Jim Acosta
Appearances
Morning Wire
New Jersey Drone Saga & East Palestine Settlement | Afternoon Update | 1.28.25
After giving all of this some careful consideration and weighing an alternative time slot, CNN offered me, I've decided to move on. I am grateful to CNN for the nearly 18 years I've spent here doing the news.
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
I wanted to end today's show by thanking all of the wonderful people who work behind the scenes at this network. You may have seen some reports about me and the show. And after giving all of this some careful consideration and weighing in alternative time slots CNN offered me, I've decided to move on. I am grateful to CNN for the nearly 18 years I've spent here doing the news.
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
People often ask me if the highlight of my career at CNN was at the White House covering Donald Trump. Actually, no. That moment came here when I covered former President Barack Obama's trip to Cuba in 2016 and had the chance to question the dictator there, Raul Castro, about the island's political prisoners. As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson.
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I have always believed it's the job of the press to hold power to account. I've always tried to do that here at CNN, and I plan on doing all of that in the future. One final message. Don't give in to the lies. Don't give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope. Even if you have to get out your phone, record that message.
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
I will not give in to the lies. I will not give in to the fear. Post it on your social media. Right. So people can hear from you, too. Fantastic.
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
That's the word. Hey, guys. It's Jim. And let me just say this. I've had quite the day. But as you could see earlier today, this was my last day at CNN. And I did want to jump on Substack Live here for a moment and say welcome to my new venture. I'm going independent, at least for now. This is just the beginning. But I wanted to invite you to join me here on this platform.
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
Your campaign had an ad showing migrants climbing over walls and so on. Well, that's true. But they weren't actors.
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
There are hundreds of miles away, though. There are hundreds and hundreds of miles away.
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
If I may ask one other question. Are you worried? That's enough.
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
Pardon me, ma'am. Excuse me. That's enough. Mr. President, I had one other question I may ask on the Russia investigation. Are you concerned that you may have indictments? I'm not concerned about anything with the Russian investigation because it's a hoax. That's enough. Put down the mic. Mr. President, are you worried about indictments coming down in this investigation?
PBD Podcast
RFK Jr. Hearing, Trump & Guantánamo Bay, American Airlines Crash w/ Rep. Byron Donalds | PBD Podcast | Ep. 541
Watch, watch, watch, watch. I think that's unfair.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
You're absolutely right. And I think that's where the rubber is going to meet the road here, because, you know, if the courts say, no, you can't do this and he keeps defying the courts, what do we do at that point? I mean, I don't know if anybody has really answered that question.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And, you know, the last time around at the end of his first term, you know, we were all pretty damn lucky that he left the building. And my concern this next time around is no matter what happens in the upcoming election, he's just not going to want to give this up. I was with him on January 20th, 2021. I was at that ridiculous departure ceremony that he had at Joint Base Andrews.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
It looked like a dictator going off into exile. I was with him on Air Force One for that last flight. to West Palm beach. Really? I guess I didn't know that. I was, I was in the pool that day. Yeah. It was before they were kicking people out of the pool. Who else was in the pool? Who else was in the pool that day? Was it Steve Holland?
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Gosh, it was a lot of the regulars, the AP Reuters, all the people that they don't let in now we're all there, but CNN had the pool seat that day.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
It was surreal. And a couple of jokes were made, uh, you know, Jim, I hope you make it the whole flight, you know, uh, You know, do you have your parachute? And my hope the whole time was that he was going to come into the press cabin and talk to us. But he hid in his little area of Air Force One, didn't come back to talk to us. Sulked.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
jesus christ we got so lucky here we got so lucky that he got on the goddamn plane and went back to florida because who the hell knows what would have happened if he had just stayed or if the people who had stormed the capital on january 6 had gotten worse i do worry about what is going to happen to this country if and when he has to relinquish power hopefully when
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And I wrote a little bit that day for my old place. I thought about writing a book about some of this stuff because that day to me was sort of like when we were all sort of hanging by a thread. And thank goodness, I don't know if it was some ounce of shame that was left in him. Probably not. It was maybe Ivanka talking to Kenny on the... I don't know. But I was there at Joint Base Andrews when...
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Don and Eric were crying. It was just a whole scene. And I just, I just kept saying to myself over and again, Jesus Christ, we got so lucky here that he just actually left.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Exactly. Not the, not the strength that they like to project.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Yeah, I forget all the terminology, but, you know, once the inauguration happens, Air Force One becomes a different plane. It has a different designation. Air Force One is technically the other plane that was taking going to be taking Biden around. But at that point, he landed at a general aviation airport in West Palm Beach. I remember he and Melania came off the plane.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
They both went their separate ways. And then he got into a Secret Service limo, and then he left. And we were all yelling questions at him, and he just wouldn't take any of our questions. The only contact that we had was with a press aide named Margo Martin.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And I won't forget, I sort of forget the exact words, but I won't forget the thrust of what she was saying, which is, you know, he's not very good at sitting still. Right. And I just thought to myself, yeah, he's, you know, and I try to tell people, you know, at that time I said, you know, because it was fashionable for folks to say, that's it, he's done. We don't have to worry anymore. Yay.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And I was like, no, he's, this guy's not done. He's not done.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
It is. And I loved hearing from the people last night who were saying, can you believe Congressman Green and what he did? And, you know, after Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert and their antics from whatever last year or the year before, every year for that matter. And Joe Wilson, you lie from when Obama was president.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Yeah, I mean, you know, the way I try to explain it to folks is, you know, you obviously can't have a couple hundred members of the press on Air Force One or in the Oval Office. It just, you know, it would just be total chaos. And so what the White House Correspondents Association tries to do, what the networks try to do, is put together a pool of reporters.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And Tim, you know how this works, but I'll explain it. So there's one representative for the TV networks every day. There are a couple of wire service reporters like the AP and Reuters. And then you have some print reporters from like the New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, that sort of thing. And that forms the pool. And they represent the larger White House press corps.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
They're with the president when he's at an event, behind the scenes, talking to people. They're on Air Force One in case he comes back to the press cabin. They're in the Oval Office in case he makes some remarks. And because we can't put all those things out live at all times, the people in the pool put together a little note on their phone.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
