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Laura Coates Live
Trump Fires White House Press Secretary After Five Days; Trump Dines With Stephen A., Bill Maher, And Kid Rock At White House; Trump Rallies In Georgia As GOP Trails In Senate Race; Father And Teacher Teamed Up To Stop Oregon School Shooter. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired October 16, 2026 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: Thank you very much for watching "NewsNight." Tomorrow morning, be sure to catch "Table for Five" at 10 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. In the meantime, "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Tonight, White House turmoil with just 18 days to go until the midterms as the president fires his brand-new White House press secretary. Karine Jean-Pierre had the job, been there, did that, and she's live in studio tonight. Plus, Stephen A. Smith dined with President Trump, and I've got Stephen A. with me to tell us all about it tonight on "Laura Coates Live."
So, any good White House wants to project calm, confidence, right? Not bad decisions and regret, especially with just days to go until voters hit the polls. The last thing you want them to do or what to say is maybe hire a new White House press secretary on Monday or Friday, they're fired by Friday, right?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And I said -- I said to her, honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider. She has suffered over the last few days. And I'm not saying, you know, I mean, maybe it's not for her, but I said, you want to be happy in life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: And was like that, Katie Zacharia's tenure as White House press secretary went poof. It was just Tuesday where she struggled in her first and only briefing. That was what? Just 14 minutes? And then came the questions about her use of the word "lawyer."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: You took the bar exam, but you didn't pass the bar exam. Correct?
KATIE ZACHARIA, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, Sean.
HANNITY: OK. So, you said you consulted with many people, and they advised you that it was OK to call yourself a lawyer but not an attorney. Correct?
ZACHARIA: Correct.
HANNITY: OK. There's a report out tonight that showed 15 social media posts where you identify yourself as an attorney.
ZACHARIA: I think they were retweets. And I corrected the record and said that there's not endorsing the title, they were retweets of a title that had been given.
HANNITY: Why didn't you just say, I never practiced law?
ZACHARIA: Well, Sean, when I moved back from the United States, I didn't retake the bar. I had four kids in six years. It was never my intent to go into the practice of law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: A brutal Fox News interview last night. Cringy to watch, right? That may have sealed her fate. CNN reports that while Trump didn't initially think that her press briefing was all that bad, he later became embarrassed by the coverage and the aftermath.
Before you think Trump was forced to pick her or got some bad advice or something, no, no, this was all him, apparently. Even his sources say that she was basically unvetted. Trump really loved that she had never said anything bad about him. And when he offered her the job, you know, his chief of staff was not even in the room.
Well, publicly, Zacharia is putting on a good face. In her statement tonight, she called Trump kind and generous and said it was an honor to work for him. The irony here is that Trump wanted someone in the role because he had gotten frustrated that no one was out there pushing his midterm message which, again, adds to more irony because he has been criticized for months for wasting opportunities to do just that in favor of hyping construction projects instead.
Well, now, not only is that still not happening, but the message voters see today, well, it looks like this: Trump's team is in chaos as midterms enter the final stretch and the obligatory Zacharia out as press secretary in half a Scaramucci.
[23:05:04]
My first guest tonight knows exactly how this job is supposed to be handled. White House press secretary under President Joe Biden, Karine Jean-Pierre, joins me now. All right, I mean --
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Hi, Laura.
COATES: -- the perfect person to ask about this because you know everyone will sort of opine. If that were me, this is how I would act. Well, it was you in those shoes --
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes.
COATES: -- walking that walk, talking the talk in front of that podium.
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes.
COATES: What does it take to be in those shoes?
JEAN-PIERRE: Two and a half years, I did that job. It takes preparation, you have to prepare, and that preparation could take months, weeks. And it is hours of doing that on a daily basis because you know that once you walk into that briefing room, you have to be as prepared as you can be. And even with that preparation, you could still have some mishaps. But the job, it requires you to learn, to be open to learning, to take in a lot of information, and to speak on behalf of the president.
It is not an easy job. People say it is one of the hardest jobs in D.C., in the country, and it is. I mean, you're in a room where 75 to 100 reporters are in there, and you're going back and forth. You're having to talk about foreign policy, domestic policy.
COATES: Sometimes sparring.
JEAN-PIERRE: Sparring. Exactly. And so, it is clear that she was not prepared. I think she was set up to fail.
COATES: By whom?
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, you said it perfectly at the top. You said it is all him. It is all him. What we saw this week is indicative of how he manages his team. This is Donald Trump I'm speaking of, obviously, and how he manages the country, right?
