Transcript [00:00] Hey everyone, so today we're going to [00:01] talk about the uh [00:04] a story that a lot of people are talking [00:06] about now, which is this flight that [00:08] President Trump took [00:10] home from Turkey, home from Ankara, when [00:12] he went to the NATO summit, where he [00:14] apparently wasn't on the plane that he [00:16] claimed to be on. And at first when I [00:18] heard about the story, I was like, [00:19] "Yeah, really, who cares? Why is this [00:21] such a big story?" But as you'll see, [00:23] we're going to go through it, and there [00:24] are a number of issues that this story [00:26] raises that are actually worth thinking [00:28] about, worth talking about. And I want [00:30] to present them to you in a kind of [00:31] unbiased way, just uh just let you know [00:33] what people are saying about it. [00:35] And uh [00:37] yeah, and just like raise the issues [00:38] that it that it raises, cuz it is an [00:40] interesting story. [00:42] Uh more interesting than I thought it [00:43] was at first. Uh so let's get into it, [00:45] and uh let's hit the headlines. Here we [00:47] go. Iran I- Israeli intel on Iranian [00:50] plot said to have spurred decision to [00:53] sneak Trump [00:55] off Air Force One. [00:57] Okay, what is this? And this is uh this [01:00] was published uh today [01:02] on the 12th. Israel told the United [01:03] States about the Iranian assassination [01:05] threat that prompted the US Secret [01:07] Service to take President Donald Trump [01:09] off Air Force One and transfer him in a [01:12] catering truck to a military plane as he [01:15] prepared to fly out of Turkey last [01:17] month, The Wall Street Journal reported [01:19] Tuesday, yesterday, citing an unnamed US [01:23] official. Later Tuesday, Trump confirmed [01:25] that he had indeed been smuggled off Air [01:27] Force One in Ankara because of this [01:30] because the Secret Service and US [01:32] military told him to switch planes. [01:35] Israeli intelligence indicated that Iran [01:37] was plotting to use shoulder-to-air [01:40] missiles to take down Trump's plane, [01:42] according to The Wall Street Journal [01:44] report. Senior Trump aides, including [01:47] Secretary of State Marco Rubio, remained [01:49] on the plane despite the threat, the [01:51] official said. That's interesting. [01:53] The Wall Street Journal reported last [01:54] month that Israeli intelligence had [01:56] indicated a new plot was in development [01:59] to assassinate the US president but did [02:02] not provide details. [02:06] Trump had flown to the NATO summit in [02:07] Ankara aboard a newly renovated Qatari [02:10] donated jet. The trip was the first [02:12] international travel for the new plane [02:14] whose speedy upgrades triggered [02:16] questions over its cost and security and [02:19] took place as hostilities escalated with [02:22] Iran which borders Turkey. [02:25] Before departing the Turkish capital, [02:27] Trump said he would instead use an old [02:29] an older baby blue Air Force One plane [02:32] for old time's sake to RAF Mildenhall in [02:37] Britain [02:38] while the new Qatari gifted plane [02:40] stopped at the same base so US service [02:42] members stationed there could tour the [02:45] aircraft. But after Trump boarded the [02:47] old Air Force One in front of cameras in [02:49] Ankara, he was secretly shuttled by an [02:52] airport catering truck to a smaller [02:54] plane on Air Force C-32A, the Washington [02:58] Post the Washington Post revealed [03:00] Monday. [03:01] The report on Trump being clandestinely [03:03] put on a third aircraft and quietly [03:06] whisked out of the country added a fresh [03:08] layer to just how seriously concerned US [03:11] security officials were about the threat [03:13] against the president during the ongoing [03:15] war with Iran. The regime has been [03:17] publicly pledging to assassinate Trump [03:19] since the US killed Iranian IRGC Quds [03:23] Force General Qassem Soleimani during [03:25] his first term in 2020. Calls for the US [03:28] president's death featured prominently [03:30] in the recent morning commemorations for [03:32] slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali [03:35] Khamenei. [03:36] Trump confirmed the Washington Post [03:38] report later Tuesday telling reporters [03:41] that he slipped away from Air Force One [03:43] after the summit in Turkey because the [03:45] Secret Service and military wanted him [03:48] on a different plane. Quote, I go by [03:51] Secret Service and the military. They [03:53] wanted me to go in a different flight, [03:55] different plane, Trump said. [03:58] Besides the alleged Iranian plans, there [04:00] have been multiple assassination [04:01] attempts against Trump. More Most [04:03] recently, eight eight men were indicted [04:06] last month on murder and terrorism [04:09] conspiracy charges for their alleged [04:11] roles in a thwarted plot to target [04:13] officials linked to Israel, including [04:15] Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, other [04:18] federal officials, trillionaire [04:20] businessman Elon Musk, and other [04:22] high-value targets at the UFC event at [04:25] the White House last month. Federal [04:27] prosecutors also alleged that the group [04:29] planned to murder Prime Minister [04:30] Benjamin Netanyahu, who was not at the [04:33] event. Now, there are some more details [04:35] about this maneuver in the Washington [04:37] Post. [04:39] And I'll read them to you here. It's the [04:40] middle of a long piece. To exit that [04:43] plane, meaning the first plane, [04:45] or I'm sorry, to exit the Air Force One, [04:48] the the baby blue one, the one that he [04:49] was allegedly going to fly on out of [04:51] Ankara, without being seen by those [04:53] uninvolved in the operation, Trump and [04:56] several aids stepped aboard an airport [04:59] catering truck, which was elevated [05:01] plane-side using hydraulics and [05:03] positioned at a door on the opposite [05:05] side of Air Force One's entrance, [05:07] according to the US official and other [05:09] corroborating material. [05:11] Imagery captured by the news media at [05:13] the Turkish airport shows a staircase on [05:16] one side of the legacy Air Force One, [05:18] and the meaning the older Air Force One, [05:21] and the catering truck on the other with [05:22] its container elevated to the level of [05:25] the plane. Trump arrived in a limousine, [05:28] climbed the staircase, and waved toward [05:30] the tarmac as he boarded, video shows. A [05:33] few minutes later, as members of the [05:35] White House press corps boarded near the [05:37] back of the plane, a man in a suit [05:40] entered the catering truck's cab, [05:43] according to media pool video of the [05:45] departure process. The container was [05:48] lowered into the bed of the vehicle, [05:50] which then pulled away from Air Force [05:52] One and drove to the smaller C-32A [05:55] nearby. The video appears to show the [05:58] truck is out of view for about 40 [06:00] seconds when the camera pans away and is [06:03] briefly hidden while behind the C-32A's [06:06] engines. The video shows that the [06:08] container was lifted to the level of the [06:10] plane for several minutes. After the [06:13] container was lowered, a person in a [06:14] suit stepped out of the truck's cab, [06:17] which remained at ground level, and [06:18] ascended the stairs leading up to the [06:20] C-32A, disappearing from the camera's [06:23] view. Now, in the New York Times piece [06:25] on this, they actually I'm not going to [06:28] read from it. I'm just going to play you [06:29] they have a good version of the video [06:30] that you can expand. So, I'm just going [06:32] to show that to you here. [06:34] You know, before we do that, let's talk [06:36] about what's going on this Wednesday [06:38] this coming Sunday. We're having a very [06:40] important webinar, [06:42] Mamdani's New York City, A Warning to [06:44] America. We have former mayor of New [06:45] York City, Rudy Giuliani. We have [06:47] Shabbas Kestenbaum, the great young [06:49] thinker and commentator at PragerU. [06:52] Robert Spencer, the prolific author on [06:55] the subject of Islam. He wrote a book [06:56] about Mamdani recently. [06:58] He's also the founder of Jihad Watch. [07:00] He'll be there. And Rabbi Daniel [07:02] Schonbach, who's a therapist and a He's [07:04] got a very successful YouTube channel. [07:06] And you can follow him at rabbi for [07:08] america.com [07:09] and he is He's been very involved in [07:12] building the the anti-Mamdani coalition [07:15] across different sectors