1
00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,160
Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics,

2
00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:07,120
Speaker 1: where we discussed the top political headlines with some of

3
00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,440
Speaker 1: today's best minds. And the percentage of voters with significant

4
00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:14,600
Speaker 1: levels of confidence in the Supreme Court has dropped to

5
00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:19,360
Speaker 1: its lowest point since NBC began polling on this question

6
00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,919
Speaker 1: in two thousand. Just twenty two percent of respondents say

7
00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,759
Speaker 1: they have confidence in the Court. We have such a

8
00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:30,000
Speaker 1: great show for you today. Notice his own Evan mc morris.

9
00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:35,520
Speaker 1: Santoro steps by to talk about the hopefully doomed Save Act.

10
00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,720
Speaker 1: Then we'll talk to Financial Times and loose about what

11
00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:45,320
Speaker 1: the Iranian war means for Americans at home. But first

12
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:45,839
Speaker 1: the news.

13
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,320
Speaker 2: So, Molly, big big news out of Marjorie Taylor Green's

14
00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:53,080
Speaker 2: district last night, an election where the Democrat got more votes,

15
00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,720
Speaker 2: which everybody was told could never happen in that But

16
00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,560
Speaker 2: there's some people saying, if you give to this Democrat

17
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:00,880
Speaker 2: for this frontoff, you're an idiot. We need this money

18
00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,760
Speaker 2: for the Senate races. I'm curious what you think, but

19
00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,000
Speaker 2: it really does feel like Dems can't stop winning.

20
00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I was on my way home from something.

21
00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:11,959
Speaker 1: I was like, let's check in at that special election

22
00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,560
Speaker 1: for Marjorie Taylor Green seat, which is like a ruby

23
00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,479
Speaker 1: red district. I mean, there's a reason that that is

24
00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:23,200
Speaker 1: the district that sent Marjorie Taylor Green to Congress. Right

25
00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:28,240
Speaker 1: Jewish space lasers qan one. You'll remember she used to

26
00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,880
Speaker 1: not be so refined. So I looked at it and

27
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,640
Speaker 1: I thought the Democrat would be losing by less than

28
00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,760
Speaker 1: what the Democrats historically lose by in that district, and

29
00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,399
Speaker 1: in fact, the Democrat was winning. Now this advances to

30
00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,600
Speaker 1: a runoff because there are multiple candidates. It were multiple

31
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,080
Speaker 1: Republican candidates, and that is how the Democrat got more votes.

32
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,200
Speaker 1: Do I think a Democrat will win Marjorie Taylor Green's seat, No,

33
00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,160
Speaker 1: I do not. But why this is relevant is because

34
00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,160
Speaker 1: this is a seat that Donald Trump endorsed to candidate.

35
00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:07,680
Speaker 1: The candidate did not immediately win. That is important. That

36
00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,720
Speaker 1: is an important data point because it means that Donald

37
00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:15,840
Speaker 1: Trump is a president who has a cult of personality

38
00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,920
Speaker 1: around him. That means he can do things like do

39
00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,120
Speaker 1: things that are not what he ran for president on,

40
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,639
Speaker 1: if that makes sense. So he does things like he

41
00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,440
Speaker 1: goes to war when saying he's against wars, but his

42
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,160
Speaker 1: cult of personality only works if there's a cult, and

43
00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,080
Speaker 1: the fact that he could not get this Republican in

44
00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,800
Speaker 1: a Ruby red district over the finish line means that

45
00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,560
Speaker 1: the cult is not as powerful as it's been previously,

46
00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,920
Speaker 1: and that means that trump Ism is not as powerful

47
00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:47,880
Speaker 1: as it was, and that is a very good sign

48
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,800
Speaker 1: for Democrats. So should you pour all your money into

49
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,320
Speaker 1: a special election in a Ruby red district. I don't

50
00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,119
Speaker 1: think it's the best use of your cash. I think

51
00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:01,000
Speaker 1: you're better off giving money to Shared Brand in Ohio.

52
00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,880
Speaker 1: I even think you're better off giving money to Marry Perota.

53
00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,680
Speaker 1: I don't think this is the best use of your cash.

54
00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,440
Speaker 1: But if you want to throw a little cash that way,

55
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,840
Speaker 1: you're certainly welcome to. It will go to a runoff,

56
00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:16,840
Speaker 1: and the point again with these runoffs is that it

57
00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,480
Speaker 1: means that the Republicans have to spend more money. And

58
00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:24,480
Speaker 1: just like the Texas Senate primary runoff, which we talk

59
00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,520
Speaker 1: about later, these runoffs are good because they make Republicans

60
00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:29,440
Speaker 1: spend Yeah.

61
00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,400
Speaker 2: And the list of how many times though Democrats, because

62
00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,600
Speaker 2: particularly last night, they flipped a district in New Hampshire,

63
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,520
Speaker 2: this list is just so impressive and really gives a

64
00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:40,400
Speaker 2: lot of hope. And I know we like to be

65
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,600
Speaker 2: reminded since you and I can get a little down

66
00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:46,280
Speaker 2: at times, and we have to remember things are going

67
00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:47,760
Speaker 2: well when we hit the ballot box.

68
00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I'm going to just read a few of

69
00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:54,360
Speaker 1: these numbers so people can see these special legislative flips.

