The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Rep. Crockett speaks out on CBS Colbert controversy with her opponent
18 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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OK, sometimes we have a guest on the show who is relevant to the news in a thousand different ways in the news that's happening this very day. And tonight is definitely one of those nights because Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is going to join me live in just a moment. She is, of course, running in a hotly contested primary in Texas to be the Democratic nominee for Senate.
And today is the first day of early voting in Texas for that race. If you were in Texas, today's the first day. Now, both she and her Democratic primary rival, James Tallarico, are nipping at the heels of their would-be Republican opponents in the polls. So uncomfortably that a lot of people are paying attention to this race from the Republican side.
And now, James Tallarico is also at the center of a new censorship controversy after CBS pulled his interview on Stephen Colbert's show just before it was supposed to air. The network, and this part is just something, laughable is one way to describe it, is somehow trying to shift the blame for that decision to Congressman Crockett herself.
And let's just say I'm very much looking forward to getting her reaction to that, as I'm sure you are. Congressman Crockett will also be joining me from Ohio, where she and other members of the House Oversight Committee are going to be deposing disgraced billionaire Les Wexner, who is a central figure in the Epstein files. And that's set to take place tomorrow.
So, yes, there is a ton, a load of stuff to talk to the congresswoman about. Before we get there, I just want to start tonight with the Trump administration's attempt to silence and intimidate their critics. Because every day, and today was certainly one of those days, we get more and more evidence that those efforts are backfiring spectacularly. They're trying really hard.
It's not really working. I mean, take, for example, the fact that today was the arraignment in the criminal trial of independent journalist Georgia Ford, who the Trump administration charged for covering a protest that took place in a Minneapolis church. And you probably saw her last night right in this hour talking about that.
It's clear that the arrest was intended, of course, to intimidate journalists like Georgia Fort in an effort to prevent her from doing her job, in an effort to silence her reporting and her voice, to scare her. But instead, all this trial has done is draw more attention to Georgia Fort and to her excellent reporting.
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Chapter 2: How is Rep. Jasmine Crockett involved in the Texas Senate race?
The Arizona Republic reports that amid the controversy, Mark Kelly's campaign has set new fundraising records as donations pour in supporting his message. And all of a sudden, he is being talked about as a 2028 candidate. He even said yesterday that he is seriously considering it. So there's that.
See, every time Trump tries to silence his opponents, he just ends up elevating their voices, drawing more attention to the critical messages that inspired Trump's outrage. All of which leads me to the Trump administration's latest censorship faceplant. Yesterday, Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Tallarico was supposed to appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Instead, this happened.
You know who is not one of my guests tonight? That's Texas State Representative James Tallarico. He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network's lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast. Then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on.
And because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this.
OK, we're going to talk about it, too. OK, a couple of things here. First of all, Ecolide viewers probably noticed that was not a picture of James Tallarico over Stephen Colbert's shoulder. That was on purpose. Now, the reason that CBS pulled Colbert's interview with James Tallarico was because of a new kind of made up rule by Donald Trump's FCC chair, Brendan Carr.
Last month, Carr ended the FCC's longstanding policy of exempting talk shows and late night comedy shows from an equal time rule, an exemption that dates back to none other than this guy. Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno back in 2006 when he was running for governor of California. Since then, it's pretty much been in place, both parties.
Now, Carr's new policy might sound wonky or technical or kind of random, but it's actually pretty simple when you consider the source here. Brendan Carr is the same Trump official who attempted to get late-night comedian and Trump critic Jimmy Kimmel pulled from the air with mob-like intimidation tactics.
And Reuters is now reporting that Brendan Carr has launched an investigation into The View over its decision to host the same Texas Democratic candidate. So it's not a surprise that Brendan Carr's new rule would be designed to intimidate talk shows and late night comedy shows out of featuring political guests.
Now, CBS released a statement today saying, quote, The late show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Tallarico.
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Chapter 3: What is the CBS Colbert controversy involving James Tallarico?
The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. As I mentioned, I'm going to ask Jasmine Crockett about how the network invoked her there in just a second.
But the truth is that CBS could have chosen to challenge Brendan Carr's bogus interpretation of the equal time rule, and it sure seems like they chose not to. And again, that's not that surprising when you consider the source.
Because CBS is part of Paramount Skydance, the company led by David Ellison, who, along with his father, Larry Ellison, has been cozying up to Trump in what appears to be an effort to curry favor with this administration. And just this week, CBS's parent company reopened talks to acquire Warner Brothers, which owns CNN, in a deal that would require approval from the Trump administration.
And David Ellison has already made a number of decisions at CBS that seem tailored to appease Trump. That began last year with the abrupt cancellation of Stephen Colbert's late night show, which is set to broadcast its final episode in May.
Larry Ellison reportedly also talked to the White House about which of Trump's least favorite anchors they would fire from CNN if Paramount were to acquire the network, according to people familiar with the matter.
They also put opinion writer and right wing apologist Barry Weiss in charge of CBS News, which has led to a wave of high profile resignations from a number of respected longtime journalists. I mean, just this week, Anderson Cooper announced he is departing from his role as an anchor on the flagship program 60 Minutes.
That's the same 60 Minutes which, under this new leadership, delayed the release of an expose on Trump's policy of sending immigrants to an El Salvador mega-prison. A decision that sparked a ton of backlash.
Meanwhile, the network has decided to retain a controversial health expert who was brought in by the new leadership, despite the fact that he is now under fire for his ties and gross emails with Jeffrey Epstein. He recently apologized for those ties and isn't accused of criminal wrongdoing, but others have faced consequences for just associating with Epstein.
I mean, given all of that, it's no wonder that CBS made the decision to bow to Trump's FCC and basically blocked Stephen Colbert from airing his interview with a Texas Democratic candidate. But here's the thing. Like so many of Trump's censorship efforts, this one is also backfiring spectacularly.
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Chapter 4: What impact does Trump's FCC have on media censorship?
He's a good man. John is a good man.
I like all three of them, actually. I like all three. Those are the toughest races. He likes them all. How hard to choose. Why would he endorse a candidate now when early voting in Texas has already begun? Trump is kind of scared, it seems. He is scared of the Democratic candidates in Texas.
Scared enough that he doesn't want to insert himself in the race and back a single candidate who might go on to lose the general election. And Trump has every reason to be scared of either Democrat in that race.
I mean, James Tallarico has exhibited an ease in weaving faith and morality into his message that's really broken through, attempting to appeal to a coalition much broader than Democrats in a state where you typically need Republicans and independents to win.
And as I mentioned before and at the top of the show, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has been holding this administration's feet to the fire at every single chance she gets. She's held them accountable on their treatment of children who are imprisoned inside a Texas detention center.
She's held them accountable on their botched release of the Epstein files, including in a hearing with Pam Bondi just last week.
You're spending more taxpayer resources arresting journalists than you are prosecuting pedophiles and creeps. I completely don't get how it is that you're sitting at the top of DOJ because you don't seem to be good at your job.
There we go. Certainly not holding back. Jasmine Crockett has even introduced a bill to rein in Trump's FCC and stop it from censoring critics to push a political agenda. All of which makes it incredibly ironic that CBS is citing Congresswoman Crockett as part of their decision to bend to Trump's agenda and censor her opponent. And I'm very eager to hear what she has to say about all of it.
Joining me now is Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Texas. She is, of course, a candidate for U.S. Senate. Senate. There are so many things to talk to you about, and I'm so grateful you're here. Let me just start with some of the news from today, which I just outlined. I mean, in CBS's statement on what happened with Colbert's show last night, they name-checked you.
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Chapter 5: What are the conditions faced by children in Trump's immigrant prisons?
And I'm going to ask you about that and what we should all expect, what you're looking ahead to when we come back.
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Tomorrow, members of the House Oversight Committee will gather at this enormous mansion in Ohio to hold a closed-door deposition of this man, billionaire retail magnate Les Wexner, co-founder of the company once behind big-name brands like Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret.
Now, last month, members of Congress subpoenaed Wexner for testimony related to his former financial advisor and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, Congressman Robert Garcia, has called Wexner the likely single largest benefactor and providing financial support to Jeffrey Epstein.
The two were so close that Wexner reportedly hand drew a pair of breasts in Epstein's 50th birthday book with a note saying, I wanted to get you what you wanted, which is as gross as it sounds. Now, one of the most prominent survivors of Epstein's abuse, Virginia Dufresne, alleged that she was also trafficked to Wexner.
Wexner has denied all criminal wrongdoing linked to Jeffrey Epstein, but obviously a lot to ask here. And Congressman Jasmine Crockett is, of course, a member of the House Oversight Committee. Among many other things, she's back with us live from Ohio, where she and her colleagues will question Les Wexner tomorrow.
So this is a closed-door testimony, but you have obviously spent a lot of time thinking about Les Wexner. I'm just wondering, like, Why do you think Wexner gave Epstein so much control over his fortune, even though his advisers told him not to? That seems to be kind of one of the big questions out there. What do you think?
I mean, he's been called a co-conspirator in everything as it relates to Epstein before. We know that that's how he was referenced. And I know that there are people that are questioning, you know, the links to it and questioning whether or not he engaged in the actual conspiracy. abuse of girls.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of the FCC's new equal time rule?
