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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Now: Hillary Clinton Testifying In Epstein Probe; Polls Show Increasing Concerns About Trump's Mental Acuity; "Distasteful": U.S. Women Hockey Players React To Trump's Joke. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired February 26, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. Welcome to THE ARENA. I'm Kasie Hunt.
It's good to have you with us on this Thursday.
As we come on the air, the push for answers on Jeffrey Epstein reaches its highest level yet. Right now in New York, the former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is providing sworn testimony to the House Oversight Committee in a closed door interview. Democrats on the committee coming out just moments ago with an update on what they're hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): Secretary Clinton never met Jeffrey Epstein. She never visited the island. She never flew on his plane. And she also had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's horrific crimes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: We are also getting our first look behind those closed doors, somewhat unexpectedly. Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert took this photo and provided it to a MAGA podcaster. That violation of the committee's rules causing a brief pause in the deposition.
Committee Chairman James Comer has said that a video recording will be released if both parties agree.
Tomorrow, former President Bill Clinton will sit for his own sworn deposition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: You know, I'm not sitting here. Some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette. I'm sitting here because I love him and I respect him, and I honor what he's been through and what we've been through together. And, you know, if that's not enough for people, then, heck, don't vote for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: So that was 1992. A few years later, in 1998, Hillary Clinton literally stood by her man as he denied having a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
Now, once again, she's being questioned about her husband, Bill, who does in fact appear in the Epstein files. He was photographed in a hot tub and a pool, and alongside Epstein himself. The former president has denied any wrongdoing a source watching the deposition tells CNN that Clinton has been asked a number of questions about her husband, including how she felt about bill allegedly being massaged by a young woman. The source says Clinton responded that she's not there to talk about her feelings, and that she would not speculate about things for which she was not present.
In an opening statement shared before her testimony began, Clinton criticized the committee's investigation for refusing to interview President Donald Trump, saying quote, "If this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein's trafficking crimes, it would not rely on press gaggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement. It would ask him directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files," end quote.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CLINTON: What we're seeing, I think it's fair to say, is a continuing cover up by the Trump administration. They are redacting the names of men who are in it they are stonewalling legitimate requests from members of Congress that has nothing to do with us. Something is going on. They know it, I know it.
Why do they want to pull us into this? To divert attention from President Trump. This is not complicated. This is so obvious.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Let's get off the sidelines, head into THE ARENA. My panel is here and we're joined by CNN senior national correspondent MJ Lee. She is live for us in Chappaqua, New York.
MJ, in Chappaqua covering the Clintons, it's -- it's a scene that many of us, of course, remember from many years of political coverage. Remarkable that you're back there today. What have you been hearing from your sources about what's been going on there?
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. You know as you said, Kasie, this is a deposition that is taking place behind closed doors. It is being filmed and will be transcribed so until the committee decides to put all of that out there, we're not going to get the full picture of what exactly is transpiring inside that deposition room. However having said that, the Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee have already made clear they've come out and spoken with reporters and essentially said that they have yet to learn anything new from the former secretary of state about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and their crimes saying that, you know, somebody that hasn't actually ever met Jeffrey Epstein can't possibly give us the information that we are looking for that is new, that could help our investigation into Epstein.
They are also using that as an opportunity to continue pressing the point that they believe there are many, many other people who should be deposed in this manner, including of course, they say, the current president, President Donald Trump.
In terms, Kasie, of the kinds of questions that the former first lady has been asked in that closed door deposition, we know that she has been asked about whether she has had conversations about Epstein with some individuals close to Epstein, including the co-executors of his estate, like Darren Indyke or Richard Cohen.
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She has said no, and that at another point, I was told by a source, she essentially said, I'm not even familiar with some of these names that you are bringing up.
Now, one of the many reasons, of course, that the Clintons have not been keen on sitting down for this kind of deposition is because they don't want to have questions being asked about Bill Clinton, who, of course has a very different story when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein. He has an established relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He has appeared in the Epstein files a whole bunch.
And I was told by a source that Congresswoman Nancy Mace asked Hillary Clinton about some of Bill Clinton's actions, including what you referenced. How does she feel about the fact that she was massaged by young women? And she responded that she's not going to talk about her feelings here
HUNT: MJ, can you tell us a little bit more about that leaked photo? Why it paused the deposition, how it played out?
LEE: Yeah, these were photos that appear to have been taken by Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who sits on this committee. And in the middle of the deposition, we saw a couple of these photos being posted on Twitter again, appear to have been taken by her. She came outside of the deposition room and spoke with reporters very briefly. She basically defended her actions and said, you know, why not take these photos? I've not been reprimanded. And when I asked her what has stood out to her so far from this deposition of Hillary Clinton, she said, I admired her blue suit.
