CSPAN - Washington Journal Open Forum
Aired: 2026-04-27
Duration: 31:59


=== Sean Johnson's Tough Votes (03:36) ===

[00:00:00]  Voters in places like Silicon Valley swung hard leftward because the Democrats ran to the center.
[00:00:06]  So the narrative of what happened in California and the narratives of not massive non-citizen voting just don't hold up to scrutiny.
[00:00:15]  Finally, Sean, I want to ask you about the Senate race in Louisiana.
[00:00:18]  Senator Bill Cassidy is running for re-election.
[00:00:21]  He's facing a primary challenge from Republican Julia Lettloe, who has been endorsed by President Trump.
[00:00:28]  Can you tell us what's happening there?
[00:00:32]  Yeah, Senator Cassidy has generally been a pretty reliable conservative voice.
[00:00:37]  He is more moderate on the conservative spectrum, but he voted to remove Donald Trump in an impeachment proceeding.
[00:00:45]  And in a very conservative state like Louisiana, with a very conservative Republican Party, that's just a hard stance to take.
[00:00:53]  You know, he's taken some tough votes for Republicans to try to ingratiate himself, win back the graces of the Republican electorate there.
[00:01:03]  But in an electorate that's just very pro-Trump and very conservative, he's going to have a tough time because of how his votes have positioned him.
[00:01:13]  All right, that's Sean Trendy, senior election analyst for RealClearPolitics.
[00:01:17]  They're at realclearpolitics.com.
[00:01:20]  Sean, thanks so much for joining us today.
[00:01:23]  Thank you.
[00:01:25]  Welcome back to Washington Journal.
[00:01:26]  We are in open forum and looking forward to taking your calls.
[00:01:31]  I do want to show you real quick the article on the front page of the Washington Post about the attack at the dinner on Saturday.
[00:01:42]  The headline, dinner lacked highest security level.
[00:01:46]  This is a picture of Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, being rushed out by his security detail.
[00:01:54]  They've got him, as you can see by his jacket, and they're all running out of the ballroom.
[00:02:00]  Here's what the article says: it says President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were quickly evacuated to safety Saturday when a gunman charged the security perimeter and attempted to storm the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
[00:02:16]  Others in attendance included Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
[00:02:26]  It says the concentration of high-ranking leaders in one ballroom left the nation unusually vulnerable as the would-be assassin raced past Secret Service before he was apprehended.
[00:02:37]  A worst-case scenario might have resulted in passing the power of the presidency to the senior most senator of the majority party, Scott Grassley, who was not at the event and is third in line to the presidency behind Vance and Johnson.
[00:02:56]  When so many officials gather in one place, the official functions such as an inauguration or state of the union, the Secretary of Homeland Security typically puts the Secret Service in charge of coordinating all security through a formal designation known as a quote, national security, national special security event.
[00:03:18]  There was no such designation on Saturday night at an event also attended by thousands of journalists and other government officials, according to local and federal officials.
[00:03:29]  So that's at the Washington Post if you'd like to see more of that.
[00:03:33]  Let's talk to Annie in Tampa, Florida.

=== Justice Department Probe Ends (05:09) ===

[00:03:36]  Democrat, you're on open forum, Annie.
[00:03:39]  Good morning.
[00:03:40]  Yes, Trump's violence has been going on for 12 years, you know, blowing up votes and people.
[00:03:48]  And, you know, our young people watch that.
[00:03:50]  And, you know, when it comes to a 27-year-old shooting, that's, to me, that's a young person.
[00:03:57]  So 31 year old.
[00:03:59]  Oh, 31.
[00:04:00]  They've been seeing this, you know, for 12 years, you know, the insurrection and so forth.
[00:04:05]  It's all been, you know, generated by Trump.
[00:04:08]  But I have a local cleaning service, and my customers, they will watch Fox News and all this information eight to 10 hours a day.
[00:04:17]  And I remember when we were growing up, we'd watch the news for maybe 30 minutes, you know, and then go to dinner or something else.
[00:04:23]  And these people, you know, you can't help them because they are so ingrained in this false information.
[00:04:32]  But for me, I would just watch Trump's mouth and not any media, definitely not social media.