in New York [07:17] City. He's been very involved in that [07:18] fight. And [snorts] we're also going to [07:20] be joined by Ariella Novick, who is a a [07:23] journalist. She's not on the flyer. We [07:25] just We just booked her today. She's an [07:27] investigative journalist. She's a [07:29] contributor regular contributor to Fox [07:31] News, JNS, and other outlets. And she's [07:33] been covering the Mamdani situation. So, [07:35] she'll be joining us as well. That is [07:37] this coming Sunday, August 16th, 2:00 [07:39] p.m. Eastern Time, 9:00 p.m. in Israel. [07:42] But, if you can't make it, you should [07:44] still register [07:45] because when you register for this [07:47] webinar, not only can you attend live, [07:50] but [07:51] you will receive an email immediately [07:54] after the webinar airs live with a link [07:57] to watch the whole thing on your own [07:59] time. So, you don't have to be available [08:00] at this time. Make sure to register for [08:02] the webinar. You can You can do so by [08:05] clicking the link in the description of [08:06] this video or go to israel365.com/madani [08:10] Madani or click the QR code that is you [08:13] know, scan the QR code, sorry. Scan the [08:15] You don't click a QR code, you scan it. [08:17] Scan the QR code that's on your screen. [08:20] Make sure to be there this coming [08:21] Sunday. Okay, let's get back to our [08:23] story. So, in the New York Times, they [08:26] provided this great little video. This [08:28] is the video that was being described [08:31] in the previous piece that we read. So, [08:32] let's just open this up a little. [08:35] And here Hold on, let's get back to the [08:36] beginning. Here we go. President Trump [08:38] was secretly moved to a military jet [08:41] apparently via this catering container. [08:44] This catering container, here it is. And [08:46] here's Air Force One. [08:48] He's going to get on on the on the other [08:50] side. The catering container is going to [08:52] go up to this door. [08:53] And let's watch the rest of this. Here [08:55] we go. [08:56] There's the catering container. [09:09] Hey, so here's the other side of the [09:10] plane. Trump gets on. [09:12] He waves. [09:14] Then he goes in. And what he does is he [09:16] actually walks across. [09:19] Meanwhile, [09:25] there's the press, the journalists. [09:28] They're getting on the back of the [09:29] plane. Meanwhile, over here, here's the [09:30] truck. [09:32] Right here on the left is the the [09:34] catering truck is going to pull away. [09:35] The journalists are getting on. [09:37] There goes the catering truck [09:40] with President Trump in it. [09:42] And it goes and it boards a different [09:45] jet [09:47] that Trump is going to get on. [09:48] Meanwhile, all the journalists are [09:49] getting on back here. [09:51] And it says here the reporters were not [09:53] told about this. And then when they [09:54] showed up in Britain, he gets off Air [09:57] Force One. [09:59] Okay? [10:01] And then he boards the Qatar donated [10:03] plane to go to Washington, D.C. [10:06] All right, there's the footage of it [10:09] of what happened here. Okay, great. [10:14] Now, let's move on. So, here in this [10:15] story in The Guardian, it just adds [10:17] another detail. [10:19] Um [10:20] And now we get into well, what we're [10:22] going to get into here from here to the [10:24] end of the video is the reaction of the [10:27] left, the reaction of the media. Uh [10:30] there's some uh scrutiny as it says here [10:33] in this piece in The Guardian. [10:36] Uh there's some criticism of the Trump [10:38] administration for this move and we'll [10:40] see why. And then at the end of the [10:41] video, I'll show you what Iranian state [10:44] media is saying about this just for some [10:45] comic relief at the end of the video. [10:47] Trump's Air Force One deception faces [10:49] scrutiny over decoy passengers. Check [10:52] this out. [10:53] Democrats called on Tuesday for a [10:55] congressional briefing over a stunning [10:57] charade in which Donald Trump was [10:59] secretly spirited to a different plane [11:01] than the than the one the public and [11:04] press believed he was traveling on. [11:06] Critics now question why reporters and [11:08] the public had been deliberately misled. [11:12] Quote, "It