A curated roundup of the most fascinating interviews of the day so far…and one brilliant one from the past...
Topics: lisa cook case, federal reserve, russia- ukraine, gaza and hamas, troops in the streets, abrego garcia's case, bruce willis dementia, katie miller speaks out, tennis champs speak...and more...
The main headline this morning is dominated by news surrounding the President’s announcement that he was taking the unusual step of removing Lisa Cook from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. The legality of such a maneuver is uncharted territory. Will Cook, who says she isn’t resigning, be escorted out of her office if she tries to go in?
CNBC’s Squawk Box had a whole slew of interviews this morning addressing this topic:
"The crook always says, 'I'm not going anywhere.'" said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said this morning in an interview he did with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin. “Did she commit mortgage fraud, yes or no? If she did…please go away.” He also answered some questions about the President’s plan to take control of some stakes of other companies beyond Intel.
Watch full interview here:
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was also on the same program discussing the news of President Trump moving to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook,
“The law says you can remove someone for cause, I have not heard her come back and argue, I haven’t done something wrong.” said McCarthy to CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Had she done that I think this would have been a different situation.”
and also he added: “I don't like the Fed being politicized,” he said. “I believe when people get on the fed they kind of come together and they are looking at a financial basis.”
Watch it here:
Former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson joined 'Squawk Box' to discuss President Trump's move to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. He said he thinks the markets are calm because of the ambiguity on the situation as a whole. Andrew Ross Sorkin asked about who turns off or on her paycheck. It was a question that didn’t seem to have a clear answer. But Ferguson spent the interview cautioning over “jumping to conclusions” about the allegations.
“We have to be careful that anything the president says becomes immutable and must be followed, all of this will go to court,” he says.
Watch here:
Meanwhile the person who has spearheaded the allegations is Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte. He has been focused on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and discussed the alleged mortgage fraud with Bloomberg Television last Thursday.
Pulte had urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to open a probe into Cook over a pair of mortgages allegedly claiming primary occupancy in a letter first reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday night. He spent much of the day Wednesday calling on Cook to step down or be removed, with President Donald Trump chiming in that she “must resign, now!!!” in a social media post that morning. He spoke to Bloomberg Television last Thursday.
Watch an interview with him here:
Rohit Chopra, the former director of the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau spoke to MSNBC about the risks about the President targeting Cook.
“This could have an impact on how the world perceives the dollar and our ability to borrow,” Chopra warned. He reflected on the fact that 6 months ago the President fired him but that was legal at the time. This one is much more ambiguous, he says. “I think this is going to be a big legal challenge, we can;t know anything about this allegation, they put it in a tweet with a screen shot with no paperwork.”
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde did an interview with Fox Business and explained her past criticism of President Donald Trump's tariffs and the U.S.-EU trade deal on 'Mornings with Maria.' She also talked about what happens when a Central Bank stops becoming independent.
“I have seen close hand what happens when a central bank stops being independent or when its independence is under threat,” said Lagarde, referring to her time working with financial institutions while heading the International Monetary Fund from 2011 until she moved to the ECB in 2019. “It becomes dysfunctional, it starts doing things that it shouldn’t do,” the French national told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
In other news, many Democratic lawmakers were out doing interviews to push back on the President’s threats to to deploy National Guard troops to more cities.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott spoke to ABC News about his thoughts on the topic and laid out all the tactics that he says would help reduce crime in Baltimore.
“We have to do this the right way, not just criminalizing everyone,” he said. “We have been talking about ghost guns for far too long,” suggesting that the President should join his mission and plans to help lower crime in Baltimore.
Watch here:
Mayor Brandon Johnson, D-Chicago, joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning to discuss the president's threat to send National Guard troops to his city. On MSNBC
“A military occupationh of the City of Chicago would not only be illegal but unconstitutional and costly, the city is not requesting that Federal troops to come and occupy our cities.” says Mayor Johnson. “He can start by restoring the over $800 million dollars that were taken away from violence prevention programs back in April.”
Watch here:
Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner joined CNN’s “Early Start” to discuss the objectives of the President. “He wants a crisis so he can roll tanks in big cities and make it look normal,” he said. “If you want to have more police, then fund them, let's not pretend that National Guard troops are trained to be peacekeepers in the citizenry.”
Watch here:
Rod Blagojevich, former Illinois governor, doesn’t agree. Blagojevich joined Chris Cuomo on News Nation. "I think this will stop murders that are happening now, and will make our neighborhoods safer," Blagojevich said.
Watch here:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys also did interviews discussing his case and potential deportation to Uganda. Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorney, joined Meet the Press NOW on NBC. "There was no need to take him into ICE detention. ... The only reason they took him into detention was to punish him" for exercising his constitutional right to speak up and fight proceedings, said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg.
Watch here:
On the Russia-Ukraine deal, Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined Fox to discusses efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.”There is still a fair amount of work to do,” he said. “The staggering death toll is very real. Putin knows that, so when he makes this claim that someone’s going to give him this real estate that has been fought over, I think knows that’s not right.”
