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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Trump Claims U.S. In An Amazing State Despite Cratering Polls; Trump Says, It's Treasonous To Say U.S. Isn't Winning The Iran War; U.S. Withdraws 5,000 Troops From Germany After War Criticism; America's CEOs Rise 20 Times Faster Than Workers In 2025; Powerus Says U.S. Military Agreed Buying Undisclosed Number of Interceptor Drones. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired May 01, 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 VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tonight, Donald Trump's Iran war is now as unpopular as the ones in Vietnam and Iraq, as he continues to insist nothing to see here.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Our country is getting stronger and stronger. This has been amazing.
PHILLIP: Plus, the U.S. will remove thousands of troops from Germany after the chancellor's criticism, as MAGA allies attack the president's thin skin.
JOE ROGAN, HOST, THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE: You could call them left or right. It's like the same patterns. It's control, control and power.
PHILLIP: And the pay of America's CEOs is rising 20 times faster than workers, while one of them defends $9 coffee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's less than $10 and I get a really premium experience.
PHILLIP: Also rising, the president's net worth as his son strike more deals with government money.
Live at the table, Tim Parrish, Sabrina Singh, Pete Seat, Isaiah Martin and Terry Moran.
Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here, they do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIP: Good evening. I'm Abby Phillips in New York.
An inflection point tonight in Donald Trump's presidency and his war, thousands across America on this May Day protesting the president's policies and calling for better working conditions as costs skyrocket due to his tariffs and this war with Iran. Gas prices have hit another record during this conflict, and the war itself is now as unpopular as the ones in Vietnam and Iraq.
But as you're about to see, Trump and his allies are trying to sell sunshine and rainbows to a public that's just not buying it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Our country is hot again. We have a great country again.
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): We finally have a healthy, strong economy going in the right direction.
TRUMP: It's been an amazing period of time.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): House Republicans continue to deliver for the American people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump has consistently delivered for the American people.
TRUMP: The stock market is hitting record numbers.
SCOTT: The fact of the matter is that all of the cylinders are kicking.
TRUMP: We are really doing well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think there's any way that your party holds on in November to the House?
REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): Absolutely.
JOHNSON: We are going to win the midterms so that the grownups can stay in charge here.
TRUMP: You're going right now through the golden age of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And on top of all of that, tonight, despite the unpopularity of the war, the president says anyone who questions it is a traitor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We get the radical left to say, we're not winning. We're not winning. They don't have any military left. It's unbelievable. It's actually -- I believe it's treasonous, okay? You want to know the truth. It's treasonous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: It's impossible to disentangle the war from the economic situation that is facing the country and how people feel about it.
And, Terry, this Reuters poll from last month, February and late April shows fewer than half of Republicans say that the country and its cost of living is heading in the right direction, just 45 percent of Republicans today.
TERRY MORAN, VETERAN JOURNALIST: Yes.
PHILLIP: That's extraordinary.
MORAN: That is extraordinary. You can't happy talk people out of the facts of their lives, right? You can't tell them it's a golden age when they're paying, you know, $4-plus for a gallon of gas when that translates into food costs, when this war seems to have been launched without a specific purpose, with no real strategy. Now, they've gone to a point where they say it's over, but it's not over. It's hard to kind of con people out of the facts of their lives and the facts that they see, especially when it's war and their budget.
PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, Pete, there's a real problem, I think, what Republicans have right now. It's compounded by this today. This is a letter from the Trump administration to Congress that says, on April 7th, 2026, I ordered a two-week ceasefire. The ceasefire has been extended. There's been no exchange of fire between the United States forces and Iran since April 7th, 2026.
[22:05:02]
The hostilities that began in February have terminated. Essentially, they're saying the war's over. The war is over but gas prices are still going up.
So, Americans are asking themselves, excuse me, so when is this going to be over for us?
PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, to Terry's point I think what the Trump administration needs to be very careful about is not falling into the same trap that the Biden administration fell into, and what ultimately propelled Donald Trump back to the White House, and that is ignoring the feelings of the American people as it relates to rising fuel costs, rising electricity costs.
There are a lot of good economic metrics. You look at the market. The market has done well. They're not spooked by all this. In fact, the S&P 500, I think it had its best month in April since 2020 when Donald Trump was last president. You also have manufacturing coming back to this country, expansion all around the place. But people only feel that if the jobs are coming to their communities.
SABRINA SINGH, CNN AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: As someone that was in the Biden administration, though I think Pete is actually right. I do remember --
SEAT: Can you say that one more time?
SINGH: I do remember us saying, and probably many people around this table criticizing us during the time when we were talking about inflation being transitory, and the reality was is that Americans were not feeling that. Americans were still paying higher costs and prices at the, you know, grocery stores. There was obviously the impact of COVID as well.
