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00:00Welcome to Washington Today on C-SPAN Radio for Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025.
00:08The U.S. House is slowly working on the modified budget reconciliation bill,
00:13the tax cut and spending cut, one big beautiful bill that passed the Senate yesterday
00:18with Vice President J.D. Vance breaking the tie slowly because Speaker Mike Johnson
00:24and President Donald Trump have been meeting with both conservative and moderate Republicans
00:28opposed to the bill for different reasons. Either it does not cut enough spending or cuts too much,
00:33and Republicans can afford to lose only three of their members since all Democrats plan to vote no,
00:39also slowly because Democrats have been using parliamentary delaying tactics.
00:44Coming up, some of the debate so far, and we'll get an update from a reporter.
00:48FCC Chair Brendan Carr lays out what he calls a Build America agenda in his first major policy
00:54speech as chair in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He says his plan will unleash high-speed infrastructure
01:00bills, restore America's leadership in wireless, boost the U.S. space economy, and advance our
01:05national security. Paramount settles a lawsuit with President Trump over the editing of a CBS News 60
01:11Minutes interview with then-Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. The settlement is $16 million.
01:17We'll talk about it with Brian Steinberg, senior TV editor with Variety. And the State Department
01:22and Pentagon asked about the U.S. reportedly pausing some weapon shipments to Ukraine, including air
01:28defense missiles. Roll call writes the Republicans were scrambling Wednesday to salvage their big,
01:33beautiful reconciliation bill amid a revolt from conservatives over the measure's growing price
01:37tag. President Donald Trump and Republican leadership were busy button-holing members from across the
01:42conference's political spectrum, with centrists also still wary of deeper cuts to Medicaid that came
01:49over from the Senate Tuesday than were in the House-passed bill. Procedural votes on the rule
01:54for floor debate were held open for more than two hours as House leaders tried to convince members
01:58of the hard-right Freedom Caucus to back the measure. After two hours had passed, the ranks of members thinned
02:05in the chamber while leaders huddled with conservative holdouts in a nearby room, and Democrats began
02:10occasional shout-seeking regular order. That was from roll call. This morning, C-SPAN spoke with
02:17the notice political reporter Reese Gorman about where things stood within the House Republican
02:23conference when it comes to this one big, beautiful bill.
02:27There is support to it, but it's just more your rank-of-file members. It's the members who
02:30are really going to vote with leadership just about all the time. They don't necessarily come out
02:35against anything for the vast majority, but the opposition is great. You have the conservatives,
02:42the fiscal hardliners who believe that this bill raises the deficit, that they bring it up,
02:47and that it didn't cut enough. They believe the House bill cut significantly more, and then the
02:51Senate kind of took a lot of those cuts out and raised the spending levels within the bill.
02:57And so you have those people, which is Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, who both voted no in the Rules
03:00Committee yesterday. And now they have also, I mean, Ralph Norman, to his part, has pledged that he
03:06will be a no on every single bill that comes to, on every single vote, rather, that comes to the floor
03:11for this bill. Whether it be the rule vote that's supposed to happen later today, whether it be
03:16final passage, what have you, he is voting no on that. He has pledged. And now they can only lose
03:22three votes and still pass the bill. They already have Thomas Massey, who is just assumed to be a no
03:27on everything. You have Warren Davidson, who already voted no on the original version of the bill
03:32last month, I believe, I guess now it's April, or May, when they passed it, two months ago, rather.
03:38And so you have two no's right there. If you have Ralph Norman chime in there, voting no, then you
03:43can't lose another vote. And we already know, just from the public notes, that there's significantly
03:47more people who plan to vote no, which would inevitably tank this bill. And that's just the
03:51conservatives. You have the moderates over here, such as David Valadeo, Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob
03:57Bresnahan, etc., who are not necessarily, Valadeo has been a public no on Twitter. He posted it. The rest of
04:05them are kind of keeping cards close to their chest. They have expressed displeasure with
04:08it. They did. There's a group of moderates assigned a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson,
04:13the Senate Majority Leader John Thune, late last month, where they said that basically,
04:18if the Senate kept these Medicaid provisions in the bill that they were currently considering,
04:23that they would not be able to vote for, they would not be able to support it. A lot of those
04:26provisions remain in the bill currently. And so if they if that letter holds true, if they stand by
04:32that letter that they signed, then they likely will not vote for the bill. And that would be
04:38an issue for Mike Johnson, because that's just more defections that he has. But in the grand scheme of
04:42things, the vast majority of these, there's a there's a wide spectrum of conferences that don't
04:46like the bill for different reasons. And another issue is if you fix one person's issues, it's going
04:51to make more people on the other side not like it because they have such opposite oppositions.
04:56Notice political reporter Reese Gorman speaking to C-SPAN this morning. We also interviewed this
05:01morning. Congressman Ralph Norman, Republican of South Carolina, the House Freedom Caucus member,
05:05talking about his opposition.
