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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Trump's Sons on Corruption Concerns, They Didn't Give Us a Choice; Trump Highlights Mike Tyson to Prove He's Not a Racist. Aired 10-10.30p ET
Aired February 18, 2026 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tonight, is Donald Trump flying too close to the sons?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone you know is here to curry favor.
ERIC TRUMP, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: They didn't give us much of a choice. They created this monster.
PHILLIP: And now, despite years of bashing Hunter Biden, profiting off the presidency is in vogue.
DONALD TRUMP JR., EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We've been dealing with the conflict of vintage stuff for years. Frankly, it's gotten old.
PHILLIP: Plus, as the president removes slavery exhibits and posts a video of the Obamas as apes, he also marks Black History Month.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Whenever they come out, they say Trump's a racist. Mike Tyson goes out, he is not a racist.
PHILLIP: Also, the FCC says it's now targeting The View after the Stephen Colbert backlash. But why isn't right wing talk radio at risk?
And swimming in jeans, biking in saunas, milk in pools. Is the right's new health kick an exercise in hypocrisy?
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, THE TUCKER CARLSON SHOW: Why would you want to raise your own kids when Michelle Obama will do it for you? You're right.
FMR. GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK): Just leave us alone. Get off our back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want the nanny state out of my life.
PHILLIP: Live at the table, Ana Navarro, Shermichael Singleton, Xochitl Hinojosa, T.W. Arrighi and Paul Mecurio.
Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here, they do. (END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP (on camera): Good evening. I'm Abby Phillip in New York.
Let's get right to what America's talking about, pay to play or just business. In a rather candid admission, Don Jr. and Eric Trump used the they made me do it defense when asked about concerns that the family is profiting off of the presidency. The sons hosted the World Liberty Forum, and on the agenda, the future of finance, which could include upgrading the U.S. dollar with their stable coin.
And according to them, the fact that their father is the president who is in charge of pushing or denying policy is irrelevant to all of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
E. TRUMP: We're the most canceled people in the world in 2020, 2021. And it's really great to almost have this retribution where all of a sudden we started pushing an agenda. Our agenda was to modernize finance, to allow that to never, ever, ever happen to anybody again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you know what the critics would say. They'd say that the credibility factor is the Trump name and the Trump White House, and that everyone, you know, is here to curry favor.
E. TRUMP: Again, look, the great honor here is they didn't give us much of a choice. When you had every -- they created this monster, when you had every big bank in the world for doing nothing wrong, just based on the fact that we all wore a hat that said, Make America Great Again, my father happened to be running as a Republican, canceled us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: The president and his family have made billions of dollars by some estimates since taking office last year. But despite years of attacking the Bidens for alleged conflicts of interest, the sons are shrugging off theirs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was this big Wall Street Journal report about the 49 percent stake that was sold to an Emirati royal family member after your father was elected president, raising questions about whether they were doing that so they could get access to A.I. chips.
TRUMP JR: A, my father has nothing to do with. B, it has nothing to do with A.I. chips. And, C, we met in the Middle East the first time. There's not a person in that room, there's not a banker, there's not a fund manager that doesn't go to the Middle East and to the -- you know, whether the sovereign wealth funds of the world. We've been dealing with the conflict of interest stuff for years. I mean, they tried all this nonsense the first time around. Frankly, it's gotten old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: So, the argument here is they made us do it and we are the real victims here. But does that really cover the scope of what's happening, billions of dollars in crypto? You've got entities that are getting access to sensitive technology at the very same time that they're investing in the president's businesses. That very conference they were at was being held at Mar-a-Lago, which is the president's southern home. So, are people right to have concerns about this?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, sure, I guess it's fair to raise questions. But, I mean, let's look at the sovereign wealth fund, the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, they have invested billions of dollars in the U.S. economy, not merely in this administration, even during the Biden administration, which I actually applauded the former president for getting investments in technology, military, defense, energy.
And so I'm not necessarily concerned about a country that I believe most lawmakers would probably say we view as somewhat friendly and an ally in that part of the world having investments in companies that are based within the United States.
[22:05:02]
That's not outside of the norm.
That said, their advocacy for decentralized currencies, I've talked about it on this show, I think it's very important for entrepreneurs. I work in the gun space, for example. It is very, very hard, I will tell you, for anybody in this industry to have worked with banks previous to a week ago where JPMorgan Chase, the bank that I know we're going to talk about shortly, finally came forward and said, hey, we will work with companies in the firearms industry, because prior to a week ago, they would not work with companies in the firearm industry, despised how well that company's bank sheets may ultimately be.
So, I do think that they're making a legitimate argument about having to find secondary ways to keep their businesses running.
