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: In a moment, we're going to get to John Decker,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: w R. White House Correspondent. He was at the redo
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: of the Correspondence dinner, so it's going to be interesting
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: to find out from him what it was like in
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the room. In the meantime, let's go through the speech,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: because I really thought Trump was great. I thought the
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: whole thing was wonderful. The fact that they redid it
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Curtis and some of the jokes that Trump told I
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: thought were very funny, especially for a president. I think
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: he did as well or better as most presidents at
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: this thing. But the media has been ripping him, saying
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: it wasn't funny, it was shameful, it was embarrassing, and
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: none of that. If you actually watched it, none of
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: it is true.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: I love the shelf deprecation about you know, having a
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: way of bulletproof vesh It made me look heavier.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: Do I really have to win it?
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Look, he didn't go for four years, and they were complaining,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: right exactly, this.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: Just Trump Relax.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: Here.
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  Speaker 3: He is looking really good tonight.
• 1:02
  Speaker 5: And I know it was not easy finding shoes to
• 1:05
  Speaker 5: go along with your bulletproof vests, which many people didn't
• 1:08
  Speaker 5: want to wear. Because they'd rather die. They'd look twenty
• 1:12
  Speaker 5: pounds heavier, you know that.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: Right, See he got let line. Yes, he was funny
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: and this.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: One had he had the crowd by the way, they
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: didn't know whether to laugh or just guess.
• 1:23
  Speaker 5: But just like my presidency, the second time is always better.
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: It's always better, and the third time will be better.
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: Yet I'm not.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: I'm only kidding because you had some people who're writing
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: it the pu.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: Right now. It was. It was wonderful.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, he addressed the problems of the past and
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: the fact that he was there and he pushed for
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: this to be redone is significant.
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, to show that in America we do not yield
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: two political violence.
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  Speaker 3: We know we can't do that, can't do it. And
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: that was the most important thing.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Three times he's been targeted for assassination three times. How
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: many presidents can we say it was Joe Ford twice?
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Luckily the ones squeaky from this.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: But come on, and now we do have John Decker
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: wl R. White House corresponded, John, we were just playing
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: some of the clips from the correspondence dinner of Donald Trump.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: You were in the room. What was it like in
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: the room, Well.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: It was a subdued event. I think that's the best
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: way to describe it, you know, compared to what it
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: normally is. This, of course, was two point zero the
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: second try for the correspondence dinner after that assassination attempt
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: that happened back in late April. I was in the room,
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: you're right, and there's a little bit of a buzz
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: that happens when you're in the room when the president's
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: speaking that you don't get a feel for when you're
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: watching it on television. So in my opinion, I thought
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: the president did okay. I realized that there are reviews
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: for the president's remarks that are not so good, and
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: he was flat. That's the general consensus of things. Again,
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: I thought the president did okay. I've seen better performers
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: in that role. But it was good to see that
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: event take place, you know, after what happened in late April.
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  Speaker 2: Now, John Decker, I cannot understand why you guys decided
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: to bring back that mentalist Osmond, who didn't even see
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: that first assassination trying to come through the doors at
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: the original event.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: Now, how was his performance?
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  Speaker 4: I thought it was kind of slow. Actually, you know,
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: that's again my opinion. I mean, what he does is
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: pretty remarkable, don't get me wrong. I mean I don't
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: know how it happens. I don't know how he's able
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: to do the things that he does. But that being said,
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: I thought it was rather slow. You know, typically, what
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: we have as far as entertain concerned, Curtis and Larry,
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: you know, are professional comedians who are really good at
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: what they do, and you know, hold the room. I
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: don't know if O's Pearlman, the hired entertainer this year
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  Speaker 4: held the room to the extent that the comedians normally
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  Speaker 4: do that.
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  Speaker 3: Wait a second, didn't he get a standing ovation at
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  Speaker 3: the end?
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  Speaker 4: He did get a standing ovation. I mean, maybe, you know, the.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Room's view of.
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  Speaker 4: Things is different than mine. For me, I thought it
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: was a kind of slow moment that happened during the
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: course of the evening, and I was looking at my
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: watch a lot during that portion of the evening.
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  Speaker 3: Were you having a bad night?
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: No?
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: I had a great name. I had a great I
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: always have a good time at these events.
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  Speaker 6: Now, absolutely, John Dakkerrey let me do a pivot and
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  Speaker 6: shifts indicate that after thirteen nights of constant bombing of
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: targets in Iran.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: The president decided to ease up. Some of that was
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: do to the position that was presented to him by
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kin and
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: also a vice president in vang.
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  Speaker 3: Where is that.
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  Speaker 2: Where do you sense all of that is leading to,
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  Speaker 2: at least on this particular occasion.