05:07You know, during reconciliation, we have one chance, one moment to curb the spending that
05:15has plagued this country and is a cancer that's going to take this country down if we don't get it
05:20under control. The House bill that we sent over did just that. Our baseline cut was $1.6 trillion
05:27with an optimum of $2 trillion. We met the $1.6 trillion. And the Senate basically violated
05:35what we sent over in the House. For every dollar, every dollar we had that was spent,
05:42you had to cut a dollar. And it just didn't do that. Secondly, a lot of the key reforms like
05:47the Inflation Reduction Act, the Green New Scam, was put back in place. And, you know, I don't know how long
05:55we can continue to do this. So our position was to send it back, to vote it down, send it back to the
06:01Senate with some key changes that we agreed to in the House. And, you know, we'll see what goes,
06:08how it plays out today. I voted against it in the Rules Committee yesterday. Of course, it passed,
06:14but it will be on the floor today. And we'll see, see exactly what's coming from it. But what I see
06:20right now, I don't like. And you said there were proposed changes. Tell us about some of the
06:28further cuts that you support or want to see in the bill. Does that include changes to tax provisions?
06:36Well, yeah, the tax provisions. But, you know, there are other things like
06:40funding for sex surgeries was put back in. On the IRA credits, they had foreign entity exclusions
06:52where China could, you know, we had to jump through a hoop before they were allowed to get a paycheck
06:59from the American people. That was put back in. Funding for illegals and Medicaid, you know,
07:04we fought hard for that, as well as able-bodied men. That was put back in there with the Senate bill.
07:10It makes no sense. And so, that's why we're taking the stand that we are. And we want to pass
07:16what President Trump wants. I mean, he was for taking all the IRA green scam deals out. And
07:23instead of getting them out, we're pretty much cementing them in for years to come. Funding for
07:30Planned Parenthood. We had it for, had banned for a decade. They put it only banned for a year.
07:37Why a year? If it's wrong for a year, why isn't it wrong for 10 years? It's things like that. But,
07:43to me, our benchmarks that we have to follow and renegotiate with the Senate. Now, I know the
07:51Senate's on a, on a short number of people that they can lose. And it's the same thing in the House.
07:58But when are we going to face this problem of overspending? And that's the, that's probably
08:04the major thing along with the other provisions that just, again, spin this country into oblivion.
08:12Congressman Ralph Norman, Republican from South Carolina, member of the Freedom Caucus
08:16on C-SPAN's Washington Journal program this morning. President Donald Trump writing on his
08:21truth, social account in all caps, one big beautiful deal is all about growth. If passed,
08:29America will have an economic renaissance like never before. It is already happening just in
08:34anticipation of the beautiful bill. Deficit cut in half, record investment, cash factories,
08:41jobs pouring into the USA MAGA. That was in all caps. CQ has a fact sheet on the Senate amended
08:49H.R. 1, one big beautiful bill act that reads, the GOP bill as amended by the Senate enacts much
08:56of President Trump's policy agenda, permanently extending expiring individual and business tax
09:01cuts enacted as part of the 2017 tax cut law, while adding new temporary tax breaks for popular causes
09:08promised by President Trump to partly offset the cost of the measure's tax provisions. It modifies
09:13Medicaid, the food stamp program, the federal student loan program, and numerous other programs
09:19to reduce federal spending or generate savings. It also appropriates more than $440 billion in
09:26mandatory funding for Trump administration priorities and other needs, including $153 billion for defense,
09:33$89 billion for immigration enforcement, and $89.5 billion for border control and security.
09:39And finally, it raises the statutory debt limit by $5 trillion. That was from CQ, Congressional Quarterly.
09:45U.S. House today got as far as debating the rule to the bill, but procedural votes were held open for
09:51hours and not closed as negotiations with the Republican holdouts were continuing off the floor.
10:00Here is some of the debate, though, that happened on the floor. Congressman Nick Langworthy,
10:04Republican from New York, in support of the bill.
10:06I rise today in strong support of the rule to consider H.R. 1, the one big, beautiful bill,
10:12because the stakes for the American people could not be higher. We are rapidly approaching a fiscal
10:17cliff. If we do nothing, the Trump tax cuts, the most pro-growth tax reforms in generations will expire.
10:24That means higher taxes on nearly every American. That means a gutted child tax credit. That means small
10:32businesses losing the tools they need to survive and to thrive. That means less take-home pay for
10:38working families already that have been crushed by the binary inflation. This isn't some hypothetical
10:43scenario. This is the Democrats' game plan. They want to raise taxes. They want to punish success.