So, you know, all of this is goes to say, you know, Democrats have been calling for this deposition to be handled in public, for it to be in open press so that reporters and others can be watching all of the questions and the answers that are going back and forth.
And I'm told that the ranking member, Congressman Garcia, used that as an opportunity to again, make that point. But we have no reason right now to think that that's going to happen, that we're going to be allowed into the deposition room. So, until then, we'll be coming to you from this parking lot.
HUNT: Fair enough. All right. MJ Lee, thank you very much for that reporting. Really appreciate it.
My panel is here in THE ARENA. CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams; CNN contributor, "New York Times" journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro; former Biden White House communications director Kate Bedingfield; and CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings.
We are also joined by congressional correspondent for "The New York Times", Annie Karni who is live in Chappaqua, New York.
And, of course, Annie, I wanted to have you on today because of this analysis piece that you wrote. And the headline is this, quote, "For Hillary Clinton, an Epstein deposition is the latest 'stand by your man' moment," and you write that she is once again under pressure to answer for the actions and relationships of her husband. And we should also tell the audience, you're congressional correspondent now.
But of course, you covered Hillary Clinton's campaign for president. You really understand kind of the things that she has been through in recent history on the world stage, on the political stage. How is today playing out in Chappaqua, New York?
And, you know, I think I'm particularly interested in this comment where reporting about how she's not there to talk about her feelings.
ANNIE KARNI, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I thought that was such an interesting line that you and MJ both cited. First of all, I think that any Republican who thinks that a question is going to rattle her about Bill Clinton and women, I mean, Trump tried to do this to her at the debate, inviting women who have accused Bill Clinton of various things to rattle, rattle her. Like this is not her first rodeo on this -- on the issue of Bill Clinton and women. So -- and I think that any trained lawyer would know that a question about feelings is not one you're going to answer under oath.
But yeah, I mean, my piece today was looking at how, you know, the only reason were here, the only reason Hillary Clinton is testifying before this committee is because Bill Clinton had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. And there's really no -- I mean, it's very clear that there's no connection from Hillary to Jeffrey Epstein. She's never met him. It's a very thin strand to be pulling on.
And so, it just it once again, she's being dragged in to answer questions that she would prefer not to be answering because of her husband. And in this case, you know this is a question about a sex offender. And we could see in Hillary's opening statement how offended she is that as someone who's worked for women's rights, that she's being questioned as someone who would have been involved or had information about a sex trafficker.
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But, you know, Bill Clintons testimony tomorrow is unprecedented in that a former president has never been forced against his will to testify before Congress. Hillary Clintons testimony is eyebrow-raising in a different way, just because it's really not clear why she is here other than a connection to her husband. HUNT: Yeah, really interesting.
I mean, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, this is, of course, not -- she's not the only high profile woman who potentially is in this situation. I mean, we've seen Melinda French Gates. She has not been questioned by the committee, but she --
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Melania Trump, I mean, was someone who had a actually, you know knew Jeffrey Epstein. And there are images of them together. So if you wanted to bring someone in that was sort of tangentially related, you could bring in Melania Trump. I mean, I think this opens the door to many people who were actually in the Epstein files, potentially.
I do think in this case as my colleague Annie Karni says, this isn't Hillary Clinton's first rodeo. She kind of ate Republicans for lunch during the Benghazi hearings. So I don't think this will go very well for them. I think it will be different for Bill Clinton.
HUNT: Yeah. I mean, I was -- I was going to say, Kate, that you know, Melinda French Gates is also being asked to answer for crimes that her husband committed functionally, right, and as Annie sort of capably laid out, right, this is another instance where Hillary Clinton has had to do this.
But at the same time, Bill Clinton, I mean, you can see the pictures. I mean, there are legitimate questions to ask him. How does this cut for Democrats?
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I actually think that the real impact that this is having is it's actually just underscoring the hypocrisy with which Republicans are approaching this. I mean absolutely, should Bill Clinton -- Bill Clinton be forced to answer questions about his appearance in the Epstein files? I believe, yes, he should, absolutely. But I think if the standard is somebody who is tangentially related to somebody who is named in the files comes in then, okay, well, why aren't we hearing from Howard Lutnick, who has lied -- who openly lied about having cut off ties with Epstein and then was subsequently found to have gone to the island in 2012?
So, if Republicans are serious about having a comprehensive investigation, then let's hear from the people who also need to be asked these questions on the Republican side of the aisle.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
HUNT: Seems fair. Scott?
JENNINGS: I suspect Democrats will try to haul him in if they were to regain control of the committee. I suspect they might try to haul in other people as well.
