Katie Zacharia spent week "unusually isolated" before ouster as press secretary, aide says

Channel: CBS News

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hi, I'm Lindsay Riser and we're

[0:02] continuing our breaking news coverage

[0:03] out of Washington. Two US officials say

[0:06] Katie Zachariah is being moved out of

[0:08] the White House press secretary role. A

[0:11] White House aid tells CBS News Zachariah

[0:14] spent the week unusually isolated and

[0:16] didn't function as a press secretary.

[0:19] The aid went on to say no one thought

[0:21] she was going to stick around for long.

[0:23] Zachariah was fired after less than a

[0:25] week on the job. CBS News chief White

[0:27] House correspondent Nancy Cortez joins

[0:29] me now. Nancy, correct me if I'm wrong.

[0:31] I think this beats an Scaramucci's

[0:33] record.

[0:35] >> It does. Zachariah lasted about a week

[0:38] in the role. Scaramucci in the first

[0:41] term, held the position for a whopping

[0:43] 11 days. So, uh she does hold the new

[0:46] record. What exactly she will do now is

[0:48] very unclear. Uh you mentioned that

[0:51] terminology that she is transitioning

[0:53] out of the role. um unclear if she's

[0:56] taking on some other role or if she will

[0:58] simply return to private life. Um she

[1:01] does live in California with her husband

[1:04] and four children. She said that they

[1:05] were going to be making the move here to

[1:07] Washington DC. Uh but of course uh

[1:09] things are a little scrambled now. So

[1:11] we'll have to wait and see exactly where

[1:13] she lands. The president uh spoke with

[1:15] reporters earlier. He said she is a nice

[1:17] person, but that it was a difficult week

[1:19] for her. He added he would talk to her

[1:21] when he returns to Washington. and he

[1:23] said, "I'm going to let her make that

[1:24] decision." But I said to her, "Honestly,

[1:26] if I were you, I'd reconsider." And a

[1:28] lot of aids were learning about this via

[1:30] the media. The New York Times was the

[1:32] first to report this. Um, but I I

[1:35] thought it was very interesting that she

[1:36] had a few tough interviews with Fox News

[1:40] this morning and last night,

[1:42] >> right? And typically, you would think

[1:44] that those would be friendly interviews,

[1:47] um, uh, as Fox interviews tend to be

[1:50] when it's someone, uh, within the

[1:52] president's orbit. Perhaps they'd look

[1:54] to give her sort of a a soft landing

[1:57] after a rocky beginning. But that did

[1:59] not turn out to be the case. Um, with

[2:01] Sean Hannity asking uh, Zachariah point

[2:05] blank whether um, she had misrepresented

[2:08] her background when she called herself a

[2:10] lawyer. And then this morning on Fox and

[2:12] Friends, she was asked point blank if

[2:14] she still has the uh support and

[2:16] confidence of the president of the

[2:19] United States. A and I think it is

[2:21] really an indication of how many

[2:23] staffers inside the White House were

[2:25] feeling about her. They were blindsided

[2:27] when she was hired uh by the president

[2:30] last week. Um and and she was not

[2:32] someone who uh they had worked with

[2:36] consistently. uh they had concerns about

[2:38] whether she would be able to slide into

[2:41] the role at an especially delicate time

[2:43] just a few weeks before the midterm

[2:45] elections and they did not feel that her

[2:48] uh maiden voyage, her initial White

[2:50] House press briefing went very well on

[2:53] Tuesday morning where she took just a

[2:54] handful of questions. She said on Fox

[2:57] that uh you know she hadn't had much

[3:00] time to prepare, that she had just

[3:01] gotten the job, that it came after a

[3:03] holiday weekend, uh that she did the

[3:05] briefing first thing in the morning, uh

[3:07] which is always difficult when you're

[3:09] trying to anticipate what everyone will

[3:10] ask. Um but obviously it wasn't sort of

[3:13] the confident portrayal uh that White

[3:16] House staffers would hope to see from

[3:19] the person who is uh designed to be the

[3:22] president's chief mouthpiece. I mean, a

[3:24] lot of people are saying she had big

[3:26] shoes to fill, that Caroline Levit was

[3:28] very beloved by the administration. Um,

[3:30] I know that her only press briefing was

[3:33] Tuesday and for the most part, she was

[3:35] traveling with the president. Should

[3:37] maybe go over to where you're standing

[3:39] there on the lawn, but didn't take

[3:41] questions today. I mean, did you have

[3:42] interactions with her? Can you help

[3:45] inform us about what you picked up on in

[3:47] terms of her style?

