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Trumps name to be added to Kennedy Center again · INSIGHT TODAY

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The Kennedy Center's board, which the President hand picked and shares,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: voted to put his name back up, though in a
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: different form. It used to read the Donald J. Trump
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: judge said no, and now the board has voted to
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: put under the Kennedy Center name the words restored and
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: renovated by President Donald J.
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  Speaker 2: Trump.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: That is according to two people who were briefed on
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: the decision. Talking afterwards The New York Times, one board
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: member and friend of the president set his goals to
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  Speaker 1: make the president's name quote as big as it can get,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Quoting further from The Times, dear Leader, energy and all quote.
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  Speaker 1: The board directed officials to honor mister Trump for bringing
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the center back quote from the brink of disaster, presenting
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: a series of possibilities that included naming the center's grounds
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the President Donald J.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Trump Plaza. So that is one challenge to the court.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: The other is the board's decision to close much of
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: the complex for two years of renovation, something that the
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: President has long wanted.
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  Speaker 3: You have to close it putting new marbles and beautiful,
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: beautiful marbles. When you do marbles, you can't have people
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  Speaker 3: walking over the marble every night as it's drying and
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: setting and going to a play. So we thought the
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  Speaker 3: best way, I mean what I know best in the
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  Speaker 3: world is construction. The best way to do it is
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  Speaker 3: close it, do it properly, and reopen it, have a
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  Speaker 3: grand reopening.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Clearly, he is not losing his new marbles. He loves
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: the beautiful marbles. What the judge in the case will
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: make of the board's actions or means to be seen.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: He's expected to review their resolution shortly.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Sean has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: but has yet to receive any. As for the president himself,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: his desire to hold sway over the institution in some
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: form is long standing. He installed the current board and
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: became chairman in less than a month into office. In
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: about a year ago, said this, it seems only half jokingly.
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  Speaker 3: Since nineteen seventy eight, the Kennedy Center Honors have been
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  Speaker 3: among the most prestigious awards in the performing arts. I
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: wanted one. I was never able to get one this year.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: It's true. Actually I would have taken it if they
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  Speaker 3: would have called me. I waited and waited and waited,
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  Speaker 3: and I said the hell with it. I'll become chairman.
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  Speaker 3: I'll give myself an honor. Maybe I'm going to honor
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  Speaker 3: next year.
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  Speaker 2: We'll honor Trump.
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  Speaker 1: Okaye and son, Sir faddis there tonight joins us.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Now. So what more do we know.
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  Speaker 1: About this resolution approved by the Kenny Center's board.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, Anderson, this resolution really makes clear that the board
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  Speaker 4: is not backing down from this legal fight that, frankly,
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  Speaker 4: this arts institution has been embroiled in for months now
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: and for the better part of this year. Frankly, the
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: board today huddled and they ultimately emerged deciding that they
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: would close for two years the entire complex, but keep
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  Speaker 4: one part, one small part of the complex.
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  Speaker 2: It's called the Reach.
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  Speaker 4: It was a recent addition to the Kenni Center. They
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: would keep the Reach open and hold some smaller, very
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: small performances there. They hope that puts them in compliance
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: in essence with the judge's court order that they need
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  Speaker 4: to reopen at least partially in good faith while these
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: renovations are going on. But it certainly was that striking
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  Speaker 4: part of what we heard from multiple sources after the
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: meeting today. The most striking part the fact that now
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  Speaker 4: the President as chairman of the board and board were
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  Speaker 4: notably hand picked, voted today to throw up his name
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: again up on that building. And as we know, we've
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: covered this from June when the name came down. This
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: is a critical piece of information that the President wants
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: on the side of the building. They will make some modifications.
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  Speaker 4: It will not be above President Kenny's name now they
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: say it will be below and it will certainly read
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  Speaker 4: specifically that President Trump restored and renovated this building. So
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: they are trying in essence to make it work somehow
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  Speaker 4: to be in compliance with the court order, while also
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: they believe featuring President Trump's name. Now, a short time
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: ago I spoke with a co counsel of the plaintiffs
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: who assued over the changes to the Kennedy Center. He
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  Speaker 4: called this an active defiance. Here's more what he had
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  Speaker 4: to say.
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  Speaker 5: This is very much an active defiance. The court was
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  Speaker 5: very clear. The court said that the name had to
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: come down and then had to revert to the status quo.
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  Speaker 5: This is a kind of cute attempt. It's too cute
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  Speaker 5: by half to try to find a work around with
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  Speaker 5: the court's order. And even if it's not a direct defiance,
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  Speaker 5: of the order. It certainly is an effort to evade
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  Speaker 5: the Court's justice, and.
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  Speaker 4: They will challenge the moves that the board made today
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  Speaker 4: to again throw up President Trump's name. And they believe
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  Speaker 4: that they have a strong case, they tell me. But Anderson,
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  Speaker 4: it can't be overstated how this building, this specifically these
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  Speaker 4: names on this building have become such a central part
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  Speaker 4: of President Trump's second time in office, the fact that
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  Speaker 4: his sites have set on remaking Washington, DC, remaking the
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  Speaker 4: Kennedy Center, and a big part of that is his name.
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  Speaker 4: When this name came down behind me in June, notable
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: that the tarp behind me has stayed up ever and
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  Speaker 4: since his name.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to ask you that it's bizarre
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: that the tarp has been up this entire time. Lest
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  Speaker 1: anyone see that Donald J. Trump's name has been removed
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  Speaker 1: from said building.