HUNT: I mean, Democrats went along with, quote/unquote, "hauling in the Clintons". JENNINGS: I mean, in the case of the Clintons, and look, you know, I guess well all get to watch the tape, I guess that's part of the agreement pretty soon. But, you know, Hillary Clinton, I mean she probably had some views on this. I mean, Jeffrey Epstein visited the Clinton White House 17 times. Ghislaine Maxwell was at their daughter's wedding.
I mean, her husband is in these files. I mean, she probably had some knowledge of some connections, at least between him and Jeffrey Epstein. So, I'll be interested to see how they ask those questions. The real meat of this will be tomorrow when they talk to Bill Clinton. And, you know, he has some questions to answer here.
So again, I guess this will be most relevant when we get to all watch the tapes and see how they handle it.
HUNT: Elliot, I mean, the fact that we get to watch the tapes, you know, presumably is a remarkable political moment, also, legally speaking.
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, just to -- I think to address the photograph question, which is actually kind of an important one. And having negotiated these congressional interviews before, every detail of them is worked out with the consent of the committee. And I will note that the fact that the Clintons are not held in contempt is over the fact that they worked out terms like where the media would be allowed and who could take photographs. Would there be a transcript? Would it be recorded?
So, it actually is a pretty significant breach of that to take even a casual cell phone photograph. Now, of course, it is -- it is a profound moment that we get a window inside and the ability to see, you know, someone testifying. I mean, perhaps she might somewhere have something legal to have said today. My guess is that -- and this is to Kate's point, the real action comes tomorrow when you hear from Bill Clinton.
HUNT: Yeah. I want to play a little bit more of that. And you saw it at the end of the open of the show here the interview that Hillary Clinton did with the BBC, this actually happened while she was traveling to the Munich security conference. She was asked in this interview about meeting Epstein and also about ties to Ghislaine Maxwell.
Let's watch. And then, Annie Karni, I got a question for you on this side. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON : I don't recall ever meeting him.
INTERVIEWER : Did you ever meet Ghislaine Maxwell?
CLINTON: I did on a few occasions. And thousands of people go to the Clinton Global Initiative. So, it -- to me, is not -- is not something that is really at the heart of what this matter is about. They are accused and in both cases were convicted of horrific crimes against girls and women. That should be the focus. And we are more than happy to say what we know, which is very limited and totally unrelated to their behavior or their crimes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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HUNT: Annie, can you talk about what you do know about the relationship Hillary did or didn't have with Ghislaine Maxwell, who is, of course, the only one of the coconspirators who is in prison over this?
KARNI: Yeah. Ghislaine Maxwell, Hillary has said that she was at the Chelsea -- she told the committee today that she was at the wedding because she was dating a mutual friend at the time. So, she basically was there as a plus one, a guest of a guest.
HUNT: Unfortunate for them?
KARNI: Comer has -- yeah, Comer has raised questions about a nephew of Maxwell's that worked on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and then at the State Department. And Clinton has said in various legal letters that she sent over the past few months as she's been trying to fight this, that she never knew that this employee had any relation to Maxwell.
And she told the committee today that, you know, she met her on a handful of times, and it wasn't more than a casual acquaintance, mostly because she was dating this guy that knew the Clintons. So that -- that's about it. The Democrats came out and said they were pretty unconvinced that there was much there at all.
One thing I will note about both Clintons being hauled in, and yes, there are questions to ask Bill Clinton, but I was really struck by President Trump's reaction when they finally capitulated to his demands and said they would testify. He called it a shame.
I think he potentially -- the White House does not love the precedent of hauling in family members, of hauling and former presidents to testify before Congress and he made that clear that he wasn't, you know, clapping for Comer's coup here. He said it was a -- it was a shame and he didn't want to see it.
So, I thought that was an interesting reaction. He's clearly aware of the precedent that this could be setting.
HUNT: Yeah. No, it's an important -- it's an important point to underscore.
Annie Karni, thank you so much. Really appreciate you spending some time with us today.
The rest of our panel is going to stand by.
Coming up in THE ARENA with former President Bill Clinton scheduled to be deposed tomorrow, what does it mean for the current president? As we were just discussing, he is, of course, also mentioned in the Epstein files. We're going to talk with one of Donald Trump's former lawyers, up next.
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REP. WESLEY BELL (D-MO): As a former prosecutor, I've been involved in leading investigations in serious offenses and this ain't it.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARCIA: So, we should be very clear that now that we're going to hear from former President Clinton, I hope that Chairman Comer and the Republicans will join us in demanding that the person who actually appears more times in the files than the former president, who we want to speak with is President Donald Trump. And so, let's get President Trump in front of our committee to answer the questions that are being asked across this country, from survivors --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee today warning that Bill and Hillary Clintons testimonies this week on their ties to Jeffrey Epstein set a precedent for a future interview of President Trump, something that Congressman Robert Garcia told CNN earlier this month that Democrats intend to do if they regain control of the House this fall.
