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00:06Vielen Dank.
00:30The president has a well-documented history of saying blatantly false things about elections.
00:36It was a rigged election. Everybody now knows that. They found out.
00:41People will soon be prosecuted for what they did.
00:44It was a rigged election.
00:45It was a rigged election.
00:46I say it was rigged.
00:47Go to 2020. Look at the facts that are coming out. Rigged, crooked elections.
00:53Tonight, the White House is also releasing newly declassified documents,
00:56and we will analyze those so we can provide context around them.
01:00Our team is going through them, actually, right now as we speak,
01:03and we'll bring you all the newsworthy moments from the president's speech
01:06and from those documents this hour as we talk about it with my fellow reporters and experts.
01:11Now, based on what White House officials who briefed reporters today said,
01:15here is what the president is expected to say tonight,
01:18though he is known to be going through them, actually, right now as we speak,
01:21and we'll bring you all the newsworthy moments from the president's speech
01:24and from those documents this hour as we talk about it with my fellow reporters and experts.
01:30Now, based on what White House officials who briefed reporters today said,
01:33here is what the president is expected to say tonight,
01:36though he is known to go off script, and we'll see if he does so this evening.
01:40The president is going to argue from the East Room of the White House
01:43that potential vulnerabilities exist in American election systems
01:47using those newly declassified documents as evidence to suggest that future elections
01:52could be open to foreign interference.
01:55Now, right now, none of the declassified information that reporters were briefed on
01:59suggests that the outcomes of previous elections,
02:02including the 2020 race that President Trump lost,
02:06were impacted by foreign interference or fraud.
02:09Among the findings that we're expecting the president to talk about tonight are this.
02:14documents that allege that China illegally obtained
02:17more than 200 million American voter registration files
02:20in a period between 2020 and 2024
02:23that includes things like names, addresses, phone numbers,
02:28military status, political party preference, and voting record.
02:32The administration says these files were bought illicitly,
02:36stolen, hacked, or otherwise illegally obtained.
02:39Now, tonight, the president is also expected to talk about intelligence reports
02:43that American voting machines are hackable by at least five foreign powers.
02:49Now, notice I said are hackable, not that they've been hacked.
02:52That's because the president is expected to say that Venezuela conducted an experiment
02:56on Venezuelan machines, not American ones,
03:00that swapped out votes in a way that was undetectable in a post-vote audit or a hand count.
03:05A Venezuelan experiment on its own equipment.
03:08Now, obviously, we'll be digging through everything the president says
03:11and getting experts' take on whether or not it is as serious as the White House frames it.
03:16The press secretary, Caroline Levitt, said today that these new findings and their belief will shock Americans.
03:22When I asked her whether or not those findings will be followed by any criminal charges,
03:26this was the response.
03:29Regarding the president's speech tonight, he's been in office over 540 days now.
03:33If what he says is tonight is backed up by evidence, why hasn't anyone been charged?
03:38Well, he hasn't revealed it yet.
03:40He hasn't declassified the documents yet.
03:43And you will see what he says tonight, and then we'll move forward appropriately from there.
03:46So will charges come up tonight from the Justice Department?
03:47I don't speak on behalf of the Justice Department.
03:49Caitlin, you know that.
03:50Rachel, Caroline.
03:51By evidence, will there be charges?
03:52You'll have to ask the Justice Department.
03:54I don't charge people.
03:55I just speak on behalf of the president.
03:58We will see what the president says this hour.
04:00Before his speech, White House officials had framed these disclosures tonight
04:04not as an attempt to relitigate past elections, as the president has often tried to do,
04:09but instead argue that this is a place to correct vulnerabilities
04:13ahead of the midterm elections this November.
04:16Now, it's clear here in Washington that's not how Democrats or critics of this administration see it.
04:21Instead, they believe it's an attempt to sow doubt and confidence in our elections
04:26and push for what the president has been pushing for with increasing fervor over the last several weeks.
04:32That is the SAVE Act.
04:33And it would overhaul how federal elections are conducted,
04:36but doesn't right now have enough Republican votes in the Senate to actually get passed.
04:42I expect tonight's speech to be equal parts pathetic and dangerous.
04:49A primetime presidential sour grapes address reheating debunked conspiracy theories about an election in which he was soundly defeated.
04:58And I think he'll also potentially selectively declassify information or cherry-pick various pieces of evidence
05:05to lay the groundwork for whatever kind of meddling he wants to attempt this year
05:09or to try to discredit the results when he's dealt a resounding defeat in the midterm elections.
05:15Regarding this new information that the president is going to be talking about tonight,
05:19White House officials suggested it was withheld from senior political officials,
05:23including the president back in 2020 after it was first noted.
05:27Of course, in 2020, the beginning of that year,
05:30was the president's own officials who were running the intelligence community,
05:33Rick Grinnell and then later John Ratcliffe.
05:36I do want to note that the National Intelligence Council assessment
05:39that was compiled under the director of national intelligence,
05:42who is now the CIA director, that's John Ratcliffe,
05:45this was what was given to the president on January 2021.
