[0:04]Welcome to Washington today on C-PAN radio for Friday, February 27, 2026. Former President Bill Clinton tells members of the House Oversight Committee in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, "I
[0:14]had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing. I saw nothing and I did nothing wrong." President Donald Trump says he's not happy with the way Iran is negotiating over its nuclear program and
[0:25]that he would love not to use military force, but he says sometimes you have to because quote they cannot have nuclear weapons. President Trump also says the US could carry out what he calls a
[0:35]friendly takeover of Cuba. The president is in Texas today talking about energy production ahead of next Tuesday's campaign primaries in that state. New York City Mayor Zoran Mandani talks about his meeting this week with
[0:46]President Trump at the White House during which he pitched a multi-billion dollar plan to build 12,000 new housing units. On Wall Street, the Dow drops 500 points after an inflation report. The
[0:58]producer price index comes in higher than expected. Defense Secretary Pete Hexath announces an agreement with Scouting America to continue the military's relationship with the organization, including not accepting
[1:08]transgender youth under their preferred gender. And NASA administrator Jarrett Isaacman says the Aremis moon mission is being overhauled to include an extra test flight before the attempt to land
[1:19]on the moon in 2028. Washington Post writes from Chapaqua, New York. Bill Clinton sought to distance himself from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at the outset of what is expected to be an hour's long
[1:30]contentious closed door deposition here Friday, saying he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes and stopped associating with him years before his first guilty plea. Like Hillary Clinton, yesterday,
[1:41]Bill Clinton posted his opening statement. It reads in part, "I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing. No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that at
[1:51]the end of the day matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos. I saw nothing and I did nothing wrong. But even with 2020 hindsight, I
[2:00]saw nothing that ever gave me pause. We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well and so long." Also, Bill Clinton said, "No person is above
[2:11]the law, even presidents, especially presidents." And I hope that by being here today, we can bring ourselves a little further away from the brink and back to being a country where we can
[2:21]disagree with one another civily where the search for truth and justice outweighs the partisan urge to score points and create spectacle. After the many hours of testimony behind closed
[2:32]doors, Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee came out to speak with the press, starting with James Comr, Republican from Kentucky. Uh, this was a a long process, and I want to say this
[2:44]was historical. I believe that in the history of Congress, the two highest ranked officials to ever be deposed by Congress would be President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
[2:56]Uh, this is a serious investigation. Uh we will continue to try to get the truth to the American people and justice for the victims. But I think uh a consistent
[3:08]theme continues to uh uh persist throughout all the people that we bring in. Obviously the government failed the victims. There was uh justice was not
[3:19]served in Palm Beach uh when Epstein was was first arrested. We're very concerned about that. We still have lots of questions about how Epstein accumulated
[3:30]so much wealth. Uh and we will continue to bring some more people in and try to get answers. I'm going to yield to uh the other committee members, but every member of the committee participated
[3:40]both days and asked very good, very good questions. Miss Maze, >> uh yes, I want to thank President Clinton for being here today. He was here for a very long day. Um he did
[3:50]attempt to respond uh to every single question asked. Even when his attorneys told him to shut up, he kept, you know, going. Um I think there's agreement too on everybody who was here on both sides
[4:01]of the aisle that we want to get to the bottom of this. Whether Jeffrey Epstein was an intel asset or honeypot operation, uh sex trafficker, prostitution ring leader, uh you know,
[4:12]finance here, a Ponzi schemes, financial crimes, etc. There is an effort, I believe, and a belief that we need to get to the bottom of this because justice was not served in the Southern District of New York. It was not served
[4:22]in Palm Beach. Uh, and it certainly hasn't been served for many victims around the world who are who are victims of this operation. I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their questions today.
[4:33]Representative Stansbury had a lot of courageous questions. She showed bravery today. Uh, she and I never get along. Uh, sometimes, in fact, can be seen arguing and oversight. Um, but I say
[4:44]that because this is a place that is not partisan. This is a place where the country is seeing Republicans and Democrats work together to figure this
[4:54]out, find the truth, and try to come up with solutions so that when this happens, women are believed, men are prosecuted, their abuses are prosecuted,
[5:03]and justice can be seen and can be done. >> Congresswoman Nancy Mays, Republican from South Carolina. And before that, James Comr, Republican of Kentucky, the committee chair along with other House
[5:14]Republicans on the oversight committee outside the Performing Arts Center in Chapa, New York, where the deposition of former President Bill Clinton in the Epstein investigation took place today.
[5:24]BBC News writing that a source tells BBC that Bill Clinton was asked about a photograph from the Epstein files showing him in a hot tub with a person whose face is redacted. Clinton said he
[5:35]did not know who the woman was and did not have sex with her. The source said former president said he saw nothing. I did nothing wrong in an opening statement released on social media before the hearing began today. That was
[5:46]from BBC News. More from the news conference with the House Republicans after today's deposition. Questions to Congresswoman Nancy Mace and also Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida.