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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you guys take the majority, are you going to bring in Trump on the Epstein probe?
GARCIA: Well, I think that obviously Republicans have set a pretty substantial new precedent as it relates to former presidents. And so, I think everything has to be on the table. We obviously want to talk to President Trump. There's no question about that. To be very clear, we, of course, want to talk to President Trump on the Epstein probe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Criminal defense attorney and former attorney for President Donald Trump, Bill Brennan joins our panel now.
Bill, always great to see you. Thank you for being here. As we were talking --
WILLIAM J. BRENNAN, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: You, too, Kasie. Thanks for having me. HUNT: Of course. Before the break, I mean, it would be quite a
precedent to bring in a sitting president of the United States to testify before congress in something like that, like this. Is it plausible?
BRENNAN: It's plausible. It's not practical. This Congressman Garcia -- his argument that I saw in the break was, let's get the person who appeared, the most times in the files, if in fact, that's true. But, you know, if you go to the bank 5,000 times, make your deposits, make your withdrawals, but then you go to the bank one time and you rob it. It's the robbery that's important.
The number of times somebody in President Clinton, President Trump, is irrelevant. It's a specious empty argument. And, you know, today, Secretary Clinton testified. Tomorrow, it will be President Clinton. I mean, if this was a prize fight, today's the undercard to tomorrows main event.
But the committee should be careful of what it asks for. President Clinton is the gold medal Olympian of depositions and testimony. He coined the phrase, that depends on what the meaning of is is.
I mean, I think he's going to surprise them but he is a former president. President Trump is a current president, and I think it is dangerous to set a precedent of bringing a sitting president in on anything.
HUNT: Well, as we were also discussing, I mean, and I'm curious what you think, how you read President Trump's remarks that it's basically a shame that they're interviewing former President Bill Clinton, because it does seem to suggest that he potentially sees having a former president have to do this as problematic for him.
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BRENNAN: Well, he may. I mean, I'm scratching my head a little bit on Secretary Clinton. What was the purpose of bringing the secretary in? When I really do a deep dive and get into, you know, my criminal lawyer mind, sometimes, if you're looking for incriminating evidence from someone who has a legitimate Fifth Amendment issue, you go around them. You know if, say it's a corporate investigation and the CEO has a problem, but the CEO's wife is not a target, you go, you know, you go there.
But I don't think that's the motive here. I think this is showmanship. I don't know what Secretary Clinton could possibly bring to the table. And frankly, it looks like there's not any current investigation or grand jury sitting. I don't know what President Clinton brings to the table other than answering questions about the photos and things like that.
But, you know, again, going back to my earlier comment about Congressman Garcia's argument that lets interview the person who was in the files the most, it's not quantity. It's quality of any particular evidence they think they have.
HUNT: Yeah.
BRENNAN: It appears -- this Epstein -- the whole situation has taken down a lot of people, will continue to do that. But I would have to think, be it President Clinton or President Trump, if there was any there, there at this point, we'd know about it.
HUNT: Kate Bedingfield, I do feel like to circle back to his point about Hillary Clinton, I didn't cover Hillary Clinton in the '90s, but I did cover her 2016 presidential campaign from the plane. I think they would very easily explain why or they I feel like I could write the explanation down for why they think she would be hauled in front of this committee, and that it has to do with politics and the fact that she's been demonized for all this time.
But, I mean, to Bill's point, I mean, what do you make of the you know, quantity not quality argument here?
BEDINGFIELD: Well, as a matter of showing up, the number of times you show up in the fight. Well, yeah, of course, I mean, I think there are certainly going to be people whose names show up in the files who have not -- didn't have as egregious or knowing contact with Epstein as others. I mean, of course, there are questions of quality of engagement, if you will, but which quality is just a very weird word to use?
HUNT : We can -- we can correct that.
(CROSSTALK)
BEDINGFIELD: We won't --
HUNT: Let's say like the depth of the relationship. We'll say depth, which also -- well anyway, continue.
BEDINGFIELD: All right. We're going to -- we're going to keep moving. But as a -- as a as a political matter, I mean I think the idea of bringing Hillary Clinton in again, to me, this only underscores for the American public the hypocrisy in the way the Republicans are handling this but also, you have to remember that the person for whom Epstein is the biggest political problem, the biggest political albatross right now is Donald Trump. And so, the more this is front and center, the more Donald Trump is having to talk about this, the more damage it's doing to him.