I think what this administration -- I think this administration could have learned from that. And I think we could have done a better job about messaging what those costs were. But the reality is that this administration has not learned from that. Costs are high. People are going to their pumps, they're going to the grocery store, and they're blaming one person, and that poll reflects that, and it's Donald Trump, because they want to see their gas prices go down.
And Donald Trump said, you know, just today, he said, as soon as this war is over, gas prices are going to basically drop like a rock. Well, prove it. That hasn't happened at all.
TIM PARRISH, CONSERVATIVE STRATEGIST: Well, I think it's -- go ahead.
ISAIAH MARTIN (D), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, TEXAS: I just want to step in here because it's more than just a feeling. Wage growth is about 80 percent less than what it was when Joe Biden was in office. That's a fact. And we know that private sector spending to new build new manufacturing facilities in this country is down 20 percent from what it was from when Joe Biden was in office. We're seeing that all around.
We're at the 60th day of this conflict, 60 days in. What exactly have the American people gotten? The Iranian regime is still very much in charge. They still have their nuclear capabilities. They're paying more than $4.30 cents per gas. Inflation went from 2.7 percent the night of the presidential election all the way up to about 3.3 percent. They're paying more for everything in this country and what's happening?
So, the reality is Trump thinks that he's found some type of perma war glitch where he can effectively just go and subvert Congress. But at the end of the day, we're spending more than $500 million per day on this blockade. And for the people at home, you might smirk, but I'm the people at home, $500 million a day, if you pay that for over about two weeks, two weeks, you can pay for the cost of universal childcare for everybody in this country in a month. That's the reality. Your priorities are messed up. You would rather spend more money on bombs and war than on the people in this country.
SEAT: So, that was a great campaign stump speech. I loved it. It was really well delivered and rehearsed before this show. But it's funny to me when Democrats suddenly get religion on spending when our national security is at stake.
MARTIN: 25 percent of the national --
SEAT: You have never cared about the talking about debt in our deficits.
SINGH: Well, that's not true.
(CROSSTALKS)
SEAT: (INAUDIBLE) opportunity to knock Donald Trump. And Joe Biden spent like a drunken sailor, Barack Obama spent like a drunken sailor.
MARTIN: Joe Biden approved of the amount of non-COVID related spending than what Donald Trump did.
SEAT: So, your issue with the war, the conflict, the excursion, whatever you want to use -- can you let me talk for crying out loud?
MARTIN: Okay.
SEAT: If part of your issue is spending, I find that to be completely and totally disingenuous, because you will spend to high heaven. Ukraine, you couldn't spend enough on Ukraine. Ukraine, I believe that we need to be a part of that, but that's not our fight. Iran having a nuclear weapon is our fight because they want --
MARTIN: they still have their nuclear material.
SEAT: They have killed Americans for 47 years.
MARTIN: They still have their nuclear material and the regime is still in place.
SEAT: They do.
MARTIN: So, what have you done?
SEAT: 4,000 pounds of 60 percent enriched uranium that we need to secure.
MARTIN: So, what have you done --
(CROSSTALKS)
MORAN: They only made it because Trump tore the Obama deal. The only reason they have that enriched uranium is because Trump bailed on the Obama deal.
SEAT: But that also sunsets and it was going to allow them to continue --
SINGH: In 2030. In 2030 it was going to sunset.
SEAT: It wasn't this panacea to them having --
PHILLIP: Let me let Tim have a word.
SEAT: We need to stop talking about it that way.
PHILLIP: Go ahead, Tim.
PARRISH: Wow. That was fun. Look, I do find it funny that when -- during the Biden administration, when gas in places like California got to $6 a gallon, the Biden administration responsible was, well, the president is not responsible for gas prices.
[22:10:04] The president doesn't have culpability in gas. Well, sure it's a talking point. I agree. But it's a talking point that was used in the Biden administration.
MARTIN: It's not a reality though.
PARRISH: Okay, great. I think --
PHILLIP: Hold on.
PARRISH: Can I finish my point?
PHILLIP: Go ahead, Tim. Yes.
PARRISH: They now have reversed that when now the president of the United States is Donald Trump, now, all of a sudden, gas prices are the responsibility of the president.
I want to go to something that you said because I think it's -- this is an insane argument. And I told Pete before the show I was going to let folks come on and show for the Iranian. So, you've done a really great job of that.
MARTIN: You see, that is exactly what Republicans always do. You think that because --
(CROSSTALKS)
Hold on for a second. Let me let him finish and then I'll let you respond.
PARRISH: The Iranian regime, for 50 years, long before you and I were even born, and hopefully not long after we're around, have said death to America. They want everybody at this table to be dead. And if they get their hands on a nuclear bomb, that's exactly what will happen. Our allies in Europe, our friends in the region and us here at home are directly under the threat of the Iranians.
And I don't know if you know any Americans that have been killed by the Iranians. I certainly do. This is a murderous regime. And if you want to sit here and get mad at Donald Trump because you hate him, that's fine. But the Iranians are not our friends. And them having a nuclear bomb is not good for anyone --
PHILLIP: So, before you respond, let me just ask you a question because it it speaks to what President Trump was saying. Are you, like Trump, suggesting that if you disagree with this war, as a majority of Americans do, that you're doing so because you want the Iranians to win?
PARRISH: Abby, I would -- the way that this question has been framed, this entire thing, tell me a popular war in the United States besides World War II? Besides World War II, can you tell me a popular war? Tell me a war that is polled well in this country.
PHILLIP: The Gulf War I. I mean, that one was popular. PARRISH: The Gulf -- the one that lasted a hundred hours?
PHILLIP: I mean, it didn't last a hundred hours. It didn't last a hundred hours, but it was popular. I mean, you asked what popular war --
(CROSSTALKS)
PARRISH: No war in -- well, first of all, we laugh at the table, war is not popular.
PHILLIP: Well, let me put this --
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: Let me put this another way. Let me put this --
PARRISH: If we're going to base polls, the president of the United States --
PHILLIP: Hold on a second. Let me put this another way. Most of these --
PARRISH: Bases it on the safety and security of the --
PHILLIP: Most of these other conflicts became unpopular over time, over a period of years. It has been 60 days and this war has never been popular. It's not just that it is unpopular now. It has never been, from the very beginning, popular.
So, it's not that this is a popularity contest, but it's just that when you have Republicans, Democrats, and independents all saying virtually the same thing, that we have concerns about the objectives, we don't think it's benefiting us, we think it's hurting us, that's a signal that the American people aren't behind you.
And at the very least, if you're an elected leader in a democracy, that should matter, right?
PARRISH: I think it does. I'm just going to just continue to make the point. The Iranians with a nuclear bomb is not good for anyone.
MARTIN: Which is exactly --
PHILLIP: All right. I promised Isaiah would respond to what you said here.
MARTIN: Here's the reality here. If that was really your objective, you never would've pulled out the JCPOA. That's first things first. But I want people to understand, this is what the Republican Party feels about the 61 percent of Americans, Republicans, independents and Democrats that disagree with this war, that you somehow are shilling for the Iranian regime if you go and question your government spending $2 billion a day on a war and a conflict that the regime is still very much in place, they still have their enriched uranium. It is not unpatriotic to question why this president has never justified this war to the American people. That's what you did.
PARRISH: Those words never left my mouth.
SINGH: Those words you said. You said that he was showing for the Iranians.
PARRISH: Showing the Iranians.
MARTIN: That's pretty unpatriotic, I would say.
PARRISH: I don't -- you can disagree with the president all day. You can also agree with the fact that --
SINGH: Can you? You just that he can't.
PARRISH: He can. He's an American citizen. He has a First Amendment right to disagree with the president all day.
SINGH: But you also said that he's supporting the Iranians, which is just not accurate.
PARRISH: The fact of the matter is, are you okay with the Iranians having a nuclear bomb that can be used against our --
MARTIN: This is exactly why I support the JCPOA. That's exactly why I did that.
PARRISH: They were still developing a nuclear bomb.
MARTIN: No. They really were not. They weren't. There's not one example of them violating the terms of that deal.
(CROSSTALKS)
MARTIN: Tell me one example of them violating the terms. Tell me one example.
PARRISH: You give me an example of where they're not developing --
MARTIN: You can't show me.
PARRISH: They're not developing a nuclear bomb. So, wait a second you're telling me --
MARTIN: Because you pulled out of the deal.
PHILLIP: Guys, let me just -- let's just --
PARRISH: That's the reason, for 45 years --
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: Hold on a second. Let me just reset for a second because we're all talking at the same time. Just a quick point because, of course, we are almost at time for break, but on the JCPOA, look, a lot of Republicans didn't like it. But at the same time, you have to acknowledge that the moment that Trump pulled out of that deal is when the Iranians went from not having any nuclear material that was close to bomb grade, to having a lot of material that was close to bomb grade.
[22:15:05]
It was at that moment.
And so now in that time, since we have been out of that deal, Iran has gone from not having materials that's been verified by the international organizations and other countries to having 60 percent enriched uranium, tons and tons of it. So that's a fact.
And so that interim period is lost time and we will never get back, and now we're dealing with a consequence.
SINGH: Well, and also --
PARRISH: Abby, I'll leave it --
SINGH: Can I just say --
PARRISH: Yes, please.
PHILLIP: I do want him to respond.
SINGH: The rich uranium though that Iran has for the Operation Midnight Hammer that the administration said that they obliterated those capabilities, that is still there and in Iran. The difference between what happened from when this war started to where we are now is the strait is closed. The conditions are the same. Yes, Iran's military has been degraded significantly, and that is in a complete military feat on our part. But the fact that the street is closed and the economic consequences are so dire is what changes the entire game here. And why we're talking about enriched uranium, how are you going to get that out? I mean, that is going to need boots on the ground.
