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Laura Coates Live

Jimmy Kimmel Breaks His Silence; Trump Cancels Meeting With Democrats As Government Shutdown Nears; Trump Makes Stunning Shift On Russia And Ukraine War; Trump Slams U.N. During Speech. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired September 23, 2025 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Our breaking news tonight, Jimmy Kimmel delivering what has been described as an emotional defense of free speech as he returns to the air tonight. His show is his first since being suspended indefinitely over what he said about Charlie Kirk's accused assassin. But it turns out indefinitely was, well, five days. Looking at the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Hollywood where tonight's show was taped just a short time ago.

The big question tonight on everyone's mind is, will the man at the center of a free speech controversy speak freely? Will Kimmel apologize? Will he be forced to apologize? Will he try to bring down the temperature or will he go right after President Trump or the FCC?

In just moments, you're going to hear from the audience members who saw the show. The show hasn't even aired yet, by the way. Already, the president, who hasn't said a peep since the news broke that he was going to be back on the air, is already backhanding the return, front- lining just a few moments ago.

"I can't believe ABC fake news gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his show was canceled. Something happened between then and now because his audience is gone and his talent was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who's not funny, and who puts the network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat garbage? He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major illegal campaign contribution."

"I think we're going to test ABC out on this. Let's see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad ratings" -- unquote -- the president of the United States.

There's a lot to unpack there, especially that we're going to test ABC out on this. The lawyer in me wonders, of course, I'm sure you are as well. Is he threatening another lawsuit against ABC and on what grounds and how might he fair?

We'll tackle all that in a moment. But first, some of you may not even be able to watch Kimmel -- Jimmy Kimmel show on T.V. tonight. In fact, many of you might not be able to. Why? Because two major owners of local ABC stations aren't even airing it. Nexstar and Sinclair, they're going to keep boycotting the show. It may account for about 20% of ABC affiliates. And those are the two companies that originally yanked "Jimmy Kimmel Live." That after the FCC chair, Brendan Carr, gave that blunt warning to ABC and Disney. Is this the easy way or the hard way?

Let's start with CNN's Stephanie Elam who's in L.A. right outside of Kimmel's studio on Hollywood Boulevard. Stephanie, Kimmel's highly- anticipated return to late night is just moments away. What have you been hearing about? What he said? How is he going to say it?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Laura, we were out here as the audience members were going in, and we were out here as the audience members were coming out. And I spoke to a few of them to find out what the timber was like inside of the studio. What I got was that he got a lot of support and it was also emotional. Take a listen to what some of the people I spoke to said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I've been to shows before. And honestly, this one just felt different, but like in a way where people knew there was a gravity but also happiness of just being back. Um, you could tell they were being very careful about where they went with it.

But, also, there's still the Jimmy Kimmel, the humor, everything else, the silly jokes and stuff, and the very poignant ones. You know, the humor where it needed to be, but wasn't picking fun at things that are inappropriate. He didn't bend the knee. You know he didn't. But he was very clear about how he felt and what it meant for this country. And -- and, you know, he made little jabs. But, again, nothing in bad taste.

When he talked about Charlie Kirk's wife, Erika, like how she wanted to make it clear she embraced, you know, the teachings of Jesus Christ and forgiveness for the killer and everything, and how it brought her to an emotional spot, you can see that he felt that way, too. He was seriously like saying, can we just all be like that?

UNKNOWN: It was a pretty emotional show today. So, he actually had some -- some -- some tears in his eyes at some moment, and the entire audience was with him 100% all the time.

[23:05:04]

UNKNOWN (voice-over): What was he emotional about?

UNKNOWN: Um, about what he said about the shooting of Charlie Kirk. Um, he even said some words to his wife, to the widow. And yeah, it was actually pretty emotional.

UNKNOWN: A lot about Donald Trump and about him, of course. And that's just -- it's a mistake that he made that canceled the show. I think, yeah, not a -- not -- not lot, but enough to -- for us. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And it's worth noting that a lot of those international folks that I spoke to, one from London, one from Germany, and one from Austria, they already had their tickets in advance. And you saw the one American woman there. Soon as she heard that he was coming back on the air, she went and got her ticket. So, it was a mixed audience of people who were already just randomly ended up coming tonight and then others who wanted to be there.

COATES: Hmm.

ELAM: What everyone said, though, is that they really wanted to hear Jimmy Kimmel himself, in his own words, address what has happened in the last week, him getting his show pulled and then coming back, and they were very happy to be a part of that.