[5:58]>> Mr. Chairman, President Trump said today that he knew nothing about the Epstein files and he was exonerated. Do you agree that he is exonerated of this matter? >> From all the evidence I've seen, he's
[6:09]been exonerated for for a long time. >> And would that preclude your committee, if that's your position, from your committee calling him? >> Well, we'll discuss that uh as we move forward. Obviously, we've got more
[6:19]people to bring in and we'll see if any new evidence arises. But right now, I haven't seen anything. And if anybody >> Can I just say this, the Epstein victims have exonerated President Trump. This is a trope that you guys are a rabbit hole
[6:31]you guys are going down. But he has been exonerated over and over again by Epstein victims. We need to get all the information on co-conspirators. We still don't even have the names of all the co-conspirators because the Southern
[6:43]District of New York is hiding that information by redacting those names. >> Wait, just wait just real real quick if I can also just add into that. >> Just follow up. If that's the case though, you make the case, the chairman
[6:55]makes the case about why it was so important to hear in great detail from both Clintons, but why it's not. >> If I can, if I can just elaborate real quick on plane 26 flights, I mean, he
[7:05]had information was with them for hours and hours, lots of all the things. Chad, if I can just add in President Clinton, and you guys will all be able to hear specifically what he said, referenced a
[7:15]2003 2002 2003 conversation of which he did not feel that President Trump had any wrongdoing in regards to Jeffrey Epstein. It's incredibly important that
[7:25]you guys see through the partisan nature of what has become this entire investigation. It's also important that you guys are reporting the fact that everything that we are seeing in these documents to include what I presented to
[7:36]both the secretary and President Clinton show that Epstein was running an intelligence operation. He was targeting people specifically and he was intentionally bringing in and using women to traffic in minors and then
[7:47]exposing vulnerabilities for different people. What I will also say is that like Nancy has said and the chairman, there's nothing that we are seeing where there's criminal involvement or reason to believe that the president has any
[7:58]wrongdoing and that is why we are not supporting this crazy theory in bringing him into all of this. We appreciate that President Clinton said what he did and I will say that that has probably been I guess a silver lining in all of this.
[8:10]And I will say Secretary Clinton and President Clinton both offered, I think, suggestions, advice on where this investigation should go based on information they have, things that
[8:20]they've seen, experiences in their positions, and that's helpful to this entire thing. And again, this has been not partisan. We saw really great questions from the Democrat side of the
[8:31]oversight committee and the Republican side today. I was very impressed with where this went today. Nancy, can I ask you when have survivors said to you that President Trump is exonerated? Yes.
[8:42]Because they've only ever told me they want to see him question. >> Nope. I've never heard that from a single victim. >> We when we met when the committee, the Republicans and Democrats met with what
[8:53]were there, five or six survivors that day. We met with two hours and their attorneys. Of course, the Democrats asked that question numerous times to the victims, and they all said they
[9:03]never saw anything or heard anything uh that Donald Trump did wrong, never saw him on the island or anything else. >> And and if I can just add in real quickly also, there was false
[9:13]allegations made against President Clinton. Okay? We are not going to bring bring in people that were making false allegations against either president. That's not what you do in this. Okay? We're looking for justice and that's why we're going to be bringing in some of
[9:25]the known co- co-conspirators that were given plea deals. Okay, that's justice. Congressman, you did a great job on that. Thank you. >> Some of the news conference outside the performing arts center in Chapaquan, New
[9:35]York about 5:30 p.m. Eastern with Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee after today's deposition, which ran most of the day of former President Bill Clinton in the Epstein investigation. And you
[9:47]heard from James Comr of Kentucky, the committee chair, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Paulina Luna from Florida. And James Comr has said that he will
[9:56]release the video of both today's deposition and yesterday's with Hillary Clinton. And the C-SPAN networks have committed that as soon as that is done,
[10:06]we will play them out in their entirety. Washington Post writing that Bill Clinton's appearance before the House Oversight Committee is the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress under a
[10:16]subpoena. It has the potential to set a president that could one day impact President Donald Trump, whose own ties to Epstein are also under scrutiny. Trump has been uncharacteristically
[10:26]muted about Clinton's appearance, saying that he did not like the attacks on Clinton despite years of political conflict between the parties. He said outside the White House before departing
[10:37]to Texas, "I don't like seeing him depose, but they certainly went after me more than that." That was from the Washington Post. The House Democrats on the oversight committee came out midway through the deposition about 2:00
[10:48]Eastern time. Here is Robert Garcia of California, the ranking member. >> Chairman Comr just came out and said that in this last questioning, you asked President Clinton if he thought
[10:58]President Trump should come and testify. And Chairman Comr said President Clinton's response was that it was for you to decide and the president and Clinton went on to say that President Trump has never said anything to him to
[11:09]make him think he was involved. Now obviously we don't have the transcript of that position, but I would love your response to that and what >> Yeah, I think the best response to that is for you to to view the complete
[11:19]record of what actually said, which um look, we're not going to disclose what was said because that's not in the rules. uh the Republicans keep breaking the rules. But I think to what to what
[11:30]Mr. Frost said earlier, there was uh I think that the president, President Clinton did bring up some additional information about discussions with
[11:39]President Trump. I think that the way Chairman Comr described it, I don't think is a complete accurate description of what actually was said. So, let's release the full transcript and we can get all get a full record of what
[11:50]actually was said, which brings up some very important new questions about comments that President Trump has actually said in the past. Any other questions? >> Congression
[12:02]member, I know in uh the former president's statement, he says that there may be times where he says he can't recall. Has that I know you can't really give a lot of details about what was said in the deposition, but how
[12:14]would you characterize when you say he's being cooperative? Is he answering the majority of questions or a lot of his responses or I can't reply? >> I think everybody would agree that he's been very cooperative and he's actually
[12:24]answering the questions um fairly to the best of his ability. There's he's not taken a pass on on pleth for any questions. He's been very thorough. He's
[12:34]been asked some questions uh multiple times over. I think you'll see that in the transcript. So, he's been very cooperative and uh in fact is I don't think he's given any sense that he's
[12:44]been uncomfortable to be there. In fact, I think he's been um he's been pretty interested in answering I think all the questions of both the Republicans and the Democrats. Congressman Robert Garcia, Democrat from California,
[12:56]ranking member on the oversight committee, speaking to reporters about 2 pm Eastern, halfway through the day's deposition, which was in close session with former President Bill Clinton in the Epstein investigation taking place
[13:08]in Chepacqua, New York. Want to return to the beginning of the day, 10:30 a.m. Eastern, when the House Democrats on the committee also held a news conference.