70
00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,640
Speaker 1: This is from interactive polls. So Texas's state District nine

71
00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,960
Speaker 1: was over performance by a Democrat by thirty two points.

72
00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,120
Speaker 1: So if you think about that, if you think about

73
00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,280
Speaker 1: thirty two points would mean the entire map flips to Democrats.

74
00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,400
Speaker 1: We had. Mississippi's House District twenty two was a D

75
00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,000
Speaker 1: plus eight, which means that Democrats overperformed by eight points.

76
00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,359
Speaker 1: That's still is humongous. Now, will the midterms be like

77
00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:26,200
Speaker 1: special elections? It's possible, But it does mean that if

78
00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:28,640
Speaker 1: you could get showings like this, you could do You

79
00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,120
Speaker 1: could flip the House, you could flip this Senate. Will

80
00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,200
Speaker 1: we I don't want to say no, but I certainly

81
00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:36,560
Speaker 1: know that Donald Trump is pushing really hard for the

82
00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:38,600
Speaker 1: Save Act and there's only one reason for.

83
00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:43,000
Speaker 2: That, yep. So we try to keep it domestic policy here,

84
00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,960
Speaker 2: but I think it becomes very relevant to domestic policy

85
00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,080
Speaker 2: when we start talking about the cover ups at home

86
00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,719
Speaker 2: and Trump is pretending a tomahawk missile we sent didn't

87
00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:54,640
Speaker 2: hit a girls school that killed one hundred and seventy

88
00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,000
Speaker 2: five people. Molly, do you have any interest in hearing

89
00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:58,520
Speaker 2: how bad his defense of this was.

90
00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, I actually heard his defense of this because I

91
00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:03,800
Speaker 1: watched the press conference.

92
00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:04,880
Speaker 2: Well and I play for the listeners.

93
00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,920
Speaker 3: Then, Yeah, you just suggested that Aron somehow got its

94
00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:11,800
Speaker 3: hands on a tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school

95
00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:13,480
Speaker 3: on the first day of the war. But you're the

96
00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,200
Speaker 3: person in your government saying this. Even your Defense secretary

97
00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:18,520
Speaker 3: wouldn't say that when he was asked standing over your

98
00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,919
Speaker 3: shoulder on your plane on Saturday. Why are you the

99
00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:21,880
Speaker 3: only person saying this?

100
00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,240
Speaker 4: Because I just don't know enough about it. I think

101
00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,320
Speaker 4: it's something that I was told is under investigation. But

102
00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:33,200
Speaker 4: tomahawks are used by others, as you know, numerous other

103
00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,680
Speaker 4: nations have tomahawks they buy him from US. But I

104
00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,400
Speaker 4: will certainly whatever the report shows. I'm willing to live

105
00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:41,200
Speaker 4: with that report.

106
00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's nice that he's willing to live with it, But.

107
00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:48,880
Speaker 2: It turns out the report showed it that it's our fault.

108
00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,919
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think it was pretty clear that this

109
00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,320
Speaker 1: was going to come out being our fault because tomahawks

110
00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,640
Speaker 1: are our missiles and we were in a fight. The

111
00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,440
Speaker 1: other side didn't have them. And so when you saw

112
00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:09,040
Speaker 1: Pete head sth unable to defend, you know, their only

113
00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,839
Speaker 1: job is North Korean sycophants. And so the fact that

114
00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,640
Speaker 1: he couldn't defend it was really a moment to take

115
00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,400
Speaker 1: a pause and know that he probably knew, and probably

116
00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,359
Speaker 1: this weekend they knew that it was theirs, and Donald

117
00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,480
Speaker 1: Trump still kept going defending it.

118
00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:31,640
Speaker 2: So Molly, I really love when Republicans just give up

119
00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,159
Speaker 2: on trying to defend Trump's ridiculous policies. I mean, he

120
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,360
Speaker 2: does put them in a place I would personally not

121
00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,640
Speaker 2: like to be. But when Senator Roger Marshall says freedom

122
00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,240
Speaker 2: isn't free, about why you're about to pay double for gas,

123
00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:45,440
Speaker 2: it's just chef's kiss.

124
00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,679
Speaker 1: Yeah, So this is the new message. The message last

125
00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,800
Speaker 1: week was we're not at war. Everything is fine this

126
00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,440
Speaker 1: week because gas is you know, teetering at one hundred

127
00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,320
Speaker 1: dollars of farrell. I think it went down, but it's

128
00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:02,560
Speaker 1: still quite expensive. Now they have to say something because

129
00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,359
Speaker 1: they've learned that the worst thing you can do is

130
00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,160
Speaker 1: be like nobody cares. Don't be a cock.

131
00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:11,720
Speaker 2: That would make a great ladside BALI you should copyright

132
00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:12,400
Speaker 2: that immediately.

133
00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,080
Speaker 1: But it's true. I mean, like, you know, we've seen

134
00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,440
Speaker 1: and look, this is a problem the Biden administration had

135
00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,200
Speaker 1: too write m h. Don't tell them the economy is good.

136
00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,440
Speaker 1: If they can't afford eggs. They don't want to hear that.

137
00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,680
Speaker 1: So this is this new Republican pivot. And the thing

138
00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:30,559
Speaker 1: they say now is short term pain for long term gain. Now,

139
00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,920
Speaker 1: I want to point out, nobody knows why we are

140
00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,440
Speaker 1: in this war to begin with, so the gain would

141
00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:41,200
Speaker 1: be that what the gain would be more war in

142
00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,560
Speaker 1: the Middle East, killing a bunch of girls in a school.