05:49It concluded, we quote,
05:50We have no indication that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process
05:56in the 2020 election, including voter registrations,
06:00casting ballots, vote tabulation, or reporting results.
06:04Now, living in the context of all of this,
06:07as you're going to be listening to the president,
06:08back in 2016, of course, it was Donald Trump as a candidate
06:12who publicly welcomed foreign interference and influence
06:16as long as it was directed at his opponent.
06:20Russia, if you're listening,
06:22I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.
06:29I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.
06:33Now, if Russia or China or any other country has those emails,
06:39I mean, to be honest with you, I'd love to see them.
06:42My political and intelligence sources are here.
06:45And Kerry Cordero, you served as the senior associate general counsel
06:49at the director of national intelligence at that office,
06:52which obviously leads the nation's intelligence community.
06:55When you're hearing what the White House is laying out so far,
06:58and we'll see what the president says and if he goes off script.
07:01This is just from the briefing that reporters got earlier to preview this.
07:04What do you make of what they're alleging
07:07and the seriousness about what they're saying China did,
07:10breaching all this voter information,
07:12and the stability, I guess you would say,
07:15of these machines in Venezuela?
07:17So there's a few things that come to mind
07:18just based on what you've reported so far.
07:22First thing is that these allegations or new information
07:26is coming forward at a time where we have
07:28no Senate-confirmed director of national intelligence,
07:31no Senate-confirmed attorney general,
07:33and no Senate-confirmed head of CISA,
07:35the cybersecurity component within the Department of Homeland Security,
07:39all of which are agencies that would be collaborating together
07:44to counter any foreign interference in an election
07:47and focus on protecting an election.
07:50So from a leadership perspective of the intelligence community
07:53and the national security apparatus,
07:55that stands out to me.
07:57The timing of today's reporting is also interesting to me
08:02given that the nomination hearings for the DNI and the AG were yesterday
08:06at a time where therefore they could not be asked
08:08about any of this information
08:11and how they would handle these types of threats.
08:14On the China-specific allegation,
08:17really we'll be interested to hear
08:18what the president says about that
08:20and if we are able to report more
08:23on what the documents actually say
08:26regarding what it sounds like is being alleged that China did,
08:29but has a history of the most significant
08:32intelligence cyber operations
08:34against the United States of any country.
08:36So that doesn't,
08:38what you reported so far
08:40strikes me within the realm of something
08:42that I would not be surprised
08:44if China actually was able to do it,
08:45but there's a lot of information
08:47that needs to be learned
08:48as far as how it was done,
08:50whether it was a hack,
08:51whether it was stolen information,
08:53how it is that the United States government
08:55knows that China did that
08:57is obviously something that I'll be looking to learn.
09:00Well, and obviously China is a bad actor.
09:02We know that.
09:03Nobody wants China to access voter information.
09:07When you look at that though,
09:08if the White House is framing this as
09:09our election system is totally messed up because of this,
09:13is that how you would frame it?
09:14Or would you say-
09:15It is not based on what I've heard so far
09:17because if we look back at the last few elections,
09:20the intelligence community reporting
09:22about the nature of the countries
09:25that were actually trying to affect U.S. elections
09:27is different if you look at Russia, China, and Iran,
09:31which were the three major countries
09:32that in the last several elections
09:35have been engaging in something
09:37regarding trying to affect our elections.
09:38So Russia in some of the elections
09:40was aggressively trying to impact
09:44and had a particular candidate
09:47that they wanted to win.
09:48The intelligence community reporting about China
09:51has not been that.
09:52It's been that they were interested
09:54in sort of sowing confusion,
09:57playing on divisions within the United States,
10:01but not necessarily trying to put their thumb
10:03on a particular candidate.
10:04Mark, obviously you were in the Trump administration
10:07when the president was trying to sow doubt
10:09and overturn the election result in 2020.
10:13When you listen to what the president is saying tonight,
10:16the fact that they're doing this, based on your experience,
10:18what's your sense of this?
10:20Well, Caitlin, I come at this as somebody
10:22who supports the SAVE Act.
10:24I believe voter ID would be a good thing.
10:26I think it's important to know
10:27that there are adversaries
10:28that look to try to interfere in our elections.
10:30And if we can tighten election security, that's good.
10:33But I guess I have a lot of questions.
10:34I'd start with, you know, as you mentioned,
10:36in 2020, President Trump's administration was in power.
10:40And so if there were breaches in the election system,
10:43he certainly was comfortable taking the head of DNI
10:46and put him in charge of the CIA
10:47and the second administration.
10:48And so there was not really a concern on his part with that.
10:52I think that when you go to the states that are questioned,
10:55in many cases, they all have,
10:56the battleground states all have paper ballot verification.
11:00And so there were multiple recounts.
11:02In Georgia, in fact, there were three recounts.
11:04One of them done by hand.
11:05One was by hand.
11:06In Wisconsin, the Trump campaign paid for a recount
11:09and it came up netting more votes for Joe Biden.
11:13And so we have litigated these facts before.