PHILLIP: And just the last thing I'll add to that, we didn't bomb all the sites last summer, and we don't know that all of the enriched uranium is in the places that we did bomb. So, there's a lot of unknowns here, including -- but the biggest one is -- the biggest thing that we do know is that all the material is still in the territorial boundaries of Iran. That's still a problem for us and for the globe.
PARRISH: Abby, going back to the point that you made earlier, I'm sorry, I'm not going to trust through the JCPOA that the Iranians are doing the right thing when you have a regime who says -- and you can laugh about it, I don't think it's funny. When you have a regime who is screaming at the top of their lungs, death to America, I choose to believe them.
MARTIN: So, do you want to go war with every country that says that? Do you want to go to war with North Korea too?
PARRISH: What other countries is screaming death to America and has a nuclear capability?
MARTIN: North Korea.
PARRISH: It has a nuclear capability.
MARTIN: North Korea.
PARRISH: We had war with North Korea. We got guys on the parallel standing there in response to that.
(CROSSTALKS)
PARRISH: You don't know what's going on guys. This a lack of understanding of national security --
MORAN: The regime is still in place. The regime is still in place.
MARTIN: Yes.
MORAN: There's been no regime change. There's not going to be regime change. And they now are strategically stronger with the control of the Strait of Hormuz. And it looks like that's going to be part of the deal as well.
PARRISH: Sure.
MORAN: So, that regime's going to be there and what's the first thing they're going to want to do? Get a bomb.
PARRISH: And the president is standing in the gap saying, no bomb. That's why we're still there.
MORAN: He just guaranteed because he can't defeat them. We have not defeated them, no matter what he says. They're still in power. They've got strategic superiority in these negotiations. And when they get out of this, and they will, they'll spend the next ten years trying to get a bomb so it can never happen again.
PHILLIP: All right. Next for us, the U.S. is now withdrawing thousands of troops from Germany after the chancellor's criticism of President Trump. And now Joe Rogan is slamming the thin skin of this administration over the Jimmy Kimmel situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGAN: He said that joke. He said that joke on a Thursday. On Friday, nobody gave a (BLEEP) because this --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who?
ROGAN: Kimmel. He said a joke about Melania.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:20:00]
PHILLIP: Tonight, what's the cost of offending Donald Trump? Just days after the German chancellor criticized the president and his strategy in Iran, saying that the U.S. was getting humiliated, the Pentagon is now removing 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany. In a social media post prior to the move, Trump complained, his German counterpart, quote, doesn't know what he's talking about, and he criticized the German economy.
The Pentagon says that the troop withdrawal will take 6 to 12 months, but on the outside, the move is largely viewed as a symbolic one. Even if 5,000 troops are removed from Germany, it would still host the second largest U.S. troop presence in the world behind only Japan.
It is very like Trump that this is happening largely because he felt insulted by the Germans. And it kind of speaks to just how he operates. It's sort of like a tit-for-tat.
SINGH: Yes, I think it does speak to how he operates. I mean, this is someone with very thin skin. Even if it is symbolic, I mean, 5,000 troops, I think, is still significant.
But I think the larger message that this sends is not to Germany. It's actually to Vladimir Putin. It is, we are going to pull down our troops. We are going to lessen our presence even though we still have a large presence in Germany. We're going to respond and that sends a message to Putin that we're not -- I mean we have been pretty much under this administration not serious about arming Ukraine and supporting Ukraine. But I think that just gives Putin more carte blanche to continue this war of choice that he continues to wage in Europe and it leaves less protection for our allies in Europe.
And I think what's the miscalculation here of this administration is we use our European allies and bases there to support operations in the Middle East and also in Africa. And we also use those bases to support our operations for our own defense.
So, this might be symbolic, but it does send a message to Putin and it also sends a message to our allies over overseas as well.
PARRISH: Yes, you're right, we do. I've been to K-Town there and we Landstuhl Air Force --
SINGH: Yes, Landstuhl.
PARRISH: Or Landstuhl is the medical center that we utilize there. And I wish that this administration wouldn't sort of do these types of things when it comes to our strategic military interest in the region. I don't know what's behind this.
SINGH: I agree with Tim.
PARRISH: I didn't read -- say that again.
SINGH: I agree.
PARRISH: There we go. There we go. Look, I think that when it comes to the military and it comes to our national defense, it's not political.
[22:25:02]
I say that all the time. It's not right or left. I do think this is going to impact the German economy, right? 5,000 U.S. Army soldiers are the most -- you know, that's the service that's there. Spending money in that economy is going to have an impact.
And maybe that's the message that the president is trying to send. I don't know that I agree 100 percent that that's the way we should conduct that in sending the message to the Germans, but I understand the intent behind it at least.