I mean, she wasn't vetted, she wasn't prepared, and when they were done with her, they cut her loose and threw her through the wolves. I mean, this is how this Trump administration manages people. This is how they move through the world.
COATES: I want to unpack more because I think it's -- I don't think it's lost on people that this was a mistake. However, explain why a lack of preparation in that particular role, a lack of vetting in that particular role, could have catastrophic consequences. It is not just ego bruises, which I'm sure she's enduring. It's very difficult, I'm sure.
JEAN-PIERRE: And to be fair, we all have ego bruises, right?
COATES: Sure, but this is the White House press secretary.
JEAN-PIERRE: A hundred percent.
COATES: What do you say to crash a market or start a war?
JEAN-PIERRE: Exactly, and that's what I was going to say. It is what you say at the podium. It's not just the reporters are in the room. Obviously, the reporters are very important and what you're saying is going to be written up, reported about. And then, you know, it's the audience, right? The American people that are watching. But you have heads of states who are watching. They are watching that briefing to see what is the White House saying, what is the president's spokesperson saying about X, Y, and Z. It is important to them.
The stock market, you have to be careful as a White House press secretary what you say, because if you are coming from a responsible administration, you want to make sure you're not tinkering with that, you're not -- you know, making sure that you're not, you know, doing something to the economy that's going to hurt the American people.
So, there are things about that job that you have to be super careful, super mindful, and you are aware of what you can say and cannot say because of the ramifications it could have. It is an important job in that regard.
COATES: You know, a president obviously needs to have an advocate behind that microphone, not just on behalf of the American people. But tell me about the role of somebody who is not nimble --
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes.
COATES: -- who couldn't necessarily spar but who on this very minor issue -- again, you don't need to have a law degree to be the White House press secretary.
JEAN-PIERRE: No, you don't, which is funny. That's some footy (ph) there. It kept on coming --
COATES: It's ironic, right? You don`t need it.
JEAN-PIERRE: You don`t need it.
COATES: But you need credibility.
JEAN-PIERRE: You need credibility, and not just in the room with the reporters but with the president of the United States, right? That role is chosen by the president. It is a role that he has to sign off on and, hopefully, she, one day, and it is because you are the voice of that person, of that administration, and you are trying to sell the message, give the message to the American people. It is such a critical role, and it is unfortunate.
And look, I don't have that much sympathy for her because you have to understand what it's like to work for Donald Trump. You have to understand how he treats his people. You have to understand, hey, you know what? At some point, he's going to throw you to the wolves, and he's going to humiliate you. That is what it's like to work for this administration. So, you have to be aware of what you're getting yourself into. And so, yes, preparation, doing it for weeks.
[23:09:55]
I mean, even when I did it, I will tell you, when I did the role, I had an amazing team behind me. And so, we made sure I prepared for hours, got everything that I needed, prepped for hours. COATES: Every day?
JEAN-PIERRE: Every day. Every day. And even after we did the briefing, we would sit around and be like, OK, how do -- how do we do this better? How do we make sure that we answer this sharper? What was missing from the day? It is a constant, constant form of exercise, a process of trying to get that information so you can give it to the American people, to the reporters in that room. And then, you know, we don't take four questions. You take dozens of questions for 40 to 60 minutes. That's the job. That's the job.
COATES: Well, it might one day be again. We'll see who gets the next job. Karine Jean-Pierre, a pleasure to have you here, really.
JEAN-PIERRE: Thanks, Laura.
COATES: Thank you. I want to meet my panel for tonight, the host of "The Jason Rantz Show," Jason Rantz, CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers, and journalist Chris Whipple, who's the author of "The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency."
Let's begin with you, Jason. Look at the clock, calendar, 18 days until Election Day, and instead of driving this unifying message, Republicans are dealing with the fallout of Katie Zacharia's firing after just five days on the job and, by the way, just one press briefing. How does this impact competitive races across the country?
JASON RANTZ, PODCAST HOST: Oh, I don't think it impacts competitive races. I think it's embarrassing. It takes a little bit of attention for this weekend and into the weekend away from the president and some of his rallies.
But I don't think this is going to have any impact on any sort of race. I mean, she represented, however briefly, the president. She did not represent anyone on the campaign trail.
They're still campaigning. They're still giving their speeches. They're still doing their rallies. And I do think this is one of those issues that is important.