Bill Clinton has not been president of the United States in 26 years. So, he should he be accountable for things that he did that were unacceptable? Yes, he should. Of course, he should. But as a purely political matter, this is damaging to Donald Trump.
HUNT: Well, let's stipulate a couple of things that anyone that is shown in these files to have engaged in criminal acts, et cetera, the accountability needs to be across the board, bipartisan nonpartisan, no matter what, no matter who you work for, no matter who you are, no matter how powerful you are. I mean, that's the whole reality of this.
Scott Jennings, I mean, there's two pieces here. I mean, there's what may or may not be in the files that names Donald Trump. And you know, I think we've been very clear on this show. It's very important to be clear that these files are of an investigation that contains allegations. It is not saying that those allegations are true, right? We're not sitting here and saying, you know, the current president has been -- has committed a crime. We're not saying Bill Clinton has committed a crime . We're not saying that.
But Donald Trump as the current president of the United States has the power to release the Democrats say, 2.5 million files that are still unreleased here, right? Because that's the thing right? Like that's what makes on the politics of this that differentiates Donald Trump from Bill Clinton, right? Like Donald Trump holds the power, he holds the keys, and he's got a MAGA base that wants to see more information.
JENNINGS: Yeah. Well, if the files can be released and they should be released according to the law that Congress passed, they should do that.
Now, I know they have a process for going through these documents and weeding out things that are duplicative or not germane. And as was explained yesterday, here, there are files all over the country, apparently and they're still collecting them. So, I get the process maybe a little more onerous than perhaps many people know.
Regarding Trump -- I mean, if they end up asking him questions, I assume he's going to end up testifying somewhat about the whistleblower status that he has in these files. I mean, the only real true thing that we know is that he called up the police in Florida and said, you need to look at this. You need to look at this guy. You need to look at Ghislaine Maxwell.
He was telling them -- he was warning them about what Jeffrey Epstein was doing.
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And although you're being quite clear that the president has never been accused of anything, any wrongdoing, you have Democrat after Democrat after Democrat, even Hillary Clinton, just a little while ago, all too happy to go on television and cast aspersions on his character using this idea that -- well, his name appears in the files. They're trying to mislead the American people.
It's the Steele dossier all over again. That's all this is. Let's just throw out --
HUNT: Hold on, hold on.
JENNINGS: -- some things and hope it sticks, even though there's no evidence whatsoever.
HUNT: Hold on, the Steele dossier is completely unrelated to what we're talking about.
JENNINGS: It is because it was a bunch of uncorroborated crap they're trying to stick it to the guy. HUNT: I'm not -- that's not what I'm doing.
JENNINGS: The Democrats, the Democrats
HUNT: The thing is, if Donald Trump is in fact the whistleblower and it is shown to be the whistleblower exclusively in these files, why is he -- why did he fight so hard to prevent congress from passing this law in the first place?
JENNINGS: He signed the law and --
HUNT: They brought members of Congress to the Situation Room and tried convince them not to pass the law, Scott.
JENNINGS: He did -- he did -- he did raise a legitimate issue, which is when you start dumping unredacted and uncorroborated documents out into the public domain, people who have nothing to do with it could be getting hurt. And that's already happened.
We had a Democrat member of Congress, Ro Khanna, go down to the House floor and dox four guys who had nothing to do with it. So he did raise a legitimate issue. But the reality is, he signed the law, they've released millions of documents. They may release more based on what they can find.
But the only thing we know that's true is that Trump called the police and said, yeah, you need to look into Jeffrey Epstein and these Democrats trying to cast some others on him.
BEDINGFIELD: As a -- as a PR matter, his response to this entire thing was essentially, don't dig into this. Don't look at this. I'm not going to provide you the information that my surrogate said on the campaign trail they would in 2024.
There was reporting that Pam Bondi came down to the White House and briefed him that he was in the files. There was in that subsequent period where the White House did everything in its in its power to try to kill the bill, which ultimately, because of political forces and because of the support for seeing these files, they could not. And so, Donald Trump ultimately signed it kicking and screaming against his will.
So, the idea that he played a whistleblower role here, and yet his public response to all of this was to act -- I'm not saying he is guilty, but to act guilty, those two things don't square. That doesn't make any --
JENNINGS: He's not -- he's not acting guilty but he knew what Democrats were going to do. They were going to take the files and they're going to do what we're seeing today. Oh, his name is in here thousands of times. You do the math.
So you have no evidence he's done anything wrong but he knew he was going to be smeared he knew he was going to be smeared.
