← The Jim Acosta Show
The Jim Acosta Show
White House correspondent April Ryan reacts to Democratic protests during Trump's speech and Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha explains how Democrats can get the people back on their side.
00:40:34
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- [00:01]
Jim Acosta
All right, welcome everybody to the Jim Acosta show. It is Wednesday, the day after the big Trump speech. I wouldn't call it a big, beautiful Trump speech, judging by some of the reactions out there. But you can see on screen with me right now is Chuck Rocha, veteran Democratic strategist, worked on the Bernie campaign, lots of other campaigns and has lots of thoughts on everything that took place last night and what the Democrats should do, quite frankly. But a couple of headlines and there is some breaking news to tell everybody about. The White House just announced a one month exemption on some of the tariffs for the US Automakers that are manufacturing cars in Canada and Mexico. The automakers went to the White House asked for this. The AP was reporting earlier today that the Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, was predicting that there would be carve outs coming to the 25% tariffs placed on products coming in from Canada and Mexico. And as you heard last night during Trump's speech, the president tried to play down the possible economic harm that is going to be caused for lots of Americans saying it's going to be a, quote, little disturbance that is an indication that they know full well inside the White House that this tariff policy is going to have some, some major consequences for Americans out there. Let's talk about this with Chuck. Chuck, great to see you. And I, it sounds like this is your first substack, is that right?
- [01:21]
Chuck Rocha
Yes, ever.
- [01:23]
Jim Acosta
We're making history here.
- [01:26]
Chuck Rocha
It wasn't that hard. If I can figure it out, anybody can do it.
- [01:29]
Jim Acosta
I was just saying, you know, listen, one of my rules in TV is do not let the correspondent or the anchors handle the equipment. So if I can do this and I can get this going here and you can see some of the comments on the bottom there below, folks are saying hi to Chuck and so on. He's got little hearts coming up to him like social media, cocaine. But we will get into that right now. But Chuck, it's great to see it. I guess first of all, you know, just your initial reaction to the White House already backing off on these tariffs. Trump gets out there and beats his chest as if these tariffs are like, you know, his superpower. But as it, as it turns out, there is economic kryptonite out there.
- [02:09]
Chuck Rocha
Exactly. And I think, and I said this this morning on doing some press that of a 99 minute speech last night, only two minutes of it was on the economy. And I think it's because he don't want to talk about that. He wants to talk about immigration. He wants to talk about boys and Girls, bathrooms. He wants to talk about everything but what he actually got elected on. And I also said this is that there's a lot of Republicans that don't like Donald Trump, but voted for Donald Trump because they thought Joe Biden was old or weak, but also thought that, you know what, he's crazy. I don't really like him, but he's going to keep the stock market high. He's going to make sure the prices come down, and he's not doing either one of those. So when he does things that exasperate the other side of that, which are making prices higher, which is the only thing these tariffs will do, then that's why they're immediately backing off. Surprise, surprise. He's all bluster and no do.
- [03:01]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And. Or as you might say, all had no cattle. I mean, you know, you know, the.
- [03:06]
Chuck Rocha
Hat ain't never far away.
- [03:08]
Jim Acosta
There it is. I was.
- [03:10]
Chuck Rocha
I felt a little.
- [03:11]
Jim Acosta
I felt a little disappointed there that I didn't have to have.
- [03:13]
Chuck Rocha
My lighting in the House is not as good as it is in the studio. So I keep it right above the computer for emergency.
- [03:19]
Jim Acosta
Perfect. That's good. That's good to hear. What did you. I want to run through some other headlines a little bit. But you know, the thing that's on my mind is this is what I wanted to ask you about. Chuck. What did you think of how the Democrats handled last night? Did you like the walkout? Did you like the signs? Did you like the outfits? Do you think they should have just boycotted and not shown up at all? I mean. Or you just sit there and take it. What the hell do you do?
- [03:42]
Chuck Rocha
It's hard. It's hard when you're not in power. And activists who are so angry want immediate vindication for what they think is crazy and what they're watching. Because as all of us sat there, we were like, oh, my God, I know this guy. Everybody's got an uncle that's probably on Facebook a little too much, who spew a lot of conspiracy theories, who's not a very happy person. Well, last night prove what would happen if they got too address a joint member of congress in the U.S. capitol. Cause that's what it was like. So the automatic reaction for Democrats is fight back, fight back. But if you don't have a megaphone and you don't have any power, then you come up with little paddles that have messages on them which make you think, are we doing resistance or are we buying an antique coffee table at the auction? Which is where it Left me. I don't want to discredit them because I do think doing something matters. I think there's an argument to be made about just not going and listening to this crazy stuff or being like the congressman from Houston, Al Green, and just being like, I'm going to make a spectacle to make sure people know he does not have a mandate to cut Medicare. So I don't think that any one of those were very good at all. And I think they all kind of landed flat. But I do appreciate them at least trying.