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  Speaker 2: It's it's someone and I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: I'll take my ridiculousness over to the tur Yes. Joining
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: us as contributor in the podcast host Karra Swisher, also
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: former federal prosecutor and best selling author Jeffrey Tubman. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I'm listening to someone talk and all I'm watching is
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  Speaker 1: the tarp behind It's yeah, we're living in like a parallex.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I live there. I'm always that it's still there.
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  Speaker 1: The tarp is still I can't believe we're even talking
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  Speaker 1: about this still, that this is what there's a war
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  Speaker 1: going on and he's focused on this.
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  Speaker 6: And also nearby there are two very golden right now too,
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  Speaker 6: and there are going to be four very golden statues
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  Speaker 6: of horses, enormous gold statues which also have been regolded
• 5:53
  Speaker 6: and stuff like that. I mean, Scar is really busy
• 5:55
  Speaker 6: remaking Pride Rock is how we feel in Washington. And
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  Speaker 6: the thing is, Kennedy said, and has been sort of
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  Speaker 6: a great part of Washington, and now it's completely.
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  Speaker 2: A dead zone. It's a dead zone. It's going to
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  Speaker 2: be closed out for two years.
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  Speaker 6: Well, they trying to open the Reach, which is this
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  Speaker 6: nice area, but it's small. It's very small, and they
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  Speaker 6: can't do many things like events there. It's a very
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  Speaker 6: small event space. So the question and then the National
• 6:14
  Speaker 6: Symphony Orchestra is having financial problems due to what's happening,
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: and so they've wrecked an entire economy in the neighborhood
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  Speaker 6: and also something that kept children there school children, all
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  Speaker 6: kinds of.
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  Speaker 7: Things, Jeff, I mean, legally, is I actually think he
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  Speaker 7: may get by on this legally because there were two
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  Speaker 7: parts of the judges ruling. One was the name, and
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  Speaker 7: Congress designated the name as the Kennedy Center. And this
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  Speaker 7: is not a change of the name, I think, although
• 6:43
  Speaker 7: that will certainly be the issue.
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  Speaker 1: But it's so like, it's literally bizarre that we're talking
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  Speaker 1: about he wants the name, saying that he renovated the
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  Speaker 1: building when it do a.
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  Speaker 7: Plaque, he couldn't, well, he could have done a plaque
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  Speaker 7: and they and they do have designations of other people
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  Speaker 7: inside the back of.
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  Speaker 1: Every president put giant words on the building, like I
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  Speaker 1: renovated this building.
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  Speaker 2: That would I mean, it's just well, it's.
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  Speaker 7: Absurd and orwellian, especially considering he didn't renovate it. He
• 7:12
  Speaker 7: destroyed the Kennedy Center. I mean, that's what's so bizarre
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  Speaker 7: about this whole thing, is he's taking credit for something
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  Speaker 7: that he did the opposite of. But legally, I think
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  Speaker 7: he might actually win because he is not technically changing
• 7:26
  Speaker 7: the name. The other part of the order of the
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  Speaker 7: judge's original order said he they shut down for two
• 7:32
  Speaker 7: years without any study now they have.
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  Speaker 2: Actually done some study and.
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  Speaker 7: They think two years is reasonable, and so I think
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  Speaker 7: he might actually win his case. But you know, from
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  Speaker 7: a political or moral point of view, this whole thing
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  Speaker 7: is an oubsentitive.
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  Speaker 3: You know.
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  Speaker 1: Care When the President first visited the Kennedy Center, he
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: made a controversial statement.
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  Speaker 2: I want to ask you about it because.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: He said that Betty Buckley was the best Grizabella ever
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: in cats Okay.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm wondering, do you think that's true. I think
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: she was an excellent Gizabel. All the Grizabellas have been excellent.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: I don't I don't know she was among them.
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  Speaker 6: I just saw the reasoning to incur the wrath which
• 8:13
  Speaker 6: alumni community memories. They the new one is fantastic. Jelicable
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  Speaker 6: Isabella is fantastic, you know. He It's the same thing
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  Speaker 6: of where you know, if I was just in Chicago,
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  Speaker 6: his name's there. He likes to put his name everywhere,
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  Speaker 6: and so I feel like, why can't we just project
• 8:29
  Speaker 6: it on there for him or put it off to
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  Speaker 6: the side with a beautiful gold.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: But I mean, according to a recent scene in poll,
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  Speaker 1: seventy three percent of US adult said the president is
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: not paying enough attention to the country's most important Yes problems, Yes.
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  Speaker 2: I mean this is taking up his time. It is
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  Speaker 2: the redecorating and the and the.
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  Speaker 6: East wing, and the golding of the statues and the arch.
• 8:50
  Speaker 6: You get, there's a million things. And so I joke
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  Speaker 6: about pride scart, pride rock. But that's what it feels
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: like living there, like all this stuff happening.
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  Speaker 7: It's also worth remembering he is not going to be
• 8:59
  Speaker 7: president forever, and it is going to be very low
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  Speaker 7: hanging fruit if there is a Democrat president to get
• 9:05
  Speaker 7: rid of his name absolutely everywhere. Now the arch is
• 9:08
  Speaker 7: going to be difficult to get rid of, and maybe
• 9:10
  Speaker 7: they won't. And the same thing with the ballroom, given
• 9:12
  Speaker 7: how enormous they are if they are actually be built by.
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  Speaker 2: Which is not going well.
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  Speaker 7: But you know, it is just worth remembering that some
• 9:27
  Speaker 7: of this can be undone and certainly will be, you know,
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  Speaker 7: on January twenty first, twenty twenty nine, or sooner
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  Speaker 2: By the way, because of the midterms.