Watch here:
Another voice weighing in on this topic is Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager and consultant in Ukraine. He joined Chris Cuomo on News Nation to discuss whether the U.S. can force peace between Russia and Ukraine. "Trump has already changed the dynamic in this war. Just think of the concessions that have already been established," Manafort says. “He basically said that the territorial integrity of Ukraine is sacrosanct, he has also given up that he can impose his own puppet as the President of Ukraine.” Manafort says the issue is now land swaps.
Watch here:
ILTV, an Israeli television network interviewed, ex-Hamas insider Mosab Hassan Yousef. According to Yousef, Hamas is "weaponizing civilians" by using them as human shields.
"I thought to myself, Hamas now is just busy governing us. They are enjoying the money," Yousef said in an exclusive interview. "I thought they probably like having all this military … to bully the world… I never thought, you know, they would just invade and commit a genocide against the Jewish people."
Watch here:
ABC News’ Diane Sawyer has an interview with Bruce Willis wife Emma Heming Willis, taking a closer look at the actor’s nearly three-year battle with dementia. The actor's brain is "failing him," and his ability to communicate is fading, according to his wife.
Watch here:
With the US Open underway, a few former Tennis champs are giving their take.
ABC News Good Morning America interviewed former Men’s US Open Tennis champ Andy Roddick.A He said he finds Daniil Medvedev's 'meltdowns' funny.
“I think its just Meddy being Meddy, I think its funny.” said Roddick. “I think as long as its not affecting your opponent.”
Watch it here:
Tennis legend Maria Sharapova joined NBC’s TODAY show to talk about her induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, calling it a celebration of the successful moments, the tough battles and the rivalries coming together. Sharapova opens up about being introduced by Serena Williams at the ceremony, describing it as a “full-circle moment,” having walked with Williams through many step of her career as competitors and friends.
Watch here:
Tennis Champion Novak Djokovic has a new interview with the Jay Shetty podcast. He reveals his secret to building mental strength. He reveals who his toughest opponent is, “by far, myself, and toughest opponent physically, Nadal, the battles with him were brutal.”
Watch here:
Longtime Trump ally and former administration official Katie Miller is launching a new podcast aimed at conservative women. She did a few interviews on CBS News and was asked about the jobs lost at DOGE.
“Less than 1 percent of the federal work force was terminated as a result of the actions of president trump or DOGE,” she said. “ The reality is that the bluster and the public perception is not the reality.”
“He is very dedicated and he is a great employer that cares about the lives of his employees,” she said about the misconception about Elon Musk.
And
Futures:
So what interesting interviews should we be looking out for, what are the network bookers working on today and what are interesting pursuits? Some of my ideas
I’m eager to see an interview with Lisa Cook herself or her lawyer, D.C. megalawyer Abbe Lowell. He has supported a long line of political figures over the past 30 years, from former President Bill Clinton (in his impeachment trial) through former Sen. Bob Menendez to Jared and Ivanka Trump, and recently Hunter Biden.
The D.C. Police Union has backed Mr. Trump’s takeover of the police force. I think it would be interesting to hear some interviews with the Union about why they think it is a good idea.
The case of Sidney Lori Reid I think is worth taking a closer look at and booking. The Times had a story about how Federal prosecutors reduced the charges against her after accusing her last month of assaulting an F.B.I. agent during a protest against immigration officials in Washington. They refiled her case as a misdemeanor after they were unable to persuade three grand juries over a month to indict her with a felony.
Remember the Sandwich guy? The felony charge that grand jurors rejected in Ms. Reid’s case was the same one used in a separate case brought two weeks ago against Sean C. Dunn, a former Justice Department employee, who was arrested after throwing a deli sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer. The officer struck by the sandwich was on the streets as part of President Trump’s recent initiative to have scores of federal agents patrol for local crime. Mr. Dunn is set to appear in court on Sept. 4 for a preliminary hearing to assess the viability of the charge.
On the Epstein case, a few dates to look out for on the Futures calendar, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed the estate of late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, demanding it hand over documents and communications by Sept. 8. The committee also announced that Alexander Acosta, the former Trump Labor secretary who was U.S. attorney for Southern Florida when Epstein received a plea deal in 2008, will go before the committee members for a “transcribed interview” on Sept. 19. A lot of eyes have been focused on whether or not we would hear from Acosta on this case so that will certainly be newsmaking.
THE INTERVIEW ARCHIVES….
A fun look at brilliant archival interviews.
With so much focus on the role and independence of the Fed Chair, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a 60 Minutes archival interview from March 2009 of former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke. Asked by Scott Pelley why Fed Reserve board meetings are independent and secret. Bernanke took Pelley inside the boardroom and explained, "If we held those things with a TV camera on us it would create lots of volatility and problems in the market. But I should say that, you know, we've come a long way. In 1994, when the Fed made a policy decision to change interest rates, wouldn't even announce that we made a change. But now, after every meeting, we put out a statement, say what we did, explain what we did, why we're doing it. And three weeks later, we put out minutes to describe everything that happened in the meeting. So we're becoming much more transparent."
Watch here: