Trump Fact-Checked on False "Affordability" Claims

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0:38Join Rachel Maddow, Ali Velshi, and Jen Psaki with special guests for a dynamic evening exploring our nation's most pressing issues at this pivotal time. You are helping yourselves. You are helping your country. MSNOW Live presents We the People America 250. Visit ms.now slash america250 to buy your tickets today. We are watching what looks like a serious escalation in Donald Trump's administration's dealings with Venezuela and its leader, Maduro. The U.S. dramatically seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker. You're looking at brand new video released within the last hour officially from the Attorney General.

1:19You can see the tanker in the distance. U.S. agents rappelling down from helicopters you see here. They appear to search cabins and compartments on board as the footage goes on. The attorney general says the agents executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela as well as Iran. And you're looking at this brand new video. As you can see, it's courtesy of the attorney general and it is unclassified according to the United States, which is why it's now on the news. The New York Times reports a federal judge signed off on this warrant. Of course, there is a domestic element to this, the laws being applied, but also this is a major international act.

2:00The attorney general says the seizure was done, quote, safely and securely. U.S. Coast Guard boarding the tanker, as you can see from that's from U.S. officials. But you can see what it looks like as they rappelled down and boarded. This comes amidst a wider campaign by the United States under the Trump administration and significant scrutiny on what we have learned about these deadly boat strikes. Legal experts, referring to that prior strike that has gotten so much attention and scrutiny, have viewed it as, on its face, a potential war crime. The administration has not really provided legal justifications for the killing in that second strike.

2:39The U.S. has roughly 15 ,000 troops, we should note, and the largest aircraft carrier in its fleet now deployed in that same region. This is dramatic new video. I want to bring in General Barry McCaffrey, retired four-star Army general and an analyst for us. And first, give us context on what this means in the wider campaign. And then after we hear your analysis, I'll tell viewers we're going to play the video again so you can give us your expertise on it. Well, it's an enormous escalation and an ongoing attempt to, I think, run Maduro out of office and to gain access to 300 million barrels of oil reserves in Venezuela.

3:23I think that's what's going on. We've seen the 22 strikes and 87 some odd so-called drug runners killed. We have Mr. Trump now saying there will be land strikes to follow. We have Mr. Trump saying about President Maduro, his days are numbered. And we have, as far as I can tell, almost zero consultation with Congress, certainly not the Senate. So what's going on looks like an unauthorized unilateral employment of military power against Maduro to get him out of office. Where does that fall within what are obviously the massive capabilities of the U.S. military as well as our assorted support, Coast Guard, etc.?

4:11And do you have any concerns? You mentioned Congress about the validity of this process. Well, on the face of it, the whole drug explanation is nonsense. I mean, the heart and soul of Coca production in Latin America is in Colombia, tripled in the last decade. Venezuela is a transit country Perhaps 10 % of the drugs A lot of it too really headed through Africa to Europe And so, you know, the 15 ,000 sailors and Marines And B-52 bombers and B-1 bombers And special operations forces Have little to do with applying force to stop drugs Just nonsense You can't bomb transit routes through jungle So again, I think it's at face value to me An attempt to move Maduro out of office Now to be direct about it though Maduro is under indictment He's got a$50 million reward And has had 14 of his associates have been indicted He's alleged to be the head of a cartel Which really doesn't exist It's a collection of individual criminal organizations.

5:27But I think the fascinating part to me is an inappropriate military force being explained as acting against drug cartel terrorist organizations and therefore employing the right to use the armed forces to destroy them. And that's unprecedented. Congress isn't acting. So court has interfered. So we have the president on his own. Yeah. And as you mentioned, it's an escalation because of what's been going on. And then here you're on a tanker itself. Let's play this video, which is courtesy of the Justice Department. And you know what? Let's take it in full so viewers can see. And afterward, you can tell us what we see here.

6:24And, General, go ahead and tell us what you assess based on this video. First, what's happening here, and then perhaps afterward, the use of these videos as part of the United States sort of messaging. Yeah, well, you know, essentially what we're seeing is Seahawk choppers off the carrier Roosevelt lifting Coast Guard boarding crews to seize this oil vessel. I've never seen a Coast Guard in that kind of a getup. These look like more likely Navy SEALs, but allegedly it's a Coast Guard landing team. So again, mixed metaphors. Is this a law enforcement operation or is it a military operation? Back to the 22-some-odd lethal strikes on drug cartel boats, that was clearly solely a military operation.