They send it out to the WHCA, which blasts it out to everybody in the press. That way, everybody has near instant information as to what is going on with the president pretty much at all times. And then at the end of the day, they'll put out a note that says, OK, the White House has told us we don't expect to do anything else today. You have a good night. That's a wrap for the day and so on.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And we've sort of relied on this system for years now, going back multiple presidents from both parties. And what Trump has tried to do just in recent days, and some of this goes back to when I was covering the White House first time around, they took away my press pass and I had to go get it back. This time around, it's sort of that approach, but on steroids.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And so when the AP said, well, we're not going to call it the Gulf of America, we're going to call it the Gulf of Mexico because that's the damn name for the thing. He kicked them out of the press pool, which means no more Oval Office, no more Air Force One.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And now they've gone even further, Tim, as you know, and they've said, well, we're going to decide who is in the press pool, which is absolutely ridiculous to think that. And it's part of the reason why we saw the other day in the Oval Office when Zelensky was in there with Trump. You heard that moron ask the question, why aren't you wearing a suit to Zelensky? Brian Glenn.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Yeah, so you're going to end up with sycophants.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Which I hear is at the top of his resume. I think that's the thing that he's like, well, first of all, you know, I used to work at a Dairy Queen, but above that is... Who I date. But anyway, I'm succumbing to tomfoolery here, but... We do tomfoolery.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
I mean, honestly, when Donald Trump is up there and he's referring to Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas, why is anybody getting their knickers in a bunch over Obama? you know, what the decorum is of this ceremony. It's just complete bedlam at this point.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
It's just a joke. I mean, that's how they do things in totalitarian countries, Tim. We can't have the leader of the free world doing this.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Yeah, there's no question. And, you know, there's just something wrong. And they said this during my press pass case. The Justice Department lawyer said this in court that the White House should be able to pick and choose who covers the president. And, you know, it's just silly. It's just not how we do things in this country. And the way I describe it to folks, and yes, you're absolutely right.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
You know, folks may not care about who gets kicked in and who's left out and blah, blah, blah. you know, why don't you be big boys and girls and just deal with it? The problem is, is that, okay, Trump gets away with it. Now the governor of Missouri wants to do it. Now the mayor of Los Angeles wants to do it.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Mayor of Los Angeles says, hey, I don't like the way the LA Times wrote this story about the way I handled the fires. Get them out of here. I don't want this. Oh, oh, the courts have a problem with that? Donald Trump did it to the AP, so that means I get to do it too. And so then what the hell, do we have a free press anymore? Right. Slippery slope.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And Tim, one of the things that you should take a look at, and maybe you already have, is when Caroline Levitt put out the note about we're going to pick the people in the press pool, they said, well, but the networks will continue to be able to go in there and get their video and everything. So they know that Donald Trump is so addicted to being on camera and being on TV that
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
It's like, oh, we're not going to mess with the networks. The networks could come in. Never mind. Don't worry about that, guys. You'll come in and get your pictures. But we'll screw with the AP. We'll screw with this little guy over here and so on.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Just with the Sharpie when he just writes out, I hate this story.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Yeah, I mean, to me, I agree with you. That is a very chilling development. You know, if we're not going to be sharing intelligence with the Ukrainians when they're fighting for their survival, you know, what are we doing here?
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And it just seems like every time and I've noticed this since covering him during the 2016 campaign, every time Russia is involved in the equation, every time Vladimir Putin is involved in the equation, for some reason, that's where Trump goes. That's where that's how Trump sides and comes down on things. is with the Russians and Vladimir Putin. And it's just the damnedest thing.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And maybe one day the mystery will be solved, the Scooby-Doo mystery will be solved, and they'll pull the head off of whoever, and it'll be old man Withers from the Haunted Amusement Park. But to me, I just don't get it. And maybe we're all going to figure this out one day, why Donald Trump is just... Always partial to Vladimir Putin at every turn.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And the sad state of affairs in all of this is that the Ukrainians have been courageously fighting for the survival of their country. I remember speaking with a special forces soldier on one of my shows a couple of years ago, and she brought me a metal coin saying, that was made from the metal of a Russian tank that was blown up in one of the battles over there.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And then she was later almost killed in an IED explosion. I've met a couple of fighter pilots. Their code names were Moonfish and Juice. They couldn't give their real names. They've both since died since I interviewed them. And it's just the tremendous toll that this country has gone through.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And to think that the United States of America is just going to throw them to the lions, to me, is disgraceful. And it's going to be something I think this country and all of us are going to regret for many, many years. And this just gets too... you know, trying to put out the defense shield for Trump 2.0 in Europe, which is what they're trying to do right now.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
How can they run out the clock on Trump's term and protect Europe and protect Ukraine in the process? And it may just involve these other countries doing the intelligence sharing that we're not willing to do. And it's just a damn shame.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Okay. Earlier when you said that you have not underestimated ISIS's abilities, this is an organization that you once described as a JV team that evolved into a force that is now occupied territory in Iraq and Syria and is now able to use that safe haven to launch attacks in other parts of the world. How is that not underestimating their capabilities and how is that contained quite frankly.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And I think a lot of Americans have this frustration that they see that the United States has the greatest military in the world. It has the backing of nearly every other country in the world when it comes to taking on ISIS. And I guess the question is, and if you'll forgive the language, is why can't we take out these bastards?
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Well, of all the clips you could have pulled, I'm glad you pulled that one. There were some ones that you could have pulled.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Probably. I'm sure people thought that was a clunker, too. But yeah, you're right. It is disappointing. I do remember that day. I think the Daily Caller and a bunch of these places that like to come after me were like, Jim Acosta destroys Obama and all this stuff. And I'm like...
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
I just, I mean, I just, I used to have this philosophy and that is, I grew up with blue collar parents and they don't mince words. And I used to think like, what's the kind of question that my dad would ask? What's the kind of question my mom would ask? Are the people that... my dad's grocery store, my mom's restaurant? What's the kind of question they would ask?
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And put it in those kinds of terms. And I remember at the time, the White House press team for Obama, they were furious with me. And then I think Jeffrey Goldberg with The Atlantic or somebody did an interview with somebody on the Obama team, might have been Ben Rhodes or somebody at that time.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And I think Jeffrey Goldberg said, well, yeah, that's all well and good, but why can't we get the bastards? And then later on, Ben Rhodes said to me, he said, because we had a conversation about this, he said, you know, Jim, when you asked that question, it actually made us think, well, how are we communicating the successes that we're having on the battlefield against ISIS?
