00:02The Trump administration is now warning the Kennedy Center could eventually have to be
00:06demolished. That's if it can't move forward with a two-year closure for extensive renovations.
00:12The warning came in a new court filing with Justice Department lawyers describing the building
00:16as dangerously dilapidated and caught in what they call a financial and structural death spiral.
00:23The administration argues the two-year closure is needed to complete the fixes.
00:28Without those efforts, the center will deteriorate further into an unsafe,
00:33decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down.
00:37Now, there are no official plans to demolish the Kennedy Center.
00:41The filing is part of an ongoing court fight over the center,
00:45including the board's latest effort to put Trump's name back on the building.
00:50Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beattie, who's challenging those changes,
00:54calls the filing a not-so-subtle threat to tear down the center,
00:57if Trump doesn't get his way.
00:59A federal judge is set to hear arguments in the case Thursday.
01:03For now, the administration has agreed to pause its latest plan changes to the building
01:07until September 8th.
