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

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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, after ten straight nights of air strikes against Iran
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: and turmoil in the Middle East, the President has a
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: very important meeting today. He is going to be meeting
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: in the Oval Office with the President of Lebanon, and
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: as you know, they are of focus right now because
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Lebanon says it is going to help in beating Hesbalah.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: The president once Syria involved in that. Israel, of course
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: is in the is right in the conversation. But the
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: most important conversation is going to happen today in the
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: White House, and John Deker is going to be there.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: John Decker, wr White House and Washington Correspondent, John, I
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: know you're going to be in the pool today and
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: you spend a lot of time gathering your questions. If
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: you got to answer the first ques, if you got
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: to ask the first question, what would it be.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Well, you're referring to the President's meeting that will take
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: place later this morning with the President of Lebanon, And
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: of course Lebanon is a part of the equation in
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: terms of ending this conflict between the US and Iran.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: And the reason why it's part of the equation is
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: because Iran has insisted that it's part of the equation.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: They want peace. They don't want his Balla, which is
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: their proxy, to be attacked by Israel going forward. And
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: I think that you know, for the President who will
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: be there with his Lebanese counterpart. To me, it's pretty
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: important to find out whether Lebanon is on board the
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: President's plans for Iran and for opening up the straight up,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: for removed. They are a part of the equation, and
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: to me, that's one of the questions that I'd ask
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: the President today whether he has the full support of
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: the Lebanese president in terms of his goals to denuclearize Iran.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: Now, John deck here, I know that the Sectaria will
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: Pete Heikschatz will be at a Senate hearing today and
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: there'll be lots of questions of him. But we were
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: told early on in this conflict, oh, our military might
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: has depleted their missile ability, the drone ability. I'm telling you,
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: where are the Iranians getting these missiles and drones from?
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: Because they're hitting all of our allies, even in Jordan.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: They hit Akabah, which is right next to a lot
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: in Israel, and Charmel Shaken Egypt, where I've been to
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: all three right on the Red Sea. I mean, every
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: time we hit them, they just fire off missiles and
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: drones at everyone that they perceive to be housing any
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: US military personnel. Has anybody given an answer of where
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: this trash of weapons is coming from?
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a really great question, Curtis, and I'm sure
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: that's going to come up in today's hearing. As you
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: point out, the President has said that Iran has been
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: degraded in terms of its abilities. I'm sure that's true.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, they have not been depleted
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: of all other missiles all of their drones, and the
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: drones in particular have really posed a problem for the US.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: It's relatively inexpensive technology. We're talking about fifty thousand dollars
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: per drone as opposed to over a million dollars for
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: a Patriot missile, so, you know, or any type of
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: cruise missile that you're talking about. So for that reason,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: you know, Iran can go on, you know, fighting the
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: United States military with this lesser technology that is also effective.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: We saw how effective it was, you know, in terms
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: of what Iran wants to do as it relates to
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: imposing threats on the American military. Our servicemen and women.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: We saw what happened over the weekend in both Jordan
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: and also in Iraq, and that is likely to continue
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: for the foreseeable future.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: So we had a attack on the federal building yesterday.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: It's all over the news today. We had a madman
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: that set fire on the on the ground outside the
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: federal building. He was heavily armed, and luckily he was
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: he was apprehended. Tom Homan I saw yesterday, came out
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: and started to talk about it and got really emotional
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: and went back inside. But he blamed all of the
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: rhetoric and the attack on ice officers for all of this.
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: John.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: I assume that's going to come up today, that the
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: President's going to be asked about it. But there's not
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: much I would think that he can do.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, if you have a crazy person, there's
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: not much he can do in terms of stopping someone
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: that has the ability the desire to cause harm.
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: I think that, you know, I'm talking about the rhetoric.
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: I'm talking about the rhetoric which he has.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean, look, you know, I think that
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: the rhetoric has gotten out of hand, particularly on the
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: far left. You know, in terms of the things that
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: they're saying about officers. They claim that, you know, they
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: just think this broad brush as it relates to ICE.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Not every member of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: is a bad person or a bad actor. You know,
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: they're there trying to make certain that their mission is
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: carried out. And you know, yesterday they were simply doing
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: their job inside a federal building in Manhattan when this
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: you know, attack took place. I was there when Tom
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Holman came out and addressed reporters. I asked a few
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: questions of mister Homan, and you're right, you know, I
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: think that yesterday, in particular, mister Homan, who had first
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: done an interview on Fox News and then spoke to
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: reporters that gathered around after his Fox News live shot,
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: we saw that you know, that attack or attempted attack
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: on that federal building has really impacted him, as well
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: as others at the Department of Homeland Security, in particular.