11:17I guess another question that I would have
11:19is that if China is really doing this,
11:23and Paul, I think it'd probably help us more here,
11:26many states put voter registration files for sale.
11:28It's how campaigns gather information.
11:30It sounds like a voter file.
11:31And so, like, I'm not saying that's necessarily good,
11:33but I'm saying the fact that China acquired them
11:37may not be that as nefarious as it sounds.
11:40But the last point I'd say is that,
11:42is that, look, if China is this big of a bad actor, Caitlin,
11:45then why is the second Trump administration so soft on China?
11:49The first administration was really hard.
11:51The second administration has basically
11:52flouted the law on TikTok,
11:54has allowed, has basically taken off export controls
11:58on chips to China,
11:59has basically said,
12:00had total ambivalence toward Taiwan,
12:02and has created more consternation
12:04with our allies in Asia and in Korea and Japan.
12:07So if China is really,
12:09is it fault,
12:10which I think that they are a serious threat,
12:11then why are we so soft in our current policy?
12:14So when you were just describing this preview,
12:17I looked at Paul and I said,
12:18that sounds like a voter file to me,
12:20but in terms of the kind of information
12:22that your name, your age,
12:24where you live,
12:24how you voted,
12:25if you voted,
12:26I mean, all of that is information.
12:28Lots of people can buy those lists.
12:30That is not,
12:31so that in and of itself does not suggest,
12:35and again,
12:35I think there's a difference between-
12:37Does not suggest what?
12:38Doesn't suggest that that is untoward.
12:42I mean, we probably do it to them.
12:44We want to know who their people are too.
12:46Well, they don't have elections in China.
12:47Right.
12:47Fair.
12:48But for other reasons.
12:49I mean, anyway.
12:50Anybody, most states at least,
12:52can go and buy the voter file.
12:53Yes.
12:53It's a public document.
12:54Campaigns can buy it.
12:55Because you register at the county registrar,
12:57and then she-
12:57That's how Paul would win his elections.
12:59Figure out who's falling off the voter file.
13:00Who's voting, who's not,
13:01and we knock on their doors,
13:02and yeah.
13:03Well, that's kind of what I thought
13:04when I was reading through what they said
13:06about Venezuela,
13:07that the machines are hackable by five foreign powers.
13:10Venezuela didn't experiment on Venezuelan machines
13:13that messed up the votes,
13:14but no one is looking to Venezuela
13:15as a model for conducting elections either.
13:18Invaded Venezuela.
13:20This was Kerry's job,
13:22and she did a good job.
13:22We have protections.
13:24We have institutions,
13:26and Mark referred to this,
13:27CISA that Kerry mentioned.
13:30The man who ran that under President Trump,
13:33Chris Krebs,
13:33certified that the election was fair,
13:35accurate, honest,
13:37and Trump has signed an executive order
13:38targeting him.
13:39Paul, stay by one moment,
13:40because Evan Perez has been monitoring
13:42the president's speech for us,
13:43and Evan, what are we hearing so far
13:45from the president?
13:46Does it line up with what we,
13:48got briefed on from the administration earlier?
13:51Yeah, I mean,
13:51it's definitely a very stark picture
13:53that the president is painting
13:55of vulnerabilities that we've long known
13:58existed in the U.S. system.
14:00You guys were just talking about
14:02the voter registration files,
14:04the voter registration systems,
14:05and there are systems
14:07that are connected to the internet,
14:08but the tabulation machines,
14:11the things that people vote on,
14:13those are not connected to the internet,
14:16and so that's what, frankly,
14:18protects the system,
14:19and the fact that the system
14:20in the United States
14:21is managed by different states,
14:23and the disparate ways
14:26it's managed is one reason,
14:28really, frankly,
14:29that protects our system.
14:30Let's play a little bit
14:31of what the president says,
14:32and I'll come back,
14:33and we'll explain a little bit
14:34about what he's talking about.
14:36Listen to this.
14:38Every American deserves to know
14:40that when they cast their vote,
14:42that vote will be counted accurately
14:44in a system,
14:46and that is to make that system secure,
14:49one where cheating and interference
14:51are not just difficult,
14:53but virtually impossible.
14:56Unfortunately, the system we have today
14:58falls catastrophically short
15:00of that standard.
15:02Tonight, I'm announcing
15:04the immediate declassification
15:06and release of critical intelligence,
15:08revealing shocking vulnerabilities
15:10in our election infrastructure.
15:14This evidence shows
15:15that the election system
15:16we have dangerously exposes
15:19and really exposes,
15:21like levels never thought possible,
15:25to hacking, exploitation,
15:27and foreign interference,
15:29just as disturbingly
15:31this vital information
15:33has for many years
15:34been covered up
15:35and hidden from you.
15:38And Caitlin,
15:39I mean, one of the things
15:40that the president
15:41is homing in on
15:42is this idea
15:43that we have never known
15:45about these vulnerabilities,
15:46and that's just not true.
15:48We've, a lot of us
15:49have covered this story,
15:50and we've known.