PHILLIP: So, I mean, this is not -- this is going to seem like a completely different topic, but the other moment that a lot of people accuse the president of having thin skin about was how he reacted to Jimmy Kimmel's joke from last week. And here's Joe Rogan criticizing the president for just all that has transpired after that alleged joke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGAN: Adam Kroll had a really good point. He said that joke -- he said that joke on a Thursday, on Friday, nobody gave a (BLEEP).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who?
ROGAN: Kimmel. He said a joke about Melania. He made his own mock White House Press Correspondents' Dinner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
ROGAN: And he said Melania has the glow of a woman who's recently widowed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
ROGAN: Just that's it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an old guy joke, like he's going to die soon.
ROGAN: Yes, it could be or an assassination joke, if you want to take it that way. But he is old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, after the attempt?
ROGAN: No, before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before.
ROGAN: So, it's on Thursday and this is Kroll's point, that's a really good point, he said no one gave a (BLEEP) on Friday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
ROGAN: It came out on Thursday. No one cared on Friday. No one cared on Saturday until Saturday night when the assassination attempt, and then all of a sudden everyone's blaming Kimmel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And now it's just been added to this, like very tiresome, frankly, longstanding tit-for-tat between Trump and Kimmel. And it just won't -- he won't let it go. I mean, Kimmel doesn't like him, but Trump is the president, and he will not let this go.
SEAT: Number one, the joke was in poor taste. Number two, it's a shame that Jimmy Kimmel can't stand up and apologize for a joke that was in poor taste. And third, Adam Kroll makes a decent point that was referenced by Joe Rogan there, but no one cared on Thursday because the people who watch Jimmy Kimmel agree with his politics, and they probably thought it was a hilarious joke. The people who would call him out for being distasteful don't actually watch his program. That's why no one said anything until after the fact.
MARTIN: You know, Pete, can you tell me one example of Trump ever apologizing for anything?
PARRISH: Can you tell me what example of Trump --
SEAT: I don't know why --
(CROSSTALKS)
MARTIN: Are you serious? Robert Mueller, Robert Mueller, are we going to act like that didn't happen on Twitter?
PARRISH: Can you give me an example of someone's spouse being told --
PHILLIP: Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi.
MARTIN: The point is that --
PHILLIP: Hold on. Trump made jokes about Paul Pelosi implying all kinds of crazy conspiracies about why he was attacked with a hammer. The president did that. That actually didn't happen. And I would also add, I mean, the president earlier this week made a joke to his wife that she's going to outlive him in front of -- he made the joke in front of the king.
(CROSSTALKS)
MORAN: I think the joke was unkind and unfunny.
PARRISH: Yes.
MORAN: But why make a federal case out of it? This whole city lives in fear of Trump's petty angers. The entire Senate, the entire Congress does, everyone in the administration. That's why they have to parrot his lies about the 2020 election or whatever he wants. So, the entire city lives in fear of it because he makes a federal case out of everything, it's exhausting.
MARTIN: And that's the point. I mean, it's like, again, nobody -- you cannot show me an example of Trump ever apologizing for anything. So, I just think it's rich when any conservative tries to go and say that someone should apologize for anything. The point is that the publican party ran on a platform -- Pete, I'm Peter speaking. The Republican party ran on a platform of having free speech. That's what you guys campaigned on. You went to all the college campuses all around talking about you stood for common speech, for common -- for free speech. Now you have the president of the United States being so much of a snowflake that he cannot handle a joke he doesn't like from Jimmy Kimmel. That's ridiculous.
SEAT: And Jimmy Kimmel can't be man enough to apologize.
MARTIN: Your president never apologized for anything.
SEAT: If you think Donald Trump is in the gutter, so you think you should just jump in it with him? Rise up to it.
MARTIN: This is the man you voted for.
SEAT: I know. You do use the whole you thing a lot, like let's be not personal and accusatory about everything you say.
MARTIN: Did you vote for him?
SEAT: I didn't actually. Would you like to know that? Breaking news on CNN, I've never voted for Donald Trump. How about that?
MARTIN: That's news to me.
(CROSSTALKS)
PARRISH: He's the president and your president.
PHILLIP: All right, guys. Next for us in corporate America, a new report finds that CEO pay rose 20 times faster than the average employee. So, can American workers even catch up?
[22:30:00]
We'll debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:34:43]
PHILLIP: Tonight, income inequality is skyrocketing and the rift between the haves and the have-nots, both in the United States and all around the world, continues to grow into a chasm. According to a new study, the pay of America's CEOs rose 20 times faster than workers in 2025. And while the average global CEO pocketed 8.4 million in pay and bonuses last year, it would take the average global worker 490 years to earn the same amount.
