Psaki: Trump flunks wartime president test with disturbing, flippant attitude

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Okay, there's a lot of breaking news tonight and specifically there is breaking news that

Donald Trump has privately expressed serious interest in deploying US troops on the ground inside

of Iran. And that's brand new reporting from the NBC news, according to two US officials,

a former US official, and another person with knowledge of the conversations. That is a lot of

people providing this information to NBC. Trump has apparently discussed the idea of troops on

the ground with both AIDS and Republican officials outside of the White House. And I just want you

to think about that incredibly sobering news in the context of what we are seeing and hearing

from this president publicly right now. Because today the president who just launched the United

States into a war with Iran just seven days ago, and who is now apparently expressing interest in

sending US ground troops into that war, which is of course the fear that millions of Americans,

people with children, people with grandchildren have around the country. Even as that's going on,

he hosted a round table for college sports officials today where he seemed, well,

laser focused on how to fix what he called the mess of how college athletes are paid. And even

to Fox News reporter Peter Ducey, my old buddy Peter Ducey, the issue of how college athletes

are paid did seem well, kind of secondary to the all-out regional war Donald Trump started.

And so, Ducey asked Trump a question about reports that Russia is helping Iran target

American something that was in the newspapers this morning. And here's how that went.

It sounds like the Russians are helping Iran target and attack Americans now.

That's an easy problem compared to what we're doing here.

Can I be honest? It's just I have a lot of respect for you. You've always been very nice to me.

What a stupid question that is to be asking at this time.

Is it? I mean, what a stupid question to be asking at this time. An easy problem compared to

what we're doing here. Again, you all just heard that. But Peter Ducey was asking him about a war

in Iran that Trump started a week ago. And what they were doing there was meeting with college

sports officials. So Trump gets a big laugh in the room. Maybe he wanted that and then starts

lashing out at his own favorite network for asking a very legitimate question about,

again, the war he just started just seven days ago. And that moment is so emblematic of the

deranged flippancy with which Donald Trump has treated this war. I mean, we've heard phrases like

forget about next. If they rise, they rise. And that's the way it is. Those could easily,

if you just listen to those phrases, pass for lyrics in a Bruce Hornsby song or in the mantra for

one of those bad meditation tapes, you may listen to to go to bed. But those are all actual verbatim

quotes from the president of the United States in response to some very serious questions about

the very real consequences of his very unpopular war with Iran. Like the question that Jonathan

Carl asked Trump yesterday, the question every president is asked after starting a war. What

happens next? And Trump's reply was forget about next, suggesting he doesn't want to answer because

he doesn't have an answer and just wants everybody to move on. Then in an interview with Reuters,

the president was asked about the spike in gas prices due to his war. And his answer quote,

if they rise, they rise. Again, Bruce Hornsby lyrics right there. As if he hadn't spent the last year

trying to convince us all that low gas prices are the number one indicator of economic success,

including in his state of the union address less than two weeks ago. And of course, this is the

same guy whose first response to the death of U.S. service members was to say in a pre-recorded

video quote, that's the way it is. Again, that was a pre-recorded video over which which basically

means there was a script written. He likely read it off of a teleprompter. He had full editorial

control. And that's what he chose to say about the deaths of American service members.

Trump's global approach to communicating about a war he started was on display, of course,

again late yesterday. When he was asked by Time Magazine if Americans should be worried about

the possibility of an attack right here at home on American soil. And his response was, I guess,

like it was the first time he had even considered that possibility, which is really what ways on

every president or should when they make a decision like this. Trump went on to tell time,

I think they're worried about that all the time. We think about it all the time. We plan for it,

but yeah, you know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war,

some people will die. That's to be clear, he's talking about people dying here at home on American

soil as a result of his war. And that was his answer. Any former president will tell you or anyone

who's worked for them will tell you that there is no decision more serious than committing

American forces to fight and possibly die in an armed conflict to putting the men and women

who serve in harm's way. And yet, Trump's flippant attitude on matters of life and death shows

how unbothered he is by the suffering and sacrifice that war inevitably brings. He's incapable

of the slumnity and sober-mindedness that this moment requires. He's incapable of acknowledging

that anything that happens on his watch could possibly be a tragedy or a hardship born by the

American people. And just part of why he's uniquely unfit to lead the country during a time of war.

But it's not even the only reason. I mean, Donald Trump is also incapable of formulating a coherent

strategy. Because for him, it's not really about that. That's not what he seems to be demanding.

