Grabien

RUSH TRANSCRIPT: I want to thank you for doing this today I want to thank you for your compassion you know the reason I’m so excited to talk to you was because I wanted to understand the tragedy in your life and how you dealt with it and you’re the kind of leader I love because we’re lucky to have you in the Oval Office and serving as the father of the country because if you’re a good father to your family which you are I know you’d be a good father to the country and I and I want to thank you for providing a calming influence an organized Administration postco getting that vaccine out I remember what the world was like at that point getting NATO getting us to feel comfortable standing up to Putin the incredible large growth in the jobs unemployment rate down I’ll give you your greatest hits the lowest uninsured rate in history four out of five Americans are covered for less than $10 a month knocking off a few ISIS leaders cutting the emissions in half I mean you’ve always been an environmentalist even the marijuana reform laws enough sitting there fighting that battle respect for Marriage Act what the hell is with people with this gay stuff who cares if someone’s gay how is it affecting anybody people in love it’s good right love is good my dad we said I we saw two men kissing one another and Rodney Square when I was going in to get a license I looked at him he said Joey it’s simple they love each other that’s it that’s how I look at it you know who deserves credit the American people are Relentless the American people are stepping up whe who are they V for they they they just never give up we’re we’re we’re the most unique country in the world we really are we are but I don’t want to lose it we’re not going to lose it God willing thank you for doing this well thanks for having me Mr President look at me sitting with the president look at me sitting with Howard turn wow I mean uh you can tell people this is the most important event in your lifetime I’ll tell them that

RUSH TRANSCRIPT: EMANUEL: “Vince, hot topic on talk radio?” COGLIANESE: “It is, it is a critical thing. I really do want to see them debate but I don’t think Biden’s statement today was the last word on this subject. In fact, I would imagine that there may be some people within his campaign who were cringing that he gave that answer because they weren’t quite ready for that. Look, as Spencer said I just don’t think Biden is with it. I think the reason for that I can assess is because look how many things need to be choreographed for him. Everything about his existence in public is handled, including today this report from Axios that he is surrounded by White House aides as he walks from the White House to Marine One in order to block the camera’s vision of how frail he is. He is even reading notes off the teleprompter indicating that he is supposed to pause for audience effect. He says pause when he is just supposed to read it. That’s an issue and it is going to be a big problem in a debate against a guy who is clearly able to handle the stresses of an immense day including at a courtroom all day every day.”

RUSH TRANSCRIPT: MELBER: “Jason, I don’t want to be unkind to the defendant and he’s legally presumed innocent, but his family’s not there. The jury can notice that. These are his friends and allies. Some of them have gone so far like Michael Cohen who’s so angry at Trump that it might affect his credibility. Some like Mr. Pecker who say, yeah, I’m friendly. The guy’s a liar, but we’re friendly. I mean, he may have committed campaign crimes, that’s what I thought we did, but we’re friendly. And he’s got a whole backstory of, shall we say, really complicated allegations but we’re friendly. If these are the views of his friends, how does that hurt him both in not only the jury but in the court of public opinion?” Johnson: “That’s the thing, Ari. That’s why this is such a bad week, because we can go through all the sort of legalese, jargon, but really the average person is picking up every fifth word. What they’re picking up are things like adult film star, payoff, family isn’t there, and falling asleep during a trial. So the outside world is like, okay, this doesn’t look good. He doesn’t sound alert. We’re not seeing anything that gives us the opportunity to think, oh, my gosh, Trump is alert. He’s paying attention to this. Friends? How many of us have them? Right? But if you heard someone say this room was filled with people who are supporting Donald Trump and they leave the room every day and Melania is there and everything else like that, it gives the outside public the impression, well, these people believe in him. Even if he’s guilty, his family is still with him. The fact that he doesn’t have people who are down with him, that’s what the public is picking up and the jury sees that.”

Trump: “Every legal expert, Andy McCarthy — Jonathan, Andy, every single one. Jonathan Turley came out with a scathing report of this trial today. Andy McCarthy, scathing report. Mark Levin, can’t believe this is happening in our country. There’s no case here. There’s no case whatsoever. It’s a disgrace. And we have a conflicted judge and it shouldn’t be happening, not in this country. Thank you very much.” Reporter: “Do you think you could beat Biden in a debate?” Reporter 2: “What do you think of witnesses so far?” TAPPER: “All right, Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States and the defendant in this case talking after a full week of court. Let’s bring in CNN’s Daniel Dale, our fact checker, who’s looking into everything we just heard from the former president, most of which was criticizing the trial and telling the world that he’s ready to debate President Biden whenever, wherever it can happen. Daniel?” Dale: “Fair enough. He said something that we fact checked, I think, five times in the last couple of weeks. He said, this is a Biden indictment. It’s a well-coordinated attack coming out of Washington, completely baseless, zero evidence whatsoever. This is an indictment approved by a grand jury of New York citizens. There is no basis for any claim that President Biden had a personal role in it. The prosecutor behind it is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who’s a locally elected official, does not report to the federal government. Now, former President Trump has repeatedly cited the fact that a former DoJ official went over to work for Bragg. That’s Matthew Colangelo, who you’ve been talking about, zero evidence that President Biden had any role in that personal employment decision. Colangelo and Bragg were former colleagues in the state attorney general’s office. I think it’s also worth noting, Jake, that when former President Trump says every legal expert thinks this case is a sham, and so on, the people he named today, he named Mark Levin, who, yes, talks about the law. He’s also a right-wing radio host who’s a frequent defender of Donald Trump. Andy McCarthy sometimes criticizes Trump, but is also a conservative commentator. Jonathan Turley, a professor who defended Trump in the impeachment context and other things. So, yes, there are even liberal professors, anti-Trump professors and so on who have questioned this case. But those names are the regular, the usual suspects defending Donald Trump. And then I’ll note he talked about Michigan being destroyed. No more auto jobs. I think some of that was a prediction, but it’s worth noting there are more auto manufacturing jobs today, more people employed in Michigan in that industry today than there were when Donald Trump left office.”

Trump: “I just want to thank everybody for being here. I know you have to suffer through this like everybody else. Nothing has come — this is a case that should have never been brought. Every legal scholar, every legal expert, Andy McCarthy — Jonathan, Andy, every single one. Jonathan Turley came out with a scathing report of this trial today. Andy McCarthy, scathing report. Mark Levin, can’t believe this is happening in our country. There’s no case here. There’s no case whatsoever. It’s a disgrace. And we have a conflicted judge and it shouldn’t be happening, not in this country. Thank you very much.”

Biden: “And I looked to my mom, I said, ‘Honey, you haven’t said anything.’ She said, ‘Joey, remember...’ — true story, said, ‘Remember when they were de-segregating Lynnfield, the neighborhood, it was 70 homes built in white suburbia,’ and I told her — and there was a black family moving in, and there was — people were down there protesting. ‘I told you not to go down there and you went down. Remember that? And you got arrested standing on the porch of the black family and they brought you back, the police?’ I said, ‘Yeah, mom, I remember that.’”

Reporter: “How do you think this will translate to the Jewish students who are facing anti-Semitism here on campus?” Omar: “So, I actually met a lot of Jewish students that are in the encampments, and I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe and that we should not have to tolerate anti-Semitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”

KHYMANI: “If we can agree as a society, as a collective, that people, that persons, some persons need to die if they have an ideology that results in the death of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, if there are people like that who exist, shouldn’t they die? Zionists, they are Nazis. They are Nazis. They’re fascists. They’re supporters of genocide. Why would we want people who are supporters of genocide to live? I’m confused. Someone in the chat, right now, should people who are supporters of genocide, should Zionists AKA Nazis, white supremacists, should they live? Should they live? Zionists, along with all white supremacists, need to not exist because they actively kill and harm vulnerable people. They stop the world from progressing. Oh, okay, thank you. What? Thank you. So be glad, be grateful, that I’m just not going out and murdering Zionists. I’ve never murdered anyone in my life and I hope to keep it that way. I genuinely hope to keep it that way. But when you have a whole bunch of Zionists and white supremacists and Nazis and fascists threatening your physical safety, one feels the need to remind them that one is not afraid to reach that point. And we know what that point is.”

Hannity: “Well, let me ask you this. I don’t see a definitive ruling against Trump- I know it’s not wise to maybe listen to oral arguments and think about how these justices ultimately will rule. I think ultimately a majority of justices, and this is my impression, seem inclined to ruled the former presidents have protection from criminal charges but not absolute immunity. I don’t know if that means remanding it down to a lower court. I don’t know if that means that they will give instructions to a lower court or if they will just outright decide it right there. What are your thoughts?” TURLEY: “Well, if this trajectory continues from oral arguments, it was a good day for Donald Trump because there were five justices that clearly were not buying into the D.C. Circuit’s approach. Now that does not mean that they are going to say that Trump is immune from prosecution, but at a minimum, if that is the case, they would likely have to remand it to the district court to say, ‘We need you to develop this record a little further. If they do that, it is hard to see how this could possibly be tried before the election. And if former President Trump is made the next president, then Jack Smith may never see a jury in this case, I mean, it could end the prosecution.” Hannity: “Yeah, that. And of course, the other case that they’re hearing unrelated to Donald Trump involving people with January 6th, that could also impact the special counsel’s case against Trump as well. Professor Jonathan Turley, thank you, sir.”

UNKNOWN: “And so, be glad — be grateful — that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists. I’ve never murdered anyone in my life, and I hope to keep it that way. I genuinely hope to keep it that way.”