[22:35:08]
Adjusted for inflation, global worker pay fell 12 percent, while real CEO pay surged 54 percent between 2019 and 2025. But as CEOs use their increasingly growing power to undermine workers' rights, one of them is defending that $9 latte that you had the other day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN NICCOL, STARBUCKS CEO: What we're seeing is people, you know, they want to have a special experience. And regardless of what your income level is, in some cases, you know, a $9 experience does feel like you're splurging. And then what that means is we have to make it worthwhile, right? And in other cases, people believe, well, this is a really affordable premium experience because they're saying like, well, it's less than $10.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: I feel like to fully appreciate what he just said, you might also want to know that the CEO of Starbucks was given a private jet to commute to his office from his home in California. He is going a thousand miles away, presumptively as often as he wants, and he's got a big old corporate jet in order to do that. And he's asking you to pay for a very special experience -- $9 cup of coffee.
SEAT: Well, that video was not a premium experience.
(LAUGHTER)
SEAT: I'll start there. That was really cringe worthy. I am curious to know -- I don't go to Starbucks often. But I'm curious to know if the premium experience is the barista writing your name incorrectly on the cup. Is it the people that squat there all-day-long and turn it into their home and office? Is it the really bad coffee? I don't know. I'm very curious about it.
But to those who are complaining, every time I walk by Starbucks, every time I drive by Starbucks, there is a line as long as the eye can see. People still go. They want their fix. They're willing to pay. So, we can't complain unless we use our power as consumers and say, you know what? I can make a cheaper, better cup of coffee at home, and I'm going to do that. But people want to pay for convenience.
PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, I guess the thing is, you know, fine. I guess if you have a business model that says $9 for coffee, which they do, is fine, then at the other side of that, so what are you doing for your workers? I think that the part that Americans don't like is where they feel you know, jipped on the other end, on the salary end, on the benefits end, on the ability to sort of provide for their families, that part.
PARRISH: Abby, I'll take a different approach to that. Because look, I believe that we live in the greatest country on the face of the planet and there's unlimited opportunity here for anybody who's willing to work hard and go after it. If you're upset about this and how much your CEO makes, go launch your own Starbucks, go launch your own company, go create competition.
(CROSSTALK) UNKNOWN: It's not that easy.
PARRISH: Of course it's not that easy, but like, it's never that easy to start a company or something. So, anyone in this country, like I said, who's willing to work hard and apply themselves, go become Starbucks competition and sell $7 premium experiences and undercut your competition. I don't think that, you know, I wouldn't complain. I would just say, if I don't like it, I'll go start my own thing.
UNKNOWN: I think -- oh, go ahead.
MARTIN: Can I ask you question?
PARRISH: I'd prefer if Abby asked the questions, but sure, you can ask the question.
PHILLIP: It's okay, we can talk to each other here.
MARTIN: Do you think that it's insane to say that Starbucks should raise their wages for their workers? Is that insane to say as a concept?
PARRISH: I think that I believe in free markets and if a private company sets their wages what they are, then that's what they are.
(CROSSTALK)
PARRISH: And if you don't like the wage, don't go work there.
(CROSSTALK)
PARRISH: I've applied for hundreds of jobs where they didn't meet my minimum I wanted to make, and I didn't go work there. It was as simple as that.
SINGH: You also don't have the affordability -- or you have the affordability most likely to say no to something.
UNKNOWN: Sure.
SINGH: Some people have to take jobs that don't pay the living wage to keep up with rising inflation and they are in these positions. And I think to Abby's point, what you're seeing is workers at these companies are just not getting paid for what they should be. And then you see the CEOs getting these extravagant enormous bonuses. And that is the choice of the company.
PARRISH: Right (inaudible ) --
(CROSSTALK)
SINGH: But I think there has to be some type of conversation that we have of raising the federal minimum wage and see -- and giving workers more benefit, so that --
(CROSSTALK) PARRISH: I appreciate that.
(CROSSTALK)
SINGH: -- they can be competitive in the market place.
PARRISH: I appreciate that. My mother works three jobs when we were coming up, and if something -- pay more, she would either go get another job or she would work hard to achieve so she could go make more money. It's not as simple as --
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: It's not really about the match.
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: But it's not really about the math.
PARRISH: -- just telling the CEO what they can do with their business.
MORAN: But it's not really about the math and the economic, it's about values, right? So, not long ago, the guys they were all guys who ran big American companies --G.M., Ford, Sears, those things. They paid themselves about 20 to 30 times the wage of the average worker.
[22:40:01]
Today, that's 300 to 400 times. Japan doesn't do that. Germany doesn't do that. The U.K. doesn't do that. America does that. Because the values shifted from what's best for the company, to how do I drive the stock price up and get as much of that as I can? And the notion that so much of it is going to so few people is one of the reasons we got Trump.
MARTIN: And I want to piggyback off of that because largely, we understand that when Trump was running for president, he said that he was going to raise the wages for all these workers all across America. Real wage growth is 80 percent less than what it was. So, that's the real facts. So, if you make a campaign promise that you're going to raise wages for workers all across this country, and you do not deliver on that, then who does that fall on?