appears that the idea that we [11:13] can reduce the danger to President Trump [11:15] by offering up a hundred or so people to [11:17] be killed by the Iranians in his place." [11:21] said Stephen Cash, executive director of [11:23] The Steady State and a former CIA [11:26] intelligence officer and senior adviser [11:28] to the Department of Homeland Security's [11:29] intelligence branch. Well, let me just [11:31] tell you, Steady State is a left-wing [11:34] advocacy group, a Democrat advocacy [11:36] group. On their website, very [11:38] prominently, is all their endorsements, [11:39] and they endorse all of the all of the [11:41] most progressive [11:43] members of Congress. Not all most [11:45] progressive, but a lot of progressive [11:46] members of Congress. They're an [11:47] anti-Trump outfit, basically. Anyway, so [11:51] he's saying that they offered up these [11:53] journalists as cannon fodder, basically, [11:57] sacrificing them to be killed by the [11:59] Iranians in his place. Now, remember, [12:00] Marco Rubio was also on this flight. [12:03] This is about separating the president [12:07] from this danger. [12:08] It's not about offering up other people. [12:10] Now, that doesn't mean that there isn't [12:11] an issue here. We're going to get into [12:13] it. There is a real issue, but he's [12:14] overstating it. [12:15] Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic [12:17] Senator from Connectic- Senator from [12:19] Connecticut, that this guy hates Trump, [12:21] called the operation unprecedented and [12:24] surreal and downright scary on CNN. [12:27] There has to be a congressional briefing [12:29] because it involves not just the safety [12:30] of the president. I want to know what [12:32] precautions were taken to make sure that [12:34] all of the passengers on that Air Force [12:36] One, which was judged too dangerous for [12:39] the president to fly on, what [12:40] precautions were taken to keep the staff [12:43] and reporters on that plane safe. [12:46] Ned Price, former dep- deputy to the US [12:49] Ambassador to the UN, said he did not [12:51] begrudge any White House [12:54] taking extraordinary measures to protect [12:55] the president, but the current [12:57] administration had perpetuated an [12:59] outright lie for weeks and turned [13:01] reporters into unwitting conspirators. [13:04] This is actually [13:06] uh a bigger issue than you think. You [13:08] might be rolling your eyes like I did [13:09] when I read this. I was like, "Come on, [13:11] they just got to save the president. Who [13:12] cares if they got the right [13:13] information?" Well, we'll see in a [13:15] moment it's actually a little more [13:16] serious than that. [13:17] Anyway, let's keep reading. Price, an [13:19] ex-special assistant to President Obama [13:22] on the National Security Council, said, [13:25] or he added, quote, "There was a way to [13:27] do this where they didn't need to lie. [13:30] They could have enlisted the traveling [13:32] press pool [13:33] who would have very willingly, I am [13:35] certain, not reported on certain [13:37] security arrangements. [13:39] Once all was said and done and the [13:41] president was safely in the UK or back [13:43] at Andrews Air Force Base, they could [13:44] have said, 'This is what we did and this [13:47] is why we did it,' Price added, 'but [13:49] they feel no compunction to the truth, [13:51] they feel no loyalty to the truth. [13:53] Instead, it's just an effort over the [13:55] past month to lie and to mislead.' [13:58] Journalists also raised concerns. Jake [14:00] Tapper, an anchor on CNN, tweeted, [14:02] "Obviously, the life of the president is [14:04] paramount and previous White Houses have [14:07] used deception to protect the [14:08] president's life, but no officials I've [14:10] spoken to have ever before heard of [14:12] using an of using Air Force One full of [14:15] White House staff and journalists as a [14:17] decoy during an imminent threat." And [14:20] Jose Zamora, Committee to Protect [14:22] Journalists regional director for the [14:24] Americas, said that the administration [14:27] had a responsibility to ensure reporters [14:29] weren't exposed to unnecessary danger. [14:31] "Reporters should be informed of [14:33] credible security threats so that they [14:34] can make