15:51The intelligence community
15:53has warned about
15:54some of the efforts
15:54by China,
15:55by Russia,
15:56and by Iran
15:57in the 2020 and 2024 elections
16:00to get involved
16:01and influence the U.S. elections.
16:03and some of the documents
16:04that they are,
16:05they've classified this evening
16:07and are now available
16:09on the White House website,
16:10you know,
16:11they talk about,
16:12you have documents
16:13from the intelligence community
16:14that mention the possibility
16:16that Russia, China,
16:18North Korea, Iran
16:19could get into
16:21some of those online systems.
16:23For example,
16:24you know,
16:24the websites
16:25where you learn
16:26where to vote,
16:27some of the systems
16:28that collect the votes,
16:30right,
16:30but as far as tabulations,
16:32which is to actually
16:33affect the outcome,
16:35this is what
16:36the intelligence community says.
16:37It says,
16:38we assess
16:38that vote tabulation system
16:40would be difficult
16:41to manipulate
16:42on a wide enough scale
16:43to compromise
16:44election results.
16:46This is what,
16:46one of the documents
16:47that the president
16:48is relying on
16:49to draw a very,
16:50very dark picture,
16:52a very,
16:52he says,
16:52catastrophic vulnerabilities,
16:54and there are no doubt,
16:57there's no doubt
16:57that there are improvements
16:59that could be made
17:00in this system.
17:00All of the public officials
17:01who are involved
17:02in elections
17:03say that those,
17:04those vulnerabilities exist
17:06and there are improvements
17:07to be made.
17:08However,
17:09the president is trying
17:10to say that,
17:11that all this means
17:12that, you know,
17:13we need to pass legislation,
17:15I guess,
17:15that he believes
17:16would improve the security
17:18to prevent non-citizens
17:20from voting,
17:21which,
17:22as you and I
17:22have covered over the years,
17:24is a very minimal problem
17:26in the United States.
17:27Caitlin?
17:28Evan Prez,
17:29I know you're still
17:30going through
17:30the president's speech.
17:31Our team is looking
17:32at these new documents,
17:33including the one
17:33you just pointed to there.
17:35Obviously,
17:35as we have context
17:37of these documents,
17:37we're going to bring
17:38that to you here.
17:39And as we're going
17:40through this,
17:40you know,
17:41Mark Short,
17:41one thing that the president
17:42seems to be talking
17:44about tonight
17:45and that the officials
17:46had previewed earlier
17:47is they did not
17:48know about this.
17:49They said this was found
17:50in early 2020,
17:51but no one told
17:52President Trump
17:53about what happened.
17:54Obviously,
17:54he was still in office
17:55for another year
17:56after that.
17:57One of his most loyal aides,
17:58Rick Grinnell,
17:59was running the DNI
18:00at the time,
18:01same as Bill Pulte,
18:02now acting director,
18:03and then John Ratcliffe
18:03took over.
18:05So, I mean,
18:06should one of the first
18:06questions be,
18:07well,
18:07why did the two people
18:08running your intelligence
18:09community not find this?
18:11Why did 540 days in,
18:13they just are now
18:14releasing this?
18:15Does that make sense?
18:17I don't know what Rick
18:18Grinnell told the president
18:19or not,
18:20but I know I was privy
18:21to some meetings
18:22in the Oval
18:22where we discussed
18:23election integrity.
18:24And so I know
18:25there's, well,
18:26memos going back
18:27to January of 2020
18:28that frankly talked
18:30about cyber activity,
18:31but also expressed
18:32in there that just
18:34because there's
18:34cyber activity,
18:35bad actors could
18:36misinterpret what that
18:37means and suggest
18:38that elections were stolen.
18:40And so I'm not so sure
18:42that the president
18:42didn't have briefings
18:44on this.
18:45now and may not recall
18:46them,
18:46but I believe that he did.
18:48Is this something
18:49that the,
18:49if you're the director
18:51of national intelligence
18:52and you see this,
18:53that you'd go
18:54to the president on?
18:56I think it depends
18:57on sort of the scope
18:58of the information,
18:59the timeliness of it.
19:01So at the time,
19:02if they were discovering
19:03this information years ago
19:05and if the president's
19:05being briefed on
19:08threats to elections
19:09and threats
19:10to our democratic system,
19:11then sure,
19:12you can imagine a scenario
19:13where the intelligence
19:14community has
19:14information and they've
19:16coordinated it amongst
19:17the different agencies
19:18and they think that
19:19it's worth briefing.
19:20So if it wasn't briefed
19:21to him,
19:22then that raises the question
19:23as to really what is
19:25the assessment
19:26of the intelligence
19:26community of the value
19:29of this information
19:30that's being released
19:31now in 2026.
19:33You know,
19:33if we take the president's
19:35statement,
19:36as was reported,
19:38that this is a
19:38declassification of
19:40intelligence of
19:41vulnerabilities,
19:42that in itself
19:43is not a bad thing.
