The Briefing with Jen Psaki

October 14, 2026 - Jen Psaki shares pieces of Donald Trump's speech at a rally in Arizona and makes the case that the media should not ignore the bizarre things he says and should ask the candidates who support him to explicitly endorse his statements.
Senator Mark Kelly joins to discuss Donald Trump's fitness to hold office.
Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, talks with Jen Psaki about the determination of House Democrats to follow through on investigations of members of the Trump administration even if their scandals already drove them out of office.
Katie Zacharia, Donald Trump's new press secretary, definitely appears to have graduated from law school, and has definitely referred to herself as a lawyer and even as "practicing," but whether she is or was licensed to do so is not at all clear and demands for answers are growing louder. Judd Legum, author of the "Popular Information" newsletter, joins to discuss his reporting.
Jim Messina, campaign manager for President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign joins to discuss what key indicators like ad spending and early voting are saying about how the midterm elections are shaping up.

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October 13, 2026 - Jen Psaki reacts to Katie Zacharia's first day as Donald Trump's press secretary, the mockery she made of the press briefing, and Donald Trump's efforts to normalize a compliant press.
Amb. Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, and Terry Moran, former senior national correspondent for ABC News discuss Zacharia's first day and Trump's war on the press.
Speaker Mike Johnson has a reason to gaslight his supporters about terrible polling data, but many Americans don't need a political bias to be skeptical of poll numbers. Could the consistent good news Democrats are seeing from the polls be true, or is there something poll watchers are overlooking? David Plouffe, former Obama campaign manager, joins to discuss.
Bill Hill, independent candidate for Congress from Alaska, talks with Jen about his race and the political climate that has Donald Trump stumping desperately in a state he won just two years ago.



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Everything is bigger in Texas, including the politics. With a few weeks left until the midterms, MS NOW anchors and fans gathered in Texas for a day of conversation and community. Now, we’re bringing the fun to you directly. Listen to a compilation special from Together In Texas: We the People 2026, featuring talks with top newsmakers and some of your favorite hosts, such as Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Jen Psaki, and Chris Hayes. This is part two of the special.

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Everything is bigger in Texas, including the politics. With a few weeks left until the midterms, MS NOW anchors and fans gathered in Texas for a day of conversation and community. Now, we’re bringing the fun to you directly. Listen to a compilation special from Together In Texas: We the People 2026, featuring talks with top newsmakers and some of your favorite hosts, such as Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Jen Psaki, and Chris Hayes. This is part one of the special.

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October 9, 2026 - Jen Psaki reports on Donald Trump giving Russian President Vladimir Putin another big boost by dropping sanctions to allow Russia to move more diesel fuel to market and suggested the U.S. would be among the buyers. Trump even thanked Putin even though the diesel release is not expected to be enough to change global diesel prices, but will yield billions for Russia to spend on its war against ostensible U.S. ally, Ukraine. Brett McGurk, former White House coordinator for the Middle East, joins to discuss.
Jen Psaki looks at newly obtained video of an ICE shooting in New York City and compares the information we can see so far to the official explanation of the shooting from the Department of Homeland Security. John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE under President Barack Obama joins to discuss.
Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio, Amy Acton, talks with Jen Psaki about J.D. Vance's weird offer to meet her at a bar.
DNC Chair Ken Martin talks with Jen about the lawsuit to make Donald Trump pay for his own propaganda ads instead of using taxpayer money.

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