143
00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:46,720
Speaker 1: I mean, what's the gain here? Because I don't see

144
00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,960
Speaker 1: any gain right there in my mind. I understand that

145
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:56,160
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia and Israel both wanted America to go into this,

146
00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,600
Speaker 1: but I see no gain anyway. The new thing short

147
00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,520
Speaker 1: term pain for long term gain, which means they know

148
00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,600
Speaker 1: it's going to be a summer of high gas prices. Luckily,

149
00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:11,400
Speaker 1: this administration has funded so much solar and wind just

150
00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,720
Speaker 1: kidding anyway, I don't know what to tell you.

151
00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:19,400
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, even de incentivized electric cars. Great stuff. So,

152
00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:23,640
Speaker 2: speaking of defending the indefensible, the queen of it, Carolyn

153
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:25,920
Speaker 2: Levitt had to admit today that the Save Act will

154
00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:27,280
Speaker 2: make it harder for married.

155
00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:27,720
Speaker 5: Women to vote.

156
00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I'm shocked. I didn't know she was

157
00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,560
Speaker 1: allowed to admit things. But yes, she accidentally admitted what

158
00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,079
Speaker 1: opponents of the Act have long warned against. She's that

159
00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,360
Speaker 1: married women will need to update their identification documentation in

160
00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,680
Speaker 1: order to vote if the Save America Act passes Congress.

161
00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:51,200
Speaker 1: According to White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt, look Levitt,

162
00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,120
Speaker 1: one of the things I love about her is nothing.

163
00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:58,280
Speaker 1: But I am impressed that she really does double down.

164
00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,240
Speaker 1: You know, how dare you? Press? And Trump is the handsomest, youngest,

165
00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:07,880
Speaker 1: most virile anyway, All of this Save Act is to

166
00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,079
Speaker 1: make it so that people can't vote, so that Donald

167
00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,839
Speaker 1: Trump doesn't get impeached, so that they don't lose the House.

168
00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:17,080
Speaker 1: Because he knows that if Democrats retake the House, donald

169
00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:21,000
Speaker 1: Trump is getting impeached. Now will he get removed? Probably not.

170
00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,400
Speaker 1: They probably don't have sixty votes to get rid of him.

171
00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:25,280
Speaker 1: In the Senate. But his life is going to be

172
00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:31,360
Speaker 1: a trial after trial after trial after trial. You probably

173
00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:33,080
Speaker 1: will be that anyway, but you.

174
00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:34,720
Speaker 2: Know, one trial after another.

175
00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:44,720
Speaker 1: That's all right. We have exciting news over at our

176
00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:49,480
Speaker 1: YouTube channel. The third episode is out now from our

177
00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:54,320
Speaker 1: series Project twenty twenty nine, Reimagining, where we examine what

178
00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,040
Speaker 1: went wrong with democrats approach to policy and how we

179
00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:03,319
Speaker 1: can correct it and deliver changes for the American people.

180
00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:09,120
Speaker 1: The first episodes dove into campaign finance, reform, anti trust

181
00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:14,400
Speaker 1: and regulation. Our newest episode is on how we solidify

182
00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,640
Speaker 1: reproductive rights for women. We talk to the smartest names

183
00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:21,960
Speaker 1: in the field like Abortion every Day is Jessica Valenti,

184
00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:27,520
Speaker 1: the Center for Reproductive Rights, Nancy Northam, UCLA, is oh

185
00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:32,439
Speaker 1: and Mary Ziegler, and the gout Macher Institute's Kelly Badden.

186
00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,480
Speaker 1: Republicans were prepared for when they got the levers of power.

187
00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:40,880
Speaker 1: Democrats need to be too. So please head over to

188
00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,920
Speaker 1: YouTube and search Molly John Fast Project twenty twenty nine

189
00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:48,520
Speaker 1: or go to the Fast Politics YouTube channel page and

190
00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:52,720
Speaker 1: you'll find it there. Help us spread the word. Evan

191
00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:57,120
Speaker 1: McMorris Santorro is a reporter at Notice.

192
00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,360
Speaker 5: Evan Mallie, how are you.

193
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:05,600
Speaker 1: So great, so good? So Evan, we need to talk

194
00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:11,119
Speaker 1: about the Save Act. Donald Trump has decided that because

195
00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,120
Speaker 1: he cannot wait. I mean, basically this is he looked

196
00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,400
Speaker 1: at the polls and he was like, I'm gonna get

197
00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,840
Speaker 1: him paged again. He looked at his thirty five thirty

198
00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:24,080
Speaker 1: six favorability rating and was like, we gotta make it

199
00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,760
Speaker 1: harder to vote because otherwise we're all in a lot

200
00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:27,280
Speaker 1: of trouble.

201
00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,480
Speaker 6: Discuss Well, I think that what's going on with this,

202
00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,360
Speaker 6: right is he has a long term project heading into

203
00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,800
Speaker 6: these mid terms to really question the way elections work

204
00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:38,920
Speaker 6: in the country. I mean, you know, he has active

205
00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:43,520
Speaker 6: investigations going on in Georgia and Arizona, the places that

206
00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:45,720
Speaker 6: he lost in twenty twenty and then still sort of

207
00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:47,640
Speaker 6: carrying a torch for saying he got robbed from that

208
00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:50,960
Speaker 6: they're doing that. There have been calls from some folks

209
00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,400
Speaker 6: in his you know, in Maga world, that he should

210
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,959
Speaker 6: declare an emergency so he can like take over elections.