19:45If there actually
19:46are vulnerabilities
19:46and they're being
19:47declassified,
19:49then that would
19:50presumably give states
19:51and localities
19:52information upon which
19:54they can now
19:54take another look,
19:56evaluate the information,
19:57and maybe do,
19:59you know,
19:59even additional
20:00improvements that could
20:01make, you know,
20:02improve their systems
20:03in the forthcoming
20:04election.
20:05But the question
20:06that's raised to me
20:07is why is this being
20:08released by the president
20:09as opposed to the
20:11agencies that are
20:13responsible for
20:13communicating with
20:14state locals on
20:15these issues?
20:16Can we talk about
20:16this as also as well
20:17as to what the
20:18findings themselves are?
20:19The president,
20:20to what I was saying
20:21about who was running
20:22the intelligence
20:22community at this time,
20:24the president is
20:25saying the officials
20:26who kept this
20:27information from him
20:28should have action
20:29taken against them.
20:30Monty Rogers says
20:31he's calling for
20:31the prosecution of
20:32individuals who he
20:34believes were involved
20:35in suppressing
20:35this intelligence.
20:37I mean,
20:37my question earlier
20:37to Caroline Limit was,
20:38if you have all
20:39this evidence of
20:40what has happened
20:40here, why has no
20:41one been charged
20:42yet in relation to
20:43Well, and why aren't
20:43we going after
20:44foreign actors like
20:45Putin, who did
20:47affect our election?
20:48Not by the count.
20:50He didn't hack
20:50anything.
20:51Just the misinformation
20:52and disinformation
20:52that Russia put out
20:53and many other
20:54enemies of America
20:55do that.
20:55Donald Trump,
20:56first of all,
20:57this is not on
20:57the level, okay?
20:58He doesn't give a
20:59rip-snort about
21:00foreign-influenced
21:00election.
21:01He wouldn't have won
21:012016 without Putin's
21:03misinformation and
21:04disinformation.
21:05And as president
21:06in this term,
21:07he has dismantled
21:08a good bit of
21:09our protections,
21:10that cybersecurity
21:10and infrastructure
21:12security agency.
21:13He's fired 130
21:14staffers of that.
21:16He went to the
21:17elections infrastructure
21:18information sharing
21:19and analysis center
21:20and fired a bunch
21:21of those folks.
21:22He has disbanded
21:23the FBI's foreign
21:24influence task force.
21:25He's going after
21:27all of our protections.
21:28Now he's going to
21:28go on television
21:29and say,
21:30oh, I'm worried
21:31about foreigners.
21:32It's a pretext
21:33for something else
21:34because he knows
21:35he's going to lose
21:36his midterms.
21:36And I'm worried
21:37that he's going to
21:38then, he's going
21:38to be the one
21:39meddling.
21:39Exactly.
21:40Let's go back
21:40to Evan Perez
21:41quickly.
21:41He has another
21:42moment from the
21:43president's speech
21:44that he's reporting
21:45on.
21:45Evan, what'd you
21:45hear?
21:46Well, Caitlin,
21:47the president
21:48talked about
21:49more than 200
21:50million voter records
21:52that the Chinese
21:52had obtained
21:53either by illegally
21:54buying them
21:55or by hacking
21:56them or otherwise
21:57obtaining them.
21:58And one of the
21:59things that he's
21:59discussing is
22:00that he believes
22:01the intelligence
22:02community and
22:06the extent
22:07of what the
22:08Chinese were
22:09trying to do
22:09in the 2020
22:10election were
22:11not known,
22:12is what he's
22:12saying.
22:13So listen to
22:13this part of
22:14this speech.
22:17Colossal security
22:18breach is even
22:19more disturbing
22:20in light of the
22:21additional information
22:22showing that China
22:23engaged in other
22:25election-related
22:26activities to
22:27undermine my
22:28first
22:29administration
22:29and our
22:302020 campaign
22:31results of the
22:32U.S.
22:33midterm elections
22:34and later the
22:35results of the
22:362020 presidential
22:38election itself.
22:39Separately, in
22:40mid-2019, the
22:42Chinese government's
22:43strategy against
22:44the United States
22:45was focused on
22:46undermining
22:47domestic confidence
22:48in the U.S.
22:49president.
22:49They wanted to
22:50just make you
22:51sound like your
22:53president wasn't
22:54so hot when
22:55actually your
22:56president has done
22:56a great job.
22:59And Caitlin, what
23:00the president is
23:01referring to and
23:02what he's basing
23:03some of that
23:04information on is
23:06that in the
23:06documents that they
23:07are declassifying,
23:08there is some
23:09very strident
23:12discussion among
23:14some of the
23:14intelligence analysts
23:15where some of
23:16them disagree,
23:17some of them
23:18saying you guys
23:18are downplaying
23:20what the Chinese
23:20are doing,
23:21others are saying
23:22no,
23:23there's no
23:23evidence to show
23:25that the Chinese
23:26are trying to
23:28change anything,
23:29they're trying to
23:30influence policy,
23:31they're definitely
23:31interested in trying
23:33to make sure they
23:33can influence policy
23:34but they're less
23:35interested in changing
23:36election results
23:38because of the fear
23:38of the backlash
23:39from the United States,
23:41including of course
23:41from President Trump
23:42who was in office
23:43at that time.