And just people here on Hollywood Boulevard, Laura, I can tell you, were very much saying that they -- whether they believed in what he was saying or not or agreed with him, that he had the right to say it. That's what I heard on the street earlier today here in Hollywood.

COATES: Fascinating. I want to hear it from his own mouth as well. I everyone has been eager to hear what he would say. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much.

I want to bring in columnist for the L.A. Times, LZ Granderson, executive editor at Deadline, Dominic Patten, Emmy Award-winning comedian and host of "Permission to Speak," Paul Mecurio, and former senior communications aide to Senator Lindsey Graham, T.W. Arrighi. Glad to have all of you here.

All right, Dominic, look, we heard a little bit about what he said, the tone, the emotion, even speaking about the widow of Charlie Kirk, Erica Kirk. What more are you hearing about how we approach this show tonight?

DOMINIC PATTEN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD: Well, I'll tell you one thing we're hearing, Laura, is he approached all of it as your -- as the people that you guys talk to, very emotionally, very straightforwardly, and with that blend of humor and insight that Jimmy has been famous for -- for decades eventually.

You know, we are like you. We're all waiting to see the actual show. Of course, you know, a show can be edited, so they know we have to be a little circumspect about what is actually said or not.

But the people that we talked to, our reporter, Anthony D'Alessandro, was down there, too. And you can see the people he interviewed on the Deadline, Twitter or X feed. And they talked about some of these topics, too. They also talked about him talking about the Sinclair and -- and other stations, and the Nexstar station --

COATES: Uh-hmm.

PATTEN: -- that have decided to continue to postpone Jimmy, and that he -- they talked about how he joked about, well, you know, that's that. But, you know, you can always watch it online, and I think there were some jokes about members of his own family and what have you.

So, there was -- I believe one of the guests that you guys spoke to, one of the audience members, referred to no bending of the knee. There was no bending of the knee and kissing of the ring, but there certainly was a person who was proud to take his own stage. And we heard as well that he walked out to a standing ovation, not just from the audience, but from his crew as well.

And that has been a long part of this, is the negotiations went on with Disney about the show coming back. We heard Jimmy Kimmel was very concerned about the people who work for him. You know, a lot of people in Hollywood have been through some very rough times with the -- with the strike, with the pandemic. And so, making sure that people still have jobs, making sure that people still have a paycheck they can rely on, that was important, too.

COATES: And, of course, we know, LZ, I want to bring you in here, what do you think about this statement from the president of the United States who, by the way, we hadn't heard from since it had been announced that Kimmel was going to be coming back on the air?

And then, moments ago, really before his show is set to take air in some households across the country, he talks about the same things he had said before, about what he perceives as lack of talent. He mentions the idea of ratings. He talks about an arm of the DNC. He threatens a potential, it seems, discussion about a lawsuit with ABC. What's your take on that?

LZ GRANDERSON, OP-ED COLUMNIST FOR LOS ANGELES TIMES, PODCAST HOST: Hi, Laura. It's good to see you again, Laura.

COATES: Uh-hmm.

GRANDERSON: First, I need to pull disclosure. I worked at ESPN, a subsidiary of Disney, for about 18 years. I currently am employed at ABC News. So, I need to make sure I'm full disclosure because I need to walk this very carefully --

COATES: Uh-hmm.

GRANDERSON: -- because of that. That being said --

COATES: It's quite a minefield. I can appreciate, but I still want to hear your views nonetheless.

GRANDERSON: Yes, yes, yeah. So, with all that being said, um, the president's words are very disturbing. They're very disturbing, but they also serve as a reminder. They're disturbing, one, because we're not used to seeing obviously the leader of the free world talk about freedom of speech in this capacity.

But it's also a reminder to all the other industry leaders in the country. If you think about it, he's right, ABC News did capitulate and give him that money. [23:10:01]

And you've noticed other institutions have capitulated and gave -- and gave him what he wanted. And then a short time later, you found out that it didn't satisfy him. Even the queer people in West Hollywood, who threw their flags, the queer flag, the rainbow flag at half-mast, found themselves in the target of criticism within days later. So, it doesn't pay to capitulate to someone like that.

What it does pay is to stand up for what is right and what is -- what is democracy and what America has always stood for. That seems to stand the test of time. But trying to appease Donald Trump at best seems to be temporary.

COATES: Well, first of, you mean the flying at half-mast as a result of Charlie Kirk's assassination. Is that what you're referencing?

GRANDERSON: Yes, yes, yes.

COATES: Yeah, I just want to check first.

GRANDERSON: Yes. But it's also in sort of like in recognition of the tone that was coming from the White House.

COATES: Got it.

GRANDERSON: And so, you know, when I think -- when I think about all these things added together, all the different types of ways in which institutions, communities, businesses have tried to appease this man, short time later, it seems as if he still comes after them.

COATES: Hmm.

GRANDERSON: So, when are we going to get the lesson that you don't try to appease him, that you actually stand up for democracy and what is right?

COATES: Well, Paul, let me bring you in here because interestingly enough, to LZ's point, there's capitulation, and then it seems as though he is saying, the president in a statement, the White House was told by ABC that his show was canceled. Something happened between then and now and going on for that. So, it seems as though they said something -- he is suggesting they said something to him, and then decided against that.

And yet you do have Nexstar, you have Sinclair that are continuing to preempt his show, which means about a quarter of ABC's reach in homes across this country, they're actually not even going to see him tonight on television. Politics sadly is keeping score. Is this a lose-lose?

PAUL MECURIO, COMEDIAN: It is. I think ABC is in between two angry groups, supporters of Kimmel and those who don't like him. And, uh, this tweet confirms -- so he threatened and was successful, Trump was, using the FCC to drop the hammer. Now, he's threatening a bigger hammer. Okay? So, this helps dispel the conversation. A few days ago, remember people saying, oh, this was just a business decision. This was a business decision like, um, the band leader and "The Godfather" made a business decision to let Johnny Fontane out of his contract. Okay? This is nothing but muscle.

And the problem is that ABC got itself in a predicament because they went with the loudest voice in the room. This is what we do now. Whoever makes the biggest stink wins. And that's what happened.

And no one was talking about the two million viewers who were fans of Jimmy Kimmel. So, why is it okay for one group of citizens to make a decision about what another group of citizens watch? And herein lies the problem. And Trump is now doubling down with threats like this. And so --

COATES: Yeah.

MECURIO: -- here we are sort of -- and -- and I -- I wouldn't want to be ABC. I mean, everybody is mad at them. I mean, they're --

COATES: Hmm.

MECURIO: -- they're the relative that's assigned dessert for Thanksgiving, they show up with Jell-O mold and fruitcake, and everybody is mad at him. It's -- I mean, I joke to make a point, but this -- this goes -- this is a civics lesson for all kids out there, which is do the right thing, don't do the thing that the mob wants you to do.

COATES: Suddenly, I'm reminded of National Lampoon where they're scraping the mold off of the top of the Jell-O mold. I don't know why that scene got in my mind.

T.W., let me bring you in here because there's this conversation happening about, obviously, Sinclair and Nexstar saying, no, we're not going to air it still, and they're going to do that.

But we -- I do want to know that notably, one Sinclair station that's in a blue market is allowed -- put that in quotes -- "to air Kimmel tonight." What do you say to Paul's point about the idea of decisions being made about who can and cannot see? It looks like politics is part of that. Electoral map overlay may be a big part of this conversation.

T.W. ARRIGHI, VICE PRESIDENT OF PUSH DIGITAL GROUP: I also think business is a big part of it.

COATES: Which is --

ARRIGHI: Sinclair, well, their job is shareholder value and to return profits to those invested in the company and those dealing with the company. Sinclair has asked for a donation to Charlie Kirk's Foundation to lay down their arms. Nexstar is dealing with a -- they want a ruling overturned at the FCC that would give them access to 80% of households in United States, something that's unheard of. That's huge at play. ABC is a big player in this because they use Nexstar. But I want to make a bigger point here. Johnny Carson in 1979, when he was averaging 15 million viewers a night and upwards of 85% of American households were tuned in, was asked by Mike Wallace of "60 Minutes," why doesn't he deal with heavier issues? Why doesn't he deal with politics? And he said, for two reasons.

[23:15:00]

Because one, it will make me feel more important than I am and comedians feel more important than I am. And two, it could sway people.

Jimmy Kimmel, while I like a lot of what he has done, don't like some of what he has done, I can tell you, he has burned so many bridges among a huge swath of the American public, 50% upwards. By repeating a lie that many people took very offensively, ABC has asked themselves, is the $15 to $17 million we spend on him worth the squeeze when since January we've lost 42% of our audience? That comes down to dollars and cents.

You didn't hear Donald Trump say, I'm coming after your FCC license. He said, let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad ratings and trolled, I might sue him. The fact of the matter is these are business decisions being made at the end of the day.