RUSH TRANSCRIPT: This Supreme Court majority, Leonard Leo six, are so clearly politicians, the only difference between them and politicians like yourself is you’re honest about it. You’re a democratic politician. They are Republican politicians trying to achieve Republican goals. They didn’t even pretend today that they had some constitutional argument. Even as a lay person, I didn’t hear them try. What I heard was them saying we’re going to make sure that Donald Trump is protected from prosecution, the end, and what are you going to do about it. Your thoughts? >> Well, they’re politicians who are not even subject to popular election, unlike me. They should move the Supreme Court over to the RNC headquarters, because they’re acting like a bunch of partisan operatives. The most astonishing thing for me today was Justice Alito’s question, he actually asked whether holding the president criminally accountable for actual crimes committed, whether murder or coup or you name it, whether holding them accountable would actually encourage them to stage more violent coups to stay in office to avoid prosecution. Which buys completely into Donald Trump’s narcicisstic criminal world view. For all of American history, we have said presidents are subject to criminal prosecution if they commit crimes. That’s why Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. That’s why Bill Clinton agrees to give up his law license with the bar for five years. Now they say, well, if you’re really mean to Donald Trump and hold him accountable the way every other American citizen is accountable, then he’ll really overthrow the government. He’ll really bring out the big guns and we can’t afford that. And that’s a kind of masochistic capitulation to Donald Trump’s authoritarianism. Of course we have to hold the president accountable to the law. It’s the basic premise of our law that nobody is above the law, including the president. And when they say, oh, well, you can impeach and convict him and then you can prosecute him, again, that twists the language and turns it upside down in the Constitution. It says even if you’re impeached and convicted, nevertheless, you can still be prosecuted and tried and convicted and punished. Presuming presupposing that of course the president is subject to criminal law, and now we’ve got a bunch of justices who are asking questions that indicate that they are as corrupted as members of Congress who I serve with. When we get through this period, this miserable period of American history, and we will get through it and we’re going to beat them all in November, which is the only solution to this nonsense, these people are going to be fit only for selling incense and flowers at dulles

HUNT: “I want to dig into — you have this new organization. You are planning to try to resume this work. It has become a central piece of our political arguments —“ JANKOWICZ: “Yeah.” HUNT: “— right? What is disinformation and what isn’t disinformation? What is free speech? What is quashing free speech? The fight itself has become political.” JANKOWICZ: “Yeah.” HUNT: “How do you view that in your work that you are unrolling today?” JANKOWICZ: “Yeah. Well, I think it’s really unfortunate, right, because disinformation is not something that knows a political party. It comes for people on all sides of the political spectrum. It can upset lives. And frankly, right now, we see this fight against disinformation researchers. We see this fight against social media platforms doing content moderation. And we see it empowered by Congress and people who are powerful people — Elon Musk, et cetera. And what does that do? That makes our nation less safe. We are in a point where we’re about to head into an inflection point ahead of the election. We’ve got supercharging AI. We’ve got foreign threats, right? Our foreign adversaries are looking at our domestic polarization and thanking their lucky stars that they have so much material to work with. And in the meantime, disinformation researchers — people who are working on this threat — the canaries in the coal mine — they’re being snuffed out by our very own members of Congress. And so, I think we’re in a — there’s a dereliction of duty going on, basically.” HUNT: “We have seen some evidence that the Republican Party and certainly, the sort of — what I would guess refer to as the Reagan — the Reagan throwback wing, at this point, of the Republican Party — that they are starting to understand the depths of influence from foreign actors, including Russia —“ JANKOWICZ: “Yeah.” HUNT: “— that was almost — it became very difficult for them to talk about it when Trump was in office because he saw it as an assault on him. But you had Mitch McConnell talking just yesterday —“ JANKOWICZ: “Yeah.” HUNT: — about Tucker Carlson going to interview Vladimir Putin and saying that was almost where he expected him to be. The cover of the New York Post had ‘Moscow Marjorie’ on there, talking about Russian disinformation. What are you doing in your group to try to include those kinds of voices to try and reach kind of the broadest and appeal to the broadest set of people here?” JANKOWICZ: “Yeah. So we’re a bipartisan group. We represent people on both sides of the political spectrum. And I, in my career — although the right would prefer everybody forget about that — I’ve worked with Republicans. I’ve worked with Democrats. I’ve worked across the aisle. And I’d say to anybody who cares about this issue, come to us. We’re a big tent here. Frankly, we’re going to expose and investigate every Link in the causal chain of disinformation. And I think we’re going to make the case to Americans who care about this issue that, frankly, it is something that is important to our democracy and our national security. And it doesn’t matter what your political party is — disinformation’s ultimate victim is democracy.” HUNT: “What did you learn from the experience that you had with this DHS board?” JANKOWICZ: “Ahh, I could make a lot of funny comments, but I would just say there’s a couple of things that make me really worried for our country. One, the fact that they went after somebody just for doing their job. It’s not like I was a Senate-confirmed appointee. I was — I was the GS-15, right? I was somebody — just a normal person going —“ HUNT: “A civil servant —“ JANKOWICZ: “Yeah — going —“ HUNT: “— for people who don’t know that language — yeah.” JANKOWICZ: “— going to work every day, right, in my area of expertise. And the vitriol that came after me in my personal life, that’s really disturbing. And so, I want to return that sort of civility. I want to return that humanity to our politics and remind people that online actions have consequences, right? That it’s not just mean words on the internet. I got death threats and things like that, and that’s really, really disturbing. But I would also say that, in general, we need a lot more transparency in initiatives like this. I did not agree with how DHS rolled out the board. And so, what we’re doing with the American Sunlight Project is really looking at open-source investigations — transparent, accessible work. And in all the work that we do, we’re going to try to make it so that anybody can understand it. A lot of the stuff is technical We want to bring it back to the people.” HUNT: “Yeah. I was — I was going to say I absolutely — the death threats, the personal vitriol is something that we have seen just absolutely invade our politics and it’s awful no matter where it’s coming from. But you did mention that you disagreed with the rollout. I mean —“ JANKOWICZ: “Yeah.” HUNT: “— do you understand — or how do you understand, I should say, the distinction between the government doing something like this — a board inside the Department of Homeland Security and a group like the one you’re going to found now?” JANKOWICZ: “Yeah. Well, I mean, first of all, the board was widely lied about, right? People said that it was going to be administrative truth and decide what was true or false on the internet. That’s nonsense. It wasn’t going to do that, as you heard the secretary saying in that old clip, which kind of gives me the willies when I look at it now.” HUNT: “I like that.” JANKOWICZ: “It was about coordinating best practices within the department. I didn’t have any power to decide what was true or false online, nor as Tucker Carlson said, did I have the power to send men with guns to the homes of Americans with whom I disagreed. At the time, I was 37 weeks pregnant and I was just trying to do my job, right?” HUNT: “Yes, and trying to get up every day.” JANKOWICZ: “Exactly.” HUNT: “I have been there.” JANKOWICZ: “Yeah, doing that backwards and in heels.” HUNT: “Yeah.” JANKOWICZ: “But what we are doing is very different I think, right? We’re still bringing people together. We’re coordinating, but we’re shining a light on some of the informational harms that have infected our information ecosystem right now. I think the government has a role to play here and that coordinating role is one that I hope a future administration can still play. It’s one that needs to be done, frankly, from what I’ve seen in my short time in government. We need a little bit more coordination and communication between different entities. But I would say we’re on the outside of that and there is a huge role for civil society to play in curing this informational ecosystem right now.” HUNT: “All right, Nina Jankowicz. Thank you very much for being with us this morning. I really appreciate —“ JANKOWICZ: “Thanks for having me.”