Because what he loves more than anything is just issuing big maximalist demands.

Which I guess is why he's now decided to raise the bar and vastly expand the goal, the publicly

stated goal, which continues to evolve, of this operation. I mean, for days this administration

has offered shifting definitions of what success would actually look like in Iran. Everything

from regime change to stopping Iran's nuclear ambitions to decimating its navy. But today,

Trump posted to his true social account, there will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender.

Now, the last U.S. war to end in an unconditional surrender was, of course, world war two.

And that was followed by decades of U.S. state building in Germany and Japan.

But that is how high Trump has set the bar for ending this conflict. And Trump's own White House was

so panicked by his new demand that they spent the entire day running around desperately trying to

change the definition of the word surrender. And when the president determines that Iran no longer

poses that threat, that's when that unconditional surrender will take place. What the president

means is that when he, as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, determines that Iran no

longer poses a threat to the United States of America and the goals of Operation Epic Fury has

been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender, whether they

say it themselves or not. That made my brain hurt. I mean, to be clear, them saying it themselves

is pretty key to the whole concept of surrender, just in general. But that is where we are right now.

And extremely telling that after what is probably the most serious and consequential action that

Trump has taken as president, no one in his administration seems to be capable of acting like an adult.

I mean, Secretary of Defense Pete Hankseth has now given multiple press conferences where he

has told the American people that this will all be different than past military engagements because

it's not a, quote, politically correct war. As though the problem with Iraq and Afghanistan was that

everyone kept just laying down their weapons to say their pronouns and do land acknowledgments.

That was not the problem. And as the Washington Post reports that the military relied on AI to

strike over a thousand targets in Iran, the Pentagon just gave its top AI job to a 20-something

year old former doge staffer with a history of boosting white supremacist content online.

And despite the life and death stakes of this dangerous intervention, the White House and its

staffers are putting out meme-style hype videos to promote their war. These are official videos put

out by the Trump administration, splicing together footage of their missile strikes with clips of

sports, video games, and movies. It's all in such disgusting taste. They kind of have to see it to

believe it.

You want to see me do it again?

You want to see me do it again?

Those are all videos, different ones, spliced together, that were put out by the White House,

by official accounts, by officials at the White House. I mean, obviously trivializing lethal

airstrikes with Spongebob memes is not how a responsible administration behaves when putting

America's armed forces in harm's way. And to that point, actor and director Ben Stiller called

out the Trump administration for using a clip from his 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder in one of those

videos. And today, he asked the White House to please remove the clip, saying, we never gave

you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine, war is not a movie.

It's an incredibly sad day for our country when a comedian has to tell the president of the

United States to take war seriously. But that is that is where we are, even as the consequences of

this war become clear every day. Because as much as Trump and his allies would like to think of

this as a game as something to brush off with glib answers and as fodder for memes on social media,

it is obviously deadly serious. Today, word or say to two US officials who say that military

investigators believe the US was likely responsible for a missile strike that hit a girl's school

in Iran killing scores of innocent civilians. According to Reuters, that investigation is not yet

reached its final conclusion. But another investigation by the Associated Press citing expert

analysis of satellite imagery and other publicly available information also determined that the strike

likely came from the US. Iranian officials say that more than 150 students were killed as a result

of that strike. And in addition to the civilian death toll in Iran, at least six US service members

have been killed in the conflict. Tomorrow, their bodies will return to US soil as part of a dignified

transfer ceremony at Dover Air Base. And the potential for even greater sacrifice continues to grow.

Again, NBC News is now reporting that Trump is privately showing serious interest in sending US

graduates into Iran in the statement. In response to that story from White House Press Secretary

Caroline Levit, notably did not deny that Trump was considering putting boots on the grounds in Iran.

She wrote, this story is based on assumptions from anonymous sources who are not part of the

president's national security team and are clearly not read into these discussions. President

Trump always wisely keeps all options open, but anyone trying to insinuate he is in favor of one

option or another proves they have no real seat at the table. Now all of this comes as a brand new

NPR-Marist poll finds that voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the war by 18 points.

And we're still less than a week into this conflict. The American people clearly have stronger

feelings about this war than the president of the United States has been able to muster.