[00:04:39]  Watch Trump's mouth and the ignorance that comes out of it every day.
[00:04:44]  And, you know, it's not media.
[00:04:45]  It's not social media.
[00:04:47]  It's, you know, and that's all we have to do.
[00:04:49]  Okay, thank you.
[00:04:50]  Larry in Chicago, Independent Line, you're on Open Forum.
[00:04:55]  Good morning.
[00:04:56]  I'm happy I got you on the line.
[00:04:59]  Clarence Thomas, Justice, already spelled it out.
[00:05:03]  We're still a divided nation.
[00:05:05]  So, Mimi, here's my solution.
[00:05:07]  When all the brokenhearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer.
[00:05:12]  Let it be.
[00:05:13]  Let it be.
[00:05:13]  Jesus.
[00:05:14]  A simple story for simple people.
[00:05:17]  Love you much.
[00:05:18]  Bye.
[00:05:20]  And let's take a look at some other news.
[00:05:24]  You remember that Senator Tom Tillis had said that he would not vote for the new Fed chair, the nominee, Kevin Warsh, until that federal investigation, criminal investigation into the current chairman, Jerome Powell, was dropped.
[00:05:39]  Here he is on Meet the Press yesterday.
[00:05:44]  Well, let me back up.
[00:05:45]  And the announcement on Friday was well received by me.
[00:05:50]  I think it's the first time that the Department of Justice in D.C., or I should say the D.C. prosecutors, have acknowledged that they're not going to carry this case forward.
[00:06:02]  The case is on appeal.
[00:06:04]  But after that statement, I've had a number of discussions with the Department of Justice.
[00:06:10]  They have made it very clear that the current investigation is completely and fully ended.
[00:06:16]  There may be some confusion because they're moving forward with the appeal, but I have been assured by the Department of Justice that that appeal is simply to challenge the basis for judging on the motion to quash the subpoenas.
[00:06:27]  It would not in any way constitute a basis for reopening the investigation.
[00:06:33]  And we heard from Acting Attorney General Blanche just a few minutes ago that the only thing that would trigger an investigation is criminal, potential criminal misconduct identified by the Inspector General Horowitz, who's one of the most respected inspector generals in Washington or in the whole of government.
[00:06:53]  I believe I have studied this, and I believe that there will not be any wrongdoing.
[00:06:58]  Maybe we find a little stupid here in terms of somebody responsible for the project making a decision they shouldn't.
[00:07:04]  Maybe.
[00:07:05]  But it doesn't rise to a criminal prosecution.
[00:07:07]  That was my problem to begin with because I feel like there were prosecutors in D.C. that thought this was going to be a lever to have Mr. Powell leave early.
[00:07:15]  But now with this, I am prepared and with the assurances from the Department of Justice that the case is completely and fully settled, that the appeal would only be used to potentially abrogate or change the ruling for administrative purposes, not as a basis for reopening the investigation, and that the only way an investigation would be open would be a criminal referral from one of the most respected inspector generals there.
[00:07:44]  I am prepared to move on with the confirmation of Mr. Warsh.
[00:07:48]  I think he's going to be a great Fed chair.
[00:07:50]  I just want to put a fine point on it because what you're saying is significant, Center.
[00:07:54]  You are now a yes to vote on the confirmation of Kevin Worsh.
[00:08:01]  That's right.
[00:08:02]  We'll be putting out a statement.
[00:08:05]  We worked a lot over the weekend to make sure that we were very clear that we had assurances from the DOJ that I need it to feel like they were not using the DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed.
[00:08:18]  So this will allow Mr. Warsh to move on with his confirmation on time.
[00:08:25]  Senator Tom Tillis, Republican, talking about this headline, the Wall Street Journal says the Justice Department will end the probe of Jerome Powell, opening the path for Kevin Warsh.
[00:08:36]  It says the wind down of the investigation of the Fed chair could end an impasse that threatened to delay a leadership transition.
[00:08:44]  We're an open forum.

=== Warsh Confirmation Path Opens (15:34) ===

[00:08:46]  You can start calling now if you'd like to talk about something.
[00:08:49]  Republicans are on 202748-8001.
[00:08:52]  Democrats 202-748-8000.
[00:08:55]  And Independents 202-748-8002.
[00:08:59]  And on the line for Republicans in Las Vegas, Greg, you're on the air.
[00:09:03]  Good morning.
[00:09:05]  Yeah, I have a question.
[00:09:08]  Why are this show on the time that it is on?
[00:09:12]  Because it's 4 a.m. out here on the West, 7 a.m. back there.
[00:09:16]  It seems like, you know, you don't get as many West Coast callers because it's 4 a.m.
[00:09:23]  Yeah.
[00:09:24]  No, I know.
[00:09:25]  I appreciate that feedback.
[00:09:28]  But, you know, typically at 10 a.m., we start having things like the House, when they're in session, they'll come in.
[00:09:35]  So we carry them gavel to gavel.
[00:09:37]  There's all kinds of other stuff happening here in Washington.
[00:09:40]  But, you know, hopefully we'll have other programs like this where you can weigh in later in the day so that it's not so early for you.
[00:09:48]  But you're up, Greg.
[00:09:51]  Pardon me?
[00:09:52]  You're up.
[00:09:53]  You're up pretty early.
[00:09:55]  Yeah, I'm always up.
[00:09:57]  But during the day, you also have some shows that I really don't want to say that aren't as good as this, but you could be on them in place of their time.
[00:10:10]  Okay.
[00:10:11]  We take that feedback.
[00:10:13]  Elton in Moulton, Alabama, Democrat, good morning.
[00:10:17]  Yes.
[00:10:19]  The same Saturday night, I think it was staged.
[00:10:23]  That man had multiple knives, two handguns, and a shotgun.
[00:10:28]  He got through all that security and all them other things.
[00:10:34]  If it wasn't staged, the security, all of them, they fake fired and a new crew hired.
[00:10:41]  So, Elton, hold on.
[00:10:43]  I voted for Mr. Donald Trump three times.
[00:10:46]  I'm a very Democrat.
[00:10:51]  I can't believe the rhetoric coming out of his mouth and down into the Democrats like he does.
[00:10:58]  So, Elton, let me go back to what you said about getting through all that security.
[00:11:02]  So, here's the issue: is there wasn't all that security.
[00:11:07]  There was the magnetometers were set up, so metal detectors.
[00:11:12]  He ran through those, and that's when he was stopped and tackled by Secret Service.
[00:11:18]  Before that, there is no other security.
[00:11:22]  If you're coming from the outside, you have to show a ticket, a physical ticket.
[00:11:26]  But he was a guest.
[00:11:29]  He actually went to the hotel and rented a room there.
[00:11:34]  So there was no, you know, when you go to a hotel, they don't search your luggage for weapons.
[00:11:42]  So, yeah.
[00:11:45]  Larry, North Carolina, Independent Line, you're on the air.
[00:11:50]  Yeah, you know, this was an earlier segment when you were talking about the rhetoric.
[00:11:56]  And what I don't understand is, and what drove me to become an independent was because both parties talk a bunch of stuff, but at the end of the day, they don't talk about real serious and factual issues.
[00:12:10]  For instance, we know that the major threat for about the last 20 years have been supremacists.
[00:12:18]  And they just dismiss this thing and they go completely, and the Democrats do absolutely nothing.
[00:12:25]  They have an opportunity to use certain platforms.
[00:12:29]  I wouldn't be surprised that this guy had some kind of ties to the Republican Party because most of that violence comes from them.
[00:12:37]  So I don't know why.
[00:12:39]  Well, let's hear from a Democrat.
[00:12:41]  This is a governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro.
[00:12:45]  Remember, he was a victim of political violence.
[00:12:48]  His house was set on fire a bit ago.
[00:12:52]  Let's hear what he had to say from earlier this month.
[00:12:56]  Part of the reason why tensions are so high, why we're seeing more political violence.
[00:13:02]  We've always had, sadly, political violence in our system, but why we're seeing more of it is because our leaders, in many cases, are failing us.
[00:13:11]  I think the central role for a leader is to keep people safe.
[00:13:14]  And one of the best ways to do that is to speak and act with moral clarity.
[00:13:21]  When you attack people based on what they look like or where they come from, who they love or who they pray to, everyone is less safe.
[00:13:31]  You know, folks will say to me all the time, at Gov, you know, we're seeing a rise in anti-Semitism.
[00:13:36]  And yes, we are empirically.
[00:13:38]  You know, we're also seeing a rise in Islamophobia and racism and bigotry in all forms.
[00:13:43]  And attacking one person because of what they look like or how they pray makes everyone less safe.
[00:13:50]  The president of the United States has a responsibility to do better.
[00:13:54]  When you tweet like that, not you, but what you referenced the other day, attacking Muslims, making fun of Islam, a beautiful religion, a wonderful faith.
[00:14:06]  What you are really doing is saying those people are okay to attack.
[00:14:12]  You are giving a pass to that.
[00:14:14]  And when you give a pass to that, everyone is less safe.
[00:14:18]  There's more chaos.
[00:14:19]  There's more cruelty in our world.
[00:14:22]  We should have a president of the United States, even if we disagree on health care policy or tax policy or whatever, we should at least at baseline have an honorable president of the United States.
[00:14:32]  We do not have that right now.
[00:14:36]  That was earlier this month.
[00:14:37]  That was Governor Shapiro.
[00:14:39]  His residence was attacked on April 13th, 2025.
[00:14:45]  This is Betty in Baltimore, Independent Line.
[00:14:48]  You're on Open Forum.
[00:14:50]  Oh, yes.
[00:14:51]  I think that Governor Shapiro is right on talking.
[00:14:56]  But then again, about Trump, I think it was a setup.
[00:15:01]  And I'm going to just have three words.
[00:15:03]  Epstein, Epstein, Iran, and the rep, that is the economy.
[00:15:10]  People are being laid off left and right.
[00:15:13]  Jobs are closing down.
[00:15:15]  People are losing their jobs.
[00:15:17]  How can this be a good economy?
[00:15:20]  It's not.
[00:15:22]  And I think it was a clever setup because nobody with all those nods and guns, you can't even get into a public school with a knife or a gun.
[00:15:33]  I think they knew he was crazy.
[00:15:36]  They knew he was coming.
[00:15:37]  And they opened the door for him to come to let them use it politically to give people something to think about besides the horrible mess we're in.
[00:15:48]  I can't even afford to pay for my medication and drive my car at the same time.
[00:15:55]  We're suffering, and Trump knows it.
[00:15:58]  And he wants to stay in there to get orders from his puppet master.
[00:16:05]  And this is the front page of the New York Times.
[00:16:07]  Gunman at Gala scorned Trump.
[00:16:10]  Authorities say it says the gunman who tried to storm a gala featuring President Trump had written angrily about the administration, the authorities said on Sunday as they examined his communications and cross-country movements in the day leading up to the attack.
[00:16:26]  The episode on Saturday night at the dinner, Washington Hilton raised new fears about a scourge of political violence afflicting the United States and about the safety of one of the most targeted presidents in history.
[00:16:39]  And here is Carol, Pinellas Park, Florida, Democrat.
[00:16:43]  Good morning, Carol.
[00:16:45]  Good morning.
[00:16:46]  Thank you, kindy, for taking my call.
[00:16:49]  Yes, there is only one person to blame for what happened Saturday night, and it is Trump.
[00:16:56]  The vile words and the rhetoric that he spores on those poor journalists and the media, the filthy words, mostly women.
[00:17:09]  And I say to myself, the media is doing their job.
[00:17:13]  He doesn't like it.
[00:17:15]  The things he calls them.
[00:17:17]  He just started again this morning or last night in an interview, starting all over again after what he said Saturday night.
[00:17:26]  The man is evil.
[00:17:28]  He is evil, and things are not going to get better.
[00:17:31]  They aren't.
[00:17:32]  So, Carol, Carol makes that comment.
[00:17:33]  Yes.
[00:17:34]  Yeah, before you get to your second point, the word evil, when you call the president evil, instead of just saying, for instance, I disagree with how he speaks to reporters, I think that he should say this instead of this, or I disagree with his policies.
[00:17:52]  What do you think of that?
[00:17:53]  I mean, do you think that we should, and I've seen so much in my life.
[00:17:58]  I've never seen anything like this ever.