211
00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,880
Speaker 5: He's he talked about taking over elections and then.

212
00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:03,040
Speaker 1: Say their business because he knows he can't win, right.

213
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,720
Speaker 1: I mean, he's not doing this because American elections, Like

214
00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,800
Speaker 1: a million different courts have said his own dej that

215
00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:10,680
Speaker 1: he did not win.

216
00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:12,240
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, I mean that's right. I mean he didn't

217
00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:13,640
Speaker 5: win the election in twenty twenty.

218
00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:15,360
Speaker 6: He lost the election in twenty twenty, and then the

219
00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:17,680
Speaker 6: thing is the best way to come back and that

220
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,760
Speaker 6: is to win the following one, which he then did.

221
00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:22,840
Speaker 6: So it's confusing as to why we're still talking about

222
00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:25,400
Speaker 6: twenty twenty. But I will say, look, I don't know.

223
00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,040
Speaker 6: This is all about the majority in the House and

224
00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:29,840
Speaker 6: the Senate, which, like you know, it does look at risk.

225
00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,560
Speaker 6: His poll numbers are very, very bad. It's not going

226
00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,280
Speaker 6: well for them. Yeah, but this really is a long

227
00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:39,440
Speaker 6: term Trump project has been undermining.

228
00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:41,040
Speaker 1: The American elections.

229
00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,320
Speaker 6: Yes, like since try beginning, I mean even before twenty sixteen.

230
00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:46,000
Speaker 6: Right the lock up to that was a lot of

231
00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,240
Speaker 6: questions like are you going to accept the results, you know,

232
00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:50,920
Speaker 6: if they if they don't go your way? He's like,

233
00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:52,040
Speaker 6: I don't know if I'm going to or not. Of

234
00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:53,760
Speaker 6: course he did go his way, then he of course

235
00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:55,640
Speaker 6: accepted them. But then when they didn't go his way,

236
00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,040
Speaker 6: he didn't accept them. January sixth, et cetera. This whole

237
00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,880
Speaker 6: thing is like of the whole piece. And what's fascinating

238
00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:03,640
Speaker 6: about it is that you have seen a lot of

239
00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:06,360
Speaker 6: Republicans get very upset about some of the stuff that

240
00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:07,760
Speaker 6: he was talking about. When he was out there talking

241
00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,880
Speaker 6: about Republicans should take over elections, and he listed to

242
00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,760
Speaker 6: several states those lessons that they should take over. Republicans

243
00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:15,640
Speaker 6: pushed back, They're like, well, well, you know, this is

244
00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:16,800
Speaker 6: a state sovereignty issue.

245
00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:17,400
Speaker 5: We run them.

246
00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:18,800
Speaker 6: We don't need to do this. We don't need the

247
00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:20,280
Speaker 6: federal government coming in there and telling us how to

248
00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:24,120
Speaker 6: run our elections. And on this issue of the Save Act,

249
00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:25,920
Speaker 6: you know, the bill itself that does a lot of

250
00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,440
Speaker 6: things that you know sort of have are already the

251
00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:32,080
Speaker 6: law changes some other things, but the main thing is

252
00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:35,559
Speaker 6: the senators, the Republican senators are not letting him do this,

253
00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,880
Speaker 6: do this bill. They don't want to blow up the

254
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,760
Speaker 6: legislative filibuster, which senators really like. Literally, the only people

255
00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,640
Speaker 6: in America who like the filibuster are senators. It's one

256
00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:50,080
Speaker 6: of the strangest things in the world. Anybody you ever

257
00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:51,000
Speaker 6: go anywhere.

258
00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:51,280
Speaker 5: Who likes it.

259
00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:53,880
Speaker 6: But then today you saw the thing, you know, where

260
00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,400
Speaker 6: like John Fornyan running you know in that.

261
00:13:57,160 --> 00:13:59,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, primary, So let's stop for a second and talk

262
00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,040
Speaker 1: about the Texas primary. So this is John thun who

263
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,520
Speaker 1: is the new leader of the Senate. He is very

264
00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:11,800
Speaker 1: tall and tan and affable, and he is like great

265
00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,280
Speaker 1: a Senate guy, and he does not want to blow

266
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,880
Speaker 1: up the filibuster because he knows that no matter how

267
00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:23,440
Speaker 1: much fuck up elections, eventually Democrats will in fact win

268
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:29,760
Speaker 1: and then we will all have free breakfasts for children,

269
00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,600
Speaker 1: which everyone knows must be stopped. We cannot feed those

270
00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,920
Speaker 1: poor kids when that money could be better spent on

271
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:43,240
Speaker 1: movies of Christy Nome riding horses and flying around in

272
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:47,520
Speaker 1: her jet with a bedroom. So I want to talk

273
00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,280
Speaker 1: about you know, I'm right, You know I'm right that

274
00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,560
Speaker 1: money better spend.

