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FBI Fires 10 More Employees Tied To Trump Classified Docs Probe; Vance Takes "Golden Age" Pitch To Battleground State Of Wisconsin; Young Conservatives Gear Up For 2026 And 2028. Aired 12:30- 1p ET

Aired February 26, 2026 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[12:30:21]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: The Trump Justice Department has fired 10 more FBI employees involved in the criminal investigations of then-former President Donald Trump. FBI Director Kash Patel is launching new allegations of misconduct, this time that agents and prosecutors obtained some of his phone records during their investigation into Trump.

CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez is here now. Evan, can you explain what's going on here in detail, aside from the obvious that this is more retribution?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. This is part of a broader set of purges that have been happening at the FBI since the second term of Donald Trump. In this case, what the FBI is alleging is that they're suggesting that there was some misconduct by some of the agents involved and some of the people who were involved in the Mar-a- Lago case. This is a case against the President, allegedly mishandling classified documents that were found in Mar-a-Lago.

And what the Justice -- what the FBI is saying is that Patel has now found that not only were his toll records, of course, is something that the Republicans have been focused on for several months, his toll records, his emails were accessed by the investigators who were doing the Mar-a-Lago investigation, as well as the records of Suzy Wiles, who is now the White House chief of staff.

At the time, she was a private citizen in 2022, 2023. She obviously became part of the Trump campaign. And so they're suggesting that there were some improper deeds done here by the agents, people who were involved here.

And so, we know that at least 10 people have been fired. Some of them are agents. Some of them are analysts who were involved in this case. It's something, obviously, we've known that the FBI, certainly Patel has been focused on people who worked on any of the Trump cases.

BASH: Yes, he's been focused on it since he got in there. The fact that he's doing this now, just days after being on video, a video that went viral of him chugging beer -- PEREZ: Yes.

BASH: -- which did not land well at the White House, didn't land well among other Republican leaders. But I think the White House is the one that matters more. It's curious timing that this is when he's doing something that would make --

PEREZ: You're so suspicious.

BASH: -- that would make the President happy.

PEREZ: You're such a suspicious lady.

BASH: Just laying out the facts. Evan.

PEREZ: Yes, obviously, the timing is interesting. We -- what we know is this. We know that this has been an investigation that the FBI has been working on for some time. So we don't know when they obtained these records.

According to Patel, he issued a statement yesterday, he says that these records were hidden in such a way that they were hard to find. And so we don't know when they unearthed them, but I take your point.

BASH: Were they underneath any can of beer? No. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Bad mistake. Bad --

PEREZ: Maybe they were mad (ph). No, no.

BASH: Bad joke. Not --

PEREZ: That's why they were in Milan and he had to find them.

BASH: OK. Thank you.

All right. Thank you for picking up what I put down there. And most importantly, thank you for coming and --

PEREZ: Thank you.

BASH: -- giving us this important reporting.

The Vice President visits a competitive battleground district to sell President Trump's economy. Why he could be a better messenger certainly has been in some of the things he said over the past few days than the President on the issue of affordability.

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[12:38:20]

BASH: We have brand new encouraging data for home buyers. 30-year mortgage rates just dipped below 6 percent for the first time since 2022 to 5.98 percent. That is good news for anyone looking to buy a home this year. And right now, Vice President JD Vance is taking the Make America Affordable Again pitch to -- from the state of the union, to the state of Wisconsin.

He's at a manufacturing plant. He just took the podium there. We're going to monitor that for news. The headlines from Wisconsin over the last 10 days give a prime backdrop for an economic pep talk.

A quote, "Affordability challenge driven by essential household costs. Small businesses struggle. Energy bills up. Farmers continued uncertainty."

My panel is here now. Zolan, as somebody who covers the White House day in and day out, it is interesting that, yes, the President is going to Texas tomorrow, but it is the Vice President who is going to the areas that matter --

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BASH: -- with regard to, in the short term, the midterms, and then perhaps in 2028 will matter when it comes to who's going to be the next president.

KANNO-YOUNGS: No, I think you're hitting something here. I mean, yes, the President is fanning out now, but I covered -- I wrote a story last year that the Vice President actually seemed to be the one after Trump passed his signature domestic policy legislation. It was the VP that was going out to sort of sell that legislation to different crucial states.

I traveled and covered one of his speeches in Michigan, another crucial state, right? And I thought it was very interesting that, you know, you had almost this rally of -- this crowd of Trump supporters that were very excited and expecting some of the same excitement that comes from a Trump rally.

[12:40:16]

And then the VP gets up. And yes, he had some of that, like leaned into the politics. It was also shortly after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. So he talked about that. But then he also talked about the agenda.