[00:18:01]  This is getting out of hand.
[00:18:03]  It's getting worse.
[00:18:03]  It's not getting better.
[00:18:06]  This Iran war never should have been beginning with.
[00:18:10]  It was all his doings, as if we had nothing to say about it.
[00:18:14]  That's what I don't understand.
[00:18:16]  We have nothing to say about anything anymore as long as he's in office because he's the ruler.
[00:18:20]  He's the king.
[00:18:21]  He wants to be king on each other.
[00:18:23]  And Carol, about your second point, you said you wanted to say something else.
[00:18:27]  Yes.
[00:18:28]  I just like to make a comment.
[00:18:29]  I think there should be term limits for the Congress, the Senate, and the Supreme Court.
[00:18:38]  This is too long.
[00:18:41]  The Constitution, I don't care what the Constitution says, there should be term limits.
[00:18:48]  There's a term limit for president.
[00:18:50]  There should be term limits for all other political positions.
[00:18:53]  And I leave it at that.
[00:18:56]  I just am so disgusted at my age that we have to live through something like this.
[00:19:01]  Every day it's something.
[00:19:02]  It's something every day.
[00:19:04]  And a lot of it's to get us off the subject of what's the everyday news, like Epstein and the war and other things that come up.
[00:19:16]  All right, Carol.
[00:19:18]  We're paying so much for gas now.
[00:19:21]  I never thought we'd ever come to where there's so much hatred, so much hatred in this world.
[00:19:27]  Why can't we all get together?
[00:19:29]  That's not what Jesus wants.
[00:19:31]  That's not what Jesus wants.
[00:19:33]  He wants us all to get together.
[00:19:35]  But this will never happen until we all understand that.
[00:19:39]  And start kicking on each other.
[00:19:41]  And this is in the Wall Street Journal.
[00:19:44]  It says this.
[00:19:45]  Simple security flaws that expose Trump to another gunman.
[00:19:49]  Dinner guest said getting into the hotel was remarkably easy.
[00:19:52]  Quote, what the hell is the Secret Service doing?
[00:19:57]  The article starts this way: same hotel where then President Ronald Reagan was shot 45 years ago.
[00:20:03]  It was remarkably easy for a shooter to charge toward a ballroom where President Trump, along with his cabinet members and the reporters who cover his administration, were dining Saturday night.
[00:20:14]  This is in the Wall Street Journal if you'd like to read that.
[00:20:18]  Here's a quote from one of the attendees.
[00:20:21]  No, sorry, yes, one of the attendees, Carrie Lake, former Republican gubernatorial and Senate nominee in Arizona, said this: Upon entering, nobody asked to visibly inspect my ticket nor asked for my photo identification.
[00:20:35]  All one had to do was flash what appeared to be a ticket, and they were fine with that.
[00:20:41]  This is Chris, now Republican in Georgia.
[00:20:45]  You're on Open Forum.
[00:20:47]  Okay, hey, thanks for taking my call.
[00:20:49]  A couple things.
[00:20:50]  First of all, it seems like the whole country is my team against your team.
[00:20:55]  And I really think that C-SPAN's on the Democratic team, and I can tell you why.
[00:21:00]  During the vote of the big, beautiful bill in the summertime, when we're waiting to see the outcome, everything that C-SPAN played on that was the Democrats say how terrible that bill was.
[00:21:15]  Clip after clip, and then they would check to vote, then go right back.
[00:21:19]  And then when they were fringed with those clips, they would repeat them.
[00:21:24]  It was just beyond compare.
[00:21:28]  Just this morning, you pushed back on the Republican a couple times.
[00:21:33]  That lady came out, and the first lady who came out against everything saying 12 years of violence by President Trump.
[00:21:42]  Why didn't you ask her what she meant by that?
[00:21:45]  Whether he punch somebody, shoot somebody.
[00:21:47]  All they're doing is they're listening to their side, and their side says he's king.
[00:21:54]  A king wouldn't let and have no king protest.
[00:21:58]  Come on, sorry, Chris.
[00:22:02]  Kate in Michigan, Independent, you're on the air.
[00:22:06]  Good morning.
[00:22:07]  Good morning.
[00:22:08]  I'm calling.