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: General John Dega. You not got.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: The attention and recognition that you're due because it was
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: of your intrepid reporting and questioning that the Administration Secret
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: Service told the President, Hey, swap out the gift from
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: Qatar that is air Force one, go back to o
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: reliable Air Force one, because now that we're re engaged
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: in Iran, that is not a safe airline to be
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: taking you and your cabinet and everyone else who accompanies you.
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: You're really the one that triggered that.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Correct, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: want to be subpoenat Curtis.
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: Fakes. Well, it was a little hint from you. They
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: got them, got them to rethink. They're recalibrating. Now that's
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: a better word, recalibrate.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: Thinking about the safety of the President, the cabinet, and
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: everyone who accompanies the president on the Air Force One.
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: I don't know. You're a hero. You're a hero. You
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: potentially save lives.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: There you go, Now, that's right. We got a statement
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: yesterday from the White House Press Secretary, Caroline Leavitt, which
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: indicated that in the fall, just a few months from now,
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: this new Air Force one will head into the shop,
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: so to speak, for refurbishment to make it more secure.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: The President acknowledged that it is not as secure as
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: the original Air Force One. And so you know, the
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: President will be taking a trip tomorrow to Georgia. I
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: would imagine it will be on the new Air Force one.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: But that has a limited life in terms of before
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: it goes into the shop to add these new secure
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: bells and whistles, so it is just as secure as
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: its predecessor, the old Air Force one, which I've flown
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: on so many times, countless times over the years. So
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: the President says it will be in the shop or
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: a month or so, I think it's going to take
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: a lot longer than that. You know, when you think
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: about building a new Air Force one from the ground up,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: it's years in the making. To me, it seems like
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: to make it as secure as the Air Force one
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: that it replaced, it's going to take a lot longer
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: than just one full month to do all the things
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: that are necessary to make it secure for the President
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: the commander in chief to fly anywhere, whether it's here
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: in the US or anywhere in the world.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you some credit here, John, because a
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: couple of months ago we brought up the White House
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Correspondence dinner and whether they really are going to have
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: another one, and you said, with certain dy, yes, there's
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: going to be another one. And now it's been announced
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: it's going to happen. Are you hearing any of the
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: details about it. I understand. It's funny because the report
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: said it's going to be a smaller venue, it's going
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: to be a smaller crowd, it's going to be more secure,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: but then it says one thousand people are going to
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: be there.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Well, one thousand versus twenty five hundred, Okay, So what
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: that has meant is that for news organizations that you
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: know it purchased a lot of tables for the original
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: White House Correspondence Center, there are being offered up the
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: ability to purchase, not purchased, or being given far fewer tickets.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: So as it relates to the news organization that I
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: work for. Originally we have two tables, that's twenty seats.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Now only four people will attend for my news organization,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: so it will be smaller in size. It's taking place
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: at the Waldworf, which is the former Trump International Hotel,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: the former old Post Office. It will be on Friday night,
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: and it will be a low key affair compared to
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: what normally takes place in late April at the Correspondence
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: Center every year.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: One final question, John Decker, the reflection pool boy that
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: has been an ongoing issue now.
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: The fireworks are over.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: Obviously, the continuation of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary continues.
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: But where are we do we election pool in terms
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: of its maintenance, its care, and more importantly, the people
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: that it was suggested that Janine Piro, US attorney for
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: the Capitol, is going to prosecute.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Well, she says that that case is proceeding as planned
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: against one individual in particular. But you know, I don't
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: know what kind of case they have against him, whether
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: there's any kind of surveillance video that they can use
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: to show that this person was a bad actor, you know,
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: that was up to no good in terms of what
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: he says was an innocent putting his hand into the
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: reflecting pool and seeing you know, what kind of work
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: was done there. But as it relates to, you know,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: visually seeing the reflecting pool and getting it to the
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: place where you know, I think the President wants it
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: to be. I don't think we're there yet. You know,
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: there's still work that's going on. The reflecting pool has
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: been drained. That happened after the celebration for our two
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: hundred and fiftieth birthday, So the work continues, and as
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: you may recall, The original work for the reflecting pool
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: cost approximately fifteen million dollars, and now the costs are
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: rising as it relates to making these repairs, to making
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: it the way the President wants it to be.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: John Decker, w R. White House and Washington Correspondent, host
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: of the podcast The White House Briefing Room with John
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Decker that can be found on the iHeartRadio app. Talk
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: to you Again Thursday, John, Thank you
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Bye bye chick