But in his words, I guess that's the way it is. Joining me now, longtime and legendary Pentagon

correspondent for CNN, Garber Star, and retired major journal Paul Eaton, who is now a senior advisor

to vote vets. General Eaton, let me start with you. I, especially considering everything we've

already seen and heard from the White House over the past week, what is your reaction to the new

reporting tonight that Trump has privately expressed serious interest in deploying U.S. troops on

the ground in Iran? Jen, thank you for having me. And Barber Star, a heroine for a day or two,

gladdening to be on the same screen with him. Jen, first I'm going to say that, I mean,

he used the word that a lot of people are thinking and it's dementia. We have a situation where

someone called a malignant narcissist is unfortunately drifting into a state of dementia that

is difficult to manage here. With respect to your question, moving ground troops into a 93 million

inhabitant country, Persians have a history of extraordinary bravery and combat. They have a history

of extraordinary culture and maintenance of their current and their past and their future.

So, the idea of moving troops into the state of Iran,

bigger than Texas and working ground warfare with all the logistics associated with doing logistics

in a great big country. We're talking pretty difficult stuff here. We're not talking Iraq.

This is something much bigger and much more problematic than Iraq and it looks like Iraq 2.0.

When you look at the failure to plan for the next step in this venture that the Trump administration

has started upon. I don't have to tell you and I'm sure you've thought about this a great deal,

given the number of years you've served. All of these men and women are of course at

their serving the commander in chief. They're serving the US military. They're going to be following

orders and they should not be following illegal orders. But what should they be doing? What should

commanders out there be doing? What should men and women in the service be doing who feel

deeply uncomfortable with these orders and perhaps deeply uncomfortable and share your sentiment

about the person who's making the decisions? I believe that the rank of file of the military has lost

faith in their senior military and senior civilian leadership. We have purged to the Pentagon to

a point that we have people who will not tell the king that he has no clothes. We have a senior

military that is looking to each other with distrust because they don't know who's faithful to the

constitution of the United States and who is faithful to the president in this case, Mr. Trump.

Disconnect and that lack of solidarity, person to person in the senior ranks of the military

will create great big problems for us. This idea of moving large formations of men and women

on the ground to execute missions is not consistent with 1002, the plan that J5 put together a long

time ago and is updated over time to manage warfare in Iran. Let me ask you, there are so many

things I have on my list to ask you about. But this is one of the most important ones which is the

position we're putting men and women out there. Barbara, let me ask you about what General Eden

just said about men and women being asked to serve somebody who may not be in a position or able

to serve. I'm paraphrasing what he just said. And the position that puts our men and women in,

what they can do about it, what you're perhaps hearing from the men and women in the military or

either the leaders that you still talk to about this concern.

Well, I would say the thing I hear the most is concerned about Pete Hegg-Seth. His language

since this started isn't just bombastic, it's glorifying death and destruction and killing.

He comes out and makes these statements in a couple of press conferences, in interviews and talks

about how much about the US troops are killing. You know, this is serious business. I don't know

any serious military commander that would speak that way and especially to troops. Troops know

what their job is. They know what the ultimate is that they may be called a hauntitude.

There's no question about that. But, you know, you have to, as you said, you know, you have to

approach this with a sober, clear mind about what you're doing and what you're asking young Americans

to do. And that means a sober, clear-minded strategy and the goals on how you're going to achieve it,

and a secretary of defense that is able to stand up there and clearly explain it to American people.

And especially, Jen, to American parents who have children serving in the military. Everybody throws

around boots on the ground. Well, to paraphrase someone I heard from this week, boots on the ground.

Who is that? That is American service members with husbands, wives, children who, you know,

at least six of them, their lives have changed forever. And now I don't think nearly enough attention

paid to this attack in Iran where perhaps hundreds of school children were killed. You know,

America needs to pay attention to collateral damage. You can't go around bombing Tehran and not

be killing civilians. So this requires a much more serious attitude starting with the panic on.

Let me ask you about that follow-up to that, General, because, you know, we heard when Trump was

asked what happens next, he said, forget about next. And as Barbara just referenced, we heard,

there was excellent reporting today about the United States being involved in the attack on the

school that killed 150 schoolgirls in southern Iran. What Trump is, what he and Hexat have made

clear is that there are military assets would remain in the region indefinitely. That seems to be

what they're conveying to all of us or that's what I'm hearing. There is collateral damage that's

done. There's raising tensions, rising tensions in the region with no clear objective. What is that,

what does that next actually look like? What are the dangers to the troops, the men and women

serving? What could be the escalation mean in the region given what Barbara just referenced?