10:50They want more people dependent on government and fewer people building independent lives. And
10:56Republicans will not let that happen. With H.R. 1, we're stepping to lock in the Trump tax cuts
11:04permanently and to provide targeted new relief to the workers and to the families who keep this country
11:09running. Seniors, tipped workers, and those putting in overtime to get ahead. But, Mr. Speaker,
11:16this bill also takes a critical step to protect and to strengthen Medicaid, a vital program for millions
11:23of Americans. And let me be very clear about something. This isn't anything radical. We're
11:28restoring the same common-sense work requirements that President Bill Clinton signed into law into
11:33the 90s, one of the most popular things he did. And back then, a Democratic president worked with a
11:39Republican Congress to say that if you're able-bodied an adult without dependents and you're receiving
11:44government assistance, you should be expected to work, train, or volunteer and participate in the
11:49economy. And, ladies and gentlemen, it worked. Poverty dropped. Employment rose. And millions of
11:55Americans moved from welfare to work and independence. But Democrats today have abandoned that model.
12:01They want permanent government dependency. They'll oppose any form of accountability. And they'll vilify
12:06anyone who dares to suggest that opportunity should come with responsibility. Well, Republicans are standing
12:13up for what works and what's right. And we're saying Medicaid must remain a lifeline for the truly
12:18vulnerable — children, seniors, the people with disabilities, and low-income parents. But for
12:24able-bodied adults without kids, yes, you should try to work, just like in the 90s, just like under
12:30President Bill Clinton. This isn't extreme. It's not partisan. It's proven policy that respects both
12:35taxpayers and lifts people up. Mr. Speaker, this bill delivers economic relief, fiscal sanity,
12:42and basic fairness. And it secures the future of our economy and our safety net. Let's choose the
12:48path that's been tested and proven to work. Let's approve this rule. Let's pass one big,
12:53beautiful bill. And let's get this country back on track. I yield back, Mr. Speaker.
12:57Congressman Nick Langworthy, Republican from New York, on the House floor during debate on the
13:02rule to the budget reconciliation bill, the one big, beautiful bill. But that's as far as it got,
13:07and the procedural votes were held open as talks with reluctant Republicans were occurring off the
13:15floor, indications that the Republicans do not have enough votes on their own to move forward on
13:22this bill and eventually pass it. And that's because House Democrats held a rally today on the steps of
13:27the Capitol building to announce their united opposition. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is the
13:32House Minority Leader. We are here today united as House Democrats to make clear to the American
13:41people that every single House Democrat will stand up for your health care, stand up for your Medicaid,
13:50stand up for your Medicare, stand up for the Affordable Care Act, stand up for nutritional
13:56assistance for our children, our seniors, and our veterans, stand up for our hospitals, stand up for our
14:04nursing homes, stand up for our community-based health centers, and stand up against massive tax breaks
14:15for GOP billionaire donors. And that is why
14:20every single House Democrat will vote hell no against this one big, ugly bill.
14:38And all we need are four House Republicans to join us in defense of their constituents,
14:49who will suffer mightily from this bill. Children will be hurt. Families will be hurt. People with disabilities
15:00will be hurt. Women will be hurt by what is an all-out assault on the health care of the American
15:08people. An unprecedented assault. Ripping health care away from more than 17 million Americans.
15:16premiums, co-pays, and deductibles for other people on private insurance will go up all across
15:24the country. Hospitals will close. Nursing homes will shut down.
15:30Community-based clinics won't have the ability to operate. And as a result, people are going to die.
15:39And as a result, people are going to die connected to this one big, ugly bill. Tens of thousands of
15:46unnecessary American deaths per year. Shame on Republicans for even bringing this bill
15:54to the House floor. So all we need are four Republicans to join us in support of their constituents,
16:04to have John McCain-level courage, and stand up in defense of the health care of the American people.
16:15The House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat from New York, on the steps of the Capitol building,
16:22in front of all the other House Democrats lined up behind him on those steps. So far today,
16:28the Democrats have utilized some delayed tactics on the budget reconciliation bill,
16:32calling a point of order that the rule to the bill violates the prohibition of unfunded mandates
16:37that led to a roll call vote on question of consideration. And then Congressional Black Caucus
16:42members, one by one, asking unanimous consent to make an order, an amendment to the rule that would
16:47protect against cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. They knew that it would not be made in order. And in fact,
16:53the chair did rule it out of order, but each one took some time. And that was also a delaying tactic.
17:00And there could be more throughout the day. But at the moment, the House is not moving forward
17:04because the Republicans themselves do not have the votes to approve the rule and actually get on
17:11the budget reconciliation bill debate, the one big, beautiful bill.
17:15The fight over the reconciliation bill has also been playing out on social media as Democrats and
17:20Republicans engage with their constituents. Congressman Jason Smith, Republican of Missouri,
17:24chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which covers taxes, posted a video featuring clips of President Trump.
17:31This moment has been years in the making, traveling on the road to hear from real Americans.