- [04:52]
Jim Acosta
I did like Congresswoman Stansberry with just a little sign that says this is not normal behind Trump at which some Republican guy came in and ripped it out of her hands. Tough, you know, tough guy grabbing a sign from a lady. I mean that, you know, give me a friggin break. But you know, you mentioned Al Green. Members of the Freedom Caucus are introducing a resolution to censure Al Green after he was booted last night. And I, I just don't. Maybe I'm having amnesia, Chuck. I'm not remembering when they did that for Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. Maybe, maybe that happened and I just missed it. You know, all these complaints about decorum, to me fall a little flat when you have Trump out there referring to Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas.
- [05:36]
Chuck Rocha
And I think it felt a little flat to me when there were people from that party who were in the halls of that exact building desecrating it during January 6th. Please save me all of your outrage.
- [05:48]
Jim Acosta
Bingo. Bingo. And so what, what is your, I mean, you and I haven't spoken in a little while. What are your thoughts on what Democrats should do right now? James Carville has been saying, play possum. Just lay there and let Trump, you know, dig his own grave. I've heard a lot of folks say, well, what happens, you know, I'm sort of of this mindset, what happens between now and when Trump falls flat on his face? You know, there's a lot of damage that can be done. And it just seems to me that the Democratic grassroots is coming alive and saying fight, you know, like the old, you know, Trump meme. Fight, fight, fight. They got a little fight in them.
- [06:25]
Chuck Rocha
Right. I think that there's a lot of things that need to happen. But the thing that Democrats need to caution themselves on is it's taken a long time for this party to break itself in this way. And it's not gonna fix overnight, but the way that you eat an elephant, Republican elephant. Get what I'm doing there? Well, you eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So you gotta start biting now. What James Carville says, don't start biting. What Chuck Roach is saying is, if you listen to my podcast, the Latino Vote podcast that I do every week with Mike Madrid, I talked about it this week when I said, let me put you behind the curtain of a campaign strategist. There's two things you've gotta do to win an election, and there's two things Democrats should be doing right now. One is you have to give a reason to the American public of why you should fire an incumbent. And that's what James Carville's talking about. He's gonna give you enough ammunition himself. He's gonna make the stock market tank. He's gonna raise up prices of things even more than they are, and he's not gonna be popular. Especially when he has a Congress that are gonna have to cut $200 trillion worth of things to make up for a tax break that he wants to get to rich people. All of that's gonna be very unpopular. That's the reason you fire him or them. Yeah, but if you just do that. And that's all the Democrats have really done in the last four to eight years. But the other thing you have to do while you're doing that is give them your vision of what you're going to do to make their life better and what makes you different from them. Them just being bad or them just being your crazy uncle on Facebook is not enough. It's a good start, James Carville, but you have to complete that by showing what is your vision for what the party should do. And if you've got time for a TED Talk, I can do that piece as well.
- [08:00]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I'm going to bring in April Ryan in just a few minutes. She's a veteran White House correspondent. She was watching what took place last night. I'm sure she's got some thoughts on this, too. But, Chuck, you know what I came away with last night was Donald Trump will never be the president for all Americans. I mean, you could say he's the President of the United States. He is the President of the United States, but he was trolling half of America last night. That's what he was doing during that speech. And that's what hosts on Fox do. That's not what presidents do. And it just seems to me, you know, if that's all you are about, you're never going to lead this whole country. And maybe that doesn't matter to him. What do you think about that. And can Democrats find that person who could do that?
- [08:44]
Chuck Rocha
I think they can and they're gonna. And hopefully a lot of people run for president. There's a lot of great people that's gonna run for Congress in less than two years. But that starts with grounding some of this conversation in reality. And the reality of when he gets up and talks about these huge mandates and he won seven battleground states. He's the president and he won Republicans. It's not that hard. You see me saying, and giving, saying that somebody won an election. As a Democrat, he won, he actually won all the battleground states. I give him credit, but that don't mean he has a mandate. And let me make my case. My case is of all the people that voted in America, if you took all the people that voted not eligible to vote, not not of age, but people who actually voted, majority of those people voted for somebody other than Donald Trump. Yeah, 50%.1. Just a little over more of them. So he means to your point, Jim, half the country, literally half, was divided on being for him or against him. I know for a fact, because I ran elections in 22 congressional races and three Senate races, is when I would do polling in focus groups, I would ask people why they're voting for him. Do they like Joe Biden? They didn't like Joe Biden, but there was a whole group of Republicans who were like, we don't like him. We think what he does, he should stay off social media, all this stuff with the felonies. But they voted for him. Cuz they wanted the stock markets to stay high and they wanted prices to come down. And he's not doing either one of them.
- [10:00]
Jim Acosta
He's not doing either one of those things. And let me tell you this, I mean, last night, Trump tip the cap to Elon Musk. And I'm curious what you think about Elon Musk, because when Trump is out there saying, oh, this country is not going to be ruled by unelected bureaucrats anymore. And then it was almost right on the cue the camera was cutting over to Elon Musk. Well, listen to this. Washington Post yesterday. Elon Musk is set to meet with House Republicans tonight to discuss the work of the Doge Agency and talk about some of the cost cutting that's been going on there. Some Republican lawmakers have begun to express concern, the Washington Post says, over Musk's methods of laying off federal employees en masse. Gee, you think so? I mean, I was talking to a lady who was laid off from FEMA yesterday, as part of these DOGE cuts. Who is a disabled Air Force veteran? Why are we laying off veterans? Those are the folks who we should be hiring.
