Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / Trump's prime-time Iran address, Bondi's departure and more

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Trump's prime-time Iran address, Bondi's departure and more · THE DAILY BRIEF

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back, reporter paddle time. Let me introduce them to you.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Bloomberg Washington correspondent, good friend of mine. Jeff Mason, Washington
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: bureau chief for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Also a good
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: friend to be on the show. Tia Mitchell. Great to
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: have you both here. To you, I always want to
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: talk to you about Georgia politics. Big day on Tuesday
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: of the runoff, and talk to us about the Senate campaign.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: John alsof the sitting Democrat looking stronger.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: It seems, yeah, there's been a lot of media coverage
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: lately that Assoft's in a good position for a few reasons.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Number one, the Republicans have a contested primary. There is
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: no clear front runner. The candidate on the Republican side
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: who's polling the best is Congressman Mike Collins, but still
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: around thirty percent. You've got a lot of undecided voters.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: They're duking it out, they're criticizing each other, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: Republicans say, while they're fighting amongst themselves, John Ossoff is
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  Speaker 2: riding high. He's talking about all the money he's got
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: inappropriations for all these rural counties. He's raising lots of money,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: more money than any other candidate on the ballot.
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  Speaker 1: So he's not only focusing on Atlanta and the suburbs,
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  Speaker 1: but he's going statewide.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and you know there are places in rural Georgia
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  Speaker 2: that he's going to and saying, here's your check because
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: I fought for you and got you know, appropriations earmarks
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  Speaker 2: in the budget. So and he doesn't have to put
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: up with I mean, yes, the Republicans are criticizing him,
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  Speaker 2: but they're spending a lot more time criticizing each other.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: So he's just kind of floating along with no primary.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Jeff, you and I spent a lot of time at
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  Speaker 1: the White House. You know, this is a heavy week
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: for the president and his administration. Aron is at not
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: a tipping point, but the country's evaluating it. He gave
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: a primetime address on it Wednesday. He spent all day
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: there today. Now there's been a doubting of an F fifteen.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: That's a significant moment. A lot's going on.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Lots going on, and it was an interesting messaging week
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: for him because he gave that speech on Wednesday after
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  Speaker 3: saying in the Oval the day before that he expected
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: to conclude the war within two to three weeks. I
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: think He wanted to underscore that the next night in
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  Speaker 3: the big address and probably try to goose markets a
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: little bit, bring those oil prices down, get the stock
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: market back up where he's happy to see it. And
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  Speaker 3: instead it did the exact opposite, because he did what
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: he's done this entire time, which is give contradictory messages.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: In addition to repeating the two to three week timeline,
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: he also gave sort of escalatory language by saying, if
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: they don't make a deal, we're going to do this.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: We're going to do that.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Stone age references. Yeah, pretty intense stuff.
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Wich is, Yeah, I mean, very sharp rhetoric.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: So for a while it appeared that this administration would
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: keep its cabinet together. Most of the conversations I had
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: on the hill the White House were like, we're going
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: to write it through, probably nothing until after the midterms.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: A because the president wants cohesion, loyalty, performance and confirmation
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: problems if we have to replace anyone Mark Waynemullin solved
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: that for DHS. But now Pam Bondi's out. How do
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: you evaluate that?
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  Speaker 3: Jeck I would say, b to your other does to
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  Speaker 3: the start of your list. He surrounded himself with complete
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: loyalists in two point zero, which is not what he
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  Speaker 3: did entirely in one point zero. He learned from that
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: he changed how he filled his cabinet, but that did
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  Speaker 3: not inoculate Pam Bondy in order to inoculate Christinome. What
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  Speaker 3: I conclude from that is, if there are more than
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: this is a wave, I think it's also a suggestion
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: or a proof really that he's frustrated generally, and he's
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: taken that out on his cabinet, on his allies, on
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  Speaker 3: everyone around and tea.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Pam Bondy, if she were sitting here, would probably say
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  Speaker 1: I did all I could on the loyalty did.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, she's very loyal. I think to Jeff's point, I
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  Speaker 2: think he's looking at the polling numbers. He's getting frustrated
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: that things aren't going his way, and he's willing to
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: take it out on people who maybe are loyal in rhetoric,
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: but he hasn't liked the way their actions have played
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  Speaker 2: out in the public. Pam Bondy had that and Christy Nome,
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  Speaker 2: quite frankly, both not do well when they had to
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: answer questions from members of Congress. Of course, the release
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: of the Epstein files didn't go well for Pam Bondy,
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  Speaker 2: even though again I think some of that is because
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  Speaker 2: she was trying to do what she thought President Trump
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  Speaker 2: wanted her to do. But I think they have become scapegoats,
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  Speaker 2: so to speak, or at least punching bags for his frustration.
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  Speaker 2: But it wasn't because they didn't do everything or at
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  Speaker 2: least try to do everything he told them to do.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: There is always a celebrity factor around the Trump White House.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: And it was released today or earlier this week rather
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Tiger Woods after his rollover crash. We feel very bad
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: about that. You understand he's going into treatment. Sympathetic about that.
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  Speaker 1: I had a conversation with those who were talking to
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  Speaker 1: him from law enforcement and said the following role that
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  Speaker 1: I just keep you down here with us, please.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just talking to the president. Oh sure,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: I'm just talking with the president.
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  Speaker 1: I was just talking with the president. Now there is
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: a potential familial relationship going on here. He may become
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: par the larger Trump family. Jeff, you want to pick
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: up the golf ball on this one.
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  Speaker 3: I would just say that's a flex if I've ever seen,
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  Speaker 3: and Tiger's got a.
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  Speaker 1: Lot of flexes. As long like he doesn't need it.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: He doesn't need another flex.
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  Speaker 3: But it's a flex. And what he really intended, what
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  Speaker 3: message he intended to send with that, I think is debatable.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not going to speculate, but I think people can
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  Speaker 3: draw their own But.
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  Speaker 1: As local authorities would say to you, no one's above
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the law. He went to the same process everybody else.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm choosing my words carefully, so I don't want
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  Speaker 2: to make light of this, But this is not his first.
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  Speaker 1: No, No, I sympathized, but he's got a pain problem.
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  Speaker 1: He's going seeking treatment. I'm sympathetic to all of that. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: but flex though.
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  Speaker 2: I say that because perhaps it might have worked if
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  Speaker 2: this was his first interaction with law enforcement and say, hey,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you know friends in high places, and this
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  Speaker 2: is our first time, so maybe we can cut you
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  Speaker 2: some slack. But I don't think anyone in law enforcement,
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  Speaker 2: because he's a repeat offender, so to speak, I don't
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: think they want that on their shoulders. So there is
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  Speaker 2: no slack to be cut for you. Tiger woods.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: The same process for tiger woods, and the same process
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: always here. The candy does not eat itself. Grab them
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: on the way out Jeff Mason to you, it's always
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: a pleasure. Thank you so much.