White House Chief of Staff “Optimistic” President Trump Will Return to WH Today

This is Jordan Sekulow. Today on Jay Sekulow Live, the White House Chief of Staff is, quote, optimistic that President Trump will return to the White House today.

And how will the President and the COVID diagnosis going around Washington, D.C. potentially impact the Supreme Court battle to get Judge Barrett confirmed? We'll talk about that more today on Jay Sekulow Live. Live from Washington, D.C., Jay Sekulow Live.

Phone lines are open for your questions right now. Call 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. Welcome to Jay Sekulow Live. This is Jordan Sekulow. We are taking your phone calls, 1-800-684-3110.

That's 1-800-684-3110. There is some breaking news that just developed even since we cut the tease to the radio broadcast this morning, and that is that White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has been diagnosed with COVID. This is kind of in line with others that are taking the test at a later time. So those initial tests they took, if you take it too early, you could get the false negative back, or false positive sometimes.

You wait a little longer and those tests can change as the virus develops and the antibodies, things like that, show up in your system. So now we know, again, that would then include a lot of press officials who have certainly gotten tests in the last week, but may be in that same situation. I want to go right to my dad, Jay Sekulow, because this is a breaking, and of course this affects, it's on a day where we've heard from the White House Chief of Staff that they believe President Trump may be able to go back to the White House, and whether or not that's the best decision or not now may come into question, because the White House has said, hey, staff, if you feel like you have any of these symptoms, you've got to stay home and you've got to go get the test. You can't come to the White House to get your COVID test.

You need to go other places. So of course now we know someone very close to the President, his Press Secretary, has been diagnosed positive with COVID, and this is someone who interacts a lot with the press corps every day. I spoke to the President this morning. So he sounded, actually sounded very good. He says he's doing well.

He's pleased with his recovery thus far. But look, I mean, you've got a situation now with Kayleigh McInerney and our thoughts and prayers out to her. A lot of other people that I work with have had the similar situation. Fortunately, no one in the legal team, both inside the White House and outside, has had this.

But I think, look, you've got to take precautions. But if the President's released today, remember, they can care for him at the White House. It's not as if he doesn't get care while he's at the White House.

He does. So that wouldn't be an issue, which is the question was stabilizing him when the situation developed on Friday. It sounds like that has gone very well and that the medicines have really, really helped. So I'm optimistic.

He sounded very good. He was asking me questions about various matters I'm handling as if it was business as usual. I think for the country in that sense, it is business as usual. But look, this is serious.

A lot of friends of ours, Jordan, yours and mine, now have this. And I think the appropriate precautions continue to have to be taken. Yeah, I made this point last week when the President had to go to Walter Reed and continue out. He is not like everyone else in the country and he shouldn't be. He's the leader of the free world. He's our Commander-in-Chief. He's got to, of course, he's got a team around him that has got to be around to a certain extent.

The idea that he can isolate only goes so far. The Secret Service not going to allow that. People are talking about the car ride. Those Secret Service got, remember, they had to go on the helicopter with him, including pilots, when he had to go to Walter Reed.

Then when he landed, Walter Reed had to make a short drive. They were in the car then. I mean, they are outside the room.

They may be inside the room sometimes during his stay. Of course, at the White House, they would be interacting to some extent. This is something unique to being President of the United States.

No one else in this situation would have to interact this way. So that narrative from the media is just wrong. The White House is a very different house than most of us will ever have, even very wealthy people. They don't have hospitals inside their house and those kind of facilities inside their house. They have a full intensive care unit inside the White House.

I mean, there's a full ICU. He doesn't need that, but it's there. It is there.

It's available. Of course, they can bring in whatever they need as well, any doctors, any specialists as necessary. So we're going to take your calls on this, but also how this affects the machinations, if you will, of government, including a Supreme Court confirmation. We've got a couple of members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Republican side who have been diagnosed. And this begs the question, will there be more diagnoses this week? We're already seeing one with Kayleigh McEnany.

We'll be right back on JCECO Live. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

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We're taking your calls at 1-800-684-3110. I think what is unique and of course, Rick Grenell, our special advisor for national security and foreign policy, a former member of President Trump's cabinet very recently who's still interacting a lot with the President because he's got unique voluntary government roles on the special situation in Serbia and Kosovo. And so he's been interacting with the President. He's been doing a lot of traveling as well out on the campaign trail in some of those roles. So he's been out and we were traveling just last week to an event in Atlanta, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, which again, the vice President attended, Vice President Pence, he's back out on the campaign trail.

But dad, unique to our broadcast, you spoke to the President today. So we've heard from some of those people. I know some of those folks have been on television, but this is again, as of the day that we got the report from the White House chief of staff and the President's doctors that they believe it's possible that, and they're optimistic that he could return back to the White House sometime today. They will of course want to do that in a safe way. And while you have some staff members who may have even been at the White House today, test positive, I'm sure they've got to figure out clearing some of them out, making sure it's the right decision to make at the time.