BEDINGFIELD: If he knew -- if he knew this was going to be the outcome, then why not come out at the beginning and say, I have nothing to hide? We'll make the files public.
JENNINGS: He has never denied --
BEDINGFIELD: Here's the totality --
JENNINGS: He's never denied any of.
BEDINGFIELD: Here's the totality of my -- he called it a hoax. He's never denied it.
JENNINGS: The hoax is what the Democrats are doing.
HUNT: The bottom line reality is that he had an attorney general who came out at the early beginning of the second term and said, the list is on my desk, I'm going to put it out. And so far, there's no list still. So that's where we are.
Bill Brennan, thank you very much. Really appreciate you as always.
The rest of my panel --
BRENNAN: Thank you, Kasie.
HUNT: Of course, is going to stand by.
Coming up here in THE ARENA, the U.S. women's hockey team, that is, the gold medal winning U.S. women's hockey team now responding to President Trump after his comments on a potential -- after his comments on a potential invite to the White House.
But first, the new issue that Americans say they're becoming more concerned about. It's not the economy.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'll let you know when there's something wrong. There will be some day. That's going to happen to all of us. But right now, I think I'm sharper than I was 45 years ago. But who the hell knows?
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TRUMP: I take cognitive physicals, so I do a cognitive mind test. Okay? And a lot of people wouldn't be able to do very well. Not easy. You know, you get to those last questions. I've aced. I've done three of them. No other president has agreed to do them. I do them because I have no problem with it, because I'm 100 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: That was President Trump earlier this month talking about a recent physical. Ever since he's entered presidential politics a decade ago. He's consistently boasted about his health. He often says he's the healthiest person ever to be president. His doctor at Walter Reed has said he's in, quote, "excellent overall health".
The American public, though, they reelected him just 14 months ago. They are not very happy with how he's been handling his job of being president overall. Now seems they may be growing less confident in his mental acuity. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll says 61 percent of Americans agree with the statement that the president, who turns 80 in June, has, quote, become erratic with age. That includes 30 percent of Republicans. It's a trend that is reflected in multiple other polls, too.
And of course, we do remember the issues of age, health, mental capacity physical fitness, something that the candidate Donald Trump brought up frequently on the campaign trail he repeatedly attacked Joe Biden on this. And ultimately, President Biden did end his 2024 reelection campaign.
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TRUMP: You had a moron like Kamala or a moron like sleepy Joe Biden.
Sleepy Joe Biden and the radical left lunatics.
One year ago, under sleepy Joe Biden. Have you heard of him?
You do stories about Biden was in wonderful health. The guy couldn't -- didn't do a news conference for eight months
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HUNT: All right. Important to note, a recent "Washington Post/ABC News poll finds nearly 6 in 10 adults believe Trump does not have the mental sharpness to be president. That is still well above the quarter of Americans who felt the same way about Biden just before he dropped out of the presidential race.
Scott Jennings, the way we're seeing these numbers change, I mean, is this just they say, you know, maybe he's too -- or the erratic nature of the presidency points to something about his mental fitness.
[16:40:07]
Is it just the fact that, like, the things that he's doing in this second term feel so chaotic that people are attributing it to this? Or like, what is -- what are people feeling here?
JENNINGS: I think generally, I mean I think he turns 80 in June. I mean, generally, people look at people of that age and say, you know it's reasonable to ask questions. I think that would be true of any politician who is in that age bracket. That's number one.
Number two, I mean, obviously there are people who just don't like Donald Trump. Most Democrats, and they'll -- they're willing to attribute anything to his policies that they don't like he's too old. He's too --
HUNT: It's ticked up with Republicans, too.
JENNINGS: But I -- but look --
HUNT: As we pointed out.
JENNINGS: I can only tell you about my personal experience. I watched the State of the Union Tuesday night, and he gave the longest State of the Union in history and looked plenty fine and plenty energetic to me. He holds routine news conferences. He answers questions for hours on end. He does things and is active in a way that Joe Biden never was.
And so, I think to compare Trump to Biden is really they're not even in the same ballpark on this. But, you know any politician, when you get up to 80 years old, you know, a lot of Americans are going to say, yeah, I have questions about that. But I don't think that's unique to Trump. I think that goes for all of them.
BEDINGFIELD: Well, Joe Biden also gave a very energetic and vigorous State of the Union before a very precipitous decline in his campaign. But I actually I think the bigger red flag for Republicans in looking at this data is if you look at Biden's numbers on this issue in February of 2022, which is this time marker in the Trump presidency, the numbers are actually pretty comparable. It's about I think it was like 54 percent said Biden had acuity issues, and it's like 52 percent say Trump does.
