Trump names new White House press secretary

[0:00] Conservative commentator Katie Zakaria yesterday on Fox touting the president's midterm efforts. [0:05] Today we have learned that President Trump has selected her to serve as his next White House [0:09] press secretary. CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein joins us now with more on this. So [0:13] Betsy, what more do you know about the president's decision? Why her? [0:19] Yeah, Casey, as you know, the question of who was going to replace Caroline Levitt as White [0:23] House press secretary was one of the hottest parlor games in Washington, D.C., and there was [0:28] some question as to whether the role would even be filled. But the president going with a wild card [0:33] pick with Katie Zakaria, who will be his new press secretary. And this was a little unexpected. [0:39] As of last week, she wasn't even on any short list, but he did go with Zakaria. She's a conservative [0:45] communicator with experience as a guest on Fox Newsmax, even here on CNN. She had a brief stint [0:51] for about two months at the Department of Homeland Security. She has a law degree and has most recently [0:57] been serving as a legal adviser to Fix California, which is a group founded by the Trump ally, [1:03] Rick Grinnell, as well as a senior communications adviser at the president's social media platform [1:08] of Choice Truth Social. Now, she has young children. She lives in California and had commuted [1:14] during her time at DHS. We'll have to see if she makes the more permanent move. But in announcing [1:18] this, the president took to social media. He wrote, quote, it is my great honor to have just [1:23] appointed as press secretary Katie Zakaria. He goes on to say she has an unblemished record [1:28] of support and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter right from the beginning. She is [1:32] likewise a devoted fan and member of MAGA. I am confident that Katie will deliver strong [1:37] results for our country as the next White House press secretary, as she has the respect [1:41] of and will work fantastically with the media, the American people and my administration. [1:45] Now, throughout the search to replace Caroline Levitt, the White House had struggled with some [1:51] candidates who had given disqualifying remarks, spoken negatively of the president. But we [1:57] understand that President Trump met today in the Oval Office with Katie Zakaria. We'll be [2:01] watching as to when she will fill that role and when her first briefing will be. [2:06] Tough act to follow. Caroline Levitt is beloved by conservative activists for her defense of [2:11] President Trump. Levitt was a happy warrior and it makes sense that the president was reaching [2:15] out to Levitt and others getting counsel as he decided who to replace Levitt with. Now, [2:20] Katie Zakaria is the closest you can get to a Fox News contributor without actually being on the [2:25] payroll at Fox. She's been a regular guest on the network for many months, often appearing from [2:30] California. She's also appeared on other right wing TV platforms. So the president certainly knows her [2:35] and her television power from that platform. She also briefly worked for the parent company of [2:41] True Social for the past couple of months. So she's had a number of roles in the Trump orbit. [2:46] Now she's joining the White House. Hopefully this will mean a restoration of regular White House [2:50] briefings. Levitt held briefings about once a week. Past White Houses held briefings almost every day, [2:55] especially in the Biden years and the Obama years. Trump has been off and on about whether and when he [3:00] wants his press secretary to be out in public speaking on his behalf. So hopefully we're going to see [3:05] that press briefing situation be restored. This, of course, also comes as the president wants to ban [3:10] news outlets from the White House. You know, CNN, MS and political continuing to fight for their rights in [3:15] court. It's notable whoever is in the president's ear talking about these issues. Now we know it'll be [3:20] Katie Zakaria joining those conversations about how the president interacts with the press. And all of this [3:24] comes just a few weeks before the midterm elections when the president's rhetoric is getting even more [3:29] extreme. The kind of thing the new press secretary will have to defend. Yeah, a sensitive time for the White [3:34] House as Republicans try to hold on to control of Congress. Levitt held briefings relatively [3:40] regularly. And then it became this sort of rotating cast of cabinet secretaries. Do we know when [3:47] Zakaria is going to hold the first briefing if she was officially hired today? Is there any indication? [3:53] No, we don't know yet. So far, this is from White House officials saying she's been selected. We [3:58] have not heard from her directly yet. She's probably going to figure out logistics about moving to [4:02] Washington, all that sort of thing. But, you know, it does come right here a few weeks before the [4:06] midterm elections. And at a time when the White House's credibility is certainly in question, [4:11] the president's approval rating at record lows, that makes it an even more difficult task for the [4:16] press secretary trying to explain the administration's policies. You know, historically, [4:20] though, this has been an outsized position because it's the public face for the administration. [4:24] And here's a fun fact. Katie Zakaria becomes the seventh female White House press secretary in a row. [4:30] All women sent Sean Spicer back during Trump's first term. Go figure. Certainly, she is a very [4:37] she's very experienced at defending the president on right wing TV. And I suspect that has a lot to do [4:43] with her hiring today. It's not only a politically sensitive time for the White House, it comes amid this [4:48] fight with the press. Right. There's this ongoing litigation between the White House and CNN, [4:53] MSNOW and Politico about access to the White House grounds. CNN has been blocked from doing pool [4:59] duty a number of times, even though that hasn't been consistent. Walk us through that aspect of [5:05] the role that she's now going to take, Brian. And the big question on my mind when it comes to this [5:10] media ban that the president attempted three weeks ago that has been stopped by the court for now [5:15] is who's pushing this idea? Is it the president's own idea? Is it coming from members of his inner [5:21] circle? Is it coming from advisers close to him? Because Caroline Levitt is the kind of figure who was [5:26] often happy to take questions from the New York Times and CNN and Politico and the AP. [5:32] She recognized the value of that dynamic in the press briefing room, even when it was adversarial. [5:38] You know, I will say this about the White House press office. They get back to you. They respond. [5:42] They issue statements, even if those statements, in my view, might not be tied to reality. [5:46] They are very responsive. But the president's media ban was a different strategy altogether [5:51] to try to push people out, to try to shut off access. It was a very hostile action. And, [5:56] you know, that raises a question about whether this new press secretary will take that approach, [6:00] trying to push people out, or whether she'll be more like Levitt and be willing to take questions. [6:04] I remember interviewing Caroline Levitt back in April. She was more than happy to engage. [6:09] She believed that was helping Trump and the MAGA movement. So we'll see with her successor [6:13] what that strategy will be. Will it be to take the ban approach the president's done recently, [6:17] or will it be to invite all the questions? What impact do you think this woman is going to have, [6:22] especially with just a month out to the midterms? You know, I think they're kind of [6:28] interchangeable. The new key to that job is to be able to speak in a 200-word run-on sentence [6:34] with a lot of positive platitudes and often more than a few mischiefs about President Trump [6:39] ending in he's the greatest president in the history of human civilization. So I don't know if [6:44] she'll have the inside influence that Levitt had, but as far as kind of breaking the traditional [6:51] mold of press secretary of answering questions and instead monologuing about the magnificence [6:56] of Donald Trump, I don't see any change. Axe, I mean, you've been in the White House and understand [7:02] this role, and it also seems as though, you know, I mean, the president picks people off TV, [7:06] it seems like, all the time. Yeah, and particularly people who are on Fox a lot. Look, [7:13] you saw his tweet. The thing that he emphasized was she's been an unquestioned loyalist and she's [7:18] all MAGA all the time and so on. So, you know, he wants to choose someone who he thinks is from [7:24] central casting, which is usually off the bench at Fox News. I mean, we pick secretaries of defense [7:30] from there these days. And he wants someone who will be an unquestioning voice for his policies, [7:41] an advocate for his policies and who will be a loyalist. Caroline Levitt was that and she will [7:50] be that as well. So I think this was, you know, it is maybe outside the box for a normal White House, [7:57] but for this White House, it's very much in character.