
Loading summary
Jim Acosta
All right, welcome, everybody, to the Jim Acosta show. It is Monday. Trump is sounding more out of control as president every day. He is still not pledging to follow the Constitution when it comes to due process in this country. And he is still giving evasive answers as to whether he is supposed to uphold the Constitution as president when the answer is obviously, absolutely, of course. As you can see, my first guest today is Senator Mark Warner of Virginia. He is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Senator, thanks so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.
Senator Mark Warner
Thank you, Jim. Thanks for having me.
Jim Acosta
You know, I just wanted to start right there because, you know, honestly, there's, there's a lot going on and we can start in, you know, half a dozen different places. But when the President of the United States is asked point blank whether you're supposed to uphold the Constitution, I mean, Kristen Welker on Meet the Press asked, don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president? And Trump says, quote, I don't know. I have to respond by saying, again, and this is what he says, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they're going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. You know, just speaking live right now to our audience on substack and YouTube, what's your response to that? Because, you know, he takes an oath as President of the United States to protect and defend the Constitution. He should know this.
Senator Mark Warner
Yeah. What it says to me, Jim, is if Donald Trump was an 8th grade civic student, he'd fail civics. Basic American civics. I mean, this is not a hard question. We had a revolution 250 years ago, which will, of course, celebrate a lot in Virginia, being one of the birthplaces of it. But to not have a king and the idea that the Constitution says we got three co, equal branches. Yes, you're chief executive, but what is paramount beyond any single person is the Constitution, United States. And his answer was an embarrassment. And frankly, I know you probably feel the same way. If any of my Republican friends aren't willing to say, you know, to just call him out on this, they would also fail Civics 101.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And a lot of this has to do with, you know, obviously trials for migrants and so on. He keeps floating this idea of no trials for migrants, that you can just scoop people up off the streets in the United States and remove them from the country without any kind of due process. That's not what the Constitution says. He clearly wants to remain on this collision course, I think, with the Supreme Court over this and Just earlier today, he was speaking to reporters and he said the courts, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, they said, you have to have trials. Trials. We're going to have 5 million trials. It doesn't work. He's talking about how many people he wants to remove from the country and how he says, you can't have trials through that process. What happens, Senator, if Trump continues to defy the Constitution and the courts in this fashion? What happens? Do we know?
Senator Mark Warner
Well, what happens is we have a constitutional crisis, and I thought we were going to either come to this when he refuses the Supreme Court, or, frankly, the other place was when he was going to continue to refuse Congress's ability to appropriate and spend money. He's on a collision course with the Constitution on both of these tracks. This due process requirement, which, again, shouldn't surprise anybody that has read our Constitution or looked at any kind of the status of legal decisions over the last 75 years that says, yeah, you got, especially if you are here in. Even under colorable legal status, you got a right to due process. You don't get swept off, you know, by some masked ICE agent and get taken away. I tell you, one of the most heartbreaking things Zooms I've had In the last 100 days has been I had 55 Latino priests and pastors on their phone and are on the Zoom saying, hey, center, what do we do if they come into our church? Now, so far, we've not had the ICE folks go into churches themselves, but I don't think we can. I could not give those pastors the assurance that that wouldn't happen. I've said, you know, you got to call me. You got to call Tim Kaine. We will be there in force. But the fact that this kind of threat is even possibly out there scares the hell out of me.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I mean, you and I were just chatting before we got started here, and I guess just to broaden it out. I mean, you were saying that, and you've been in government for a long time, in the Senate, governor of Virginia and so on in these first 105 days. You've never seen anything like this. What we're going through as a country.
Senator Mark Warner
Right now, it is absolutely. It's mind blowing, you know, and I think you're starting to see the American people turn. I don't think they expected somebody to grab people off the street or they wanted to see prices come down. And obviously, this crazy tariff policy is sending things the other way. The fact that we've managed to piss off some of our closest allies in 100 days. How you turn Canada into an enemy in 105 days, mind blowing. But the thing that's really, I guess so concerns me, and I get criticized for being too bipartisan, but the fact that too many of my Republican friends have been quietly saying, mark, we think this is awful, but they've not raised their voices yet. When we see everything from the signal gate to the firing of some of our intelligence officers to a whole series of things that I just thought folks would say already, you know, this has gone too far.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. You know, when you talk about people being just swept up off the street, I should know. We're going to be talking with Juan Lima a little later on in the program. His parents down in Georgia were picked up off the street. They're from Brazil. They've been in this country for 26 years. They had overstayed their visa, but they were picked up by ICE and sent off to a detention facility outside of Atlanta. And they're just stuck there in limbo. And that's just, it's just one of the horrors that we've seen so far of this, of this administration. And, you know, you mentioned, you know, mentioned signal gate. I want to get to that in just a second. But when you talk about Republicans not wanting to call Trump out, obviously they're, they're running in fear of him right now. Does it make you question whether or not you should be as bipartisan, that perhaps the right thing to do is to hold up some of these nominations and kind of. I know that's maybe not your style as much, Senator, but what are your thoughts? I mean.
Senator Mark Warner
Well, here's my thoughts on one. You know, unfortunately, because we changed the rules 10 years ago, literally, the ability to hold up the nominations amounts to holding it up for two hours. And we're doing that. And I am voting against the vast majority of the Trump appointees. But in our system, we got three things at this point. If you're in the minority party, if you're part of a group that's resisting, we can litigate. And there's lots of cases being taken to the courts. And so far, overwhelmingly, we've been successful. We can protest, and we see days of action and protests taking place all over the country. I gotta tell you, I was in far southwest Virginia a couple weeks back, and I had 150 people in Smith county at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning. When I was a popular governor, I couldn't get 150 people at 10:30 in the morning in a Rural Smith county, or what we can do is try to convince folks that they are voting the wrong way. And these are my colleagues. And the thing I would just make the case is Jim and I get. People will press against me, and that's their right. But we don't have to change 20 people's minds in the Senate. We got 47 Democratic senators. We need four, five, six Republican senators to vote their conscience. And I do feel that part of my job is to keep trying to work on them, because a lot of these folks, I do believe they care about our country. I do believe they care about our country's national security. But I get the fact that their unwillingness to speak up so far has been pretty darn disappointing.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I saw that you, when you were talking about Mike Waltz for national security advisor, of course he was. He was pulling. Pulled out of the. I should say for UN Ambassador. He was pulled out of the job of a national security advisor by Trump last week. He's being put up for UN Ambassador. You were saying over the weekend that it's going to be a brutal confirmation hearing for. For Mike Waltz to get that job as UN Ambassador. Should he even get that job? I mean, would you vote for him at this point as UN Ambassador, given what we saw with Signal Gate? I mean, it sounds like, you know, how do we know he's going to be. He's going to be handling that information properly once he's at the. The level of UN Ambassador?
