October 10th. You can still vote for your favorite. The web address is fatbearweek. Org. With that, the news continues. The source with kaitlan the source with Kaitlan Collins starts now. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com tonight, straight from the source, new reporting on the behind the scenes shuffle that led to Donald TrumpsLate Night Endorsement in the House Speaker race. Hes not only deeply invested in who the next speaker will be, but who that person will be to him. Plus President Biden facing backlash from his own party after reversing his Immigration Policy and building more of trumps border wall. A senator who once called that Wall Medieval is here to respond. Nobel peace prize winner sitting in jail tonight, continuing to risk her life behind bars fighting irans oppressive regime. What she wants the world to know. Im Kaitlan Collins, and this is the source. Tonight i have new reporting on how donald trump is viewing the race for House Speaker in terms of loyalty to him alone. As he travelled from a new york courtroom back to his Maralago Club this week, im told that trump was playing close attention to the dramatic ouster of who he refers to has, my kevin. Im told that he focused on making sure that the role is going to someone who is loyal enough to him. He scoffed at the idea of some of these more moderate names that have been floated like tom imer and others. Trump was looking to capitalize on the entire chaotic spectacle by going to washington next week to endorse his pick, potentially, during that gop meeting that is set to happen on tuesday. That Plan Hit A Brick Wall when troy nells tweeted this, catching not only trump but his inne inner circle off guard. Just had a great conversation with President Trump about the speakers race. He is endorsing jim jordan. Though trump had been reluctant to do so publicly, that did force him to the post his own shortly after midnight affirming that, yes, jim jordan does have his endorsement in this race. For now that trip to d. C. Is scrapped and so is the fox debate. That fell apart after fellow House Republicans were infuriated they would be debating publicly. One republican lawmaker telling cnn, quote, people are pissed. Its just another sign of the tension that is happening inside the gop right now, as republicans are still scrambling to find their new leader. And speaking of the former leader, Kevin Mccarthy spoke today, denying reports that he is planning on resigning from congress. Im not resigning. I have work to do. Youre not resigning . No, im not resigning. So, youll stay the entire term. Im staying. Dont worry. Ive got a lot to do. Are you thinking about running for reelection . Yes. Hes going for a much more casual look these days. I am joined now by former republican congressman Adam Kinzinger and Senior Adviser to president obama, dafd axelrod. Like it or not, donald trump is the leader of the republican party. He clearly wants someone who is loyal to him as the next House Speaker. What implements do you think he has in actually deciding who they vote for as soon as next week potentially . Well, hell have significant influence because what this does is this sets off the right wing ecochamber where people will start tweeting and people will start asking members of congress who theyre going to vote for. And you cant play coy. You have to now say it publicly because thats the pressure. If you do anything but jim jordan, youre a rino. Thats unacceptable to a rino or a squish. All the people that would be opposed to jim jordan start publicly coming on board. That doesnt mean jim jordan has this thing of walking away. But certainly Donald Trumps endorsement, while maybe not a morally good thing, if youre just running for the office, its probably very helpful. Yeah. It was notable that his post endorsing him had more to do with his wrestling track record than anything really related to congress. But david, i mean, theres no blueprint for what someone like Kevin Mccarthy is doing right now in the sense of being ousted by his own party, staying in congress for now, he says, saying he even might run again. How do you expect he handles this race . Does he get involved . Does he endorse somebody . I mean, he said he wouldnt. Im not sure that he will. Its an awkward position for him right now because he was, of course, my kevin. He was trumps guy. Now trump has interposed himself in this race. I really dont know. I cant crawl inside Kevin Mccarthys head and see what and think about what he would do. But i will say this. I think trumps rolled the dice here. You cant be the selfproclaimed and apparent leader of the party, the front runner for the nomination, interpose yourself and not win it. So, he has a lot at stake here. The last thing that trump wants to look like is a loser, as we know. So, now he its really on him to try and deliver his guy. If he does, one thing i think will be for sure is that we will see a formal impeachment of President Biden during the next few months because i think trump will insist on it. Yeah. I mean, he was already insisting on just getting to the inquiry, which he wasnt he didnt see as sufficient. Speaking of trump, obviously he endorsed jordan, congressman, not long after he was on fox news. And i noticed in jim jordans hit last night, he was talking about jim jordan being the next president , talking about what a great president he was. This comes as trump toying with the idea of taking the speakership on a shortterm role. Do you think that is something that jordan was trying to make sure he did not take seriously . I dont know. I dont think anybody i think even jim jordan maybe because i think jim jordan desperately wanted to be speaker for a long time. He acts like hes being kind of shepherded into this position by his bonds to america and his duty to the country, which she absolutely failed, by the way, on january 6th, and everything leading up to it, and postthat when we wanted to talk to him. But i think this is just a matter of, you know, jim jordan probably knows donald trump isnt running and probably wants to just keep kissing Donald Trumps backside because he knows he can turn a lot of votes. Again, even if, you know, in a secret ballot, which in the conference itself, in the meeting of just republicans, its a secret ballot. You only have to get half of the conference to then be the quote, unquote republican name before. I think jim jordan gets that very easily. The question in this is, are there five to ten republicans, socalled moderates, that play the same game that the eight that deposed Kevin Mccarthy played. And they simply refused under any condition to vote for jim jordan, particularly because this will doom ukraine and particularly because jim jordan frankly doesnt deserve it. That would be the question and i dont know the answer to that yet. Let me just go ahead, david. If i can, kaitlan, it doesnt yes, it will do ukraine, which would be a tragedy. It also, i think, would imperil the dozen or more republicans in Swing Districts. I think jim jordan is the face of the Republican Caucus who will become a huge Rallying Point for democrats in these Swing Districts because he reflects a hardedged extremism that was the reason republicans underperformed in 2022. So, it would not be good for the country. And it wont be good for the Democratic Caucus if he ends up winning. Well, speaking of all this and trumps influence on this, as were looking at, you know, trump is in between the courtroom and the campaign trail, where hes expected to be back tomorrow. I want to get both of your thoughts on this. Congressman, ill start with you. These are awful comments that trump made when he was in an interview talking about immigration and migrants specifically. This is what he said. Nobody has any idea where these people are coming from. We know they come from prisons. We know they come from Mental Institutions, insane asylums. We know theyre terrorists. Nobody has ever seen anything like were witnessing right now. It is a very sad thing for our country. Its poisoning the blood of our country. Its so bad. And people are coming in with disease. People are coming in with every possible thing that you can have. Poisoning the blood of our country. What went through your mind when you heard that comment, congressman . I mean, like, who says that . Who says poisoning the blood of our co country. You know who did say poisoning the blood of our country . Adolf hitler in mein kampf. This is language right out of mein kampf. This is not every republican and particularly every republican that wants to be speaker every time theyre interviewed should be forced to answer for this question. Do you agree with what trump said or not . And if you dont, do you still consider him the best possibility for the next president of the United States. The president of the United States talking about poisoning the blood of the country. I mean, even if a president had said this about al quaeda after 9 11, it would have been over the top. Instead, hes talking about people desperate for a better life. There is no excuse for this. This disgusts me as an american to hear him say that. I should note that his spokesperson tried to deny that it was any kind of xenophobic remark. But obviously, david, this fits into a long history of comments like this that trump has made. I mean, this may be the furthest. But what did you make of it . Well, look, i mean, we all remember how he entered american politics in the first place, coming down the escalator at trump tower and talking about mexico sending rapists and murderers over the border. So, yes, this is completely consistent with who he is. And adam is i agree with every word he said. He said, this is over the top, though. And we should note that Donald Trumps built his whole career on saying things that no one else would say. Hes built his whole career on saying things that are over the top. And hes found an audience for the things that hes said. And right now, there is concern, and i think justifiable concern, about whats going on on the border and the influx of migrants. And he is trying to take advantage of that situation by doing what he always does, by touching these very, very sick chords but that generate a response. This is vintage donald trump. So, we should both condemn him and recognize the power of his willingness to say what no one else will say. Yeah. The power of those words. David axelrod, Adam Kinzinger, thank you both for joining me. Just a note, weve fact checked trumps claim that Mental Institutions in Soegt America are sending patients to the border. There is zero evidence. Just a fact check there from those comments. Well take a deeper dive on the speaker candidate who got trumps endorsement. Trump awarded him the Medal Of Freedom just days after january 6th in a private ceremony at the white house. Also tonight the Biden Administration is still struggling to defend the president s border wall reversal. While Blue State Mayors and governors are also demanding more help with the wave of migrants that they are facing. Well speak with a democratic senator right after the break. Of the two candidates who are locked in the battle for the gavel on capitol hill, only one, as we just noted, has gotten the endorsement of the man who still maintains an iron grip on the republican party. The twice impeached, four times indictment donald trump said jim jordan had his complete and total endorsement for House Speaker. He awarded jordan the Medal Of Freedom when donald trump was in office. He gave that jordan less than a week after the january 6th attack on the capitol, during a private ceremony that happened at the white house. In between phone calls to fellow republicans today, Congressman Jordan told manu raju, he appreciates trumps endorsement but is also focus on getting support across the board. I like the job ive got now. I never wanted to do this job, but someone has to. Who can bring the Team Together and go communicate to the country. And thats why im running. Someone who United States the party is not always the way jim jordan has been described, certainly not on capitol hill. He is the chairman of the freedom caucus, and he was once called a, quote, legislative terrorist by the former republican House Speaker john boehner. I just never saw a guy who spent more time tearing things apart, never building anything. Despite jordans reputation as a, quote, bomb thrower, he has risen from the fringes of the gop to the forefront of his party. Hes now the chairman of the powerful house judiciary committee. Hes playing a key role in the Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden as well. This is a tale as old as time. Politician takes action that makes money for his family, and then he tries to conceal it. One former republican lawmaker offered a blunt warning if jordan does end up with the top job. Thats liz cheney, who of course chaired the january 6th select committee. She accused jordan of being, quote, at the top of the list of republican who is enabled that attack. Jim jordan knew more about what donald trump had planned for january 6th than any other member of the house of representatives. She also predicted, i should note in those remarks, that jordan would lose this race for the House Speakership. Her sentiment was echoed by the former white house staffer and the star of the january 6th hearings that you saw here on the source last week, cassidy hutchinson. The jim jordan im privy to, nearly everything, if not everything, knew everything pertaining to january 6th. Jim jordan cant be trusted with the constitution. Jordan defied a subpoena from the january 6th committee. He is answering questions about conversations that he had with trump on that dark day. Did you speak with them before, during, or after the capitol was attacked . Id have to go i spoke with him that day after, i think after. I dont know if i spoke with him in the morning or not. I just dont know. Before, during, or after the attack on i talk to the president after the attack. Not before or during . Right. I should note the Phone Records that were subpoenaed by the Committee Show that jordan did speak with trump for ten minutes on the morning of january 6. For more on where he is now, where he is in this race, joining me is former illinois congressman rodney davis, who worked alongside jim jordan in the congress. You were at the capitol with mccarthy on tuesday when she was he was voted out of his speaker position. When you look at what jim jordan used to be known as, what he is seen as now, charlie dent who also is a former republican congressman said earlier to jake tapper that he was always good at blowing up deals but not necessarily putting them together. Do you think hes the right person to lead House Republicans now . Well, because of donald trump, i dont get to make that choice anymore, kaitlan. But i can tell you, charlie and adam and others youve spoken with, they were right about jim jordan. When i got to congress in 2013, he would blow things up. He wouldnt legislate. He was not a lawmaker. He was somebody who completely disregarded any legislative process. But what i can tell you is jim jordan has changed. When we spent time in the last two terms in the minority, i watched jim jordan grow into somebody who actually legislated and legislated well. Hes somebody who clearly has a shot at being speaker. I dont know if shes the front runner right now, but he has a shot. I think there are some skeptics probably watching, maybe who just raised their eyebrows when you gave that comment. And i think the question would be, has jim jordan changed, or is it the party that has changed to be more like jim jordan . Well, some in the party have changed to be more like jim jordan. I think were seeing more gerrymandered districts, which bring more polarized, political individuals into congress. But i also saw jim change. Because jim was somebody who worked with leadership over the last two terms. Look, i was excited to be nominated to serve on the january 6 select committee with jim, with others. But unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi did what she did best as speaker, she set precedents that tore the fabric of the institution apart. Well, she rejected some of those picks and then Kevin Mccarthy pulled all of them. I mean, part of that is also personal to you. You voted to certify President Bidens win. Jim jordan notably did not. Thats part of why liz cheney was saying, you know, he cant be trusted with the speakership. Do you not think its disqualifying if its someone who voted against certifying the legitimate Election Results . You know, voting against certifying Election Results just didnt begin on that tranlic day of january 6. It began it happened in many preside