{"id":288489,"date":"2018-10-15T16:14:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T20:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?p=288489"},"modified":"2018-10-16T16:09:17","modified_gmt":"2018-10-16T20:09:17","slug":"trump-owns-60-minutes-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2018\/10\/15\/trump-owns-60-minutes-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Owns 60 Minutes Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Trump was on 60 Minutes and I didn\u2019t see it last night. I heard about it; so we\u2019ve got a bunch of audio from that that we\u2019re gonna review. And, according to Vanity Fair the magazine, the magazine to the stars, the magazine to celebs, the magazine celebs essentially own. Trump owned it!<\/p>\n

Every segment he owned the interview with Lesley Stahl. She\u2019s senior correspondent for 60 Minutes. I mean, senior, senior correspondent, if you get my drift. She\u2019s been doing it a long time, meaning she has tons of experience. And Trump dominated the whole thing. Do you remember we had an interview she did with Jose Rodriguez, CIA terrorist specialist? He handled the enhanced interrogation, i.e., waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lesley Stahl did that interview. She was stunned. She couldn\u2019t believe it when she found out that we fed terrorists Ensure. (summarized exchange) “That\u2019s horrible! That stuff they give cancer patients? That\u2019s, that\u2019s, that\u2019s horrible!” “Oh, yes, we do. They love it. In fact, the Sheikh lost a hundred pounds with us. It was the best thing for his health ever happened to him.” “That\u2019s crazy! We give \u2019em Ensure? We can\u2019t… The United States doesn\u2019t do that.” “Oh, but we do,” said Jose Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

And she was equally as perplexed last night. She could not get over the fact how hostile Trump was to our European Union allies. There\u2019s no hostility. I mean, it\u2019s so many teachable moments in this thing. I\u2019ve read transcripts so I know what I\u2019m discussing here. I haven\u2019t heard \u2019em, but we\u2019re gonna listen to these together.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay. As a setup to our Lesley Stahl, Donald Trump 60 Minutes interview, I want to go back April 29th, 2012, a little over six years ago. This is Lesley Stahl interviewing CIA interrogator Jose Rodriguez. She says, “So, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was subject to waterboarding, specifically 183 pourings of water, about a half dozen separate sessions.” Jose Rodriguez: “The average pour lasted 10 seconds.”<\/p>\n

(silence)<\/p>\n

Do we not have sound bite 25? (pause) Do we have sound bite 26, sound bite 26 to play? (interruption) Okay. Well, so much for that. What Jose Rodriguez says in this bite, “Can I say something about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? He\u2019s the one that was responsible for the death of Danny Pearl, the Wall Street [Journal] reporter. He slit his throat in front of the camera. I don\u2019t know what type of man it takes to cut the throat of someone in front of you like that, but I can tell you that this is an individual who probably didn\u2019t give a rat\u2019s ass about having water poured on his face.”<\/p>\n

“He never believed for one second you were gonna kill him?”<\/p>\n

“No. And let me tell you, he would use his fingers to count the number of seconds \u2019cause he knew that, in all likelihood, we would stop at 10. This doesn\u2019t sound like a person who is afraid of dying.”<\/p>\n

\"\"Lesley Stahl says, “So what happens? Does he break down? Does he cry? Does he fall apart?”<\/p>\n

“No! He gets a good night\u2019s sleep. He gets his Ensure. By the way, he was very heavy when he came to us. He lost 50 pounds.”<\/p>\n

Lesley Stahl: “What! ‘His Ensure\u2019? You mean like people in the hospital drink that stuff!”<\/p>\n

“Yes. Dietary manipulation was part of these ‘dire techniques.'” He\u2019s totally mocking her.<\/p>\n

Lesley Stahl: “So sleep deprivation! Dietary manipulation! I mean, this is Orwellian stuff. The United States doesn\u2019t do that.”<\/p>\n

Jose Rodriguez: “Well, we do.”<\/p>\n

It would have been a perfect setup for Lesley Stahl and Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Here we go with Donald Trump and Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes, provided our sound bites work. I\u2019m not confident now. So the only way to know is to give it a shot.<\/p>\n

The first one is Lesley Stahl talking to Trump about the supposed “hostility” that he has created between the European Union allies and us.<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: I mean what\u2019s an ally? We have wonderful rips with a lot of people, but —<\/p>\n

STAHL: (sputtering) But that\u2019s —<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: — nobody treats us much worse than the European Union.<\/p>\n

STAHL: But why —<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: The European Union was formed in order to take advantage of us on trade, and that\u2019s what they\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n

STAHL: But this is hostile!<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: It\u2019s not hostile.<\/p>\n

STAHL: It sounds hostile!<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: You know what\u2019s hostile? The way they treat us. We\u2019re not hostile.<\/p>\n

STAHL: No, but can\u2019t you deal with them — with them —<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: We\u2019ve been the stupid country for so many years.<\/p>\n