23:44So there is a very
23:45spirited discussion
23:46that is going on
23:47in these documents.
23:48Among the intelligence
23:48analysts, they're
23:49disagreeing and part
23:51of it, I think
23:51interestingly for
23:52the president
23:52and his case
23:53that he's making
23:54is that there are
23:56some who believe
23:56that there is a lot
23:58more weight being
24:00given to the
24:01Russian interference
24:02and less on China
24:04which of course
24:04the president has
24:05long believed
24:06is true.
24:07Caitlin?
24:07Evan Perez,
24:08we'll check back
24:09in with you
24:09as you hear more
24:10from this speech
24:11that stands out
24:12and that is newsworthy.
24:13Karen, when you
24:14hear that,
24:14what do you make
24:15of this?
24:15You know, I want
24:16to underscore
24:16something Carrie
24:17said.
24:18PolitiFact did a
24:19very good piece
24:19on this the other
24:20day.
24:21I think we have
24:21to separate
24:21what is influence
24:23and what is impact.
24:24Trying to influence
24:26our elections,
24:27that's bots,
24:28that's, you know,
24:29disinformation,
24:30that's some of the
24:31suppressive messages
24:33frankly that the
24:34Trump campaign
24:35has targeted
24:36black voters
24:37and Latino voters.
24:38So, I mean,
24:39trying to suppress
24:41the vote,
24:41trying to influence
24:42is not the same
24:43thing as having
24:44an impact on
24:45actually changing
24:47the outcome,
24:48actually changing
24:48the numbers.
24:49and, you know,
24:51listening to the
24:51president almost
24:52sounds like he's
24:53trying to, you
24:54know, sort of
24:55these things by
24:55inference trying to
24:57suggest that they're
24:57the same and they
24:58are not the same.
24:59And, you know,
25:00again, other
25:02countries trying to
25:03influence our
25:04elections, Carrie,
25:04tell me if I'm
25:05wrong, we've known
25:06about that for a
25:07very long time,
25:07but the actual
25:10implementation of
25:11our elections and
25:12whether or not
25:12anybody's been able
25:13to impact the
25:14outcome, that we
25:16have not, we have
25:16no evidence that
25:17that has happened.
25:18I also think the
25:19point of this speech
25:20is to get the
25:21Save America Act
25:21passed.
25:23The question mark
25:23is as Republicans
25:25are watching this,
25:26Republican senators
25:26particularly, not just
25:28Republican voters
25:28even, is this going
25:30to change any minds
25:30based on what you've
25:31heard so far, you
25:32think?
25:32Well, I think that
25:33there's going to,
25:34the Save Act has a
25:35giant hurdle, as you
25:36know, to get passed.
25:37And so if it's not,
25:38which is that it
25:38doesn't have enough
25:39votes.
25:39Yes.
25:39If you keep raising
25:40the expectation,
25:41then likely you'll
25:42continue to suppress
25:43Republican voters who
25:44feel disappointed their
25:45Congress isn't doing
25:46the president's, what
25:47the president wants.
25:48And so it's in many
25:48cases counterproductive
25:50politically to those
25:50who are on the ballot
25:51in the midterm.
25:52Okay.
25:53We are continuing to
25:54break down the biggest
25:54moments of President
25:56Trump's speech and
25:57what exactly it means.
25:58We have more of that
25:59right ahead with our
26:00team of legal,
26:00political, and
26:01national security
26:02experts.
26:03Also, John King has
26:04been listening to all
26:04of this, and he'll
26:05join me right after
26:06this.
26:09news this hour, as the
26:11president has just
26:12concluded his speech
26:13tonight that is focused
26:14on U.S.
26:16elections and what they
26:17say is attempts at
26:19foreign interference in
26:20U.S.
26:21elections.
26:21As the president also
26:23brought up conspiracy
26:24theories about the
26:25recent California
26:25primary, theories that
26:27are unfounded.
26:28And I should note that
26:29unlike the claims he
26:30made about the 2020
26:30elections, he has also
26:32offered no doubt, like,
26:34I should say, the claims
26:35he's made about the
26:362020 elections, he
26:37offered no documents to
26:38back up what he said
26:39about what happened in
26:40California.
26:42There's evidence of
26:43fraud has been buried.
26:45Hundreds of thousands of
26:46non-citizens and dead
26:48people are listed and
26:50active on the voter rolls,
26:52and yet we still have
26:53elections with no voter
26:55ID, no proof of
26:57citizenship, and tens of
26:59millions of ballots
27:00floating aimlessly through
27:02the mail.
27:03As one example of the
27:05Insanity, California's
27:06recent election for mayor
27:08of L.A. and governor was
27:10held on June 2nd, a long
27:12time ago, but it was
27:14just completed a few days
27:17ago on July 10th.
27:18Think of that, much more
27:19than one month.
27:21It took a month to count
27:22the votes.
27:23I wonder what they were
27:23doing.
27:24This is worse than any
27:26third world country.