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Eric Schultz, who used to work for Obama, would send me emails every now and then and say, hey, we got one of the bastards when they would blow somebody up with ISIS. And so I think that sometimes a tough question, even maybe a slightly... pugnacious question can do some good.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And it's why we should have reporters that are willing to ask these kinds of hard questions, not why are you not wearing a suit today when Elon Musk two days earlier was wearing an Occupy Mars t-shirt in the Oval Office. I just think we're well served when somebody's doing kind of the Sam Donaldson thing or the Dan Rather thing. And, you know, I'm going to keep doing it.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
It's not gone, but it may be going away. And the problem is, is that in this environment, everybody is suspicious of everybody else's motives. And you can't just be a cantankerous son of a bitch reporter who likes to ask tough questions. And I think that it's okay to have people like that. We need that in American society. I grew up with Ted Koppel on Nightline.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And like I said, Sam Donaldson shouting questions at Reagan at the White House. And I always thought that was... That was a good thing. And these days they want to run you out of town on a rail if you're doing that sort of thing. But Tim, honestly, all of this, you know, give Obama some credit. He answered the question. He took the question without blowing his top and taking away my press pass.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
One of the problems that we're in right now is that Donald Trump cannot just take the hard questions. He cannot handle the heat. And he wants to act like a dictator. And that is just a different kind of experience than we've ever had before with the president.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Ronald Reagan wasn't throwing Sam Donaldson out of the White House because he was yelling questions to Reagan as he was getting on Marine One. Some of this flows from the guy at the top. And if he just can't handle the hard questions, you've just got to wonder, can he handle the job of being president of the United States? And I think he just proves over and over again he cannot.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Yes, he's the luckiest son of a gun out there. There's no question about it. That debate can be put to the side. I think it's also not up for debate that he just cannot handle scrutiny. He's never been able to handle it. And it's always going to be a problem for him. And that means it's going to be a problem for us.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Yeah, this is like the usual suspects. Who is Kaiser Soze? And who is this lady from Tennessee that's heading up Doge? I mean, but this just goes to, and Tim, I saw this the first time around when I covered Trump and Trump 1.0.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And I think we have to be careful of giving them what they want when they're going after the press. And that's why I have said if this continues, they continue to abuse the press and throw them out and that sort of thing. There has to be some sort of collective action on the part of the press. You know, if they really care about having those TV networks.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Oh, that's true. And people can go do a Google and find out what rest of the White House press corps were standing up for Fox when the Obama White House was giving them a hard time. The rest of the White House press corps got together and said, no, no, no, you're not going to keep Fox out of stuff.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
I mean, that will be a telling moment if the networks say, listen, unless you let the AP back in there, you're not getting your TV pool every day. And then let's see what Fox does. My sense of it is they may go with the networks on this and say it's time to back down. But, you know, like you said... We're not on Earth One anymore. We'll see. Tim, I know you come from a good place in all of this.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
It's gratifying for me to see you out there doing the work that you're doing. There are enough of us who care about this, and that's the important thing. There are enough of us who care about this, care about the truth, care about holding elected leaders accountable. I generally think we're going to be okay in the long run. We're just going to have to outlast this moment.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
I mean, you know, one of the things that folks should keep in mind as a saving grace and all of this is silver lining is the sheer incompetence that the Trump team brings to just about everything that they do. And the Doge project is no different. I mean, yes, it's led by the world's richest man. And he's built these successful companies to some extent. And, you know.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
But at the same time, look at when they put this wall of receipts up on the website and David Fahrenthold over the New York Times is picking them off one by one. Nope, that one's not true. That one's exaggerated. They counted this one three times. You know, it's sort of like your uncle where you have to everything he says you have to divide by six. I mean, that is that is the Trump administration.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And that's Donald Trump. It all flows from him. The bullshit flows down from him. And everybody, you know, does what he does. It starts at the top.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Yeah. And Tim, I mean, the takeaway I woke up with this thought this morning, and that is, you know, he never really is going to be the president for all of us. He's never really going to be the president for all Americans. And, you know, I've made a few wisecracks at the top of this, but I'll get serious here for a moment because I know, Tim, you care about this, too.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
You worked on behalf of John Huntsman, who was a serious Republican back in the day. And, you know, it is it's a real damn shame what has happened to the Republican Party. They're standing up and applauding taking Greenland from Denmark. They're standing up and applauding taking the Panama Canal, even though Donald Trump is not.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
you know, committing, you know, boots on the ground and doing either of those things. And so what is he talking about here? He's just, this was sort of like, you know, Donald Trump takes us off to fairyland. It was like a, a cash Patel bedtime story. And I think a lot of people are rightly appalled by what they saw last night.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
You talk about, you know, the way he was going after the trans community, the LGBTQ plus community and, the way he was going after African nations. I mean, you know, every almost every one of the bits of waste, fraud and abuse he was outlining as part of the Doge cuts dealt with, you know, people of color and faraway countries, the so-called shithole countries that he's talked about in the past.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And it just occurred to me, you know, taking that all in. And I know you fell asleep. I was bored quite a bit at times. But when I woke up this morning, I just thought, you know, he's just never going to be the president for all of us. And that's just a damn shame.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And also taking jabs at Mexico. Yeah, right. I mean, you know, it's one of his favorite punching bags. I used to say during the first term, it's the 3Ms, the Mexicans, the Muslims, and the media. And, you know, this time around, I mean, you can add a few more to that list. And I just think that the constant, you know, railing against wokeism and so on, it's just sort of scoring cheap points, right?
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
It's beneath the dignity of the office. It's beneath what the office should be. And I, you know, you were talking about the economy earlier. The most news he made last night is when he said there's going to be a little bit of a disturbance from these tariffs kicking in. That was a full acknowledgement right there. that Americans are going to feel pain.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And one of the things you're already starting to hear, you know, coming out of the financial markets today is, oh, well, maybe Donald Trump is going to have some carve-outs for some of these tariffs on Canada and Mexico. And so they already know that he has stepped in it with this, you know, grandpa makes up economic policy on a barstool stuff that he spews out there.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And this is the kind of stuff that Americans are already fed up with. That's why they're erupting at town halls for Republicans in deep red districts. And I think it's just the beginning of that.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
when it comes time to like you know get down to business on that in 2028 are you sure he's not going to take you seriously lindsey graham because i'm not and he's barely making any sense now i'm not talking about lindsey graham i guess i could be talking about lindsey graham but i mean my response to donald trump wanting to run for third term is the democrats should think about getting barack obama out there it's like okay well if you're going to do it we're going to do it and
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
We're going to put Barack Obama out there and then see what happens. I agree with you. It is a little scary when they engage in that kind of rhetoric. It is a troll. But I agree with you. It has to be taken seriously. I mean, Trump, to me, is kind of a he's like a fusion reactor of hatred. He generates it and he thrives on it. He feeds off of it. And at some point, I'm a foolish optimist.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
I just think that the spell is going to be broken. And we saw this during the first Trump term, during Trump 1.0, I should say, his mishandling of COVID. Again, it gets back to what I was saying earlier about the sheer incompetence of what they do. They do eventually fail. trip over their own feet. And so, yes, it's painful. Yes, it's not fun watching what he was doing last night.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
But I really do think, as much as he likes to call people like me the enemy and you the enemy, he's his own worst enemy.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Again, after Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert and Congressman Wilson, it's sort of like, at this point, what more can anybody do? Okay, Congressman Greene gets up and walks out and a number of other Democrats did it. If that's what they want to do, that's fine. I think you could also just not show up.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
I mean, what would that image have been like last night if the entire Democratic Party just didn't show up for the State of the Union speech? I mean, I don't know. It's tough. And the Democrats are in the wilderness right now. You've seen your party in the wilderness after 2012 when Mitt Romney lost, and they're trying to figure out what to do next.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
Yeah, I did a Substack right after the speech was over with Michael Fanone. And Mike says to me, he goes, Jim, I love you, but fuck you for making me watch that. And I said, that's fair. I said, honestly, that's fair. I mean, it was a bullshit-a-palooza. I mean, this is what we expect from Trump now. And I kind of agree with you, Tim. I think this thing has just turned into, you know, hee-haw.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And then Donald Trump comes along and picks up the mantle. You know, I think this time around, my sense of it is, is that the Democrats are going to be led by the people instead of the other way around. And you're already starting to see that. You're starting to see people say, Dems are not doing enough. They're not getting out there and making more of a stink out of what's taking place with Doge.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
And so there are certainly members who will take issue with that and say, hey, wait a minute, I'm out there. I'm whipping things up. But the party as a whole just looks to be lost right now. Some sort of populist figure within the party or on the fringes of the party or maybe an independent may take the party in a new direction in the way that Trump did with the Republicans.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
I mean, yeah, a couple of things. Donald Trump not paying his bills. Who would have thought that that would have happened? Is there a track record there? I can't remember. What does Google tell us? The Supreme Court... is an interesting dynamic, an interesting part of all this. You know, the fact that it was five to four to me is sort of pathetic.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
In a time when we didn't have a hyper-partisan Supreme Court judicial branch, perhaps, you know, it would have come down in a much more decisive way against what the administration is trying to do. I mean, let's just be real about this. Donald Trump is trying to become a dictator in this country. There's just no question about it. Maybe it's an American form of dictatorship where
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
I mean, I think the next president would be well-served to just do it from the Oval Office or like, what did they say in the olden days? You would just like send a letter down on a horse down Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
You know, he knows he can't get away with everything. The people around him know he can't get away with everything, but he's going to give it a hell of a try. And for some of the people on the Supreme Court, I'm not going to mention any names to go along with this is disgraceful. And to me, you know, it's no wonder you were talking about poll numbers.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
It's no wonder that confidence in the Supreme Court is, I think, near an all time low if it's not an all time low. And I tend to agree with, you know, when Biden was on his way out, not to say, you know,
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
I know it's probably not fashionable these days to praise anything that Joe Biden does or says, but when he was talking about term limits for the Supreme Court, I mean, I've long felt that that needs to happen. It is ridiculous that you can put hyper-partisan people in the Supreme Court in their 40s and hope that they live for another 50 years.
The Bulwark Podcast
Jim Acosta: Trump Can't Take the Heat
To me, it's just sort of a gross exploitation of the checks and balances and trying to find loopholes to rig things. a system that's supposed to protect all of us and uphold the rule of law.
The Dan Bongino Show
Truth Returns To The White House Press Room (Ep. 2411)
No, it works for the executive branch. It's in the Constitution. It exists in the executive branch.
The Dan Bongino Show
Truth Returns To The White House Press Room (Ep. 2411)
You're acting like it's an independent branch of government. It's in the executive branch run by the president. Yes.
The Dan Bongino Show
Truth Returns To The White House Press Room (Ep. 2411)
You don't think anyone you don't think anyone in the executive branch is bound to the head of the executive branch?
The Dan Bongino Show
Truth Returns To The White House Press Room (Ep. 2411)
There's never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I've always believed it's the job of the press to hold power to account. I've always tried to do that here at CNN, and I plan on doing all of that in the future. One final message. Don't give in to the lies. Don't give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope. Even if you have to get out your phone, record that message.
The Dan Bongino Show
Truth Returns To The White House Press Room (Ep. 2411)
I will not give in to the lies. I will not give in to the fear. Post it on your social media so people can hear from you too. I'll have more to say about my plans in the coming days, but until then, I want to thank all of you for tuning in. It has been an honor to be welcomed into your home for all these years. That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1525 - Trump Just Dealt A Massive Death Blow To Gender Ideology
Here it is. There's never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I've always believed it's the job of the press to hold power to account. I've always tried to do that here at CNN, and I plan on going doing all of that in the future. One final message. Don't give in to the lies. Don't give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope. Even if you have to get out your phone, record that message.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1525 - Trump Just Dealt A Massive Death Blow To Gender Ideology
I will not give in to the lies. I will not give in to the fear. Post it on your social media so people can hear from you, too. I'll have more to say about my plans in the coming days, but until then, I want to thank all of you for tuning in. It has been an honor to be welcomed into your home for all these years. That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta.