It's interesting. I like the drama myself. But I don't think the average voter right now is talking about this. We've heard this from Democrats, right? That the real issue that people are talking about is cost of living. This is not cost of living, and I don't think this is going to connect with as many people as maybe some of us who really are interested in this. And again, I'm really interested in this, but I don't think the majority of Americans are.
COATES: See, Bakari, I don't see it as purely palace intrigue. I mean, Democrats have spent months warning voters about chaos under the administration. And I think if people believe that affordability is their number one issue, and for many people it is, they want a unified administration that's spearheaded by competent people to do that very thing.
How do Democrats turn this or acknowledge this or look at this and turn it into a closing argument for voters? Can they?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think they can, and I think the reason they can is because this simply shows the disarray that is around Donald Trump and his leadership. I mean, this has been since day one. This has been since 2016. This is not something that's new.
Look, she is someone who was ill-qualified, someone who should have not been in the role, and yet and still she got this job. I mean, Republicans for a long period of time have talked about DEI. They talked about someone who was not equipped and got a job simply because of how they looked or the color of their skin or who they prayed to or who they loved, and yet and still, we had this young lady who got a job because she was someone who was close to Donald Trump. And there is no one, literally no one, including Donald Trump, who can say she was qualified for this role.
KJP, who we just had on air, was held to a totally different standard. This young lady, God bless her. I mean, in South Carolina, we have a saying, bless your heart, bless your heart. I mean, she was thrown in the deep end. She did not perform well at all. She should have never had the opportunity to have this job.
Our colleague, Scott Jennings, would have been 10 times better. Everyone knows that. And it's fascinating to see how Donald Trump continues to fail at just basic things, like appointing someone who can be someone to speak for you.
COATES: Chris, "The Washington Post" is reporting that White House aides, they're bracing for a post-midterm shakeup, including one of the people who was not even in the room when an offer was made for Zacharia to become the White House press secretary, the chief of staff, Susie Wiles. I mean, these are highly important, highly stressful jobs, but Wiles is Trump's longest-serving chief of staff. So, what exactly has been her secret sauce for survival up to this point, and what would her potential exit mean?
CHRIS WHIPPLE, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR, CONTRIBUTING WRITER AT VANITY FAIR, FORMER PRODUCER OF "60 MINUTES": Well, look, I would not count on her potential exit any time soon. I mean, I wrote a big piece about her for Vanity Fair last December, after which everyone predicted that she was toast. She shrugged it off and just kept on going.
And there's a reason for that, and the reason is that she has a kind of magic with Donald Trump. Donald Trump trusts Susie Wiles in a way that he never did any of his -- any of her predecessors.
[23:15:03]
It goes back to the time in the trenches, in the elections of 2016 and 2020 and 2024. Even to their first meeting, when Trump was in awe of being in the presence of the daughter of Pat Summerall, his hero, the broadcaster, they have a unique relationship. And so, I don't think she's going anywhere any time soon.
COATES: Then why wasn't she in the room when an offer was made, if you trust her so much? What do you think?
WHIPPLE: Well, look, I think that Trump freelances frequently. I think that there's a lot of stuff that Susie Wiles is probably really not happy about, including the fact that not only the hiring of this most recent press secretary, but also the fact that her deputy, James Blair and Chris LaCivita, are off trying to get a Russian-leaning government elected.
You know, it's not a good look, and I'm sure she's not happy about it. And Trump is also pissed off. And so, I think he's making it clear that he's not happy, but that's a far cry from replacing Susie Wiles. I don't think he has a plan B. I really think that Susie Wiles is somebody that he depends on.
COATES: Bakari, you're shaking your head. What's your thought?
SELLERS: No, I agree. I mean, listen, this isn't an opportunity where you go from like Reince Priebus to Mick Mulvaney to X, Y, Z. At the end of the day, Trump is in his second term. After November 3rd, November 4th, Trump is going to be a lame duck as the lamest of them are, and reason it is is because simply he's going to lose power because they're going to lose seats. And so, there's not going to be someone with any level of gravitas that wants to go over and serve in this role.
I think you're absolutely correct. I mean, Susie Wiles is. There are Democrats who will tell you today that the people who make government work are people like Susie Wiles, period. It's not Donald Trump, it's not Donald Trump Jr., it's not anyone else. The people who are ensuring that government is working is Susie Wiles. I think for the betterment of the country, we should hope that she's there because no one else wants that job.