27:28There's no third world
27:29country that has elections
27:31like we have.
27:34That's because officials
27:35would say that U.S.
27:36elections are a lot
27:37stronger than third world
27:38country elections.
27:39And it's important to note
27:40as you were listening to
27:41the president and his
27:42arguments tonight that
27:43really all of this is in
27:44the context of the
27:45president trying to push
27:47the Save America Act, as
27:48he calls it, the Save
27:49Act, as it's known, on
27:50Capitol Hill.
27:51Right now, it cannot pass on
27:53Capitol Hill because it
27:54doesn't have enough
27:54Republican votes in the
27:56Senate.
27:57And John Thune, who is the
27:58leader of Senate
27:58Republicans, has made clear
28:00they are not willing to
28:00get rid of the
28:01filibuster and don't have
28:02the votes to do so in
28:03order to lower the
28:04threshold of how many
28:05votes it needs to get
28:06passed.
28:07The president's entire
28:08argument tonight as he
28:09was building up with
28:10these newly declassified
28:11documents from his
28:13officials was about the
28:14Save Act in and of
28:16itself.
28:16Yet still, it's not clear
28:18and unlikely that that's
28:19going to change the
28:20minds of Senate
28:21Republicans.
28:22My colleague John King
28:23has been watching this
28:24speech.
28:25And John, obviously, this
28:26is something the
28:26president has been pushing
28:27for with increasing
28:28fervor.
28:30As we get closer to the
28:31midterms, what was your
28:32takeaway from tonight?
28:34A lot of ominous tone
28:36from the president,
28:37ominous words from the
28:37president.
28:38It sounded more like a
28:39spy novel.
28:40A familiar complaint to
28:41you, Caitlin, about the
28:42deep state.
28:43The most striking thing the
28:44president did was he
28:45focused mostly on China
28:46and he said he was
28:47releasing all of these
28:48new documents tonight
28:49that were going to prove
28:50more things about China.
28:51He says trying to get
28:53voter roll information,
28:54trying to learn about how
28:55to pry into voting
28:57machines and voting
28:58systems.
28:58He never directly
29:00connected any of that
29:01to changing an election
29:02result.
29:03That's important.
29:04I don't have the
29:04documents in front of me.
29:05We'll see if they get you
29:05there, but the president
29:06never did.
29:07The only time the
29:08president said anything
29:08about nefarious action,
29:10actually changing an
29:11election, was he said
29:13there are documents here
29:14showing how China
29:14helped the Maduro
29:16regime in Venezuela
29:17in 2020 change votes
29:19to stay in power.
29:20That is the only specific
29:22claim of actually rigging
29:23or changing an election
29:24result the president made.
29:25Much of it was, again,
29:28China's trying to do this.
29:29Russia did a little bit
29:30of that.
29:30But again, focused mostly
29:32on China, about things
29:33we've known about, things
29:34that have been in past
29:35intelligence reports about
29:36China.
29:37Yes, trying to get
29:38information about U.S.
29:39voters.
29:40Yes, trying to test the
29:41vulnerabilities of U.S.
29:42election systems.
29:43But nowhere did the
29:44president in that speech
29:46connect it to, they changed
29:47the result in this state
29:48or they changed the result
29:49in this precinct.
29:50There was no connecting
29:51the dots to that point
29:52in the speech.
29:53I don't have the documents
29:54in front of me.
29:55Our team is looking at
29:56that that way.
29:57But the tone of it
29:58was overwhelming.
29:59What was most striking to me,
30:00Caitlin, you covered the
30:00Trump White House at the time,
30:02was he had a boogeyman
30:03and it was the familiar
30:04deep state.
30:05The president saying
30:06that this was all
30:07kept from him,
30:08kept from John Ratcliffe,
30:09his then director
30:10of national intelligence,
30:11kept from Gina Haspel,
30:12his then CIA director.
30:13Marco Rubio, who's now
30:15the secretary of state,
30:16was the chairman of the
30:16Senate Intelligence Committee
30:17at the time.
30:18He has access to just
30:19about everything in U.S.
30:20intelligence.
30:20But Trump was making
30:21the point that people
30:23working for him,
30:24maybe they were there
30:25in prior administrations,
30:26were keeping this information
30:28away from him
30:29about what he alleges
30:30is a deeper,
30:31more nefarious Chinese plot
30:33than we have ever known about.
30:35Look, the proof
30:35will be in the documents.
30:37But again,
30:38the president never
30:39connected the dots
30:40in any way
30:41to saying,
30:42and they did this
30:42in Georgia, for example,
30:43or they did this
30:44in Arizona, for example.
30:45He talked about
30:46a Democratic voter registration
30:47group in Michigan
30:48that he said
30:49as if, you know,
30:50this is a horrible,
30:51horrible thing.
30:52They were giving out
30:52gift cards to people
30:53if they registered
30:54more voters,
30:55as if there was
30:56some nefarious nature
30:57to that.
30:58So a lot of it
31:00was greatest hits.