[00:22:09]  It's hard to get through, but I feel compelled to call and set the record straight about something.
[00:22:14]  Last week, Representative Tom McClintock was on your program, and he referred to Detroit as a socialist hellhole.
[00:22:25]  And I am just flabbergasted by that comment because they have done amazing things to rise from the ashes.
[00:22:34]  And they have wonderful, wonderful programs there for youth.
[00:22:37]  They have amazing free concert of colors.
[00:22:40]  They have done so, they have made that city so beautiful.
[00:22:45]  And for him to say that, I just had to set the record straight.
[00:22:49]  And I apologize to Detroit that he said that.
[00:22:53]  And that's part of the problem, that kind of an attitude.
[00:22:56]  Thank you.
[00:22:58]  Jerome in Denham Springs, Louisiana.
[00:23:02]  Democrat, you're on the air, Jerome.
[00:23:04]  Hey, good morning.
[00:23:05]  Yes, ma'am.
[00:23:06]  I consider myself a fairly competent political observer.
[00:23:12]  I'll be 70 years old in a couple of weeks.
[00:23:14]  And what really, really bothers me is how Republicans tend to softpedal some of the really awful and cruel things that the president says.
[00:23:26]  I mean, they give it legitimacy.
[00:23:29]  And it's just really hard to really comprehend how they could do that, particularly the things he said a couple of weeks ago about the annihilation of the entire civilization in Iran.
[00:23:42]  There's no way, period, full stop, you can soft peddle something like that.
[00:23:47]  And it just needs to stop.
[00:23:49]  And have a nice day.
[00:23:51]  Thank you.
[00:23:53]  Tom Woodbridge, Virginia, Republican.
[00:23:55]  Hi, Tom.
[00:23:58]  Mimi.
[00:23:59]  I want to say your earlier segment when you were talking about the political violence, it was really clear that you were trying to get the audience to give you feedback on whether or not what C-SPAN is doing is hitting the mark, helpful, or harming what's going on.

=== Times v. Sullivan Explained (03:06) ===

[00:24:20]  It's not C-SPAN that's the problem.
[00:24:23]  C-SPAN is a fantastic venue where you hear these divergent voices.
[00:24:32]  The real problem, there's two things, there's really multiple things that are a big problem.
[00:24:37]  And to just kind of lay out my bona fides on this, I was the senior intelligence collection strategist at the Office of Director of National Intelligence on Domestic Extremism.
[00:24:49]  I'm also a former U.S. Senate candidate.
[00:24:52]  And in addition to that, I've been an intelligence officer at the national level for since like over 20 years.
[00:25:00]  And I've worked specifically this issue.
[00:25:03]  And so this is not just a normal citizen giving you this information.
[00:25:08]  So here's the problem.
[00:25:09]  The problem is a lawsuit, New York Times v. Sullivan, back in like the 1970s that basically said that public officials could, for all intents and purposes, be defamed because it was in the public interest of the American people that you be able to talk openly and viscerally about our public officials and our public office holders.
[00:25:38]  So what that has given, that was before social media, that was before the internet.
[00:25:43]  And so that case, which was intended to be for newspapers, has basically caused all of this vitriolic political rhetoric that is so divisive in our country because basically people can say anything they want without there being any consequences.
[00:26:00]  And that's where all of pedophile claims come from, the rapist claims, the neo-Nazi claims, all these things.
[00:26:08]  You wouldn't be able to say these things if people weren't public officials and we didn't have New York Times v. Sullivan.
[00:26:14]  That's number one.
[00:26:15]  The other thing is, very, very importantly, is our political, our political parties, the Republican Party and the Democrat Party, make money, and the political consultancies make money off of the most extremist speech they can get their candidate to say in order to win a primary, because that's really where the election takes place.
[00:26:38]  The election takes place in the primaries where the parties are determining who's going to be there, who's going to be their candidate.
[00:26:47]  And so the point I'm trying to make is between New York Times v. Sullivan and the divisive nature of our politics today, that is what has given rise to this huge division in our country.
[00:26:59]  And the only way it's going to come back together is we need the Supreme Court to revisit New York Times v. Sullivan, because what that'll do is that'll tamp down on all the political rhetoric and all of the baseless accusations that are often made in these political situations that give rise then to the political violence because some people believe these things without any actual evidence or fact.
[00:27:22]  All right, Tom.
[00:27:24]  Got that.
[00:27:25]  And we're an open forum.

=== White House Dinner Fallout (04:32) ===

[00:27:27]  We will continue to take your calls.
[00:27:29]  If you're on the line, stay on the line or you can continue to call in.
[00:27:33]  We're just going to get a quick update on what's happening at the White House from Leonardo Feldman, White House reporter for Newsweek.
[00:27:41]  Good morning.
[00:27:42]  Welcome to the show.
[00:27:43]  Thank you so much, Mimi.
[00:27:45]  Thank you for having me.
[00:27:47]  And could you give us an update on the latest on the White House correspondence dinner, the fallout from that, and any possible meetings happening today?
[00:27:58]  Yeah, well, we know that Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has said that they are going to be meeting early this week to discuss the protocols for any future event that the president is doing.
[00:28:11]  We also know that the president is currently backing the leadership of the Secret Service despite a lot of backlash from the public.
[00:28:20]  We also know that Cole Allen is expected to be arraigned today for several charges, including a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
[00:28:34]  In terms of what we know about this week, this is going to be a very, very big week here at the White House, given that the king and the queen are going to be about that royal visit, but before we do, I know that you were at that White House correspondence dinner and there was a lot of criticism, as you said, about the level of security.
[00:28:57]  Can you talk about what you saw and what you know so far?
[00:29:01]  Yeah, Mimi, I mean, from the moment that I was starting to enter the building, I noticed that there were no screening machines right outside or right at the entrance, which was odd because I've covered a lot of different campaign events and events with the president.
[00:29:18]  And there's always a scanner, a magnetometer, either at the entrance or outside.
[00:29:23]  But I've heard from several journalists that the dinner, that this is how they do it, and they've always had the magnetometers like near the ballroom.
[00:29:32]  So that's something that struck out to me.
[00:29:34]  So that's something that definitely a lot of people are discussing in terms of the security.
[00:29:38]  And, you know, these scanners were only just feet away from the ballroom.
[00:29:44]  And basically, a lot of the structure was completely unsecured up until that area.
[00:29:50]  The only thing, the only type of screening that we would get was like, do you have a ticket?
[00:29:54]  Are you coming here to the WHCA?
[00:29:56]  And that's it.
[00:29:58]  There were a few guards at the entrance, but that's it.
[00:30:00]  That was the only type of screening that you would get at the entrance.
[00:30:04]  And we will be covering that arraignment if and when it happens.
[00:30:09]  It's scheduled for today.
[00:30:10]  We're not quite sure when, but stay with the C-SPAN networks for that.
[00:30:15]  You did mention the state visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla.
[00:30:20]  What can you tell us about the plans for that visit?
[00:30:23]  So we know that they're arriving today and they are expected to do tea and also check out a beehive that First Lady Melania Trump just installed here on the White House grounds.
[00:30:38]  We also know that on Tuesday they're expected to have a dinner and then on Thursday that's when the farewell is.
[00:30:44]  Those are some of the latest updates that we have in terms of the royal visit.
[00:30:50]  And President Trump also canceled the trip by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for negotiations with Iran.
[00:31:00]  Update us on that.
[00:31:02]  That's right.
[00:31:02]  Right now we know that the nuclear negotiations, they're on pause.
[00:31:06]  The peace deal agreements, they're on pause at this moment.
[00:31:10]  We do know that there was apparently a draft that was sent by Iranian negotiators that would reopen the Strait of Hermuz if the blockade is lifted.
[00:31:21]  But so far we don't have indication in terms of what the White House is thinking about this new draft.
[00:31:28]  We do know that the Pakistani officials told Reuters that the draft will be negotiated only after a consensus is reached.
[00:31:38]  So again, that's the latest that we have on that front.
[00:31:42]  And anything else you're watching this week and any possible travel by the President?
[00:31:46]  Well, the President is reportedly expected to head to Florida later this week.
[00:31:52]  You can continue watching this online at c-span.org.
[00:31:56]  We're going to take you live now to the U.S. House where members are delivering general speeches.