COATES: To be clear, the president is saying that she's not going anywhere. But Jason, back to the original point about this, I mean, this is the timing of it, the midterms, 18 days away. The fact that this is even the conversation about who will be the mouthpiece of an administration that needs to sell their message, does that suggest to you that Republicans are all the more vulnerable at being able to convince voters at this late hour?
RANTZ: No. I think they're as vulnerable today as they were a month or two ago and three months ago. I mean, the numbers and the reality is what the reality is. It doesn't matter if you have a spokesperson, you have the best spokesperson in the world. That's not going to change some of the realities on the ground for voters who are souring on the direction that we're headed.
But I also think that we are overstating the issues at the midterms. I -- you know, I've been talking about this for a while. I don't trust the polling. I think we're underestimating Republicans. And as we've heard on this network, if you're underestimating by two or three points, this is a completely different ballgame. And I think that's going to come into play in places like Texas and Iowa and all the other states. I mean, we're talking about, even in the case of Susie Wiles, this appears to be made up. This was not sourced to anything that is close to reality, according to the people on the ground and the people who actually know this. And there's a question as to whether or not this is being put out there to create this sense of chaos where none exists. And this would not be the first time. You might not like some of the other people who we've had these reports on, but we've been told others would be fired, and they haven't been.
COATES: Well, to be clear, I'm not suggesting she is leaving. I asked about the secret sauce, and I'm so curious what that will do.
RANTZ: Not you. Yes.
COATES: No. I'm not defensive. I'm just telling you the truth. But I will come back and talk more about these issues. Chris Whipple, thank you so much. Jason and Bakari, stick around.
Coming up, President Trump, Bill Maher, Stephen A. Smith, and Kid Rock walked into the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're very informative and smart people. Stephen A. is great.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: So, what did they talk about for over four hours? Let's ask Stephen A. He's joining me next.
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[23:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: So, there was a dinner party at the White House last night, and it included a comedian, a rock star, and a sportscaster and host who Trump called "low I.Q." just a few months ago. Apparently, this group dinner came together after Trump told Bill Maher to invite a couple people over for dinner. So, Maher called up Kid Rock and Stephen A. Smith, and they all, apparently, agreed on one thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KID ROCK, MUSICIAN, SINGER-SONGWRITER: One thing we all wholeheartedly agreed on is that socialism and communism has no place to have a foothold in our government. It was epic. And the thing that I think was the greatest, there are so many points, I could do a whole hour on it, is that, you know, two Democrats, two Republicans sit down, break bread.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: I want to welcome one of those guests now, Stephen A. Smith, the host of "Straight Shooter" on SiriusXM and "First Take" on ESPN, who I know is also an independent, so he got at least one part wrong about what you were saying. But let's just talk about this, Stephen A. Why did you think it was important for you to attend this dinner last night?
STEPHEN A. SMITH, TELEVISION PERSONALITY, RADIO HOST, SPORTS ANALYST, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, ACTOR: Well, first of all, you know, for me, personally, I'm an ambassador for HBCU Week. HBCUs are incredibly important to me.
[23:25:01]
Additional funding is always something that we covet. Make no mistake about that. You know, a lady, a wonderful woman by the name of Ashley Christopher is the founder and CEO of HBCU Week. I'm the ambassador. Since 2019, we've raised about $150 million for over 12,000 students.
So, any time I have an opportunity to address those concerns and to speak to somebody in a position of influence to assist in generating revenue and notoriety for an HBCU, I'm certainly not going to pass that up. Obviously, when it comes to the president of the United States --
COATES: So, what did you say because, obviously, HBCUs, I mean, there has been issue with funding, there has been talk about tackling DEI, undermining it. The combination you've been speaking about has had a detrimental effect on Black graduates wholeheartedly. So, what did you say to the president and what was his response?
SMITH: Well, I said exactly that. I said that, you know what? You know, you keep focusing on the FUTURES Act where -- you know, when you're talking about $255 million that goes to HBCUs every year and how HBCUs don't have to come back for it because you're the first president that mandated it every single year. Fine, good, and dandy, but the reality is because of DEI, your policies, it has dissuaded corporations on the outside from being as charitable and philanthropic as they may have been in the past because they're fearful that you're going to come after them because of your DEI policies.
He actually looked me in the face and said he didn't think about that. They're having meetings next week. It was something that he absolutely positively will address. He said he'll see what he can do about that. He didn't make any promises, in fairness to him, but he did say he hadn't thought about that and that's something that he would think about because he was thinking that he has been doing more than enough for HBCUs.