STAHL: Are you willing to get of that western alliance?<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: No. I like NATO. NATO\u2019s fine. But you know what? We shouldn\u2019t be paying almost the entire cost of NATO to protect Europe — and, then on top of that, they take advantage of us on trade. They\u2019re not gonna do it anymore. They understand that.<\/p>\n

STAHL: Okay.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

RUSH: So, once again, we have here the concept, “But you\u2019re so hostile! The hostility! It sounds so hostile. It sounds so mean. It sounds so…” It “sounds” so…? It\u2019s confrontational! Of course in the eyes of the left, we want to be Europe. They want us to be Europe. They want us to be western socialists, they think, functioning in a democracy. That\u2019s what they want. But we should be forthcoming and tolerant. We should be welcoming. We should be ingratiating ourselves.<\/p>\n

By the way, this is Donald Trump just keeping a number of promises, which, say what you want, this guy has kept more promises probably than all politicians in history combined. The problem with that is that so many people expect politicians to not keep their promises that I don\u2019t know how big a scoring point that it is for Trump, but it does add up to the fact that you can trust him; you can count on him. He says he\u2019s gonna do something, you can do it or die trying.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have the wall yet but not for lack of trying and we don\u2019t have the full repeal of Obamacare yet, but not for lack of trying. Now, the Democrats are off and running here on a couple of rebirthed issues. I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve noticed it or not, but all of a sudden Trump wants to once again take away health insurance from people with preexisting conditions. Where had this come from? Out of thin air! It came out of thin air.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no way Trump wants to do this. There\u2019s no Republican that wants. This is the reason the Republicans didn\u2019t go for full repeal of Obamacare is preexisting conditions — which, if you get down to brass tacks, preexisting conditions being covered, is not even insurance! There\u2019s no way you could get insurance if your house catches fire and then go buy insurance. Nobody\u2019s gonna sell you insurance once the house is on fire or after it\u2019s been robbed.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019re not even talking about insurance. But we are, as far as the general public is concerned. So out of nowhere, all of a sudden Donald Trump and every Republican candidate for the House and the Senate wants to take away health insurance for preexisting conditions. When did this happen? No Republican\u2019s out there saying that. It\u2019s sort of like when George Stephanopoulos was interviewing — well, questioning — Mitt Romney in a debate and he asked him (summarized exchange), “Do you think that states should be able to ban contraception?”<\/p>\n

Romney look around and said, “What! Nobody\u2019s talking about that.” Stephanopoulos said, “I don\u2019t care if nobody\u2019s talking about it! I want to know what you think. Should states have the right to ban contraception?” Romney looks around again and says, “What? We\u2019re not talking about… George, I don\u2019t think anybody would even think of this. I don\u2019t know… Why are you asking me this?” “I just want an answer! Quit stalling. Do you think states…?”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Well, eventually Romney answered it, and it didn\u2019t matter what the answer was. It allowed the media to report: “Romney Discusses States Banning Contraception!” Ha! Ha! Well, that\u2019s all it took, and the Republican War on Women was reborn, and that\u2019s what this preexisting condition garbage is. Let me tell you what the real issue is. The real issue that is raising its head out there that the Democrats don\u2019t want to talk about is immigration, illegal immigration.<\/p>\n

That remains the issue that coalesces Republican voters no matter what other issues they have. That is the issue. It has been poll-driven and tested in terms of being very helpful to Republicans. And of course the Democrats don\u2019t want to talk about it, interestingly. They\u2019re trying to gin up all this stuff about preexisting conditions. Well, Lesley Stahl here is trying to do same thing by suggesting that Trump is “hostile” to our good friends in Europe.<\/p>\n

“You just sound so hostile! Why would you want to sound so hostile?”<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like when she was talking to Jose Rodriguez. “Why would you give him Ensure? That\u2019s the stuff they give cancer patients! It\u2019s so mean! That\u2019s not who we are.” “You\u2019re so… You\u2019re so hostile,” and Trump says, “What is hostile? The way they treat us is what\u2019s hostile. We\u2019re not hostile.” She says, “Yeah, but you can\u2019t deal with it without…” He says, “We have been the stupid country for so many years,” and then she finally says, “Are you willing to get rid of the western alliance?”<\/p>\n

“No. I like NATO. NATO\u2019s fine. But, you know what? We shouldn\u2019t be paying the entire cost of NATO.” You know what else he said in this interview? Secretary of defense Mattis came up. Trump said, “I know more about NATO than Mattis does.” (laughing) “I know more…” Mattis, as far as the deep state is concerned, is NATO. Any army general would be NATO! So Trump just… As Vanity Fair magazine says (and it\u2019s a surprising admission), “60 Minutes Was Outmatched by Trump.”<\/p>\n

“The president talked over Lesley Stahl in a relentless blast of rhetoric that seemed more rally than interview.” Lesley Stahl will not be happy… I mean, Vanity Fair? They all live for puff pieces in Vanity Fair, particularly news people, \u2019cause Vanity Fair, you know, is Hollywood star, celebrity Mecca magazine. And if you get mentioned in Vanity Fair? Whew! You\u2019ve done massive crossover. You\u2019ve crossed over from news to entertainment, supposedly doing both.<\/p>\n

Now, to be dissed by Vanity Fair?<\/p>\n

\"\"That\u2019s not a bullet point. That\u2019s not a resume enhancer.<\/p>\n

“On Oct. 14, CBS\u2019s 60 Minutes aired an interview with President Donald Trump \u2014 rare for its status as having appeared outside of Fox News or conservative media. Appearing the same weekend as First Lady Melania Trump\u2019s appearance on 20\/20, this would seem to represent a new level of media blitzing on the part of an administration that\u2019s already seen its head get plenty of free promotion during rallies broadcast on cable news.”<\/p>\n

Anyway, they go on it trash Lesley Stahl and trash CBS for letting Trump walk all over them, to just continue to dominate with relentless rhetoric. CBS let Trump get away with the same kind of persona and the same kind of stuff that he says at his rallies. They say, “Lesley Stahl\u2019s interview with Trump was an undeniable get; he\u2019d been scarce on mainstream media since around the time he appeared on tape with NBC\u2019s Lester Holt and indicated he\u2019d fired former FBI Director James Comey in part due to the Russia investigation.<\/p>\n

“But the interview seemed governed by two motives, both of which played into the hands of a media-savvy president whose refusal to play by typical rules of engagement has been at the center of his rise.” You know, you people in the media, say that all you want. He\u2019s been the most media accessible president you\u2019ve ever had! This guy will stop and talk to you wherever you\u2019re gathered.<\/p>\n

If he\u2019s on the way somewhere and sees you, he stops and talks to you, and he tells you exactly what he thinks. It\u2019s not his fault if you can\u2019t keep up with him. It\u2019s not his fault if you can\u2019t play your usual journalist games and dominate him and get away with re-characterizing what he says, looks like, or thinks. Vanity Fair is just admitting it here. They\u2019re very, very frustrated that they can\u2019t treat Trump successfully the way they treat all other Republicans they want to get rid of.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Back to the Trump 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl. We were up here at number… Oh! This is a biggie. No. 3. This is Trump talking about the necessity of consequences for illegal immigration. Lesley Stahl\u2019s question, “What about the forced separation of migrant children from their parents?”<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: It\u2019s the same as the Obama law. You know, Obama had the same thing.<\/p>\n

STAHL: I-it was on the books but he didn\u2019t enforce it. You enforced it! You launched that zero-tolerance policy to deter families with children.<\/p>\n

\"\"THE PRESIDENT: No, but then everybody decided and the courts don\u2019t want separation, and, frankly, when you don\u2019t do separation… When you allow the parents to stay together, okay? When you allow that, then what happens is people are gonna pour into our country.<\/p>\n

STAHL: So you gonna go back to that? (crosstalk)<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: There consequences, Lesley, for coming into our country illegally. And part of… I mean, part of the reason — I have to blame myself. The economy is so strong that everybody wants to come into the United States.<\/p>\n

RUSH: “My fault, Lesley. I\u2019ve done such a great job on the economy, everybody wants to come here. I\u2019ll take the blame for it.” Now, she misspoke there. This law on the books… Obama certainly did enforce separation! It just didn\u2019t get reported because Obama was cool and couldn\u2019t do anything wrong — and if it was happening when Obama did it, then there had to be good reasons for it. Remember, we\u2019ve gotta two-tier system of justice in this country and we have a two-tier system of media.<\/p>\n

Lesley says, “It was on the books, but he didn\u2019t enforce it”? What is that? You mean it was on the books but Obama didn\u2019t enforce the law but Trump is enforcing the law? But Trump didn\u2019t make the law! The Democrats, Lesley Stahl included, attempted to make people think that Donald Trump purposely wrote a law or just enacted one that separated children from (sobbing) their family and it was horrible. You wouldn\u2019t believe the number of brain-dead people that actually believe this happened.<\/p>\n

I was watching an episode of Law & Order in Your SUV the other night, and they had a whole premise. Some guy keeping abandoned kids in his basement in a cage was a hero because he was saving these kids after Trump\u2019s policy had forced them to be abandoned. He was saving them. He was just running child sex rings with \u2019em, but they tried to make this guy out to be somewhat of a hero because the whole point of the episode was to bash Trump for separating families when it\u2019s a law that he inherited.<\/p>\n

Look, I\u2019ve explained why the law exists, and it\u2019s above and beyond there having to be consequences for coming here illegally. It has to do with the quest for asylum and the fact that where the parents are taken while they cases are decided is not suitable for kids. The kids are put in much better surroundings and centers while their family, their adult parents\u2019 cases are being adjudicated. There\u2019s nothing… This is the United States of America.<\/p>\n

We do not do to kids what these people are trying to tell you the Republican Party does to kids. It\u2019s quite the exact opposite! It\u2019s just more of the smear that the Democrats and the left have engaged in, and Trump does not back down from it. And even as I say, Variety magazine was stunned that Trump got away with dominating even with these questions. A couple more before the break. Up next, she says, “Do you think that climate change is a hoax?”<\/p>\n