I think it underscores that too. I know you spoke to the President, but also the idea to go to Walter Reed took him out of that equation where anybody who knows, you may think that, oh, living at the White House, you get all these rooms. You have no privacy. There are people on top of you all the time.

In every step you take, there's someone outside your door, outside this room, inside the room, bringing you things in and out. So you actually have probably the idea of less interaction if you've got to be dealing with this actually happens at Walter Reed, but of course, easier to operate the country from the White House than it is from the Presidential wing. But what did the President, how was the President this morning as you spoke to him? Because I know that's what everybody wants to know is people who have obviously seen some of the videos, they've seen some of the audio, but what was it like talking to him and how's his voice and things like that? Well, I told him that the entire country and people I've been speaking with are praying for him, thinking about him and the first lady and that not only well wishes, but for a speedy recovery.

And frankly, Jordan, we had a very typical conversation that I have, and you've had them too with the President on a variety of matters. He was fully engaged. I mean, there was nothing that, as engaged as ever, he sounded good to me. Obviously, you know, his doctor, he said Friday was a rougher day and it's, but he's gotten much better since then. I know that's been, that's not any secret. He's been very public about that. But I think, look, I think he's made great progress. We're in a different phase, if you will, of, I think of his recovery probably. And that's why they're looking at bringing him back to the White House. But like you said, they're going to make sure everything is ready for him and that it's a good environment for him, a safe environment for him. But look, he was engaged on everything from the Supreme Court to various cases that are going on and to legal issues that we're dealing with.

But he didn't want me to say thank you. He knows a lot of people have been thinking about him and praying about him, praying for him and praying for the first lady and praying for the others on the White House staff that have tested positive or are positive right now. Again, I know I've chatted with a couple of these friends of ours that Jordan, you and I work with very closely that have it. As I said, nobody on the legal team has had it as of now, but there have been a lot of friends of ours not on the legal team that have had it and are dealing with it right now. So our thoughts and prayers to them.

But I will say this. The President was fully engaged. I mean, we'd have, I mean, we didn't stay on the, we were on the phone for probably 10 minutes, but it was fully engaged and a good discussion.

He was fully engaged with what was going on. We talked about those 25th Amendment issues on the broadcast last week when this occurred and the news broke that the President not just tested positive, but the idea that then the President went to Walter Reed. But then none of that seems to have ever been close to a situation which honestly, if you have to have a, we talked about a colonoscopy and you have to make that transfer.

It's very temporary, but you do because you're under anesthesia and then you have to come out of anesthesia. So certainly you should not be making decisions about national security. The President has been, even with the treatments he's received, these are not treatments that impair your ability to carry out the job.

No, it clearly hasn't. I know that even in scheduling a time to speak with him today and talking with the chief of staff, I made sure that he had just finished a call when I called. So it's like, he's like back to his normal productive self. I mean, he's, as I said, he's very, very much engaged in what's going on here.

So I think that's, that's very positive. I think the thing that we have to keep in mind is, and I know we talked about the 25th amendment issues. We're not in that situation. I mean, look, anybody could be in that situation at a moment's notice.

You don't, you never know. That's why we have the 25th amendment, but the President has got his faculties. He's fully engaged.

Hopefully he does get home and, and, and get home. He can still get the appropriate medical care that he needs in an environment that's a little bit more comfortable. Although he said Walter Reed, he told me is the Presidential suites, a phenomenal facility that lets him work fully engaged video conferencing conference rooms, the whole bit. I mean, it's, it's a, it's a blessing that our country has that available to our commander in chief. I will say it that way. Let me, let me just say, as we're taking your phone calls 1-800-684-3110.

I want to go to Thad Bennett, Washington, DC. Thad, actually I want to take this call because a lot of people have this question too, because it's not just the President. That's certainly the most important leader in our country, but you've also got members on the judiciary committee and people are questioning your, some from the left.

I think it's very disingenuous. They've been having hearings and votes remotely and in the house and the city, they've been doing all this. They haven't required witnesses to come in. Even like Jim Comey goes under oath last week, but he didn't have to come in. They have canceled others and others have been canceled. McCabe's lawyer said, we're not doing it.

But that, that I think raises some questions. It was kind of happening in the midst of all of this, but as things settled down, want to take phrase call and get your immediate reaction to this than Frank in Florida online too. Welcome to JCECO Live. You're on the air.

Thank you guys for taking my phone call. Listen, my question is this, with the situations going on with the United States Senate and the COVID-19, how would this affect the judiciary committee for Judge Barrett on the 12th? So Thad, right now you're hearing from some of the left. They say you need to, we should not do the hearings. That's because of two Republicans on the committee that have been tested positive for COVID. But Republicans are saying we can, we can still move forward with our schedule.

So where, where do things stand right now? I mean, it seems like obviously they were trying to figure things out late last week. So Andrew McCabe's testimony didn't end up happening, but this is not supposed to even start till the 12th, October 12th. Yeah. Next Monday, a week from today, Jordan, and you know, this claim that the hearing should be postponed is just so outlandish.