17:36Americans, Petersburg, West Virginia, Peachtree City, Georgia, Yukon, Oklahoma, Staten Island, New York,
17:44Kimball, Minnesota, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Denton, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, Scottsdale, Arizona,
17:52Erie, Pennsylvania, Salt Lake City, Utah, Des Moines, Iowa. About how the 2017 tax cuts benefited them.
18:01The greatest political comeback of all time has led to the greatest pro-worker, pro-family,
18:09pro-farmer, and pro-small business tax bill of all time.
18:14The one big, beautiful bill will create more than seven million jobs, add economic growth,
18:22reduce taxes for the typical American, then increase take-home pay for the normal family of four.
18:29One of the most important pieces of legislation in the history of our country.
18:37Congress must deliver it as quickly as possible.
18:42Congressman Jason Smith, Republican from Missouri, and President Donald Trump,
18:47contained within that video, that produced video posted by Congressman Smith.
18:52A video by Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, Democrat from Pennsylvania, shows her finishing up a phone call.
18:59Okay, thank you. Well, I appreciate your calling, and you take care. Okay.
19:06Hi, we're back in the office this morning. They have just started debate on the floor,
19:10and a lot of folks are calling to express their concerns about this big, ugly bill that Republicans are trying to ram through.
19:19Most of them haven't even read it yet. We've started debate on the House floor. I'm monitoring it here on the TV,
19:24in my office for a couple of minutes, answering some phone calls. But we need to convince four
19:30Republicans to vote against this bill. And why would you vote for it? This bill is going to strip
19:35healthcare from 17 million Americans. It's going to take SNAP benefits away from kids and veterans and
19:42folks with disabilities. It's going to raise the national debt by over $3.4 trillion. And there's still more
19:49stuff in the bill that our Republican colleagues are just starting to find out about. So this bill
19:54needs to go down. Please join us in contacting your reps to make sure that they vote against the big,
20:00ugly bill. Thanks. We'll keep you posted.
20:03A video by Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, Democrat of Pennsylvania.
20:06In a story at the Hill, the House is in a holding pattern as GOP leaders lean on Republican holdouts
20:12to allow President Trump's big, beautiful bill to advance. A five-minute procedural vote
20:17has remained open, and leadership has told House lawmakers they can leave the floor.
20:23Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, and President Trump have spent much of the day
20:26trying to win over deficit hawks in the House Freedom Caucus and beyond, who are threatening
20:32to block the bill and grind floor action to a halt. That was from The Hill.
20:39Wall Street today, the Dow down 10, NASDAQ up 190, S&P up 29. President Trump writing on Truth Social,
20:47it's my great honor to announce that I have just made a trade deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
20:52After speaking with Toh Lam, the highly respected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam,
20:58it will be a great deal of cooperation between our two countries. The terms are that Vietnam will
21:04pay the United States a 20% tariff on any and all goods sent into our territory, and a 40% tariff on
21:10any transshipping. In return, Vietnam will do something they have never done before, give the United States
21:16of America total access to their markets for trade. Part of the post from President Trump.
21:21Story from AP, an analysis finds a critical group of U.S. employers would face a direct cost of $82.3
21:28billion from President Trump's current tariff plans, a sum that could potentially be managed through
21:35price hikes, layoffs, hiring freezes, or lower profit margins. The analysis by the JPMorgan Chase
21:41Institute is among the first to measure the direct costs created by the import taxes on businesses
21:47with $10 million to $1 billion in annual revenue, a category including roughly a third of private
21:54sector U.S. workers. That was from AP. The Federal Communications Commission FCC Chair Brendan Carr gave
22:01his first major policy speech today outlining his Build America agenda for the FCC. He's been a commissioner
22:08since 2017 and chair since January when he was named by President Trump. He was at the Vicor
22:15Teleconstruction Company, a wireless infrastructure construction company in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
22:22The FCC on my watch will focus on unleashing high-speed infrastructure builds. That means modernizing the
22:30regulations that have been driving up costs and holding back internet builds. The good news is we
22:37know the playbook here that works. When I helped lead the FCC's efforts during the first Trump administration
22:43in 2018 to streamline small cell regulations, we saw record-breaking capital investment and network
22:50build-out, including right here in Sioux Falls. In fact, Sioux Falls was one of the very first cities in
22:57the country to go live with 5G, thanks to the permitting reforms that were put in place by
23:04my good friend Mayor Paul Tenhacken right here in Sioux Falls. So our Build America agenda will pick up
23:09where we left off. In fact, here's some news for you. I'm announcing today that the FCC will vote later
23:16this month to start a rulemaking that will accelerate the transition from aging copper line networks that too
23:22many communities are still on to modern high-speed ones. You see, back in D.C., we have rules
23:27on the books that have been forcing providers to continue to invest billions of dollars in those
23:32old networks, even when they want to shift those investments over to build new ones. So our goal here
23:39is pretty simple. We're aiming to free up billions of dollars for investment in new networks. But that's
23:45not all. I'll be asking my FCC colleagues to vote this month on an item that will revise the agency's
23:52poll attachment rules. For the uninitiated, the FCC's poll attachment rules govern the rules of the road
23:59for utility poll owners and broadband builders as they try to attach new high-speed connections to
24:05those lines. In fact, I saw firsthand some of the challenges there last night here in Sioux Falls when
24:09I joined Jordan and his crew as they were lashing new high-speed internet infrastructure onto utility
24:14poles. Upgrading 30-year-old plant. FCC Chair Brendan Carr in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He said in the
24:21news release before the speech that he chose Sioux Falls because that's where he first put on a hard
24:28hat and harness to climb a tower. And KeloTV reports that he stopped by KeloLand Media Group Studio
24:35for a tour and climbed their 200-foot tower. This is Washington Today. A headline at Variety,
24:43Paramount to pay Trump $60 million to settle 60 Minutes lawsuit. The subhead agreement removes
24:49obstacle to CBS and Paramount Pictures' parent company completing $8 billion merger with Skydance
24:56Media. And joining us now is Brian Steinberg, senior TV editor with Variety. Thank you for being with us.