PHILLIP: So --
PARRISH: Well, I don't think the President's point was he was going to go tell private enterprise that you have to pay people.
MARTIN: He said he was going to create the economic conditions to do so. Has he done that?
PARRISH: That doesn't mean that he was going to go invade businesses, boardrooms and say you have to pay your employees.
MARTIN: Did he create the economic conditions to go and do that?
(CROSSTALK)
SINGH: Look, he's telling businesses (inaudible) on air.
(CROSSTALK)
PARRISH: The President of United States is not going to -- he didn't make a promise to go and invade boardrooms and tell companies private companies how much they should pay their employees.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Well, one thing he did do was say that he was going to make life more affordable and as we pointed out, most Americans say that they don't think that that's where it's headed. He said he would bring prices down. We all knew that that wasn't going to happen because that's not really how prices work. Inequality continues to go up. He talked about bringing down government spending. I couldn't let the day pass without this headline.
Trump-Qatari gifted Air Force One is almost delivered, it sounds like, $400 million of taxpayer dollars to give the President a more luxurious ride in the midst of this conversation that we're having, in which two in three Americans now say that they worry more about running out of money than dying in this country.
Look, I think the question I had for you, because I hear a lot of people talk about two or three jobs. But is that what we want in America, for a mother to work two or three jobs in order to keep her family afloat? I take it that that is an extraordinary thing that your mother did, and that many of our families have done. But is that what we want for the future of this country?
PARRISH: Abby, look, that's a point that's taken. I think mothers like mine and others at this table do what they have to do to go and provide for their families. And my father also, for the record, worked several jobs, as well. But my point that I'm making is simply this. I would not complain that my CEO is making all this money.
If I had an issue with that, I would go start something. I would go create something. I would go create means for me to go and make more money. That's what I wanted to do. We live in a country where that is available. We live in a country where people can go and do those things.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Here's the thing.
(CROSSTALK)
PARRISH: We create -- new businesses are started in this country every single day, and business owners are successful.
(CROSSTALK)
SINGH: Tim is tapping into the idea that the American dream and the idea that you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and create a business, create jobs, grow your wealth is available in this country. And I don't think that is the reality that many Americans face when they see gas prices at $4.39, the highest that they've been since 2022. I don't think Americans feel that the opportunities are there for them. And that's frankly something that Donald Trump said he would create, opportunity.
PHILLIP: Okay, last word.
MARTIN: Here's what I'll say, is that the reality that I see is that the idea that we should just continue business as normal is just simply not working. We know that we had 1.1 million layoffs just last year alone. That's the highest number since when Trump was last president in 2020. And then even before that, the biggest number since the Great Recession.
So, at the reality that we stand today, I think instead of spending $400 million on a Qatari plane and all these other things that Trump is spending money on, let's put money towards universal childcare so that someone like your mom does not have to go and work two and three jobs to go and provide for her children.
PARRISH: Well, my mom's a hard worker. She would work two to three jobs anyway.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Well, she shouldn't have to do that.
PARRISH: We've come from a long line of --
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Well, you know what? Maybe you think that that should be something that should be done. I don't think that it should. I think our tax dollars should be spent better and Republicans are not spending it the way --
(CROSSTALK)
PARRISH: My point is simply this. If you want more, you go work for it. And that's been a landmark thing in this country for ages.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: All right --
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: Why should they get -- the workers who make the company go, why do they get it in the neck?
PARRISH: Look, your boss make, well, you have to be retired but your boss --
(CROSSTALK) MORAN: I'm working for myself. I'm not --
(CROSSTALK)
PARRISH: Oh, you're working for yourself. So, you went and did exactly what I'm talking about, you know. So, I mean, I don't, I don't get why this is such a bad thing for people to go and innovate, and go create something a little better for themselves.
(CROSSTALK)
MORAN: It's about doing the right thing. Doing the right thing.
MARTIN: (inaudible) -- we want better in this country.
PARRISH: Then create better for yourself.
PHILLIP: All right, next for us. Speaking of wealth, a new report says that Donald Trump's net worth is rising while his sons just scored another government deal. We'll discuss, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:49:36]
PHILLIP: Tonight, more accusations of conflicts of interest after a company backed by Donald Trump's sons announced it scored a lucrative deal with the Air Force. Power Us says that the U.S. military agreed to buy an undisclosed number of interceptor drones from them. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. both have denied ethics concerns about their business dealings, as has the company. But it also comes on the heels of a start-up backed by Eric Trump, landing a $24 million deal with the Pentagon last week.
[22:50:05]
It's starting to be a little bit of a pattern here, if I do say so. I mean, it is something that if another President's child had been getting involved in businesses that then immediately go and get contracts with the government, it would be a major ethical conflict, an ethical breach.