- [10:51]
Chuck Rocha
And the ads will rot themselves because a little bit of research, even from your resident Mexican redneck here, could tell you that 34% of the federal workforce is U.S. veterans. Guess what we do, girls and boys, we give preferential hiring, some would call it D E and I, to veterans who have fought wars overseas, had bullets shot at them, fighting for our freedom. And so when they return home, guess what we do as a country? We give them preferential hiring into our government. And by God, we should.
- [11:19]
Jim Acosta
We should.
- [11:19]
Chuck Rocha
They have fought for us. That's why you have preferential hiring. That's why you have diversity and inclusion. So we want them folks, we want them to get a step ahead of everybody else because they've paid their price. Now the ad writes itself. Jim, you've been out on the road, you've been on the campaign trails. I'm gonna run an ad that says Donald Trump has fired more US Veterans in the last two years than any president in the history of the country. And that's not the values of the America I wanna live in.
- [11:44]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, and he's. And they spent a big part of the speech last night talking about backing the blue and law enforcement and everything. And yet he's the one who pardoned all the January 6th rioters and insurrectionists. Do you think that, Chuck, do you think that all of the BS catches up with him at some point? I think it does. I think it does. And I think last night was an opportunity for the American people. A lot of them probably tuned out. There's just no question about it. But a lot of. I think there's some folks in the middle, people who are worried about these Doge cuts, who tuned in and said exactly what you said at the beginning of this. He's talking about the bathroom. He's talking about Gulf of America, he's talking about invading Greenland and the Panama Canal and everything.
- [12:23]
Chuck Rocha
He.
- [12:24]
Jim Acosta
He's not talking about what he's doing for me. And that's where the BS die. You get all the fact checkers in the world and give them all the Red Bull and vodka that you can give them. But at the end of the day, if he's not talking about what you're doing for yours truly, or Aunt Edna, Uncle Bob out there and so on, he's losing.
- [12:43]
Chuck Rocha
He's losing. You could not be more right. And I've grounded the elections down to a Few things. And that's the biggest thing is that. And I don't blame people for voting for Donald Trump. And hear me out on this. There's a lot of folks out there in the country that are frustrated who don't feel like either party's done anything for them. And the stock market's rising, unemployment's coming down, all these millions of jobs have been created, but they don't feel it themselves. So there's a frustration and an anxiety. And they thought that they would vote for somebody like a Donald Trump who would at least break the system, who wasn't part of, quote, unquote, the system. What they didn't realize is that he's for himself. He wasn't really looking out for them, but he talked about things that they thought they would like to get them to vote for him. Because everything that Donald Trump will do is no different than what the first time you covered him and called him out in front of everybody. It's about Donald Trump. It's always about Donald Trump. And that part hasn't changed. And the American people, to your point, he'll have to own more and more of that. And that's why when we get into the midterms and these Congress people see how bad his numbers are a la how bad their numbers are gonna be, I think that's when the chickens are gonna come home to rooster.
- [13:51]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And that's why when you're seeing, I mean, one day after he announces these tariffs, he did it right before the speech to look like the big tough guy at the speech last night. One day, not even 24 hours after the speech, he's already starting to do these carve outs of these tariffs because he realizes that this is going to be big trouble. And it sounds as though he's worried about those battleground states that you were talking about earlier. You can't piss off everybody in Michigan and have these tariffs come down and just completely, you know, come down like a hammer on the folks of Michigan and all those auto workers. Chuck, tell us about the podcast one more time and why you are doing this podcast. Because I think it's very important. The Latino male vote. We were talking about it right after the 2024 election. And we, we get like everything else, we've stopped talking about it. Why is this important?
- [14:36]
Chuck Rocha
It's the Latino, it's the Latino Vote podcast. And I started a couple of years ago, well before this election, with the Republican Latino and named Mike Madrid, who came from the Lincoln Project. Now, you may think that a Republican, his entire life. 30 year Republican, 30 year Democrat, Chuck Rocha. There's a commonality here which is the betterment of our community. So we kind of open up the hood, take a look behind the curtain of campaign strategy and about the Latino vote and Latino voters. It's the Latino Vote podcast. You can catch it on YouTube or on where you get your friendly podcast. But we're on once a week and we're really kind of breaking it down and dissecting it piece by piece.
- [15:14]
Jim Acosta
Love it. Well, this Cuban American loves the idea that if you don't mind a Cuban American, you know, throwing you a shout out there. But Chuck, always great to talk to you, always appreciate your insights, love the maps behind you, love the hat that you got above you. Really. Always, always enjoy talking to you and appreciate your friendship. Thank you, Chuck.
- [15:33]
Chuck Rocha
Appreciate it. This substack is pretty cool. It's.
- [15:35]
Jim Acosta
I'm telling you, you got to do this. Just do it and do it, and you're going to get hooked. You're going to get hooked, especially with all those hearts coming up. It's. I'll call it social media. Nasal cord or, or clarinet or something.