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1525 - Trump Just Dealt A Massive Death Blow To Gender Ideology
If you're a man, it's required that you grow up in hate.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn's Response to Clooney, Hegseth Saga Gets Personal, and Stopping Alzheimer's, with Rich Lowry, MBD, and Dr. Dale Bredesen | Ep. 1055
Yeah.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn's Response to Clooney, Hegseth Saga Gets Personal, and Stopping Alzheimer's, with Rich Lowry, MBD, and Dr. Dale Bredesen | Ep. 1055
And so when you see what's happening right now with this El Salvadoran gulag, I mean, this Seacott gulag, he's basically taking a page out of that playbook, you think?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mysterious Phone Call, New Leads - Part 3 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1024
That's what I've come back to over and over again is to what end. And you're absolutely right. There's no way that somebody like Jersey or this guy, Dane Greathouse, who also had a lot of legal problems as well, that these are not the kind of characters who would be likely to be involved in some sort of high dollar, you know, baby stealing ring or something like that.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mysterious Phone Call, New Leads - Part 3 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1024
If that even exists, it's incredibly uncommon. And that these guys would somehow get involved with it seems... you know, incredibly unlikely.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mysterious Phone Call, New Leads - Part 3 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1024
We told you last week about that phone call. It was placed to a phone belonging to a woman named Megan Wright.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mysterious Phone Call, New Leads - Part 3 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1024
I think if you start to look past the family, it's likely that it's somebody who at least knew the neighborhood to know that this baby was in this house. And so he's somebody that absolutely is top of mind. If not a suspect, because he's another person that the police said that they moved on from, that perhaps somebody in his world might know something more.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mysterious Phone Call, New Leads - Part 3 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1024
Not that simple at all. First off, I don't believe the police have released the full records of those phones involved. And I think that that is information that they have purposely withheld to be able to use to their advantage in their investigation. So we know that at least one of those phones was used to make at least one call to Megan Wright's phone.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mysterious Phone Call, New Leads - Part 3 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1024
I believe every single thing that Megan Wright told me within her ability to to remember things. But I don't think that she was making up any of it. She was very helpful throughout the entire thing. If she tried to help us meet people, she would give us phone numbers of people. She never asked me for anything the whole time that we were doing this.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Mysterious Phone Call, New Leads - Part 3 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1024
And I think that she is exactly who she says she is. A troubled person, absolutely, but not somebody who had any direct involvement in this.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
But the first couple of times I did this, this dog in the neighborhood went nuts, barked, came after me, very disruptive. Not just the kind of random barking, the kind of barking that a neighbor could possibly hear and say, what's going on back there? But after I did that a couple of times, this dog was actually very friendly and the dog stopped barking. So that's definitely something that I think
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
investigators were looking at and something I think is worth looking at.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
No reports said people heard a dog barking that night.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
One of the most troubling things that came to mind that I was aware of was, okay, so you have this Watson family that he was working for movie sprinklers. Then you have Mary Hurt, who lives next door, I think a very reliable witness. So she had a dog that disappeared the day that baby Lisa disappeared.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
And her next door neighbor, I know there's a lot to keep track of, her next door neighbor says she saw John Tanko take the dog. The dog pops up a few miles later, a couple of days later. But, you know, I can't say... how reliable that witness is that saw John Tanko. But the dog did disappear. The dog was not there. She, you know, reported the dog missing. The dog was found a few days later.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
But certainly people speculated that if anybody wanted to create an easier path for themselves to leave the neighborhood through here, getting rid of that dog would be key. And we know that police took footprints, impressions from her backyard the day after this.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
He was a guy who had been in and out of trouble with the law. And just a few days after the disappearance, he was arrested on outstanding felony warrants. And I've chased a lot of people around jails and police stations and stuff. And it definitely gave me the sense that they were trying to hide him in the jail and judicial system.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
Nobody who gets arrested on a simple bench warrant gets moved from place to place the way that they were moving him.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
So about a month, six weeks before Baby Lisa disappeared, Megan had lived for a period of time in this townhouse development that you could get to by cutting through these yards just around the corner from Baby Lisa's house.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
Her car was set on fire and she reported it and it was investigated. And she thought that John Tanko, Jersey, did it. But nobody was ever able, as far as I can tell, to confirm that he was the one that did it or what exactly happened there.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
Nor have I. They only took fingerprints. They were prepared to take tool marks. That would be if somebody used a screwdriver or something to claw their way into a window. It was a very active investigation centered around the house. So there were searches. There were dogs. There were investigators in hazmat-type suits going in and out. They cut pieces of carpet that they took away.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
They took soil samples from the backyard.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
We learned Friday that cadaver dogs had a positive hit at the foot of their bed, but last night the rug was still there.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
They were taking DNA swabs from most of the people that were in the immediate homes on either side and family members down the line. That was one of the first things they did. A family that lived directly next door.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
So if you were to take Shane Beigley and James Brando and John Tanko and line them up, Tanko's about 10 years older, but they all, they look incredibly similar. Same builds, same general kind of haircut,
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
When we in the media came across James Brando, when I was the first person to interview him, and there was a lot of, I don't know, perhaps excitement almost in people that were following this closely, that maybe this was a big lead.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
He was the focus of this investigation in the initial days. All of his alibi had been checked out by the police. They got surveillance camera tape from Walmart. They interviewed people that he crossed paths with. They checked his cell phone to whatever degree for its location. They placed him on the Air Force base where he worked. All of that stuff.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
That to me says this was a very thorough investigation.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
The person we have to talk about is this guy, John Tanko, who's from New Jersey, known as Jersey. And people describe him as being sketchy.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
We know that the day that Baby Lisa disappeared, he was working for this family named the Watsons around the corner, moving some sprinklers around. for them. People in the neighborhood, some knew him and some had hired him to do yard work, that sort of thing. But he was a guy who was one rung above homeless.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Police Narratives, Mystery Man Holding Baby - Part 2 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1023
And if you got to know him a little bit more, there were some really disturbing things that come up.
The Megyn Kelly Show
NPR and PBS Grilled on Bias, Signal Story's Latest Details, Crockett Doubles Down: AM Update 3/27
In the D.C. area, editorial positions at NPR are He said he found 87 registered Democrats, zero Republicans. Is that accurate? We do not track the numbers or the voter registration, but I find that- Was award-winning journalist who worked 25 years at NPR, Mr. Berliner, was he lying when he wrote that?