Senator Mark Warner
I try to give everybody a fair shot. I don't know how he could convince me, in light of his careless attitude towards classified information, that he can go represent America to the rest of the world. But in many ways, the only thing I'll give Walt credit for is at least acknowledge he screwed up. Pete Hegseth, who was on that call, who then made a similar, if not more egregious mistake when he shared this same information with his wife, with his brother, who was on the payroll at the dod, his lawyer who was on the payroll, and God knows who else. You talk about somebody that should be fired right away. It's Pete Hegseth. It's Tulsi Gabbard, who was the Director of National Intelligence, who was also on some of these calls, who undermines the integrity and calls out our intelligence workforce. And every day I've dared Hegseth, literally for the last couple weeks, come down to Norfolk, Virginia, which is where our naval base is, where the SS Truman, USS Truman, the aircraft carrier that from where these planes were launched, that attacked the Houthis in Yemen and go and talk to the friends and families of those sailors and explain how that information wouldn't have put their loved ones in harm's way. Nobody in their right mind could explain that. I had a town hall down there and people were pissed off and they had every right to be pissed off. So Waltz, one down. Hegseth needs to go. Gabbard needs to go. We are made less safe every day. These individuals stay in these jobs.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I do want to move on to other topics, but it sounds like Trump is in no mood to fire Pete Hegseth. And he, you know, it sounds as though he's given up Mike Waltz as sort of a scalp to critics in D.C. but he's not going to give up on Pete Hegseth. And it's primarily, it seems, for that reason he doesn't want people around town to have scalps, even if it means keeping somebody like Pete Hegseth in that job, which he's, I mean, he was unqualified for that job when he was nominated in the first place. But Trump wants a culture warrior there.
Senator Mark Warner
Well, Jim, look at it. You've got not only this inept behavior with classified information, you've got clearly a fact that couldn't manage a two car funeral who's now trying to manage the largest institution in our government, the Defense Department. And I tell you, the Pentagon's in Virginia. We got a lot of military installations. There's not a day that goes by that I don't get some feedback about chaos at the Pentagon or declining morale. You know, that kind of chaos and that kind of declining morale doesn't make us safer. You know, we, you combine that with Vladimir Putin playing Trump like a fiddle on, you know, negotiations or no negotiations about Ukraine, and you've got a combination here that again, makes America a heck of a lot less safe. And frankly, I think we got to keep the pressure on because we just can't wait till 2026 to make the changes in the House and the Senate that are going to be needed to try to bring some responsibility back.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And maybe you can tell from your perch on the Intelligence Committee, is it the case that we just have administration officials all the time using unsecured messaging apps and that sort of apparently more. Mike Waltz was using this other version of signal called Telemessage, which is a signal like application. A Reuters photograph appeared to show Waltz using it at a Cabinet meeting. I'm sure you picked up on that. And according to Reuters, this telemessage has been Hacked too. According to the tech site 404 Media, they've reported that they've spoken with a hacker who was able to hack into Telemessage. And so it sounds as though, you know, these apps are not safe. And it seems like a bunch of these officials are using it. Do we know how widespread this is?
Senator Mark Warner
Well, first of all, it's even gotten worse. This telemessage, I think literally in the last hour has been pulled off the market because it was hacked so many times. Now let me, but let me take a minute here.
Jim Acosta
Forgive me for asking a wonky question, but.
Senator Mark Warner
Yeah, I know it's a wonky question, but using signal.
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
Senator Mark Warner
Which is encrypted is better than using your normal cell phone. And that's, you know, or using traditional cell phone telephone networks. And as you know, Jim, I was a cell phone guy for 25 years before.
Jim Acosta
Right.
Senator Mark Warner
So I'm sorry to nerd out.
Jim Acosta
But that's okay.
Senator Mark Warner
Is safer. But it is not an appropriate platform for classified information. There are secure networks that anyone who's on the intelligence committee, anyone who works for the military, anybody who works for the CIA, you are told day one, if this is classified or sensitive information, do not put it on a platform that is not protected. So with signal you've got something that is not only not classified, but this add on service which in a weird way Waltz may have been using. Now I'm getting even nerdier. Waltz may have been using to try to preserve the record for another part of the law, the Federal Records Act.
Jim Acosta
Oh boy.
Senator Mark Warner
To try to preserve that record, which is also the law as well. But the fact that he didn't do Basic Cyber Hygiene 101 means that it was a double foul. And it is. It's crazy. I will. And again, I should be good enough and just stop there. But I got to acknowledge one last thing.
Jim Acosta
Sure.
Senator Mark Warner
This has been a problem for 15 years. You know, we need to make it easier if you're in the military or in the intelligence community to have classified communications. There's a lot of these phones that are clunky and old and I got one put at my house, you know, so I can have classified communications if need be. Share the half the time it doesn't work. That still is not an excuse. That is not an excuse though, Jim, that if you are the national security advisor to use to not be smart enough to know the rules. You don't do it on a non classified network. And you sure as heck don't even plug in another application that has been hacked as much as this one that now is being literally taken off the market.
Jim Acosta
Well, I appreciate you nerding out with us because we don't mind nerding out here on this program, Senator. And I gotta ask you another sort of tech related question. And I know you've been on top of this. This is according to the Washington Post, about Elon Musk and these questions about Starlink. The Washington Post reported that the past several weeks might have been tumultuous or even existential for a lot of US businesses caught up in the trade wars. But they've been pretty darn good for Starlink, the satellite company owned by Elon Musk. After years of regulatory holdups, this according to the Washington Post, Starlink reached distribution deals in March with two giant Internet providers in India and want an approval in neighboring Pakistan as well. Another of America's major trade partners, Vietnam waived a rule that required Starlink to partner with a domestic company. So Starlink's looking pretty good these days. What's going on with this? What do you want to find out?
Senator Mark Warner
And again, there are a dozen of us who've written, the president said we need a full investigation into this because you left out, for example, one of the countries, Bangladesh, where at least the report says you had the Bangladeshi trade representative meeting with our trade representative, then suddenly getting taken down the hallway to meet with the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, inside the White House, where they supposedly had to call the Bangladeshi president and say, you want to get tariff relief, you got to look at Starlink. So it's not just potentially India or Pakistan, it's potentially Bangladesh, Vietnam, South Africa, and the part that is so gross, we all know there's a lot of corruption in plain sight coming out of this administration. But if this is happening inside the White House, inside Blair House, where Elon Musk had a meeting with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and, and doing the making these kind of asks, why in the first place would the Doge guy, who's supposed to be about government efficiency be meeting with foreign leaders, but if there is evidence that he is using this to force countries to use his satellite service, Starlink it again, it's you just, you either got a, you got to get an investigation or you laugh or you cry or you pull out your hair and you say nothing in American history, nothing in American history has been anywhere clear as clearly a gross violation. Now, we got to make sure this is factually accurate. And that's why we've asked for an investigation. But if true, this could be some of the worst kind of graft I've ever seen. Almost. The adding insult to injury is doing it inside the White House.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And can you get Elon Musk to testify? Obviously you can't unless you have a Republican chairman agree to call him up to testify on this.
Senator Mark Warner
Amen. And it's just, you know, it's.
Jim Acosta
And they're not going to do it.