25:03What was this lawsuit about and what are the terms of the settlement? Well, what it's about is a great
25:10question. Not that you aren't entirely sure. At the root of it was a 60 Minutes broadcast
25:16early before the election in which Kamala Harris was interviewed and the interview was edited in two
25:23different ways. One for a promo on Face the Nation and one for a 60 Minutes segment on 60 Minutes.
25:29They were differently edited and the Trump team used that to kind of suggest that there was some chicanery
25:35going on. There was not. It just was edited for different time constraints and different formats.
25:39In any case, the Trump team has suggested that CBS had to deceive voters on the eve of the election
25:46and has held up a $20 billion lawsuit filed in Texas to make its point.
25:52And the settlement terms, what are they?
25:55Right. That's right. That's $16 million, a far sight short of $20 billion. But, you know,
26:02it's in line with what ABC and Disney paid late last year for a similar problem. And George
26:09Stephanopoulos identified Trump as being the perpetrator of a different crime that he was
26:14said to be. And, you know, around $15 million for that. These are, I think for media companies,
26:20not the biggest amounts in the world, but they are for the news organizations involved,
26:24very humbling and very undermining. What has been the reaction so far from
26:29Paramount, the White House and outside observers like Congress and journalist organizations?
26:34Well, journalist organizations are aghast. These are whatever the lawsuits have been viewed to be
26:40relatively flimsy by most legal in most legal circles and probably not. There's no defamation going
26:46on. No libel. You're sometimes mistakes. Journalists make mistakes. They often they correct them when
26:51they do. So there's not like like a preconceived effort to slander somebody that though that in
26:59libel is is is is really libel when you have when you with with great for fourth or malice tried to
27:07impugn somebody. These are not those. These are our, you know, in most in these cases,
27:12honest attempts to relay facts. The 60 Minutes case is there's not even a mistake being made.
27:17It's just that there are different edits of an answer to a question posted in different venues.
27:22You know, what these lawsuits do, however, in this era where these traditional media companies are
27:27trying to move forward to streaming and facing all kinds of different economics with traditional
27:32TV, you know, they're weak. They're weak in companies. And so, you know, these lawsuits have a
27:37magnifying effect because they a cost millions of dollars and be, you know, distract the companies
27:43at the time they're trying to operate. So there's at the corporate side, an effort to try and get
27:48these lawsuits off the table, get them out of the way and go back to business or at the news
27:52organization. These are undermining things that go to undermine credibility of a 60 Minutes or an ABC
27:57News. And those stains don't go away so easily. We're talking with Brian Steinberg from Variety.
28:04I read this, that the lawsuit was based on a consumer protection law, but there's also been
28:10a complaint filed with the FCC. Do you know the difference between these?
28:14The FCC, I mean, they're similar. I think they're, I mean, it's, one can suggest they are,
28:21the dots are easily connected, although people have denied that. But yeah, the FCC was, you know,
28:26was looking, wanted to have, you know, some publication, further examination of materials
28:32tied to the interviews that CBS did with Kamala Harris. You know, the FCC also has to approve
28:37the merger of CBS News parent company, Paramount, with a company called Skydance. That is,
28:44been agreed to, is in the works. And Paramount, which is not doing that great economically,
28:49really needs to have its assets sold to move to the next controlling energy so it can move forward.
28:55The current energy of Paramount is not doing well and its networks are limping along as they are,
29:01as cable networks are in these days. So, you know, there's an added pressure on Paramount to
29:06move forward and get these deals, get this deal done. I think getting the deal done has become
29:10more important in Paramount than the credibility of this news organization.
29:13Finally, what do you think the future holds in this area?
29:17Well, look, it's a lot of these lawsuits happening, not only from Trump and Trump people adjacent
29:22filing against CNN or threatening to file against CNN, the New York Times, Paramount, ABC News.