- [15:44]
Chuck Rocha
I like the cocaine reference. Whatever. It's.
- [15:47]
Jim Acosta
We can do it here. It's totally fine. See you, Chuck. Take care.
- [15:50]
Chuck Rocha
Be good.
- [15:50]
Jim Acosta
Okay? All right. All right. I'm going to try to bring in April Ryan now, because April, as I call her, my sister from another Mr. I'm her brother from another mother. She's the best. April is. Is the finest of all White House journalists, and I always enjoy talking to her. She also is a friend, and I believe she is Pop. There she is right there.
- [16:11]
April Ryan
Hey, April.
- [16:11]
Jim Acosta
How are you?
- [16:13]
April Ryan
I'm good. I like nasal cord. Okay. I like.
- [16:17]
Jim Acosta
I know that's just because Chuck and I, we get a little R rated sometimes and it's two in the afternoon.
- [16:23]
April Ryan
I'm a mama and I've got a standing. And I go to church. I just want people to think highly of me.
- [16:29]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [16:30]
April Ryan
And you see, I'm nasal right now. I've got the flu, so they send me some nasal cord gel.
- [16:34]
Jim Acosta
I'll send it to you. I use it myself. I. I would be a dead person if I did not use that every day. And this is not an endorsement. It's not add. I just want to make that clear. April.
- [16:43]
April Ryan
Rhino court, Nasal court, Pat, whatever you want to bring. No, not.
- [16:47]
Jim Acosta
There's a thing that swishes the water. Anyway, we're getting too medical here, but got the.
- [16:52]
April Ryan
Kills. The, the. The nasal thing, you know, the The. Yeah, whatever. Yes, Last night it was. What about last night?
- [16:58]
Jim Acosta
Last night. What about last night? I mean, I don't know. If you don't laugh, you'll cry, as John McCain used to say. April, what were your thoughts? I just asked Chuck about Al Green and what he did. There are lots of other members who were holding up signs. You. And I remember when Joe Wilson said, you lie to Barack Obama, you lie.
- [17:19]
April Ryan
And said, you lie.
- [17:20]
Jim Acosta
And now it's just like every State of the Union. It's chaos. What are your thoughts on this?
- [17:25]
April Ryan
So you asked me a couple questions. Let me break it down. One, we have not seen any. Any person who has gone up against the president at a State of the Union or speech in the well of the House in recent years be censured. I mean, we talked about telling Barack Obama, you lie. That was atrocious back then, but it's become so commonplace now. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert remember the last time they stood up. Marjorie Taylor Greene was in her little white fur and everything, screaming it by. No one ever stopped. No one ever called for an escort by the Capitol Police. None of that. But now. So listen, I've been on the phone all day. I called him last night when he was kicked out, okay? But I've been on the phone all morning with Congressman Al Green, and I'm working on a story right now for Black Press usa. Guys, I'm going to sit at the gym. So he's going to spread it out to you.
- [18:26]
Jim Acosta
I will. I will spread it out.
- [18:27]
April Ryan
Talk to him. But I'm gonna say this. He's very well aware now. He's such a humble man and he's such a sincere man. And to see him do that last night, I was in shock. But it's about the people. He is reflecting in this moment on when he and late Congressman John Lewis were incarcerated. The icon, the civil rights icon. Good trouble, right? Because of the conscience. His conscience would not allow him to sit there. And he said it was about the fact that you think you've got a mandate for Medicaid and you don' and also to raise the cap on Social Security because we're outpacing it and it's not gonna be there for people. So that's what happened. And he said. He said, I accept what they do. He said, they were very nice to me. I was like, what? He said, I did not. I was not in order. The speaker kept telling me to sit down, and I didn't. No, he didn't. He was standing there Shaking, Shaking. I was like, oh, my go.
- [19:31]
Jim Acosta
So.
- [19:32]
April Ryan
And then. So then after that, he says, you know, I accept it. I accept it. He said, but I still would do the same thing again. I said, okay. So, you know, even though he accepts the good trouble, he says, I accept the consequences. Because when you disrupt the moment, you have to accept the consequences. He stands with what he. He walks the walk and he talks the talk, and he is somebody who's about it. And he also said, you guys have got to read my article because I'm giving you this before I even print it.
- [20:01]
Jim Acosta
That's how much I love you. Just get a taste. We'll just take a taste.
- [20:03]
April Ryan
Okay, well, and here's the other taste. He's still filing articles of impeachment against Donald Trump again. So he did it last time, the first term. He's doing it again. So that's all I'm gonna say about that. You gotta read the rest of the article.
- [20:15]
Chuck Rocha
We'll read it.
- [20:16]
Jim Acosta
We'll definitely read it. I'll put it out there.
- [20:18]
April Ryan
But, you know, I know you will. You better, because I will.
- [20:20]
Jim Acosta
No, you send it to. But, you know, here's the thing. You know, for folks who are, you know, falling down on their fainting couch over Al Greens, you know, tactics last night, or what some of the other Democrats were doing. You're absolutely right. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, they did it. But also at the same time, you have Donald Trump standing up there referring to Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas.