Senator Mark Warner
Yeah, it's. It's mind blowing. It is. It is. I'm trying to think about. I know this is a, A, A family podcast, or you can say it. I won't use. No, it's like, it's crazy. It's bullshit. Why in the heck. The idea that the richest man in the world is suddenly extracting or potentially extracting other nations to use his satellite service. And I got nothing against his satellite service, but that ought to be able to be competitive on its own, not using the influence with the President United States to attract favors.
Jim Acosta
But this is the way Trump has been operating since he got back into the Oval Office. He acts like a mob boss. He says to these law firms, you know, I won't go after your law firm if you agree to help on, on pro bono work on this issue or that pet issue. He's going after the universities. I won't go after this university or that university. If they drop dei. It's a qu. I mean, he got, he got impeached for a quid pro quo. This is the quid pro quo administration. That's what it looks like.
Senator Mark Warner
And, you know, I, I went to law school. Thank God I never practiced law. I was lucky enough to get into the, you know, cell phone stuff and was blessed to do well. But I've been so disappointed with some of the wealthiest law firms in America that bent the knee. Now, thank goodness you're seeing other law firms grow a spine. I'm, you know, I never, I went, went to Harvard for law school. I've never given them a dime. I actually may write them a small contribution this year because they actually said they're not gonna roll over. But it says something that some of our wealthiest universities and wealthiest law firms would rather give in than stand up for the principles that in good times, they all claim is the core of their mission.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I've talked about it on the show time and again. It's when you bend the knee, it's when you pay the, the mob boss in the intimidation racket. That's what encourages the behavior. That's why it continues it seems to me, I mean, I, you know, and I, I think most people, most people can figure that out. And they've seen this. This is why people are going to town halls and are so hopping mad that they're getting dragged out. And I guess that happened last night at Mike Lawler's town hall. It's just going, going nuts left and right, I guess. Senator, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask you about the intensifying campaign in Gaza. Netanyahu said today that he's on the eve of a forceful entry into Gaza. That's the way he described it. He says he, it's time to launch the concluding moves. He put it. He says, we are not done. We are before the finish line. Your thoughts on that? It sounds as though the Palestinians are going to be relocated and moved in an even smaller area that they've been in. The conditions have been reported as just extreme, extremely dire. What's been your thought on this?
Senator Mark Warner
Well, my thought, I think, like Most clearly post October 7th, Israel has a right to defend itself. But now, a year and a half later, a year, almost 18 months, the notion of continuing conflict in Gaza, beyond the tragedy of what's happening to the Palestinians, I'm not sure how it even necessarily helps Israel. What we have an opportunity right now with the president going to the region, going to Saudi Arabia, if we could get a ceasefire in Gaza, if we could get the hostages returned, that would open up the opportunity for Saudi Arabia that wants to recognize Israel, to frankly build a bigger alliance in addition to those countries already recognized Israel within the Abraham Accords, to actually have a united front against the real bad guys in the region, which are Iran. And I just can't understand why the Israeli government, the logic of this, and frankly, you hear the Israeli intelligence services echoing the same. The opportunity to finally get a recognition from Saudi Arabia, the keeper of the holiest sites in Islam, to have that kind of recognition of Israel take place, that would be in regional peace's interest. We could actually make sure those countries like Saudi Arabia and the Emiratis come in and help on the rebuilding of Gaza. It is such a missed opportunity and instead to have ongoing conflict for both, obviously, the Palestinians. But you also are starting to even see some of the IDF forces raise some concerns here.
Jim Acosta
Yeah, yeah. I mean, the other thought that comes to mind, center is, you know, could we reach a point where, you know, you could see this inspiring terrorist attacks around the world in the United States are those concerns that you have, the longer this goes on that it could get more dire, get more desperate, result in that kind of activity, where, I mean, the intelligence community, obviously, I would think they would have to be thinking about that kind of a possibility.
Senator Mark Warner
We have to look at radicalization, whether it takes place abroad or whether it takes place at home. And there are things that. And we always have to be concerned. Let me give you another one that I think that a smart president, and Trump, uniquely, could do something here, and that is the conflict in Sudan. You know, more people die in Sudan every day than Gaza and Ukraine combined. And, you know, this has been in chaos for the last two and a half years. A civil war. Neither side. There are no good guys here. And the folks that are happening the most are the Sudanese people are being starved to death and butchered. One side has been supported by Saudi Arabia. The other side has been supported by the United Arab Democrats, the uae. If we could actually get both of those sides to pull out of that conflict and bring peace or bring at least a ceasefire into Sudan, even if Donald Trump had to get credit for it, that would be enormously powerful in a continent like Africa, where, frankly, America has for way too long paid way too little attention.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. No question about it. And I'll let you go in just a sec. I gotta ask you, because you said earlier that you're running into people who are pissed off at town halls. You've been in Democratic politics a long time, flirted with the idea of running for president. You, you get mentioned from time to time about this, this stuff where. What is your preference in terms of where the Democratic Party should be right now? Is it. Is it too feisty? Not feisty enough. I mean, there's, there are a lot of Democrats, rank and file them, or a lot of people just in the grassroots, they're so pissed, they're so hopping mad. They do see a lot of bullshit, as you called it, and they don't know what to do. And they're. And they're tearing their hair out. They're just, They're. They couldn't be more frustrated.
Senator Mark Warner
I see that. I do think you're seeing stronger resistance from Capitol Hill, from both sides. I also think what we got to do. I think Trump's going to implode. But what I want to be part of is how we put forward, frankly, an optimistic Democratic message that says, okay, we can be pro growth, we can be pro innovation. Sometimes we got to acknowledge that maybe we've been too regulatory. I'm a big advocate of, you know, broadband deployment and the fact that we've got $42 billion in the first year of the Biden administration and didn't put a bit of fiber out because we had so much bureaucracy was a huge mistake. Yeah, if we could have laid that out, I think we would have a lot of rural communities would have voted for, for Vice President Harris. So how do you get that optimistic? Pro growth, pro innovation, less regulatory, yet still recognizes one of our strengths in this country is the diversity of America, Recognizing the fact that we're still the only country in a world where people will literally put their lives on the line to try to take a little piece of the life that we already take, you and I take for granted every day. We're the only place where you can come first generation and be American. I could move to Italy tomorrow. I'm never gonna be Italian. And that kind of optimistic, forward leaning Democratic Party that's still based in fairness, but does recognize, yeah, there have been mistakes we've made, but we gotta be forward leaning. I think the country, not just the activists, but I hear an awful lot of folks that supported Trump that said, hey, I didn't hire this guy, I didn't hire somebody not only not bring around prices, but also piss off half the world.
Jim Acosta
And he's, and he's dressed up, he's dressed up as the Pope. You know, he's, he's, you know, yesterday he's dressed up as Darth Vader. I don't know what he's doing. And you were saying you think he's going to implode? I mean, do you mean like he's like not going to make it all four years? Because there are days where I think.
Senator Mark Warner
That I think the American this time.
Jim Acosta
Around, a little more nuts.