275
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,920
Speaker 6: It isn't just about the next cooming election. I mean

276
00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:00,200
Speaker 6: I think that's true. Will you talk to senators from

277
00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,680
Speaker 6: both parties. They like this thing. This is this is

278
00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:05,840
Speaker 6: the think is a key component of what makes their

279
00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:08,320
Speaker 6: legislative body different other legislative bodies.

280
00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:09,600
Speaker 5: And they're the very excited.

281
00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,600
Speaker 6: There's always a vocal minority of people who want it gone.

282
00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:18,720
Speaker 1: And now yes, and now now we run into the

283
00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:25,680
Speaker 1: Texas Republican Senate primary, which pits Ken Paxton, a man

284
00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:29,240
Speaker 1: who has been impeached but not removed just like Donald Trump,

285
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,600
Speaker 1: and John Cornyn, a man who is slightly less nuts,

286
00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:40,600
Speaker 1: are running in a runoff for the primary, and so

287
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,280
Speaker 1: both of them have now decided that the Save America

288
00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,360
Speaker 1: Act is the only way to suck up to Trump

289
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:51,200
Speaker 1: to get the Trump endorsement, which you need, at least

290
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,240
Speaker 1: theoretically to win this runoff.

291
00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,040
Speaker 6: I have never seen an election about one person as

292
00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,360
Speaker 6: much as this one is. This is this is like

293
00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:01,440
Speaker 6: the movie with Kevin Cotun They made like swing voter

294
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:02,880
Speaker 6: or whatever, and they off to go down there and

295
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:07,160
Speaker 6: like campaign like what happened was Cornyn does surprisingly well

296
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,320
Speaker 6: in the first in the first vote, come down on top,

297
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,560
Speaker 6: you know, which is not supposed to happen. This sort

298
00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:15,760
Speaker 6: of shifts the winds that he's gonna get this endorsement

299
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,360
Speaker 6: from Trump. Trump sort of previews saying I'm gonna endorse

300
00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:22,760
Speaker 6: somebody and then make the other person drop out. Pastons

301
00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:24,520
Speaker 6: of the brilliant idea of like, yeah, I'll drop out

302
00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,520
Speaker 6: if you if they pass the Save Act. And Trump

303
00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,160
Speaker 6: loves that, and so now the whole thing is reset

304
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:34,720
Speaker 6: and I got Cordon, a longtime supporter of the Senate,

305
00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,600
Speaker 6: a long time supporter of the Senate filibuster, and who

306
00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:42,280
Speaker 6: is kind of running as kind of like, look, I

307
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:44,280
Speaker 6: like Trump, but I'm an independent guy, you know me.

308
00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:46,200
Speaker 5: It's kind of what his whole thing.

309
00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:48,840
Speaker 6: Is is that like I'm Baxton is like this weird

310
00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:51,440
Speaker 6: wild card who loves Trump so much and who knows

311
00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:53,560
Speaker 6: I'm like a normal Texan.

312
00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,520
Speaker 5: I go my own way if I have to, guy uh, and.

313
00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:59,320
Speaker 6: Now what he's doing this weird tick a fantic like

314
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:02,240
Speaker 6: I do think we should blow up the filibuster and

315
00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:03,640
Speaker 6: that we should pass the Save Act.

316
00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,440
Speaker 5: The problem is, there isn't that much time. There's twelve weeks.

317
00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:09,920
Speaker 5: It's a really long runoff, but that's not that long

318
00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:11,760
Speaker 5: in legislative calendar time.

319
00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,199
Speaker 6: So like it's pretty likely that the philibuster will not

320
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,320
Speaker 6: be blown up nor the Save Act passed by the

321
00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,600
Speaker 6: end of this thing, but has put the race in

322
00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:24,359
Speaker 6: stasis effectively until something happens.

323
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,680
Speaker 5: It's it's like, because the whole thing about what Trump

324
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:27,040
Speaker 5: going to do.

325
00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:29,840
Speaker 6: I mean, meanwhile, there are like millions of Texans who

326
00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,280
Speaker 6: have to vote and make this decision, but like nobody

327
00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:34,280
Speaker 6: seems to be talking to.

328
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:34,920
Speaker 5: Them very much.

329
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,320
Speaker 6: Right now, they're only talking to Trump, which is an

330
00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:38,720
Speaker 6: interesting way to go about it.

331
00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,760
Speaker 1: It is an insane story. I also want to add,

332
00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:46,000
Speaker 1: my favorite part of this story is that in order

333
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,200
Speaker 1: to pass the Save Act, what Donald Trump wants to

334
00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:51,520
Speaker 1: Save Act to say is not what the Save Act

335
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,520
Speaker 1: says in the House. So the Save Act that they

336
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:59,800
Speaker 1: passed from the House has vote by mail voting, which

337
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,720
Speaker 1: Donald Trump wants to get rid of in his new

338
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,080
Speaker 1: Save Act. Because part of this is that Donald Trump

339
00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,600
Speaker 1: is very incoherent, so he wants a lot of shit

340
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:13,800
Speaker 1: taken out of there, which in itself is wild.

341
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,159
Speaker 5: I mean, the bill just simply as written right now

342
00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:18,920
Speaker 5: cannot pass. And that's sort of the way it is.

343
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:20,600
Speaker 5: And this happens. I mean, I know we were going

344
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:20,960
Speaker 5: to talk.

345
00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,399
Speaker 1: About maybe go back to the House either.