[13:17]Yasamin Ansari, Democrat from Arizona, spoke about President Trump. The Republicans want to be serious about this investigation and getting to the truth and accountability for
[13:29]perpetrators, then we have to look to the most powerful person in the United States and the world, which is President Donald Trump. He is mentioned in the
[13:39]Epstein files more than almost anyone. And just this week, incredibly damning reporting came out to say that there were credible allegations from a woman
[13:50]who said that she was abused by Donald Trump when she was a minor. The FBI investigated this and interviewed this individual multiple times. You do not do
[14:01]that if it is not serious. Further, we need to investigate the ongoing White House cover up. We know that the Department of Justice has been withholding files. They have been making
[14:12]illegal redactions. The FBI and Cash Patel have been lying under oath. All of these people need to be deposed before this committee. We need to take this
[14:22]investigation seriously. There are more than a thousand people who were harmed by Jeffrey Epstein, Galain Maxwell, and many other rich and powerful people,
[14:33]children whose lives were literally altered forever at the hands of this abuse. This is very serious and I think the fact that some of the Republicans on
[14:44]the oversight committee feel that it is appropriate to make statements to say that President Trump is somehow exonerated. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna said this last night. That is the
[14:56]most outrageous thing that I have ever heard. Donald Trump needs to come before this committee and we will not stop fighting until we get the truth and there's accountability and justice for
[15:07]the survivors. Congresswoman Yasmin Ansari, Democrat from Arizona, at a news conference this morning about 10:30 a.m. Eastern in Chapaqua, New York before the
[15:18]closed door deposition with former President Bill Clinton in the committee's Epstein investigation. Deposition itself ran most of the day and periodically some members of the committee came out and spoke to reporters. We have it all archived at
[15:29]c-span.org. Also a reminder that committee leadership has said that the video of today's deposition will be released sometime in the next couple of days. And we also expect the deposition
[15:41]from Hillary Clinton from Thursday to be released. And when that is released, C-SPAN will play it out in its entirety. This is Washington today. New York Times writing with the threat of a US strike
[15:52]on Iran looming. The United States embassy in Jerusalem has told its workers that they may leave Israel and warned them that if they want to, it is vital that they do so immediately. The directive came from Ambassador Mike
[16:04]Huckabe in an email to embassy workers at the US mission on Friday, a copy of which was reviewed by the New York Times. Those wishing to leave should do so today. Today in capital letters, Mr.
[16:15]Huckabe wrote urging them to find flights out of Bengurian airport to any destination for which they could book passage. He added, "There is no need to panic, but for those desiring to leave,
[16:25]it's important to make plans to depart sooner rather than later." Iran and the United States concluded a six-hour round of talks in Geneva on Thursday with neither a diplomatic breakthrough nor an
[16:36]an impass on American demands that tan completely dismantle its nuclear program. Reporting from the New York Times, President Trump was asked about this while leaving the White House on
[16:45]his way to Texas. >> You've been briefed on for Iran. Is there a risk that strikes could turn into a long drawn out conflict in the Middle East? I
[16:57]>> I guess you could say there's always a risk. You know, when there's war, there's a risk in anything, both good and bad. Uh we've had tremendous luck with myself, Solomaini, Al Baghdaddy,
[17:09]everything's worked out. And then we do the midnight hammer and so many others. Everything's worked out and we want to keep it that way. But we're going to see. Look, it would be wonderful if they
[17:19]negotiate uh really in good conscience, good faith and conscience, but uh they they are not getting there. >> So far, Peter, they're not getting there.
[17:30]>> And has your team told you that if you use the military now that there will be regime change right away? >> No, nobody's telling me.
[17:40]>> You don't know. I mean, nobody knows. There might be and there might not be. Mr. MR. >> IT'D BE nice if we could do it without, but sometimes you have to do it with we
[17:51]uh >> when you looked at what look we have the greatest military anywhere in the world. There's nothing close. I'd love not to use it, but sometimes you have to. >> President Donald Trump speaking to
[18:02]reporters outside the White House. MS Now reporting that the Omani foreign minister is scheduled to meet with Vice President JD Vance and other US officials in Washington on Friday for
[18:12]previously unreported talks in an effort to stave off war with Iran. And the State Department said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would travel to Israel early next week to discuss Iran,
[18:22]Lebanon, and Gaza. Senator Jack Reid, Democrat from Rhode Island and ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, spoke about the US Iran talks on the nuclear program and President Trump's military buildup near Iran. He was at
[18:34]the Brookings Institution. Thank you, Senator. My name is Josh Keading. I'm a reporter for Vox. Um, I was wondering if you could respond to the arguments the Trump administration has been putting
[18:43]out in recent days, uh, about Iran, uh, specifically, uh, whether or not it's still intending to enrich uranium or
[18:52]whether it's developing an ICBM that may at some point be capable of reaching the United States. These are talking points heard recently, and I'd love to get your response. Thank you.
[19:02]Well, I I I I'm a bit confused because at one point this is an issue about nuclear policy and a nuclear agreement
[19:13]and another point it's about uh really tactical uh missiles and launchers and another point it's about the the desperation of the Iranian people which
[19:24]is real. I have yet to see the administration define a very clear-cut objective of what they are trying to do by massing all these naval forces and
[19:34]other forces in the area. Uh I think uh I was very impressed with the reports uh that were alleged to attributed I should say to General Kaine which is if we get
[19:45]involved in a a conflict there we're going to have significant and delotterious effects on our stocks of ammunition our ability to respond to other places etc. I think that advice
[19:57]should be taken very very seriously. Uh so I have yet to then
[20:05]to observe a plan, an objective and a thoughtful way to get there. It's more or less every day it's a new a new new
[20:15]thing. You know, it's more at this point performance than strategic uh reaction. >> Senator Jack Reid, Democrat from Rhode Island, ranking member on the Armed
[20:26]Services Committee at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. The program titled US policy in a changing nuclear landscape. Iran, one of the topics on tonight's ceasefire program on
[20:37]C-SPAN. The guests are former Trump White House director of strategic communications Mercedes Schlap and Mitch Landrew, former New Orleans Democratic mayor and former Biden infrastructure
[20:49]ZAR. C-SPAN Ceasefire airs at 700 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern. Also available as a podcast. Here is host Dasha Burns questioning Mercedes Schlap.