Senator Mark Warner
I think, I think the American people are turning on him. But what I worry about, Jim, is some of this stuff, the structural damage is so great. I mean, it's going to be a long time before our neighbors, the Canadians, are going to ever view us as allies again. It's going to be a long time before the Australians, who we're trying to build submarines with and we whack them with a tariff even though we've got a trade surplus. The fact that we've been spending 25 years saying, hey, be careful with China, and now more countries think China is a more responsible trading partner than America. Those, those damages can't be undone by a change in policy. And when you have a lot of Americans, you know, who's going to want to go serve in the federal government going forward after the Damage he's done, you know, impugning incredibly, of our workforce. A little known fact. This is federal recognition of Public Service Week. You know, who's going to want to join the federal government, which is public service that should be celebrated with, with this kind of structural damage being done.
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, I mean, why would you want to work for the federal government if people like Doge can get access to your personal data or toss you by the wayside for some AI program? I mean, you raise a lot of questions. Senator Warner, we've taken up so much time. Really appreciate it. Thanks very much. And I do want to say go commanders. I'm glad they're coming back to D.C. i'm sure as a Virginian, you, you're glad they're at least coming out of Maryland.
Senator Mark Warner
At least coming out of Maryland. Anyhow, we all got to stay in the fight. We're a better country than what we've been getting. We will take this country back.
Jim Acosta
All right, Senator Warner, thanks a lot. Really appreciate the time. Good to see you, sir.
Senator Mark Warner
Thank you, Jim.
Jim Acosta
All right, thanks so much. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia. And, you know, I think he, he's right. And it was interesting right before we got started with the interview, you know, he said to me, and that's why I brought it up during the show, he said, you know, he said he's been in government a long time, been doing this for a long time. He said in the first 105 days, and he said it again during the interview in the first 105 days of this administration. He's just never seen anything like this. And that's what you're hearing from a lot of longtime serving members of Congress, people who are experienced hands here in Washington. This is what they see. I want to take a pretty dramatic turn here and get back to the issue of the mass deportations in this country. You saw Trump earlier today talking about, you know, how you can't have trials for all of these migrants that are being swept up and pulled up off the street and removed from this country. I want to bring in Juan Lima because Juan has a very important story to tell us about. Juan, it's great to see you. Thanks so much for coming on the program. I know you and I were speaking earlier today. Your parents, who have been in this country for 26 years, I think, is what you were telling me earlier today.
Juan Lima
Yes, sir.
Jim Acosta
They were. They were taken into custody by ice. When did this happen? And can you just tell us the story?
Juan Lima
Yes, sir. So just last week, as my parents Were getting up in the morning, getting ready to go to work. Some men in un, just normal clothing, um, unmarked vehicles pulled up at my parents house and knocked on their front door. Of course, as any immigrant like myself growing up in this country and the current climate that we're in, we were terrified anytime someone comes knocking on our door that we don't know. And so. And from there they apprehended my parents, had them arrested, take them to ICE headquarters in downtown Atlanta, and from there transferred to a detention center three hours away from where I am and as my attorneys have said, is considered the next step to help, just due to the inhumane treatment. And of course, as you said, Jim, they've been in this country for 26 years.
Jim Acosta
We just celebrated.
Juan Lima
April of 1999 is when they came to this country with no other intention but to build it, build a future. They didn't even come for themselves. They came for me to help me have a future and did everything possible by as I'd like to say that they came here with nothing, but yet gave me everything.
Jim Acosta
And so one, you were saying that the ICE officers, they were wearing normal clothes, they were using unmarked vehicles?
Juan Lima
Yes, sir.
Jim Acosta
That's awfully strange. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Juan Lima
Yeah. So myself and our attorneys, we still have no idea. My parents were not told at all as to why this happened. They had no warrant and so they just told my parents to collect their belongings, whether it just be, you know, their passports, etc. And had them escorted to downtown Atlanta.
Jim Acosta
And they had been in this country for 26 years. Basically they had overstayed their visa and so they must have been in the system in that fashion. But I mean, if they hadn't committed a crime, if they hadn't, I mean, Trump's been talking about the people in the White House been talking about going after gang members and criminals and people like, sounds like your parents didn't do anything other than just be upstanding members of their community. I think you were saying that they, they're involved in their church.
Juan Lima
Yes, sir.
Jim Acosta
What about all that?
Juan Lima
Yes, sir. And my parents, again, I'm not a social justice worker or a professional by any stretch or means when it comes to immigration law. I'm just a son just trying to advocate for their parents. And my parents, for all the 26 years that we've been here in this country, they've been ones that have constantly given back to their community. Volunteers at our local church, Bible study teachers, worship leaders, and never expected anything in return. They have also paid taxes all 26 years that we've been here in this country knowing that they'll never get a single dime out of Social Security. And so these are the kinds of real Americans that I believe that we need to kind of embrace. They have zero criminal record. And so we're kind of left here with questions. We don't know why, but even in the midst of the tragedy, in the midst of the chaos, we still have hope that through this we hope that our story can help inspire others. That even though, as you know, under our current administration, people don't realize that this is actually happening. People that are beloved by their community are being completely snatched, taken away without any notice.
Jim Acosta
And the other thing you were saying is, is you, you were speaking with your father or you spoke with your parents at this detention facility and they're running out of space.
Juan Lima
Yes sir.
Jim Acosta
At the facility that he's at right now at that your parents are being held at it right now?
Juan Lima
Yes sir. Up until last night, my dad didn't even have a mattress to sleep on. He was sleeping on the floor on a mattress. And my dad said that every single day there, and especially over this past night, they'll have hundreds that choose to self deport and are shipped away to local airport and sent off to their home countries without any due process. Have help from the outside.
Jim Acosta
And have your parents gone in front of a judge? Has anything like that happened?
Juan Lima
No sir. So we're currently in the process right now of achieving a bond hearing and that due to their good character, their merit, the fact that they are so admired by our community that we are fighting for them to be released. And so which is why we started a GoFundMe and to be able to help pay for bond and attorney fees and help keep up with their rent, etc, etc, and in just under five hours we were able to raise $25,000 to be able to help keep up with all the, the fees and things that we, we've received so far. And anything given over that is to help keep my parents here. And so that's what we're advocating for.
Jim Acosta
And they were just living in this country, doing their thing and. And then one day they get grabbed. I mean, and the people who are watching this, you can see, I mean, you know, these are your folks. You got to be so worried about them.
Juan Lima
Yes sir.
Jim Acosta
Yes sir. I can't imagine what that's like to go through, you know.
Juan Lima
Yeah, and it's, it's been difficult even in the phone calls initially when we didn't even Know what the situations were, how they were being treated. It was a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety. And I know that there are hundreds, hundreds and thousands of immigrants in our country that feel that same kind of fear and anxiety that I'm waking up with and going to bed with every night now.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And you're. You're a DACA kid?
Juan Lima
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Michael Cohen
I was.
Juan Lima
I was brought here when I was 8 months old, and so all I've ever known is this country, and all I've ever known is the community that I've been surrounded by. And. And so it hurts my heart and that my parents are treated this way, but I know that there are so many others that are also enduring the same thing.
Jim Acosta
And so when Trump and some of these other people in the White House and administration are saying they're going after the gang members, they're going after the criminals, what is your response to that?
Juan Lima
That. Look at. Look who's in front of you. Do these look like criminals to you? Do these look like gang bangers? No, these are beloved people by their community. These are moms and dads, aunts and uncles, loved ones. And so I pray that through stories like ours, that people would wake up and realize that what mass media and what so many people have spread as lies is the vast minority of, in terms of what we've actually seen of. My parents have described to me that vast majority of the people that are at these detention centers are people that don't have a criminal record, people that were just caring about their regular lives.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And your parents brought you here from Brazil for a better life?
Juan Lima
Yes, sir.
Jim Acosta
That's basically it.
Juan Lima
Yes, sir.
Senator Mark Warner
Yeah.
Juan Lima
And because of them, I have access to the education. I was able to become a minister. I went to seminary, and I was able to have access to all these opportunities because they wanted a better future for me, something that they weren't given when they were growing up.
Jim Acosta
And, Juan, I see you have an American flag behind you.
Juan Lima
Yes, sir.
Jim Acosta
This is.
Juan Lima
This is in my living room. And because I haven't even been to Brazil ever since I've been here, Since I was 8 months old, this is the only country I've ever known. My parents have lived more years in the United States than they ever did in Brazil. And so these are things that we know. They break our hearts, but we know that in the end, we're still believing for a miracle. We're still believing that, as you know, we. We continue to work with attorneys and do our best on this side, that we're going to receive justice for them.
Jim Acosta
Yeah, but right now you're in limbo. You don't know. You don't know what's going to happen.
Juan Lima
Yes sir. Yep. Every day, every day is a journey. But even along the journey we've had so many loved ones, hundreds of people that my that have reached out and have constantly been in loving support saying that no matter what it takes, we're going to try and do our best to get them released.
Jim Acosta
And I guess today they were saying over at the White House that well, you will give you a thousand dollars if you self deport. Is that of interest to you or your parents? I mean it to me when I look at them, when I hear you, you guys are Americans. I mean you don't have, maybe you don't have the documentation to say it, but you're Americans.
Juan Lima
Yes sir. This is the only country I've ever known. This is the only people I've ever known. And so my parents more than anything, no matter what the system or what our country tries to tell them that they are, that there's some alien number dash 1, 2, 4, whatever it may be. No, they're my parents. They're my superheroes. And I would hate for us to be separated because, because of how this system was created.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. I mean. And what's your message to the government?
Juan Lima
My message is look at people like my parents that are loving, they have constantly been contributors towards society and that are beloved by their community, by their church, by their friends, both Americans, Brazilians and multiple ethnicities alike. And are these the kind of people that we want to just say we want to get rid of? No. These are the people that we need to embrace. Are the people that have constantly given and never asked for anything in return.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And you know my, my dad came from Cuba and worked a blue collar job for 40 years, is now living in retirement. And I, you know, I just can't imagine something like this happening to him. That's, I guess I put myself in your shoes thinking about all of this. What did your parents do all these years while they were raising you in this country?
Juan Lima
Yes, sir. So they have their own house cleaning business and that's what they've been doing for nearly 25 years since they've been here. Wow. And which multiple of their clients have been ones that have sent in letters of as character witnesses. They as they even entrusted them in their own homes for 20 plus years and we're and again did things as normal US citizens?
Jim Acosta
Yeah, because that's the question I Ask a lot of folks, when this debate comes up, when this issue comes up is, you know, a lot of the people who come to this country and try to start a new life and come from places like Cuba or Brazil or Latin America, they're doing jobs that a lot of Americans don't want to do, which is why our parents got employed. Your parents ran a house cleaning business. My dad worked in a grocery store for 40 years. Worked in grocery stores for 40 years. These are jobs that some Americans just don't want to do. But through their hard work, they can. They can put together a good life here and raise kids who can have an even better life. I mean, and to me, that's the American dream.
Juan Lima
Yes, sir.
Jim Acosta
That's what it's all about.
Juan Lima
Yes, sir.
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
Juan Lima
Yeah. And. And all we are is the. We are the sons and daughters of immigrants, every single one of us. And so I'd hate for my parents to not receive that same treatment, that they came here to this country with a dream to be able to build a greater future for themselves. And they love this country. They love this country with all their heart. We celebrate Fourth of July more than we do celebrate our Brazilian independence because we love this country. And we know that God hasn't forsaken our country. And so we know that even in the midst of all this, again, this is more than just a political issue. This is a human issue. And that all of us, we're all the sons and daughters of immigrants, just like myself, and. And I pray that. That they receive the justice that they need.
Jim Acosta
Well, Juan Lima, I really appreciate you speaking with me, and please keep us posted on your parents. I'm so very sorry that they're going through this. You know, I know you know, this. This is not. This is not who America is. People might say, well, that's who America is right now. That's. That may be true. That may be true. I don't believe, personally that this is who America is. And you just have to hang in there and. And please keep us posted on how they're doing it. And God bless you and your family. My heart goes out to you guys.
Juan Lima
Yes, sir. Thank you so much.
Jim Acosta
Thank you, Juan. Okay, Take care. Yeah, I mean that to me, you know, what does the American dream mean to people if we're just going to grab people who've been in this country for 26 years and lock them up like criminals when all they've done is work hard, pay their taxes, raise kids. You heard from Juan there. Does anybody detect a Brazilian accent? No. I mean, he's as American as anybody else. And his home may have been of mixed status, as we call it, in talking about these issues. But I mean, a lot of this comes back to who do we want to be as a country? Who do we want to be as Americans? Do we want to be that America? The scoop, people up off the street without due process, unmarked cars, plain clothes officers, throw them in jail, don't know when you're going to get out, don't know what's going to happen to you. Are we that country? Is that who we want to be? Let me bring in Michael Cohen because usually we do. Michael, Monday, a little earlier, doing a little later today. Michael, a couple of questions.
Michael Cohen
What a terrible, terrible story. And you know, when you turn around and you ask that question, it's you, it's to those of us who come from families that are, we'll say, of mixed status. My father, right, is a Canadian via Poland after the war. My wife, right, Ukrainian, via Italy and Israel. I mean, let's be, let's be serious about it. I don't really know too many people who are more than two generations removed from being mixed. Immigration status. It's not. Jim, it's nauseating any which way you think about it.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And you know, Trump is talking about, I mean, you know, we'll talk about the bright shiny objects and he wants us to talk about the bright shiny objects. But I also want to talk about what we are becoming as a country when the President of the United States won't say whether he's supposed to uphold the Constitution. My God. Yes, man, you are supposed to uphold the Constitution. You are the president. Jim, that's twice of office.
Michael Cohen
The man has taken the oath of office not once, but twice. Okay, maybe you don't get it right on the first time, but there's always the second time. And I mean, did you not understand it the first time? Okay, say no the second time. You better understand it the second time. You're the leader of the free world, for God's sakes. If we're really even free anymore.
Jim Acosta
Yeah, and, and, and we're all supposed to do cartwheels today, Michael, because apparently Trump said on Meet the Press yesterday that he's going to be an eight year president, I'll be a two term president, he said. I always thought that was very important. Trump told moderator Kristen Welker on Meet the Press. Oh, gosh, so much. Don't you feel so much better now that he's Jim?
Michael Cohen
Absolutely. I absolutely do not. Let me Be very clear, knowing Trump for a decade and a half better than all of these animals and enablers around him, I want to be very clear about something.
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
Michael Cohen
First and foremost, it doesn't mean anything because let me tell you what he's doing. It should be obvious to people, but certainly to his MAGA support, his ecosystem there. They don't even want to think about it. What he's doing is he's testing the water, plain and simple. He wants to see how it's going to fare, as we'll call it a poll. And obviously he realized this is a very, very unpopular thing for him to do. It didn't poll well at all. People on both sides of the aisle. I wrote my substack, in fact, on it first thing this morning at 5:30am where not only obviously Democrats are 90% against it, independents are like 60% against it, but even Republicans are 20% against it. It comes out to like a. An average of 70% of our country believe that it is absolutely 100% improper for the President of the United States to want to stay on longer than what the 22nd Amendment permits.
Jim Acosta
And my God, he can barely get through a day in his second term. I mean, you know, I kind of wonder if they keep putting out these memes of him as Darth Vader and the Pope and everything to distract us from the fact that, I mean, he just looks tired. He doesn't look. He doesn't look like he's all there sometimes. I mean, you know, I don't even know why we're talking about a third term. I'm. What is he going to get through the second term? He thinks that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has MS.13 tattooed on his knuckles when that's clearly not the case. That's clearly a Photoshop. I mean, just doesn't, you know, is he, Is he all there?
Michael Cohen
He is all there. And I want people to stop and turn around and say, oh, he has dementia. He does not. What he has is IDgas. All right? That's what he has. IDgas. I don't give a. I don't give a. All right? He doesn't give a about Juan or his family. He doesn't give a About Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He doesn't give a about Jim Acosta or Michael Cohen. He doesn't give a about the Constitution or what it says.
Jim Acosta
What or. And he doesn't give a about his vice president either, by the way, because he keeps. He keeps floating. Marco Rubio. He did this again yesterday. He floated Marco Rubio for president in 2028.
Michael Cohen
In addition, by the way, he's not going to back JD Vance on the next go around. You know, I love the loyalty. Oh, yes, exactly. Like First Avenue in Manhattan, one way. Right? Let me be very clear. He's testing the waters. And what you're going to see is not the end of this test. He is going to do it little by little by little. You don't destroy something by just smashing it in one. In one specific.
Jim Acosta
I won't be shocked if next week he does a rally or a speech or the week after that or he goes on Hannity and he floats the third term thing all over again.
Michael Cohen
You know why I love Michael Monday's gym? Because you're spot freaking on. It's like you're taking the words out of my mouth. It's a fact. You are 100% correct.
Jim Acosta
You just. We should mark this moment. We should mark. It's Cinco de Mayo because he tweeted out the Taco bowl thing earlier today. It's Cinco de Mayo. And we should just all remember it was on May 5, the year of our Lord 2025, when we said that he is going to do it again. He's going to float this thing again. He's going to do it.
Michael Cohen
Of course he's going to. I mean, can we speak for a moment about the. What's even the right word? When they haven't even started. Well, they just started the conclave. Right. They're looking obviously for a new Pope. They, you know, just literally are burying Pope Francis, who from every account was a decent, decent, decent human being. Yeah, he was a decent man. Right. Representing.
Jim Acosta
Anyway.
Michael Cohen
And probably. Yes. And the blasphemous sort of promotion of superimposing Trump's face onto a body dressed as the Pope. And then the gall, the unmitigated goal, where Trump comes out and he says, I didn't even know. I didn't even know. Listen up.
Jim Acosta
He said, they can't take a joke.
Michael Cohen
Right? It's. First of all, it's not a joke, but he even turns around and says that he didn't even know that this thing went up. Let me be very clear. It was posted on your, on your, on your site, on your True Social account. So are you telling me somebody else has access to your account?
Jim Acosta
Is Dan Scavino allowed to post things on his True Social without Donald Trump knowing about it?
Michael Cohen
Not without knowing when Trump tells him what to do. And I know this because myself and this guy named Justin, we had access to Trump's X account when it was still Twitter, and he would tell us what he wanted posted and when to make sure that it went out. This is all just grotesque. It is this. I'm blown away at the level of, of stupidity that we, the American people, have to constantly contend with on a day to, day to day, you know, basis. Jim, can I throw one more thing here out at you?
Jim Acosta
Yeah, yeah.
Michael Cohen
What drives me crazy is this whole stupidity on tariffs. I don't know. Mark Rowan, by the way of Apollo, Right, who I happen to know pretty well came out, he was on CNBC talking about how tariffs are one of the worst things that any president could ever do and that our economy is going to tank. Why can't somebody like, if I was still in that inner circle, I, I was very different than so many of these folks because I would actually push back and I would give him my honest opinion. Not to be a contrarian, but, but to be loyal, you know, to be loyal to somebody doesn't mean you have to say yes. What it means is that you need to tell him the truth to protect himself from loyalty.
Jim Acosta
Exactly. That's what loyalty is.
Michael Cohen
Somebody needs to take a piece of paper with a little red Sharpie and draw out something which is called the circular flow of economic activity. What he just does. And it sounds all, you know, econ, maybe 2.0, 3.0. It is not. It is a very simple concept where just because China is manufacturing the goods, think about the number of hands that it touches before it ultimately gets into the consumer's hands. How much money is generated. The money is generally not made by the way off of the item. It's by the transportation, by the, by the, the people who stock the stuff, the wholesalers, then selling them to the big box. Everybody pays a tax on that, whether it's income tax.
Jim Acosta
It's true. No, it's absolutely true. And, but you know, the good thing though, Michael, is that we now know where Donald Trump wants to retire after leaving office. It's. It would be his own private island near San Francisco called Alcatraz. I don't know if you. Trump said apparently he wants to, he wants to reopen Alcatraz. He's ordered several federal agencies to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz, the infamous federal penitentiary that was closed in the 60s and since has become a popular tourist destination in the Washington Post reporting. So, so is this where Trump's going after?
Michael Cohen
No, no. First of all, the whole concept is as stupid as stupid can be. First and Foremost, it is a museum. It is a destination. I went to Alcatraz and I was sure everybody does. There's a reason why they made it into a museum. First and foremost, his understanding of bureau prisons, I obviously have firsthand experience in this one. His understanding is so myopic and myopically wrong. We have what's called supermax in this country, and we have quite a few of them. They're not even above ground, they're below ground. These, these inmates never ever see the light of day, ever. They see light, but they don't see outside. Everything is underground. He's under this false impression that, that people who are in prison are committing more crimes out on the street, and that's why you need to spend how many billions to upgrade Alcatraz.