346
00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,080
Speaker 5: Way, Yeah, it would have to go back to the House.

347
00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:25,840
Speaker 5: I mean, this is the whole thing.

348
00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,199
Speaker 6: This is an issue where the electorate in Texas is

349
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,720
Speaker 6: very interested in keeping you know, the republic Actor wants

350
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:35,480
Speaker 6: to keep this seat Republican. Some of them say they

351
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:37,040
Speaker 6: can do it by having this Kent Action. There's a

352
00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,520
Speaker 6: real bomb thrower right wing guy. Something they got to

353
00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,080
Speaker 6: do it by having this sort of died in the

354
00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:48,439
Speaker 6: wall establishment John Corning guy. But you when you go

355
00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:50,359
Speaker 6: out there, if you talk to people who are running,

356
00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:51,920
Speaker 6: who are voting in that election, you know, I have

357
00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:52,639
Speaker 6: Friendsho been doing that.

358
00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,560
Speaker 5: My colleagues have been doing that. They're not talking about

359
00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:57,240
Speaker 5: the Save Act. This is this is again another.

360
00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:59,080
Speaker 6: Thing where we're spending all of this time talking about

361
00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,840
Speaker 6: something that is really legilate, the enterteric. It's very very important,

362
00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:04,760
Speaker 6: as I mentioned, with everything I have you do with elections.

363
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:09,560
Speaker 6: But in terms of an electoral strategy, you've got a

364
00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,840
Speaker 6: Democrat running around talking about affordability, Tallerico who just won

365
00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:17,800
Speaker 6: We're talking about afordability, bringing people together, bipartisan solutions, and

366
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:21,960
Speaker 6: you've got a Republican primary that's frozen to see whether

367
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,320
Speaker 6: or not this esoteric bill that has nothing to do

368
00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,919
Speaker 6: with prices will get passed in the Senate. It's a

369
00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,359
Speaker 6: very very strange circumstance, not what anybody who is like

370
00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,840
Speaker 6: a strategist in Texas would design, and I think it's

371
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:35,600
Speaker 6: a tough one for them.

372
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, thoughts, prayers, Okay, So let's talk about leadership on

373
00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:46,520
Speaker 1: the Democratic side. So right now, we have a House

374
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:51,880
Speaker 1: that has a one vote majority for Republicans. Okay, one

375
00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:56,280
Speaker 1: Mike Johnson has lost his caucus. The women are so

376
00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:00,120
Speaker 1: mad they are talking. I mean your seat, Nancy May.

377
00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,440
Speaker 1: These Maga women are furious, right, They're furious. You see

378
00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:08,480
Speaker 1: them furious. They say they're fearious. Marjorie Taylgreen laughed. I mean,

379
00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,280
Speaker 1: it's just you know they are mad. Then you have

380
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,399
Speaker 1: Thomas Massey also mad. Then you have Don Bacon people

381
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,119
Speaker 1: who are retiring. You have such a huge group of

382
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:23,560
Speaker 1: disaffected Republicans caucusing with Republicans being run by Mike Johnson.

383
00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,560
Speaker 1: So answer me this because I asked a member of

384
00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,880
Speaker 1: Congress this and she punted and wouldn't answer. But why

385
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:36,159
Speaker 1: can't Hakeem get one of these people to either become

386
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,440
Speaker 1: an independent and caucus with him. What can he offer?

387
00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:41,919
Speaker 1: Why can't he get somebody on board? Why can't he

388
00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:43,119
Speaker 1: flip the House right now?

389
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,639
Speaker 6: Well, I will say that when you talk to Republicans

390
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,479
Speaker 6: about being Republicans in this era of Trump being elected,

391
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,600
Speaker 6: at probably this era of Trump, they have spoken about

392
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,520
Speaker 6: physical safety, like they get worried that if they get

393
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,320
Speaker 6: put on blast by Trump, do a certain enough they

394
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,280
Speaker 6: become persona on Grada enough that it could really put

395
00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:03,120
Speaker 6: their at them at actual physical risk.

396
00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:04,720
Speaker 5: This is the thing that they have talked about.

397
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,760
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, so I don't really know like the

398
00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:10,040
Speaker 6: mechanics of doing something like that. I think it's a

399
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:12,359
Speaker 6: thing of like would that get you you know, you'd

400
00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:14,800
Speaker 6: have to request that, like they had they tried to

401
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,480
Speaker 6: re elect you. You know, the Democrats right now are like,

402
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:19,560
Speaker 6: we're just gonna keep steam rolling ahead. Everything's working for us,

403
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,480
Speaker 6: and we're just gonna take this thing and when when

404
00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:25,160
Speaker 6: we can. But like that kind of maneuvering, we are

405
00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,639
Speaker 6: in that kind of weird type Yeah, yeah, slat a

406
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,920
Speaker 6: place where strange things can happen. But really where it's

407
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,040
Speaker 6: come down on mostly at this point has been on Johnson.

408
00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,919
Speaker 6: And we had reporting and notice this morning about the

409
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,640
Speaker 6: House retreat that was supposed to be a legislative strategy

410
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,439
Speaker 6: session planning for the you know, the full year ahead,

411
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,600
Speaker 6: and really none of the moderates attended this thing. Uh

412
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:48,920
Speaker 6: and even with none of the moderates there, they still

413
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,800
Speaker 6: couldn't agree on anything to do. So they're a really

414
00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,160
Speaker 6: tough spot. And that's sort of where this is all fallen.