[20:59]Yeah, and Mercedes, this could be a challenge for this president because of what what you and Mitch have both said, which is people expected him to come in and be much more of an isolationist than
[21:11]he has been. And Iran specifically, as I've been talking to my White House sources, I mean, is kind of his white whale. He is not a foreign policy hawk on a lot of issues, but Iran is one where he is a little bit more hawkish.
[21:23]has been saying this that he doesn't want to see them get a nuclear weapon since like 2011 or maybe even before that. I have some reporting this week with my colleague Nahal Tusi that that
[21:33]the White House is debating not just you know strikes the scale of strikes but also the sequencing. They would prefer
[21:42]to see Israel take the first action right to to give us more impetus to act assuming that you know Iran would likely retaliate and it would help galvanize
[21:54]Americans behind the United States. I got to tell you, the president had, I believe, one of the most successful speeches of his presidency just at this during the State of the Union just this
[22:04]week. Uh the message for the American people, it's about the economy. It is about making sure people can feel the economic benefits of President Trump's economic policies. I think that if the
[22:16]administration moves towards uh what you would say more military tactics uh a more aggressive pro posture into Iran, I think that that could be detrimental for
[22:27]Republicans going into the midterm elections. I agree with Mitch. Look, I lived during during that President George W. Bush. I was there at that in during the during the White House time
[22:36]there. It was it became a very unpopular war quickly. And the thing is is that once the United States escalates, I believe Iran escalates. And I so I think
[22:46]that there really has to be a pause and serious consideration before taking aggressive uh tactics or military tactics into Iran. >> You are so tapped into the MAGA base.
[22:56]How dangerous could this be for for the president politically? I think I I think that the MAGA base will make it very loud and clear to the president that they will not necessarily agree if it go
[23:08]if it becomes a situation that it becomes a prolonged uh war which I again I I knowing the president I don't believe he wants to go in that direction. I think that there would be
[23:19]targeted sites that they would look at along with working with our ally Israel to uh you know make sure they hit certain areas with ballistic missiles or
[23:29]any more of these nuclear sites that need to be taken out. That I could see happen. However, we have to remember right now the Iranian regime, they are dispersed. They are trying they're in
[23:40]different secretive areas. So if one area falls, another leader can pop in. And the opposition, they are not organized enough. They don't know who their quote unquote leader will be if,
[23:50]for example, the regime were to fall. >> Mercedes Schlap is a former Donald Trump White House director of strategic communications, part of C-SPAN's Ceasefire episode, which airs tonight at 7:00 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern. You also
[24:02]heard host Dasha Burns. And the other guest is former New Orleans Democratic Mayor and Biden infrastructure ZAR Mitch Landrew. They also talk about President Trump's State of the Union speech from
[24:13]earlier this week. C-band ceasefire tonight 7 and 10 p.m. Eastern. Also available as a podcast. Reuters writes that President Donald Trump on Friday raised the prospect of a friendly
[24:24]takeover of Cuba, telling reporters at the White House that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was dealing with the issue at a very high level. The Cuban government has said it is not in any
[24:34]highlevel talks with the US, but has not outright denied press reports that US officials may be in informal talks with Raul Gumo Rodriguez Castro, the grandson
[24:45]of former Cuban President Raul Castro. That was from Reuters. Here's the president with reporters outside the White House. >> The Cuban government is talking with us.
[24:55]They're in a big deal of trouble as you know. They have no money. They have no anything right now, but they're talking with us and maybe we'll have a friendly
[25:04]takeover of Cuba. >> We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba. >> What about the votes? >> After many, many years, we've had a lot
[25:15]of years of dealing with Cuba. I've been hearing about Cuba since I'm a little boy, but they're in big trouble. And uh we could very well uh something could I
[25:26]think very positive for the people that were expelled or worse from Cuba that live here. You know, we have people living here that want to go back to Cuba and they're very happy with what's going
[25:37]on. >> President Donald Trump speaking to reporters outside the White House. More from the Reuters article. Tensions with Cuba ratcheted up after Cuban forces this week killed four exiles and wounded
[25:49]six others who sailed into Cuban waters aboard a Florida registered speedboat and opened fire on a Cuban patrol. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied it was a US operation and said no US
[26:00]government personnel were involved. The incident took place as the US has blocked virtually all oil shipments to the island, increasing pressure on the communist government. That was from Reuters and President Trump posting on
[26:11]Truth Social today. The United States of America will never allow a radical left woke company to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars. That decision belongs to your
[26:23]commanderin-chief and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our military. The left-wing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a disastrous mistake trying to strongarm the Department of War and
[26:34]force them to obey their terms of service instead of our Constitution. Their selfishness is putting American lives at risk, our troops in danger, and our national security in jeopardy. Therefore, I am directing every federal
[26:45]agency in the United States government to immediately cease all use of anthropics technology. That post from President Trump. Anthropic this week said it would allow the Defense Department to have unrestricted access
[26:56]to its AI model only on the conditions that the government not use it for autonomous warfare or surveillance of Americans. Washington today continues in a moment.