So -- I mean, look, if you -- if you experience the last two years of our presidential politics, four years of our presidential politics, and you're not taking these numbers seriously as a Republican, and you are -- you're missing the boat.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I think the bigger problem for President Trump is, you know, you can argue this either way, right? Look at him. He's vigorous. He is the sharpest tack in the toolbox. And look at him. He's a blithering, you know doddering, you know, idiot.
I mean, it sort of -- it's all a Rorschach test. The problem happens that anything that he does, if he trips, if he loses a train of thought, if he is something -- he calls one thing, a different thing, it is only going to raise questions and keep this conversation going, because, as Scott rightly says, he is pushing 80 years old and the American people already have the experience with Joe Biden, right? So, this is already on their mind. And so they're just going to be looking for that more and more.
I don't know. So, you know --
HUNT: I mean, the bottom line is we've had two -- I mean, these presidents I think we've argued they're old.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: They're old. I think, I mean -- they're old. And I think you can argue it. I think you can argue it both ways. You can look at the president and say like, look, he's not -- he's missing a step --
HUNT: The toughest job in the world.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It ages you.
JENNINGS: It ages you.
It's not just them either. You know, we have a lot of elderly people who are occupying higher levels in our government. I mean, this has been a topic of conversation in the country now for a few years. So as far as the public political consciousness, the idea of our --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Should there be age caps, should there be age caps for higher office?
JENNINGS: No, I don't believe in -- I don't believe in limiting voters' choices?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Really?
JENNINGS: No. I think voters can make these decisions and I think they -- they will make the decisions. I'm --
BEDINGFIELD: I will say --
JENNINGS: That's with the voters on these things. Term limits, age limits, I just think voters have to --
WILLIAMS: Yeah. And it just starts getting dangerous cause it's not what the Constitution said. You know we probably would have to explore amending the constitution to do it, but --
HUNT: But, you know, nobody lived --
WILLIAMS: I don't know -- I get I get it, I get it, I get it, but no, but I will but I'll go further. Set aside the president walk around the United States Senate at any point in the last decade and see how many of them --
HUNT: I don't think I have it on my sheet today, but we have a great graph, but --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's the power of the incumbency, you know?
HUNT: You see it in the presidency, in the Senate and in the House as well.
WILLIAMS: And I don't have the graph in front of me, but like the median age is well above 60 and the highest age is often pushing 90, if not higher in the United States Senate. And when you see them up close, they are elderly people. Certainly not -- not even with the acuity that Donald Trump or Joe Biden has.
Now, that ought to alarm. And I don't say this to be ageist, but that ought to alarm every American that these are -- this is how decisions --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Isn't there someone who was actually in an Alzheimer's ward at some point in Texas, wasn't there like a --
HUNT: Well, Congresswoman Kay Granger, yes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes.
BEDINGFIELD: Well, I was just going to say there is a certain profound irony to me in the fact that Donald Trump is now falling into a lot of the very same traps that Joe Biden fell into across the board, you know, talking about the economy. The economy is great. Best economy ever. You know, pretty soon were going to see surrogates coming out saying, you know Donald Trump was so sharp in that meeting. He was so great.
It's just, you know, it's a little -- it's a little brutal to watch Donald Trump. You know, now kind of turn around and grapple with some of the things that he very much attacked Joe Biden for.
JENNINGS: Well, we'll have to take that --
BEDINGFIELD: It's also painful.
JENNINGS: -- when we decide whether to run for a third term.
BEDINGFIELD: It's also painful to watch.
HUNT: Okay. Scott's going to just like slide that in there at the end.
Let's keep moving here, shall we?
Ahead in THE ARENA, what President Trump said that's prompting the captain of the U.S. women's hockey team to say this.
[16:45:06]
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HILARY KNIGHT, CAPTAIN, U.S. OLYMPIC WOMEN'S HOCKEY TEAM: Women should be championed for their amazing feats. And now I have to sort of sit and anybody has to sit in front of you and explain someone else's behavior. It's not my responsibility. So --
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KNIGHT: I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke and unfortunately, that is overshadowing a lot of the success. And you know, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats.
[16:50:00]
And so, we're just trying to focus on celebrating the women in our room.
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HUNT: Distasteful. That was how Hilary Knight, the captain of the U.S. women's Olympic hockey team described the now viral clip of President Trump calling the men's team after their dramatic win on Sunday and saying this about inviting the women's team to the State of the Union.
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TRUMP: I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team. You do know that? Absolutely. I do believe I probably would be impeached. Okay
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HUNT: So, of course, the women's hockey team, also Olympic champions. It's their third gold medal win. Knight said the fallout from the president's comments have overshadowed her teams accomplishments, adding that it isn't a woman's responsibility to explain someone else's behavior.