MAYES: “Hi, I’m Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. Let me start by thanking everyone for your patience as we conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electoral scheme in our state. I understand for some of you today didn’t come fast enough and I know I’ll be criticized by others for conducting this investigation at all. But as I have stated before, and we’ll say here again today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined. It’s too important. The investigators and attorneys assigned to this case took the necessary time to thoroughly piece together the details of the events that began nearly four years ago. They follow the facts where they lead and I’m very proud of the work they’ve done to date. We’re here because justice demands an answer to the efforts that the defendants and other unindicted co-conspirators allegedly took to undermine the will of Arizona’s voters during the 2020 presidential election. Arizona’s election was free and fair. The people of Arizona elected President Biden. Unwilling to accept this fact the defendants charged by the state grand jury, allegedly schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency. Whatever their reasoning was, the plot to violate the law must be answered for and I was elected to uphold the law of this state. The scheme had it succeeded would have deprived Arizona’s voters of their right to have their votes counted for their chosen president. It effectively would have made their right to vote meaningless. After the general election on November 3rd, 2020 the defendants and other unindicted co-conspirators raised false claims of widespread voter fraud in Arizona to pressure elections officials to change the outcome of a transparent free and fair democratic election. Those efforts ultimately failed when officials stood firm, followed their statutory duties and officially certified Arizona’s election on November 30th, 2020. The defendant Republican presidential electors allegedly plotting with additional defendants then voted for Mr. Trump and Vice President Pence on December 14th 2020, falsely claiming to be the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States from the state of Arizona. These defendants deceived the citizens of Arizona by falsely claiming that those votes were contingent only on a legal challenge that would change the outcome of the election. In reality, the defendants intended that the false votes for Trump and Pence would encourage Vice President Pence to reject the certified Biden-Harris electors votes regardless of the result of any legal challenge. As you will recall, None of the legal challenges filed in Arizona state and federal courts regarding the 2020 election were remotely successful at any stage of the case. When combined with the six other states where Republican electors sent in uncertified votes for Trump-Pence, the defendants wanted Pence to declare Mr. Trump the outright winner of the election or to send the vote back to friendly legislators that would have certified Trump-Pence as the winner of the election. That scheme failed when Vice President Pence upheld the rule of law and accepted all certified Biden-Harris votes on January 6th, 2021. A state grand jury made up of everyday regular Arizonans has now handed down felony indictments for all 11 Republican electors as well as several others connected to this scheme. These charges include fraud, forgery, and conspiracy. These charges are class two, four and five felonies. These are serious indictments. But this is the first hurdle the state must pass in our constitutional criminal justice system. We intend to prove these crimes were committed beyond a reasonable doubt. However, it must be remembered that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and convicted by a jury of their peers. Though it is important to tell Arizonans about the grand jury indictments against these defendants our office will continue its investigation into the efforts to illegally subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election. Please understand that any additional information provided by my office on this investigation will be limited and brief and based on the information currently outlined in the indictments as we move forward in prosecuting this case. We look forward to presenting our evidence in court and hope for a quick, fair and deliberate resolution that will best serve the interests of justice. I ask that everyone respects this process. Thank you.”