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[27:39]commentary, no agenda, just democracy unfiltered. every day on the C-SPAN networks. Welcome back to Washington Today,
[27:52]available as a podcast on the free C-SPAN now mobile app and wherever you get your podcasts. The city.nyc, a nonprofit news site, reports that New
[28:02]York City Mayor Zora Mandani wants to revive a massive housing development project over a railard in western Queens with major funding help from the Trump administration. The project's Sunnyside
[28:13]Yard would consist of 12,000 affordable apartments with 6,000 of those being in what the administration described as a Mitchell Llama style or units created via cooperative and subsidized home
[28:24]ownership. The project would also include new parks, schools, and healthc care clinics. According to city city hall, Mandami pitched President Donald Trump on the idea during a meeting at
[28:35]the Oval Office on Thursday and he is seeking over $21 billion in federal grant funds to construct a platform over the railard which serves Amtrak, the Long Island Railroad and New Jersey
[28:46]Transit. Reporting from the city.nyc, Mayor Mandani, a Democrat, spoke about this today at the start of a community center dedication in Brooklyn. You know,
[28:56]before we speak about the Weeksville Heritage Center, I want to share a few words about my recent visit to the White House. Yesterday, I did something that I
[29:06]am truly reluctant to do. I left New York City. I traveled down to Washington DC to meet with President Trump in the Oval Office. I have said time and again
[29:16]that our city faces an immense affordability crisis. It is felt by residents here in Weeksville, across Brooklyn, and across the five burrows of the city that we all love and call home.
[29:28]And is felt whenever New Yorkers try to find a place to live, go grocery shopping, put their kids in child care, or even take public transit. Addressing this crisis was the focus of my meeting
[29:39]with the president. I proposed working together to build more than 12,000 new homes in our city, which will be the single largest housing development New York City has seen since 1973.
[29:51]The president was interested in the idea, and I look forward to the ensuing conversations about how to build more housing in a city that doesn't have enough of it. We also discussed the immigration cases I know are front of
[30:01]mind for so many New Yorkers. I shared my concern with the president about ISIS detention of Colombia student Elmina Agayva yesterday morning as well as the
[30:11]detention of four additional New Yorkers in relation to the university. Mahm Khalil Mosin Mahadawi Yuno Chung and Nakord. I ask that their cases be dropped. I'm
[30:22]grateful that shortly after our meeting the president called me to inform me that Elmina would be imminently released and indeed she was. New York City Mayor Zoram Mandani in Brooklyn, New York
[30:34]today. When he met President Trump at the White House on Thursday, he presented the president with a mock New York Daily News front page with the headline, "Trump to city, let's build a
[30:44]takeoff on the famous 1975 cover that read,"Ford to city dropped dead after President Ford promised to veto financial aid to the city." During the election season last year, President
[30:55]Trump repeatedly called Mayor Mandani a communist and the mayor had some tough words for the president. Today the mayor was asked about their relationship. >> Could you tell me how the meeting came
[31:05]about, who approached who and when, and I was also wondering if you can explain a little more broadly, you know, on the campaign trail, you had a very different posture saying you would be kind of the president's worst nightmare. Since
[31:16]taking office, you really have gone to great lengths, I think, to not criticize him and foster this relationship. It's very different than most Democrats in the country. Can you tell us why, you know, you're taking this tag? So, I said
[31:27]over the course of the campaign that I will always be honest and direct with New Yorkers about my views. The president and I have many disagreements which we share publicly and we share privately. And I also said on that same
[31:38]campaign trail that I would be willing to work with anyone, no matter disagreements, so long as it was to the benefit of the city that we love. That is what it comes back to. Every conversation has to be advancing the
[31:50]agenda of working New Yorkers. And when we think about 12,000 new homes for working and middle-ass New Yorkers, we see the possibility of so many more people being able to put roots down here
[32:00]in this city. And this was a meeting that was scheduled as part of following conversations from the prior meeting which was in November. There was always a sense that that would continue. It's, as you know, not the first meeting I've
[32:12]had with the president. It won't be the last. And we will also continue to advocate for anything and everything that can help New Yorkers continue to remain in New York. >> Thanks. Go ahead. And so when it was when it was planned,
[32:22]>> I think this came in the aftermath of of the prior meeting. I would say that finalizing the dates. I'm not sure exactly when it was, but it's just part of a long-standing conversation.
[32:34]>> New York City Mayor Zam Mandani at a news conference today in Brooklyn, New York. Politico writes, "The White House made a new homeland security funding proposal to congressional Democrats late
[32:44]Thursday as a partial shutdown of the sprawling department enters its third week. The two sides have struggled to make progress since the funding lapse began February 14th with the Senate
[32:54]failing Monday to advance legislation that would restore the flow of cash to agencies dealing with matters ranging from immigration enforcement to airport security to cyber infrastructure. That
[33:05]was from Politico and C-SPAN's Capital Hill producer Craig Kaplan writing on X. The Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, and the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeff, Democrat from New York, spokespeople
[33:17]talking about the partial D8 shutdown day 14. We have received the White House's counter offer and are reviewing it closely. Democrats remain committed to keep fighting for real reforms to
[33:26]reign in ICE and stop the violence. House and Senate not in session today, so the partial shutdown likely to run through the weekend. Congressman Andy Bar, Republican of Kentucky, spoke about it this morning on Fox Business Channel.
[33:38]The Department of Homeland Security is headed into a third week of shutdown. What is it going to take to resolve this? >> It's a it's a temper tantrum uh that the Democrats have to give up just like they
[33:50]ultimately gave up uh last fall when they shut down the government. Uh our TSA agents, our FEMA workers, uh the Coast Guard, our Border Patrol and ICE
[34:00]agents should not face any interruption in their pay just because of this partisan temper tantrum. Um if there are reforms that need to happen uh with any
[34:10]of these agencies, uh those reforms can happen, but there should not be an interruption of activity from Homeland Security. It's very clear that the
[34:20]Democrats care more about shutting down ICE, shutting down the Department of Homeland Security than shutting down our border. Uh and it's it's absurd. Um they're only hurting the American
[34:30]people. And every time I go through TSA uh to to get on a plane, I I really feel for those patriotic men and women who are trying to keep the traveling public safe uh and they go without a paycheck.