Demonstrate that if Trump does something well, you are honest enough to report that. Or if Trump does something effectively, you're honest enough to report that. I thought that was great advice. But they are now down in the darkness, the shadows of Orban. And Trump takes deep lessons from Orban. He has over the years.
Terry Moran, thank you so much. I always love talking to you. Thanks for being here. Thanks, Jen. Okay, up next, part of why the Trump administration is trying to silence the free press is because they do not want the American people to know all of the things they are doing. So we're going to talk about exactly what they're doing when we come back.
You remember when ICE detained five-year-old Liam Ramos last month in Minnesota and shipped him to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas? At the time, Liam's mother alleged that at Dilley, Liam had a fever, a stomach ache, and diarrhea. And her husband told her that Dilley wasn't giving Liam any medicine.
Unfortunately, Liam is far from alone in claiming a lack of appropriate medical care at Dilley. Two days ago, Univision reported that Dilley's youngest detainee, a two-month-old boy named Juan Nicolas, was choking on his own vomit and having respiratory issues. Last night, Juan Nicolas was rushed to the hospital with bronchitis.
Congressman Joaquin Castro, who is in contact with Juan's family, says that despite at some point being deemed unresponsive, Juan was ultimately discharged and returned to Dilley. And tonight, Univision reported that Juan and his mother have been deported. Here they are speaking with Univision from the other side of the border in Mexico. This is Amalia. She is 18 months old.
And prior to being brought to Dilley, her family says that she was a healthy little girl. Once inside Dilley, they say she developed a high fever that wouldn't break. She began vomiting, had diarrhea, and also struggled to breathe. Her family alleges that they visited the facility's medical clinic eight or nine times, but only received basic fever medication.
The family also alleges that only when Amalia's blood oxygen plunged to the level of a life-threatening emergency was she taken to the hospital. After 10 days of intensive treatment, Amalia was brought back to Dilley.
Her family alleges that federal officials then denied her access to the medication doctors had prescribed her at the hospital where she was being treated, forcing her family to wait in long lines every day to request the medicine only to be turned away.
DHS spokesperson Trisha McLaughlin denies that entire story, saying that Amalia immediately received proper medical care when she got to Dilley and that she received proper treatment and prescribed medicines after her hospitalization.
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Chapter 7: How did CBS justify pulling the interview with Tallarico?
It is a prison for children, for toddlers, for babies. Lights are on 24-7, which means children and families have a very difficult time sleeping. There is inadequate access to sufficient water. and parents are forgoing water and using their limited funds to buy bottles of water for children so that their children have enough to drink. There is insufficient access to nutritious food
Children and parents alike have told me how they found worms, bugs, and mold in their food. And as you've already highlighted, there is inadequate access to appropriate medical care. I've represented children ranging from age 1 through age 15 who've been detained at Dilley. Many of these children and families have been detained for prolonged periods of time.
Under an interpretation of the Flores Settlement Agreement, which provides for basic minimum protections for kids in federal immigration custody, children should not be detained any longer than 20 days. But the Trump administration is regularly holding children in detention for far longer periods. I'm currently representing three children who've been in detention for nearly 140 days
about seven times the lawful limit. They are ages 4, 12, and 13. The 12-year-old Camila just celebrated her 12-year-old birthday in prison last Thursday. She has done nothing wrong, and she and her siblings do not belong in prison at Dilley.
Laura Mukherjee, you do incredible work. I'm so grateful you could be here with us and share with people. It's important to hear what's happening and what we all need to keep our eyes wide open to. Thank you again. Thank you. We have to sneak in a very quick break, but Lawrence has U.S. Senate candidate James Calarico standing by. We'll be right back.
On the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, America lost a titan of black history today. Civil rights leader, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, died at the age of 84. And Reverend Jackson started his remarkable career as a protege of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And while there's so much to remember from his life of service and leadership, I just wanted to focus on one small piece.
because the message feels so relevant today, including my last conversation. During his two groundbreaking runs for the Democratic presidential nomination in both 1984 and 1988, Jackson was a passionate defender of undocumented immigrants at a time when many other Democrats shied away from the issue almost entirely.
At an event in 1984, Jackson said, unfortunately, too many for too long have seen the immigration issue as purely a Latino problem. As a consequence, Latinos have had to fight largely on their own. There's a virtual hysteria against the undocumented that allows such inhumane treatment to continue. This hysteria is fueled by a combination of myth, stereotype, meanness, and political expediency.
Words that continue to ring incredibly true, sadly, in 2026. That does it for me tonight. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern on MSNOW. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue Sky, Instagram, and TikTok.
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