PROTESTERS (chant): “… two states.” UNKNOWN FEMALE: “We want all of it.” PROTESTERS (chant): “We want all of it.”

WATTERS: “Fox News alert: One of Kamala’s Secret Service agents reportedly had a mental breakdown. The agent reportedly started a fight with other agents in the unit. The incident occurred Monday at Joint Base Andrews. Agents were getting ready for Kamala to take off. According to The Washington Examiner, one of Kamala’s agents freaked out and then got aggressive and eventually a fight broke out. Things got so bad that the agent had to be handcuffed and removed from service. They were taken for a medical evaluation. This isn’t the first episode involving Kamala’s detail, though. In 2022, Kamala’s motorcade was involved in a car accident. Her SUV was partially airborne. But they first reported the incident as a ‘just a mechanical failure.’ So maybe this fight was more like a royal rumble. ‘Primetime’ will keep you updated as we learn more.”

Kelly: “And what are you thinking tonight about everything?” HABBA: “Exactly how I felt that day, I think, until it’s over and behind us. But I don’t have hopes really that high at this moment that the New York courts will do the right thing, that the jury will do the right thing. We’re in a blue state, as you know, Greg. And I think everything’s by design. We’re in a case that was eight years old, over the statute of limitations, was denied by Cy Vance, then brought only after President Trump decided he was going to run for office. And like you said, look at how many people they’ve got. And I can’t talk about it because of the unconstitutional gag order, but I think that we should also take a look at who’s on that team and where those people came from. It’s very troubling, as you know, and I know you know it well, and we’re in the fight of our lives at this moment.”

SARANDON: “You know why?” UNKNOWN: “Why?” SARANDON: “Because they’re terrible deals. Palestine is not Hamas.” (...) PRO-Palestine PROTESTER 1: “We are Hamas! Yes, we’re all Hamas! Pig!” PRO-Palestine PROTESTER 2: “Long live Hamas.” (...) SARANDON: “Do you not know that all of those myths about babies in ovens and the rapes — “ UNKNOWN: “It’s not a myth. It’s not a myth. I’m sorry, you’re denying — you’re denying terror actions that have been made on October 7th to so many people, innocent civilians.” SARANDON: “What about the 35,000 people that have been killed — “ UNKNOWN: “According to who? According to who?” SARANDON: “You’re hopeless.” UNKNOWN: “I’m sorry that you’re supporting a terror organization. They’re coming for your next, Susan.” SARANDON: “Educate yourself.” UNKNOWN: “Educate yourself. Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean.”

NEUMANN: “So, what I would say is that, on the Republican side, they advocate for hostile action, which moves you to extremism. But I would say on both sides, our politics have increasingly been othering. We demonize the other side.” Wallace: “Joe Biden — what has Joe Biden done that’s othering?” NEUMANN: “I don’t know that Joe Biden as a leader is —“ Wallace: “But if you do apples to apples, the two —“ NEUMANN: “No, there’s no comparison. There’s no comparison.” Wallace: “So, what does the nominee for president in the Republican Party do to make the country more dangerous?” NEUMANN: “So, I am most concerned about Trump and about the Republican Party MAGA acolytes who actively not only use that precursor narrative, they go to that next step of extremism which is advocating for hostile action. Hostile action can be noncriminal. It can be things like threats and intimidation and bullying, which, like, that’s how Donald Trump runs all of his criminal enterprises, is through threats and intimidation and bullying. We’re seeing that in the trial right now. But the criminal stuff, when you get to hate crimes and vandalism and threats of violence or actual violence and acts of terrorism, he has demonstrated that not only does he dog-whistle people to do those things, at times he actually suggests that violence is going to be necessary. You had Kari Lake last week say that not only do you need to put on the armor of God reference — sorry, a reference to a scripture in Ephesians about prayer and faith, but then went the next step and said, and you also need to slap on a Glock, implying that we are going to need to physically not only defend, but she kind of suggested fight for the political outcome that you want. It’s very dangerous rhetoric. Most people, most people are not going to go commit an act of violence. But there are a small percentage that are very vulnerable to that kind of messaging. And it does lead to more violence. It does lead to terrorist attacks. And people die because our politicians are so loose with their words and it needs to stop. And the American people need to tell the politicians to stop.”