[34:41]It's inexcusable. Congressman Andy Bar, Republican of Kentucky this morning on Fox Business. Today, Transportation Security Administration workers received a partial paycheck. They'll miss their first full paycheck next month if the
[34:53]shutdown of the Homeland Security Department continues. Senator Gary Peters, Democrat from Michigan, posted a short video today explaining what his party is asking for to end the partial shutdown.
[35:04]>> Reality is right now we've seen ICE agents violate people's constitutional rights. We've seen people killed in the streets. Basically, what we want to see
[35:14]happen is that federal agents have to abide by the same rules, the same guidelines that our local police live by each and every day in our community. Unfortunately, the Trump administration
[35:24]just doesn't want to do that. We stand ready to vote to move forward. We just want common sense rules in place to protect Americans constitutional rights. >> Senator Gary Senator Gary Peters,
[35:35]Democrat from Michigan, posting that video. Federal News Network writing that tens of thousands of federal employees at US Customs and Border Protection are expected to continue receiving pay during the Department of Homeland
[35:46]Security's current funding lapse. According to an email viewed by federal news network, CBP, a component of DHS, plans to use discretionary funding from
[35:55]the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to exempt and continue paying more than 57,600 agency employees who have been working throughout the partial shutdown this month. Turning to the economy, CNN
[36:07]writing, "The prices to each other took a sharp turn higher in January. New data showed Friday, indicating that more tariff related price increases could be
[36:18]still to come. The producer price index rose 0.5% last month, a pickup from December's 0.4% rate according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The annual rate of inflation
[36:30]nudged down to 2.9% from 3%. That was from CNN. Senior counselor to the Treasury Department, Joe Leavia, was on
[36:40]CNBC on this. We got the producer price index today and it was up 2.9% uh over the past year. It's not cooling inflation. It's actually a little
[36:50]hotter. And today the president goes to Texas to talk about uh affordability. That 2.9% inflation rate is the president can't be happy with that. He can't be.
[37:00]>> The president the president's happy still with the fact that the consumer price index, which is what hardworking Americans pay, has come down dramatically. It's just over 2%. Look at
[37:10]the poor rate. It's down the last excuse me it's down below prices set the pace I want to answer your question hold on you asked the question I want to answer
[37:20]it you mentioned PPI being 2.9%. If you look where it was in January 25 it was well over 3% almost 4%. So the trends are down. It takes a while for this to
[37:30]bleed into the system. Most Americans cost of living contracts social security union contracts are all set to the CPI. They're not set to the PPI. So let's not data parse this in a way that we're
[37:41]making a bigger deal out of the inflation numbers which are trending lower. >> I just want to make the point that the producer price index suggests the future course of consumer prices because this
[37:52]is the producer level. It does get passed along to the consumer level. That's the point. >> That's not true. S that's not correct. That's incorrect. If you look at market price expectations, five year fire
[38:03]forward inflation expectations or surveys of consumers, they all show inflation at 2%. That's not correct. >> Okay, I'm mistaken. >> An interview with the senior counselor
[38:12]to the US Treasury Secretary Joe Leavia on CNBC. And on Wall Street today, the Dow down
[38:20]521, NASDAQ down 210, S&P down 29. Reuters writing from Corpus Christi, Texas. US President Donald Trump will travel to southern Texas on Friday to
[38:30]tout his economic and fossil fuel agenda just days before Republicans face competitive primary elections in the state. Trump has so far stayed out of his party's high-profile battle over a
[38:42]US Senate seat. But his visit to Corpus Christi places him near several contested US House Representatives districts where Hispanic voters, an important constituency for Republicans nationally, could determine the outcome
[38:53]in November's midterm elections. That was from Reuters. Here's President Trump talking about energy policy. >> On day one, I declared a national energy
[39:04]emergency. I ended the Biden export ban and I told our great Texas energy workers to very simply drill, baby
[39:14]drill. Since my inauguration, US oil production is now up by 600,000
[39:25]barrels a day. Natural gas production is at an all-time record high by far. And today, right here in Corpus Christie, the price of gasoline is down to just
[39:37]less than actually now $2.30. I just left Iowa two weeks ago. $1.99 and then I passed another one. $185.
[39:48]It's happening. It's happening. So, we're witnessing a historic American energy boom like we've never seen. And
[39:58]this port is right at the center of the action. >> President Donald Trump in Corpus Christi, Texas. He also talked about the US Senate race in the state. The primary
[40:10]is next Tuesday, March 3rd. On the Republican side, the incumbent Senator John Cornin, one of the challengers is Attorney General Ken Paxton. He said, "We have a great Attorney General, Ken
[40:21]Paxton. We have a great Senator, John Cornin. They're in a little bit of a race. Going to be an interesting one, right? They're both great people." We spoke this morning with Tom Beavenon, Real Clear Politics co-founder and
[40:33]president, about this contest. >> We have a marquee primary coming up here at Tom Beavenon on March 3rd, Tuesday. We're just days away from it. the Texas Senate primary contest on both the
[40:44]Republican and the Democratic side. There are the Republican candidates on our screen. Senator John Cornin, the incumbent attorney general Ken Paxton challenging Cornin as well as Representative Wesley Hunt. President
[40:56]Trump heads to Texas today to talk about energy and the economy. News reports are that all three will be on the stage. Do you think the lack of endorsement by the president is having an impact on this
[41:07]race? You know, that's tough. I mean, Trump's endorsement does matter, particularly in primaries. And so, I think he could have helped either of these candidates. His endorsement would have mattered. The
[41:19]fact that he's sort of staying out of it. Um, look, we just had a poll out this morning that showed packs up 12 points. He's led in basically every poll that's been taken uh in the month of
[41:30]January and February. And and so it's looking like I mean I guess the Republicans only hope is that you know it's forced to a runoff and and all of
[41:40]Wesley Hunt's voters would migrate over to John Cornin and sort of save his bacon. We'll see whether that plays out. Um, but there's no question that that
[41:49]the Republicans, I think, are worried that Paxton is not a strong general election candidate. And if Democrats on the other side nominate uh James Terico,
[42:00]that that might actually put put Texas in play to the extent where where, you know, Republicans will have to spend a lot of time and money defending it, which is not something that they would like to do and it's not something that
[42:12]they would traditionally have to do. >> Talk about this poll that you just cited up 12 points. Ken Paxton, where that where does it where does it come from? >> Uh, it's a it's a it's called Chisom.