415
00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:54,720
Speaker 5: Down on right now?

416
00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:56,760
Speaker 6: Is that it's like I think democrats are started sitting

417
00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:58,480
Speaker 6: back and letting enjoying the show for the moment.

418
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,000
Speaker 1: You know, we'll change, but let's pause for a minute,

419
00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:07,240
Speaker 1: because should they be like you and I, okay, whatever,

420
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 1: we know how it works. But like, let's just say

421
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:14,520
Speaker 1: right now, thirty percent of Democrats are being primaries. There

422
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,080
Speaker 1: is a kind of rage in the base. If you

423
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,800
Speaker 1: talk to normal people, they are so mad at Jeffries,

424
00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:27,399
Speaker 1: they are so mad at Schumer. They do not feel

425
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,560
Speaker 1: that leadership is doing for them what they want. Now,

426
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:33,320
Speaker 1: you and I know there are certain things leadership is

427
00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:37,879
Speaker 1: doing that is really good, right, getting Mary Parota and

428
00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 1: Alaska to run for Senate, like Chuck Schumer has a

429
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,440
Speaker 1: mass some wins and hakeem too, right the Ebstein files release.

430
00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,920
Speaker 1: There have been certain things, but like if you look

431
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 1: at if you just talk to Democrats on the street,

432
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:56,520
Speaker 1: they are furious. So are Democrats rolling along and doing

433
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 1: the right thing or do you think they should be

434
00:22:58,840 --> 00:22:59,359
Speaker 1: doing more?

435
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,720
Speaker 5: Well, it's truly not what I think.

436
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:06,040
Speaker 6: I do think there's a thing of what you're hitting

437
00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,040
Speaker 6: on is very very important, which is that we are

438
00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,359
Speaker 6: in a situation where things feel very much the same.

439
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 6: I know, you know we're having a war right now.

440
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,760
Speaker 6: You have some lawmakers, right you have guys like Chris

441
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:20,960
Speaker 6: Murphy and stuff who are thinking already for president and

442
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,440
Speaker 6: thinking about tapping in to this Democratic rage. They're saying,

443
00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:26,920
Speaker 6: this war needs to end. Cut it off, cut off

444
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,400
Speaker 6: the funding, end it, end it now, just like, get

445
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,040
Speaker 6: out of this thing. We shouldn't be in the first place.

446
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 2: End it.

447
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:33,679
Speaker 5: And you've got other people in.

448
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,679
Speaker 6: The Democratic Caucus and they're sort of falling over themselves

449
00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:38,840
Speaker 6: in very different ways. You know, we did a lot

450
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,480
Speaker 6: of reporting about this idea of maybe Trump might ask

451
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 6: for supplemental budget for this build that he did not

452
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 6: ask Congress Ford to do in the first place, and

453
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,560
Speaker 6: it becomes to ask for this money they're a Democratic trip.

454
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:51,240
Speaker 6: But maybe we do it, I don't know, maybe maybe

455
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,040
Speaker 6: at the sitt of CEE, maybe it's possible that we

456
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 6: would do it. The public is sort of it's very

457
00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,000
Speaker 6: much against this war. Yes, the public is very much

458
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,840
Speaker 6: against a lot of this stuff that's going on. And

459
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,200
Speaker 6: the Democratic leadership is the same leadership that disappointed a

460
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,240
Speaker 6: lot of them during the shutdown time.

461
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:09,720
Speaker 7: Right.

462
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,040
Speaker 6: Yeah, that now that's book backed on is now like,

463
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:13,199
Speaker 6: oh that which is kind of big. You know, we

464
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:14,959
Speaker 6: did pretty well there, We kind of won some stuff.

465
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,800
Speaker 6: This DHS shutdown has been very successful in terms of

466
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:20,800
Speaker 6: party unity and sort of getting the party on one

467
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:22,480
Speaker 6: page about an issue that was tough for them.

468
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:23,000
Speaker 5: Immigration.

469
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,840
Speaker 6: But it is true that these things are happening, and

470
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,119
Speaker 6: the you know what you hear from folks is that

471
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,080
Speaker 6: the leadership sort of sounds the same. They're very careful

472
00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:37,359
Speaker 6: around talking about this conflict, and you know, those of us.

473
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,440
Speaker 5: Who remember the Iraq War, it sounds a lot like that.

474
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:42,000
Speaker 6: It sounds a lot like, well, we don't want to

475
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:43,719
Speaker 6: I don't want to be in the wrong side of this.

476
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,520
Speaker 6: And just in case somehow this breaks out in like

477
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,399
Speaker 6: democracy emerging in Iran, it's our new best friend, it

478
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:51,600
Speaker 6: all works out great, we don't want to be on

479
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,960
Speaker 6: the wrong side of that. This is a delicate area.

480
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,359
Speaker 6: But I'm not sure that they have at all figured

481
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:02,440
Speaker 6: out how to deal with their angry base. I mean,

482
00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 6: you look in Maine, for example, where Democrats are still

483
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 6: hammering tongs against this guy cram Plattner, who polls show

484
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:13,040
Speaker 6: is like crushing their chosen candidate, Janet Mills they have

485
00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,920
Speaker 6: not figured out how to harness that and calm that down.