29:28You saw a governor, California Governor Newsom file a defamation against Fox News last week
29:33on similar grounds, legally not seen as very solid. But, you know, it gets a lot of attention
29:39and it distracts the news organization from doing its job and gums up the works. So I could envision
29:46an era in which people don't file these suits to win money, but just to gum up the works and
29:51distract the media from doing its job, which leads to poor coverage and, you know, less credible
29:58organizations. And that, I think, hurts the overall industry even worse than the monetary damage would do so.
30:05So I think there is some cause for a lot of this continues.
30:09Brian Steinberg, senior TV editor with Variety. You can find his articles at Variety.com and on
30:16X at Brystei, B-R-I-S-T-E-I. Thank you very much.
30:22Thanks for having me.
30:23And a spokesperson for President Trump's legal team telling Fox News Digital with this record
30:28settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he once
30:33again holds the fake news media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit. CBS and Paramount Global
30:40realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle. President Trump will
30:46always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American people as he continues on his singular
30:52mission to make America great again. That was a statement from the legal team of President Trump.
30:56Senator Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont, putting out a statement. The decision by the
31:00Redstone family, the major owners of Paramount, to settle a bogus lawsuit with President Trump over a
31:0660-minute report he did not like is an extremely dangerous precedent in terms of both the First
31:12Amendment and government extortion. Paramount's decision will only embolden Trump to continue
31:17attacking, suing, and intimidating the media, which he has labeled the enemy of the people. It's a dark
31:23day for independent journalism and freedom of the press, an essential part of our democracy.
31:27That was from Senator Bernie Sanders. Washington Today continues in a moment.
31:37In a nation divided, a rare moment of unity, this fall, C-SPAN presents Ceasefire, where the shouting
31:45stops and the conversation begins. In a town where partisan fighting prevails, one table,
31:53two leaders, one goal, to find common ground. This fall,
31:58Ceasefire, on the network that doesn't take sides, only on C-SPAN.
32:14Welcome back to Washington Today, available as a podcast on the free C-SPAN Now mobile app and
32:18wherever you get your podcasts. The Greenville News in South Carolina writes that Governor Henry
32:25McMaster, Republican of South Carolina, traveled to Washington, D.C. to chair the first meeting
32:30of the Homeland Security Advisory Council on July 2nd. The council was founded in 2002, made up of state
32:37local government leaders, first responders and policy advisors. It brings in figures from different
32:43career backgrounds to advise the Secretary of Homeland Security on domestic operations. The July 2nd
32:49meeting agenda included the swearing in of members and discussions on the group's focus and initiatives.
32:56That was from the Greenville News. Here is Governor McMaster at today's council meeting.
33:01There's a lot of work to be done and I know we've all worried about these things. What could happen
33:06if, what could happen if, and it could be, it could be bad. And looking ahead for the years ahead,
33:16we really owe it to the country. Somebody has got to do this and we here in this room are given an
33:24opportunity to do something. We want to help and we look forward to it. I'll be just very brief. I see
33:32some of the best things that have happened recently. One is that Donald Trump was elected,
33:40the border was closed, the military enlistments are off the chart, and America is coming back.
33:49The way I see our group is we are, what Secretary Neum described as a typical day where she's going
33:56from here to there and hearing reports. There's not a whole lot of time to sit down and contemplate and
34:01think about it. And I think that's a big part of our job is to take time to study, to learn,
34:09and give our best advice what we think from our point of view. And we probably don't all have the
34:15same point of view or the points from which to gain information as each of the others do. But combined,
34:24I think we represent a great asset to you, the president and the country. So we thank you very
34:31much for you and the president giving us this opportunity. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster,
34:37a Republican at today's first meeting of the Homeland Security Advisory Council in the second Donald Trump
34:43administration. He is the chair. The panel has 22 members, some of the others, former New York City
34:51mayor and attorney to Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Homeland Security Advisor Corey Lewandowski,
34:57and Bikers for Trump co-founder Chris Cox. The Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem,
35:02was also at this first meeting emphasizing that everyone there was either chosen by her or President
35:08Trump. And she said topics the council will focus on are military operations, immigration, disaster
35:15response, airline safety, and national security. Associated Press writing that a judge's order throws
35:20into doubt one of the key pillars of President Trump's plan to crack down on migration at the
35:25southern border. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss says his order will take effect July 16th,
35:30giving the Trump administration two weeks to appeal. In order signed January 20th, Trump declared the
35:35situation at the southern border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was suspending the
35:41physical entry of migrants and their ability to seek asylum until he decides it's over. Moss wrote
35:46that neither the Constitution nor immigration law gives a president an extra-statutory,
35:53extra-regulatory regime for repatriating or removing individuals from the United States without an
35:59opportunity to apply for asylum or other humanitarian protections. That was from Associated Press.