The Megyn Kelly Show
NPR and PBS Grilled on Bias, Signal Story's Latest Details, Crockett Doubles Down: AM Update 3/27
He said he found 87 registered Democrats, zero Republicans. Is that accurate?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Trump's Instant Action on Illegal Immigration, CNN Cuts, and Obama Divorce Rumblings, with Ruthless Podcast Hosts | Ep. 990
Do you defend what Donald Trump did, releasing these people from prison, pardoning them, commuting their sentences? Yes or no?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Trump's Instant Action on Illegal Immigration, CNN Cuts, and Obama Divorce Rumblings, with Ruthless Podcast Hosts | Ep. 990
Congressman, that's just not true. That was covered on CNN. What you're saying, this is not Fox, Congressman. You can't just spin a tale and pull the wool over people's eyes. This is CNN. This is the news.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Petitos Speak Out About New Doc, and "Snow White" Controversies and Baldwins Red Carpet Drama, with Link Lauren and Christian Toto | Ep. 1031
Big, big.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Petitos Speak Out About New Doc, and "Snow White" Controversies and Baldwins Red Carpet Drama, with Link Lauren and Christian Toto | Ep. 1031
Oh, I don't blame you.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Petitos Speak Out About New Doc, and "Snow White" Controversies and Baldwins Red Carpet Drama, with Link Lauren and Christian Toto | Ep. 1031
Okay, yes.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Petitos Speak Out About New Doc, and "Snow White" Controversies and Baldwins Red Carpet Drama, with Link Lauren and Christian Toto | Ep. 1031
It was beautiful. It was something that moved me.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Petitos Speak Out About New Doc, and "Snow White" Controversies and Baldwins Red Carpet Drama, with Link Lauren and Christian Toto | Ep. 1031
Oh, I'm the most special dad in the world. Yeah, you are.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Petitos Speak Out About New Doc, and "Snow White" Controversies and Baldwins Red Carpet Drama, with Link Lauren and Christian Toto | Ep. 1031
No, not at all. I tell people I pretty much knew you were gay at five or six. And then you saying to your mother and I, you know, mom, dad, I think you said it to her and she mentioned it to me that I think God made a mistake and put a girl in a boy's body. And, you know, that was, you just have to embrace it.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Petitos Speak Out About New Doc, and "Snow White" Controversies and Baldwins Red Carpet Drama, with Link Lauren and Christian Toto | Ep. 1031
You have to understand, you know, there's these things called chromosomes and, you know, these assholes in the world don't quite understand that. And like you said to me, Dill, the other day, a while back is, Dad, what I'm doing right now is just like the gays 20 years ago, 30 years ago. And in 20, 30 years, it's going to be just the same.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Petitos Speak Out About New Doc, and "Snow White" Controversies and Baldwins Red Carpet Drama, with Link Lauren and Christian Toto | Ep. 1031
They won't be taken away. I'll kill somebody before that.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Alternate Theories, Alarming Details - Part 4 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1025
Every indication that I got is that the Kansas City Police and the FBI were conducting a very vigorous and thorough investigation. Every time that I would uncover some new element or another reporter would uncover some new thing, the police had already been there generally a couple of weeks before.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Alternate Theories, Alarming Details - Part 4 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1025
And we saw lots of evidence that they were thoroughly tracking down people's alibis, that they were searching electronically that they were searching surveillance cameras, that would have been an asset for the family. And the family ended up treating them like they were the enemy.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Alternate Theories, Alarming Details - Part 4 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1025
I don't agree with that. I think that they did a very thorough investigation. All of the key people that surfaced in the media that surfaced through my reporting had been thoroughly investigated.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Alternate Theories, Alarming Details - Part 4 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1025
I have seen not one bit of information to indicate that Deborah Bradley, Jeremy Irwin, or anybody in their family was involved in some sort of drug thing. And I'll tell you, Megan, I'm a drug addict in recovery. I've been clean for 21 years now, and I'm pretty good at figuring out drug addicts.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Alternate Theories, Alarming Details - Part 4 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1025
The idea that Deborah Bradley or Jeremy Irwin were some sort of drug addicts in deep to dealers or something like that is ridiculous. I put... you know, as close to certainty that that is not the case as I can come not, you know, not blood testing people.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Trump Zeroes in on Greenland, Mysterious Former US Attorney Death, Snow White Bombs: AM Update 3/24
We plan on holding hearings, hearing from experts, talking about this whole kind of body of law, this whole situation. Again, everything is on the table. We're considering all options. That's why we pass legislation. There may be another legislative remedy we want to look at, but we do think it's important for us to gather information, get input on this issue.
The Megyn Kelly Show
ABC Pays Trump Millions to Settle, and Government Deflects About "Drone" Truth, with Emily Jashinsky and Eliana Johnson | Ep. 966
But it seems to me that there's a lot of this bending the knee going on. I mean, to me, it seems this is a time for our industry to stand firm because Trump is not going to change his ways when he gets back in the Oval Office. He's going to continue to say things that need to be fact checked.
The Megyn Kelly Show
ABC Pays Trump Millions to Settle, and Government Deflects About "Drone" Truth, with Emily Jashinsky and Eliana Johnson | Ep. 966
And you can't have the news industry worrying about this sort of stuff when they're just simply doing their jobs.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
So I think there's two possible answers to that. The first is, If it's somebody who you expect to have in the house, in any house in a crime scene, if you expect to find their DNA and their fingerprints, then that evidence is of little help to investigators.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
But I think what you're asking is really an incredible question, because as you try to run through, you know, potential scenarios in your head, guessing more than anything, they just so many of them lead to dead ends. Is there some way that Deborah Bradley or her husband, Jeremy, somehow did this themselves and were able to pull this off in a short matter of hours? It seems incredibly unlikely.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
Right. But then could some stranger somehow know that this was a house? that had a baby in it, where the husband was working a very rare night shift, where the mom was perhaps not at her best, having done some serious drinking that night, and then that's the night you stealthily get in and out of the house, making it through neighbors and everything else, that seems equally as unlikely.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
Showing up here to the house with metal detectors, homing the ground, going through the yard.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
This was a neighborhood not unlike where I grew up, a kind of a working-class-ish neighborhood, well-kept homes, but not the kind of families that would be prepared to deal with the onslaught of media, police, lawyers, and everything else that would be involved in something like this.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
It's also a neighborhood that was shocked because, you know, this was a neighborhood full of kids and families, and one of their own was dealing with, I think, every parent's nightmare.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
He thinks this is weird enough that he phones her in the house from the car. and says, hey, come and take a look at this. And she sees this man walking up the street, holding a baby, not wearing clothes. And having been in the window where she could see this happening, and having been standing where his car was parked, it would not be a problem to view this, even though it's past midnight.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
There were plenty of street lights. So show me exactly what you did. You looked out this window, tell me where your husband was, and tell me what you saw. Nobody's mind immediately goes to, oh, somebody's kidnapping this baby. That's what she told me. She said, my mind did not immediately think kidnapping.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
But the first thing in the morning when she saw this commotion going on was she told the police about this.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
1215.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
1215 a.m.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
The door was not locked. But keep in mind, that by her own admission, Deborah Bradley was drinking that night. I'm not sure that she could be trusted to confidently say whether she locked the door or not.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Baby Goes Missing, Mother Questioned - Part 1 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1022
All along, police said Lisa's parents, Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley, cooperated with police until Thursday night.