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: Well, you know, it depends on the way you look
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: at things, Curtis. You know, there's one view that maybe
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: diplomacy is something that will lead to an end to
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: the conflict and giving diplomacy a chance. Another view is
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: that the US has certainly used a lot of munitions
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: during the course of this conflict, and estimated fifteen hundred
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: Patriot missiles have been used during the course of this conflict,
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: which began in late February, and there's an estimate there's
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: about a thousand Patriot missiles left in our inventory, and
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: so that could be another reason for this pause that
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: we've seen over the course of the last few days.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: You know, it's amazing Iran.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: I understand why Iran's really taken all the focus off
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: of everything else except for because it's tied to it,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: except for expense. But we don't hear anybody really talk
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: about Cuba and Venezuela anymore, except every once in a
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: while Donald Trump gives a speech and says, we have
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: plenty of oil, we have ours, we have Venezuela's, and
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: he kind of brags that he has Venezuela, and yeah,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: but what is going on with those two countries right now?
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: Well, I think that you know, to the extent that
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: you know, the focus is on Venezuela. Remember they just
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: had a very devastating earthquake there, so there's a lot
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: of humanitarian work that's going on in that country, and
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: the President's focus is primarily on Iran and the region there.
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: At the same time, as you know, marc or Rubio,
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: the Secretary of State, he's very much one of those
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: advocates of regime change in Cuba. So I think that
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: the president's focus will return to Cuba. He's always asking
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: being asked questions in regards to what's happening in those
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: two countries. But I think that the focus for the
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: president right now is rightly so on Iran, what's going
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: on there, and the fact that there is a significant
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: amount of military fire power in the region right now
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: and has been there since late February.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Now, John, I understand that bb the Prime Minister of Israel,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: is flying in mostly to attend the wake and the
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: funeral for Lindsey Graham, which is scheduled this week, but
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: also to have a shit down with the President. What
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: can we expect from that because of late relationships have
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: been rocky between the President and BB.
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: Well, you're right, BB Nettanyahu will be in the US
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: on Tuesday. He will meet with President Trump while he's here.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 4: I also learned over the weekend another world leader is
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: going to be in Washington, DC on Tuesday for Lindsay
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: Graham's funeral, and that is a guy named President Voladimir's Lensky.
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: That's pretty remarkable the number of world leaders that are
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: flying in for the funeral of Lindsay Graham, who spent
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: so much of his career focused on foreign policy. Will
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  Speaker 4: Netunahoo have any impact in terms of changing the President's
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  Speaker 4: outlook in terms of how to bring about an end
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  Speaker 4: to this conflict. I don't think that. I don't think so.
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  Speaker 4: I think that the president really is focused on doing
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  Speaker 4: things the way he wants to do things. I'm not
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  Speaker 4: one of those people that subscribe to the view that
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: the president was led into this conflict by Netta Yahu.
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: The President did what he did for the reasons that
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: he said, and that is he wants to prevent Iran
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: from ever having the ability to possess a nuclear weapon.
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: That's the same goal, by the way that Israel has.
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  Speaker 4: But I don't think that the president was broader, you know,
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  Speaker 4: in any way dragged into this conflict by Benjamin Netanyahu.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: I know it's really early in the process, but people
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: just can't help but doing polls and talking about who
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: is going to be running for president in a couple
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: of years. Surprising Paul came out with Alexandria ocassi Or
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  Speaker 1: Cortes slightly ahead of Pete Buddhaje edge, which kind of
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: shocked everyone, including I think Alexandria Ocassia Cortez. Is there
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: a feeling there that she's going to run for president?
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  Speaker 4: You know, I don't know what her plans are. It's
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: a really good question. You know, I think that, you know,
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  Speaker 4: you're giving up a pretty good platform, a safe congressional seat,
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: as she would have to do that to run for president.
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  Speaker 4: You know, I've always thought that it made more sense
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  Speaker 4: for a given her relative youth to focus on becoming
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: New York's next senator and using that as a you know,
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  Speaker 4: jumping off point to for higher office beyond that.
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  Speaker 3: But you never know.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, sometimes people, you know, go beyond
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: what the norm is. Barack Obama when he ran for president,
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: was still in the midst of his very first term
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: in the US Senate when he embarked on this path
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: to win the White House. So you never know. It
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: doesn't surprise me, by the way, Larry, that AOC is
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: polling better than Pete Boudhades. I never saw, and I
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: still don't see. What is his base? You know, why
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: would he perform well in some of these polls that
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: are taken, whereas AOC, she's doing well largely because of
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: the strength of the progressives in the Democratic Party. They
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: see her as you know, one of their leaders, if
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: not the leader of the progressives wing of the party.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: Oh, do appreciate that John Decker Johnna was in that
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: room for the White House Correspondence dinner.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: Do appreciate that, John.
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: Thanks a lot, Curtis, Thanks Larry, have a great day
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: about it.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: John