Latest / Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning / Jon Decker, WOR White House correspondent, interview

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Jon Decker, WOR White House correspondent, interview · Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, so much news coming out of Washington, DC right now.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Tops of which is probably when President Trump said yesterday
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: that we're going to have a deal we think either
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: today or tomorrow with Iran. Now, I know we've heard
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: that before, but you know, when he gives date specific,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: it's a little bit more interesting. So let's get right
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: to John Decker, wor White House and Washington correspondent and
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: host of the podcast The White House Briefing Room with
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: John Decker, which could be found on the iHeartRadio app.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: You know, John, as I said, I know we've been
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: here before, but I did perk up when he said
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: I think we may have a deal by today or tomorrow.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Today would be tomorrow. Now is there any signs that
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: we're close to a deal.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Well, keep in mind the US is not involved in
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: these negotiations. It's negotiators from Iran, Larry and also Oman,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: and the deal would only involve reopening the straight Up FORMOS.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: It wouldn't anything related to Iran's nuclear program. Those talks
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: have gone on for several days. We could see an announcement,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: as you point out, as early as today, and that
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: would be a good thing in terms of reopening the
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: straight up FORMUZ, allowing cargo ships oil tankers to get
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: through and to get through without having to pay any
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: fees or tolls. That is also one of the requirements
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: that President Trump has spoken about when speaking about a
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: deal to reopen the strait.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: John Dekker, is Jenine Piro still the US attorney for
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: the Capital as far as I know she is.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: She's not in a good place right now in Donald
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Trump's world. And that's because, as you know, Curtis, the
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: US Attorney's Office has dropped not one, but several cases
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: against individuals who were originally charged with vandalizing the reflecting pool.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: In court filings, the US Attorney's Office now says that
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: the damage caused to the reflecting pool was not caused
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: by vandals or vandalism. It was caused by shoddy work
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: by the contractor. Now, President Trump disagrees with that conclusion,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: and he's made his feelings known, both publicly and privately.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: The President has known Jeanine Piro for quite some time,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: and it would be pretty remarkable, Curtis, if the President
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: decided to remove her from her position.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. This midterm election is now fascinating,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: and we haven't even got to the general election. We're
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: not out of summer just yet. But I mean the
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: list of scandals and crimes and big stories and some
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: heartbreaking stories from all of these congressmen, sitting congressmen, or
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: people running for office is getting to the point where
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: it's mind blowing. I mean, I don't remember a time
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: covering politics where I've heard this many congressmen and or
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: people running for congressmen having these kind of problems. John,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: what sticks out.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: To you, Well, there have been scandals. There have been
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: scandals in every part of the country California, Swallwell, Max Miller, Ohio,
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: North Carolina, Texas, and all of them have led to
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: members of Congress deciding not to run for another term
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: because of the scandal that has engulfed them all. With
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: the exception of Max Miller, he will be on the ballot.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: That could be problematic. He comes from one of those
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: swing districts in Ohio, so we'll see what happens with
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: his seat. Every seat matters, Larry and Curtis, as you know,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: because of the very tight margin that Republicans have right
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: now in the House of Representatives, so.
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: I count it as three Republicans. We obviously as you mentioned,
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: the Miller case is and rightfully so, gnering the majority
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: of the attention. But I noticed in North Carolina that
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Republican congressman finally decided to stand down. He was being
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: accused of harassing sexually harassing two of his staff members,
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: female staff members. But then there is the Republican congressman
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: who stood last night for his only Republican debate, is
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: still in the primary process. He got it hammered, not
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: just in terms of the allegations that he's guilty of
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: domestic abuse, but one of his adversaries said, oh, I
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: understand you married your wife in a mosque and you
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: converted to the Muslim faith. And he stood up and
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: he said, would you like me to do the Lord's
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: Prayer to you right now to prove to you that
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  Speaker 3: I'm not a Muslim and that I was not married
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  Speaker 3: in a mosque. That's how some crazy this whole campaign
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: process has become. Well, it has.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: It's a very interesting time that we're in, you know,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: when you have these kinds of very personal attacks. You
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: just mentioned one that happened in a debate in the
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: past twenty four hours. The debate that I attended earlier
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: this week in South Carolina, Republican primary debate was pretty
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: tame compared to what you just described happening last night
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: in that debate. But it's almost this season where you're
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: going to see more of these debates. We'll see more
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: of them after Labor Day. And we know that the
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Democratic nominee who just won his nomination after a very
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: tough fight in Michigan, he has put on the table
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: five debates with his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers. So we'll
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: see if that comes to pass.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: So is Todd Blanche, Donald Trump's former personal attorney going
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: to be the US Attorney General or not?
