Trump walks back comments about strikes video

Mr. President, you said you would have no problem with releasing the full video of that strike on September 2 off the Coast of Venezuela. Secretary Hegseth now says-- You said that. I didn't say that. This is ABC fake News.

You said that you would have no problem releasing the full-- OK, well, Secretary Hegseth-- Whatever Hegseth wants to do is OK with me. But just last Wednesday, President Trump said the White House would quote, "certainly release video of the second strike." Listen. I don't know what they have. But whatever they have, we'd certainly release. No problem. We stopped-- every boat we knock out, we saved 25,000 American lives.

Also, CBS News has learned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security officials will brief the Gang of Eight today. That group is made up of congressional leaders from both parties who are briefed on major national security actions. CBS News correspondent Natalie Brand is following all of this for us from the White House and joins us now with more. Good morning, Natalie. So how close is the public to potentially seeing video of this second strike? Yeah, that remains unclear, Errol. You heard the president now say that it's up to Secretary Hegseth, who has not committed to releasing it to the public, saying that it's under a review process at the Pentagon. And they have to be very responsible about that. But what's interesting is there's actually a new provision in the annual defense bill that has to get passed by Congress that says, tries to withhold travel funds for the secretary's office unless he releases that unedited video of boat strikes to the Senate and House Armed Services Committee. So this continues to be a focus over on Capitol Hill as top Democratic lawmakers really push for the release of this video. As you noted he, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and also the Joint Chiefs Chair, Dan Caine, are expected to brief top congressional leaders today. And we have a new interview of President Trump by Politico, in which he was asked, does he want Secretary Hegseth to testify about these strikes on alleged drug boats? He said he doesn't really care, that it's up to the secretary. He also in this interview suggested again that land strikes could happen soon regarding the operation on Venezuela. And he was asked by Politico whether he would consider similar operations on Mexico and Colombia, places more responsible for fentanyl production and trafficking. And he said, yeah, he would be potentially open to it. So this is a new interview that we are going through the transcript now, but some notable news out of it, Errol. Interview released just moments ago. And Natalie, domestic issues are of key importance to our viewers, specifically the economy. And we know that the White House is shifting its attention to the economy this week. In that interview with Politico, the president described the state of the economy. Let's just quickly play that for our viewers. But I do want to talk about the economy, sir, here at home. And I wonder what grade you would give-- A-plus. A-plus? A-plus-plus-plus-plus.

CBS News polling from November found 64% of Americans disapprove of the economy. So, Natalie, what will the president do to address what many see as an affordability crisis? Yeah, we know this is top of mind for voters. They expressed that in November. This comes ahead of a key midterms year. The White House recognizes that and realizes that it has to step up its messaging around the economy and affordability. But that same polling found a disconnect between how President Trump is talking about the economy, giving it an A-plus, as you heard, and how people at home are feeling when they pay their daily bills. So that explains why the president is going to launch this travel campaign. Later today, he is scheduled to head to Pennsylvania, of course, a key battleground state, particularly a swing district, the town of Mount Pocono, to speak to voters tonight about the economy, trying to sell them on what was in the spending bill, tax cut and spending bill passed earlier this year. And it also comes as yesterday he really tried to bolster a key constituency of his farmers. He announced a $12 billion aid package for farmers who have been impacted by all of the trade uncertainty, the tariffs, the trade war, the trade tensions with China, particularly soybean farmers. Take a listen to part of what the president had to say. This relief will provide much needed certainty to farmers as they get this year's harvest to market and look ahead to next year's crops. And it will help them continue their efforts to lower food prices for American families. A one-time payment for farmers is cold comfort for all the headache and anxiety and losses they've endured because of Donald Trump's trade war. And to give you a sense of what farmers have been facing, the Iowa Farm Bureau in a statement said, "Farm income is at the lowest point in 15 years. Farmers facing severe financial stress driven by high input costs and declining crop prices." It goes on to praise the aid that they receive, but says "Farmers don't want aid. They want a level playing field. This package provides critical support while broader trade discussions continue." Errol.

All right, Natalie. And we'll have more on the president's Politico interview throughout the hour. Thank you very much for all those headlines.