PHILLIP: I don't think that -- but isn't the issue, though, that their father is making policy that then directly affects their bottom line, right? It's not in a vacuum. The Saudi deal is not just they're throwing money into the U.S. economy. They're literally getting a massive investment, 49 percent of the Trump company, at the same time that they're getting sense access to sensitive chips that they were previously denied under a previous administration.
PAUL MECURIO, HOST, INSIDE OUT WITH PAUL MECURIO: Right. And to address your point, it's not politics. You know, Jamie Diamond walked away from Trump in 2021, because under the law, banks have to walk away from anybody that could either be a litigation risk, a legal risk, or a financial risk, if you're a bank. And he has a fiduciary duty shareholders of the bank, because Trump had 91 felony counts against him. And the other thing is he was a bad business risk. I mean, that's what this is about. It's not this, oh, woah is me, you made us do it. No, you had 91 felony counts, plus you're bad in business. You failed at water, stakes, airplanes, four bankruptcies, you failed at failing four times in bankruptcy. So, just own it. Just say the banks don't want to give us the money because we're too much of a risk and we're going this other way instead of playing the victim.
SINGLETON: Can I rebut his point though? Let's say we take that point. It still doesn't disregard part of their premise, which is that the banking sector industry, by and large, has not been favorable to Republicans or conservatives. I think that's how Eric phrased one of his points in the interview. And me bringing up the example of an industry that I'm in, running a million dollar company, multimillion dollar company, I can just tell you from experience that this is a very real thing. And so maybe you have the grievance with Trump, and that's perfectly fine, but I think the overall critique about the industry as a whole is not on fault, to be honest with you.
PHILLIP: Just to add a little bit of context here, because to this point, Reuters had --
SINGLETON: The lawsuit. That's where I'm going because I know we're going to talk about that.
PHILLIP: Oh, the -- yes, right. But on this point of how common is this complaint that conservatives are being de-banked? Reuters did an analysis that said that less than 1 percent of customers who filed detailed complaints about checking or savings account for Financial Protection Bureau over the last 13 years accused political or religious reasons. Out of 8,300 closed statements filed with CFPB since the agency began taking those reports, only 35 of them use terms, politics, religion, conservative or Christian, according to a review by Reuters.
So, it's just a data point that suggests that if this was as widespread as conservatives make it seem, there would be more complaints, wouldn't you think?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But here's the ugly truth. These emoluments clause and conflict of interest laws in this country, when it comes to elected officials, and it's not just the president, are very loosey-goosey and people choose when to apply them. I know a hell of a lot of unqualified dumdums who happen to be related to a senator or related to a Congress person who has some phantom job on some lobbying firm in Washington that they don't even show up for. Bob Menendez is in jail for it right now. People are paying for access. People are paying for the name. The difference is that these guys aren't even hiding it, that they don't even have qualms about it.
And I think that we have to have a real conversation about conflicts of interest because the part that I think is as most troublesome to me at least is the hypocrisy. The hypocrisy of the people that raked Hunter Biden over the coals because he used his father's name and position for influence and profited off of it. But what he did was pennies in comparison to what these folks are doing. Even people who are in the crypto industry will tell you that this meme coin of them is nothing but a made up grift that they're having to pay into, and you've got domestic and foreign people paying into this grift in order to gain access at Trump and his --
[22:10:00]
PHILLIP: And, remember, the president showed up at a dinner for that meme coin at Mar-a-Lago last year. The president showed up at that dinner despite it being, to your point, speculative.
T.W. ARRIGHI, VICE PRESIDENT, PUSH DIGITAL GROUP: I'm not immune from feeling uneasy about some of what I'm seeing. And the Emiratis story and the investment in the firm was definitely a cause for concern, at least personally.
But especially in the modern era, in the modern business world, if you are going to have children in the business world and investments in energy, in A.I., on the cutting edge of crypto, these massive emerging industries, your father is going to have a large share in that industry. He is going to be a mover and shaker in that industry. People are going to go to your investment firm, your firm of whatever you do in business because of your name. That is the reality of the situation. If you don't, if it is uncomfortable to people, if it feels untoward, then you know what has to happen? Congress needs to act.
(CROSSTALKS)
ARRIGHI: But if they don't break the law, there is no law being broken. And then it's just a -- it's a matter, and it's an argument of personal opinion of conduct.
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think what's interesting here is Donald Trump is laying the groundwork for future presidents to benefit off the presidency the way that he is. I honestly think that the Supreme Court's decision on immunity more broadly allows -- I don't think they have to this extent. The fact that the Trumps are now making billions more and billions off of the presidency, and specifically Eric Trump is making $350 million more because of the presidency, and Don Jr., $250 million more because of the presidency. If that were Hunter Biden or anybody else, you guys would be running ads all day long.
What I'm saying is every president moving forward, whether Democrat, whether Republican, will now be looking at Trump and say, you know what, the Supreme Court didn't do anything to stop this man. Therefore, every president will be doing exactly what Trump did.