36:04From Reuters, Hamas said on Wednesday it was studying what U.S. President Donald Trump called a final
36:10ceasefire proposal for Gaza but that Israel must pull out of the enclave and Israeli leader Benjamin
36:16Netanyahu said Hamas would be eliminated. Trump said on Tuesday Israel had agreed to the conditions
36:22needed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas after a meeting between his representatives and Israeli
36:28officials. In a statement, the Palestinian militant group said it was studying new ceasefire offers received
36:33from mediators Egypt and Qatar but that it aimed to reach an agreement that would ensure an end to
36:40the war and Israeli pull out from Gaza. That was from Reuters. This came up at today's State
36:44Department briefing in Washington with spokesperson Tammy Bruce. On this final ceasefire proposal for
36:50Gaza that Trump has said Israel has agreed to, does it include provisions for Israel pulling out of Gaza?
36:56What I am going to, the President had a message about that from last night and I'll read that for you.
37:08So we just get this on the record here. From the President Donald Trump, my representatives had a long
37:14and productive meeting with the Israelis today on Gaza. Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to
37:21finalize the 60-day ceasefire, during which time we will work with all the parties to end the war.
37:28The Qataris and the Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring peace, will deliver this final
37:35proposal. I hope for the good of the Middle East that Hamas takes this deal because it will not get
37:41better. It will only get worse. Thank you for your attention to this matter. As far as your question about
37:49the details, I won't go into the details of what's in the proposal. Hamas has said that Israel must pull
37:55out of the enclave. How does the administration plan to reconcile this? Is that addressed in the
38:00proposal? I will not give you the details of the proposal and we'll find out, but I think the
38:05President's message is clear. This is one that has to be accepted because it will only get worse if they
38:11don't. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce at her news conference in Washington. More from the
38:17Reuters article, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the elimination of Hamas in
38:21his first public remarks since Trump's announcement. Netanyahu told a meeting hosted by the Trans-Israel
38:27Pipeline, there will not be a Hamas. There will not be a Hamas stan. We're not going back to that. It's over.
38:35Another article from Reuters, Iranian President, put into effect on Wednesday a law passed by Parliament last
38:42week to suspend cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. Iranian state media
38:47reported. From CNN, the Trump administration is pausing some weapon shipments to Ukraine, including
38:53air defense missiles, following a review of military spending and American support to foreign countries,
38:58a senior White House official told CNN. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed off on the review,
39:04which the official noted had been underway for months. It was not immediately clear if military support
39:09provided to other countries would be affected. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said
39:14the decision was made to put America's interests first. Russia welcomed the decision, claiming,
39:20without providing any evidence, it was made because the U.S. did not have enough weapons.
39:25That was from CNN. This also was raised at the State Department briefing with spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
39:32Yes, ma'am. Thanks, Tammy. A White House official told our colleagues that the Trump administration has
39:36paused certain weapons shipments to Ukraine. What was the State Department's role in making this
39:40decision to pause these weapons shipments? And are you concerned about the advantage it gives to the
39:44Russians? Well, traditionally, of course, I mean, our wheelhouse here is diplomacy. We don't make
39:52decisions about the shipping of weapons or the managing of weaponry during war. We have the Department of
39:59Defense. I would refer you to them when it comes to this kind of a decision.
40:04At the same time, we've got a few things I can say to you regarding this. It remains, as you might
40:11imagine, worth repeating, a priority of President Trump to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end
40:16through a durable negotiated settlement, starting with an immediate ceasefire. And of course, just
40:24repeating, referring you to the Department of Defense for more information regarding that situation,
40:28regarding weapons. Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, also has noted, this decision was
40:35made to put America's interests first following a DOD review of our nation's military support and
40:42assistance to other countries around the globe. The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains
40:48unquestioned, just ask Iran. Also, from a statement by Eldridge Colby, from the second, which was
40:58yesterday, at the DOD, that the Department of Defense, quote, continues to provide the President
41:03with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine. At the same time, the Department is
41:09rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective, while also preserving
41:15U.S. forces' readiness for administration's defense priorities.
41:20State Department spokesperson, Tammy Brews, taking reporters' questions at today's State Department
41:26press conference. She mentioned that the Pentagon would handle that issue. They also held a news
41:31conference. Here's the press secretary, Sean Parnell. Obviously, with respect to Ukrainian aid,
41:36the United States announced that they are going to be withholding certain aspects of aid. Ukraine responded
41:41by saying that this is going to embolden Russia. What is the department's response to that argument?
41:45Well, the President's strategic outset with regards to Ukraine and Russia has been one of peace. He
41:50campaigned on this. When he was asked on a town hall with CNN about that war, he said he wanted to
41:58just stop people from dying. And so peace has been the President's highest aspiration. We here at the
42:03Department support those goals and those missions. But it's important to remember that the stuff that
42:11I mentioned in my top are like what we've done here at the Department of Defense is create a framework
42:16to analyze what munitions we're sending where to help the President and the Secretary of Defense make
42:21decisions. And so, ultimately, our job here at the Department of Defense is to pursue the President's
42:27America First agenda and make sure that we achieve peace through strength throughout the world.