informed decisions about their [14:36] safety," he said. "Transparency should [14:38] be the norm for any administration, [14:40] particularly where safety is at stake." [14:44] Okay. Now, uh more on this in Time [14:47] magazine, they posted this today. Today, [14:51] posted on Time online, "Why Trump's [14:53] secret flight was extraordinary by [14:55] presidential standards." And I'm not [14:56] going to read you the whole piece. Let's [14:58] just jump to it. So, it talks about what [14:59] the press pool is and how important the [15:01] White House press pool is. Now, look at [15:02] this. And this really made me think. [15:05] For nearly a century, [15:07] who are they quoting here? [15:10] I think it'll say who they're quoting. [15:11] Let's see. [15:13] Yeah. For nearly a century, the story of [15:15] the American presidency has been written [15:17] through the eyes of the press pool, the [15:19] small team of writers, photographers, [15:21] and technicians assigned each day to [15:23] cover the commander in chief on behalf [15:25] of the broader core of correspondents, [15:28] the White House Correspondents [15:29] Association. [15:31] Oh gosh. [15:34] Too many things [15:35] popping up on the site. The White House [15:37] Correspondents Association, which works [15:39] to coordinate and ensure access for [15:41] journalists covering the White House, [15:42] said on its website. [15:44] The White House Correspondents [15:45] Association went on to say that the [15:47] accounts documented by the pool provide [15:50] a daily record of the presidency that [15:53] forever lives in the archives of news [15:55] organizations. Meaning the press pool [15:57] isn't just journalists doing their job [15:59] writing things down. There actually are [16:01] assignments within the press pool. They [16:02] have to take record and quotes and there [16:05] and these become the official record of [16:07] what the president was doing. It's [16:09] actually a more serious It's a more [16:11] serious thing than I realized. Pool duty [16:13] is an essential element of the work of [16:15] White House Correspondents because one [16:17] never knows when the world will need [16:19] good information about precisely where [16:21] the President of the United States is [16:23] and what he is doing at any moment, the [16:25] association continued. Members of the [16:27] White House press pool had been with [16:29] presidents during a slew of historic and [16:32] high-stakes moments. They were, for [16:34] instance, in the motorcade when former [16:35] President JFK was assassinated in Dallas [16:38] in 1963. The press pool was also present [16:41] when an assassination attempt was made [16:43] on President Reagan's life in Washington [16:46] in 1981. On September 11th, 2001, amid [16:50] the chaos and fear that followed the [16:52] 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World [16:54] Trade Center and the Pentagon, President [16:57] Bush traveled with a smaller press pool [16:59] to a military facility and then back to [17:02] the nation's capital. Journalists have [17:04] also followed presidents, including [17:06] Trump, into dangerous war zones. [17:09] While it is rare for the sitting [17:11] president to travel without the press [17:12] pool, it has happened on occasion in the [17:15] past. [17:16] In 2010, former President Barack Obama [17:19] left the White House without the press [17:21] pool and went to one of his daughter's [17:23] soccer games, a decision that generated [17:25] controversy. The Associated Press wrote [17:28] at the time that Obama had quietly [17:31] breached years of protocol by doing so. [17:34] Soon after Trump first won the [17:36] presidency in 2016, but before he was [17:39] sworn into the White House, he went out [17:41] to dinner without notifying the [17:42] reporters who were covering him. The [17:44] move prompted press organizations to [17:46] release an open letter to Trump in which [17:49] they emphasized the importance of the [17:50] press pool. Quote, and here's that [17:53] letter, here's from that letter, as the [17:54] new leader of the free world, we expect [17:56] that you will preserve long-standing [17:58] traditions that ensure coverage of the [18:00] Trump presidency, the organization said [18:03] in 2016 in that letter. The idea