Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / White House says Zacharia leaving press secretary role days after taking job

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White House says Zacharia leaving press secretary role days after taking job · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: The new White House press secretary is leaving the job
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  Speaker 1: after less than a week in the post. The White
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  Speaker 1: House has confirmed that Katie Zakaria has transitioned out of
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  Speaker 1: the role after just five days. In the last hour,
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  Speaker 1: Donald Trump told reporters that he told Ms Zakaria that
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  Speaker 1: she should consider her role. He also added that the
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  Speaker 1: role might not be right for her.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Katie's been treated very badly by the media. Very,
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  Speaker 2: very badly. Very unfairly, I think. And I just spoke
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  Speaker 2: to her about it. I said, Katie, is this for you? Because,
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  Speaker 2: you know, she's been treated very rough. And she's a
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  Speaker 2: nice person. Very nice person. I've watched her for years
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  Speaker 2: on television. But I said, is this for you, Katie? Because, honestly...
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  Speaker 2: You don't need this. You don't have to be treated.
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  Speaker 2: I would say the fake news, but just generally, the
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  Speaker 2: media has been very rough. She was on Sean Hannity
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  Speaker 2: last night, and Sean was a little bit tough. And
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  Speaker 2: she did— I saw Fox & Friends this morning. They
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  Speaker 2: were a little tough. She's been treated, I would say,
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  Speaker 2: pretty nastily. And I said to Katie, just two minutes ago,
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  Speaker 2: I said, Katie, you know, you don't have to do
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  Speaker 2: this if you don't want to. She said, this is
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  Speaker 2: a lot tougher. I said, welcome to the world of Trump.
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  Speaker 2: And I said to her, honestly, if I were you,
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  Speaker 2: I'd reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider.
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  Speaker 2: You've got a beautiful husband and family. I met the
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  Speaker 2: family yesterday. Beautiful kid, just like from a picture postcard.
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  Speaker 2: And I said, you should reconsider because you don't want
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  Speaker 2: to go through this. What do you want her to do?
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  Speaker 2: I just want her to be happy. Look, he has
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  Speaker 2: suffered over the last few days. And I'm not saying,
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  Speaker 2: you know, maybe it's not for her. But I said,
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  Speaker 2: you want to be happy in life.
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  Speaker 3: I'll do whatever she wants.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it appears that Katie Zakaria's one and only White
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  Speaker 1: House press briefing may have cost.
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  Speaker 2: Her the job.
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  Speaker 4: In addition to that, there is $ 54 billion tied to
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  Speaker 4: the Alaska LNG pipeline and terminal to service the Pacific
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  Speaker 4: Rim and sell fuel to our allies.
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  Speaker 1: Well, after fumbling her way through that briefling, Ms. Zakaria
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  Speaker 1: then was grilled on Fox News by host Sean Hannity.
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  Speaker 2: You took the bar exam, but you didn't pass the
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  Speaker 2: bar exam, correct? Yes, Sean.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, did you ever take it a second time?
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  Speaker 4: So for background, I graduated Pepperdine, got married in the
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  Speaker 4: same week, and we had all intent to move out
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  Speaker 4: to China. I had already pre-registered for the bar exam,
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  Speaker 4: and basically during the summer, I knew I would be
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  Speaker 4: living in China, and the results of the bar were inconsequential.
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  Speaker 1: Well, let's speak to our North America correspondent, Anthony Zirka. Anthony,
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  Speaker 1: she's transitioning from the role. Right.
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  Speaker 3: It's the kind of language that the White House might use,
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  Speaker 3: but it is pretty clear. And listening to Donald Trump there,
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  Speaker 3: he was soft-selling it, but that when the president says,
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  Speaker 3: I'm not sure you're right for the job, that means
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  Speaker 3: you're no longer going to be in the job. And
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  Speaker 3: they may find another position for her in the White House,
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  Speaker 3: but it is clear that Donald Trump viewed that she
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  Speaker 3: was not the right fit for press secretary. And I
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  Speaker 3: think from listening to those clips that you just played
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  Speaker 3: and the pushback that she got back from not just
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  Speaker 3: from Donald Trump's critics, but also from members of the
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  Speaker 3: Republican Party and allies of Trump, that she was on
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  Speaker 3: very shaky ground coming into today.
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  Speaker 1: It's a tough gig, though, isn't it?
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  Speaker 3: It's a very difficult job for anyone, no matter what
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  Speaker 3: the administration is. You're standing there in front of an
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  Speaker 3: often hostile press corps. They ask pointed questions. They can
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  Speaker 3: tell when you're being evasive. They want some sort of
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  Speaker 3: answers to their questions. They know when they're being spun.
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  Speaker 3: So you have to be connected to the president. You
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  Speaker 3: have to have the trust of the president. And then
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  Speaker 3: you also have to develop relations with the press corps. Now,
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  Speaker 3: in this administration with Donald Trump, where he essentially serves,
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  Speaker 3: as his own press secretary. He's the one talking to
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  Speaker 3: the media every single day. It's even harder of a
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  Speaker 3: job to do because you could stand up there at
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  Speaker 3: the podium and say one thing and they get contradicted
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  Speaker 3: by the president himself just a few hours later. It
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  Speaker 3: almost is a no-win sort of situation. But Caroline Leavitt,
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  Speaker 3: who held the job for much of Trump's first term.
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  Speaker 3: She was very sound at it. She was very steady.
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  Speaker 3: And that, I think, made it even harder for Zakaria
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  Speaker 3: to be able to come in and give the kind
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  Speaker 3: of performance she did on Tuesday.
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  Speaker 1: Just very briefly, will people be stampeding towards the job?
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  Speaker 3: It's still a high profile job. You're in front of
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  Speaker 3: the television cameras as a way of elevating yourself. You
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  Speaker 3: are set for life after that. People want a former
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  Speaker 3: White House press secretary as a consultant. And so, yes,
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  Speaker 3: I think there will still be a long list of
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  Speaker 3: people who would want to do the job even after
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  Speaker 3: this week.
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  Speaker 1: Rather them than me, eh? Anthony, thank you very much.
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  Speaker 1: Anthony Zirka.