put their, their, their bodies on the line, their name on the line, like this is my profession. Like I have one of those professions where everybody thinks they know how to do my job because I'm a senior Democratic consultant. It's tough to do this and it's.
- [43:08]
Jim Acosta
No, you're absolutely right. And politics ain't beanbag. But I will tell you, we saw the Clintons go into the White House with very little money in their bank account. And the Obamas, you know, Barack Obama did have that best selling book. But you know, there's something that both the Clintons and the Obamas didn't, especially Barack Obama, build a political movement and a coalition that the country had not seen up until that point. And the Clintons were just completely caught off guard by what Obama was able to do back in 2008 and I just wonder, you know, I, you know, I sometimes like to use the Jurassic park line. Nature finds a way. I just kind of wonder in all of Donald Trump's bullying, all of Donald Trump's bullshit, whether we're going to see, perhaps, perhaps as one of the fruits of his, of his nonsense, is a Latino political movement in this country that we have not seen up until this point normally, because it is something that is not just necessary, but becomes inevitable because of the actions of the current occupant of the Oval Office.
- [44:15]
Chuck Rocha
Let me make your point, because we've seen this before and it was in California with Prop 187. This was an anti immigration, English only racist, a proposition that was put on the ballot in California by a Republican. And what happened, and to Jim's point, what it ended up doing is mobilizing the Latino vote like never before. There was more registrations, more Latinos got involved because they saw themselves under attack from Pete Wilson, the Republican.
- [44:47]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [44:48]
Chuck Rocha
And what happened from that is you had a Republican governor and at that point, a Republican state House. And once this happened, so many Latinos got involved in Democratic politics in California, it flipped California Democrat, it has been Democrat ever since. And they have super majorities in both state houses, state senate. And it all spawned to make Jim Acosta's point from that one moment in time. And I think we're living that now.
- [45:15]
Jim Acosta
I do think we're living that now. And somebody just said the Statue of freaking Liberty. You're absolutely right. You know.
- [45:22]
Chuck Rocha
Send me your huddled masses.
- [45:24]
Jim Acosta
Send me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. You know, I had a back and forth with Stephen Miller back in August of 2017. He was trying to argue back then that the Statue of Liberty was not about welcoming immigrants to this country. And if you go, you go on the National Park Service website, unless they've scrubbed it and whitewashed it, it used to be called the immigrant statue. That's what it came to be known. And when Ronald Reagan rededicated the Statue of Liberty back in the 1980s when he was president, talked about the Statue of Liberty of being a foreign birth and talked about how immigrants built the Statue of Liberty and helped refurbish the Statue of Liberty, that's what this country is all about. And I don't know why this is so hard. I guess it goes back to what you were saying earlier, Chuck. Donald Trump has figured out how to make political hay out of hate. And he has divided us into different segments of this society. And he's pitting us against one another. And he's just going to keep milking that cow until the cows run out. And I just, you know, I just worry that a lot of people are going to get hurt before it's all said and done. Much more than a senator being tackled. I just worry that a lot of people are going to get hurt.
- [46:40]
Chuck Rocha
I think Alex said it the right way. Alex, Senator Padilla said it in the right way. When he got emotional, when he came out of the. Of the federal building and made a comment yesterday, he was like, if they would do that to me, a United States senator, imagine what they're doing to people that we don't know, that they're just disappearing off the street. And when he started talking about the cooks and the maids, he got emotional. Like, he started to cry because he. I know. Because I know him. He was thinking about his mom and his dad. Just like every time you walk into a grocery store, Jim, you think about your dad and you think about all those. Him standing there. You think about me, think about my father working in the factory, thinking about my mother who cut hair on her feet all her life. Like, these are the emotional ties that bind us together as Americans. And this is the piece we've forgotten. But it didn't happen by accident. Again, I put this out on Twitter last week when I've done an analysis of what happened in the last election. The Democrats and Republicans spent over $890 million in the last election talking about immigration, and 90% of that came from Republicans. So, Jim, they spent $800 million on TV ads to say that we were being invaded by a foreign country when it wasn't, in fact, the case. They needed to scare people to vote for them, especially women in the suburbs who they were losing because of the choice issue. And so it was an orchestrated. Take it from the guy who runs campaigns for living boys and girls, they do this on purpose because this is the only way they can win.