[42:21]It's a organization. Um, and we we we do not include in our real politics averages. We don't include any polls that are by the campaigns or sponsored by any packs that have an agenda.
[42:32]They're all publicly released polls. Um, and we try and vet the polls to make sure that they're sometimes you'll have people that are popping up out of out of nowhere and conducting polls in the heat of a primary, push polls and and things
[42:43]to try and influence the coverage of this race. Um, and so, look, this is along the same lines of other polls that we've had in this race that show Paxton up, you know, anywhere from 8 to, you
[42:55]know, 10 points. 12 is, I think, a bit on the outside, but but nevertheless, I mean, I think it's pretty clear that he has he has some momentum here. Um Cornin just released some ads that are hitting
[43:06]him on the fact that he had an affair. They're pretty pretty nasty ads and we'll see uh how those might have any sort of impact here in the final days of this of this primary race. >> On the Democratic side, you have
[43:16]Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett challenging state rep. James Telerico. And uh recent poll Texas Tribune conducted shows Crockett up 56 to 44%.
[43:28]This was done um in February at the end of February, just recently. What do you make of those numbers and the chances of either one of these if they these
[43:38]candidates in the general election flipping this seat? >> Yeah. So, you know, primaries are hard to pull because it's it is a sort of uh
[43:48]you know, base electorate and and we did have a they're they're notoriously difficult to pull if you have events that happen. And we did have an event with with Terico's interview of uh with
[44:00]Steven Colbear. They got pulled off the air and then he turned around and raised a ton of money off of that and said that, you know, Donald Trump was trying to silence him and this is the campaign that he doesn't want anyone to know
[44:11]about. And it seemed to give him sort of anecdotally a burst and a little bit of momentum. Um and then you had this Texas Tribune poll come out and show that well in fact they show Crockett up double
[44:23]digits. I it's hard to tell what's going on in this race, whether Terico actually has some and again the poll that I just mentioned has Terico up double digits. So there's a lot of sort of fluidity in
[44:34]this race as Democratic primary voters in Texas are trying to decide uh you know who they want to represent them in a general election. I think the consensus is that Terico is the most electable of the two candidates and that
[44:46]Crockett would be a tougher cell to a general electorate in in Texas. Tom Beavenon, Real Clear Politics, co-founder and president on C-SPAN's Washington Journal program this morning.
[44:57]And C-SPAN will have live primary night coverage from Texas as well as North Carolina and Arkansas Tuesday, March 3rd, starting at 700 p.m. Eastern. Lines of mourners continue to pay their
[45:08]respects to the late Reverend Jesse Jackson, who's lying in repose at the headquarters of the Rainbow Push Coalition in Chicago for a second day. Jesse Jackson died at age 84 earlier
[45:20]this month. He was a civil rights leader who worked with the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and later was a two-time presidential candidate. A series of pastors spoke today, including Kimberly
[45:30]Ray, senior pastor of Church on the Rock in Madison, Illinois. >> Lord, I thank you that Reverend Jackson was such a powerful vessel. HE TAUGHT US
[45:42]THAT LIFE GETS HARD SOMETIMES. That suffering breeds character and character breeds faith and faith BREEDS HOPE AND HOPE WILL NOT DISAPPOINT. FATHER, WE
[45:54]THANK YOU THAT THE PROPHET JEREMIAH ASKED THE QUESTION, "IS THERE NO BOMB IN GILEAD?" FATHER, WE THANK YOU THAT REVEREND JACKSON UH PUT AN EXCLAMATION
[46:04]POINT ON THE QUESTION. THERE IS A BOMB in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul. Father, we thank you uh that we will keep hope alive. Uh we bless YOU AND WE
[46:16]GLORIFY YOU. UH LORD, I thank you uh that YOU ARE OUR SAVIOR. I WANT TO PRAISE YOU, FATHER, FOR THE IMPACT UH THAT THIS MAN OF GOD HAS HAD IN THIS
[46:27]NATION. and uh his indiffigable spirit UH THAT BLESSED THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD. UH WE WANT TO SAY THANK YOU LORD. I WANT TO GIVE YOU THE GLORY AND I BLESS
[46:38]YOU FATHER THAT YOU ARE IN CONTROL. UH AND FATHER I PRAISE YOU UH THAT FROM THE MIGHTY MOUNTAINS OF NEW YORK UH UH FROM THE LOOKOUT MOUNTAINS OF TENNESSEE UH
[46:49]FROM THE carvaceious slopes of California God you have blessed this man uh TO EMPOWER AND INSPIRE NATIONS. UH THANK YOU LORD UH FOR WHAT YOU HAVE
[47:00]GIVEN UNTO US AS a gift. WE HONOR YOU FOR THE MEMORY, THE MINISTRY, the mission, the movement, the man, THE
[47:10]REVEREND JESSE LEWIS JACKSON. >> Pastor Kimberly Ray today at the Rainbow Push Coalition headquarters in Chicago where the late Reverend Jesse Jackson is
[47:19]lying in repose. A start of a string of memorial events that will also be held in Washington DC and South Carolina where Jesse Jackson was born. Associated Press writing that scouting America will
[47:31]alter several policies at the urging of the Pentagon, including one targeting transgender youths. Defense Secretary Pete Hexet said Friday as he pushes a campaign against military support for diversity, equity, and inclusion
[47:42]efforts. Under Hexet, the Pentagon has taken aim at the military's partnership with Scouting America, decrying its historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts of America and other changes in
[47:53]recent years that he sees as part of a woke culture efforts that he wants to root out. That was from Associated Press. Defense Secretary Hexath put out a video. >> Scouting America has agreed to comply
[48:05]immediately with the provisions of Executive Order 14173. This includes reviewing and replacing politicized, divisive, and discriminatory language throughout the
[48:16]organization, programs, and all publications. No more DEI zero. Second, the quote citizen in society merit badge that encouraged scouts to
[48:27]explore diversity, equity, inclusion, and identity. They always mask it under a name that sounds great, but doing something else. And then asks those scouts to engage in activism on those
[48:39]topics. That badge has been discontinued. Third, Scouting America will modify its policy to make clear that membership will be based solely on biological sex
[48:50]at birth and not gender identity. That means that the application, any application, will have only two sex designations, male and female. And the application must match the applicant's
[49:01]birth certificate. Scouting will also make clear that biological boys and girls will not be allowed to occupy or share intimate spaces together, toilets, showers,
[49:12]tents, anywhere like that. Fourth, Scouting America will honor those who serve by waving the registration fees for children of active duty guard and reserve families. Should have happened a
[49:23]long time ago. Fifth, in partnership with the War Department, Scouting America will introduce a new military service merit badge. These and other changes that Scouting America's
[49:33]leadership committed to in that room right over there will hopefully result in a rededication to the foundational ideals that have defined scouting for generations.
[49:45]Duty to God and country leadership, character, and service. However, as President Reagan famously said, trust but verify. This agreement
[49:56]is new and the department's support for Scouting America is contingent on them making substantial progress toward reaching these and many other positive changes in the next six months.
[50:07]>> Defense Secretary Pete Hexth putting out that video. More from the Associated Press article. In a statement Friday, Scouting America did not mention the policy change targeting transgender youth, but noted its need to comply with
[50:19]an executive order from President Donald Trump targeting DEI programs. The Irving, Texas-based organization, also pointed out that it maintained its new name and quote, "preserved our service
[50:30]to the more than 200,000 girls who participate in our programs." From CBS News, new NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced a major overhaul of the agency's Aremis Moon program Friday,
[50:41]acknowledging that the AY's plan to land astronauts to the moon in 2028 was not realistic without another preparatory mission first to lay the groundwork. Again from CBS News, Jared Isaacman
[50:53]spoke at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. >> Today we're uh announcing a standardization of the uh SLS fleet to what we'll call essentially a near block one configuration. So the idea is we want to reduce complexity to greatest
[51:05]extent possible. We want to uh uh accelerate manufacturing, pull in the hardware uh and increase launch rate which of
[51:14]which obviously has a direct safety uh you know consideration to it as well. you get into a good rhythm launching great frequency, you get that muscle memory. Um, in order to do that, we need
[51:26]to rebuild and strengthen the the workforce here at NASA. Now, this is directly in line with a workforce directive that I released several weeks ago. Uh, we have to rebuild core competencies. The ability to turn around
[51:36]our launch pads and launch uh with frequency greater than every 3 years is imperative. Now, some people ask me questions on that already as uh as we've talked about this and it's like, how are
[51:47]we going to do that? how we can go from three years to something significantly less to what I think should actually be inside of one year. And I'll point you out I'll point you to our history. We have a nice infographic that's coming
[51:58]out from Mercury, Gemini, Apollo through the shuttle program. I don't think it would surprise many of the folks in the room that our average launch cadence was closer to 3 months throughout all those
[52:08]programs, not three years. In fact, if you want a history tidbit, you look at the time when Apollo 7 splashed down to when Apollo 8 launched. you're approximately two months apart. We need
[52:18]to start getting back to basics and moving in this direction. So, rebuilding the civil servant workforce and restoring core capabilities. Again, that will directly cons uh contribute to NASA's launch cadence where we're going
[52:29]to uh endeavor to get our launches inside of a year, specifically down to potentially 10 months. And then, uh we are going to add missions. In fact, we are we are
[52:39]essentially going to uh pull in Artemis 3 to launch in 2027 with a revised mission profile. So instead of going directly to a lunar landing, uh we will
[52:50]endeavor to rendevous in lower Earth orbit with one or both of our lunar landers. Uh test out integrated operations between Orion and the landers, ECLS systems. uh you know even
[53:02]to to the even to the extent possible if we can get up development components of our XEVA suits to test out vehicle interfaces even just getting an astronaut in a suit microgravity we can
[53:13]learn a lot with the idea that we should be learning uh and take this information back to inform uh hardware development whether it's in the the landers or in
[53:22]the suits before Artemis 4 where we will attempt to land on the moon uh we are also uh as a component of the strategy
[53:31]um endeavoring to uh preserve up to two landing attempts in 2028. So if we get it inside of the 10-month turnaround time that we would like to see, Artemis 2 will launch on its historic mission in
[53:43]the weeks ahead. Artemis 3 will have its opportunity if we can by by mid 2027, which sets us up for an early 28 uh and a late 28 opportunity.
[53:54]>> NASA administrator Jared Isaacman at the Kennedy Space Center, Merit Island, Florida today. Orlando Sentinel writing about this news conference and the announcement less than a year after
[54:05]nearly 1if of NASA's workforce took a voluntary departure amid governmentwide cuts. Isaac now wants to see an increase in its civilian workforce. Thanks for listening to Washington today. Remember,
[54:17]tonight C-SPAN's ceasefire airs at 7 and 10 p.m. Eastern. This week, host Asha Burns will speak with Mitch Landrew, former New Orleans Democratic Mayor and
[54:27]Biden infrastructure ZAR, and Mercedes Schlap, former Donald Trump White House director of strategic communications about the State of the Union address, including president's messaging on the
[54:37]economy and immigration. Also, potential US military action against Iran. C-SPAN ceasefire tonight, 7 and 10:00 p.m.
[54:45]Eastern. Have a good night and weekend.