[3:49] >> Well, I had two interactions with her

[3:50] this week. um three I guess if you count

[3:53] sitting in the front row at the White

[3:54] House briefing although I didn't uh have

[3:56] the opportunity to ask her some of the

[3:58] many questions that I had for her

[3:59] because she called on three people and

[4:01] one was from three people exactly and

[4:03] and um but I did interact with her on

[4:07] the White House North Lawn the the day

[4:09] after that briefing um where President

[4:12] Trump was asked by a reporter where did

[4:16] uh did Katie Zachariah pass the bar exam

[4:19] and he was sort of startled by the

[4:20] question. I don't think he knew about

[4:22] the controversy that was bubbling up.

[4:24] And he turned to her because she was

[4:25] standing right behind her and behind him

[4:26] and said, "Where'd you take the bar?"

[4:29] Or, "Where did you pass the bar?" And

[4:30] she said, "I went to China." And then a

[4:32] bunch of us who were standing there

[4:34] repeated the question because that that

[4:36] statement didn't seem to answer it. We

[4:37] said, "Where did you pass the bar?" And

[4:39] she again said, "I went to China." Um,

[4:43] which appeared to be an attempt to

[4:45] explain why she hadn't uh successfully

[4:49] sat for the bar. and um gotten uh

[4:52] licensed to practice law in California.

[4:56] And you know, so that sparked several

[4:57] more days of questions and controversy.

[5:00] And then uh the other interaction I had

[5:02] with her, as you pointed out, was right

[5:04] here on the uh White House driveway a

[5:07] few hours ago. She was doing one of

[5:09] those interviews I mentioned on Fox News

[5:11] and then she was walking back into the

[5:13] West Wing. There were a bunch of

[5:14] reporters, including myself, waiting for

[5:16] her. Because often what will happen is a

[5:19] uh a White House official will will do a

[5:22] live interview out here um uh on the

[5:26] north lawn and then they will walk back

[5:28] along the driveway to the West Wing and

[5:29] that gives you an opportunity to stop

[5:31] them and ask them questions. And

[5:32] sometimes they will stop and take those

[5:34] questions for a while. Sometimes they

[5:36] won't stop and they'll say, "I'm too

[5:38] busy or I've got a meeting and can't do

[5:40] it." And they just keep walking. This

[5:41] was sort of a third approach that we're

[5:43] not used to where she stopped and said,

[5:46] "I'm uh really glad to see you. I'm

[5:48] really looking forward to working with

[5:50] all of you. Really excited about

[5:53] representing this president, but I'm not

[5:55] taking any questions." And then she

[5:57] walked away. What more can you tell us?

[5:59] I know that you mentioned that she she

[6:01] hadn't had a really close relationship

[6:03] with some aids, but what more can you

[6:04] tell us about how the president chose

[6:06] her? did he do uh you know ask some of

[6:10] his most trusted aids Susie Wilds for

[6:11] example for advice on on her selection?