I said, no, sir, respectfully, you know, there's a lot of money that was coming from the outside, you're conservative in office, you believe in free market capitalism, these are the kind of things that you all talk about, yet there's a free market out there willing to contribute to HBCUs that's being curtailed from doing so because they're fearful of your reaction to all of that.
So, he promised that he would look into it. That was just one of the things that he talked about -- COATES: Did you believe him, though, on that statement? I'm curious on that because, obviously, he must know, having litigated and taken universities, for example, to court on issues surrounding this very issue of DEI, not even HBCUs. Do you believe that he did not contemplate that and do you believe that --
SMITH: You know what?
COATES: -- he does not -- he did not see the intimidation tactic?
SMITH: Genuinely, I did not get into nor did I think about what he knew or didn't know. I was in his face for the first time. This is the first time I've seen him face-to-face in over a decade and a half, and I saw it as an opportunity to make my case. Yes, obviously, we've known each other for many, many years, even though we've never spoken outside of one interview since he became president of the United States. So, this was the first opportunity that I've had to be in front of his face in at least 13 or 14 years, and I took that as an opportunity to make my case for HBCUs.
We also talk about affordability issues. We talked about over 300,000 Black women being unemployed or losing their federal jobs. He decried that. He debunked that, actually. He was saying that's not true at all. He said, yes, they got let go by the federal government as we downsized, but a lot of those folks became entrepreneurs, and they picked up jobs in a private sector that's probably paying them double.
Now, I didn't have those particular facts available to me, but I said, you do understand there's a lot of Black women who would stand up and absolutely positively refute that, and that was him then transitioning to getting into the economy and, obviously, everything is wonderful in his eyes.
Affordability issue right now, people may be talking about that. But you just wait and see in the months to come how much greater it gets. Trillions of dollars are coming into our economy. The market is going to be fantastic. Everything is going to be fantastic. And I said, well, where's the evidence? Did you write any of it down? Is anybody committed to it in writing? You'll see. Just watch. You'll see. Everything is going to be great.
COATES: So, when you challenged him about these things --
SMITH: That was his position.
COATES: Well, when you challenged him -- obviously, I know you're giving us the back and forth, but when you challenged him on these things, did he have a substantive response about how he planned to do so? Did he give you any insight as to how he thinks the midterms are going to go? He's obviously in a lame-duck administration, and yet he seems optimistic, he feels, about holding on to the House and the Senate.
SMITH: As it pertains to the economy, no, he says what he always says. He firmly believes in himself. And the minute the Iran war ends, everything will get better almost instantly. That's his position, is he can destroy them now. It's just a matter of whether he wants to destroy them now or let them destroy themselves from within eventually, and then, obviously, everything gets better. That's his mentality.
As it pertains to the other things that you brought up and particularly the midterms, no matter what he says, he knows what history tells us. The incumbent in office, that party usually loses in the midterms. He's hearing all the noise about how the Dems are going to win back the House, how the Republicans will probably hold on to the Senate.
[23:30:00]
I got the impression that he somewhat believes that's going to be a reality, but he's working hard to debunk it or rather to fend it off, and to make sure that it's something that he can do for the GOP.
COATES: What gave you that impression? What was he saying or doing? I don't want to cut you off, but I'm curious.
SMITH: Well, he was saying that he's going -- he was saying, I'm going to campaign, I'm going to go all over this country, I'll do whatever I have to do to help whoever I have to do because the people love me. I said, sir, the polls show you in the 30-percentile in terms of popularity. He said, did you know that 99 percent of the Republicans actually approve of me? So, the people out there that are conservatives, that are Republicans, they love me, I love them, they will vote the way that I want them to vote.
That's how he feels. That's the level of confidence that he has. But the confidence, as I said to him, as Bill Maher said to him, that's a confidence in yourself as opposed to those running for office or for re-election in the midterms. That's an entirely different thing. So, we'll see what happens.
COATES: Well, talk to me. I mean, this is -- I understand you didn't anticipate this being more than 20 minutes, maybe 30 minutes. It was about four hours of the evening. You got a tour of the --
SMITH: Four hours and 20 minutes.
COATES: First of all, I've got to tell you, I was taken aback by that, because this is the president of the United States. And while I do love speaking with you and Bill Maher, I don't know Kid Rock at all, but the idea of the president of the United States having four hours to do all this conversation, did that surprise you, that he was so generous with his time, given all the things that are going on?