ARRIGHI: I would like to see the numbers of net worth of a president going into office the time he leaves --
HINOJOSA: Actually, you know what, I'm pretty sure Joe Biden has not held on billions of dollars.
ARRIGHI: Joe Biden's max salary as a senator.
MECURIO: That doesn't --
HINOJOSA: We're not making billions of dollars.
MECURIO: This is exponentially different.
PHILLIP: How did he make that money? I mean, we know it's through books, it's through real estate. So, it's not like a mystery. I mean, in this case, this is clearly very different, right? I mean --
ARRIGHI: Well, first of all, there's --
(CROSSTALKS)
NAVARRO: It is (INAUDIBLE) because most -- look, a lot of them were -- had agents may have been negotiating book deals.
ARRIGHI: It's not just book deals.
NAVARRO: Well, listen --
PHILLIP: Well, you're suggesting that it's something --
NAVARRO: The Clintons left (INAUDIBLE) not a financial position because they spent a ton of money on legal fees. They made a ton of money when they left, right? They had deals. They had huge speaking fees. But these are things that they did post-presidency. The Obamas are doing very well post-presidency, Netflix deals.
So, this guy is doing it without any shame.
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: Hold on. One other thing, Don Jr. and Eric Trump, this is the CNBC headline from today as well, the Trump family says that the U.S. dollar needs an upgrade and they are the ones to do it. So, in addition to all the things we discussed, they want their stable coin to be sort of like a shadow U.S. dollar, theirs, while their father is the president of the United States.
And I also failed to mention Steve Witkoff, who is a special envoy to the president, his sons are also involved in all of this too.
NAVARRO: And shall we forget Jared Kushner?
PHILLIP: There is -- I guess it's more than just how much money are you making. It's also how much policy is being influenced by all the tentacles of business interests and dealings that his family is actively engaging in and not shying away from it, by the way.
MECURIO: No, I'm not being hyperbolic. It feels like Russia. It feels like that's how it works there. It's right out there. Now, for you to say, well, you know, it's been done in the past, fine. Listen, every administration, sure, people make money. But this is exponential, okay? And what upsets the American people, I think, is that they don't get -- they're not respected. They're intelligence isn't respected. They voted for him. He works for them. So, don't sit there and spend from 2015 all over the Bidens. I mean, Trump was so obsessed with Biden's computer. Like he could have worked at the geek squad for Best Buy, okay? Like it was insane. And then suddenly he flips a switch when he is in office and the money's just pouring in. And he's not even trying to pretend that there isn't some sort of duplicitous behavior going on. And that's what I think what upset the American people.
SINGLETON: So, can I ask, what is an acceptable amount of money and what isn't?
HINOJOSA: It's not making decision.
PHILLIP: I would argue --
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: Here's what I would argue. I think that the bigger deal is less about the dollar amount and more about the way in which the policy decisions that they are -- they can influence right now could set up the winners and losers in entire sectors of the economy for many, many years.
[22:15:01]
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: Yes, I get that. But this is president's sons, the children of his top advisers. They are in business in the areas where the president is setting the policy that will determine who wins and who loses.
SINGLETON: The president doesn't write the law. He doesn't make the law.
PHILLIP: But he does direct policy around regulation.
(CROSSTALKS)
NAVARRO: But in an ideal world, the same Congress that exerted oversight over Hunter Biden and brought him in to testify and put him through the ringer over this should be doing the same thing with Trump and should be doing it in real time.
ARRIGHI: Their sons, daughters, cousins, neighbors ,kids --
(CROSSTALKS)
NAVARRO: Okay. But they did it before, right?
PHILLIP: Guys, we got to go.
SINGLETON: One time.
NAVARRO: No, not one time.
PHILLIP: We do have to go.
Next for us, is Donald Trump losing black MAGA? The president hosts the Black History Month event while in the middle of controversies involving race.
Plus, the head of the FCC says that he's now targeting The View for violations, but why isn't he doing the same for right wing talk radio? We'll debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:20:00]
PHILLIP: Two weeks after posting a video depicting the Obamas as apes, and as his administration is right now actively fighting a judge's order to restore slavery exhibits in Philadelphia, Donald Trump again sought to prove that he has black friends. At a Black History Month reception today, Trump name-checked a number of black celebrities who he said supported him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
D. TRUMP: How about Nicki Minaj? Do we love Nick Minaj, right? I love Nicki Minaj. She was here a couple of weeks ago. She's so beautiful. Her skin's so beautiful.
Herschel Walker, speaking about loyal, how good a football player was, Herschel?
I would say they can't be a better football, greater football player than Jim Brown. By the way, Lawrence Taylor, great friend, Lawrence, the great Lawrence Taylor.