Jen, and Barbara, thank you very much for your consider reply for boots on the ground. They are

men and women sons and daughters. And your question is the focal point. We have shifted

from the mission set, the strategic level. The military is operating brilliantly at the

operational and tactical levels of warfare. The strategic level is problematic right now,

coming from an administration that really does not know where it's going. And is it force-oriented?

Is it to destroy the capacity to wage war? In Iran, is it nonproliferation? No, it's neither of those.

Is a regime change, apparently not. And now it is unconditional surrender.

Well, last time we pulled that off was a full court press on Germany and Japan by all the nations

of the world to reduce those two nations to a state where we can manage their future.

That's what they want. And we don't have the troops available. We simply don't have the

forces available to manage such an outcome. That's an incredible part of this. There doesn't seem

to be enough focus on including the impact on the men, women, children, granddaughters,

neighbors as you both have referenced. Barbara, let me ask you about what's happening with the

Pentagon press corps. I mean, we have the best military in the world. The Pentagon press corps is also

perhaps the best or one of the best press corps out there. Tough, smart, follows things closely.

And Pete Hexeth has done a couple of press conferences this week. He's given incredibly

flippant responses at many moments. There are also restrictions that continue to be placed on

the Pentagon press corps. I know they're going to still do their reporting, of course, as they are

doing. But what is the impact of that? What is your level of concern about that given all of the

threads of this that need to be covered? And we're not getting honest and truthful answers from

this administration. You know, it's a complex question. Just today in federal court here in

Washington, DC, the New York Times was heard about a lawsuit that is brought against the Pentagon

to try and restore press credentials. The judge was pretty skeptical of Pete Hexeth's

media strategy. The judge basically said it is not illegal in this country to ask a question.

And that is what reporters do. Have reporters in the last month, months since they've been

essentially kicked out of the Pentagon, done the very best they can. They have. They've broken

amazing stories. They continue to report because people in the US military and the US government,

they're thankfully there are still plenty of people who want to speak truth, who want to explain

what is happening and want to do it in a truthful manner. It will be interesting if the judge

rules in favor of the press corps, what happens next and whether Hexeth will have to let the press

corps back in and whether there will be more opportunity for him to choose to be flippant or

potentially, and I doubt it, choose to be honest, forthright, and candid in a sober manner which

the situation demands. I think that basically it will be a very changed atmosphere until Trump

is out of office. Sadly, I think that is the case. And Pete Hexeth is going to continue to be

the secretary of defense. I am so grateful to both of you for being here and reminding people of

what's important and thank you for your service in very different ways. I really appreciate it.

Thank you again. Thank you.

Coming up, it has been only one day since Kristina was fired by Donald Trump, but now even one

die-hard Republican wants to subpoena her. Congressman Joe Negus just helped China spotlight on that

scandal that sealed that Kristina's fate and he joins me next.

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It's only been a day since Trump fired his DHS secretary, Christina. But already the gloves

are off, the knives are out, the sharks are circling. Suddenly, people who might have been

hesitant to criticize no, while she was in Trump's cabinet. Suddenly, they have found their voices.

Behind the scenes, the president was not happy with no. A source close to him told me yesterday,

quote, it was a combination of her many unfortunate leadership failures, from Minnesota to the

ad campaign to the allegations of an affair. Well, listen, everybody, a lot of people knew about

a relationship. I personally, I think, look, the $200 million contract, A, I haven't heard

anything quite that stupid in some time coming out of Washington, DC, which is saying a lot.

But I think that is more than just a tabloid story. I think someone needs to look into that.

Do you think there should be an investigation launched into Christina?

I do, and now that I have more of this information, I think that we need to go back to potential

subpoena for her through the oversight. There was one failed on, I guess a day or two ago, but I

didn't have all the information. I would have, now that I know what I know now, I would have voted

to subpoena her. To be clear, that story has been out for several months, but that was Republican

Congresswoman Nancy May saying that she wants to subpoena Christina now. And well, there are a

lot of no scandals worth investigating. The one that was reportedly the straw that broke the

camel's back, centered around ads like this one I'm showing you now is part of a $220 million

ad campaign. The more than anything else seemed to promote Christina and herself,

while financially benefiting the husband of one of her closest aides.

Now, earlier this week, lawmakers press know not just on that questionable use of taxpayer money,

but on how a $143 million contract to make some of those ads ended up going to a company that

ended up subcontracting and paying a business that had personal ties to gnome herself.