And I asked some of the supporters after his speech, what do you think of that, right? And there were some mixed reactions. Some people were like, oh yes, I like the Vice President. But other people were like, I don't know if he's Donald Trump. I don't know if he has the same energy, the same juice.

So --

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He does not. I mean, I think we know that. Yes.

KANNO-YOUNGS: And I think here you see the White House trying to give him a task --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. KANNO-YOUNGS: -- like VP portfolios are usually tricky, a task that can help him with the present and the future. But when it comes to the Trump base that really has followed one guy, right, will that be enough for them?

BASH: And that's going to be the question, because nobody is Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Right.

TRUMP: For better or worse, nobody is Donald Trump. And that's going to be what JD Vance is going to have to punch through from now until election day, 2028.

Back to Wisconsin, where he is now, Nia, just to kind of give a sense of how people feel there about the number one issue on the economy. This is a Marquette University poll among registered voters on inflation and the cost of living. Even Republicans, 50 -- excuse me, 57 percent of Republicans say they are concerned. Independents, 64 percent, and Democrats, 86 percent.

HENDERSON: Yes, listen, nothing has really changed for folks. Some prices are down. Trump talked about that in his speech. But a lot of prices are either the same or up. Primarily health care, right?

If you look at the number one concern of voters, it's the cost of health care. And you had Donald Trump in his State of the Union talk a little bit about drug prices, TrumpRx, and then this great American health care plan that he released but is dead on arrival in Congress.

And so there is no real sense among average Americans that there are solutions, right? Everything is sort of backward looking, and oh, the One Big Beautiful Bill. But in terms of what are the plans to lower people's energy costs, health care costs, gasoline is low, that's great. And mortgage rates are lowest -- or lower. But listen, 5.9 percent mortgage rate is still quite high if you want to buy a new house at this point.

So listen, I think if you look at the numbers, this is something that's baked in the cake. It's going to be very hard for this administration to turn around this deeply felt sentiment that things are way too expensive and not getting better.

KANNO-YOUNGS: We should also mention that this speech by JD Vance is coming a day after he also announced that the federal fund -- federal government would be restricting federal funding for Medicaid as well for Minnesota, too, right? They're pointing to the fraud investigation that happened in Minneapolis.

But, you know, on one hand, you have JD Vance going out and talking about affordability.

HENDERSON (?): Right.

KANNO-YOUNGS: On the other hand, you also have an announcement where you're literally talking about taking away federal money.

BASH: And Lauren, when it comes to the House of Representatives and who's going to have control, if you look at what the Democrats call the flip -- the House red to blue districts, if you look at the map, three of those districts are in the state of Wisconsin. JD Vance knows that. The Republicans know that. He's there right now.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, the House is what matters right now to Donald Trump. And that is because the House could potentially be investigating him. He knows what that felt like during the last midterm election when he lost the House to Democrats.

And the next two years of his presidency were consumed by investigations into every aspect of his life and his administration. And that is obviously going to be the plan for Democrats if they take back the House. The House seats matter a lot to the President.

You just don't see those kinds of investigations as often in the Senate. And I think that that is probably why the Vice President is going to be out there. I do wonder if he has a more empathetic tone to some of the price questions, some of the concerns about consumer pricing that people have. Maybe that is what he can offer. Maybe that is what he can bring to the table, because that was one of the criticisms that you heard from Republicans from the State of the Union.

BASH: All right. We're going to sneak in a break.

Up next, young voters helped President Trump win the White House in 2024. What does that movement of young conservatives look like right now? I'll talk to the president of a local Turning Point USA chapter after a quick break.

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[12:49:02]

BASH: Charlie Kirk's group, Turning Point USA, transformed the Get Out the Vote effort for conservatives across the country. That movement helped deliver President Trump back to the White House in 2024. 43 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds voted for Trump, up from the 36 percent who supported him in 2020. And Charlie Kirk spoke directly to those voters.

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CHARLIE KIRK, AMERICAN RIGHT-WING POLITICAL ACTIVIST: The basic things our parents enjoyed are increasingly out of reach for Gen Z and millennials. You see, the American dream has become a luxury item for the wealthy elite.

To all the Gen Zers watching this convention on TikTok right now, I have a message just for you. You don't have to stay poor. You don't have to accept being worse off than your parents. You don't have to feel aimless and unhappy. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I'm joined now by one student who was influenced by Charlie Kirk. Ryan Van Slingerland is a student at the George Washington University and the president of the school's chapter of Turning Point USA. I should say, I am a proud alum of G.W., so It's nice to see you here.

[12:50:11]

You're 20 years old, and you say you started watching Charlie Kirk videos in high school. What about those videos, about his message, about him, got you so interested in politics and in Turning Point USA?