of a [18:06] press pool that covers all of the [18:08] president's movements is one that dates [18:10] back to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt [18:12] administration. Every president of both [18:14] parties has treated this important [18:16] tradition with respect. The role of the [18:18] press pool is critically important to [18:20] our country, whose citizens depend on [18:23] and deserve to know what the president [18:24] is doing. They're making a real point [18:26] here, and it's it it I you know, I'm [18:28] inclined to like poo-poo the you know, [18:30] the media for you know, left wing and [18:32] and and and you know, just defend Trump, [18:34] but they're actually making a very [18:35] important point. You don't want to set a [18:37] precedent where [18:39] there are gaps [18:41] where the president is not [18:45] where the press pool does not have a [18:46] real historical record, doesn't actually [18:49] know. And the Trump administration had [18:50] no intention of telling anyone about [18:52] this. This ended up getting leaked and [18:53] then they admitted it. [18:55] And I think that's there's they're [18:57] actually raising a real issue here. [18:58] Maybe you're surprised at my reaction to [18:59] this, maybe you disagree, you can tell [19:01] me in a comment, but let's keep reading. [19:03] Neither of those instances were the [19:05] results of threats made against Obama or [19:07] Trump. The operation last month, in [19:09] contrast, stemmed from a threat against [19:11] the president's life. So, there's a big [19:13] distinction. Meaning Obama and the first [19:15] and that and that original, you know, [19:16] where Trump went out to dinner, so you [19:18] can say, "Fine, that was, you know, they [19:20] should they shouldn't have done that." [19:22] But maybe this is different. This is the [19:23] other side of the argument. Maybe [19:25] there was a real threat against his [19:26] life. The operation last month stemmed [19:29] from a threat [19:31] against the president's life that [19:33] administration officials deemed credible [19:35] enough to warrant the secrecy, [19:37] the post reported. [19:39] Air Force One has been used as a decoy [19:41] for a president's protection in the [19:43] past. Interesting. Former President Bill [19:46] Clinton, for instance, traveled to [19:47] Pakistan in a white aircraft that [19:50] followed Air Force One in 2000. But he [19:53] got off the unmarked plane in Islamabad [19:55] in view of cameras and journalists, [19:58] revealing the covert operation. Meaning [20:00] they did it, but then they immediately [20:02] told the press about it. They [20:03] immediately revealed it. And before [20:05] takeoff, Clinton administration [20:07] officials told at least one member of [20:10] the White House pool about the [20:12] operation. Meaning they made sure that [20:14] the record would be corrected. [20:16] Okay, that that the record would be [20:17] would be real. Would be true. [20:21] That's what that's part of what the See, [20:22] part of what the White House press pool [20:24] is for is this documentation, this [20:26] accurate historical documentation of the [20:29] president's movements. [20:31] Ronald L. Roe Jr., [20:34] a former acting director of the Secret [20:36] Service, told the post [20:38] that if the president's location is kept [20:40] secret, it's for a reason. So, now we're [20:42] hearing like from a Secret Service [20:43] perspective. Quote, "We need to keep the [20:45] secret in Secret Service," Roe told the [20:48] news outlet. [20:49] "The public should know what the [20:50] president is doing on a daily basis, but [20:52] when it comes to the methods by which [20:54] the Secret Secret Service keeps the [20:56] president safe, that should remain [21:03] Let me read that [clears throat] again. [21:05] But when it comes to the methods by [21:06] which the Secret Service keeps the [21:07] president safe, that should that should [21:09] remain out of public view. Robert [21:12] McDonald, who worked with the Secret [21:14] Service for more than two decades, told [21:16] Time that the operation in Turkey [21:19] appears to be a result of real-time [21:21] improvisation by the president's [21:23] security team. He also cast doubt on the [21:26] idea that the journalists who were