Johnson: “Hamas issued an endorsement statement of the protesters on this campus. They called them the future leaders of America. It is detestable. All of this has to be said, because the cherished traditions of this university are being overtaken right now by radical and extreme ideologies. They place a target on the backs of Jewish students in the United States. And here on this campus, a growing number of students have chanted in support of terrorists. They have chased down Jewish students. They have mocked them and reviled them. They have shouted racial epithets. They have screamed at those who bear the Star of David.” CROWD: “We can’t hear you! We can’t hear you! We can’t hear you!” Johnson: “Enjoy your free speech. They’ve told Jewish students who wear the Star of David to leave the country. And shamefully, some professors and faculty have joined the mobs. Things have gotten so out of control that the schools canceled in-person classes, and now they’ve come up with this hybrid model where they will discriminate against Jewish students. They are not allowed to come to class anymore for fear of their lives. And it’s detestable. As Columbia has allowed these lawless agitators and radicals to take over, the virus of anti-Semitism has spread across other campuses. By some counts, as many as 200 universities have a similar form of protest right now. At Yale, a Jewish student was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag and 45 students were arrested. At NYU, Pro-Hamas protestors were shouting ‘from the river to the sea.’ Anti-Israel encampments are popping up at universities all across this country. [Crowd booing] The Madness has to stop. The Madness has to stop. We just left a meeting with Jewish students who told us of the heinous acts of bigotry that they have experienced simply because of their faith. Their bravery is inspiring, much more inspiring than some of the activities we’re seeing here. And they should never have to confront such hate on an American college campus, at such a revered institution.”

Biden: “Imagine what we can do next. Four more years! Pause.” CROWD (chant): “Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!”

L. Trump: “Well, under two months. I mean, I think it’s been four and a half weeks now since Michael Whatley, the chairman, and I have been at the RNC. And obviously, we’ve been working really hard. I think the most recent thing to report is that we are working hard on election integrity, and we just announced last week that we have 100,000 committed people who are going to be trained as poll workers. So, Eric, leading up to this election, I think we can all see the most important thing — aside from getting out the vote — is protecting that vote. We now have the ability at the RNC not just to have poll watchers, people standing in polling locations, but people who can physically handle the ballots. We want people all across this country — “ BOLLING: “Can we do this? I want to hear, this is really fascinating to me. So you have 100,000 people who are — are they — I think I saw ‘paid’ at one point, but whatever, irrelevant. So they will be stationed inside polling places? I didn’t even know you could do that. Tell us about it.” L. Trump: “Yeah. So there was a moratorium for about 40 years on the RNC actually training people to work in these polling locations and the tabulation centers where the mail-in ballots come in. And last year, the judge who implemented that passed away, so that was lifted. And that gives us a great ability as we head into what I assume everyone understands is the most important election of our lifetime. So we have this ability. These are — these are volunteers, most of these people. Protectthevote.com if people want to join our team. We train them to actually work in these polling locations. And think about how much better off that makes us in terms of transparency, Eric. We all know 2020 was not all on the up and up. People had a lot of unanswered questions. We can never repeat that. So in addition to these poll workers, we’re going to have lawyers in all the major polling locations across the country. We have lawsuits in 81 states right now. We won, about a week and a half ago, a huge lawsuit in the state of Pennsylvania. The Democrats, of course, were trying to make it easier to cheat and wanted to take the dating off of mail-in ballots. We won that, and that means we have precedent. In every state, we can apply the same measures. So we’re working hard to ensure election integrity, because that is the most important thing we can do right now as we head into 2024. We have an election integrity division for the first time at the RNC. So you are going to see a marked difference as you head out to early vote — and I want to tell everybody go early vote. I know we like to go vote on Election Day, but we have to make it too big to rig, Eric. We need everybody out voting as soon as they can, and then taking people from that day up to Election Day to go vote. It is the most important thing that we can do.”