- [20:39]
April Ryan
Pocahontas. And she's still clapping. I'm like, oh, God. It was so. But you know what. What could she do in that moment if she did the same thing, would they have been as nice to her? I don't know. But, you know, that's when she could have stood up and walked out. It was so divisive. We're woke no longer. Pocahontas. He was looking over that side and just talking to them.
- [21:01]
Jim Acosta
He was just talking to Republicans and sort of turning his back to the Democrats only when he wanted to go after them or troll them or make fun of them. And that's the thing I was talking about with Chuck, and that is last night. Donald Trump was not the president for all Americans, not that he ever is, but he really was not last night. He was trolling half of America last night. When he was talking about these doge cuts and examples of waste, fraud, and abuse, he seemed to only be talking about African countries or Latinos or people in the LGBTQ community. I mean, it was always directed at the other, at people who are not like him. And it just. What a. What a shameful, disappointing performance on the part of a president of the United States. That is not what presidents do. They're supposed to bring us. I'm old fashioned. Bring. They're supposed to bring us together. That's what.
- [21:52]
April Ryan
Well, let me. There were moments where he tried to bring us together. And I'm gonna get to that. But I sent you my article yesterday. Low expectations. There were very low expectations for this president and everyone who I spoke to. From Terry Edmonds, the first black speechwriter, presidential speechwriter for Bill Clinton. He did it for Biden and Obama and even a little bit for Kamala Harris. And you notice how I said her name Kamala. He said, there's a lot of explaining to do as this president is underwater, as Elon Musk is even worse. The polls are underwater. He didn't explain. He just stood his ground, dug in. But if you're hearing. They know that there's a problem, Jim. See, the devil's in the details. They can dig in, but they don't want the Republicans to have any more town halls because people are jumping them. And it's their own people who voted for them. They're out there protesting. And Washington. They don't want us to see this. They're protesting in every state.
- [22:53]
Jim Acosta
Apparently.
- [22:53]
April Ryan
White people. White people.
- [22:55]
Jim Acosta
Exact. Apparently Elon Musk is meeting with House Republicans tonight because they're so furious about these town halls and the feedback they're getting over these Doge cuts. There are veterans who are being laid off at places like fema. I had one on yesterday. And it's. It's something that's really kind of uniting a lot of people.
- [23:13]
April Ryan
Let me tell you something first of all, and I want you all to hear me. Elon Musk has had his hand slapped. All right? Look at your eyes raised. Remember when his son. I wish. My child, whether I like you or not, whether you're president or not, you will not go. A child go into an adult telling you, cursing and telling you, you not president. Be quiet. First of all, that's no home training. That's from where I come from. So the White House felt the same way. You don't see little X up in there anymore, do you? So they slapped his hand. So guess what? He also wore suit last night. Not the baseball cap, not the jacket.
- [23:51]
Jim Acosta
Interesting. That's a good point, child.
- [23:53]
April Ryan
Yes. Because after they got Marjorie Taylor Greene's boyfriend to be up in the Oval Office talking about. Yeah, With Zelensky and then everybody all of a sudden. Yeah, it's a blaring contradiction. It's a blaring contradiction.
- [24:06]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [24:07]
April Ryan
Elon Musk walks around with no respect in the Cabinet meeting, in the Oval Office. So how do you say that to a wartime president?
- [24:16]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, they took. They took Elon Musk over to Brooks Brothers and got him a Navy suit.
- [24:21]
April Ryan
No, he didn't go to Brooks Brothers. He went somewhere. He probably flew it in from Paris, flew the designer in and everything. Had a measure. He looked. He didn't look like he normally. I couldn't. Is that Elon Musk? It was Elon Musk, the man who's going into companies. Well, not companies. Excuse me. I'm thinking these government agencies or companies. Because the way he's treating them is like going in. I don't like contractors firing people indiscriminately. And this politics is about people. After these 28 years, it's about people. It's not about personality. It's about people. People are hurting. And I'm telling you, I've talked the governor of Maryland and I talk continuously about this because I'm waiting for him to find out the numbers because, you know, Maryland is second to Washington, D.C. that houses the federal workforce. Right, the numbers.
- [25:10]
Jim Acosta
It's a huge issue. Yeah.
- [25:12]
April Ryan
160,000 civilian workers that live in Maryland. 200 and some thousand that work in Maryland with some of the headquarters. We have the Social Security Administration headquarters here in the Baltimore area. I used to live four blocks from it. Right. I've got family members, you know, and.
- [25:31]
Jim Acosta
They'Re talking about laying off, I mean, tons of people over at the Social Security Administration, which is raising concerns about is my Social Security check going to get there on time? What's going to happen to my benefits?