42:31Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell at a news conference today at the Pentagon. This issue also
42:38came up later as there was a question about U.S. stockpiles.
42:42Do y'all believe that the Biden administration the past four years sort of basically opened up the door
42:48to Ukraine and say take whatever you want and without much idea to sort of keep control of the
42:54inventory? Is that one of the reasons why you want to see what's in the story and not?
42:59Absolutely. I think that for a long time, four years under the Biden administration,
43:05we were giving away weapons and munitions without really thinking about how many we have.
43:11I think that this President was elected on putting this country first and defending the homeland.
43:17And then you couple that with our national defense strategy and a shift to the Indo-Pacific.
43:21And part of our job is to give the President a framework with that he can use to evaluate how
43:26many munitions we have and where we're sending them. And that review process is happening.
43:30It's happening right now. And it's ongoing.
43:33Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell at his news conference, a story from the Washington Post,
43:37President Donald Trump recently indicated he might supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles,
43:41a system that the Ukrainians need to repel Russian ballistic missile attacks.
43:46American officials did not specify which weapons were being halted, but news reports indicated that
43:52they could include air defense systems, which had been allocated to Ukraine by the previous Biden
43:57administration. That was from Washington Post. And also about this pause from Politico, the decision
44:02was driven by the Pentagon's policy chief, Elbridge Colby, and was made after a review of Pentagon munition
44:10stockpiles leading to concerns that the total number of artillery rounds, air defense missiles,
44:15and precision munitions was sinking, according to three people familiar with the issue. That was from Politico.
44:20In response to that article, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Democrat from Ohio, writing on X,
44:25if this is true, then Mr. Colby, who opposed military assistance to Ukraine and even refused to
44:30acknowledge that Russia's actions amounted to an invasion of Ukraine in his confirmation hearing,
44:35is taking action that will surely result in the imminent death of many Ukrainian military
44:41and civilians. That post from Congresswoman Kaptur. President Donald Trump will be in Iowa on Thursday
44:48to kick off the celebration of America's 250th birthday. This morning, C-SPAN spoke with Ambassador
44:54Monica Crowley, Chief of Protocol of the United States.
44:58So we're kicking it off tomorrow. It is going to be a huge event held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in
45:05Des Moines, Iowa. The president is coming and I will be with him. He is going to be our headline act
45:11for this event tomorrow, giving very special remarks at about 730 Central Time. I'll be speaking right before him.
45:19But we anticipate that he is going to kick off 250 years of American leadership, patriotism, strength and pride.
45:27And we look forward to a full year of celebration and events, not just nationally here in Washington,
45:33but in all 50 states and U.S. territories. You mentioned that you'll be with President Trump tomorrow.
45:39You'll also be speaking. Explain your specific role. So the president last December, right after the
45:47election, he called me and offered me the position of Chief of Protocol of the United States, which comes
45:53with ambassador rank. So I'm very proud to say, Tammy, that I am America's ambassador, which I wear with pride.
45:59And in addition to those protocol duties, he also asked me to serve as the administration
46:05representative for America 250, the FIFA World Cup, which is also taking place next year. Next year,
46:11it's going to be a huge year for America and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, which President Trump
46:17heroically brought to the United States. So I am working with the administration, but particularly on
46:24this with America 250 and the commission that's overseeing America's birthday to make sure that we
46:29celebrate in a way that all Americans can enjoy and in a way that really unites the country
46:35through patriotism, shared values, and this renewed sense of civic pride.
46:41Ambassador Monica Crowley, Chief of Protocol of the United States on C-SPAN's Washington Journal
46:46program this morning. And as the U.S. approaches its 250th anniversary, C-SPAN is proud to announce the
46:53launch of America 250, exploring the American story, an expansive 18-month initiative commemorating
47:00this historic milestone. Through in-depth historical context, expert commentary, and immersive
47:05storytelling, C-SPAN will bring viewers and listeners closer to the American story, past and present.
47:11Coverage will spotlight foundational documents like the Declaration of Independence, Treaty of Paris,
47:17and the Constitution, travel to key Revolutionary War era sites, and feature vivid reenactments,
47:23panel discussions, and educational segments. We'll also delve into C-SPAN's video library to showcase our
47:29extensive collection of programs that illuminate key moments and figures in American history. You can find
47:34out more at our website, c-span.org. We've got a special America 250 page. And thanks for listening to
47:41Washington today. Sign up for C-SPAN's evening newsletter, word for word, and get the stories
47:46making headlines in Washington emailed to you every day. Subscribe at c-span.org slash connect. Have a good night.
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