Omar: “I have the proud honor of representing this incredible university in Congress. And I have to tell you, I am incredibly moved by your courage and bravery as a student body, in putting your bodies on the line to stand in solidarity to end the genocide that is taking place in Gaza at this moment. (Cheering and Applause) I have to tell you, it’s been incredibly painful for the last five days to see the discovery — while there is a discovery of a mass grave of more than 200 Palestinians in Khan Younis, that our media, our elected politicians, our president, every single leader, is spending their time and energy in talking about the protests as if you all are here to give voice to the genocide that is taking place in Gaza. (Cheering and Applause) What started out five days ago with only 70 students organizing themselves at Columbia University has now led to a nationwide university movement.” (Cheering and Applause)

Smith: “I wanted to touch om something that I made news about just a few days ago. Let me say this, ladies and gentlemen: Accountability is where everything needs to begin in this world. There’s something I say quite often. I certainly never hesitate to hold folks accountable when mistakes are mishaps occur, so I’m certainly not about to run from it myself. I’m fully aware that I’ve been in the news over the last few days, paraded all over social media, as well, after comments I made during my appearance on Fox News’ ‘Hannity’ last week with the one and only Sean Hannity himself. And I’m fully aware of the outcry that has ensued because of it. A lot of folks in black America seem pretty pissed at me right now, from friends and loved ones, to colleagues, contemporaries, and dare I say, even the NAACP itself. Quite a few folks were put off, if not flat out offended after my words were interpreted as associating support for Trump from the black community with all the legal issues he’s facing. For that, I sincerely apologize. To be clear, my words were misconstrued. I’m standing right here for the record that my words were taken out of context, misrepresenting and depicting me in a way I found every bit as insulting and disrespectful as folks in black America evidently felt about what they thought I said. But I’ll own it anyway. Because, you know, please know that I know the buck stops with me. I’m in the communication business, I have been here for 30 years, so regardless of whatever interpretation that accompanies any words coming out of my mouth, the responsibility ultimately lies with me first and foremost before anybody else. I’ve always felt that way. I still do. I always will, period. Blacks who refuse to support Trump are aware of his history of issues. And we’ll never forget how Trump claimed Obama, the nation’s first black president, wasn’t even qualified to hold office because he was born in Kenya, although Trump recanted the statement during his 2016 campaign run for the presidency. Yet Trump’s dissenters were not the topic of discussion when I was talking to Hannity. The support he appears to be receiving in the polls was what was being discussed. Five polls — count ‘em, five — Emerson, NBC News, Daily Kos, New York Times and Rasmussen, all big national polls, had Trump leading over the last few weeks. Plus, according to FiveThirtyEight, recent local polls also put Trump ahead in battleground states. He’s up six points in Michigan, Arizona and Georgia each. In so far as Trump gaining support in the black community, well, how about various publications with these headlines? The Chicago Tribune: ‘This time Trump really does seem to be making black voter inroads. Why?’ The Washington Post: ‘Voters of color are shifting right. Are Democrats doomed?’ How about The New York Times: ‘As black voters drift to Trump, Biden’s allies say they have work to do.’ Axios wrote: ‘Big Biden bummer: NY Times/Siena polls shows gaps with key demographic groups.’ Wall Street Journal: ‘Biden loses support among black men.’ The Hill: ‘Biden losing support among black voters in swing states: survey.’ Al Jazeera: ‘Why are black voters backing Donald Trump in record numbers?’ And CBS News: ‘Black voter support for Trump up from 4 percent to 23 percent, poll finds.’ Why did I say all of that? Because I want to show you I didn’t just open my mouth. I read, I listened, and I’ve seen a momentum shift, as we all have. Anywhere I appear, no matter my subjectivity relating to what I feel, is still going to be based on facts being presented into the stratosphere. That is who I’ve always been. It is what I will always continue to be. But it’s never exercised with malice in my heart and soul, certainly never to insult or harm the black community, my community. My thoughts are put out there to present views, I believe are pertinent, that alerts us to was going on, what missteps may be taking place, and how, if at all, they could be corrected. I hope everyone can understand and appreciate my intent if nothing else, as we March forward right here with the ‘Stephen A. Smith Show.’ But just because my intent was harmless, doesn’t mean my words were harm-less, and I know that. I can always do better, and I’ll strive to do just that every single day that I’m alive.”