Muhammad Ali, who was a friend of mine. I put a picture of myself and Muhammad. It was another piece of work. You talk about a piece of work. But he could fight, couldn't he?
Mike Tyson, boy, I tell you, Mike has been loyal to me. Whenever they come out, they say, Trump's a racist. You know, it's like a say, but Trump's a racist. Mike Tyson goes out, he is not a racist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MECURIO: It's like you're a drunk uncle at Thanksgiving going with the thing. And like what are we doing? Like what is -- what was that? Why would he think that based on his recent track record that any of that flies?
NAVARRO: Because anybody who's accused of racism or homophobia discrimination says, here, look at my black friend, look at my Latino friend. Look, look, I actually have a Jewish friend. I can't be anti- Semitic. I mean --
MECURIO: And you know I wouldn't want to be the intern that had to rely it was Black History Month, Mr. President, he told me to let you know when it was from. Yes, I know, I know. Get the podium out there. Let's get this over with. He didn't want to be out there.
PHILLIP: Well, look, I mean, I think actions -- I'm a big actions speak louder than words type of person. He may have all the friends in the world, but when he's trying to take slavery off of an exhibit in Philadelphia, that speaks very loudly.
SINGLETON: So, I'll address the first part, then I'll get to that. I think he needed to celebrate Black History Month. I'm not aware of any year from the previous term that he didn't celebrate it. And I think we'd probably be having a very different conversation tonight if it wasn't acknowledged considering the history of black Americans in this country.
That said, the Pennsylvania thing is a big concerning to me. I don't understand why this would be a priority for any lower level cabinet person focusing on removing exhibitions about slavery. There were some things I think about women's rights, maybe LGBT individuals as well who've made historical contributions. It's not necessary. It's very divisive. We have midterms coming up. We already know the economy is an issue that Republicans are struggling on.
And the point that I'm trying to make here is when you've had a very diverse coalition, electorally speaking, in '24, you're going to fragment that very necessary coalition of very persuadable voters that you need to turn out, because some of those folks may be frankly turned off by some of this.
ARRIGHI: And doubling down on that the Obama video. You know, it kept the -- his reaction to it kept the story alive for far longer than it could have been. The buck stops at his desk. It shouldn't have been up. I made a mistake. It's gone. Instead, we lingered on it.
And it's clear to me that one of the things that bothers Trump a lot is being called a racist. I don't believe he fancies himself that way. I don't think a lot -- many people, at least folks in that room, I don't particularly think he is, although I have very much disagreements, just like Shermichael about Philadelphia and other things.
You know, when he talks about criminal justice reform, I think he really cared about that issue. He talked about opportunity zones, I actually really do think he cared about trying to bring prosperity into minority-heavy neighborhoods. I do actually think he cares about bringing crime down in those neighborhoods across America that he is trying to focus on. I do think he cares about that.
I do think, however, he steps on those messages when things like this, Philadelphia --
NAVARRO: Every black person he name-checked today is a celebrity. So my question is --
ARRIGHI: Well, no, there was a grandmother who lost her son to violence, who spoke about it. His criminal czar, who was the least --
NAVARRO: Okay. They were featured speakers but these are not people who are his friends. These are people who were there as scheduled speakers.
ARRIGHI: That's an assumption.
NAVARRO: Okay. Well, listen, it's not that people say that Trump is a racist, is that the housing department in the 1970s said he and his father were racist.
[22:25:08]
It's that the Central Park Five, for whom he demanded the death penalty and has never apologized, think he's a racist. It's just that this week he used the death of Jesse Jackson to attack Barack Obama in a statement he put out on Truth Social, Barack Obama, who lives rent free in his head. He has got a long track record. It's calling the countries that people like I come from, shithole countries. It's saying that Haitians eat cats and dogs. I mean, we could sit here all night and trace back all of the racist things he has said and done through his lifetime, not just this president.
HINOJOSA: Well, and it's not just him. It's also Stephen Miller and it's all of the people surrounding him. And one of the first acts that they did was make sure that they have a problem -- they want everyone to know they have a problem with diversity. Diversity is what makes this country strong. It is what makes this country great, and the entire Republican Party wants to completely erase diversity.
SINGLETON: Well, that's not true. That's not true.
HINOJOSA: I mean, how many times --
SINGLETON: The entire Republican Party, that's half of the country?
HINOJOSA: I will say the Republican Party goes out, or at least the --
SINGLETON: That's illogical fallacy. That's what we call illogical fallacy.
HINOJOSA: At least the court of the Republican Party has been against media (ph).
PHILLIP: But do you acknowledge that this anti-diversity, anti-DEI thing has been a core tenant of the second Trump administration?
SINGLETON: that's not my issue. She said the entire Republican Party.
HINOJOSA: Or they're against DEI.
SINGLETON: That's half the country. Are you telling me half of the country is racist?
HINOJOSA: I'm not saying that they're racist.
PHILLIP: I mean, she didn't say that. But if you think the anti-DEI thing is racist, that's -- SINGLETON: I haven't given an opinion on DEI. That's not my point. I just think we shouldn't be flippant calling half of the country racist.
HINOJOSA: I am saying they support -- hold on. They support the president and this administration who is against DEI. I mean, that is just the reality. And I don't know how many times --
SINGLETON: You've worked with Republicans.
HINOJOSA: I have worked with Republican, and I don't know how many times even --
SINGLETON: And all of them are racist?
HINOJOSA: I am not saying they're racist. You're putting words in my mouth. I'm saying they are against diversity.
PHILLIP: I'm confused.
HINOJOSA: Hold on.
PHILLIP: I want to go back to this diversity.
SINGLETON: but I think when you say said anti-diversity, I think most people would say, well --
MECURIO: But the larger point is --
(CROSSTALKS)
HINOJOSA: That's not what I said. They do not want diversity. They do not want diversity in their administration.
SINGLETON: But I'm just saying --
PHILLIP: Okay.
SINGLETON: When people hear anti -- I mean, I can just tell you people typically think if you're anti-diversity, then you're probably a racist person.
HINOJOSA: But why? So, hold on. Why doesn't the president want diversity in his administration?
SINGLETON: You should ask Trump. I don't know. I'm not Trump.
HINOJOSA: Well, why is the party for it?
PHILLIP: I think that's a really important statement that you just made. I mean, I'm not sure that even people would go that far. You just suggested that being anti-diversity is equivalent to being racist.
SINGLETON: I think many people would see it that way. PHILLIP: Well, this is an administration who has been explicitly anti-diversity. The Department of Defense has banned the celebrations of black history.
SINGLETON: I'm aware of all those stories. But, Abby, that's not my point. My issue is calling the entire Republican Party racist, every single person that voted Republican. I mean, just like, come on, that sounds like B.S. And I can't say what I really want to say, but it sounds like B.S.
PHILLIP: Just to be clear, this administration has been explicitly anti-diversity. They have gone line by line --
SINGLETON: But it's fine to be critical of Trump. It's fine to be critical of the administration, but you cannot cast aspersions as if it's entire party.
MECURIO: Listen, the vast majority of the party supports everything he does, including this, okay?
SINGLETON: I just don't agree with that.
MECURIO: Ana did a great job of ticking off several things that he's done. What we shouldn't do is sit here and pretend that the facts aren't the facts, okay? Why isn't a flag at half staff for Jesse Jackson? You wrote an amazing book about Jesse Jackson, who was instrumental in changing the way the Democratic Party pulled in minorities and there's not a flag for this guy.
So, with all due respect, if you want to mince words about, was it all the Republicans, half the Republicans, three quarters of Republicans --
SINGLETON: Words matter.
MECURIO: Hang on a second. The point is that it's very simple for the average guy and woman sitting at home, they look at a pattern of behavior of any human being and say that's what that guy is. Trump has gone from 30 percent to 13.5 percent black voter support in the last year. Do you know why he's doing the slavery thing in Philadelphia? One more second --
SINGLETON: I don't need to be lectured on a --
MECURIO: I'm not lecturing, but I should be able -- the fact that you're an African American doesn't mean that I can't make this point. That's not fair. You're trying to manipulate the conversation. I'm not going to let you do that. So, what I am saying when he does all of these things, when he does all things -- just wrap this up, when he does all of these things and people see it, he doesn't care in the second term because he doesn't need the black vote anymore because he is not running again.
SINGLETON: That's not how --
(CROSSTALKS) NAVARRO: (INAUDIBLE) male vote, that Latino male vote.
SINGLETON: Well, Ana's right about that.
NAVARRO: He did -- he had historical numbers right that I can never understand but he did it. He had historical numbers with black men and Latino men.
[22:30:00]
And that has gone down as a cliff because a lot of it is because these men who gave him a pass on a lot of things and thought he's going to be great for the economy, cannot now overlook the racism they are seeing in front of their eyes.
The Latino men who voted for him cannot overlook the fact of the racial profiling and the dragging of people that sound like them and look like them through the streets, and of the shooting of U.S. citizens who are Latino just because they happen to look like I do and Xochitl.
(CROSSTALK)
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Sure, sure. But I think also there's some economic issues. My point here is simply this. You can have whatever gripes you want to have on Trump on race. I'm not debating that. My issue is half of the country vote Republican. You know a lot of people Republican.
(CROSSTALK)
SINGLETON: Let's me finish, Xochi, please. And I don't like when you cast aspersions against half the country anymore then on my own side says every single Democrat some radical socialists. That's not true. It's not true so.
(CROSSTALK)
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, FORMER DNC SPOKESPERSON: But the official stance at the Republican Party is Trump's stance which is that they do not believe in diversity in this administration. That is the official stance of the Republican Party.
(CROSSTALK)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: All right, all right. Next for us, the right is pushing a new conspiracy that white men, including Stephen Colbert, are trying to sabotage a black woman, Jasmine Crockett, in her Texas Senate race. And Jasmine Crockett is not shooting that down. Another special guest is going to be with us in our fifth seat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:36:04]
PHILLIP: The Trump administration is now targeting ABC's "The View" for a possible equal time room violation. After the daytime talk show interviewed, James Talarico, a rising Democratic star who is running in the state of Texas in their Democratic primary. Now, FCC Chair Brendan Carr confirmed the probe today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDAN CARR, FCC CHAIRMAN: Every single broadcaster in this country has an obligation to be responsible for the programming that they choose to hear. And they're responsible whether it complies with FCC rules or not. And if it doesn't, then those individual broadcasters are also going to have a potential liability there. Again, this is a rule that's been on the books for a long time, going back decades. If people don't like it, that's okay. They can go to Congress to try to change it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Sources tell CNN that the equal time inquiry into ABC puts pressure on CBS to intervene with Stephen Colbert, who accused his network this week of scrapping the late show's interview with Talarico. The FCC's equal time rule specifically covers political candidates in election cycles and it applies to local television and radio stations. But the FCC chair has signaled that he is interested in going after TV and not radio, despite saying this today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARR: The Equal Time Rule applies to all broadcasters. The particular equal time notice that we put out walked through a number of precedents that applied in the TV context where we had seen that it appeared that programmers were either over reading or misreading some of the case law on the Equal Time Rule as it applies to broadcast TV. We haven't seen the same issues on the radio side, but the equal time rule is going to apply to broadcast across the board.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: CNN's chief Media analyst Brian Stelter is with us in our fifth seat. Brian, it seems that it's hard to believe that the only people violating this so-called equal time rule are just on television. And it seems very much that he's focused on programs that have been critical of conservatives or Trump.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, the liberals -- the liberals on television who are outspoken Trump critics. Carr does not have a lot of actual enforcement power here. He has very little enforcement power. But what he does have is that microphone you just showed. What he does have is that public megaphone, that bully pulpit, and that is what he's using.
And I want to give credit to ABC. A couple weeks ago, ABC received a letter about this from the FCC about "The View". My impression, you can tell me if I'm wrong, is that "The View" has been insulated from that pressure. That "The View" has not been, you know, intimidated. That ABC has not been intimidated. That ABC wrote back and said, here's how we deal with these things. But the existence of that investigation at ABC definitely made the CBS bosses more nervous. And that's what's going on.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: I can tell you as a co-host of "The View", if there's an inquiry and investigation and enforcement, whatever the hell they're calling it, we don't know about it, we, as co-hosts. And I'm glad that we don't know about it because we want to go out there and we want to do our job.
This is way above my pay grade. We don't do the bookings. The bookings are done, you know, by an entirely different team. And frankly, I don't even understand what the problem is because we had Jasmine Crockett and a few weeks later we had Talarico. So --
(CROSSTALK)
STELTER: We had the two main candidates in the race.
NAVARRO: Right. But I think overall, these rules and these laws are outdated and just don't conform to modern day media landscape, okay? The Equal Time Rule came -- was founded, what, in 1927. There wasn't even TV networks then. It was reformed in 1934 and actually applied to radio. And in 1959 when there were three networks, it was reformed to accept news programs. "The View" falls under the news division at ABC.
[22:40:00]
So, today, you can get news and more eyeballs on YouTube, on streaming, on so many on social media than some -- than many programs do on network TV or cable TV. And it seems that the application of these rules is very selective. Only for these folks, but not for radio. Well, you know what? There may come a president on the next term who decides that he wants to, or she wants to apply it to talk radio. And let's see how Republicans like that.
PHILLIP: Let me --let me play -- this is Brennan Carr just a few moments ago, both denying that CBS thing had anything to do with the FCC. But that also seemingly confirming it. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARR: CBS was very clear that Colbert could run the interview that he wanted with that political candidate. They just said you may have to comply with equal time. This was all about a political candidate trying to get attention and clicks, and the news media ran with it like lemmings. They just ate it up.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Would you go -- have gone after them for violating the Equal Time Rule as Colbert said?
CARR: We've said it. We've been very clear, is that broadcasters have a unique right and privilege, a license, and one thing they have to do is comply with the Equal Time Rule.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: It seems to be he's basically saying, yes, we probably would have gone after them.
T.W. ARRIGHI, FORMER SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS AIDE, SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: I don't know if I quite read it that way. I think the unpopular answer here, and I said it earlier, I didn't get a great response, is Congress needs to act. Brendan Carr is right about that. When they reformed the Act in 1959, they gave the FCC wide range on how to do it -- 1960, Jack Parr, "The Tonight Show", you are not exempt. You have to do Equal Time Rule, right?
