What’s at Stake With Trump’s Media Ban and Why the U.S. Hasn’t Helped Saudi Arabia Against the Houthis

0:00September is so hard. It's such a deceitful month in the NFL because you really don't know sometimes, is it the circumstance of the day or is this an indication of the season?

0:12Kelly O’Donnell: Hi, everybody, and welcome to Here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Basugin. So today on the show, we're talking about the NFL, which is off and running. We're two weeks in. We've got some pretty unpredictable wins and losses so far, some injuries as well that could be game changers for those subsequent teams. And then who is the dark horse? Who's going to be the dark horse this season? We're going to get all those questions answered. We are also following this escalating conflict between the Houthis in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. So far, the United States has chosen not to interfere alongside their key allies, the Saudis.

0:49Kelly O’Donnell: But the president hesitated this weekend. So we're going to explain what happened there, along with what this means for the war with Iran.

1:02Kelly O’Donnell: Up first, though. So three news organizations, MSNOW, CNN, and Politico, have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after President Trump banned them from the White House. In a joint statement, the three outlets said the lawsuit is to protect their First Amendment rights and added that, quote, left unchallenged. This threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference. And now the White House press TV pool is suspending pooled coverage of President Trump today because CNN was supposed to accompany the president to the U.N. General Assembly here in New York.

1:36Kelly O’Donnell: So for more on this, I want to bring in Kelly O'Donnell, who is the NBC News Chief Justice and National Affairs Correspondent. Hi, Kelly. Good to be with you. Great to have you. Okay, so the president announced this ban on Friday on True Social. It was midday. Today, he defended this move, writing in part this, the White House is not instituting an assault on the free press. something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the fake news. What does this ban actually mean? Well, I was in the Oval Office with the president on Friday and asked him about this ban shortly after he posted it publicly.

2:13Sure, Mr. President, earlier today you posted that you intend to ban CNN, Politico, and MS Now from the White House. Yeah. Every president takes an oath to uphold the Constitution. Yeah, I do too. I do too. Much more so. much more so than you. Because they're fake news. You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. The First Amendment protects reporters, media outlets, and ultimately the public in getting information from government intrusion on that information. So that is an issue here. It is First Amendment, but it's also Fifth Amendment. And these media organizations in their suit are saying the Fifth Amendment rights have been violated.

2:59And that's for due process because there was no warning, no opportunity to address the concerns. And typically when you're talking about passes that are approved by the federal government, there's a background check. There are all kinds of elements of that. And those were pulled from these news organizations without any opportunity for due process. The government is allowed to have restrictions about who can come into a place. But once they allow journalists to come into a place like the White House, they cannot, according to case law, and that stems from our First Amendment, they cannot restrict which outlets come in based on the content of the reporting.

3:47It's called viewpoint discrimination. You cannot distinguish based on the content of what they write and say, you can be in, but you cannot. And that's what's at issue here. And so the pool functions as a representative of the larger press corps. So there is a rotation every day where, and now we're speaking about the television pool because there's a print pool, there's a radio pool. And so for the television network, CNN is a member of the five network pools. So it's ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox. These are the five media organizations that provide coverage, television coverage of the president day in, day out, anywhere in the world he goes.

4:30And that coverage is largely about the mechanics of getting the images, sound, and information from where the president is to the public broadly. And then other organizations who are members of the White House press corps get that content from the pool. And then they're able to fashion their own stories, their own coverage with the infrastructure, if you will, the core elements of what it means to cover the president.

4:59Kelly O’Donnell: So today, CNN was supposed to be pool. Exactly. CNN is one of the three that were, quote unquote, banned by the president on Friday. Now, other networks, including our network, NBC, are saying we're not stepping in to cover the president, right? In a way, solidarity with the other networks. So then how is this going to impact the coverage of today's events when the president is heading to New York. He's going to be speaking at the U.N. General Assembly tomorrow. I believe he's meeting with New York City Mayor Mamdani later today as well. It could have substantial impact on how people get their information about the president because CNN, in a scheduled rotation, was assigned to do this particular trip, going to New York.

5:39So they would be responsible for pooling for the entire trip. That is absent today because the president has said CNN cannot participate. They removed, revoked the hard passes for some of the CNN journalists. There are roughly 40 CNN journalists. The other networks are not filling in today. We don't exactly know how the White House will get its message out. Now, White House staff can shoot these things and put them on social media. They can put it on YouTube. But that is a state-sponsored image. It is not independent press coverage. And White Houses of both parties for generations have allowed for this independent coverage that travels with the president in close proximity to be able to capture when he talks to a world leader, when he's walking in the building and has something he wants to say.

6:34All of those things we're accustomed to seeing.

6:36Kelly O’Donnell: So with that in mind, I want to talk about the precedent for this, right? So in 2018, during the first Trump administration, the White House actually revoked the press credentials of CNN's then chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. CNN then subsequently sued, and a Trump-appointed federal judge temporarily restored Jim Acosta's press access. The White House eventually reinstated his credentials, and CNN dropped its lawsuit. What does that moment, that incident, tell us about what is going to happen likely here today and beyond? Well, I am not a lawyer, but that is certainly part of a history of case law, not just the Acosta case, but one involving a journalist named Brian Karam and some that go back even decades, the Sherrill case, that talk about these tests of what can government do to restrict a free press.

7:24And so the lawyers for these three entities, CNN, MSNOW, and Politico, have filed lawsuits asking for immediate relief to have the passes restored and this ban undone by the court. And there's a litigation that will probably take longer. But the first thing would be, is there a possibility of getting a temporary restraining order against what the White House has done? So we're waiting to see how that moves through the courts. The issues are pretty clear here. The president, in his remarks during the pool on Friday and in some of the things he has said since, gave a lot of the reasons that are listed in this lawsuit that we have a copy of here.

8:08And by that, I mean, the president was asked, why now? And he said, nothing in particular. I just don't like their stories. I'm paraphrasing there. He talked about different reasons, all of them dealing with the content of what those outlets, in his view, did or did not do that he would like to see differently. He pointed to someone else in the room and said, I can get a positive story from that person, but I can't get a positive story here. The law has held that government can't seek to get an outcome. It has to allow the press to do its work independently. Now, we keep talking about the press, but what I hope our listeners really get is that this is about the public.

8:52Reporters and journalists are merely stand-ins for the public. And so if there is what journalists believe is an unlawful infringement on First and Fifth Amendment rights, then the public is harmed. And there's plenty to scrutinize media about. There's plenty to talk about how reporters, journalists of all types do their jobs. But the basic rights and freedoms that have existed for a long time and really are very American, having free press. You've got a big meeting with President Xi of China coming here. They repress journalists in China. And so the United States has always stood up as a bright example of what does freedom mean in this space?

9:40Can the American people get information? Can they see the images? Can they hear what the president is saying? Can they have all of that brought to them without a government filter? That's the key thing, without a government filter. And that's part of what is at stake here.

9:57Kelly O’Donnell: Kelly O'Donnell, thank you. Good to be with you. And by the way, Judge Timothy Kelly has set a Wednesday hearing on CNN, MS Now, and Politico's motion for a temporary restraining order and ordered the Trump administration to respond to the news organization's claims by tomorrow. All right, coming up, why the Trump administration is staying out of a new front in the Iran war. But before we get to a break, why don't you take a moment to send your favorite Here's a Scoop episode to a friend. Maybe it was my interview with AI expert Joanna Bryson last week. Maybe it was Garrett Hanks' election edition, his episode on affordability, of course.

10:36Kelly O’Donnell: it's called friends helping friends thank you in advance and i'll see you on the other side

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12:19Kelly O’Donnell: And we are back with Here's the Scoop from NBC News. So fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis has been ramping up all month. But it seems like the U.S. is staying out of the conflict for now. Last Thursday, Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, asked President Trump for help. So the president ordered the Pentagon to give him options to strike the Houthis, but then decided to hold off on those strikes, according to a U.S. official. The official also told NBC News that the president has not taken military action against the Houthis off the table. So is the U.S.

12:53Kelly O’Donnell: going to do anything to help this key ally in the Middle East? And what could it mean for the Iran war if the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis continues to escalate? For this, I want to bring in NBC News chief international correspondent, Kier Simmons, who's on the ground for us in Riyadh. Hi, Kier. Hey, how you doing? I'm good. Okay, so let's talk about kind of this back and forth that I just mentioned, right? Because the conflict has been escalating between the Saudis and the Houthis, as the Houthis have been trying to kind of block the Saudis from access to the Red Sea. So MBS goes to the president, it seems, to ask for help.

13:32Kelly O’Donnell: The president initially says, I'm out. We're not helping. You guys are on your own. Then it seems like he agrees to help. And then he backs off once again. Walk us through what more you know about this back and forth. Well, I think that the Saudis will have reason to feel fairly aggrieved because, of course, as you know, Saudi Arabia has bought an awful lot of American weapons. And of course, as you know, the Trump administration made sure that it was very managed to find itself very close to the leadership here in Saudi Arabia. And the leadership here in Saudi Arabia has invested in that relationship.

14:08And now the crown prince needs backing and he's not getting it. Now, there is a reason for that, which is, frankly, similar to the Iran conflict in that there are many of many who will say that a conflict with the Houthis is just unwinnable. And effectively, it's another forever war. And I would just say that I think that the problem for the Trump administration, though, is that what the Saudis are effectively doing is taking on Iran in a proxy war with the Houthis. And by not backing them, effectively, you're handing potentially Iran another victory.

14:47Kelly O’Donnell: Why is it so problematic right now for the Saudis? Like, what does the fighting look like between the Houthis and the Saudis right now? Yeah, I mean, well, we had missiles fired at Riyadh, where I am now, the capital of Saudi Arabia, over the weekend. And they were intercepted, the Saudi Arabia government says. The US embassy here has told diplomats not to go to places like Yambu, which is a port city on the coast of the Red Sea. And that's a place where Saudi Arabia was doubling down on trade in order to try and get around the problem of the Strait of Hormuz. So that's one part of it all. and then on the ground in Yemen there has been you know kind of desert battles between government forces backed by the Saudis and by the Houthis but those government forces appear to have crumbled pretty much and the Houthis have gained enormous amounts of territory and islands around the Bab al-Mandeb that shipping lane that is another crucial waterway in the world economy.

15:53So it's been it's escalated enormously in the past weeks and not to the advantage of the Saudis, honestly.

16:03Kelly O’Donnell: But even as the president has so far not stepped in to help the Saudis against the Houthis, they are, it seems, helping in a different way because the State Department just approved a potential 24 billion dollar sale of dozens of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. By the way, Saudi Arabia gets a hold of these F-35s. They are the only ones that have them aside from Israel. So what does this say in that region? What does this say about the message the U.S. is trying to sell? Send, I should say. I would say that it's an attempt to signal support for Saudi Arabia in a situation where Saudi Arabia maybe isn't feeling very supported.

16:43It does have to pass Congress. Congress is already raising big questions, not least whether a country like Saudi Arabia, which does have some Chinese technology, by having an F-35 would risk the intelligence about the technology and those F-35s being accidentally, if you like, let's put it that way, shared with China. The Saudis would deny that, obviously. And listen, in any case, whatever the outcome of that, F-35s aren't going to suddenly arrive here in Saudi Arabia in, you know, six months time. I mean, this isn't going to solve this problem now. Right.

17:20Kelly O’Donnell: But I do wonder if you're accurate in your assessment that, OK, we're not going to support you when it comes to dropping bombs and missiles on your behalf. But here is some, you know, here are some supplies to keep going, essentially. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And the Houthis are playing a Machiavellian game where they are saying, we're only going to target Saudi ships. As long as you, America, don't attack us, we won't attack US interests in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb. If you assess that the Houthis are looking to try to divide the alliance they face, that's quite clever. And it also is quite tempting, I think, for Washington, which may be saying, well, first of all, we don't think that bombing the Houthis is going to be effective.

18:09And secondly, if we do that, we're going to end up with more Houthi missiles, causing more trade disruption, potentially more inflation. There's lots of bad things that might emerge from that. But again, all of this, I think people listening will agree, kind of illustrates just what a difficult position Washington is in. And also, how unpredictable things are now in this region.

18:31Kelly O’Donnell: Keir Simmons, thank you. You bet. All right, coming up. We're rushing into the end zone. We're telling you everything you need to know about the highs, the lows, the Hail Marys, the fumbles, all the latest from the NFL season after a very quick break.

18:50Welcome to The Circle. In this game, you never meet the other players. Your goal is simple, become the most popular. But should you play as yourself or catfish as someone else? With the new host, celebrity contestants, and this time, audience voting will influence the game. You decide who has what it takes to win. Watch the Hulu original series, The Circle, on November 17th. Streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song.

19:27Like, all I want... Right. Okay, we can't afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Let's face it. Modern work life is complicated. But good news, we're here for you. I'm Kayla Lopez. And I'm Kyle Heggie. And together, we've helped thousands of Morning Brew subscribers grow in their careers.

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20:23Kelly O’Donnell: And we are back with Here's the Scoop from NBC News. So it has been a wild start to the NFL season. You had important players suffering some very key injuries, some surprising starts, both good and bad, and then preseason predictions that are being turned completely upside down. So here to help us make sense of all of this is our NBC News sports reporter, Andrew Greif. Hi, Andrew. Hello. Okay, so I kind of mentioned it, right? We're two weeks in almost into the NFL season. Already we've seen kind of some lopsided losses here, right? upsets, wins, wild finishes, things that we did not predict going into this season at all.

21:03Kelly O’Donnell: What is the biggest surprise to you so far at the start of the season? I know I'm staying local here that I'm based in L.A., but I really think it's the L.A. Chargers. You know, this was a team that has never had a real breakthrough in the postseason, but spent the offseason trying to make that happen. They've got this quarterback in Justin Herbert, who's considered one of the league's biggest talents. They brought in a high-profile offensive coordinator to call the plays. they have a renowned head coach and they are 0-2 and they've lost to teams that had the first and third overall picks on last year's draft i.e these teams were not good coming into this year at least not expected to be good at all if i had to pivot a little bit i'd stay in the in the neighborhood actually the la rams you know it wasn't just that they went to australia and lost but they went from being the prohibitive favorite to win the super bowl this year because they had basically assembled an all-star team of talent in the offseason, to now a team of people wondering, hey, how good is that team?