- [25:43]
April Ryan
And let me tell you something. You talk about cutting half, and that's a big deal. And let me tell you this. Social Security, I'm giving you a little history in this area. That was the first place black folks went to get benefits and a good job here in this area. That was one of the first places. And do you realize the workforce for the federal government is between 18 and 20% black? So it's. But yeah, so I've been doing a lot of investigation, talking to people. Jim, this is going to be a hurtful time. As this president says, we are back. Well, what are we back from and what are we going to. There was no explanation. What we know is I kept saying, hate, hate. And then you get a car you get a car. You get a car. That's what I felt. It felt like a reality show. I said it was a game. It was a game show. When. And I felt bad that that young boy, that young little boy who had brain cancer. His eyes were so wondrous, and he was so cool.
- [26:42]
Jim Acosta
What a beautiful young man.
- [26:43]
April Ryan
That was cool.
- [26:44]
Jim Acosta
Yes, absolutely.
- [26:45]
April Ryan
But he doesn't. It was a wonderful gesture, but he was a prop in this moment to bring people together. He happened to be a person of color. He want to. To.
- [26:56]
Chuck Rocha
He.
- [26:56]
April Ryan
He wanted to negate that piece about Woke and DEI and have this young man. That was a beautiful moment. But the unfortunate thing is what the mindset, the. The wheels were going and how he was used. And then the other. The other person, you know, you get this. I'm like, what is this, Oprah Winfrey? You get a car. You get a car. At one point, I was like, what are we do. So he. I didn't hear any explanation. If Greenland wants to come to America, that's fine, but I didn't hear any explanation about why you treated Zelensky. How are you going to make peace? Why?
- [27:33]
Jim Acosta
He waited almost the very end to get to Ukraine. And, you know, that's a big issue.
- [27:38]
April Ryan
Hanging over his head. That's his albatross.
- [27:40]
Jim Acosta
No. And you cover. The White House covered it a long time. When the CIA director comes out today, John Ratcliffe, and says that intelligence sharing with Ukraine had been paused along with the military aid, that's a huge deal. What are you. What is going on?
- [27:54]
April Ryan
He wants, you know, you understand, he has a relationship with Russia. He has a relationship with Putin. You also understand that he wants to take Canada. Exactly what Putin did.
- [28:06]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [28:06]
April Ryan
To Ukraine is what he wants. I'm not saying he's going to invade, but he's saying, let's make Canada the 51st state. Just because it's connected.
- [28:13]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [28:15]
April Ryan
I don't know.
- [28:16]
Jim Acosta
Well, that. And that's.
- [28:17]
April Ryan
If that's the case, why don't we make Mexico the 51st state?
- [28:21]
Jim Acosta
Well, he might have a problem with that for obvious reasons, but, you know, April, when he talks about taking over Greenland, when he talks about taking over the Panama Canal, making Canada the 51st state, you know, it's an applause line. The people on the right eat it up. They laugh about it on Fox News and stuff like that, but it's just bs. He has no plan for any of those things.
- [28:42]
April Ryan
He's already wants to stop the supply chain chink from chinking again with Panama. But you know what? That. That that has sail. That boat sailed a long time ago. And. And we have to make sure there's water in the canal system. In that was not levy system. But I forgot what my husband calls it. But I used to remember, you know, it goes in several levels.
- [29:01]
Jim Acosta
Exactly. Yes.
- [29:02]
April Ryan
You know, I learned about that in school when I used to be able.
- [29:04]
Jim Acosta
To read, I guess.
- [29:06]
April Ryan
Yeah, the locks. That's right, the locks. How the water has to go through different locks. Thank you for teaching me history for all those nuns in Baltimore City. And thank you. Yeah, thank you for saying thank you, guys. Thank you.
- [29:19]
Jim Acosta
But I mean, you know, I mean, I've been to the Panama Canal and it is an amazing thing to see in person. Although when you get there, it's sort of like, okay, there it is, let's go now.
- [29:28]
April Ryan
But no, but it does an important work, though. It does. Very important.
- [29:32]
Jim Acosta
It's extremely important. But my thing is, you know, it just sounds like somebody who wants to be a dictator and yet it's just not going to work out for. I mean, the Supreme Court today rejected his request to freeze $2 billion in foreign aid. It was a 5 to 4 decision at the Supreme Court. Justice Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the three liberal justices on the court in the order. And I mean, it is surprising that the vote was that close or that the decision was that close at the Supreme Court because one would think the Supreme Court would say, you know, it's leaning his way. Yeah, yeah.
- [30:07]
April Ryan
And it's leaning his way. And they came up. Let me tell you, there's a discontent in this nation that is growing day by day. Last night didn't help. Last night didn't help. And what's going to happen, and you and I have covered this, this, this White House for a long time. We understand the inner workings, but people don't realize, Jim, I'm telling you, I don't believe people realize the power that they have. It's not about your congressman, it's not about your governor, it's not about your senator. It's not about your mayor. It's not about your councilmen. It's about you. Because the more you raise hell. Well, let me not say that because I don't want people thinking I'm excited. But from, from the way we sit, we cover these things.
- [30:45]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [30:46]
April Ryan
When you create the spectacle or when you create the masses that walk, that scrape those little red bottom shoes when you out there marching, I'm talking about, you know, the blood shoes that cardi b talks about. Christian l When you go out there marching in your Christian lons or whatever, you march in.