Do you know, just by way of example, whether this company that received $143 million in taxpayer

dollars, has it ever done work for the government before? I don't know, I can't. The answer is it

has not. And do you know why we know that? Because it was incorporated eight days, eight days before

this contract went out. There you go. That mystery company that Congressman Jonah Goose pressed

gnome about this week, it turns out that $143 million contract may not be the only money gnome

allegedly pushed its way. I mean, just as we were learning that gnome was out of a job yesterday,

suddenly some folks within the Trump administration thought it was time to talk to the press.

And while MSNOT was not independently confirmed this reporting, yesterday Trump administration

officials told NBC News that Christie gnome personally hand picked contractors for a different

$100 million ad campaign. And wouldn't you know it? She picked the same firm that somehow got

that $143 million contract. And the other firm that somehow got the rest of that $220 million

contract. What are the odds? Now, in a statement to NBC News, a spokesperson for DHS said that the

decisions about this $100 million contract were made by the ICE director's office, not gnome.

But three administration officials said that the ICE director had nothing to do with it. They say

it was all Christie gnome. Everyone's finding their voices these days. Joining me now is

Congressman Jonah Goose, a member of the House Judiciary Committee which oversees the Department

of Homeland Security. It's great to see what a week in the life of Christie gnome and the life

of so many people. I mean, your colleagues in Congress are now, I just played, are calling for

gnome to face a perjury investigation for potentially lying to Congress, a corruption investigation

to look into the legality of the ad contracts I just talked about. And even a potential push for

impeachment to bar gnome from holding public office in the future. There is a lot that just

happened over the last few days. What in your view? I mean, you were one of the people we just

played at who pressed gnome the other day. What does accountability look like to you here?

Well, that's good to you with you, Jen. First, I would say better late than never with respect to

those Republican colleagues of mine that you showed that finally have apparently seen the light

and realized that the corruption that Secretary gnome was engaged in as Secretary of the Homeland

Security was deeply offensive to each and every American. To me, I mean, of course, accountability

includes her termination. And I am hardened by the fact that she will no longer be leading the

department. But that's the first step. It can't be the last step. The reality is, and you

articulated well, and of the twists and turns in particular with respect to the $200 million ad

campaign, I believe that ultimately when the evidence eventually comes to light that there were

laws violated federal procurement laws, conflict of interest laws, and of course, potentially

civil and criminal penalties that could attach. So it's going to be very critical for us to get to

the bottom of it. We're working with course with our colleagues in the Senate and doing what we

can to ultimately implore the inspector general in the Department of Homeland Security to investigate

these matters as well. As you know, Secretary gnome was working visiferously hard to stop the

inspector general from investigating anything. I suspect that that is going to change here in the

coming weeks. I plead a clip of Republican Nancy May as one of these people saying, and you

just reference the inspector general, and there's lots of paths here. But Nancy was saying to her

that she wants just to pin a gnome to find out more about how these $100 million ad contracts were

given out. There are a lot of paths. What is the best path in your view? So the inspector general

is issuing a subpoena to gnome. Tell us about what the best path for. The fastest path forward

here I guess is. Yeah, I mean, there are a number of ways to pursue accountability. So first and

foremost, it is very clear based off what we've seen in public reporting that Secretary gnome lied

before the Senate and House judiciary committees. And you've already seen a number of senators come

out and essentially intimate that she may have committed perjury. Of course, with this Department

of Justice, very unlikely that you're going to see any potential consequences in that regard.

I think that a subpoena of Secretary gnome and frankly, subpoenas with respect to these other

companies, you know, the shell corporations that we exposed and pro-publica and other organizations

have exposed over the course of the last several months. So we can get to the bottom of where

this $220 million went. I think that there's a tendency, of course, you know, this gen, you know,

in Washington to kind of overcomplicate some of the developments in particular, as it relates

to oversight. But this is pretty simple. I mean, you're just fundamentally talking about

public figures, government actors, steering massive amounts of taxpayer dollars to political allies.

That's it. It is grifting and fraud and corruption. You know, you can sort of pick the phrase,

but fundamentally, it's treating taxpayer money as though it is their own. And all while Americans

are struggling right now to make it the worst job numbers that we've seen since COVID just yesterday

announced. So yeah, I think there are a number of different ways to pursue accountability and

I'm certainly going to be supportive of that. One of the lessons from this week, I hope people take

away is that there can be effective and aggressive pressing from members of Congress and hearings,

activism out there to really raise the light and attention. I mean, it was Trump who fired her,

but still is there who's next on the list of cabinet members? It's quite a competition out there

in that clown car, but who's next on your list of people that you want to be seen held accountable?