Jim Acosta
Is it because is most of his knowledge, basically from like movies of the 70s and 80s, is that, you know, he saw the Birdman of Alcatraz. Was that Clint Eastwood?
Michael Cohen
Funny that you said that, because that's probably what gave him the idea. Or maybe the, the, the, the escape from Alcatraz may have been on and, and all of a sudden now he's saying, hey, this is a great place for us to stick all of these unwanted, these illegals like Juan's parents and so on. You know, send crazy. Jim, what's crazy is the fact that Trump has no problem with spending what will be billions and billions of dollars to upgrade Alcatraz. Place that hasn't been used in what, 50, 60 years?
Jim Acosta
They'd have to tear it down and rebuild it. Well, this is not, this is not a Trump golf course. You can't.
Michael Cohen
No, no, no. He's going to do a gut wrench. He's doing a gut renovation gym, all right, like he did over at the gm, the GE building on Fifth Avenue. Let me say this. He's willing to spend billions and billions of dollars on a refurbishment of a museum that should stay exactly as is. Yeah, except he's willing to cut childhood cancer research programs, Parkinson research, Alzheimer research also.
Jim Acosta
Well, he doesn't care about any. He just care. He doesn't care.
Michael Cohen
Forget about Jim. Jim, I'm so sorry. I just did the weave. I did the weave and I brought it right back to IDGAs.
Jim Acosta
No, I mean, forget about the Birdman of Alcatraz. It's. He's the bird brain of Alcatraz. I mean, you know, where does he come up with these ideas, reopening Alcatraz? I mean, you know, him dressed up as the Pope makes more sense than that.
Michael Cohen
No, not even make any sense. Let's, let's be fair. I know, you know, this is great Saturday Night Live fodder if it was not true and happening in real time. You know, I'm so glad that you have this massive, massive audience and there's a reason why you have it. No, no, there's a reason why you have it because people have to go somewhere in order to get truth. They need to go somewhere that's not, let's just say like what happened with NBC and Kristen Welker. There were so many pushback questions that she, that I would have been asking if in fact I was given the opportunity to, to speak.
Jim Acosta
But Michael, you know, he would, that's, I mean, you know, he would never sit down with you or me or, you know, the, the other thing is it's not just the third term question on Meet the Press when he was on with ABC last week. And he's insisting that that tattoo of Ms. 13 on, on the, on Kilmar's knuckles are real. And I don't care if it's the rest of the interview. You spend the rest of the interview saying, no, Mr. President, those are not. That's not ms.13 on his knuckles. That, that tattoo is a photoshopped image. Don't you understand? And if he. And you just keep going back and forth and just say why don't you understand that that is a photo. There's, that's why I go back to this.
Michael Cohen
That was, I think that was Terry Moran who did that interview.
Jim Acosta
I mean he, you know, Jerry hold his own at times. But I'm just saying tried, you know.
Michael Cohen
Right.
Jim Acosta
Please stop feeding us this line of bullshit when you say you don't know whether you're supposed to uphold the constitution of this country. Give me a break. The job that is the job of the President of the United States.
Michael Cohen
You see, what I would have liked. What I would have liked Kristen to do is turn around and be more emphatic in the way that you ask the follow up question. Mr. President, can I just get you here on the Record today? May a declaratory statement that you are not going to, even if asked, accept the nomination of your party as you have now finished at that time.
Jim Acosta
Because you and I both know. You and I both know he. That would, that would be the revealing moment because. Because you and I both know this is not over yet. And as we were saying earlier on. Now I'm doing the weave. You know, as I said earlier in the conversation, Mark this. Now I'm doing the weave. May 5th is. I know, it's okay. It's no matt front. May 5th is when you and I called it. He is going to say it again. He is going to float that 13, third term thing out there. He's going to do it one more time, and he's going to start this all over again. You know? He's going to do it. He is, yeah.
Michael Cohen
And, and listen, we called it here. It's why I actually appreciate Michael Mondays so much. We can get so much in, in like a 15 minute segment or a 20 minute segment. It's so important. And I'm, I'm sort of beseeching to each and every one of the subscribers here, please. If you're a Michael Cohen subscriber, please make sure that you subscribe to Jim Acosta. If you're a Jim Acosta, please subscribe to my. And I'm going to tell you why. I'm going to tell you the number of people. That's for sure. I just spoke at Yale University for three days. I got back yesterday. I spoke to seven different groups. Undergraduates, graduates. I spoke to the board and to alumni. Right. I did seven of these things. I got to tell you, the number of people who came over to me and said to me, and I get this all the time in the streets, too, Michael, what can we do to help? What can we do? And there's really only one thing that at this present moment you can do. Subscribe Join the conversation, join the community.
Jim Acosta
That's a great idea. No, that's a great support. Independent media. You're absolutely right. There's no question about it. There's no question about it. All right. Well, apparently we got one comment that came from a viewer that says that Trump knows Photoshop. Look at the pics he puts out. That's very true. I, I have to think, you know, the makeup, the hair stuff, there's, there's some photoshopping going on there. Michael, great to see you.
Michael Cohen
Great to see you too, Jim.
Jim Acosta
We'll be the Birdman of Alcatraz.
Michael Cohen
Exactly.
Jim Acosta
Good. Good to see you, buddy.
Michael Cohen
Later, brother.
Jim Acosta
All right. All right. And then, and then Michael and I can do the sequel, Escape from Alcatraz. We'll, we'll do the substack version of that from Live from Alcatraz. All right, well, thanks, everybody, for watching this Monday. My thanks to Virginia Senator Mark Warner. We got some, some really interesting, candid responses from him during that interview. And my, my heart just goes out to Juan Lima and his family. Thank you so much, Juan, for spending time with us, of course, Michael Cohen as well. But there are Juan's parents right there. Sandra and Osne are Juan's parents. They were scooped up off the street, placed in indefinite detention by ice, by plain closed officers with ice. And Juan has no idea what is happening to them. Can you imagine if these were your parents? You came over here as a baby, 8 months old. 8 months old, live in this country for 25, 26 years in one day, because of a change in the administration, ICE officers show up, scoop your parents up off the street. No due process. Don't go in front of a judge. They're. They're dumped in a detention center in Georgia and he has no idea when they're getting out. And I asked the question, I asked it earlier. I'm going to ask him again to end this program. Is this who we are? Is this America? Is this who we want to be? Something to think about. Thanks, everybody, for watching. Really appreciate it. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a good night.
Podcast Summary: The Jim Acosta Show – May 5, 2025
Episode Title:
Sen. Mark Warner, Michael Cohen, and Georgia Resident Juan Lima Discuss ICE Detentions and Presidential Conduct
Host:
Jim Acosta
Description:
In this episode, Jim Acosta engages with Senator Mark Warner, Michael Cohen, and Juan Lima to delve into pressing issues surrounding President Donald Trump's commitment to the Constitution, the controversial actions of ICE, and personal stories of immigration enforcement. The conversation navigates through constitutional crises, immigration policies, national security concerns, and the human impact of governmental decisions.