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KNIGHT: I think, you know just the way women are represented. It's a great teaching point to really shine light on how women should be championed for their amazing feats. And now I have to sort of sit and anybody has to sit in front of you and explain someone else's behavior. It's not my responsibility
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HUNT: I love that energy, Lulu. Not my problem.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Not my problem, not my circus, not my monkeys. Yeah, I mean, I -- there's another word that they could have used which was disgraceful. You know, that was, I think, really disheartening the president didn't call them after their win. I mean that was the real start of this. He could have called the U.S. female hockey team when they won, and he did not do that. And so, when he calls the male team and then has this exchange, it just sends this message that, you know, one team and one gender is more important than another.
BEDINGFIELD: Yeah. Well, it's just -- it's just divisive in a moment. That was so unifying. And the whole country was excited and people were excited about the women, excited about the men. It was just a great moment. And Trump just brings this brutishness that's just divisive and forces, you know, Hilary Knight to have to explain his behavior when she should be talking about the incredible game that the women played.
So, it was just it was it was disgraceful and it was distasteful and I will say, I -- you know I blame President Trump for the comment. I think the men's hockey team actually should get a pass here, because I think if you listen to the video you hear a number of the guys shouting, two for two, you hear some of them saying, absolutely they're laughing, they're listening.
And there's been a lot of criticism directed at the men's hockey team. I understand why. And of course, the issue of these kind of locker room comments, and the behind closed doors, the way men talk to each other about women, incredibly important conversation to have. But these guys, you know, they just won the Olympic gold medal. I think we give them a pass. I do not think we give --
HUNT: Well, let's listen to the goalie, the Olympics, the men's team goalie, gold medal winner talking about that moment when they were on the phone with the president.
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JEREMY SWAYMAN, GOALIE, U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL ICE HOCKEY TEAM: Yeah, we should have reacted differently. We know that we are so excited for the women's team. We have so much respect for the women's team and to share that gold medal with them is something that we're forever grateful for.
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HUNT: I mean, and, you know, you can almost hear it, Elliot, in the tape too, right? Like they're laughing, they're excited and then the president kind of makes this nasty comment and it fades a little bit, you know, I mean, but also president of the United States on the phone, to your point.
WILLIAMS: I know -- right. And all of us in the moment have said and done the wrong thing this is Kate's point. Lulu beat me to it, and I was going to make that exact same point a little bit earlier, which is its remarkable. We're focusing a lot on Donald Trump's comment, which for obvious reasons, but not on the fact that he did not call the women's team. And I will note the men's team has three gold medals, has been playing in the Olympics since 1920.
The women's is three, having only been playing since 1998. It is a remarkable -- no, no, but this is -- it's a remarkable feat. They are literally one of the most dominant teams in any sport on the planet.
Now, we ought to celebrate that America has created a kind of country where girls and women can grow up and play, and we can be a dominant force on the world stage. But somehow, that message hasn't gotten filtered to everybody. And when we think of hockey and when we think about winning, that's why the president called the men. And I think, you know, it's important to make that point. And we've sort of lost that.
HUNT: Well and I think, you know, Scott, I mean, anyone that has not been paying attention to the way the women's sports has exploded -- is exploding in the public consciousness with sponsorship deals and revenue. Whether you're looking at the WNBA or you're looking at women's soccer, USA soccer, I mean, like, I'm sorry you're missing the boat if you're not on it.
JENNINGS: I love the all the Olympians. I think we ought to bring them all to the White House. I think we ought to somehow make them a huge part of the America 250 celebration. I mean, sports is a unifying thing in our culture, and we all love to watch the Olympics and we all end up watching some sports that maybe we don't watch all the time you know, except for every four years.
[16:55:00]
So, I hope the women --
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Curling being on of those.
JENNINGS: Yeah, another one.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: For yourself, Lulu.
JENNINGS: And we -- and we have a lot of women athletes and a lot of different sports that won gold and other medals. So, I think all the Olympians ought to get to come and have their moment at the White House. We ought to elevate these people. I mean, they dedicate their whole lives to, you know, being the best in the world. America wants to be the best in the world. So, let's elevate them all regardless of gender.
HUNT: And if you've ever had the honor of, you know, becoming friends with someone who's played for the USA women's Olympic hockey team, let me tell you, those women deserve every -- every one of those medals that they have gotten. And they are some of the toughest people out there.
We'll be right back.
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HUNT: All right. Thanks very much to my panel. Really appreciate all of you being here today.
Thanks to all of you at home for watching as well.
Don't go anywhere. Jake Tapper is standing by for "THE LEAD".
Jake, happy Thursday.