on [21:27] the former Air Force One were left at [21:29] risk. I quote, I would find it [21:31] incredibly hard to believe that those [21:33] two planes weren't escorted or with [21:36] other assets from allies or the US Air [21:38] Force in the area, he said. McDonald [21:40] went on to say that restricting the [21:42] number of people who are informed of [21:43] such an operation is standard practice [21:45] and stressed that the outcome of the [21:47] mission was that everyone arrived home [21:49] safe. Quote, everybody that I'm aware of [21:51] got home from that trip to Turkey, he [21:53] said. The bottom line is everybody got [21:55] home safe. That's the main function of [21:57] the Secret Service. That doesn't That [21:59] doesn't change the fact that there was [22:01] this breach of protocol with the White [22:03] House press pool. It's an interesting [22:04] issue. It's an interesting issue. I'm [22:05] not even sure how I feel about it. And [22:07] then we have this report from CNN. After [22:09] Trump plane ruse, White House [22:11] Correspondents Association presses White [22:13] House on press pool safeguards. This is [22:15] an Now we can really see their kind of [22:17] official response. [22:19] The White House Correspondents, meaning [22:21] Okay. The In this story here, we're [22:23] going to hear from the White House [22:24] Correspondents Association and [22:27] and from a friend and from a Trump [22:29] friendly uh [22:31] member of the association. So, this [22:34] isn't just going to be more kind of [22:36] anti-Trump journalists, you know, [22:39] bashing him for doing this. The White [22:41] House Correspondents Association has [22:42] asked President Donald Trump's [22:43] administration to quote, work with us on [22:47] a protocol for handling extraordinary [22:49] security circumstances in the future. [22:51] This isn't complaining about what [22:52] happened. [22:54] Now that his secret plane switch last [22:56] month has been revealed by leaks to news [22:59] organizations. Fox News anchor and [23:01] senior White House correspondent Jackie [23:03] Heinrich, who's currently serving as [23:06] president of the group, she's president [23:08] of the White House Correspondents [23:10] Association, she met with Trump aides [23:12] about the matter on Tuesday, yesterday, [23:14] and relayed the press corps' concerns [23:16] about the subterfuge. [23:18] The association immediately heard [23:20] concerns from members after the event [23:22] took place, includ- meaning after the [23:24] leaks came out, including Heinrich, who [23:27] wrote, quote, press safety, the ability [23:30] of the pool to maintain an independent [23:32] record of the president's movements, and [23:34] the integrity and credibility of pooled [23:37] reporting. [23:39] In a memo to members on Tuesday evening, [23:42] Heinrich wrote that she had a candid and [23:44] productive meeting to convey those [23:46] concerns. Quote, I emphasized that the [23:48] WHCA recognizes the paramount [23:50] responsibility of the Secret Service to [23:52] protect the president, and that genuine [23:54] security threats can require [23:56] extraordinary measures, including [23:57] circumstances in which operational [24:00] security limits what can be shared with [24:02] reporters in real time. She wrote, at [24:04] the same time, I advocated strongly for [24:07] the importance of maintaining [24:09] independent press coverage of the [24:10] president and an accurate historical [24:13] record of his movements. Heinrich wrote [24:15] that she stressed to the Trump [24:16] administration that undermining [24:18] confidence in the reliability of pool [24:20] reports carries risks beyond any single [24:23] incident. In an already conspiratorial [24:26] information environment, uncertainty [24:28] about whether independent reporting can [24:30] be trusted can be exploited by bad [24:32] actors seeking to sow confusion and [24:35] undermine confidence in journalism. [24:37] That's why she said the association will [24:39] advocate for a protocol that recognizes [24:42] the Secret Service's responsibility to [24:44] respond to genuine threats while [24:46] protecting press safety, preserving [24:49] independent coverage of the president, [24:51] and providing a mechanism to correct the [24:52] record after