Jim Acosta opens the show with a strong critique of President Donald Trump's approach to constitutional duties and due process. He highlights Trump's evasive responses regarding his commitment to uphold the Constitution, setting the stage for a deep dive into the systemic issues currently facing the United States.
[00:06] Jim Acosta: "Trump is sounding more out of control as president every day. He is still not pledging to follow the Constitution when it comes to due process in this country."
Senator Mark Warner is introduced as the first guest, bringing his extensive experience as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Critique of Trump's Civic Knowledge: Warner expresses disappointment in Trump's understanding of basic American civics, emphasizing the President's duty to the Constitution over personal authority.
[01:28] Senator Mark Warner: "If Donald Trump was an 8th grade civic student, he'd fail civics. Basic American civics."
Consequences of Defying Constitutional Norms: Warner warns of a potential constitutional crisis if Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court and Congress, especially concerning due process in immigration enforcement.
[03:11] Senator Mark Warner: "We're on a collision course with the Constitution on both these tracks."
Jim Acosta shifts the conversation to immigration, highlighting Trump's stance on migrant trials and due process, particularly focusing on actions taken by ICE.
Juan Lima's Heart-Wrenching Story: Juan Lima shares his personal experience of having his parents detained by ICE after 26 years in the United States. He describes the unmarked vehicles, lack of warrants, and the abrupt detention without due process.
[31:21] Juan Lima: "Men in normal clothing, unmarked vehicles pulled up at my parents' house and knocked on their front door."
Impact on Families and Communities: Juan emphasizes his parents' contributions to the community, their tax payments, and lack of criminal records, questioning the rationale behind their detention.
[41:48] Juan Lima: "These are beloved people by their community... They have zero criminal record."
The discussion returns to Senator Warner, who elaborates on issues relating to national security, information security breaches, and the misuse of communication platforms by government officials.
Signal Gate Incident: Warner criticizes the use of unsecured messaging apps like Telemessage by officials such as Mike Waltz, highlighting the risks posed by these security lapses.
[13:23] Senator Mark Warner: "Telemessage has been pulled off the market because it was hacked so many times."
Recommendations for Improvement: He advocates for better cybersecurity practices within the intelligence community to prevent future breaches.
[15:07] Senator Mark Warner: "We need to make it easier if you're in the military or in the intelligence community to have classified communications."
Michael Cohen, a seasoned critic of Trump, joins the conversation to provide an insider's perspective on the administration's dysfunction.
Presidential Longevity and Constitutional Limits: Cohen vehemently opposes Trump's hints at an extended presidency beyond the constitutional two terms, labeling it as "nauseating."
[46:36] Michael Cohen: "They don't want to think about it... 70% of our country believe that it is absolutely 100% improper for the President to want to stay on longer than what the 22nd Amendment permits."
Alleged Misuse of Power and Influence: He discusses Trump's manipulative tactics, such as leveraging legal firms and institutions to curry favor, and the dangerous implications of these actions on democratic principles.
[50:54] Michael Cohen: "He is testing the waters, plain and simple."
Critique of Policy Missteps: Cohen criticizes Trump's tariff policies and economic strategies, arguing they are maladroit and damaging to the economy.
[53:38] Michael Cohen: "Tariffs are one of the worst things that any president could ever do and that our economy is going to tank."
Warner touches upon the deteriorating relationships with allies due to Trump's policies, citing strained ties with Canada and mishandling of trade agreements.
[28:09] Senator Mark Warner: "Our neighbors, the Canadians, are going to ever view us as allies again."
Additionally, discussions unfold around Starlink's expansion amidst regulatory challenges and potential misuse by the administration for political leverage.
[16:45] Senator Mark Warner: "If there is evidence that he is using this to force countries to use his satellite service, Starlink, it could be some of the worst kind of graft."
The conversation broadens to address ongoing conflicts abroad, including the intensifying campaign in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
Gaza and Ceasefire Opportunities: Warner advocates for a ceasefire in Gaza to pave the way for regional alliances against common threats like Iran.
[22:01] Senator Mark Warner: "Israel has a right to defend itself, but ongoing conflict in Gaza doesn't necessarily help Israel."
Sudan's Civil War: He underscores the dire situation in Sudan, highlighting the need for American intervention to broker peace and alleviate suffering.
[24:25] Senator Mark Warner: "More people die in Sudan every day than Gaza and Ukraine combined."
Warner envisions an optimistic, forward-leaning Democratic Party focused on growth, innovation, and reducing bureaucratic hurdles to harness America's diverse strengths.
[26:23] Senator Mark Warner: "An optimistic Democratic message that says, okay, we can be pro-growth, we can be pro-innovation."
Jim Acosta concludes the episode by reflecting on the systemic issues discussed, emphasizing the need for America to uphold its foundational values and ensure due process for all its residents.
[43:19] Juan Lima: "This is a human issue. And we're all the sons and daughters of immigrants."
He reiterates the importance of community support and advocacy, urging listeners to contemplate the nation's identity and the direction it is heading.
[44:00] Jim Acosta: "Is this who we are? Is this America? Is this who we want to be?"
Constitutional Commitment: President Trump's apparent disregard for constitutional due process poses a significant threat to American democratic principles, risking a constitutional crisis.
Immigration Enforcement: The ICE's aggressive and non-transparent tactics are causing undue suffering to long-term, law-abiding immigrants, exemplified by Juan Lima's family's ordeal.
National Security Vulnerabilities: The misuse of unsecured communication platforms by high-ranking officials underscores vulnerabilities within the national security framework.
Administrative Dysfunction: The Trump administration exhibits signs of internal chaos, mismanagement, and potential corruption, raising concerns about governance and policy efficacy.
Human Impact: Personal stories like Juan Lima's highlight the human cost of political and policy decisions, emphasizing the need for compassionate and just immigration laws.
Political Strategy and Future: The Democratic Party under leaders like Senator Warner aims to promote an optimistic and progressive agenda, countering Trump's divisive and authoritarian tendencies.
Jim Acosta:
"[04:58] 'You've never seen anything like this. What we're going through as a country.'"
Senator Mark Warner:
"[15:07] 'If you are the national security advisor, do not put it on a non-classified network.'"
Juan Lima:
"[41:48] 'These are the people that we need to embrace.'"
Michael Cohen:
"[46:36] 'They don't want to think about it... 70% of our country believe that it is absolutely 100% improper for the President to want to stay on longer than what the 22nd Amendment permits.'"
Jim Acosta:
"[43:15] 'Is this who we are? Is this America? Is this who we want to be?'"
This episode of The Jim Acosta Show offers a critical examination of the Trump administration's policies and their implications on constitutional integrity, national security, and the fabric of American society. Through insightful discussions with Senator Mark Warner, Michael Cohen, and the poignant narrative of Juan Lima, the podcast underscores the urgent need for accountability, compassionate governance, and a reaffirmation of America's foundational values.