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I think it's up to really a
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: handful of Republican senators who have not yet just said
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: how they will vote on the Senate floor. We know
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: that Susan Collins is a no. And because Susan Collins
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: is a no, John Fetterman is a no as well.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: We know that Todd Lanch can only afford to lose
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: two other republic Can votes before it becomes problematic for
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: him in terms of winning confirmation as the next Attorney General.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: I think I'll make it. You know that this is
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: really important to the president, and typically on these types
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: of votes, those Republicans that are on the fence typically
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: cave and give in to what the president wants.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: John Dekker, that vote is supposed to take place tomorrow,
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Friday before the United States Senate. What about Mitch McConnell.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: He's nobody's seen him, nobody's heard from him, other than
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: that picture that was in the Washington Post of him
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: propped up in the bed with his wife next to
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: his side. Might this require, if in fact, the numbers
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: don't play out for the president, that they wheel him
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: in in a wheelchair and he does it. John McCain,
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: you know, thumbs up or thumbs down.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: Possibly, But I don't think his health is good enough
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: even for that scenario that you just described. Curtis, you know,
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: I think that you know, he really is in a
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: place right now where he can't make it back to Washington,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: d c. From Kentucky where he's convalescing.
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: So we'll see.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think that Republicans right now are counting
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: on the fact that they will not have his vote
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: one way or the other when the vote is taken
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: on Friday on Todd Blanche's nomination.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: So is Congress is going to be on recess or not.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: I know, the one thing that senators and congressmen like
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: to do, especially before midterms is getting back into their
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: districts so they can fund raise. But now there is
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: talk of doing away with the recess until the Save
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Act is passed. Is there any possibility of that.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: There is a possibility. As you know, there are some
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: Republican senators that want to see that happen. You know,
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Senator Scott from Florida is one of those individuals. Mike
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Lee from Utah is another one of those Republican senators.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: But John Dune seems to be of the mindset that
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: it's more important for some of those Republican members to
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: get back home into campaign, not just a fundraise, but
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: the campaign because they're in really tight races and because
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: of that, you know, he wants them to go back
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: and make sure that their seat is locked up, you know,
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: for reelection. So he'd like to see Susan Collins go.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Back to Maine the campaign.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: And you know, that's just one example of one of
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: those senators who does need to get back and make
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: certain that she locks down her state. Her vote's pretty
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: important in terms of Republicans maintaining control over.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: The US Senate. Now, I know that the Attorney General
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: now the interim Attorney General, who would like to become
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: the permanent one tomorrow with the up and down the
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: Senate vote, Todd Lange was willing to sign a paper
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: that said, Okay, there will be no law fair fund
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: at one point eight billion, you know, for those who
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: felt that they were screwed by the government. J six
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: and others.
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  Speaker 4: But I'm not sure on the second part of it
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: about shielding Trump or the Trump family business from future
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: audits by the irs, especially since the Trump family is
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: making so much money now on bitcoin, which I refer
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: to as crime coin. Is every I dotted on that
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: and T crossed or is that being left up for
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: further discussion.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Well, according to Tom Tillis, who was on the fence,
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: and John Cornyn who was on the fence as well,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: they're satisfied with the memos that the Department of Justice
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: has put out. But you know, as far as the
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: second item that you mentioned, this deal related to the
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: president's taxes, the taxes of his sons, the taxes of
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: his businesses. It's unclear whether that memo undoes that agreement
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: that was agreed to between the Department of Justice, the IRS,
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: and Donald Trump in his private capacity as a citizen.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: I think that to undo it, you'd have to have
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: the signatures of all three of those entities undo it,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: and I don't think that's happened.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: So, John, if if Anthony Fauci today is held in
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: contempt of Congress, does that have to go to the
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: full Senate or can it go right to the President.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Well, if he's found in contempt of Congress, then it
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: is up to the person that you mentioned earlier in
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: our conversation, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: as to whether or not to actually prosecute that case.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: There have been instances before where members of the president's
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: cabinet have been found in contempt. I think about Eric Holder,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: for instance, but the US Attorney in that instance decided
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: not to, you know, prosecute him for contempt of Congress. Now,
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: Janine Piro, she needs to win favor with President Trump,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: so we'll see where this goes. You know, I think
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: that if there is a contempt of Congress vote that's
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: taken and Anthony Fauci has found in contempt of Congress,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: this will be argued in terms of the legality of
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: that in the federal court. Before we go down the
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: path of seeing Anthony Fauci in a criminal.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Courtroom, well it's quite a drama. John Decker, wor White
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: House and Washington Correspondent, host of the podcast The White
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: House Briefing Room with John Decker that can be found
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio