The First American Pope
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It's Friday, May 9th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is What A Day, where we're excited to see Fox News host and loud talker Janine Pirro become the new interim attorney general for D.C. She will be the 23rd Fox employee to take part in this administration. And be honest, if you're on Fox News and Trump hasn't given you a big federal job, are you like a little insulted at this point? Like, what does Jesse Waters have to do to get an ambassadorship?

On today's show, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy shares his big plan to overhaul the air traffic control system. And is FBI Director Kash Patel even working? But let's start with the Vatican because we have a new pope and he's from Chicago. God loves us. God loves everyone. Evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God.

Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and amongst ourselves, let us go forward.

Yes, the new pope, the bishop of Rome and the head of the Catholic Church, is Cardinal Robert Prevost, who has taken the new name Leo XIV. He's a graduate of Villanova University, but has spent a lot of his adult life living in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen. And before his election during the conclave, most Catholics had probably never heard of him. He now has a very, very, very big job.

In 2020, there were about 1.36 billion Catholics on Earth, roughly one out of every five people.

And Catholicism is growing fastest in Africa and Asia. According to a paper published by the University of Southern California, 75% of Catholics will live outside of the West by 2050. Catholicism is changing in a major way. But as the first American pontiff, Pope Leo XIV will likely need to have his eye on the 62 million Americans who identify as Catholics and the cultural and, yes, political issues that drive them. From

From debates over the Latin mass to conversations about immigration, like with noted Catholic convert, Vice President J.D. Vance, American Catholics are a major force in how Catholicism is perceived and practiced both in this country and around the world. I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school in Ohio for 13 years. Before you ask, her Saline Academy. So yes, to me, it's kind of exciting to have a Midwestern Pope, a Pope who will have thoughts on the Chicago Bears and whether ketchup belongs on a hot dog.

But Pope Leo XIV is going to have to do a lot of work, especially in the era of Donald Trump. So to find out more about his selection and what to expect from his papacy, I spoke to Christopher White. He is the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of the forthcoming book, Pope Leo XIV, Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy. He joined us Thursday night from Vatican City, hours after the announcement. Christopher, welcome to White Today. Great to be with you. Thanks for having me.

So going into this conclave, there seemed to be some tension between the wing of the church the late Pope Francis represented, which I think some would say was a little bit more progressive, arguably, on a couple of issues, specifically, say, LGBTQ issues, and a more conservative wing that believed Francis's modernization efforts were undermining church doctrine and tradition. As of right now, where do you think the new Pope Leo falls within that debate?

Yeah, this is a win for those who want to see Pope Francis' vision of the Church continue forward. Pope Leo XIV is someone who I think—

had a personal relationship with Francis long before he actually became Pope Francis. And Pope Francis brought him to Rome because he wanted to be surrounded by men like him that shared his vision. I think he's perhaps a bit more moderate in his own governing style. His personality is certainly not going to be as electrifying, perhaps, as Pope Francis's was.

But look, just in taking the name Leo, he's choosing to build on a tradition of a pope who really believed in workers' rights and created a name for himself for standing with the worker and sort of defending sort of the dignity of all human beings, particularly the poor.

As a new pope, there are obviously a ton of major issues that he'll need to tackle both within the church and globally. I think for some American Catholics, they care a lot about, say, the Latin mass. And for others, they're thinking a lot about immigration or issues impacting the global poor. What are some of the big issues that you think Pope Leo XIV will need to be thinking about right away?

Yeah, I mean, I don't want to trivialize any one particular pet issue, but I mean, the Latin mass crowd is very tiny and small. If you look at the overall majority of people. It's very small, but they're very loud. They're very loud. And they're well-funded and they get amplified by, you know, people in prominent places. But at the end of the day, they make up such a small minority of Catholics.

That's certainly not something that I think very many people that were voting on the next pope really cared that much about. I think this next pope is going to continue in what Pope Francis called his project of synodality, which is a really cumbersome, loaded word. But it basically means looking at church structures to see how they might be reformed to be more inclusive, more welcoming, more participatory.

And Cardinal Provost, now Pope Leo XIV, I think is very much committed to this in his bones. And I think by electing him, it's a big sign that the cardinals want to continue by and large on that path.

We know, as you've mentioned, that Pope Leo XIV was close with the late Pope Francis. How does he compare to the late pontiff? You mentioned he was less electrifying, but Pope Francis was definitely willing to wade into global politics in a way that may have surprised some people. Will we see the same kinds of actions from Pope Leo XIV? I think so. I think one of the things that I've just been thinking about in recent hours is

One of Pope Francis's last acts before he went into hospital in February was to write this almost unprecedented letter to U.S. Catholic bishops saying, you all need to be united in standing against the Trump administration's in their mass deportation plans.

And that was a letter that went out to all U.S. bishops. And Cardinal Provost, before he became Pope Leo XIV, led the Vatican office in charge of bishops. So he would have been very much involved in the drafting of that letter, you know, the dissemination of that letter. We see that he has shared that letter widely, and as well as what appears to be his very valid social media account, articles criticizing J.D. Vance for distorting Catholic theology.

I think this is a man of real steel and backbone. I don't think he's going anywhere looking for a fight. But if it comes to him, I think he'll stand strong. And I think, you know, those who think that this is going to be just a very quiet scholarly man are probably mistaken. I think he's a man that's really studied. He spent most of his life outside of the United States. And I think he's going to bring to the papacy a real globalist perspective.

Leo is the first American pope in church history. And to say his papacy comes at a interesting time for U.S. world relations would be an understatement. Can you talk about the significance of electing an American pope in the wake of Donald Trump's return to the White House? I'm aware that, like, I keep saying about, you know, the Catholic Church is 2,000 years old. It's been through a lot. You know, in the scheme of things, this is fairly small potatoes, but it matters a lot, especially to American Catholics.

It does. I mean, I think one of the things that so many of us had discounted was the possibility of a pope from the United States. But as I said many times in the weeks leading up to this election, if anyone was going to be elected from the United States, it would be Provost because he spent most of his life outside of the United States and he's not really thought of as your typical American. But what that represents, I think, is a sentiment certainly among some cardinals that

who want someone here in Europe as an American to counter another American at a time when America is a diminished state, when America is becoming much more withdrawn from global affairs. You know, when you've got sort of an authoritarian bully, perhaps someone that can use the bully pulpit of the papacy to challenge him is something that might have motivated some of these cardinals to vote for him.

Now, it feels like this might be a little beyond the papacy, which is head of the global church. But what kind of relationship might the new pope have with the White House?

Well, the Vatican's general disposition with any administration is to see that what they can do together in common, where they can find, you know, shared cause. So for that reason, the Vatican typically has a policy that any head of state that wants a meeting with the Pope can get one. So you saw Pope Francis meet with Vladimir Putin on three times. You saw him meet with Zelensky on multiple times.

You saw him meet with Trump and you saw him meet with Biden. And this new pope will almost certainly visit the United States at some point. And there'll be lots of areas where they can work together. Certainly issues that the Vatican cares about, like religious liberty and persecution of Christians.

That's an area where they're probably going to see eye to eye with this administration more or less. But I think you can expect some real clashes on issues like migration, climate change, the poor. These are issues that were top button issues, you know, top shelf issues for the last pope.

And we've been given every indication that Pope Leo XIV will probably continue in that direction as big issues that he wants to continue to embrace. Yeah, I wanted to ask, as a Vatican correspondent, what are you looking for that could give us a sense of how he's going to approach his papacy?

Yeah, you know, I was standing next to an American Catholic bishop tonight on television when the new pope came out, and we heard his first speech, and he looked at me and he said, this is Francis 2.0. And I think it's because of some of the words that we heard. He said, you know, the fact that he wants the Catholic Church to be a place of welcome for everyone.

Pope Francis had this sort of mantra that he often repeated, especially in the final years of his papacy, that the Catholic Church should be open to todos, todos, todos, or tutti, tutti, tutti, everyone, everyone, everyone. And this was really the Pope's way of saying, I don't care if you're young, you're old, you're gay, you're straight, you're divorced, you're remarried, you can find a place here, or at least we want you to. And of course, the rhetoric isn't always matched by actions, but I think that was certainly the nudge that Francis was trying to give the Church, and

And we heard Pope Leo XIV tonight give a similar nudge. So that's one big thing I was listening for. The other thing is he talked about the need for peace, and he didn't get into great specifics, but I think one of the things that we heard a lot when the cardinals were meeting in their pre-conclave meetings that were sort of closed door and secretive discussions, they were painfully aware that the world is at war. Pope Francis often used the phrase that we're fighting a piecemeal third world war.

And I think they wanted to find someone who could speak to that moment, this moment in history. And I think that was his effort to do so tonight. Christopher, thank you so much for joining us. Happy to be with you. That was my conversation with Christopher White, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of a forthcoming book about Pope Leo XIV.

We'll get to more of the news in a moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads.

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Here's what else we're following today. Headline. I'm thrilled to announce that we have reached a breakthrough trade deal with the United Kingdom. Incredible country. That's President Trump in the Oval Office announcing his first big, beautiful new trade deal with the United Kingdom, one of our closest global allies. Congratulations. One down, the rest of the world to go.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined by speakerphone. Trump was also flanked by Vice President J.D. Vance and other top officials. Sadly, they did not unfurl the Mission Accomplished banner.

The deal appears to be more of a framework, but the president praised the UK for, quote, affirming that reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade. The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the

products produced by our great farmers and our secretary, as you know, of agriculture is here. Brooke, thank you very much for being here. Thank you, sir. You'll let the farmers know.

Per the White House fact sheet, the U.S. will also negotiate an alternative arrangement to tariffs on steel and aluminum. It would also cut back on some auto tariffs. Trump said this deal is the first in a series of trade agreements his administration has been working on. And even with the big showy announcement, no banner, still sad about that, it isn't signed, sealed, and delivered just yet. Trump said the deal is a conclusive one, but the final details are being written up in the coming weeks. Still, Starmer expressed his excitement.

— We've always had a fair and balanced arrangement between our countries. This builds on that, hugely important for sectors like car manufacturing and for steel and aluminium and so many others. And yes, we can finish hanging out some of the details, but there's a fantastic platform here. — The Trump administration is clearly hoping other countries are taking note. — If you know anything about the president, he loves the airspace and he loves airplanes.

And when he called to give me the job, he said, "We are going to fix American airspace and our air traffic control system."

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy on Thursday announced plans to give a much-needed update to the nation's air traffic control system. According to the Secretary, the Department of Transportation plans to build six new air traffic control centers and replace decades-old technology and equipment across the board. Duffy held up some floppy disks during his press conference of the department as an example of just how antiquated the current system is. When systems go down and the equipment that you see appear...

We don't call the manufacturer to buy replacement parts for this equipment. Do you know where we go? eBay. We shop on eBay to replace parts to fix our equipment in the system that keeps you safe, keeps your family safe. Duffy's announcement comes a week after the air traffic system outage at Newark Liberty International Airport when computer screens suddenly went dark for roughly 60 to 90 seconds.

As a result, hundreds of flights going in and out of Newark were delayed and canceled. The secretary called on Congress to give him money up front for his proposed upgrade so officials can get it done by 2028. But he notably didn't say how much he needed. A House committee estimated last week that it could cost $12.5 billion to modernize the country's air traffic control system.

A group of protesters occupied one of the main reading rooms in Butler Library, refusing to leave. And another group breached the front door, causing substantial chaos. That's Columbia University acting president Claire Shipman, who said the school had no choice but to ask for assistance from the New York Police Department in quelling a protest on campus. Police said around 80 people were taken into custody after pro-Palestinian protesters entered a library at Columbia University Wednesday. Photos of the protestors were taken to the

Photos and videos of the event show some demonstrators wearing masks and keffiyas, holding up banners and speaking through megaphones while other students studied. Shipman said 900 students were forced to leave and two campus public safety officers were hurt. She said what she witnessed was, quote, utterly unacceptable. Violence and vandalism, hijacking a library, none of that has any place on our campus. These aren't Columbia's values.

The Trump administration's task force to combat anti-Semitism praised Shipman for her response to the protest. It said in a statement Thursday, Shipman has, quote, met the moment with fortitude and conviction. The White House has its eyes on Columbia. The administration announced funding cuts to the school earlier this year. It's part of its larger crackdown on alleged anti-Semitism on college campuses. He's had the worst hundred days any president's ever had.

Former President Joe Biden appeared live on ABC's The View Thursday. He was joined by his wife and former first lady, Jill. Biden criticized President Trump, his administration, and reflected on the 2024 election. He conceded that he could have done more to address voter concerns about issues like immigration and inflation. Look, I was in charge and he won. So, you know, I take responsibility.

But Biden is still cocky and said he could have beaten Trump if he stayed in the race. He added that he wasn't surprised former Vice President Kamala Harris lost because of all the attacks on her gender and her race. I've never seen quite as successful and consistent campaign undercutting the notion that a woman couldn't lead the country and a woman of mixed race.

And things got a little awkward when Biden pushed back on claims made in forthcoming books that he experienced cognitive decline while he was president. They are wrong. There's nothing to sustain that, number one. Number two, you know, think of what we're left with. He proceeded to ramble for a while until Jill cut in. So we went to work and we got it done. And, you know, one of the things that...

Well, you know, one of the things I think is that the people who wrote those books were not in the White House with us. That is a very nice wife. And that's the news. One more thing.

I'd like to offer one Trump administration official a word of praise. Not like a lot of words of praise, but at least one. Because this Trump administration official, FBI Director Kash Patel, seems not very interested in being director of the FBI.

I probably don't need to tell you a lot about Kash Patel. He's a mega enthusiast who has written multiple, multiple children's books about former FBI director and Department of Justice special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of President Trump during his first term. For the kids, you know, children, they love that. He appeared on a white nationalist podcast multiple times, but couldn't recall those appearances during his confirmation hearing.

And while you and me and most other people were correctly horrified, MAGA folks were very excited for Patel's nomination, hoping that all of their dreams of show trials for their enemies would finally come true. And then he got the job.

And since having the position, he's been way less focused on putting all of Trump's enemies on trial for made-up crimes and way more focused on hanging out in Las Vegas, where he reportedly lives, visiting his girlfriend in Nashville, allegedly using the FBI's planes, of course, and watching hockey.

When Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 875th goal in the National Hockey League, surpassing the record set by Wayne Gretzky, Kash Patel was in the crowd, sitting with the hockey great. Patel also plays hockey in a Northern Virginia men's league. So it makes total sense to me that he just doesn't have time for things like running the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which could be why he was replaced as interim head of the department last month, given that he reportedly never visited the office. And

And he's definitely got too much going on for something as silly as the FBI budget, as he told Democratic Senator Patty Murray on Thursday. It was due last week by law. I understand. And your answer is you just understand you're not going to follow the law? My answer is that I am following the law and I'm working with my interagency partners to do this and get you the budget that you are required to have. And you have no timeline? No. Hmm.

Honestly, Senator Murray should know that until the Stanley Cup playoffs are over, Kash Patel is booked and busy. He's even too busy for weirdo conspiracy theories about or investigations into the death of pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein to the apparent disappointment of Republican Senator John Kennedy. Did Jeffrey Epstein hang himself or did somebody kill him? Senator, I believe he hung himself in a cell in the Metropolitan Tension Center. Are you going to release all the information about that?

Senator, we are working through that right now with the Department of Justice. When do you think you'll have it done, Cash? I think in the near future, sir. Like before I die?

Now, I know you might be thinking, shouldn't the director of the FBI be doing his job? And to that I say, no. Cash Patel should not be focused on the work of the FBI, or at least how he would interpret doing that job. Cash Patel should be focused on issues like, does the Venetian Las Vegas have a good buffet?

Or is this the year for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Hey, Patel is also reportedly super into mixed martial arts, and I think he should definitely spend hours, no, days, training for his very first fight. How come? In fact, it would be so great, and the libs would be so owned, if Kash Patel did nothing but work out and watch hockey for the next, oh, three and a half years.

Before we go, in her latest episode of Assembly Required, Stacey Abrams teams up with Rachel Maddow to break down the first 100 days of Trump's return and how history shows we've beaten back fascism before. From past resistance to present threats, this is your crash course in how democracy survives when people rise up to defend it. Listen and subscribe to Assembly Required now on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review. Don't buy 70,000 dum-dums on your mom's Amazon account and tell your friends to listen.

And if you're into reading, and not just about how a little kid in Kentucky was just trying to organize a carnival for his friends. So he ordered 70,000 dumb, dumb lollipops without his mom knowing. And in case you're wondering, that cost about $4,700, like me. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and seriously, happy Mother's Day this weekend. It's

It's a hard one for me, and maybe it's a hard one for you too, but to all the mothers and folks who do some amazing mothering out there, thank you.

Water Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producers are Raven Yamamoto and Emily Fore. Our producer is Michelle Alloy. We had production help today from Johanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters, and Julia Clare. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our executive producer is Adrienne Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gillyard and Kashaka. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.

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