The Megyn Kelly Show
New Details About Biden Coup, CNN Loses Millions in Defamation Case, and Obama Drama, with Maureen Callahan | Ep. 985
He warned the free press is crumbling in this country. Journalists exist to seek the truth, to tell people's stories, to lift up voices that may not be heard otherwise, to shine a light on injustice and to hold the powerful accountable. I want to take a moment to show you something. A woman sent me this sign eight years ago. She carried it here at a march in Washington.
The Megyn Kelly Show
New Details About Biden Coup, CNN Loses Millions in Defamation Case, and Obama Drama, with Maureen Callahan | Ep. 985
She wrote on the back of the sign, to me and the press here in D.C., you have our support. To Nora, wherever you are, right back at you.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
Well, first off, I want to echo the kudos to you, Bill, and your crew for getting this and going in there. That was not easy, and it definitely took guts and courage to do it. Well done. This struck me as somebody, remember, he didn't know you were recording him, who's scared that the next visitor is going to have a badge on them right after them. And he was...
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
working whatever he could to try to find out what you might know, and then to feed back something that's going to make him look good. I mentioned this earlier in a previous interview, Megan, but I'm in recovery. I've used crystal meth, smoked crack cocaine, et cetera. 23 years I've been clean last year. And I work on a near daily basis with addicts in recovery.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
And there's a kind of person who does nothing but lie, even when there's no reason to lie. They lie. You ask him what color a blue car is, they'll say red. And this strikes me like that kind of person who just immediately is on the hustle, immediately is trying to weave something that's going to help him come out better at the end of the day. And with the phone question,
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
This really has made me focus on the investigation back in Kansas City and by the FBI and why at this point they have not told us why they moved on from John Tango, why they have not revealed all of the details about the phone. And I think when this show comes out,
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
It will be negligent if the chief of police there, Stacey Graves, doesn't immediately appoint a new detective who is not involved to make this a high-profile cold case, release whatever information they can that doesn't jeopardize an investigation, and bring this into the public eye again. And I would include men offenses with the family.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
I don't know who was responsible for that division, but it wasn't Lisa Graves. And she deserves better than that. And this investigation should be immediately reopened in a vigorous way.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
And the police in Kansas City and the FBI on occasion told me they used the language they had moved on from John Tango, never, of course, being absolute about it. But I think it's clear they have because look where he is, you know, and I mean, none of these people have faced any kind of serious, you know, violence. investigation that they know after those initial weeks and months.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
Lives have just gone on. People's lives have gone on while the family and Lisa's are in suspended animation, you know.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
It's inexcusable. No matter what they did or what the police did, somebody's got to get over this, right? And I think as part of reopening the case, the Kansas City police need to deal with the media, take their lumps, and get this case back out there.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
No one's gonna come off looking great if they reopen this in a sort of more high profile way, but what other way is there to jog memories, to convince the community there in Kansas City that their children are being cared for, that they matter, than to start getting some of this stuff out there?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
One of the things I was really surprised to hear Deborah say was that they had taken hair from them to test for drugs. So if that's true and it was negative, then why would the police not release that at this point? Why not put out whatever can be put out there
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
that can close down avenues that people are discussing and maybe just somehow jog some other memory of somebody that may know somebody who knows somebody. Maybe it's not Tango, but someone who is tangential to Tango. Maybe not somebody who was in the house, but someone that was near and around the house that day. Somebody knows something.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
There has to be a nexus to this house to know there's a baby there, to know that Jeremy's working that night. Something has to happen to change this. It's just unacceptable that it's up to people like you and people like Bill to be on this guy's lawn and not a much larger investigation.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
And remember the investigation in those early days and weeks, the amount of searches of woods in that area, when the address came up, the area, the intersection that Cindy Short says he reported that the phone draft, I immediately put that into practice.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
Google and looked at images, one of the very first live shots I did, the first weekend of this case, was a big search right there that included the National Guard and the FBI of that area. And all of those similar areas that are around this neighborhood that have open woods or something were heavily searched in that kind of search that would find any type of remains or something.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Tanko Talks, Megyn's Hidden Camera Footage - Part 5 of Megyn Kelly Investigates: Baby Lisa's Disappearance | Ep. 1026
So I think that it's extremely unlikely that out in public, woods or anything, that there were any remains to be found within a mile or two radius of the house.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
And I know some of my friends over there at the White House press corps will say, hang on a second, how are we supposed to cover this guy? I understand that. It's difficult if we're not there. But, you know, I do think for a moment, let the American people out there see this image of this aspiring autocrat in the Oval Office surrounded by just his propaganda outlets and right wing hacks.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
That's not a good look for him. And I'll tell you something else about Donald Trump, Ben. He cares about having those cameras on him more than just about anything else in the world. If the press were to take those cameras away for a day or two, I think that there would be a lesson learned on his part.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
I think he would say, okay, maybe I ought to rethink this idea of kicking the Associated Press out of there if I can't have the cameras with me. And so I definitely think, you know, more can be done. Not saying a boycott tomorrow. I'm not saying anything drastic like that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
But I do think some serious consideration needs to be given to, you know, doing a bit more to stand up for our friends at the Associated Press because they're such a valuable institution.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
Yeah, I mean, I think we've reached a point now where, you know, I think the press needs to do a bit more. And that's a tough nut to crack. As I found, you know, covering him the first time around, you know, it's a little like herding cats trying to get everybody in the press corps to act in a uniform fashion.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
Absolutely. And I think they're trying to send a message. They're trying to say, listen, if you don't do things our way, there's a price to be paid. Now, I mean, we need to remind the viewers out there, the reason why they're doing this to the AP is because they refuse to call the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America, which is the dumbest thing.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
I think if you were to come up with a list of the dumbest things that Donald Trump has done as president of the United States, renaming the Gulf of Mexico would have to be in the top five. I mean, you know, obviously telling people that they can inject disinfectants into their body, that's probably still at number one, that's the reigning champion.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
But renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, I'd have to put it in my top five. And because the Associated Press won't go along with that because they're serious journalists and they're not here to do the propaganda for the aspiring autocrat in the Oval Office, that's why they're being punished. And I worry it's a test case.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
I worry that if they get away with this, they're going to start doing it to other news organizations, other journalists, and then it's a slippery slope from there.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