- [48:10]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [48:10]
Chuck Rocha
They talk about reducing egg prices and gas prices. We've all seen that. That's not happening. And with his trade war, it's even getting worse.
- [48:17]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [48:18]
Chuck Rocha
So they live off of a campaign of fear.
- [48:21]
Jim Acosta
And, you know, and when I lost my press pass, when. When the White House took my press pass, it was after I challenged Trump on the lie that there's an invasion going on in this country. He tried to use that lie in the 2018 midterms, got his clock cleaned in those midterms, and ended up losing the Republicans. A lot of Swing district, House races during that cycle because the public just wasn't buying it. But they go back to this invasion lie time and again, to the point where I've had relatives ask me, you know, what do the statistics show? What does the evidence show? Do immigrants commit more crimes than native born Americans? And if you look at the studies, if you look at the stats, if you care about facts, they show convincingly that immigrants do not commit crimes at the same level as native born Americans. And as I try to remind people from time to time, the people that, you know, look at the two guys that tried to kill Trump during the 2024 campaign, white guys. They were white guys. And you know, this notion that every Hispanic is walking the streets looking to commit a crime, that they came across the border as part of this invasion and they're just walking the streets looking to commit a crime. It's all horseshit, it's all lies.
- [49:37]
Chuck Rocha
And it's important to ground the conversation. And Democrats, you need to listen to me because you have to stand up as well and talk about this issue. And what I've been advising my candidates and organizations is to be commonsensical about it. You can do that with still having compassion and honoring the immigrant experience. If somebody comes to this country, and they do come, and they break the laws and they are violent, but that is, as you described, less than one hundredth of 1% of all immigrants. But they come. And if they break the law, then they should be deported. If they go through due process, sure, of course, absolutely. And every Democrat, you should say that. And then you should say, let's fix a broken system so that we can fix the backlog for folks who are yearning to be here, who are yearning to work here, which is the most of the folks where there's not a system. They're like folks like the Republicans, like, say, well, get in line and do it the right way. Like my parents, well, my parents and Jim's parents lived through a much different immigration system than what we see today. If that was still in fact the case, 90% of all these folks that are, quote, unquote, undocumented would be documented or at least have temporary status because the system is literally broken, where you can't become a law abiding, not a law abiding, but a documented immigrant through this system. And this is what needs to be fixed. And I remind, and I'll stop my rant, but we had a bill that moved the Senate and through the House last cycle, but Donald Trump said do not pass it. Cause I need this issue to win the presidency. And I just described that they spent 800 million to demagogue the immigrant community.
- [51:13]
Jim Acosta
That's right. It was so conservative that James Lankford, the very conservative Republican senator of Oklahoma, was backing that piece of legislation. I mean, that's how conservative that bill was.
- [51:23]
Chuck Rocha
He wrote it. He wrote it.
- [51:26]
Jim Acosta
He wrote it. An Oklahoma guy still. But Trump wanted to demonize immigrants during the campaign. And now we're starting to see what mass deportations now, what that actually means. As I've been saying on my program, I'll say it again, it was a lie during the campaign. It is a lie now that they're targeting criminals and gang members. This is an effort to remove people with brown skin and Hispanic last names in this country, full stop. That's what's happening. And to me, we have to have that honest conversation with the American people. And you need more Latino candidates doing it. And you need a show of force from this community. We need a million Latino march in this country down on the National Mall to say to Donald Trump, these are the families, these are the children, these are the parents, these are the grandparents. These are the hardworking, law abiding people, proud people of this country who aren't going to take this lying down anymore. You can't tackle and handcuff all of us.