Then Jerry Springer, only if you're doing this type of interview, only if you're doing this type of thing. Variety shows were under a different scrutiny. Okay, 2006 they changed it again. It was wide, it was opened wide. Now, the Trump administration wants to shrink it. Okay, that's their prerogative. It's going to have to go to Congress to fix it.
Look, obviously at least the broadcast media landscape has changed. I personally, in my opinion as a conservative, I thought it's gotten nastier toward conservatives over recent years. But Jimmy Fallon had to apologize for humanizing Donald Trump publicly on his show in 2016 because he brushed his hair. The tides have shifted, but to your point and your point, the fractured media landscape gives so much more opportunity.
And what -- I think what Brendan Carr was trying to say is he played this really well. Talarico played it up well with Colbert. Look, they're going to cancel it. They're going to take it off the air, check it out on YouTube, gets a bajillion views.
(CROSSTALK)
SINGLETON: Six million views.
ARRIGHI: He gets $2.5 -- $3 million. You play it like a fiddle.
HINOJOSA: We wouldn't be having this conversation if CBS wasn't already censoring information in their news shows. And we've seen and there have been reports that they've tried to censor "60 Minutes" already. We know that other networks and -- bend the knee to Donald Trump. Everyone is terrified. I mean, the part of this that people aren't talking about is it says a chilling effect across networks. And you probably know this better than I do.
STELTER: I hear what you're saying. I don't think everyone's terrified.
HINOJOSA: Not everyone. I will say I agree with you. Not everyone is terrified.
(CROSSTALK)
STELTER: I think many people are pissed off, right? But not terrified.
(CROSSTALK) HINOJOSA: But we have seen networks, including ABC, bend the knee when it comes to settling with Donald Trump. And we have seen law firms do that. And we have seen universities that are scared. And we have seen the tech companies and corporations. A lot of the threats that come from the Trump administration are, at the end of the day, to chill speech.
But it's all part of the pattern to chill speech, and there's no doubt that what happened on Colbert was part of doing that. Whether Talarico decided to benefit from that, good for him because any candidate would have done that.
PHILLIP: To the point that T.W. was making, it's been interesting to see conservatives suddenly jumped to the defense of Jasmine Crockett. Greg Price says --
(CROSSTALK)
ARRIGHI: I didn't do that by the way.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Well, you're talking about how --
(CROSSTALK)
ARIGHI: It's so different.
PHILLIP: "The unmitigated racism against Jasmine for us is disgusting." That's Greg Price. And then Eric Erickson, who's a huge fan of the show and tweets about it every day, says, "In 2018, the National Press Corps gave massive coverage to Beto O'Rourke at the expense of Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum, two black candidates. In 2026, the National Press Corps is again trying to prop up a white guy in Texas against his black opponent by lying about the FCC."
He may have forgotten that his claims back when Stacey Abrams was running that she wasn't a serious candidate.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: And you know -- and a lot of time, the --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: I got to let Shermichael have a word. I mean, it's interesting that Republicans are now suddenly saying that this is all about race.
SINGLETON: Well, I mean, Jasmine Crocket doesn't necessarily seem to disagree. I met the congresswoman a couple years ago. Roland Martin introduced me to her on his show. I think the world of her personally. I don't like some of the mischaracterizations I've seen on social media about her. I think she's a very intelligent woman.
[22:45:00] And now, we disagree and differ on politics, but I really, really personally like her. And I have personally seen, and I personally feel that the Democratic Party and its establishment, I think they are trying to knock her out of the race for this other guy. Now, maybe it's because of race. Maybe it's because of some other reasons. Maybe they think he's the better candidate.
I don't necessarily agree with that, I'm not a Democrat, though, but I don't think some of the critiques that Republicans are pointing out on social media are necessarily wrong. Now, the reasons behind it may not be sincere, and that's okay. That doesn't take away from the legitimacy.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: That's quite a conspiracy.
NAVARRO: One of the ironies is, that, you know, they bitch and moan about equal time, but I can tell you that I am sure all of these programs that Trump hates have invited Trump and his vice president, and his cabinet, and a bunch of Republicans to come on and they choose not to come on because they like to go to the safety bubble of Fox News.
And also, I -- like, I look at Trump and I'm like dude, what's your problem with "The View" now? You ran the Kamala Harris flub on "The View". It was like your most viewed political ad during the 2024 campaign. You should be thankful that, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
SINGLETON: But Jasmine Crockett is and has stated that there's a problem here. I don't think we should dismiss her very legitimate concerns.
PHILLIP: Yes, and she has said that -- she actually agrees with the Brendan Carr assessment, is that they could have given her an opportunity to be on in some capacity or another.