[6:15] So I think that the the selection

[6:17] process has always been very

[6:20] challenging. The the universe of

[6:22] potential candidates has been quite

[6:25] small uh because this is a president who

[6:28] is looking for someone who has always

[6:31] shown loyalty to him. uh someone who's

[6:35] got a lot of credibility, but someone

[6:37] who is uh going to speak on his behalf

[6:40] even when the president says things that

[6:41] are unorthodox or unexpected or when he

[6:45] changes his position. Um and so, you

[6:48] know, that is a tall that is a tall

[6:50] order and they hadn't really found

[6:53] someone who completely fit the bill. And

[6:55] I should mention a fourth thing which is

[6:57] that the president really liked Caroline

[6:59] Levit. He had worked with her for a long

[7:01] time. she was really um you know a

[7:03] trusted member of his inner circle and

[7:06] there wasn't necessarily anyone on staff

[7:08] who really could step into those shoes

[7:11] especially when the president believes

[7:12] that he himself is the best messenger uh

[7:15] for his views and you know speaks to the

[7:18] press on a very regular basis. So, uh,

[7:20] the position had kind of gone unfilled

[7:22] for a while and then suddenly last week

[7:24] kind of out of the blue, we learned that

[7:26] he had hired Katie Zachariah and not

[7:29] long after there were reports that he

[7:31] had not gone sort of through the

[7:33] traditional channels and talked it over

[7:36] with uh, his White House chief of staff

[7:39] the way that you typically would expect

[7:41] when it comes to a position that is this

[7:43] pivotal that he had kind of gone out on

[7:44] his own. She was somebody that he told

[7:47] us today he watched for a long time on

[7:49] TV and he really liked her and he

[7:52] thought she did a good job and so he

[7:53] just kind of uh offered her the job on

[7:56] the spur of the moment and that was just

[7:58] a few days before she stepped into this

[8:00] role which you know can be difficult

[8:03] even for people who have worked in a

[8:06] white house for years. it is really

[8:08] harder than it looks to serve as White

[8:11] House press secretary and um there are

[8:14] so many ways that you can get tripped

[8:16] up. So, um you know it was a sort of an

[8:18] unorthodox path to the White House

[8:21] podium and now it's appears to be an

[8:23] unorthodox departure as well. You

[8:26] mentioned the timing here. Do you think

[8:27] the proximity to the midterms and the

[8:29] fact that it appears um that Republicans

[8:32] are are maybe not as confident in their

[8:34] chances of maintaining control of

[8:36] Congress without that had something to

[8:37] do with this quick exit?

[8:40] >> You know, I think it could have prompted

[8:41] the president to suddenly make this

[8:43] choice. the feeling that uh we are close

[8:46] to a midterm election and he would like

[8:48] somebody uh to offer another spirited

[8:52] defense of him and his administration

[8:54] and to get out there and to push his

[8:56] message and his agenda and and to talk

[8:59] up all of these rallies that he's doing

[9:01] around the country. That's something

[9:03] that Zachariah herself said when she was

[9:05] standing at the podium talking to us uh

[9:07] at her first and only briefing. Um uh

[9:10] but yes, then once uh the all these

[9:13] questions about her law degree started

[9:15] swirling and her decision to designate

[9:18] herself a lawyer, then she very quickly

[9:20] became a potential liability for him uh

[9:23] right at the end of the midterm election

[9:25] season. And so uh clearly he decided to

[9:29] to move quickly, especially after he was

[9:31] able to watch her on Fox News last night

[9:35] and this morning, which he told us he

[9:36] did. told us he he watched both of those

[9:39] appearances and then told her that

[9:41] perhaps she'd be happier doing something

[9:43] else.

[9:45] >> Okay, Nancy Cortez, thank you. Let's go

[9:47] now to former White House principal

[9:49] deputy press secretary in the Trump

[9:50] administration, Harrison Fields. He

[9:52] joins me now. Harrison, good to see you.

[9:54] Nancy was just saying it's harder than

[9:56] it looks. Um what is your take? I know

[9:59] that a few days ago you were telling my

[10:00] colleague, Major Garrett, that she

[10:02] didn't necessarily have a shining first

[10:04] day, but did this news catch you by

[10:06] surprise?

[10:08] >> I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ne I

[10:10] wasn't surprised. You know, it was a

[10:12] very rocky start and um the knives

[10:15] seemed to be kind of out um in terms of

[10:19] the leaks that were coming out of the

[10:21] White House to some individuals in the

[10:22] press um about her tenure there. Um I

[10:25] wanted to offer her a lot of grace,

[10:26] right? This is not an easy job. I've

[10:28] been in this room several times across

[10:30] two Trump administrations and that place

[10:33] is very hostile. It's very tough to be

[10:36] the White House press secretary and we

[10:38] all wished her well and I do think she

[10:40] had the team available to her to get

[10:43] over this hump. But the problem is you

[10:46] can't become the story as press

[10:48] secretary. Your job is to tell the

[10:51] story. And we saw what happened

[10:52] yesterday on Fox News. There was no talk

[10:55] about the upcoming election. There was

[10:57] no talk about the president's historic

[10:59] achievements for the American people. It

[11:02] was only about her. So, when you make

[11:04] the news about yourself, and she wasn't

[11:06] doing that intentionally,

[11:08] um you're going to find yourself

[11:10] probably an earlier exit than than you

[11:12] hoped for. But the president, and I want

[11:14] to reiterate this, the president

[11:15] respects Katie Zachariah. She uh he

[11:18] respects her family. He respects her

[11:20] commitment and willingness to serve the

[11:22] country, and we should all do that. Um,

[11:24] but this transition, it seems the

[11:26] reporting is is accurate and and no one

[11:28] from the White House is really backing

[11:29] away from it, will be good for her, I

[11:31] think, long term, and we'll see what

[11:33] happens. I don't think we should rush in

[11:35] picking the ne next White House press

[11:37] secretary. We're less than 3 weeks from

[11:39] the election. The president is going to

[11:41] be the key spokesperson on the trail,

[11:44] and I think it should remain that way

[11:45] leading into the midterms.