21:55How good is the offense? What are we thinking of? So I really do think the Rams and Chargers are in sort of a self-reflection mode.

22:02Kelly O’Donnell: Yeah, so LA Rams obviously losing to the 49ers. The Giants, though, pulling out a surprise win. Nobody put any money, I imagine, on that. I do want to talk about the injuries because we had some significant injuries so far this season, too. Right. And really, it was opening night. It was Sam Darnold, the Seahawks quarterback, you know, the Super Bowl winning quarterback. This is the team that was going to be the contender again to go back to back. And one of the first plays of the game, he's out, he's injured. And in steps a backup named Drew Locke, who really had not been, all he's been in the league for quite a long time, has never really been counted on to become an every week starter.

22:39And yet the Seahawks are 2-0 and Darnold may be sitting out another week. There's a chance they could be 3-0. So So this is something where the Seahawks, because they play in such a difficult division, the NFC West, victories are extremely important there. So the fact that they could come out of this potentially 3-0 without their starting quarterback is huge for their chance to rebound and have home field advantage for the playoffs.

23:02Kelly O’Donnell: Do you think there's longevity for what we've been seeing, or do you think these are one-offs? And what I mean by that is, did the New York Giants have a win and they're going to sustain this role that they're on, or do you think that was a one-off, right? the LA Rams losing. Do you think that's going to really kind of set the stage for the rest of their season? Or do you think that's a one-off and they're going to come back? September is so hard. It's such a deceitful month in the NFL because you really don't know sometimes, is it the circumstance of the day or is this an indication of the season?

23:31And I think that's what we're still trying to figure out two weeks in. Now, I will say it's not panic time if your team is 0-2, because since the playoffs were reformatted in 2020, if you start 0-2, you still make the playoffs 15 % of the time. So it's not over. Last year, in fact, there was an 0-3 team that made the playoffs. Similarly, if you start 2-0, though, you make the playoffs 75 % of the time. So that's why even though there is still a lot of time left in this season for teams that maybe did have a disappointing loss like the Rams or like the Giants who started off 1-0 and looked pretty competent so far under first-year coach John Harbaugh, there are stakes to the way you start this season.

24:08And you're seeing teams now start to get to the point in the case of these 0-2 teams where although there are, you know, 15 games left, you really have to start figuring out those issues right now because it's about to be too late to fix them.

24:22Kelly O’Donnell: What are you going to be watching for this week? And any kind of like dark horses out of nowhere, Kenneth, that you think are going to kind of make big waves at all? I really want to see these Cincinnati Bengals. This is a team that has always had a lot of talent on offense and made a Super Bowl several years ago with the quarterback, Joe Burrow. They have an amazing wide receiver tandem, but they've been historically kind of slow starters. And yet this year they're two and O. I'm really curious to see if their defense, which is historically kind of Swiss cheese, can be a real factor and make them playoff contender.

24:53I want to see the Houston Texans. They're O and two, along with the Chargers, one of these teams that really came into this year with Superbowl aspirations, but they have a real huge question at quarterback with CJ Stroud. And so this is a team that made the playoffs last year after going 0-3. They've been here before. But that was with one of the league's best defense. I really want to see if this defense, which has been taken apart in both of its games to start, can really figure some things out because it's not looked the same at all. And then I do want to see the New York Giants, frankly. This is a team that will be playing Monday night against the Rams.

25:27It's prime time. I know I'm speaking to maybe the hometown crowd a little bit, but this is a team that has been in sort of a disarray for many, many years ever since they won their second Super Bowl under Eli Manning. And Jackson Dart, I think there was some question when he started last year as a rookie, is this guy the future or is he a placeholder for the next top quarterback who comes in here? John Harbaugh is known as kind of a coach who can establish some discipline and some high standards. If he can make it work in New York, I think that's a pretty interesting entrant into the NFC playoff conversation.

26:02Kelly O’Donnell: Andrew Greif, thank you. Thank you. All right. That is going to do it for us at Here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vasugian. We'll be back tomorrow with whatever the day may bring. And if you like what you heard, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And you can also subscribe to our daily newsletter, The Inside Scoop. It is a deeper dive on the main stories of the day that comes out every weeknight straight to your inbox. You can sign up for The Inside Scoop with our paid subscription at NBCNews.com. We'll see you tomorrow.

26:42I'm Craig Melvin. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. I've always been a glass half full kind of guy. And now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that way too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their triumphs, their challenges. Their stories are funny and quite candid. So I hope you'll join me each week. And who knows, You might just come away with your own glass half full. Search glass half full with Craig Nelson from today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.