Yeah, well, first I would say, Jay, it's still kind of unclear as to the ultimate reasons that

President Trump made that decision. It may be that the corruption the Secretary Nome was engaged

and embarrassed him. It may be that he was envious of it. I mean, the reality is the administration,

he and his family are engaged in all kinds of corruption. They're making hundreds of millions

of dollars, billions of dollars through crypto schemes and all the likes. So in any event,

I would say that with respect to the other members of his cabinet, you have a number of individuals

who, again, I believe are engaged in self-dealing. You have to go back to the teapot dome scandal

of the 1920s to find a cabinet, a presidential cabinet more engulfed in corruption than this one.

So I imagine that there's going to be some very rigorous oversight from Ranking Member Raskin,

of course, Ranking Member Garcia, both of whom you've had on your program as we try to get to the

bottom of a corruption that's pervasive in Washington, D.C. under Donald Trump.

No shortage of options, I think, is what I'm hearing from you, Congressman Jonah. It's always

great talking to you. Thank you so much. Okay, so the Justice Department finally releases documents

related to a sexual abuse allegation against Donald Trump, but some of the documents are still missing.

Isn't that the most predictable thing ever? Senator Seldon Whitehouse joins me when we come back.

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As much as Trump's Justice Department under attorney general Pam Bondi tries to insist it

released all of the Epstein files and that there's nothing left to see here, there are still

missing pages. A lot of them. We don't know exactly how many pages are missing, but according to

analysis by national public radio, at least 53 pages of FBI witness statements were not published

in the original release. And late yesterday, the Justice Department released 16 of those missing

pages consisting of a series of FBI interviews conducted in 2019 with an Epstein accuser who

also made an allegation that she was forced into sexual acts with Donald Trump when she was

between 13 and 15 years old in the early 1980s. It's unclear how fully the FBI investigated her

claims or whether they made an assessment about the credibility of her accusation. That still

leaves at least 37 missing pages detailing witness interviews according to NPR's math.

And that raises questions for attorney general Pam Bondi.

Questions that I imagine some folks on Capitol Hill would love to ask her.

I mean, we've seen this week with the now ex-homeland security secretary,

Kristi Nome, how it can go when Democrats have the chance to grill a cabinet secretary at a hearing.

The House Oversight Committee voted this week to subpoena Bondi,

but she also answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee. And one of its senior members,

Senator Sheldon White House of Rhode Island, pointed out today that the White House may have given

a signal that Bondi might be heading for the same fate as Nome. He tweeted February 13th,

White House on Nome in a statement, the president continues to have full confidence in the secretary,

March 6th, White House on Bondi, in a statement the president has full faith in the attorney general.

Start the clock. Well joining me now is that Democratic Senator Sheldon White House of Rhode

Island, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator, I'm so glad you're here since you've

gone so deep into the many connections here and are great at connecting the dots.

When you hear about there being at least 37 missing pages, we don't know within them,

but where does your mind go about why they were withheld?

Well you've got to start with the fact that the documents that were withheld that were just released,

were four FBI, what they call 302s, the interview summaries that they do.

And they said that they held them back because they were duplicative, they've admitted that they

were mistaken about that. And it's very suspicious that these three documents were held back as

being duplicative when they also happened to be the three documents in which a 14-year-old,

roughly young girl tells the FBI that she was sexually assaulted and physically assaulted by

Donald Trump. They were actually four 302s and they released the one that didn't mention Trump

and held back the other three. So they're off to a really bad start. A 302 is the summary of

investigative notes and the remaining 37 pages are probably the actual notes of the FBI agents.

And that is a considerable trove of information that ought to be released and we're going to

continue to pursue it. What's particularly notable is that that last FBI 302 invited this witness

to come back and tell them more. So not only was her credibility established by the fact that they

spoke to her once, twice, a third time, a fourth time, but they wanted to speak to her even more.

And she described a threat environment that made her not want to testify any further. But she was

clearly a credible witness to the FBI. So much more to learn here. Let me ask you about attorney

general Bondi. I did appreciate your post earlier today. It made me chuckle a little bit. But the

House overstate committee has voted to subpoena attorney general Bondi. The Senate Judiciary Committee

has also has the power to question Bondi and the Justice Department. You don't have the

power to call witnesses, but a lot of democratic voices are preparing for accountability.