MARTIN: I mean, what's so absurd about this is that this was a company that was already in existence that then merged to a Trump venture that literally was a golf management company. They then merged, got into business with the Trumps, immediately got listed on the stock exchange, and then he went and got a $24 million contract. I mean, if that's not absurd, I don't know what it is. I don't even think SNL could come up with a more corrupt scheme than that. I don't really understand how really anyone could defend this.
And I can just say this. If that was Barack Obama's child, or Hunter Biden, or anybody that had done something like this, the conservatives would be running inside the Capitol --
(CROSSTALK) MORAN: And Hunter Biden was chicken feed compared to what the Trump family has done. This has got to be very high priority for Democrats because we don't want to become this country.
MARTIN: That's right.
MORAN: Right? There needs to be accountability. If Democrats take control of the House, it should be very high -- because once this gets into the bloodstream of a country, it's hard to get it out.
PARRISH: So, can I just level set with a question? Are the Trump family members supposed to not do business because their father is the president?
MORAN: With the government? Are they supposed to stop the government?
PHILLIP: Yes, they're supposed to not do business. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
PARRISH: I agree with that. Are they supposed to stop all their business ventures?
(CROSSTALK)
UNKNOWN: But it's not illegal, it's just the appearance.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Hold on, Tim. But here's -- I was going to ask this, I mean, or prose this to the table. One of the issues with what the Trump sons are doing is that many of these businesses are not like pre-existing businesses. They are new businesses. They are new endeavors that they have gotten into since the President was running, on a bet, a pretty good bet that maybe on crypto, their dad might have a say in it.
Drones, on robotics, on all sorts of things that have to do with things that their father is involved in. That's the problem. They were in real estate before this. Now, they're in all these other new businesses that their father has influence over. That is to answer your question.
SINGH: Can I also answer Tim's question? Because when I worked for Vice President Harris, one of the things that, you know, we have to consider is there are other family members that are working members in the community and what they do. And there was a very strict ethics rule that everyone had to sign, you know, myself, but up to the vice president, that there cannot be conflicts of interest, that you cannot profit off the presidency, especially for family members.
So, what the Trump family is doing and enriching themselves while their father is president is wrong. And that's something that we were very clear about in the Biden administration, because you could have had other people, Hunter Biden, others, profiting off of what the government is doing, but we didn't do that. And I think any other president -- Obama, Biden, totally different. (CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Jared Kushner, he's in business with the Saudis, and he's negotiating with them and with other Gulf states on behalf of the United States government. Again, the argument that from Kushner is, it's not a conflict of interest, it's just experience, except that he's still in business with them, has a financial interest in them coming out whole from any sort of interaction that they're in. How is that not a concern?
SEAT: Well, think there are fair questions that are being raised and we deserve answers, particularly on this drone issue. Who is this contractor? Are they the best one to deliver a needed and necessary tactical item and equipment? I mean, we need interceptor drones. Our method of warfare is outdated. We've been using conventional means. Asymmetric warfare is where things are going. I was in Taiwan two weeks ago and that's all they want to talk about.
They're talking about Iran. They're learning lessons from what's happening in Iran. And we need to step up our game. But the question is, is this contractor the one that should be doing it? Perhaps they have some proprietary means to build at scale that we don't know yet because we're only focused on the involvement of the Trump sons, but we should dig deeper. We should ask questions and I think we deserve answers.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: All right, next -- we got to leave it there. Next for us. The panel's going to give us their night caps, Cringe Dance edition. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:59:26]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: She hates when I dance, too, at the end. She goes, darling, please don't dance. It's not presidential.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Melania Trump apparently isn't a fan of her husband's YMCA move. So for tonight, and it's our nightcap, what song would you say is the most cringe worthy to see someone dance to? Tim.
PARRISH: Anytime when I was a kid, my mom would catch the Holy Ghost at church and there'd be like shouting music. She'd speak in tongues, jump over the pew and there goes mom. That was embarrassing when I was a kid.
SINGH: Something that's hard to watch other people dance to is "Pony" by Ginuwine.
[23:00:00]
PHILLIP: I tend to agree.
MORAN: Best concert I ever saw, Earth, Wind and Fire when they played "September." All the white people including me should have sat down.
PHILLIP: All right. Isaiah.
MARTIN: Anything Kid Rock. Because outside of Turning Point, who listens to that guy right?
SEAT: I'm going to pick up where the President left off. I don't think the song matters. I think the dance matters, and we should all do our best Trump dance.
PHILLIP: I'm going to say "Sweet Caroline" is mine. I went to a certain school in Boston and I heard that every time.
(CROSSTALK)
SEAT: You have a sense of humor, Isaiah.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Thank you very much for watching "NewsNight." You can catch our Saturday morning show, "Table for Five" at 10 A.M. Eastern. "Laura Coates Live" is right now.