I mean, just to kind of lay the groundwork. The reason that some on the left are calling for the hearings to be delayed are specifically because senators Lee and Tillis who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee have tested positive. Now, Senator Johnson has as well, though he's not on the committee, so he would not be participating in that process. But Jordan, as you kind of alluded to, I mean, it's just so ridiculous because the same senators who are calling for a delay in the hearings were the ones that were insisting that a virtual option be available for all committee proceedings. And this goes back for months now, Jordan. And so in almost every case, you have a senator who's now saying there needs to be a delayed, who was insisting on a virtual being an option. And then Jordan, you have a screenshot of those senators participating in other committee proceedings.

Guess what? Via virtual teleconferencing. So look, Senator Graham has already said it's going to be a hybrid model. He's going to do everything that he can to be in the room and we'll have that option available for those who have tested negative and there will be social distancing in place.

But for those who want to participate via Skype or via Zoom or via some teleconferencing, that will be an option. It will be totally permissible. Jordan, I will tell you, I fully expect a week from today that hearing will begin. It will be October 12th.

There will be four days. And then as early as October 16th, that Friday, the nomination will be available for a vote in committee. Jordan, I am hearing about delay tactics that may be preceded, but we can get into some of those if you want.

But let me just say this for now. If those delay tactics are engaged, the majority has options to move the vote forward as well. So if Democrats want to play that game, there are parliamentary options available on both sides. And I still expect this nomination to be on the floor of the Senate before the election.

So, I mean, there you go. That is the current update. I think it's very important to add to. This is, I think people's next question will be is that you're going to see, obviously, we were talking about this last night, changes in some of the, I mean, you have this campaign manager, people that are taken out of the pocket for basically almost the rest of the campaign. And not that they can't operate remotely to some extent, and a campaign manager usually would be doing that at this point, because you'd have to have most of your decisions made. But at the White House level, there's certainly, we might be seeing some new faces for the next couple of weeks too, because you'll still have press briefings, you'll still need to do those kinds of things, and it'll be new people.

Yeah, I think that's right. Look, there's a whole staff, and Jordan, you know this, there's the primary, the principal, and then there's the deputies. So all of that, you're gonna see all of that, and that may change because of the situation. But look, I'm getting a lot of inquiries right now, people, reporters are asking about me. I was not at the Amy Barrett, Judge Barrett event, and I was already back in our headquarters on that Thursday I had left. I was in Washington the whole week before, and it's been time the President was tested obviously every day, and then was tested when I got back, and I've been negative.

I had two tests and was negative both times. So look, this could affect anybody, and again our thoughts and prayers are with the President and first lady and all those that have contact, and not just in the White House, but around the country and around the world. Keep those people in prayer. Folks, I want to take your calls on these issues too. 1-800-684-3110, what questions do you have, and where you think?

I mean, I don't think it's wrong to ask. You know, if it was six months out we probably wouldn't be focusing on, but it's not wrong to ask when you're under 30 days out from a Presidential election how you think this is going to impact the election. You've talked to friends and family in your community, in your states across the country.

Give us a call 1-800-684-3110. It's unique because we have someone on the air with us right now who can say that they spoke to the President today and give you that insight as well. But what are you hearing? We want to know your insight too from your friends and your family, because I think this is fair to discuss now. It certainly has an impact on the election. 1-800-684-3110. We'll be right back. The Pro-Life Battle through your support. and the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v Wade 40 years later, plan Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org. ["The Daily Show Theme Song"] All right, welcome back to JCEC, this is Jordan Secchia.

We are taking your phone calls, 1-800-684-3110. The latest news from the President's medical team and his chief of staff is that they hope to, that the President, they're optimistic is the exact word used that the President can return to the White House today. This comes on the heels of his White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, and if you're just joining us, this may be the first time you've heard it, but she's tested positive for COVID, for the coronavirus.

And this would be people who would have taken multiple tests starting last week. And so you see when they say that, you know, the early test, even for Joe Biden and people like that, these early tests they take are not necessarily conclusive depending on when the last time you interacted with. Of course, if you're President of the United States, you're going to be interacting with Seth. Even now, he's got to interact with Secret Service. He has no choice about that.

And the Secret Service makes no choice. That's right, I mean, he's continuing to run the country, Dad, and you spoke to him today uniquely. So again, because I don't want to keep repeating, but people tune in, tune out, it's unique that you have been able to speak to the President this morning before we were going on air. So again, I would tell people what he sounded like because they've seen the videos, they've seen obviously, I think it's like this. If you're ever hospitalized, and you can even put a sport coat on and do your hair and talk to a camera and do that, that is very different than most people that end up being in the hospital. You see why when you're President, obviously, they take different steps of care and they thought this was just a better place to treat him initially after the first couple of days. But you see, it's still somebody who was walking down the helicopter, putting on clothes, talking to the public.

Yeah, fully functional. Like I said, as I said before, I had the honor of talking with him just moments before we went on air, actually, probably 20 minutes before we went on air. He sounded great. He was fully engaged. We had a full discussion about a wide variety of issues from the whole gamut of what you're reading about. And a couple of specific matters that I'm engaged in for him, we discussed them, discussed strategy, how we're moving forward on that strategy. And he was really engaged on it. So I think that I'm very pleased with that.

Obviously, his doctors will make the determination if he gets released today. Let me also say this, when you were discussing with them the Amy Barrett move, the left is gonna do everything they can to derail this nomination. But the fact of the matter is she's well-qualified, one of the most qualified candidates we've ever had.

She's brilliant. Nobody questions that. Even Joe Biden didn't question that.

And she's gonna be confirmed. I mean, it's under different circumstances, but that's what they're concerned about because the lasting legacy of any President is the Supreme Court. This President would have had three Supreme Court appointments in four years. Think about that. Well, I think that that- Three appointments in four years. So let me go back to Thevenin.

I want to bring in Wes Smith as well. But Thevenin, as for everybody listening right now, here's what Chuck Schumer had to say. He's, of course, we talked about this. I talked about it. Remember when I was talking with Sean Spicer on his show on Newsmax.

I said, he said, of course, it's not a done deal. And I don't believe people like Dick Durbin. They're gonna look for any reason to stop this, to try and slow this down or delay this confirmation, delay the hearings.

Now they found one. They're trying to use the reason of Republicans who have tested positive, who are not saying to delay it, to delay it. And take a listen to Chuck Schumer, then I'll go to Than. There is no reason on God's green earth why he shouldn't be delayed other than an effort to rush a witness through in an inadequate hearing where people can't even see the witness face to face. They've all had an opportunity. In fact, it's interesting that he says that because there are members on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrats, what a hypocrite, who won't even meet with Judge Barrett.

And not because of COVID or anything like that. They just said, I'm not gonna meet with her. So they didn't care about seeing her face to face. This is a lie from Chuck Schumer.

Typical Chuck Schumer, the nastiness, the screaming, the, oh, on God's green earth, like he cares about that. When his own members of his own party who he could instruct are not even meeting with Judge Barrett. Those are members of the Judiciary Committee who say they won't meet with her because they don't wanna give it any legitimacy. So this whole face to face idea is just wrong. It's also, I think, out of step with the times.

We've all gotten used to being able to go about this way and figure things out. They're not gonna meet with her. They don't even want to be involved in questioning with her. That's the truth. Jordan, and in fact, with the exception of Joe Manchin, every single Senate Democrat has refused that face to face meeting.

So yeah, it's the height of hypocrisy. I would also note, Jordan, both the United States Senate and oh, by the way, the United States Supreme Court, this is how they've been operating for months on end now. They have adjusted to the pandemic. They have made virtual teleconferencing, in some case, an option, in some cases, mandatory.

This is just the new normal. Look, I think most likely there'll be a hybrid option, but every single Senator on that committee, by the way, including the ones who've tested positive, are gonna have a safe option for participating in this hearing. Even if you have an ongoing test, you could participate if you're filling up to it via virtual teleconferencing. Jordan, let me just quickly say this. You're gonna hear a lot about a two-hour rule, and you're gonna hear about a holdover vote rule. The two-hour rule is just if Senate Democrats will say after the Senate has been in session for two hours, we're gonna shut committee hearings down. So if they try to invoke that, Jordan, what they will be doing is actually shrinking the time of the hearing. You think Republicans are gonna mind that?

I don't think so. The other thing is that they're gonna say Chairman Grant has to hold over the vote. In other words, wait a week inside committee before holding that vote. If they do that, Jordan, all Chairman Graham is gonna say, if, by the way, he even allows it, which he doesn't have to, but if he does, he'll say, okay, the hearing's gonna end on Thursday. We're gonna schedule the vote for the next day on Friday. I'll let you hold it over for a week.

That takes us to Friday the 23rd. Guess what, Jordan? It's still available to be on the floor of the United States Senate the week of October 26th.

So two sides can play that game. There's the height of hypocrisy. The nomination's gonna move forward. And Rick Renell's gonna be joining us too in the next segment of the broadcast talking about how this affected the campaign trail.

He's got a new piece that'll be up on the ACLJ website. Very unique as a former acting director of national intelligence on Hunter Biden and these connections to Burisma, these connections to Ukraine and the Moscow mayor and the impact that had on our national security. But it's interesting, I wanna bring in Wes Smith because we know that the President was actually briefed yesterday that there have been no attempts by foreign adversaries to try to utilize his health situation to take advantage of the United States is how they use the language.

Right, right, and you hear some of that in the media. The national security is sort of like the psalmist talks about God in the Bible, and that is they never slumber or sleep. Certainly our adversaries are always looking for reasons to take advantage, but as of this morning, for example, there have been no unusual troop movements or moving of naval assets either by China or Russia, who are our chief adversaries. And the President of the United States is still at work.

He's alert, he's awake, not undergoing anesthesia like some Presidents have in the past, he's simply at work. And there are multiple contingency plans, always, always on the drawing board. Contingency plans for things that you could not even imagine ways we are going to respond in a simple decision by the commander in chief would put those actions in play. But the United States has a multi-level national security team that is always at work and there's redundancy in that team. And it's not just the President, although the President's perfectly capable of responding to anything, but there's the vice President, the secretary of defense, secretary of state, the director of national intelligence who controls the assets of CIA and FBI. There's your combatant commanders, literally around the world, four-star generals. You know, we're not operating in a situation where decisions can't be made.

And certainly at the top of that pyramid is the President of the United States who is keeping his fingers on everything that's going on as he always does. When we get back, Rick Rinnell, former acting director of national intelligence, so we get his thoughts on this situation, also on the campaign, the politics. We're 29 days out from the election, folks, and many of you can already vote in your state, early voting, whether you're doing mail voting.

I've got my own experience with that because I got one of those DC ballot, even though it's been five, six years since I voted there, got a live ballot in the mail. I can actually show you when we're back. But again, the number to call 1-800-684-3110 is always stamped at aclj.org.

Got a new piece going up from Rick Rinnell right after the broadcast. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at aclj.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work.

Become a member today, aclj.org. For more information go to antk So it's great to get an update from my dad on the President's health and how he sounded because you got to hear from someone on this broadcast who spoke to the President today. Now, this comes to the light of the news, of course, it's breaking now throughout the news that White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has been diagnosed COVID-positive. I think that there's going to be others at the White House and we know that the younger you are, the typically easier the battle is, even the President referenced that between the difference of him fighting COVID and his wife, the first lady, Melania Trump, fighting COVID and just that age difference making a big deal.

But making me even more nervous are things like this. I'll try to, you know, won't show the, but see, one of our staff members at our government affairs team, David Fonseca, got the mail in Washington, DC. My wife and I lived there as citizens of the district six years ago, probably voted there I think once and in a local election, we just got two live ballots. These are live ballots I'm holding, one is my wife's, one is mine. These are not a request. These are more live ballots and they're floating around the country.

I mean, literally, this was not the case two years ago. You know, you had to request something, you had to go through that process. There weren't this many ballots available.

And you know, we thankfully, we have this honest staff that gathered then they said, would you like us to destroy? I said, no, actually send those down to me because I'd like to show people that it's not just the random person here, it's the random person, it's everyone. If you've lived in multiple places, you're somebody who like kind of lives in multiple places or has in the past 10 years lived in a couple places or 20 years or longer, people are getting ballots even in places you might not be anymore. They might be arriving at the home. And you just have to wonder if it's happening in this situation, you got live ballots here, how many live ballots are across the country? And when you talk about election day, what it could potentially mean for election day. Rick Rinnell is joining us, our special advisor at the ACLJ. Rick, I just want your first, your thoughts on the President.

My dad had just been joining us, he dropped so we could have you connect, he's traveling. But your thoughts on the President with how he's been dealing with and how you think this is going to affect, I know you've been on the campaign trail as well, the potentially election day or if we know that yet. Look, I think that this is actually going to help the President and here's why. Right now the media are doing a really terrible job of telling people that the overwhelming majority of people who get COVID experience no symptoms or mild symptoms or not so bad and get through it in a flu like way and move on. We have vulnerable populations in the elderly and others that absolutely need to take this seriously and the flu seriously. I go back to the fact that we all need to just put on our realist hat and say, of course we have to protect our grandparents and vulnerable populations.

We have to make sure that we stay as healthy as possible. But again, the overwhelming number of people who get COVID beat it. And this is now something that I think Donald Trump is going to be able to turn into a personal story to say, I personally know exactly what people are going through. I beat it, I'm older, you can do it, we're working on a vaccine. He can really personalize this in a way that no one else can and begin to demystify what I think the media are doing, which is really pretending like this is way worse than what it is. And I know people are going to jump on and say, oh, but look at the statistics.

No one is trying to downplay this as not a serious disease, but I think we've got to be sensitive to not overplaying it and scaring people into believing something about it that it's not. And Donald Trump is going to be able to personalize it. So Rick's going to stay with us. We're going to go back to Rick right when we get back to this break. So I want to talk to him too about an issue I don't think he's getting enough attention. He's about to have his piece up at ACLJ.org and that's this Hunter Biden dealings.

Rick was a former acting director of national intelligence and how that was affecting the Obama administration. And I don't think we're talking about enough of these issues, but I think very interesting perspective there. The President could take this in a different way to the country and say, listen, we don't need to be shut down.

If I can get through it at 74, you can too. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American center for law and justice for decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena.

And we have an exceptional track record of success, but here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times, the American center for law and justice is on your side.

If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org.

Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American center for law and justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called mission life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of mission life today, online at ACLJ.org slash gift. All right, welcome back to Jay Sekio live, this is Jordan Sekio, we're taking your phone calls 1-800-684-3110.

I want to update you on this. Chief counsel of the ACLJ, Jay Sekio, he was on before Rick joined and joined by Skype because he's on the road. And he talked to the President this morning. He relayed his thoughts on, you know, the President's obviously going from call to call, just like usual, carrying out the functions of his office.

And I want to go back to Rick Grenell, special advisor to the ACLJ, because Rick, I do want to talk about the new piece going up about Hunter Biden and because you've got a unique role as being a former ambassador and a former acting director of national intelligence and all that we've learned from the Senate report. But I first want to go back to your thoughts of the way the President is going to be able in a sense already is starting that conversation, but especially as he, if he is able to return to the White House and speak to the American people, maybe even more on like a live basis and do it through a press conference or through some way that's still safe, that he can talk about the idea of the, we should not be shutting down our entire government, just like we don't shut down or our entire country or economy. We don't do that during flu season.

Now, sometimes I know, you know, my daughter's situation last year, even before COVID, her preschool closed for a week because of the flu. You do have to make decisions and they're, they're, they're local, but at the same time that you don't shut down ever everything, and that that's not the way to combat this and that for different people are different risk levels, they need to make those decisions. But then for generally the country should be able to reopen and get back on track. Yeah, look, I think there's a variety of issues that go into making a decision about the health of society. It's not just one area of health. Certainly we have to think about men, the mental health of society. We have to think about the economic health. We have to think about, you know, young kids and what, what this is doing to them in terms of, of not being able to socialize and learn and grow.

And of course we have to think about the health of our physical health of vulnerable populations. But I think that it's clear that there has been a manipulation of this situation for political gain and that's not good. We need to be able to understand that when those on the other side are trying to shut down our economy in order to penalize Donald Trump and squeeze people in order to make pain, in order to make a power play in an election, that's really outrageous. That's the manipulation of the media. We see it over and over and over again.

They overplay and dramatize issues. I thought it was really interesting that President Trump did his disruptive technology, which he has done in journalism and the journalists hate it because he doesn't go through them in the normal way. He did a video. He did several personal videos where he showed the American people, uh, exactly what he's going through. He spoke directly to them for, uh, you know, more than just a soundbite. He did a video interview with the American people. Now what was the reaction from the media?

They went crazy cause they didn't get that video and they didn't get the power of having the filter. And that's what's happening is President Trump has disrupted journalism and journalists are really angry about it. But I would go back to the fact that what the American people and what the constitution really, uh, the spirit of it is giving transparent, authentic information to the American people, not to the newsrooms, but to the American people.

And that's what we now have the ability to do. Trump tweets, he posts videos, you can see him, you can see that he's actually doing pretty well. And what happens is the media melts down to say, well, we have anonymous sources that he's not doing so well.

Well, the American people are like, well, we see the video, he's doing pretty well. Yeah. Yeah. I made the point that if you're in a situation and we've all, many of us have been in it, whether it's serious or less serious, but if you ha if you're hospitalized for any reason, putting on the sport coat, being able to do videos, get dressed, do all of that, it just tells you there's precautions that you take as President and you make these decisions that are different than most of us take and he's operated. But then I know you've got a question too. Yeah.

Rick, good to see you again. I just wanted to ask from your perspective about the national security implications of all this. I, you know, the United States Senate is putting out multiple reports that have to deal with how we walk through this situation from a national security perspective. I know there's a particular interest on Hunter Biden, but I'm most interested actually in how the administration would deal with maybe the need to, to balance a, a decision that has to be made during this time. I don't think we've been in a, in a period during this process where the President has maybe had to consider that, but maybe explain to some of our listeners in light of the Senate report that they're going to be seeing how they would actually handle that should the President need to temporarily transfer any power, how that would work, how it would function. And maybe just from your perspective, does that impair the United States readiness during this period?

Yeah. Look, we have incredible, uh, kind of checks and balances on the whole system and you know, whether it's the NSC run by Robert O'Brien, who has a very strong deputy, Matt Pottinger, um, and all of the, the different mechanisms at the NSC or the state department or the department of, uh, defense, um, there's a whole variety of people who still are going through the machinations of the process and, uh, giving information, uh, watching the intelligence sources, making sure that the, the, uh, you know, the successes of government continue. We need to be able to recognize as the Americans on the outside that our government is incredibly prepared that we also have the backup plan that if for some reason the President couldn't make a decision, uh, you have the vice President who's ready and healthy and has a whole team as well that has been preparing him. We are a country that is incredibly well prepared and while we want the President to be healthy and we pray for his health to get him back, uh, we, we are prepared in every possible way and the systems of government, uh, the decisions of government continue. I was really encouraged to see the President talk about how he continued to do meetings. He was briefed by Robert O'Brien and the intelligence community, uh, still while he was in the hospital. We have a preparedness that is unmatched and I, I think that people need to understand that no matter the drama of, of the media with anonymous sources and, and pushing, uh, you know, false narratives, we have, we have a government that is, uh, well funded thanks to the American taxpayer and well prepared and, and really smart.

So no one should be concerned that, uh, even while the President is in the hospital that things don't continue as normal. Wes? Hey, Rick. Yes.

Wes Smith. Yeah. When you also say, you know, the President is, is not the one who produces intelligence related to national security. He is the chief consumer of that intelligence. So all the other operations, they can continue unabated, right?

Yeah, correct. That's a very good point because actually, uh, you know, there are 17 intelligence agencies and our Intel community actually produces, uh, intelligence and, and verifies intelligence and checks it. And remember intelligence is just an estimate, but all of that continues for a variety of policymakers. I mean, I think there, there's hundreds of people that get the President's daily briefing. All of those individuals continue to do their job.

They all have deputies. I think actually there's an argument to be made that we probably are too big in government, but the reality is, is that we have a plethora of offices and people that continue to monitor intelligence that make decisions, those decisions that bubble up to the President on bigger issues. Um, all of those have continued. The President has continued to have those meetings. The vice President is also, uh, there to, to help make those decisions and, and remember national security advisor, Robert O'Brien, he had COVID several weeks ago, so he seems to be immune to all of this. And so he continues, uh, today to, to function with his very large team as well. Rick final question for you today.

I know we've got a couple of minutes left or about a minute and a half left. You've got a new piece going up on an ACLJ.org about this revelations that we're getting the Senate report on Hunter Biden and the Biden family connections and the Obama administration. You came out of the cabinet as the overseeing those 17 different intelligence agencies. And what you talk about this piece, and again, it'll be up soon at ACLJ.org so people can see it. We'll share it on, on social media too, but this is very serious to, we need to understand what was going on in the Obama administration because they knew about these, these steps.

There were people warning them about these steps and we don't know what was done. It doesn't appear like it impeded any payments to Hunter Biden or his continued operation this way. It's really remarkable that this has not been a bigger media issue. I've served at the state department for 11 years and state department senior officials were very concerned about Hunter Biden even approaching the then vice President, Joe Biden's staff and his team saying, we're very concerned that Hunter is using your name and out with foreign governments going on boards, collecting money. This was a problem for the state department that they raised at multiple levels. And you know, what's really shocking Jordan is that none of this ever leaked during the Obama administration. The second that it happened in a Trump administration, it would have been leaked five ways from Sunday. But in, in this is like multiple reports, multiple career people warning, warning, warning, and it never leaked. And the Biden vice President Biden's team ignored it, dismissed it, pushed it away. Even though they had the warnings, they didn't care. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected.

Is there any hope for that culture to survive? And that's exactly what you were saying. When you stand with the American center for law and justice to defend the right to life, we've created a free powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn it's called mission life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support and the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of mission life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American center for law and justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena and we have an exceptional track record of success, but here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American center for law and justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you and if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life changing work.

Become a member today, ACLJ.org. The final segment of Jay Sekio live today, what I imagine is going to be a very busy time between now and very, you know, constantly changing. So stay tuned with us on our broadcast at ACLJ.org because we brought in folks, I mean, you've got that update today, someone who was on the phone with the President this morning happens to be our chief counsel, Jay Sekio, my dad and then you have Rick Renell, former cabinet member who was overseeing those 17 intelligence agencies. Remember that's what he did is acting director of national intelligence and of course a former US ambassador. He talked about being at the state department 11 years and he's explaining to you one, the national security implications of issues that the President could face while he's fighting COVID.

But he's also talking about these bigger issues about who we're going to choose to be our next President. And the fact that these issues like Hunter Biden, remember the same people, if you look at Rick's new piece, which will be up soon at ACLJ.org, you will see names that you may remember from the impeachment hearings, people like George Kent at the state department. They were the same individuals alerting the Obama administration. These were bureaucrats who said, you know what?

This is so bad. I'm going to actually go to the politically elected officials and warn them about the vice President's son. Now that can be a pretty risky decision to make. It shouldn't be, but you could imagine you've got to think it's pretty serious, pretty dangerous to the country and that it's causing problems with our foreign policy or national security to make those steps. But they didn't leak it to the media.

That's where George Kent and those people are different. They all leaked it to the media when they didn't like a phone call the President had with 35 plus people on it. They went right to the media. They made up news accounts. We had fake whistleblowers, all, you know, the national security council staff at state department staff, you know, we're leaking. It obviously leaked out, but on the Obama administration, there was no reports about this.

There are no questions. In fact, Joe Biden talks about his son, you know, overcoming a drug addiction. So at the same time, he was getting millions of lines of credit to his brother-in-law. I mean, from Chinese government officials, it sounds absurd and almost, I think that's how the mainstream media is trying to get around reporting is, oh, this sounds too crazy to even say.