31:01There were some
31:02new allegations
31:02about China
31:03having maybe
31:04a more aggressive role
31:05than we've known
31:06about in the past.
31:07But again,
31:07nothing from the president
31:09where you can say,
31:10Party X did this,
31:11changed an election here
31:13in a way
31:13that changed the outcome.
31:15I did not hear
31:15one word of that.
31:16I heard a lot of ominous,
31:17and again,
31:18he says he wants
31:19Congress to pass
31:20the SAVE Act.
31:21I've spoken to a number
31:21of experts today
31:23who think foreign meddling
31:25is a problem.
31:26The United States
31:26should do more about it.
31:27They don't see much
31:28in the SAVE Act
31:29that does anything
31:29about that.
31:30They think it's all
31:31about Trump's voter ID push.
31:33John,
31:33as someone who covered
31:34the White House,
31:35have you ever seen
31:36a primetime address
31:36or heard a primetime address
31:38like this one?
31:41No.
31:42No.
31:44Again,
31:45again,
31:47if the president
31:48has new information
31:49about foreign meddling,
31:50foreign meddling
31:51is a big deal
31:51in our elections.
31:52Has been for quite
31:53a long time.
31:54Has been quite a long time.
31:55It's gotten caught
31:56into a very polarized debate
31:57because of the Mueller
31:58investigation,
31:58because of after 2016.
32:00It is impossible now
32:01in the Donald Trump era
32:02to have an adult conversation
32:03about a very legitimate issue.
32:05It would be nice
32:05if Democrats and Republicans
32:06could get together.
32:07As the president said
32:08at one point,
32:08why can't we do this
32:09on a bipartisan basis?
32:10Well, he's the reason
32:12they can't do some of it
32:13on a bipartisan basis
32:13because he keeps telling
32:14Democrats they're crooks.
32:15and they stole elections.
32:17But no,
32:18the ominous tone of it,
32:19you know,
32:19presidents speak to the nation
32:21when wars start.
32:23Presidents speak to the nations
32:24after tragedies.
32:25Presidents do speak to the nation
32:26to ask for big policy priorities,
32:28but we're 15 and a half weeks
32:30from an election
32:30in which you know the numbers.
32:32The president's approval rating
32:32is in the 30s.
32:33His party's in deep trouble.
32:35This is not the issue
32:36they think is going to save them
32:37in November.
32:38John King,
32:39thank you for,
32:40as always,
32:41watching with us.
32:41And I should note,
32:42as we were listening
32:43to what the president
32:44said tonight,
32:45here's another quote
32:46from him during this speech.
32:48To reveal just how vulnerable
32:51our elections continue to be,
32:53we are releasing the results
32:54of a stunning investigation
32:56by the Department of Homeland Security.
32:59According to the DHS review,
33:02state voter rolls
33:04and public records,
33:05they identified approximately
33:07278,000 non-citizens
33:10who are registered
33:11to vote in federal elections.
33:13Since Democrat states
33:15refuse to share
33:16their voter files,
33:18the real number
33:19is actually much higher
33:20than that.
33:21Yet,
33:22even this limited analysis
33:24found more than
33:25a quarter of a million
33:26foreigners
33:27illegally registered
33:29to vote.
33:31Evan Perez,
33:32you're also following
33:33the speech.
33:33Is any of that true?
33:35Well,
33:36it is based,
33:37there is a report
33:37from the DHS
33:38and it is based
33:39on an analysis
33:40that was done
33:41drawing from
33:42private sector data
33:43The problem is,
33:44as the president
33:45has pointed out,
33:47that some of the states,
33:48of course,
33:48that manage this data
33:49have refused to turn over
33:51their voter rolls
33:52to the DHS
33:54and to the government,
33:56to the federal government.
33:57And that includes
33:58some Republican states,
33:59some Republican-run states
34:00who have also refused
34:01to do this.
34:02And so,
34:02it is true
34:03that there is some data
34:06out there,
34:06but it is not reliable.
34:08This is private sector data.
34:10The government data
34:11would obviously be
34:12a lot more effective.
34:13And also,
34:14the other issue here
34:15is that the number
34:16of people
34:17who may be non-citizens,
34:18who may be on these roles,
34:20does not indicate
34:21that any of them
34:21have actually voted, right?
34:23I mean,
34:23we've seen analysis
34:24after analysis of this.
34:25It is a very tiny problem.
34:28I think the Heritage Foundation
34:30did an analysis of this
34:31from 2002 to 222,
34:35and they found
34:36about 100 instances of this.
34:38So,
34:38the president
34:39is pointing out
34:39to something
34:40that is an issue,
34:41but it is not the issue
34:43that he is making it out to be.
34:45Caitlin.
34:45All right.
34:46Evan Prez,
34:46we'll continue to check
34:47back in with you
34:48as we are monitoring
34:49the president's speech
34:50and what he said
34:51about China.
34:52I should note,
34:53keep in mind,
34:54the Chinese leader
34:54is expected to visit Washington
34:56in just a few months from now.
34:57More on what we heard
34:58from the White House
34:59tonight right after this.
35:00We'll see you next time.
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