COATES: Yeah, interesting, of course. And the world has changed a lot since Johnny Carson was on air. But I get your point. I mean, maybe there's an Ed McMahon somewhere out there getting ready to do something.

ARRIGHI: He was a bigger -- he was a far bigger --

COATES: I don't -- I don't --

ARRIGHI: -- than Jimmy Kimmel.

COATES: No, I don't -- I don't -- I'm not going to get in the way of begrudging Johnny Carson.

(LAUGHTER)

But the world has changed since he was on air. But this is very -- to this very point, you know, the FCC chairman, LZ, Brendan Carr, he insists the boycott is just local T.V. stations standing up to big media companies. He said, we need to keep empowering local T.V. stations to serve their communities of license.

And I wonder from your perspective, given the fact that many people criticized ABC because they did not challenge it, they did not wait until -- wait to see whether or not the FCC was going to make good on a perceived threat, they could have said, okay, well, I'll take the hard way, which means you're going to have to take my license and I'll fight you in court. Instead, they made a decision. Many believed it was premature and also bad, hence the boycott and beyond.

But given their decision right now to go and say, I'm putting them back on the air after thoughtful conversations, knowing, as T.W. is talking about, the calculus here of what they're weighing, what does that tell you about the state of their bargaining power as a media huge enterprise?

GRANDERSON: They're making a business decision, as your previous guest said. You know, he -- he -- he took the business decision conversation to make it sound positive for President Trump. I could see why that would happen. But the reason why that Kim was back on air is because of what happened to Disney stock prices, is because of what happened to subscriptions to Disney Plus. That's all -- those are all business decisions as well.

So, you know, you can say business decision with Nexstar and you can say business in Sinclair, but you also can say business decision with the American people, and that's the reason why Kim was back on air.

Now, in terms of your question, um, you know, I think the -- Laura, I really think the biggest issue out of this, while freedom of speech is at the center, is how freedom of speech is being curtailed. That is really worrisome and troublesome to me because of the consolidation of media. When you can have individuals, private citizens, four or five control the internet, control our newspapers, control our television stations, that's close to the monopoly that was supposed to not be in existence right now.

So, I think about the Jimmy Kimmel conversation. Yes, it is a freedom of speech conversation. But for the American people, we need to be thinking larger because just like with AT&T and with Ticketmaster having monopolies that put us in situations we didn't want to be in, if we allow these media companies to continue to gobble up our local media as well as our national media to tell us exactly what we can and cannot say, we're going to be in the exact same situation but when it comes to free speech and, hence, our democracy.

COATES: Dominic, you know, I do think that Jimmy Kimmel is a kind of an avatar for a larger discussion on free speech and what it's like to have content regulated for the American public. When you look at what many people are wondering, will he be muzzled? Will he apologize? What do you expect him to do tonight when he gets on that stage essentially and addresses this head on? Do you think that if he apologizes, that will speak volumes in the wrong direction for free speech?

MECURIO: I did --

PATTEN: Well, I will say this. First of all --

COATES: Let me ask Dominic. Who's talking first? Let me see who's moving the mouth. Was that Paul or Dominic? I'll go to Dominic. He smiled first. Dominic, you got the smile. Go for it.

PATTEN: Snap it up. I will say one thing. Johnny Carson did talk politics. Go back and look at Johnny Carson during Watergate. He talked it all the time because that's what people were talking about. And that, in many ways, is the true role of comics and satirists in our society. And that's what Jimmy Kimmel has been doing for a long time. Will he apologize tonight? I don't think so because just from listening to the audience members we spoke to, the audience members you guys spoke to, he talked to Erika Kirk. He talked to a woman who has dealt with a tragedy many of us cannot imagine.

[23:20:00]

And a woman who on Sunday showed a grace with forgiveness that almost none of us could express. He spoke to her directly. And that, I think, speaks volumes about him.

As for what this can say about free speech, what this can say about Donald Trump, look, I've got that Truth Social rage that we all expected on air Force One back from the U.N. and it happened. You know, what other really struck me is threatening ABC again.

COATES: Yeah.

PATTEN: What is he threatening them with?

COATES: What is he, indeed.

PATTEN: Interesting about --

MECURIO: Can I -- can I --

COATES: Wait. Dominic, hold on. I want -- Dominic, hold on. I want to hear Paul because I want to give him a chance to speak as well. Go ahead, Paul.

MECURIO: Can I -- can I just piggyback on that?

COATES: Yes.

MECURIO: If it's an apology, it's a mistake because I'm going to go back to civic lessons for our children. If he explains he's compassionate, he speaks to Charlie Kirk's wife, great, appropriate. If you apologize for something that is not wrong but just people don't like, what message are you sending our children? That's not how this works. And that's why it's not a hard stance.

I'm not saying it because I'm a comedian. I have a bias left or right. This is a critical, critical civic lesson for kids, which is you should be able to say something that people don't like and not be told you did something wrong.

COATES: Well, we'll see what he does tonight. Well, the accusation -- I hear what you're saying, T.W. We'll see what he actually says. It seems we're all on bated breath. Thank you so much, everyone.

We'll have much more on Jimmy Kimmel later this hour. But first, prepare for whiplash. President Trump's dramatic, and I mean dramatic, U-turn on Ukraine and the comment he made that absolutely stunned President Zelenskyy. Is Trump actually serious? Plus, the breaking news tonight, Democrats securing the final push they need to force a vote on the release of the Epstein files as Democrat Adelita Grijalva wins the special election in Arizona's 7th congressional district. Much more on all the breaking news straight ahead.

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[23:25:00]

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COATES: Disney's decision to return Jimmy Kimmel's show to air not landing well with the president, who tonight appears to be threatening legal action against the company.

Joining me now, Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of California who's in the House Judiciary Committee and Homeland Security Committee as well. Congressman, welcome back. I want to read to you quickly a line --

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Thanks, Laura.

COATES: -- from the president's True Social saying, I think we're going to test ABC out on this, talking about campaign finance. Uh, let's see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million, and described that this might be even more lucrative in some way.

This is just breaking, but I'd love to know what your reaction is to an apparent threat and the fact that the president is for the first time reacting to Jimmy Kimmel being back on air.

SWALWELL: Yeah. That's not a threat, that's a signed confession for censorship. Remember, Donald Trump told us last week he had nothing to do with ABC, it had everything to do with the ratings of the Kimmel show. Well, now, he is confessing that he had talked to ABC, which aligns with the FCC commissioner saying in an interview prior to ABC taking Kimmel off the air that they can do it the easy way or the hard way.

And also, I just want to also point out, Laura, that this is, you know, in line with a president who is on this kind of drive-by, you know, shooting of, uh, threats that he's aiming at all of his enemies this week, right? I mean -- I mean, he is telling Pam Bondi to go after Adam Schiff, Letitia James, uh, and James Comey. He's telling, essentially, ABC, you better watch out.

Third point here, this is a lesson to ABC, to all of the law firms, to all of the colleges who have done these drug deals with the administration, that unless you stand up to a bully, they are going to keep coming back. He was not at all -- at all satisfied with the first 16 million that he got from them. He's going to come back for more.

COATES: Sounds like he is particularly emboldened, congressman, I'll say. But I want to turn for a moment to another very important issue. It's the threat of yet another government shutdown. I understand the president may be in time to do this Truth Social, but he canceled a meeting with top Democrats this week, saying, your party's demands to roll back Medicaid changes, to extend Obamacare, tax credits, these are non-starters. Should your Democratic colleagues in the Senate keep holding out even if it does mean a potential shutdown?

SWALWELL: Well, they should not fund the government that continues to cut health care, continues to kill cancer research rather than killing cancer, and continues to, you know, close rural hospitals.

And, by the way, Laura, what Senate Democrats and House Democrats are saying is why don't we sit down and talk about it? That's what we did, you know, in the first Trump administration. That's what President Biden did with House and Senate leadership in his administration.

And the fact that the president doesn't even want to talk about this suggests that, you know, he has no interest in protecting the care and funding the research that Americans count on. This is just about him wanting to bully, you know, his way, you know, into this shutdown.

And he's going to have to work with Democrats. There's no way around it with the way that our system is set up.

COATES: You know, even if the government shuts down the administration -- shuts down, excuse me, the administration would still have authority to make decisions about spending. I mean, last time we were facing a shutdown, Senator Schumer defended his choice to vote for ACR because he said that a shutdown would be worse. And I want you to listen to recall how he explained it.

[23:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): The C.R. was certainly bad. You know, the continuing resolution. But a shutdown would be 15 or 20 times worse. Under a shutdown, the executive branch has sole power to determine what is -- quote -- "essential." On day two, they could say, oh, SNAP, feeding hungry children, not essential. On day four, mass transit, oil transit, aid to the states, not essential, we're cutting it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Congressman, that was back in March. But would anything be different this time?