[11:46] >> Would you suggest he wait until after

[11:48] the election?

[11:50] >> I would. I would. There's no need to

[11:51] rush this. There's there there's no need

[11:53] for on the job training. It's clear it's

[11:55] not going to be an internal pick. Uh

[11:57] this will have to come from the outside.

[11:59] And if you don't even know where the

[12:00] bathrooms are on the West Wing, you

[12:01] should probably wait till after the the

[12:03] midterms uh to become the White House

[12:05] press secretary. Again, the president is

[12:07] going to hit the ground running and talk

[12:09] about the achievements for the American

[12:11] people. And hopefully there'll be some

[12:13] surrogates out there through the RNC, uh

[12:16] through through other mediums to

[12:17] communicate the message as well. I am an

[12:19] unofficial spokesperson. I'm here

[12:21] obviously in my official capacity uh as

[12:23] a CBS political contributor, but I'm out

[12:26] there trying to, you know, remind the

[12:28] American people the historic

[12:29] achievements. And I know I have a lot of

[12:31] friends out there that are willing to do

[12:32] the same. And we'll be the unofficial

[12:34] press secretaries until one is until one

[12:36] is named. But there's a good message to

[12:38] tell. Historic tax relief for the

[12:40] American people, a secure border,

[12:42] parental rights back in in America's

[12:43] schools, crime at a historic low, and

[12:46] record investment back in this country.

[12:48] We have to continue to shepherd that

[12:49] message.

[12:50] >> But Harrison, nobody's talking about

[12:51] those messages. It's affordability.

[12:56] >> Well, the president is talking about

[12:57] affordability. The vice president is

[12:58] talking about affordability. He's

[13:00] reminding them what he did in terms of

[13:01] no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime,

[13:04] uh historic wage uh earnings for the

[13:07] American people, and reminding the

[13:09] American people, the job is not done. We

[13:11] inherited a mess. Remember 9.1%

[13:14] inflation under the previous

[13:15] administration. And here we are at 3.7%.

[13:18] Inflation still has to come down.

[13:19] Housing prices have to still come down.

[13:22] Grocery prices still have to come down.

[13:24] But if you look at what the president is

[13:25] doing in terms of a deregulation and

[13:27] lower tax agenda, he is trying his best

[13:29] to get these numbers down. They're being

[13:31] extremely stubborn. There's a lot of uh

[13:34] you know uh things tied to the war.

[13:36] That's unfortunate. Uh but the

[13:37] president's working day in and day out

[13:39] to get the economy back in

[13:40] >> tied to the war that the president

[13:41] started and also tied to his tariffs.

[13:44] Well, it's an easy talking point to

[13:47] just, you know, say that the president

[13:48] started the war. This has been a war

[13:49] that we've been in for 47 years. If

[13:51] we're being honest, the president took

[13:53] the bold action to neuter the Iranian

[13:55] regime who's been chanting debt to

[13:57] America for 47 years. So, for the

[14:00] president to take bold action and and to

[14:02] neuter the nuclear uh uh capabilities of

[14:05] one of the most hostile regimes to in

[14:08] the world, not just to us, but to Israel

[14:09] and really the entire world. You got to

[14:12] commend the president for taking this

[14:13] step. We could have easily kicked the

[14:14] can down the road to another president

[14:16] and to another administration, but the

[14:18] president said, "Not today. Not on my

[14:20] watch. If we have the opportunity to

[14:21] neuter them, we're going to do that."

[14:23] We'll see where the chips fall

[14:24] ultimately with that decision. And to

[14:26] your point about the tariffs, the

[14:27] tariffs have brought jobs back to this

[14:29] country. You're seeing onshoring in a

[14:31] record amount. You just saw a $20

[14:33] billion investment from the Japanese

[14:35] government to upstate New York for a

[14:37] semiconductor manufacturing facility in

[14:39] uh with global foundaries. That is a

[14:42] direct result of the tariffs. So we can,

[14:44] you know, complain about the tariffs all

[14:45] you want, but that's bringing investment

[14:47] back into the country.

[14:48] >> Harrison Fields, thank you.

[14:50] Thank you for having