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, our own John Decker, WOR White House and Washington correspondent,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: once again, was the star of the White House pool. John,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: you've got a lot of questions. And I want to
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: start off by asking you about Iran, because Iran, it's interesting,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: has really, you know, when you watch the local news,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: even the national news, it's now the third, fourth story.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: It's It doesn't lead like it used to anymore. It's
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: a story that almost plays out in the background, and
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: we don't always get updates. So as of right now,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: where does the war stand, and is there any hope
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: of it ending soon?
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Well, the president says that talks related to ending the
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: war will really begin in earnest after the midterm elections.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: He doesn't expect an end to the war before November
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: the 3rd. The president has said that essentially Iran is decimated.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: And he also speaks about how a significant amount of
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: oil is getting through the Strait of Hormuz. He says
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: sometimes as much as or more than before the war
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: began in late February. That all being said, although you're right, Larry,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: the war does not lead the newscast local or national.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: What often does is just issues related to affordability, which
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: is the main issue in this midterm campaign, no matter
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: what race you're talking about all across the country.
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  Speaker 3: Now, John Decker, the president has stepped into Texas three
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: times now. I never originally would have thought that he'd
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: be spending so much time in trying to help Paxton.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: But.
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  Speaker 3: I'm looking at the poll with Abbott, Governor Abbott, a
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: very popular governor. And I think now, I think I
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: realized why I and Larry a month ago were talking
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: about why he was putting the brakes on the AI
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: data centers, the flock cameras. He's in a very close
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: race with Gina Hinojosa. I'm probably mispronouncing her name. Right,
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: the Democrat who's running against him. Is there a ripple
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: effect taking place in Texas in which Trump may not
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: be able to help the Republicans?
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Well, that's if the polls are to be believed. I
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: don't know if the polls are accurate, but it is
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: pretty consistent. That poll after poll, you just look at
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: all the polls that have been taken regarding, first of all,
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: the Senate race, and it's just all blue in terms
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: of the advantage that Tallarico has over Ken Paxton. As
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: for the governor's race, You know, the president went down
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: to San Antonio yesterday to campaign for both of these candidates.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Skipping that event was Governor Abbott. I think that's a
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: big mistake, you know, but that's what he decided to do.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: He said he had a fundraiser elsewhere in the state
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: the same time as this event in San Antonio. I
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: say you reschedule your fundraiser to be with the president
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: because the president's the one that's going to energize Republicans.
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  Speaker 2: You spoke of the Republican Governor Abbott as being popular.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if that's the case. If he was popular,
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  Speaker 2: polls wouldn't show this race as close as it is
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: right now, Curtis.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what, you nailed it when you
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: talked about affordability being the number one issue right now,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: and that may be one of the big reasons since
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: we're in the middle of the midterm or we're nearing
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: the end of a midterm election that that it doesn't
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: get the coverage that it used to, and certainly nothing
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: really is going on. There's no talks. But affordability is
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the number one issue. And so Donald Trump got some
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: bad news when it came out that 30-year mortgage rates
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: have hit the highest number in three years. And that's
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: just horrible timing for him and the rest of the Republicans.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Well, I asked the President about this yesterday as he
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: was departing the White House. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: rate right now, average nationwide, 7.49%. As you point out, Larry,
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: it's the highest rate in three years. And that's just
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: decimating the housing market. And the president acknowledged that. He
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: says that mortgage rates will come down after the war concludes.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: And that may be the case, but there's no end
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: to the war in sight. And in the meantime, it
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: just makes it that much more difficult to buy a
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: new home or to move to a new home If
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: you're contemplating that just because you might be locked in
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: to a mortgage that's 3% or less, it's difficult to
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: make that leap to another home if you're paying a
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: mortgage rate in the neighborhood of 7.5%. John Decker, I
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: want you to look back.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: We had anointed you our expert on the reflecting pool
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: before our nation's birthday, July 4th, 250th birthday. And the
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: president was rushing to get the reflection pool in shape.
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  Speaker 3: There's been all kinds of problems since, but he won't
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: give up talking about vandals when it was just even
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: the contractor themselves have said, hey, we just weren't up
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: for the job. And I guess yesterday he was talking about, oh, yeah,
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: we're going to make it vandal proof. Why doesn't he
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: just let this go?
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: I don't know. You'd have to ask the president that question.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, as you know,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: dropped charges against an individual charged with vandalism. The federal
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: judge overseeing that case said you can't bring charges against
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: that individual again. And as you point out, this was
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: a botched job by the contractor. That's the reason why
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: there's so much work that's going on concerning the reflecting
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: pool at the Lincoln Memorial. So I I don't know
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: why he continues focusing on that particular issue. He was
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: asked about it yesterday. That's the reason why he brought
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: it up. But I don't know why he continues, speaking
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: of vandals, being responsible for all that damage at the
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: reflecting pool.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: There is still a concern globally and in this country
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: about the pneumonic plague that we don't know exactly what
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: happened in Russia, and we're trying to get answers on it.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: And Donald Trump said yesterday they had a call set
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: up with Putin, I guess two days ago, to coincide
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: with Putin's birthday on Wednesday, which would have been yesterday.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Did that phone call happen?