ABRAMS: “Joining us now is Hagar Chemali, she’s an adjunct associate professor at Columbi University’s School of International and Public Affairs, she’s an expert on national security and foreign affairs. Thanks very much for coming on the program, appreciate it. So you have seen the protests on Columbia’s campus first-hand. You know, in the previous hour here on NewsNation, we saw people with different perspectives coming on, you know, the folks who want to defend the protests are telling us, ‘Oh, come on, they’re just typical protest, they’re just peaceful, they’re not interrupting anything.’ What is your perception of what you’ve seen?” CHEMALI: “So, I should be clear, I was there last Thursday and I was there on Saturday, and I was horrified by what I saw. And definition of ‘peaceful’ is is an interesting way to put it, because it doesn’t mean that the protests on campus — that’s within the the gates of Columbia — were violent. I didn’t see anybody throwing anything. But that doesn’t mean that the messages weren’t inciting violence, inciting hate or anti-Semitic. I walked by the protests during Saturday afternoon, and I saw two posters of terrorists, the faces of terrorists staring at me back in the face. I used to work in counterterrorism when I was in the U.S. government, and when I saw those photos, I was stunned. I just — I stopped breathing. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. And perhaps the students aren’t aware of who these individuals are, except I’m pretty sure, if you’ve got into Columbia, you know how to use Google, and so the responsibility is on them. One of them as an individual tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. That is a U.S..designated terrorist organization. And the other is a former spokesperson for Palestinian Islamic Jihad, also a U.S.-designated terrorist organization which, by the way, is currently holding hostages in Gaza right now. Now, I have to tell you that I’ve learned that today those posters were taken down. I don’t know if the students did it proactively, if the administration did. Either way, that’s the right move. And so what I saw on Saturday was peaceful in that it wasn’t physically violent, but hostile messaging. And by Saturday night, they had turned into violent rhetoric, calls for intifada and violent protests outside of the campus.” ABRAMS: “Does it make you not want to teach at Columbia anymore?” CHEMALI: “No, because, listen, in my view, and I had this since the fall, I had really constructive conversations with my students, because at the end of the day, these are students and when you — and there is a role that Columbia needs to play here in leading and guiding and educating them. And you have to teach them — “ ABRAMS: “But not with the professors you have there. I mean, it’s not just the students don’t — I apologize for interrupting you, but you have a lot of professors walking out as well to ‘support the students.’ So it’s not just students here.” CHEMALI: “You know, that’s fair. So, when I saw the protests of the professors yesterday, I was — I was really displeased with that, and the reason is because, if their argument — their argument is that they are doing it to protect students and that they view that one of the key responsibilities of a professor is to protect a student regardless of that student’s views. Fine. No, I don’t have a problem with that per se. But if that is your argument, then where were those professors in protecting the Jewish students when they were being verbally attacked, when some of them had their yarmulkes lopped off their heads, when some of them had their Israeli flags taken and shredded or burned? Where were they with that? They were Jewish students who required escorts to go to seder dinners? That is a New York City in 2024 in America. That’s absurd and I don’t see the professors being equal about that.” ABRAMS: “Well, and more than that, Columbia decided to hold classes virtually last night from now on, for the rest of the semester. That’s what you’re going to get for the — you know, whatever the tens of thousands of dollars people are paying every year to go to Columbia University? They’re going to get this, basically an online education now, because these protesters have won.” CHEMALI: “Right. I really don’t like the decision about the virtual part. So yesterday, Monday, we were virtual, completely virtual, and then today onward, until the end of the semester, we are following a what’s called a hybrid model, which means that we can be in person, but we offer virtual for students who feel unsafe. And I agree with you Dan, I don’t understand why we’re the ones who have to stay home because of the unsafe environment that the protesters have created. It should be the other way around. It should be that those creating the unsafe or hostile environment should be removed or should be stopped. And by the way — and I would add this, and this is an important distinction — even if the protests on campus today, for example, today they were — they appear peaceful. And while I appreciate that, I know that those students have invited outside agitators to come to the gates, to bang on those gates loudly, to shout anthems in support of Hamas, to call for the burning of Tel Aviv, and to shout anti-Semitic remarks at your students. So they’re separate but related, and those students have a responsibility that they’re not fulfilling.” ABRAMS: “Here’s the Columbia president talking about her perspective on it. Let’s listen number one.” [Clip starts] SHAFIK: “When I first started at Columbia, our policies, our systems and our enforcement mechanisms were not up to the scale of this challenge. They were — they were designed for a very different world. They were designed for a student cheating on an exam.” [Clip ends] ABRAMS: “I mean, look, again, I give the president credit for bringing in the police department. She’s taken a lot of heat of from the protesters over that. But, you know, Columbia feels like it’s been looking for this to happen. It looks like a lot of these. Agitators have been looking for an excuse. And I say that because, again, why would they do it now, right? Israel just withheld an overwhelming response to Iran, right? They did a symbolic hit. I could see, when Israel overreacts and suddenly, you know, thousands are dead in Iran and people say, ‘You know what? Enough is enough. You’ve got Gaza, now you’ve got Iran.’ Instead, Israel just came off of showing enormous restraint here. I don’t even get it.” CHEMALI: “Well, after October 7, only days after, you had massive protests at Columbia that were anti-Israel in nature, and I was horrified back then too, by the way. And you’re right, I mean, when we saw this assault by Iran, which a lot of people and pundits wanted to claim that they were designed for detection — and I can tell you, having worked in the U.S. government for 12 years, including on wars, they were not designed to be disrupted, they were designed to get missiles through. That’s why there were so many of them. They didn’t get through because the U.S. and Israel worked together with our partners, by the way, to deflect all of them. But that said, I agree with you. After the Iranian assault, there were — I heard that on Whatsapp chains amongst student groups, that there were students praising the Iranian regime’s assault, which mortifies me.” ABRAMS: “Of course. Of course. This is my point. That Israel can’t win. Anyway, Hagar, thank you so much for coming on the show, really appreciate it.” CHEMALI: “Thanks.”