SWALWELL: Well, I disagreed with him then, but I also believe he was probably given the administration the benefit of the doubt. And now that we are, you know, 10 months into this administration, it has only gotten worse.

It has gotten worse for healthcare with the big brutal bill and the cuts that were made there. It has gotten worse with cancer research. It has gotten worse with the amount of friends and neighbors who have been unlawfully detained and deported. It has gotten worse with the censorship that this administration is conducting through the FCC. I don't want to fund that. And, to me, it feels like voting for Trump's budget right now as it is -- is sanctioning, you know, this government that -- that is really hurtling toward a dictatorship. And I don't want to co-sign on that. And it doesn't seem like Leader Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries want to either.

COATES: We'll see how it goes. Congressman Eric Swalwell, we're here again. Let's see where we'll be in seven days. Thank you.

SWALWELL: My pleasure. Thanks, Laura.

COATES: Next, the stunning 180 that's turning MAGA heads. The president flips on Ukraine and says that it can win back all of its territory that was lost to Russia, all while ruffling feathers at the U.N. We'll talk about it next.

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[23:35:00]

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COATES: President Donald Trump attended the United Nations General Assembly today and ratcheted up his rhetoric against Russia on the sidelines, saying this while meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Mr. President, do you think that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yes, I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Later, Trump posted on Truth Social that he thinks Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form. Trump has repeatedly insisted Ukraine would have to give up some territory to Russia in order to end the conflict. Zelenskyy had this to say in response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: President Trump was more positive in it, and he showed that he wants to support Ukraine to the very end. So, we understand now that we are ready to finish this war as quick as possible. And he wants and I want and our people want. But he understands that Putin doesn't want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Joining me now is Ned Price. He is a former deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former CIA and State Department official. Ned, welcome back. I mean, this -- this statement by the president, a 180 for Trump, why do you think he has made that post that Ukraine could actually get back to its original borders?

NED PRICE, FORMER SENIOR OFFICIAL AT CIA, FORMER SPOKESMAN FOR U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: Yeah, Laura, you're exactly right, it is a 180 and it is emblematic of the fact that President Trump has taken just about every position conceivable on the topic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

This is just another example, as if we needed another one, of the fact that this president has no, it seems, firm principles, no core beliefs, as he has been all over the map on this quite literally.

But I do think, Laura, to your question about why he's doing this, I do think it is fair to say that President Trump does have one overriding concern, and that is primarily figuring out who can do something for him.

I think the conclusion President Trump has come to now in 2025, eight months after he pledged to have ended Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, is that President Putin can't do something for him. All this time, I think President Trump has been under the illusion that President Putin wanted to do him a favor.

And, in fact, there was a hot mic moment at the White House a few weeks ago when President Macron was there, and President Trump essentially told President Macron, I think Putin wants to do this for me. President Trump, it seems, again, belatedly, has come to conclusion that President Putin isn't willing to do this, won't do this. And so, again, he's changing his position to do this.

COATES: Of course, many people are stunned by this epiphany that seemed to be so obvious to so many others who came before him and advisors and prior administrations, and I mean multiple administrations when it comes to Vladimir Putin.

But Trump also hit European countries, particularly NATO countries, hard for still using Russian energy. And during his meeting with the European leaders, she said that he was right and they need to phase it out and increase sanctions. Were you surprised that Europe took this stance?

PRICE: My concern, Laura, is that President Trump is setting himself up to be in a position to have to do absolutely nothing because what he is telling Europe, what he said during his speech before the general assembly today, is that if the United States is going to move on this, Europe needs to reduce its import of Russian oil.

There's only one problem with that, and the problem is that Russian -- excuse me, European imports of Russian oil have gone from about 30% of Europe's oil supply to about 2%.

COATES: Hmm.

PRICE: And that remaining 2% that is not subject to the maritime transit ban is primarily imported to two countries, Hungary and Slovakia.

[23:40:02]

These are two of the countries that are closest to Russia, closest to President Putin, and in turn closest to President Trump. These are leaders that are ideologically aligned in many ways with President Trump.

So, my concern in all of these, Laura, is that President Trump is essentially creating a smoke screen, and he is using his good friend, President Orban of Hungary, to make clear to prevent him from having to enact even harsher measures against at least a one-time, perhaps wayward friend of his, and that's Vladimir Putin.