ARRIGHI: And by the way, just a quick note. He could -- they could have aired that interview, Talarico, on broadcast television, not aired in Texas. That was also a --
(CROSSTALK)
ARRIGHI: They could have got it.
(CROSSTALK)
STELTER: It's all sidetracked from the key issue of our time right now, Trump trying to silence critical speech. It's happening every week. Today, it just happens to be about --
(CROSSTALK)
ARRIGHI: I'm pro-First Amendment -- (CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Next for us, a new workout video from RFK and Kid Rock to make America healthy again, but some of it sounds awfully familiar. We'll debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:51:39]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: There it is, swimming in jeans, biking in saunas, whole milk in pools. RFK Jr. and Kid Rock in a promotional video for an HHS initiative. The message is get active and eat real food, but if that sounds very familiar to you, that's because it is. Here's Michelle Obama's Let's Move website from 2010. The former first lady similarly urging children to quote, "get active" and "eat healthy", something Republicans, at least back then, took issue with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, THEN COLUMNIST, "THE DAILY CALLER": Why would you want to raise your own kids --
UNKNOWN: You're right.
CARLSON: -- when Michelle Obama will do it for you.
UNKNOWN: You're right.
CARLSON: In fact, she'll do it at gunpoint. In fact, you don't really have a choice.
GLENN BECK, THEN FOX NEWS HOST: When I heard this, I thought, get your damn hands off my fries, lady. If I want to be a fat, fat, fatty and shovel French fries all day long, that is my choice.
STEVE KING (R), THEN REPRESENTATIVE FROM IOWA: I want the nanny state out of my life.
(CHEERING)
KING: I don't want my -- I don't want my body commandeered. And I will tell you that the most sovereign thing you have is your soul.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Look, Xochi. Hey, they're both right, but will conservatives, will Republicans ever admit that they were wrong to lampoon Michelle Obama for basically common sense?
HINOJOSA: Absolutely not. I think that Michelle Obama's initiative was geared towards families, children, making sure people are active and eating healthy. This RFK video or whatever this is was vanity project. That's about it. It wasn't about anyone eating healthy or geared -- it was not even geared towards our kids. Honestly, I think it was geared toward Olivia Nuzzi at this point. It was geared toward his ex-girlfriend.
(CROSSTALK)
HINOJOSA: I do not think that it's geared -- I think it's true. I do not think it was geared towards children. I mean, you saw Michelle Obama was out in schools. This was --
UNKNOWN: It's a mid-life crisis. That's what it is.
ARRIGHI: I mean, I got to say this. Look, I think in retrospect, my views on all this stuff has changed. I have become a lot more healthy in recent years. It often gets conflated with Michael Bloomberg banning the Big Gulp. I think it's great to get bad things out of our --
UNKNOWN: You're not going to take your shirt off, are you right now?
ARRIGHI: Well, hold on a second. It's comedy -- I thought that thing --
ARRIGHI: It's comedy in the absurd. It racked up so many views talking about eating healthy. It got the point across. Liam Nahill is doing a great job at HHS getting the word out there. He's had a ton of viral videos for HHS. If you keep promoting getting toxins out of food, getting healthy, I'm fine with it.
NAVARRO: Okay, I don't think they meant it as comedy. I think they meant it as --
(CROSSTALK)
ARRIGHI: With the eagle flying over top of the top and Bob --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: I'm looking at it like what fresh hell is this? Where is --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Should be taking health advice from someone who --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: Snorted cocaine off a toilet bowl?
PHILLIP: -- who recently admitted to snorting cocaine off of a toilet bowl
(CROSSTALK)
ARRIGHI: When he was sober -- a billion years ago.
PHILLIP: I'm sorry but like, I'm having trouble with that.
(CROSSTALK)
PAUL MERCURIO, HOST, "INSIDE OUT WITH PAUL MERCURIO: I thought it was an effective video I burned some calories cringing and clearly --
(CROSSTALK)
MERCURIO: It was like, you know, it's -- who goes in water with jeans on?
[22:55:02]
(CROSSTALK)
MERCURIO: When he did that I wanted to throw a life preserver. I'm like, I don't -- I guess he's efficient. He's doing laundry while he's making the video, right? He's also known to scuba dive in a tuxedo just to get it clean,
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: We all burned about 25 calories using our abs with those chuckles in this segment.
SINGLETON: Can I just say --
(CROSSTALK)
SINGLETON: The comparison -- comparative analysis to the former First Lady and to this tells you, just don't be against things for the hell of it.
PHILLIP: That's right. Everyone, thank you very much. We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(23:00:14)
PHILLIP: A quick programming note. Timothee Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey talked craft and career on a special CNN and Variety Town Hall event this Saturday at 7 P.M. on CNN and on the CNN app. And thank you very much for watching "NewsNight". "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