SMITH: It was shocking. It was shocking. I certainly didn't expect that amount of time. I knew that we were expecting to have dinner. I knew that we were going to have an opportunity to talk. I give him all the credit in the world because he didn't run from any questions. Anything we asked him, he kept coming back at us with the things that he had to say, his belief, in terms of what he had to say.
But he also took us for a tour of the White House, took us to the West Wing, took us to the Rose Garden, took us to the Colonnade where you got pictures of every single president but Joe Biden. Instead of Joe Biden's picture being there, it was a picture of the autopen. I said, come on, man, that's cruel. He said, actually, it's very funny, and he laughed about it and just kept moving on. He said, but he was a terrible president, he has hurt this country, and I don't feel any regrets about it whatsoever. That was his position. He was immovable in that regard.
He definitely took us to see, you know, the ballroom that they are trying to build right now. Of course, the heliport outside where the UFC event was. He is very proud of what's transpiring right now because he felt that the White House was in desperate need of upgrades.
It's the White House, it's the hub of power in this country, and he believes it was absolutely shameful that it hadn't been renovated in over a hundred years. He thought it was an utter disgrace, and he says, I'm here to fix it, like I have to fix everything, because I am the greatest president in the history of the United States of America. You do know that, right? You do know that. That's what he was saying.
COATES: And that was a straight case he was saying.
SMITH: And, you know, he just kept going. No matter what we threw at him, that's what he was saying.
COATES: I know we've got to go, but rapid fire, really quick, did he talk about Talarico?
SMITH: Yes.
COATES: What did he say?
SMITH: I went off about Paxton. Well, he talked about Talarico. He calls him "Talafreako." That's what he says, not me. But I said to him, the real problem is Ken Paxton. It's a damn shame that an attorney general that's running for the United States Senate in a state like Texas with 31 million people is sitting around scared to debate and hasn't shown up for a debate in 12 years. That is a disgrace to me. He should be unqualified for the job.
COATES: And what did he say?
SMITH: You can't show up to debate. He was, like, you have a good point there, you have a good point.
COATES: OK.
SMITH: That's all he said.
COATES: Last question. Did you know that he was going to fire the White House press secretary as of last night?
SMITH: I had no idea.
COATES: All right. Well, Stephen A., I'll ask you about the menu another time. Thank you so much.
SMITH: All righty. Take care.
COATES: Still ahead, President Trump rallying the base in a deep red corner of Georgia as some Republicans begin to write off the state. Is Trump doing more harm than good? The panel debates it next.
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[23:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This has been considered by, I think, almost everyone to be the most successful two years. And we're not even close to the two years. We've got four months to go of a president in history. It's the most successful two years of a presidency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Is that the closing message Republicans want to hear from President Trump? I mean, right now? The president was in battleground Georgia tonight to stump for GOP candidates as his hand-picked choice for Senate, Mike Collins, has struggled to gain ground against Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff. Republicans, well, they were initially eager to unseat Ossoff, who many see as a potential political candidate in 2028. Listen to what Trump had to say, though, about him earlier.
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TRUMP: Eighteen days from now, the people of Georgia are going to defeat your weak, arrogant, hate-filled, radical-left senator who is really -- I call him Pee-wee Herman. Pee-wee Herman! Looks like Pee- wee. His name is Jon Ossoff. Highly overrated. Somebody said, he's a good-looking man. I don't think he's a good-looking man. I actually think Mike Collins is a good-looking man.
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And he's an old man.
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He's an old man. I'm not sure about Ossoff.
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COATES: OK. Jason Rantz and Bakari Sellers are both back with me. I'm not going to ask either of you your interpretation or analysis on that particular point, but Jason, is this the kind of name-calling or references that are going to actually motivate Republican voters to turn out in significant enough numbers and make a case against Democrats? RANTZ: Yes. He's talking specifically to the base, and the base needs to get motivated. You'll recall, of course, he did these kinds of rallies when he was running for president, and he wasn't supposed to win, and then he did, because he was able to motivate folks who generally don't actually vote.
And, you know, it's anecdotal. But I was looking at some of the reporting today from people on the ground who are not necessarily from conservative outlets, who were saying they were talking to the crowd, and they were getting a sense of energy. They were getting told that they were seeing friends of friends and friends deciding to actually vote, and that's what the president is trying to do there.
I don't know if it's going to be successful, specifically in Georgia. But keep in mind, when he's doing these rallies, it's not just for the state that he's talking to. These are clips that get cut up and then shared on social media, and then it goes through sort of the Trump fan base on X and on Facebook and elsewhere, and it gets people excited and talking.
He's running in a midterm. The party in power does not do well. And so, he's got to get as many of his base to go out there and support. There's the risk of alienating some of the independents.
COATES: Yes.
RANTZ: There's no doubt about that. But I think most people at this point kind of already know how they feel about Donald Trump, and I don't think they're looking at these rallies and it's not moving the needle for them. This is specifically about the base.
COATES: Well, Bakari, he's not actually on the ballot. So, I can take Jason's points certainly and very fair. But he wants people to pretend he's on the ballot in order to harken back to what his success story has been in the past, in spite of a lot of criticism.
But let's talk about his years as president this second term around. Is the president handing a gift to Democrats by claiming these were the two most successful years of any presidency, even in spite of Trump's many instances of hyperbole? Bakari? Oh, I can't hear him for some reason.
SELLERS: There are a couple of things.
COATES: Oh, there we go.
SELLERS: There are two points I would make. Yes, there are two points I would make. The first is that Donald Trump's MAGA base is non- transferable. I mean, it's the equivalent of Ticketmaster, right? To Mike Collins or any other individual who's running for office. Jason knows that. I know that as well. We've seen it. The numbers actually add up to the fact that people come out and vote for Donald Trump. They don't come out and necessarily vote outside of a Republican primary for people Donald Trump supports. That's one.
Two, his presidency has sucked, and Republicans recognize that. Inflation, the reason he was elected was to drive down prices. A never-ending war, gas prices going up, fertilizer prices going up. I mean, outside of the stock market, there have been no tangible gains.
I was just looking at a report today, and it's ironic. You have Mike Rogers and others who are campaigning in Black communities, Byron Donalds. African Americans have lost 20 percent of their net wealth since Donald Trump has been president of the United States over the last two years.
I mean, where people are sitting around their kitchen table and saying, oh, my God, give me two more years of this. And for whatever it is, Republicans have had the House, the Senate, and the presidency.
And Democrats just simply have to look at voters in the face and say, the last two years have sucked, we'll do better than that. And then Democrats on November 4th, as we look into 2028, will then have to actually produce. That is the question. That has been something Democrats have not been able to do, but we have to actually capitalize on our promises that have been made.
COATES: Well, that to me, Jason, seems like the entire ball game, being able to convince voters that you aren't just going to be different, but that you can hit the ground running with productivity and efficiency in stark contrast on the philosophies with actually what happened. Do you think the Democrats are making the case for themselves that they will be able to do that?
RANTZ: No. I think the Democrats by and large have been talking about how bad Donald Trump is. They talk more globally, right? They talk about how we're going to do this and we're going to do that, but not actually tell you how they're going to get prices down beyond, when we're going to end the war in Iran.
OK, cool, that is a talking point that you can use and I think that is probably effective, but you haven't really heard anything outside of the folks who are not good spokespeople for the Democratic Party because they're not actually Democrats, which are the Democratic socialists of America.
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I mean, they have very specific ideas. And some of the candidates who are kind of adjacent to them, like an Abdul El-Sayed talking about Medicare for all, that's at least a specific plan. But I don't think that plan is going to go over well once you actually look at, one, can it actually be done, and it's not going to be done with the mainstream Democrats who are going to be in charge, and two, once you start to actually look at how expensive it is and how you would end up losing your healthcare coverage that you currently have, it becomes even more and more unpopular.
The whole idea of socialism on paper to people who don't actually know what socialism is, and I think most people probably can't define it, but the way it's pitched to them sounds really, really great, sounds really, really populous. But the reality is the people who are pitching it and actually do know what it stands for, what it means, those people getting elected, they're going to hold positions that are not very popular with the American people.
COATES: And yet, people have criticized the president for taking on policies and advocating for such that does sound a lot like socialism. So, I wonder how the voters will square that as well. Jason Rantz, Bakari Sellers, thank you both.
And remember, this weekend, I'll be hosting a special midterms edition of "Laura Coates Live." That's Sunday night at 8 Eastern on CNN and streaming live with an "All Access" subscription.
Hey, coming up, the hero, and I do mean hero. Authorities releasing new details about the father who took down a gunman at an Oregon elementary school, and I want to tell you about the teacher who helped him.
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COATES: Tonight, another member of the South Bend community is being hailed as a hero for trying to take down the shooter who killed four people in yesterday's shooting at an Oregon elementary school.