7:16How was it justified? Under what authorization of military force, which has not happened out of Congress, or under what standing procedures of defending the United States from an existential threat? That first strike, by the way, allegedly was actually bound for Suriname, where a lot of transit drugs do go before they head out to Europe. And what are the rules of engagement on what we're witnessing on the screen here? Well, when I was a South Com commander and follow on responsibility as the Clinton administration drugs are, we had authority for Coast Guard vessels and aircraft to stop, search, and seize drugs on the high seas.

8:00And indeed, we upped the ante and gave them the the Coast Guard permission to use military firepower to stop drug boats from moving, to engage the engine, try and knock it out. But we've never seen this kind of engagement. Now, by the way, the oil tanker has nothing to do with the drug trade. So we're sort of a rolling set of rationale on why we're applying military force against Venezuela. Again, I think the only explanation can be that we want Maduro out, hard out, and we want Chevron in, hard in. Right. And as you're reminding everyone, this comes in the context of those other strikes and a mix of possible drug enforcement, Coast Guard, U.S.

8:54law, possible acts of aggression or war without a Congress declaring war. and then these other questions about whether there has been war crimes or violations amidst a foreign policy goal of perhaps dislodging this other leader. All of this against the backdrop of a president who did run on and vow less foreign entanglements. I guess it depends, of course, on the region and the time. General McCaffrey, thank you very much. We appreciate your expertise. We wanted to begin there, and that's our top story. Turning now to domestic news inside the U.S., Americans are facing these high prices. It's something the president has been facing in his politics.

9:33And now he's pushing back on the facts people are living. They use the word affordability, and that's their only word. They say affordability. And everyone says, oh, that must mean Trump has high prices. No, our prices are coming down. Fact check false. And we put that up so you could see it in real time. The prices are going up as they did last year under the Biden-Harris administration. But this year, the inflation is hurting people on things they can't really turn off. I mean, it's one thing to tighten your belt. Another thing to turn off heat in winter. Electricity up 5 percent. Cost of food up 3 percent.

10:15Medical care up 4 percent. while the Trump administration has slashed the safety net and health care support. Now, some of this, as I mentioned, is macroeconomic. If you forget who is president, you could say last year there was this problem. They had an election. This year there's this problem. But Americans are living through this now with a president who did run more than anything, if you remember, on cutting the high prices. He has now added his policies, which include those punishing tariffs, which, as predicted, have hit certain sectors of the United States hard. Farmers feeling the effect of that increase in cost.

10:55The trade war has crushed exports. So he's taking your taxpayer dollars because you fund the bailout to the farmers. Now, some people say some of these farmers are hit so hard, soybean, etc., that they do need this as a stopgap. But remember, if Trump doesn't change the tariff policies, then we'll have three more years of costly tariffs and three more years of bailouts funded by you. Here's his message to the farmers.

11:46This is Donald Trump's problem. He's the one that caused this. You can listen to the politician. You can listen to the farmers. You can listen to both. But that's what people are saying. Now, you can say that's quotes. We used to call that, you know, person on the street or person on the farm and different folks interview them. And on social media, you have different folks weighing in. But if you just zoom out on the data, we also have a very clear picture of how people feel. Polling shows about half of Americans say it's hard to pay for groceries right now. A majority blame the Trump administration for this.

12:16And 27 percent of people say they have skipped medical care that they would otherwise choose, meaning what they consider necessary regular care or health care because of the cost. This is the real world environment of a president who ran against high prices, now is overseeing high prices, plus the price of tariffs, while telling everyone affordability is some sort of joke buzzword. Does that message land right now? This is our top domestic story, as I said, after covering some of those other Trump issues abroad. And we have Obama campaign veteran Che Comanduri when we're back together in 90 seconds.

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13:36Every small D Democratic muscle that we have is flexing. Plus the last word with Lawrence O'Donnell, the beat with Ari Melber, the weeknight, and more. On the go, wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening to all of your favorite shows, subscribe to MS Now Premium on Apple Podcasts.

14:01We're back with Obama campaign veteran Chey Komen-Durie. Welcome. Good to be here, Ari. Good to have you. You see these clear economic problems that the president's facing, and he's on a tour that suggests they know it's a political problem. What do you think of the argument he's making? Well, it's a terrible argument. You know, Bill Clinton was famous for saying, I feel your pain. Donald Trump's motto is now there is no pain. You know, he is basically trying to tell people, do not believe you're lying wallets. Do not believe you're diminishing bank accounts. And the reason he's doing this is because it's worked for him in the past.

14:40Let's be honest. You know, Donald Trump is actually a very effective con man. He is able to say things like, I won the 2020 election. Well, in the case of the 2020 election, a lot of his base watches Fox News, lives in a right-wing information ecosystem, and they're not presented with information to the contrary. This is a situation where a simple trip to the grocery store will give you information to the contrary. So I think this is not going to really work. I think that the magician in this case is out of tricks. Hmm. Well, one trick is buying less toys. Here's Trump on Christmas plans. You can give up certain products.

15:26You can give up pencils.

15:30That's under the China policy. You know, every child can get 37 pencils. They only need one or two. You know, they don't need that many. You don't need$37 for your daughter. Two or three is nice, but you don't need$37. dolls uh let them eat i don't know discount discount products while he reaps the crypto and everything else i mean he certainly isn't known for tightening the belt on anything related to trump trump hotels or golden bathtubs you know yeah i mean it made me think of you know you're a mean one mr grinch you know the way he was talking about oh we could do with less toys less pencils, less items for all of all of the kids.

16:14This is a complete inversion of traditional Republican ideas about the free market. This is a scarcity mindset that Trump has created. And he's created it at the same time that he's spending money on improving the White House ballroom. He's improving, you know, he's getting a jet from Qatar that's over 400 million dollars. He's enriched himself by a tune of about$5 billion from various crypto schemes that him and his family have been involved in. So Donald Trump has been doing very well. He is certainly not part of the scarcity mindset that he's trying to transfer to Americans. Yeah. I mean, I want to show where people are at.

16:53Small business owners looking at prices, 45 % say that inflation is their biggest challenge now, and they're bracing by a majority there for higher prices this season. And if the answer is to, quote unquote, downplay it or spin it, this might be one of the rare things, Jay, where we have a kind of a nonpartisan example, because I think it's really fair to critique the Biden-Harris history here, especially President Biden, who seemed like he was sort of, you know, locked off away from all of these concerns and kept saying, well, we, you know, our economy is the envy of the world. And it's like you can't tell people, you know, you're luckier than whatever.

17:35China, when the prices kept going up, made him seem out of touch. Long time Republicans, Eric Erickson, says Republicans will excuse their excuses will go the same way Democratic excuses and all Biden's issues. And they'll get the same results Democrats got predicting a blue wave. He says, welcome, Speaker Jeffries. He's trying to warn his party. That's a new post. What do you think of that point? Yeah, I mean, I think the issue with the point that Joe Biden made was it was a factually accurate point. He said America is better off than Canada, better off than China, better off than Europe, better off than all the other industrialized countries in the world.

18:13The problem is Americans didn't live in all those other countries. They lived in the United States and they simply do not have that point of comparison that would have made that talking point any better. In addition, you needed to also really effectively communicate what is your plan going forward to lower prices? What is your plan going forward to make life more affordable? You know, Zoran Mamdani really connected with voters. Mikey Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger also connected with voters, talking about utility costs, housing costs, transportation costs, things to actually make your life better by making things more affordable.

18:50That was the thing that was missing from Biden. That is also something that is not only missing from Trump, but he's actually rather nonchalant and aggressively, I would say, Grinchy about about about about all this. Yeah. And there's you can almost see and maybe it's because he's a little tired or a little less disciplined. I mean, he's he's there's been times when he's been an effective communicator for his goals. But as you say, Grinchy or outright annoyed, he almost seems like they talked him into doing this tour. There is a messaging problem, but then he mocks it. He zigzags on it and lying about prices, as you say, is very different from saying we've got a plan.

19:31Here we go. Instead, he's saying, yeah, your prices aren't getting higher. And as we showed, they are. And that's just the facts. Che, good to see you and have you back later in the hour for something special. Today, we have an update on another Epstein ruling for transparency. And Zoran Mamdani talks to MS Now. Interesting interview. We'll show you some of that tonight. But first, the pushback to the corruption. Donald Trump meddling again with the First Amendment. We have our breakdown on that. I'm going to get into it next.

20:05Some of the richest billionaires and companies in the world now battling over buying the Warner Brothers empire and possibly CNN as well. It's a high stakes clash, which has Hollywood and Washington riveted the Ellison family, Trump allies, jumping in now with this whopping$108 billion hostel bid to try to get Warner and CNN. The famed studio had basically accepted the outline from Netflix in principle, but the story is far from over. where Warner Brothers must consider all offers and ultimately get past any DOJ monopoly concerns. Lawmakers are already concerned on that front. Any new combined company will have more power over the information and media ecosystem.

20:47And many creatives and democracy advocates warn against this type of consolidation. There's criticism and concerns about corporate greed, which could be bad for creatives and for market competition, depending on who you ask. The bidding war is so expensive that even the richest firms in the world, like Netflix, one of the magnificent seven biggest stocks in our entire economy, they still need extra money for this deal. Netflix taking bank financing, the Ellison Group I mentioned taking some controversial potential money from Gulf states, and tapping a walking conflict of interest in Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

21:24All of this has drawn jokes from a comic who, remember, is still employed by the Paramount company at the Ellison's Bar. My beloved parent company, Paramount, reportedly launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Brothers valued at$108 billion. Wow. I got to say, if my company's got that kind of green, I'm sure they can afford to uncancel one of their best shows. Their bid It includes$24 billion from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi wealth funds. And when the dictator of Saudi Arabia gives you billions of dollars, I'm sure there's no catch. No catch, right? Just a little friendly international business.

22:10TBD. But if there is another catch here that's getting a lot of attention, it's that Donald Trump clearly wants CNN to go to new owners and to change. He admits his demands to censor and distort coverage at all kinds of places. He's sued outlets, as you know. He's demanded changes at CBS, which is now owned by that company, and has demanded programming changes at CNN if his friends get a hold of it. Remember, Trump has attacked any press that's critical. He's taken shoot the messenger to new levels. He's currently still suing the Fox News sister outlet, the Wall Street Journal, over reports about Epstein that have been verified, that are not really in doubt.

22:56He's tried to sue the messenger, getting strong-arm settlements from those media companies, and he's tried to cancel the messenger in the failed bid to get Jimmy Kimmel fired. So he's shooting away. But what you see now is he has billionaire allies literally also trying to buy the messenger. Remember, the government is barred from abusing powers like regulation to control free speech. Yet Trump wants his billionaire ally to get a hold of CNN over the other corporate bidders. He said today it's imperative that CNN be sold. He said because, quote, I think the people running CNN right now are corrupt or incompetent.

23:35Politician wants to pull the strings of the free press, which is a problem as old as the founding of this country, which is why of all the amendments, the first one is about preventing would-be autocrats from doing just that. And Trump's long obsession over his legacy media coverage, these messengers, shows as well that some of these outlets do still matter, even if they face more competition from streaming and podcasts and the Internet, even if there's pressure on their long-term revenue models, which could include all television, including the one you're watching. But it is a problem for free speech if big government can crush the free market to pick winners and losers, or worse, to punish dissent.

24:16and honest journalism. Even Trump knows that doing that or being seen to do that is still very unpopular. So while I just read you one time recently where today he's saying, you know, he'd like CNN under different management, when it comes to overseeing this potential merger, he still claims the free market should prevail, saying he wants Warner to go to the highest bidder and he's neutral on who buys what. That's a report from veteran insider Matt Bellany for Puck, who also notes the contradiction, adding, please stop laughing. And Matt Bellany is our special guest on this big story. He's known for his must-read Hollywood newsletter and podcast, The Town, drawing on his experience as editor of the famed Hollywood Reporter and as an entertainment lawyer.

25:03In fact, many Hollywood moguls, actors, and creatives hang on his reporting, so much so that he became a kind of meta inside joke on the very insidery Apple show, The Studio, appearing as himself. Matt Bellany! Hi! Hi! How's it going? My favorite entertainment journalist, how are you? My favorite up-and-coming executive. I am a huge fan of the podcast. Okay, bye-bye. Good luck with the presentation. Matt, thanks for being here. Wow, that was my Emmy clip. Thank you very much for showing that. Sadly, I was snubbed. Well, it's all meta in a way, But you're really in this. And I mentioned you're reporting because you've really charted this long before it hit the front pages in the politics.

25:51Let's start with what you reported about the president and the free speech and free market battles here. Your thoughts. It's really interesting that Trump isn't even saying it quietly. He's saying it out loud. He wants CNN under a new owner, plain and simple. And the interesting thing that's going on right now is there's only one company looking to buy the division that includes CNN, and that is the Ellisons and Paramount. Larry Ellison, the second richest man in the world, very good friends with Donald Trump. David Ellison, he has said very positive things about. He just took over the Paramount studio.

26:28Netflix doesn't want CNN. They don't want the TV division. So if they buy the company, it will be spun out into a new division and there will be others potentially that will come after it or it will just be a publicly traded company with all the TV stuff. So it's very interesting Trump is saying that now about him wanting new ownership there. You think about streaming distribution and sort of the chain of that process more than most people in Washington and viewers who we know we like to watch Netflix, we flip around. You really study this. And so I'm curious, do you have a view based on the evidence?

27:06I know you're fair about which deal is better for what we might call independent and diverse media. It's a fascinating question because it depends entirely how you define the market. Are we defining the market here as the streaming universe, just the streamers? Because if this deal goes through with Netflix, Netflix will have a huge chunk of the market for streaming because they'll be able to bolt HBO Max onto Netflix, which already has 300 million subscribers worldwide. It would give them about 450 million subscribers worldwide. But if you are Netflix and you are trying to define the market as anybody who watches television and time spent watching video, that includes YouTube.