But this is, you know, as we were talking about during the break, Wes, you serve as a retired critic, you can go to the IRS, you can see, but you don't even need to go there. We know that the Senate committees found that they were getting warned by, this was known inside the state department, unfortunately. This was known where we were trying, where the Obama administration was acting with serious situation involving Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea and Hunter Biden's conflicts with the Moscow mayor and Ukraine and even China and lines of credit from Chinese government officials, people involved with sex trafficking, people that are on the US no good list, if you will. People that would be apprehended by the United States if they were under our jurisdiction, he was doing business with. Yeah, can you imagine if any other person did this other than that time, the sitting vice President's son, multi-million dollar wire transfers from, from people in China and in Russia, of course, the whole Ukrainian deal where the vice President's put in charge of your Canadian policy, Joe Biden, and then his son mysteriously gets on the board there with a multi-million dollar salary, you know, at the debate last week, whenever President Trump brought this up, Joe Biden kept saying, that's a lie. That's not true, that's a lie. Well, the US treasury department begs to differ because the Senate report is partly based on data and reports from the treasury department that in fact, Hunter Biden was receiving this money.

It was going back and forth and it was money coming from questionable characters, both in communist China, Russia, and Ukraine. All right, folks, again, we take your phone calls 1-800-684-3110, you know, try to cover all these issues. We're making issues too, Kayleigh McEnany, who is the white house press secretary has tested positive for COVID.

So if you're, if you get, if you're joining us late in the broadcast, I just want to update people because this is a lot happening. And then we got 29 days till election, a Supreme court confirmation that people like Chuck Schumer want to derail. And they're such so hypocritical because they're, they're saying, well, if you can't do it face to face, and they were talking about, there's two Republican members that tested positive, but even if it has to be done in some kind of virtual way, sophisticated technology, I mean, for goodness sakes, we've been doing Supreme court cases by a conference call, not even on zoom, you couldn't even see eyes. They were doing it.

They are doing it still. And most court cases are not doing it via zoom, unless there's like a, a, a witness involved things that they're literally taking oral arguments via conference call lines. And so if you could do that, you could certainly have hearings. And those Senate Democrats who are complaining about having hearings virtually done, or if it has to be some way, shape, and form like that, and again, we have until next Monday for them to figure that out how that needs to operate, or if two members need to, to join remotely, the Democrats will not even meet with her face to face. So the idea that they need to look her in the eye, they refuse to do it then they refuse to do it last week. Yeah, it's hypocrisy, Jordan.

Just first one quick comment about the conversation you had with West. One of the documents that we uncovered in our foil litigation showed that one of the Obama administration officials that was communicating with the white house and the FBI about those of us Comey spies in the white house, right before inauguration Jordan, she's now deputy campaign advisor for the Joe Biden campaign. So if you think the same people are going to end up in government, just one more example, but to your point about the hypocrisy of the Supreme court hearings, Jordan, I think it would really be informational to read this on May 6th, right as the COVID outbreak was happening, Senator Amy Klobuchar, who sits on the Senate judiciary committee, made these remarks while participating remotely at a hearing about a DC circuit nominee. She said, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And also thank you for being willing to do a hybrid hearing like we're seeing today, Senator Blunt and I in the rules committee worked hard to get this done. And I'm glad that we are seeing senators there as well as remotely. So thank you fast forward to this week, Jordan, October 3rd. She says this in a letter to chairman Graham Graham to proceed at this juncture with a hearing to consider a judge Barrett's nomination to the Supreme court threatens the health and safety of all those who are called upon to the work of this body.

So Jordan, which is it? The Democrats on the committee that are participating in this process are taking credit for putting the rules in place that allow hybrid technology teleconferencing hearings to happen, actually bragging about it. And now that they are the ones responsible for participating in that way, Jordan, they say it can't be done. It's just too difficult.

And it's too hazardous. Yeah, I think this, I think the entire, we're going to see a new narrative. It's some of this has been moving extremely fast. You had the President diagnosed, you had this co you had the Supreme court nomination, you had that battle, you have the 29 days you have an election, but you know, it's going to come down to, I think Rick Renell's right. I think that, you know, it, it may not be again, what you say in polite society right now, but that's not what, how we handle this broadcast. We try to bring you our truth in analysis is that the present is, is appears to be a walking, talking example of why we don't need to shut down our entire economy, why we don't need to shut down our entire cities and travel and business and, and that we can get back to going to, to kind of work. And that does not mean that we don't take precautions. That doesn't mean that people might, that there will be people who get sick, but that we've got to do a risk analysis here, like Rick talked about is that we've got mental health issues arising from this. We've got economic health issues arising from this, and you do not want cures to be worse than, than again, the actual virus itself. And I think we're going down that path in some States in our country, depending on where you live. And of course, if you live in big States and they make decisions like that, it affects people in other States. And so you have to look at it, you have to make these risk assessments. That's what we do in the free world. We have the flu each year, it comes, it comes in different forms.

Some years worse, sometimes it's harder. And oftentimes if you've got the flu at 74, you'd be in worse shape than it appears the President is right now from what is called the regular normia, the normal flu. So again, it's not to, it's not to again, play down the threat of COVID, but it's to put it into context, put it into context. And we'll be talking about all these issues this week on JCECio Live. Go to ACLJ.org as well. Rick's new piece, Rick Renell's new piece will be up there soon on Hunter Biden. We need to be talking about these big issues too, don't let them fall by the wayside.

We will talk to you tomorrow on the broadcast. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org.