COATES: You know what, Ned? I think we have to praise our mutual restraint and even waiting to get to, I think, the real elephant in the room. Today, that happened at the U.N. General Assembly because his speech before the general assembly, it felt more like one of his rallies -- I mean -- than an actual speech in that arena before that particular audience. The teleprompter was out for the first few minutes. But here's just a taste of what the president of the United States said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I ended seven wars. All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle. What is the purpose of the United Nations? It's climate change, because if it goes higher or lower, whatever the hell happens, there's climate change. It's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion.

If you don't get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail. And I'm really good at predicting things. It's time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now. Let's see. I can tell you, I'm really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell.

The best-selling hat. Trump was right about everything. And I don't say that in a braggadocious way, but it's true. I've been right about everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: What's your take on that, Ned? I mean, there's so much to address, even in those snippets. But the idea that that was said on that floor and that audience, what was the reaction you think in that crowd, let alone the nations that are now processing it? But what's your reaction?

PRICE: Yeah. Look, a lot to unpack there. But I think you started in the right place. You called it a rally, and that's precisely where my mind went. I think it's important that we be clear about what this speech was and what this speech was not.

To be very clear, this was not a foreign policy speech just because the speech was delivered in front of 190 visiting world leaders, visiting dignitaries. This speech was intended for President Trump's domestic political baits.

You might call what you heard from the president in the hour-long address, MAGA Mad Libs, because, you know, President Trump essentially hit every single one of the greatest hits from his three campaigns for president. We heard attacks on his predecessor, President Biden. We heard about grocery prices going down, the stock market going up, the southern border, even crime rates in D.C.

And to your question, there were probably a lot of world leaders in that audience who were scratching their heads about what any of this had to do with multilateralism, with problems of collective action, with geopolitics and international security. And they were scratching their heads because the answer is very little or none.

Look, everything this president does is basically domestic partisan combat even if it's sometimes cloaked in the guise of something else. Today, that guy just happened to be foreign policy. But, to be clear, this is all about domestic politics.

COATES: And I'm picturing the different leaders checking that little cup and interpreter hearing set that they have, thinking, am I -- am I getting this right? Is this -- are you guys getting this correct?

PRICE: Is a thing a broken?

COATES: Is it broken in some way? No, it was working. Ned Price, thank you.

PRICE: Yeah. Thanks, Laura.

COATES: Still ahead on this two-hour edition of "Laura Coates Live," Kamala Harris revisits the moment that she says was like pulling the pin on a hand grenade. What her visit to "The View" today revealed about her and yes, Joe Biden, too. Plus, Jimmy Kimmel is speaking, breaking his silence as he returns to ABC. We'll have highlights from his opening monologue in few moments away.

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[23:45:00]

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COATES: Moments ago, Jimmy Kimmel breaking his silence after ending a tense standoff with ABC over his remarks in response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, TELEVISION HOST, COMEDIAN: I've been hearing a lot about what I need to say and do tonight. And the truth is I don't think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference. If you like me, you like me. If you don't, you don't. I have no illusions about changing anyone's mind.

But I do want to make something clear because it's important to me as a human, and that is you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.

(APPLAUSE)

I don't -- I don't think there's anything funny about it. I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion. And I meant it, and I still do. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what -- it was obviously a deeply-disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.

[23:49:58]

And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you're upset. If the situation was reversed, there's a good chance I would have felt the same way. I --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Jimmy Kimmel went on to talk about Brendan Carr, the freedom of speech. He went after Donald Trump, speaking about how his plans to cancel him backfired bigly, to use his phrase.

He also spoke about how he took for granted the freedom of speech that comedians and citizens in this country, of course, are able to enjoy, unlike many other countries, a hallmark of our freedoms. He took for granted until his friend, Stephen Colbert, was pulled from the air, and then, of course, his own destiny (INAUDIBLE).

But he also did go on to talk about serving the public interest, which is one of those -- one of new nuances that Brendan Carr seemed to be referencing about these issues as well.

I want to bring in T.W. Arrighi and Joe Crowley to the conversation. Of course, Joe Crowley, former Democratic congressman as well. So, what's your reaction tonight? He used the word -- it wasn't his intention, he says, to make fun of somebody who had been murdered. It was not his intention at all to talk about a place blamed. What was your reaction to that?

JOE CROWLEY, FORMER NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: I think it was an awful apology in some respects without saying I'm sorry for what I said. He said I can understand why you could interpret it that way, saying, I may have interpreted it myself if it's -- shoe on the other foot.

COATES: What should he have said?

CROWLEY: You know, I think what he said tonight was actually very poignant. I think there was trauma, tremendous trauma in that week when Kirk was killed, tragically killed. And there's trauma playing out now across America in different ways. And that's what's happening right now in this particular case. He's worried about his staff. You know, that has come out pretty clearly as well. Hundreds of people have worked for that particular -- that particular show.

So, I think he's still using -- I think satire (INAUDIBLE) is -- is not what it used to be. It's not Jonathan Swift anymore.

COATES: Hmm.

CROWLEY: But it can be really an effective tool to get society to focus on things they may not otherwise look at. And I think his talking about freedom of speech, I think later in the show, was also important in terms of where he sees his role and the role of this particular type of show and the importance of maintaining that freedom.

COATES: T.W., what do you think? We were talking about would he or would he not apologize. Would he address this particular aspect head on? What's your take?

ARRIGHI: Yeah, that's more or less the attack that I thought he would take. I did not expect the assaults on Chairman Carr and so forth. Look, I appreciate the emotion.

COATES: Really?

ARRIGHI: I thought it -- I thought your -- it seemed ill-timed to me. But let me go here. I appreciate the emotion he showed. It seemed sincere. But let's make it clear. It wasn't misinterpreted. He said he was one of them. He was MAGA. That's as direct as you can get.

And look, since the Lewinsky trial to today, through the Bush years and up, there has been an exponential growth in political humor as the cornerstone of these late-night comics. Aside from Jimmy Fallon, I would say, all the rest come off as incredibly arrogant, condescending toward half of the country. And that's fine if the ratings support it. They clearly don't.

And there have been clips of Jimmy Kimmel over the last few days of him saying incredibly hateful, misleading things about the president and his supporters. So, I think an apology would have been apropos. It would have been useful to hear, we should watch what we have to say and that begins with me. I saw no ownership and that was disappointing.

COATES: Well, if arrogance and condescension to half the population was disqualifying, I can point to a number of people who probably would not be in office.

ARRIGHI: Sure. But my only critique of that is this. Donald Trump won the majority of the American vote after years and years of attacks and assaults. He gets 92% negative coverage in the media. There is a news distortion element of the public interest law that Chairman Carr talked about.

When you say publicly and repeat a debunked fact that the shooter was MAGA, that fits. I'm not saying they should go after him. I don't agree with that at all, the FCC. But we need to be more cognizant. If we're saying Donald Trump should be, you should be, too.

COATES: What do you say to that? And, again, I want to be clear. You're not obviously quoting Kimmel verbatim on what he said. However, I understand the point that you're making, which is why he's out talking about this very issue and why people are wondering about his motivation and his intent.

CROWLEY: And clearly, he had a five-day timeout. He may not have been as long as people wanted him to be. And I don't think he's talking to less than half or only half of the country. I think -- think he's really, really cooing a very, very, very small portion of the country. In particular, I think he's really cooing the president quite often more than anything else.

But I think we have a tradition in our country to hold our elected officials on high esteem but also take opportunity to kind of make poke fun out as well.

[23:55:02]

And it's not only here. We see it in -- we see it in Great Britain, we see it elsewhere. And it's actually can be quite funny at times.

ARRIGHI: Uh-hmm.

CROWLEY: But I said before, it also draws you to the issue at hand, what they're talking about, what's behind that satire. That's what I think is so important about that. And that's why I don't think we should ever lose that opportunity. You know, you can make fun of the talent or not. Even Ted Cruz. Talking about someone who cannot speak with a New York accent. Do me a favor. Keep it to yourself, Ted. Okay? You know what saying?

(LAUGHTER)

But, again, he'd be very effective in terms of, you know, even ridiculing Carr in some respects, in using humor in that way. So, I do think that we can't -- you know, with everything that's going on today, one thing we really can't lose is our sense of humor.

ARRIGHI: Agree.

CROWLEY: I think that's what's really tragic here, that everything is so, so traumatic. We're at the U.N. today, and we're -- you know, we're ridiculing Russia. Everything is so topsy-turvy. We're losing our sense of humor. I think that's what's really missing in Washington in many respects. That comedy that existed amongst colleagues --

COATES: Hmm.

CROWLEY: -- it's just not there right now.

COATES: We have so much more to unpack on this. We're going to come back. T.W., Joe, thank you both. We're going to have a short break, but there's much more on what Jimmy Kimmel had to say at the top of the hour. Stay with me.

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