- [31:05]
Jim Acosta
Not me. I got some hokas. That's about it.
- [31:08]
April Ryan
Well, okay. Or your Pradas or whatever you wear when you go out there in March and you come in mass consistently. We watch those people. Let me tell you, in the Baltimore area, my neighbors, I'm entrenched in a Jewish community. I'm the only chocolate chip on my block. Right. So they are sending me. And it's. And it's so interesting. I have a person literally across the street that goes to Mar A Lago that's friends with him, and the next door is a different child. And another down the street, somebody.
- [31:38]
Jim Acosta
Baltimore.
- [31:40]
April Ryan
Well, yes, but listen, they sent me something. Pictures. They said, oh, my God. Did you see in Owings Mills that they. That they've got. Everybody's at the Tesla place picketing. I said, what?
- [31:50]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [31:50]
April Ryan
Or boycott.
- [31:51]
Jim Acosta
So they're seeing the Teslas with the stickers. There are people putting stickers with no Elon on their Teslas now.
- [31:57]
April Ryan
People are upset people. When you mess with someone's money, you. One thing you don't do is mess with their food and their money. Okay.
- [32:05]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [32:05]
April Ryan
And their honey. So when you mess with someone's money, that's home, that's health insurance. That's medicine. When people feel people are talking. I'm hearing rumors, and I haven't heard it yet.
- [32:16]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [32:17]
April Ryan
But people are doing drastic things to themselves, I'm hearing. And I don't want to say that. I need to have it confirmed. But when you mess with someone's money, that goes to mental health, that goes to how do I live? That goes to homelessness, that goes to poverty. And you and your last guest were talking about who's next in the pipeline. I'm gonna tell you who's next. I'm gonna tell you who's ready. And nobody's paying attention to him. Maybe because they think he's woken dei. The mayor of Baltimore has changed that. Brandon Scott has changed dei definitely earned it.
- [32:48]
Jim Acosta
Oh, very good.
- [32:49]
April Ryan
Yes. They're taking it to it. So the person I think who's ready or in the pipeline to be ready is a black man. Another black man. His name. His name happens to be Wes. Last name More. He dealt with that situation, and they thought it was going to be years. He dealt with that. The bridge collapsed in months. Open that can because we could have had another supply chain chink that would have. That would have crippled this nation economically.
- [33:16]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [33:16]
Chuck Rocha
He did it.
- [33:17]
April Ryan
He did it. Now let's see how he works through this when Maryland. Because he used to deal with issues of poverty. And this, if he indeed can help a lot of these federal government workers who've lost their jobs because he's trying to work in resources. I'm telling you, I think he's in the pipeline. I mean, there are others, but I'm watching. I'm watching. I'm watching.
- [33:39]
Jim Acosta
And the way he shows up at the football games in around D.C. he's real.
- [33:44]
April Ryan
He's a real person.
- [33:45]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, he's a real guy. And, you know, I do agree with you. He is a star. He is a star, rising star in the Democratic Party and definitely somebody to watch. And that. But that raises the question, April, what are your thoughts on, you know, what Democrats should do last night? Was that the right way of going about doing things? Is it better to follow what James Carville is saying? And he's saying, play possum, kind of play dead for a while. Don't do anything.
- [34:11]
April Ryan
I mean, I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna say this. I love James Carville. And he's right. There's a lot of people who are of that mind. But this is a new day. It's a different day. This is not Bill Clinton's time. This is a whole different day. Bill Clinton was impeached, but he stayed there. And Donald Trump was impeached twice and stayed there. Now, getting impeached another time. We've never seen Donald Trump before. Right. So who would? Who's to say that? You, you, you play possum and the world will say, okay, Democrats aren't doing anything, so why should I? Okay. That kind of stuff reverberates. But then that's true. Other people could say, why didn't they all stand up with, with, with Al Green and walk out? I've heard that, too.
- [34:55]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [34:56]
April Ryan
Other people then, other people did walk out, like Jasmine Crockett and others, and Ayanna Presley walked out. But the issue. Right, but the national.
- [35:03]
Jim Acosta
Frost. Yeah.
- [35:04]
April Ryan
Yes. Right. But the issue is, as these people are out there doing these things out in front and center. They're also targets with threats. So.
- [35:14]
Jim Acosta
But we know about that.
- [35:17]
April Ryan
Trust me. That's. And that's why I'm, you know, when I speak, it's hard for me not to talk the way I normally talk. I can't change it. You know, and when I say that, I speak with passion. And I know you change it. And that's some of the reasons why I got in trouble. And I Gotta watch myself now. They got mad because I wore masks the other day. Oh, what are you with Fauci? I said, no, I get sick from this place. Second time in a month I've had the flu from the White House. And they have muzzled all of the health officials from talking. We've got measles, we got flu, we got norovirus, we got Covid. All on the rise. I can't take this anymore.
- [35:52]
Jim Acosta
And you got an anti vax HHS secretary who had put out an op ed the other day on the Fox website after a little kid died who was not vaccinated down in Texas for measles. I mean, what are we doing here? April, you and I grew up in a generation where it was no big deal. You went to school, went to public school where pretty much any school.