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Well, the president said that he was scheduled to speak
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: with Putin. That was when he left the White House
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: en route to San Antonio. I imagine the call happened,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: given the time difference between D.C. and Moscow. And I
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: would imagine the president brought this up. I mean, certainly,
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: I know that Our diplomats have brought it up with Russia.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: They want more information concerning this death of this lab
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: worker at that lab in Siberia. The World Health Organization
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: wants more information regarding the death of that lab worker.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Hopefully the president got satisfactory answers from President Putin. I
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: imagine he did speak with him yesterday, and maybe we'll
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: get a readout on that call, Larry, today.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Wait a second, John. You keep saying, I imagine he did,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: and he said he was going to, but there's been
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: no confirmation that he actually spoke with him?
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: Well, no. So no readout coming from the White House
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: concerning that call. That's what I'm referring to. And typically
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: you do. You get a readout either or both. from
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: the U.S. side and, in this case, from the Russian side,
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: but we haven't seen that just yet. And the president,
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: as you mentioned, said that he was scheduled to speak
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: with President Putin to coincide with his birthday.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: You know, yesterday they had the debate in Iowa for
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: the U.S. Senate. The sitting senator, Ashley Hinson, the Republican
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: versus Josh Turek, the Democrat. And the two big issues there,
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: the heartland of America, was the war in Iran and tariffs.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: How do you see the rest of the way in
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: this sprint where there are so many close Senate races,
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: which was unexpected a while back?
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really unexpected. And as a result, Democrats really
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: do have a path to win back control of the Senate.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: I think at the very beginning of this cycle, it
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: was really hard to imagine that they would be able
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: to flip four seats, which would allow them to regain
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: control of the Senate. But I was one of those places, Ashley.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Hinson is a congresswoman. She's running for the U.S. Senate.
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  Speaker 2: She's running to fill the seat of Joni Ernst, a
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Republican who's stepping down. And recent polls actually show there's
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: a governor's race and there's a race for the Senate
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: in Iowa. And Democrats in both of those races, according
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: to polls, are leading. That's pretty remarkable given how much
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: President Trump won Iowa by in 2024, won it all
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: three times he competed. But, you know, those two issues
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: really are affecting Iowans The war in the sense that
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: high diesel prices for all that farm equipment and tariffs
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: also related to the agriculture industry in Iowa impacted by
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: the president's terrorist policy. And then, you know, you could
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: just go around the country, all the other places. I'm
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: going to travel with the president coming up, not only
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: on Saturday, right now it's scheduled. We'll see if it
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: gets rescheduled, but he's traveling down South to Tennessee and
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: to Alabama for the Alabama Georgia game. And then next week,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: Larry and Curtis, I'm on a two-day trip out west,
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: including all the way out to Alaska, and there's a
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: really competitive Senate race in Alaska as well, and the
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: president wants to help out Senator Dan Sullivan, help him.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: to try to get over the finish line and win
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: a third term in the U.S. Senate.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's doing everything he can. He even offered $ 5, 000
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: to every adult American if he wins, and I'm surprised
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: that kind of just went away. People talk about it
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: every once in a while. I thought for sure even
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: the idea of that would have been challenged in court,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: but has it been?
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: Well, because there's nothing to challenge. As they say in.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: In legal circles, the case isn't ripe yet because the
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: president hasn't done that yet. He's just making a promise.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: So there's no lawsuit to be had. Now, there may
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: be one if two things happen. One, Republicans need to
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: retain control of the House and the Senate, and that
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: seems difficult. And then two, that proposal is actually introduced
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: as legislation in Congress. And I'll see if that happens.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: We'll see if that happens. I don't think that the
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: votes are there to pass such a proposal. But, you know,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: that's one of those things that the president is promising
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: out on the campaign trail in an effort to, you know,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: just really energize voters to support for Republicans who are
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: running in various offices, whether it's in the House or
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: the Senate.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: And then he'll be able to blame somebody else when
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: it doesn't pass. He wanted to do it, but it
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: didn't get passed. This is brilliant.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean, I think that's right. Don't blame voters.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: They don't vote for Republicans and retain control of Congress.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: But I also think that, you know, when we look
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: down the road, you know, and you and I and
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Curtis are speaking a few weeks from now after the midterms,
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: there will be blame that the president will, you know,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: point fingers at. And I think he's going to point
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: his fingers at some of the candidates that were running.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: You know, I would not be surprised if You know,
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: the president points fingers at Ken Paxton, even though he's
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: the one who put the thumb on the scale so
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: that Ken Paxton was the Republican nominee over John Cornyn,
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: the sitting incumbent Republican senator. But Ken Paxton has turned
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: out to be a really bad candidate this election cycle.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: That's for sure. He's like a blabbermouth and all of
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: his private conversations get recorded. Does he pat down donors
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: before he talks to them? Because we hear all of
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: his complaints that get aired nationally.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: He should do that.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Hey, John, we got to go.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Go to a metal detector or something. Yeah, that's right.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: John Decker, W.O.O. White House and Washington correspondent, host of
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: the podcast, The White House Briefing Room with John Decker.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: That could be heard. on the iHeartRadio app. Talk to
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: you again soon, John. Thank you.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Barry. Thanks, Curtis. Bye-bye.