- [52:33]
Chuck Rocha
This is true. And we haven't had that moment. And we talk about this, and I plan on having these conversations on my Substack show on Wednesdays to talk about. Remember when Martin Luther King stood up for all black people and said, I have a dream? And he had a dream for what it could mean to be black in America. Right. And we haven't really had that moment. Cause we're younger, we come from so many different places. We have a much different experience than our African American sisters and brothers.
- [53:01]
Jim Acosta
That's true.
- [53:02]
Chuck Rocha
And Cesar Chavez is not alive anymore. We kind of have a leadership that's spread across lots of folks. You know, I'm honored to be one of those people, but I'm just one of many. But we need to have that moment in time. Because what's happening right now, the good news is, Jim, in all the focus groups and polling that I've done in the last two weeks, even white folks, lots of white folks, to be honest, who voted for Donald Trump, who were like, look, I was frustrated. I thought that Joe Biden was old. I thought he was weak and not in charge and exactly, blah, blah, blah. And I would give this guy a shot because I was hoping we could return to a post Covid economy. And like I listened and had all these conversations. Those people were like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I was all afar getting rid of bad people that immigrated here that were bringing drugs, quote unquote.
- [53:51]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [53:51]
Chuck Rocha
But I wasn't for military in our streets. I wasn't for folks arresting Tommy down at the laundromat.
- [53:58]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [53:59]
Chuck Rocha
Susie down at the bagel shop, who I've been dealing with for 20 years, who I didn't even know was undocumented because they'd been here so long. Like there are people that work for me right now that have temporary protective status who have been here, Jim. I'm not going to mention their name because I'm trying to protect them for 23 years.
- [54:14]
Jim Acosta
Wow.
- [54:15]
Chuck Rocha
Since she was five years old. And if she logs into her DHS site right now, it says you should self deport sick, never broken the law. Is a Christian missionary who grew up a Mormon. Like these are the real people that those stories aren't told about that the rest of us are dealing with. And folks don't want to see them punished because they've done nothing wrong other than be here and pay their taxes and their Social Security and want an opportunity of the American dream that me and you've got to realize.
- [54:45]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. Well, Chuck, let's keep this conversation going because I think you and I are tapping into something here and we need to keep this, this conversation going. We need to keep this community engaged. We need to make sure people understand. You don't have to live in fear. You don't have to live in the shadows. You don't have to think that you have to be silent and hide from the world because you're afraid of the big bad man in the White House coming after you and your loved ones. There just needs to be a better way in this country and that way starts here and now. In my opinion, it starts here and now. When Donald Trump invaded Los Angeles and tackled a Latino United States senator, that's when I said that's it. I've had enough. I've had enough and that's it. And I want to keep this conversation going. Chuck, I appreciate it, man. Go check out Chuck's podcast.
- [55:48]
Chuck Rocha
Yep. Everybody can join us on my sub stack with Jim next Wednesday at 3:00. We're going to talk more. Jim always gets out here and talks about the politics in the news today because the news never stops but me. And I'm going to go deep with Jim to talk about Jim growing up in Virginia. We're going to talk about the commanders in football. We're going to try to bring some fun back to these substacks. We're not just talking about hate and visceralness all the time, but the things that he loves, which is his commanders, his football team.
- [56:15]
Jim Acosta
And you saw they're playing in Madrid. They're playing in Madrid this November against the, the Miami Dolphins.
- [56:20]
Chuck Rocha
Freaking go.
- [56:21]
Jim Acosta
My dad's two favorite teams going head to head. I let's. If you want to go, we can go, man. I will definitely go to Madrid and watch those commanders with you.
- [56:30]
Chuck Rocha
I would love to take Ebony to Madrid and watch the commanders, y' all. Anyway, we'll talk about it on Wednesday, but I think this is going to be ahead of a confrontation. Thank you for having me.
- [56:39]
Jim Acosta
Thank you, Chuck. I knew I wanted to talk to you today, man. I appreciate it, brother. Thank you, sir.
- [56:42]
Chuck Rocha
Appreciate you.
- [56:43]
Jim Acosta
All right. That was the great Chuck Rocha. And you know, if you could, if. If only people knew what Chuck and I talk about behind the scenes and what Olivia and I talk about behind the scenes. My goodness, the things that I've been thinking about lately and the things that have been on my mind, especially this week, I just have to tell you how much I appreciate everybody who tunes in every day, they watch every day. Very, very much appreciate that. It means a lot to me. And you know, maybe this has been a little bit of a single issue program this week. We did talk about what's been happening in the Middle east at the top of the program. We did talk about the Trump military dictator birthday bash that he's having this weekend. At the top of the program, the no Kings rallies that are happening this weekend. Get out there, make your voices heard. That's your God given right as an American. It's a patriotic duty. I'll be out there with Don Lemon and Joy Reed, you know, talking about this on Substack and I believe on YouTube as well. We're going to be all over the place tomorrow talking about this stuff. Tune in tomorrow afternoon. But the other thing that is on my mind, and forgive me for tapping my laptop here for emphasis, is I do believe the Latino community in this country has crossed an inflection point, has come across an inflection point here where I think some big things need to happen. I think some big things need to happen. We need to see more Latinos running for office in this country. We need to see more Latinos running for higher office in this country. We need a frontline mainline Latino or Latina presidential candidate running in the next cycle to sort of harness public energy and public attention and aim it at this issue of immigration and how we should not demonize and abuse and brutalize human beings in this country. That's not who we are. That's not who we are as Americans. And. And so I. I've been thinking about this quite a bit. It's something I'm going to continue to be, you know, thinking about because it's. It's been on my mind. And I just think we all need to be doing more. We just all need to be doing a lot, lot more to protect not just the Alex Padillas of the world. The senator, he can protect himself as people can rally around him. I. I suspect he'll be very successful as an elected representative for the state of California for some time now. But I worry about the children who are getting pulled out of their schools right now to be removed from this country. No criminals, no gang members hang out in schools like that. I'm worried about the mothers who are being pulled away from their US Citizen children and the family being presented with the ungodly choice of leaving the child here separated or everybody leaving the country together. I'm worried about the abuelas who are being rounded up. I'm worried about the people who. We've seen this on the local news, their car windows getting smashed in and ICE agents and masks ripping them out of their vehicles. And now we have the Marines in Los Angeles for what? Anybody notice there might be a war breaking out in the Middle East. I can think of some other things that the Marines should be focused on right now. I can think of other things that our top generals should be focused on right now. The commander in chief should be focused on right now instead of trying to rile people up in Los Angeles and provoke a situation where you can go crack some skulls. And we should be something more than a country that has a president that needs tanks rolling down Constitution Avenue or Pennsylvania Avenue just to nurse whatever broken places are inside of him that need soothing and stroking. I mean, my God. My God, man, why do you need this? But I keep going back to what we need in this country. What we need in this country is a better way forward that respects human beings, that respects human decency, that doesn't retaliate against people out of hatred. We're better than this. We're just. We just are better than this. And it's something I'll be thinking about this week. I'll be thinking about what more I can be doing. I hope you're thinking about what more you can be doing. Obviously, there are these no Kings protests happening across the country. Have you been feel, have you been sitting at home watching the news and thinking, my goodness, I need to go do something. Please go out to one of these events and protest peacefully. That's what's needed in this country right now. This wonderful American patriotic tradition of making your voices heard. That's what you can do this weekend. But also think deeply about what more you can do for your country to make this a better place so we don't slide down into this dark abyss that Donald Trump seems to feel comfortable in. But the rest of us look around and say, this sure as hell doesn't look like America to me. Something to think about this week. It's something I'll be thinking. I'll be doing a lot of hard thinking this weekend, but appreciate you tuning in once again this week. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be looking at some of these protests tomorrow and trying to do a little coverage around it. So stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. So have a great weekend, everybody. Thanks for tuning in. Have a good night. Bye. Bye. Hi, Duke. Hi, Bud.