RYAN VAN SLINGERLAND, PRESIDENT, TURNING POINT USA AT FOGGY BOTTOM: Well, first of all, thanks for having me, Dana. I think the greatest thing about Charlie was the way that he could articulate his message, articulate the conservative ideals, not just to the masses, but specifically to Gen Z, to my generation. And I think that, you know, growing up and going through high school, that was something that really appealed to me.

And I remember the -- I think it was the first Charlie clip I ever saw was that famous clip of that woman on a college campus when he was just starting out doing the prove-me-wrongs, who asked him simply, like, why are you doing this? Like, why are you here? And Charlie said, very matter-of-factly, I'm here because when people stop talking, that's when conflict starts.

BASH: Were you already a conservative-minded young person when you saw Charlie Kirk's clips, or did you become conservative listening to his views?

VAN SLINGERLAND: I've always been conservative. I'm proud of that. I'm proud of my beliefs. I have to say, actually, I think I've almost become more conservative watching Charlie and listening to him and being a proud supporter of President Trump and the conservative agenda over these years.

BASH: And I don't know if you would use the term manosphere, you can tell me, but there are a lot of male influencers in the conservative movement who speak differently than Charlie Kirk did, but take up similar space. There's Theo Von, Joe Rogan, who is, you know, maybe more libertarian than traditional conservative. How influential, generally speaking, do you believe those voices still are for you and your cohort?

VAN SLINGERLAND: I think that they have influence. I mean, speaking personally, I'm someone who -- I absorb information and I look at everything objectively. I don't just take everything at face value or just take it at what I'm told. I like to put in the time and research into making sure that what I'm being told is true or if it's not true.

I think that there's certainly a lot of merit to things that Joe Rogan says and people like Theo Von as well and to the other guests that they bring on their shows. Like I know Secretary Kennedy was just on Theo Von's show recently. I know they're good friends.

And I mean, I had the fortunate opportunity of interviewing Secretary Kennedy this past November at G.W. and I can say, you know, it's a relief to see someone like the Secretary going on podcasts, interacting with students like me and my generation and having this ability to speak directly to us, especially given the fact that the Secretary has been so prominent with his MAHA agenda and trying to reach youth and make America healthy again.

BASH: The -- one of the big questions is whether or not the really juggernaut of an organization, Turning Point USA, that Charlie Kirk started and led is going to have the same kind of enthusiasm and impact this election year and then in the future. As somebody who is a student leader on campus, what's your sense?

VAN SLINGERLAND: My sense, I think that Turning Point still has the -- you know what, I won't lie to you. I think, yes, losing Charlie, it was horrible. It was devastating. And there certainly is no one like Charlie. There was no one like Charlie.

Charlie was truly one of a kind. But I think that it's now all of our responsibilities to pick up his mantle. Like, I remember very vividly the day that Charlie was assassinated. I remember sitting on my couch, watching it on TV and seeing just everything unfold on social media and it was horrible.

And, you know, I have a lot of friends who messaged me and reached out and said that, you know, they were scared to go to public and go out into public. They're scared to go to classes. They didn't know what kind of backlash they might face from fellow students. They feared for their own safety.

And maybe I'm a little crazy, but, you know, I've -- the day after Charlie was killed on September 11th, I went out, I was wearing my white and gold 47 hat because, you know, I think it really says something that Charlie stood for courage and for bravery. And if we can't do that same thing and show that we're not afraid, then what does that say? What did Charlie really live for then?

BASH: Yes. I mean, obviously with that tragedy and with his singular leadership of your organization, it is different. You said, you know, that you have to be honest, it's harder without him. Are you organizing -- I mean, I guess the answer is obviously yes.

VAN SLINGERLAND: Yes,

BASH: But how are you organizing without him?

[12:55:09]

VAN SLINGERLAND: How are we organizing without him? We're still doing the same things that we were before. We're still putting on great events. We're still --

BASH: And is there enthusiasm for President Trump than where there was before? VAN SLINGERLAND: There is. Absolutely. In fact, I think that there's more enthusiasm for the President now. And that's not to say that losing Charlie is what created that influence. But I think that the movement has found new legs of its own. And we use that power, the power that Charlie gave us to keep going forward.

Again, we had the amazing opportunity of having Secretary Kennedy on campus and showing students that on both sides of the aisle, that you can approach these people, you can have conversations with them. And, you know, one of the things that we've been trying to do on campus, in particular, that's been very difficult, especially at G.W., being a very political-minded school, is we've really been trying to push that point that you can have conversations with people on the opposite side of the aisle.

You can talk about politics, you can talk about religion, but at the end of the day, we're all still people.

BASH: Keep having the conversations. And thank you for coming on to have a conversation with me.

VAN SLINGERLAND: Thank you for having me.

BASH: Appreciate it. Thanks, Ryan.

And thank you for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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