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CHIEF MIKE KRANTZ, POLICE CHIEF, BEND, OREGON: In addition to the 36- year-old man who bravely stepped in to stop the suspect, I want to highlight another person whose heroic action we need to recognize. The teacher in the classroom threw her cell phone at the suspect, and then tackled him and fought to take the firearm from him. She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed.
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COATES: Police also revealed some of the identities of the victims. The youngest was Rhoam Summers, just five years old. His aunt said he was a fearless climber who loved reading and his stuffed animals. Twenty-five-year-old teacher Megan Lambert was also killed. Her family said that this was her dream job. They described her as compassionate and someone who fought for the underdog and those with special needs.
I want to talk more about the latest in the investigation with the former FBI supervisory special agent, Jason Pack. Jason, it's so unbelievable to even think that this could happen anywhere, let alone has happened again. Authorities still do not have a clear motive, but we did learn that the shooter previously attended this school as a special needs student and that he attacked a special needs classroom. How important are these details as investigators try to understand why he would do something like this?
JASON PACK, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT, HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Yes, Laura, just horrific to hear these little ones being interviewed on television with their parents' permission. They should never have to talk about anything like that. But the police now have like a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle with about 4,000 pieces missing. These are these types of cases.
So, these data points of him being a former special needs student and also attending that school are some things they'll have to marry up with some of the evidence they're collecting, some of the interviews from the witnesses, and the interviews from the associates and the relatives of this shooter.
So, they've got a lot of search warrants out there. We've heard from Chief Krantz there talking about the search warrants they've executed. It will take some time to get that back, and then we'll be able to compare what that says to see if there's any possible reason that they could find that this might have happened.
COATES: I mean, they've also executed a search warrant at the shooter's home. They've recovered computers, other electronic devices. Tell me about these pieces and trying to look at his digital footprint.
PACK: Those are usually the important clues because that may be what we call leakage when somebody is on this pathway to violence. Oftentimes, there are motivations inside of digital devices or people they talk to. Maybe sometimes they don't talk to people in person but they're doing it online somewhere. So, that's really why they're trying to look at this.
In these types of cases, Laura, as you know, there's no one thing. A plus B does not always equal C in these. There's not one single thing probably that motivated this person to do that. They're going to have to take bits and pieces of that. You know, they figured out who the shooter was in five minutes, but it could take five months to figure out what was going on between his ears there.
So, they have a lot of work to do. They've made a lot of progress. Hopefully, they'll be able to get some answers for these grieving families there in Bend.
COATES: You know, CNN has learned that the shooter's parents were interviewed by investigators and that they are cooperating. An official also tells us the gun had been purchased by his mother. She told CNN that she saw no red flags and would not comment on how he accessed the gun. Are authorities going to look to hold the parents criminally responsible or evaluate whether that is even an issue here?
PACK: Yes. First, I think they're going to take care of the families that are grieving. During the course of the investigation, they'll certainly look to see if any state laws or federal laws were violated as they go along. I think the parents, it sounds like they're trying to be as cooperative as possible, but at the same time, they don't want to go too far to incriminate themselves if that's the case here. We don't know that for sure --
COATES: Right.
PACK: -- but it seems plausible that that could be what it was. COATES: We don't know, and we don't want to get ahead of our skis, but they are speaking to investigators who've learned that, and I'm sure we'll find out more information as the investigation unfolds.
[23:55:00]
The gun that was used, though, Jason, is being described as a sort of beginner shotgun designed for young shooters. Was does it tell you about his level of expertise here?
PACK: Well, depending on the size of the stock of that, it's still a 12-gauge shotgun. So, no matter if it's smaller or able to be handled by a younger person, it's still just as deadly. It's different than a rifle because it has that pump action where you have to whack the shotgun.
We did hear in the press conference there were three types of ammunition, the buckshot, the birdshot, and that rifled slug which can penetrate most anything. The tactical teams use breaching with shotguns as ways to end the building sometimes. So, probably looking to see if that may be how he actually entered and got through those doors.
COATES: Well, we've been talking about the shooter, but our hearts and minds are with those families. Jason Pack, thank you so much.
Remember, you can stream my show live or watch on-demand any time with an "All Access" subscription. Just scan the Q.R. code on your screen or go to cnn.com/watch to learn more. And thank you all for watching. You can see my Instagram live next for a quick moment after the show. "The Story Is with Elex Michaelson" is up next.
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