What can you do right now to hold people accountable who are blocking these files from coming out?

I know you've done so much. You've talked publicly. You gave an incredible speech the other day.

But for people out there who were so frustrated, what else can you do?

Yeah, well, the first thing obviously is for Pambondi to have to face the House under subpoena

with both Republicans and Democrats irritated with her over the mess that she has made

of the Epstein files from the very beginning when she said they were all on her desk and then she

had the phony baloney binders that disappointed the Epstein advocate so badly all the way through to

this weird non-release of the Trump-related documents that puts a spotlight on them.

She's not going to be able to get away in front of the House where Republicans and Democrats

were both irritated with the kind of behavior that she showed in the Senate where she just came

in with an insult list and read insults of Democratic senators and the Republicans

let her get away with it. So she's in for a very rough road, I think, in the House and then we'll see

where we go from there. With respect to the speech, I'd say that we've looked at Trump Russia,

which Trump says is a hoax, which is his tell word for when it's true, and these files lay out

Trump Epstein hugely with hundreds of thousands of mentions of Trump and the Epstein files,

but there's also Epstein Russia. And I think if you really want to understand this whole saga,

you've got to look at all three pieces, Trump Russia Epstein, or maybe it's Trump Epstein Russia,

and so I'm encouraging the press and the investigators like Roger Salenberger who've done such good

work here to keep digging because we want to make sure we see the whole picture and the whole picture

is Trump and Russia and Epstein. You always tell us to follow the money and we know this is global.

Thank you as always for being here and continuing to educate us and raise the alarm on all of these

issues. Thank you again, Senator Whitehouse. Okay, next if you want to understand the absolute

political messed Republicans are in right now, boy do I have a story for you. We'll be right back.

You've probably heard a lot about Texas primary races this week. We've talked a lot about it,

but here's one that may have flown under your radar. The Republican primary race in Texas is 23rd

District, which is currently represented by Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez. Now Gonzalez'

name has come up a lot since last year. After one of his female staffers tragically took

her own life, and afterwards reports came out that Gonzalez and his staffer had been having a

long-term extramarital affair, and at that time, the congressman said the rumors were completely

untruthful. But his claim completely fell apart after texts between the two surface just last month,

showing that Gonzalez had pursued a sexual relationship with his female staffer. Now since then,

Gonzalez has faced mounting pressure to step down, even from some Republicans, on Tuesday,

Republican primary voters forced Gonzalez into a runoff. He actually ran about a point in a half

behind his main challenger. Then on Wednesday, when Gonzalez learned he will face an ethics

committee investigation, he finally admitted to the affair. And then just last night,

he announced that he will not seek reelection in November and dropped out of that primary runoff.

Now, you might hear Republicans out there breathing aside big sigh of relief. That's such a toxic

candidate has finally stepped out of what will likely be a very tough midterm for the party. Even in

Texas, actually, Texas could be pretty key. But wait till you meet his replacement. The guy who

is now the Republican Congressional candidate in Texas 23, this guy, Brandon Herrera, a far-right gun

fanatic YouTuber who calls himself the AK guy, now to get a sense of how extreme the AK guy is.

In one of his YouTube videos, he reviewed a submachine gun developed and used in Nazi Germany,

where he joked that the weapon was the original ghetto blaster and Hitler's street sweeper.

And even Goose stepped in a montage set to a song popularized by the Nazis. You can see him right

there. There is the nominee for Texas 23 in the Republican Party. Now Herrera has said this is

all part of his dark humor. That's all it is. Even just today, he defended that video saying,

I stand by it. This S was funny as hell. Was it? You got to hand it to Texas Republicans. I mean,

they have a deep bench of problematic candidates. There's always one waiting in the wings,

doesn't it seem that way? And that's one lesson here. The other lesson is that Republicans should

be very, very worried about what's happening in Texas. We'll be right back.

Okay, a quick note before we go. I had major general Paul Eaton on earlier who used the word

dementia about Donald Trump. And I just want to be clear that none of us are doctors. None of us

are trying to diagnose anyone. But right now, Donald Trump is obviously talking about this war

with Iran with an incredible amount of nonchalance and flippancy in a way that should be very

concerning to all of us. That's going to do it for me tonight. Bringing your business dreams to

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