the fact when necessary. [24:54] Look, I'm a Trump supporter, [24:56] and most a lot of you probably are, too. [24:59] But we have to remember that this isn't [25:01] just about Trump. This is about [25:02] precedent setting. This is about and and [25:06] you know, it's one of these like if you [25:07] poopoo it and you say, "Ah, no big [25:09] deal." And this becomes a pattern, it [25:11] does undermine the record that that [25:14] beautiful openness of the United States [25:17] of America that there is a clear [25:19] transparent record of what the president [25:21] does, his every move because of the [25:23] press pool. It is a long-standing [25:25] tradition and it needs to be preserved. [25:27] And uh I'm inclined to agree here that [25:30] they could have done what was done in [25:32] the past. They could have told one [25:33] member of the pool. They could have [25:35] revealed it to them afterwards like [25:37] Clinton did. They didn't need to [25:40] withhold this information intentionally [25:42] and have it come out in leaks and then [25:44] admit it. [25:45] Um [snorts] [25:46] meanwhile [25:48] Iranian state media, their only comment [25:50] on this is to jump on this idea uh of uh [25:54] of Trump Trump uh you know, risking the [25:56] lives of journalists. I'm not going to [25:57] read the whole piece, just a couple [25:58] sentences from it. US journalists, this [26:00] is their only headline about this whole [26:02] operation. US journalists protest being [26:05] used as bait in Trump's Iran security [26:08] operation. This is from today. New [26:10] details about a secret switch involving [26:12] Donald Trump's aircraft and travel [26:14] arrangements on his return from Turkey [26:15] to Britain have sparked protests among [26:17] US journalists who say they may have [26:19] been used as bait without their [26:21] knowledge to divert a potential threat [26:23] against the American president. [26:26] Aaron Blake, a senior CNN reporter, said [26:28] journalists felt they had been turned [26:30] without their knowledge into bait in the [26:31] line of fire. And you see, and then they [26:34] put up this [26:35] uh this is um [26:38] Look at this sign. Who is the next one? [26:40] Lindsey Graham. You know, [26:42] #LindseyGraham. After Lindsey Graham [26:44] died, the Iranians started putting these [26:47] signs up. Who is the next one? But DT, [26:50] Donald Trump with the Donald Trump hair, [26:52] who is the next one and #LindseyGraham [26:55] kind of winking and saying that they're [26:57] responsible for Lindsey Graham's Lindsey [26:59] Graham's death. [27:00] And warning that Trump could be next. [27:02] They're obviously capitalizing on the [27:03] death of Lindsey Graham to make more of [27:05] these threats. So they they threw that [27:07] into this article. As part of these [27:09] measures, the deployment of the US Army [27:11] air defense systems at Trump's golf [27:13] club. Now, oh right, this is talking [27:15] about security measures around Trump [27:17] intensify, not about this event. But [27:19] security concerns surrounding Trump [27:21] extended beyond his travel arrangements [27:23] following everything going on. As part [27:26] of these measures, the deployment of US [27:27] Army air defense systems at Trump's golf [27:29] club in Bedminster, New Jersey attracted [27:32] particular attention. Images released [27:34] from the site showed a mobile Avenger [27:36] air defense system and an AN/MPQ-64 [27:39] Sentinel radar near the area where Trump [27:41] plays golf, underscoring the heightened [27:43] level of security surrounding the [27:45] president. Okay. [27:48] So, yeah, you know, this this is a [27:50] actually a more interesting issue than I [27:52] thought it was. Like I said, I think [27:53] there is a real issue here to think [27:54] about. I'm I'm very interested to hear [27:57] your comments on this. I know I have a [27:58] number of viewers who know a fair bit [28:02] about American history and about [28:03] presidential history and I'd love to [28:04] hear from you. I'd love to hear some [28:06] comments. [28:07] And and see what you think about this [28:09] issue. About, you know, did the Trump [28:10] administration handle this in the best [28:12] way possible? What do you think? Thanks [28:15] for watching. God bless.