- [36:09]
April Ryan
And you got those vaccinations that look like you had a mark on your.
- [36:12]
Jim Acosta
Arm they wanted to get. You had to be vaccinated. I mean, I've gotten a flu shot for what, 20 or 30 years now. I'm still walking around. I don't have anything grown out of the top of my head. I mean, this whole anti vaxx thing is totally crazy. And I do remember when, when Covid was going on, I was going to the White House every day. And I know you stopped because I.
- [36:31]
April Ryan
Was scared I was going to die.
- [36:32]
Jim Acosta
Well, and that was the thing. I remember when the White House officials under Donald Trump refused to wear masks and they spread that Covid around like it was free fruitcake. I mean, it was just going around like cupcakes. You get a. You get a Covid. You get a Covid, you get a Covid. Exactly. Forget about. You get a car, you get a Covid is what they were doing those days.
- [36:51]
April Ryan
And I stopped. And I remember Yamiche Alcinda said, why are you not coming back? I said, yamiche, I said, I have underlying conditions. I said, even having a C section makes you an underlying. Have you underlying conditions. I said, they don't care about it. And I said, I'm the only one my kids have at that time. Now I'm married. Thank you, Jesus. If you like it, then you want to put a ring on it. He did. Anyway, it's a good thing he did. I know, I know. Trust me, he doesn't play. But let me tell you, the thing of it is, is that at that time, I was a divorced mom with two kids by myself, and if I got sick or died.
- [37:32]
Jim Acosta
No. And at the time, Trump was telling people why Are you wearing that mask? I mean, that was the reporting at the time is he would get mad at people inside. This comes from him.
- [37:41]
April Ryan
Don't wear the mask. Put bleach on or drink bleach.
- [37:45]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, bleach is inside, not a mask. Yeah.
- [37:47]
April Ryan
Put a light inside of you. Yeah, put it here.
- [37:49]
Jim Acosta
Well, April, I love the way you keep it real. I love that we have these conversations from time to time. Let's keep doing it.
- [37:54]
April Ryan
Trouble. You get me in trouble every time I talk to you. They'll be like, well, you said this on TV or whatever. I'm like, yes, I did. Which. And. But, you know, here's the thing of it. People try to skip. They're like, well, I'm like, and what you gonna do? We have been through so much. I don't walk with Phil like that anymore. You come after me. Who said that? Oh, Jamal Bryant. Pastor Jamal Bryant from Newburgh. When they were going after him, they had this sign in the White House or that placard of his face. He said, let me tell you something. You come next to me. I'm from West Baltimore. Well, I'm from Baltimore, too. Not that part, but trust and believe. I'm from Baltimore, went to an hbcu. Don't let me talking to Jim fool you, because I'm telling you what. I don't play that, and Jim doesn't either. We are human beings who have freedom of speech, have the right to say what we want. And you know, Jim, the other day I went on social trying to play on Instagram. I tried to post that SNL opener. It was funny as hell. It was funny. We had to laugh to keep him crying. They took it down twice. I couldn't post it. You will not censor me. I am free. No chains on this, sister.
- [38:59]
Jim Acosta
That's Baltimore. Good. Trouble is, is going back to what you're saying earlier. April, great to see you. Thank you so much.
- [39:06]
April Ryan
You're welcome. Now. Now I'm gonna send you the article. You better go to Black Press usa. Guys, I halted finishing the editing for Jim Acosta, so.
- [39:15]
Jim Acosta
So I'm getting you in trouble in multiple ways. But that's okay. That's what I'm sure it won't make.
- [39:19]
April Ryan
Me lose my job, though. Bye.
- [39:20]
Jim Acosta
Bye, dear. Good to see you. Love you too.
- [39:22]
April Ryan
Bye.
- [39:22]
Chuck Rocha
Bye.
- [39:23]
Jim Acosta
Bye.
- [39:23]
Chuck Rocha
Bye.
- [39:24]
Jim Acosta
April is the best. That's why I, you know, that's why I have to have April on as much as possible. And I see somebody saying, yay, first of Evan. Yes. Yay first. Yay, April. When April's piece comes out. I'll put it out there. It sounds like she's got some good info there. I always follow what April reports because she's she often is doing the reporting in D.C. that others are not doing and talking to members of Congress that maybe don't get the attention that somebody's saying, don't forget to send it. Talk to members of Congress that maybe don't always get the attention. But sometimes you get good scoops from those folks. And April is a master at that. So my thanks to April Ryan, my thanks to Chuck Rocha, my Latino brother, Chuck Rocha. Hope to have him on as much as possible as well. And thanks, everybody for watching. I'm going to make this a little bit more abbreviated today. I'll be back with you tomorrow. I had to go a little earlier today. I got to go pick up somebody at the airport. I got to go take care of Duke a little bit. So a little earlier today. I'll try to do it regular time tomorrow in the 4 o'clock hour. Ish. But in the meantime, thanks everybody for watching. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Please enjoy the rest of your day. Take care, everybody. Bye.