You know, I mean, it's hard to see somebody out Spicer, Sean Spicer, or out Huckabee, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. But Caroline Leavitt, she's making a run for it. You know, she just might get on Trump's all-star team of liars. You know, she might be on the bench right now. But if she keeps working hard, if she does her homework, she just might make it onto the team.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
But when you have the White House banning the AP from the Oval Office, banning the AP from Air Force One, and just to explain this to people, I mean, the Associated Press, the AP, is an institution that's been around for over 100 years. They're in about 100 countries. They're in all 50 states. I believe their journalism is read and viewed by some 4 billion people around the world.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
It's a sad and sorry state of affairs, but what we're seeing right now from this White House is exactly what we saw during the first Trump administration. They performed for the audience of one, Ben. Sean Spicer did this.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
As I used to say about Sean Spicer, the problem for Sean Spicer was not that Melissa McCarthy became Sean Spicer, it was that Sean Spicer became Melissa McCarthy in that caricature that we used to all laugh about on Saturday Night Live. Caroline Leavitt, unless they've already done it on SNL, I would have to think that something like that is in the works because the skit writes itself.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
They're such bad liars. I mean, it's sort of like, you know, anybody has kids out there when your kid is telling you a tall tale and you're just looking at them like, okay, Johnny, sure. Yeah, I believe you. And you just walk away saying,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
what the hell that that kid's you know not telling me the truth um that that's what's going on over at the white house right now but make no mistake they are performing for an audience of one and so she gets out in front of the cameras and starts telling the truth donald trump who is addicted to uh being on tv uh hearing about himself on tv reading about himself online he's
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
probably watching these briefings and and thinking to himself well wait a minute they can't go out there and tell the truth they have to tell it uh the way i i tell it which is you know all lies and it you know we're right back where we were in that first trump white house ben you know it is a very sad and sorry state of affairs and i feel i feel very sorry for the fact checkers out there because once again they're working in overdrive
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
Yeah. I mean, take any poll that comes out right now that shows, you know, Trump's doing this well with voters or that well with Republicans or this well with them. Throw all that out the window. It's going to take some time for people to absorb what's taking place right now. You're absolutely right, Ben.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
When Trump was out there on the campaign trail, he said on day one, I'm going to start lowering prices in this country. That hasn't happened. He said on day one and perhaps even getting into the Oval Office, he said he's going to solve the war in Ukraine. Hasn't happened yet. And what is he doing? He's going to the Super Bowl. He's going to the Daytona 500.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
You know, it's like he's on the StubHub rapid rewards program. You know, I was talking about this on my show on Substack yesterday, Ben. The question I was asking was, you know, hasn't he gotten over the cool and fun part of being president of the United States? He had four years to do that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
This is like that movie Dave, if anybody remembers the movie Dave, where Kevin Kline suddenly becomes president of the United States and he goes out and has a ball being president. You know, he's got the giant robotic arms at the one factory photo op. And he has a great time. But that's...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
When you're Donald Trump and you're facing an inflation problem in this country that's very stubborn, when you've got a war in Ukraine that needs to be solved, you can't be out there doing laps at the Daytona 500. You need to be working in overdrive for the American people, and he's just not going to do that. He's essentially a part-time president who's delegated the presidency to Elon Musk.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
The question that folks are going to have to start asking, and I think they're already starting to ask, is what the hell did we vote for here? People did not vote for Donald Trump to act like Dave, Kevin Kline in the movie Dave and just go have a good time being president of the United States. He was elected to solve people's problems. He's just not doing that right now. Not even close.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
And just about every news outlet in the United States relies on the Associated Press. So when the White House kicks the AP out of the Oval Office, off of Air Force One, It has a major impact on the information that people are receiving around this country. And I just don't think it's something that should just be tolerated at this point.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
Yeah, Ben, really building the plane mid-flight right now on Substack, really enjoying that experience, loving being in independent media, being an independent journalist. So if folks want to watch the show on Substack, we're airing pretty typically at four o'clock every day Eastern, but some of that slides back and forth depending on you know, things that I'm up to.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
Also writing some articles on Substack, folks can find it there. And then the shows can be found also on Apple Podcasts and on YouTube. So I've got some other things in the works as well that I'll maybe put that tease out there, but there's more to come. So folks, stay tuned for that. Not to sound like a TV guy, but more coming.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
You bet. Great to see you, Ben. Love the Midas touch. You guys keep doing what you're doing. You're doing great.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Jim Acosta Joins Meidas with Urgent Message to the Press
I think that the AP should look at whether or not they should sue the administration. I think the AP needs to look at other options in terms of what can be done. And I think the rest of the press corps needs to start giving some serious consideration to whether or not it's worth sending everybody into the Oval Office, sending everybody on Air Force One, sending everybody into the briefing room.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Gets Shut Down as Dems Finally Go Nuclear
You know, I mean, she it's hard to see somebody out Spicer, Sean Spicer or out Huckabee, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. But Caroline Leavitt, she is she's making a run for it. You know, she just might get on Trump's all star team of liars. She might be on the bench right now, but if she keeps working hard, she does her homework. She just might make it onto the team, you know.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Gets Shut Down as Dems Finally Go Nuclear
It's a sad and sorry state of affairs, but what we're seeing right now from this White House is exactly what we saw during the first Trump administration. They performed for the audience of one, Ben. Sean Spicer did this. And as I used to say about Sean Spicer, the problem for Sean Spicer was not that Melissa McCarthy became Sean Spicer.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Gets Shut Down as Dems Finally Go Nuclear
It was that Sean Spicer became Melissa McCarthy in that caricature that we used to all laugh about on Saturday Night Live. And Caroline Leavitt, unless they've already done it on SNL, I would have to think that something like that is in the works because the skit writes itself. They're such bad liars.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Gets Shut Down as Dems Finally Go Nuclear
I mean, it's sort of like anybody has kids out there when your kid is telling you a tall tale and you're just looking at them like, okay, Johnny, sure. Yeah, I believe you. And you just walk away saying, What the hell? That kid's not telling me the truth. That's what's going on over at the White House right now. But make no mistake, they are performing for an audience of one.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Gets Shut Down as Dems Finally Go Nuclear
And so if she gets out in front of the cameras and starts telling the truth, Donald Trump, who is addicted to being on TV, hearing about himself on TV, reading about himself online, He's probably watching these briefings and thinking to himself, well, wait a minute. They can't go out there and tell the truth. They have to tell it the way I tell it, which is, you know, all lies.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
GOP Gets Shut Down as Dems Finally Go Nuclear
And, you know, we're right back where we were in that first Trump White House, Ben. You know, it is a very sad and sorry state of affairs. And I feel I feel very sorry for the fact checkers out there, because once again, they're working in overdrive.