486
00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 6: I think that because we're in a moment now where

487
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 6: in a two party system, dependulum, the screening away from

488
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,679
Speaker 6: the party in power. It feels good, but we got

489
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:28,040
Speaker 6: a lot of primaries to go, and they need voter

490
00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:33,760
Speaker 6: enthusiasm and this ske problem of what do you do

491
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 6: with these base voters who are really really upset.

492
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:38,840
Speaker 5: They have not figured that out, that's clear.

493
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:44,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, behind the scenes, there are all these

494
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,399
Speaker 1: house races that are flipp the ball. There are all

495
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:52,159
Speaker 1: of these Senate races that are pretty heavy left. But

496
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 1: if we're if we see the kind of kind of

497
00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:58,960
Speaker 1: blue wave that we've seen in the specials, which we

498
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,520
Speaker 1: may not right because specials tend to be even more

499
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,760
Speaker 1: exaggerated though who knows. I mean, there is a real

500
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:14,919
Speaker 1: scenario where leadership can't necessarily tamp down the anti incumbent sentiment. Right.

501
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,239
Speaker 6: Well, the question is should they I mean, should they

502
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:19,240
Speaker 6: tamp be on anti numbers?

503
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 1: So they should do, but they might, but they will

504
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:22,640
Speaker 1: want to.

505
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think I think they do want to.

506
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,119
Speaker 6: I think I think I think it's a natural tendency

507
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,359
Speaker 6: in in Washington and in politics to sort of, you know,

508
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:34,320
Speaker 6: do that go. You know, it's it's a safe thing.

509
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:35,840
Speaker 6: We all saw it was Biden, right, that was the

510
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 6: Biden thing. He's president already. This is a great idea.

511
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,600
Speaker 6: Let's stick with the guy who's president already. Politics is

512
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 6: moving in a very different direction and things are moving

513
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,239
Speaker 6: around very very quickly. You think about these districts that

514
00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,439
Speaker 6: have been redrawn. Many of these incumbents are running with

515
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,240
Speaker 6: all new with many new voters they have.

516
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:52,040
Speaker 5: Never had before.

517
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:54,760
Speaker 6: So they're making a case as incumbents to some of

518
00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,639
Speaker 6: these voters. That's that's a tough one. But really it

519
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,320
Speaker 6: is a thing that you know, when these moments come

520
00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 6: along like we're dealing with now, where you look at

521
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:08,240
Speaker 6: the polling about something like, for example, public support for Israel,

522
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,520
Speaker 6: right our partner in this war in Iran, both sides

523
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,119
Speaker 6: of the Aisle have seen that support for that country

524
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,560
Speaker 6: shift in big ways, especially in certain demographics. Younger demographics,

525
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,679
Speaker 6: for example, has shifted away from supporting that country in

526
00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:23,440
Speaker 6: the way that we've supported it in the past as

527
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,439
Speaker 6: an American, you know, as a country.

528
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:28,320
Speaker 5: And those voters where are they going to go?

529
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,640
Speaker 6: Do they totally know where they're going to go right now,

530
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:32,760
Speaker 6: I don't know how angry are they're going to be.

531
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:33,719
Speaker 5: What are they going to do?

532
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:36,719
Speaker 6: No parties really sort of reaching out to them at

533
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:38,440
Speaker 6: this moment or trying to sort of deal with them

534
00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,399
Speaker 6: and talk to them that much. And this is a

535
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,200
Speaker 6: real it's it is a real wildcard for the midterms.

536
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 6: But it's also a wildcard for the Democratic Party going

537
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,000
Speaker 6: forward because you know what can happen is they they

538
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,160
Speaker 6: could win in twenty twenty six and they could immediately

539
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,119
Speaker 6: face plant when they're in power. They need to build something.

540
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 6: This is this is a party that had its reputation

541
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,840
Speaker 6: and its brand absolutely trashed in twenty twenty four.

542
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:03,479
Speaker 5: They need to rebuild it.

543
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,359
Speaker 6: And I have not talked to a lot of strategists

544
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,000
Speaker 6: and folks involved who feel like they have rebuilt it.

545
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:14,880
Speaker 5: They think that they're getting some chances to right.

546
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:16,399
Speaker 6: I mean, you know the way that they won in

547
00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,919
Speaker 6: New Jersey, way they won in Virginia in twenty twenty five,

548
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:20,760
Speaker 6: those are good wins for them. They say that they

549
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:25,440
Speaker 6: can rebuild, but overall I haven't seen them stamp down

550
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,439
Speaker 6: this anger among their own supporters.

551
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:33,159
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we shall say, right, Evan, will you come.

552
00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 5: Back anytime, of course. I love coming to this show.

553
00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:38,960
Speaker 5: It's the best show so far, Y's the best.

554
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:44,400
Speaker 1: Ed Loos is the Financial Times chief US commentator and

555
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,000
Speaker 1: the author of Za Big, The Life of the Big

556
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:53,760
Speaker 1: New Brazinski, America's great, powerful profit edless. Welcome to fast politics.

557
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 7: Such a pleasure to be with you. Money.

558
00:28:55,800 --> 00:29:02,360
Speaker 1: So the war expenditures. Donald Trump's DoD, which is actually

559
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 1: now the Department of War, is at war multiple different countries.

560
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:11,760
Speaker 1: But there are also a war with fiscal conservatism discuss.

561
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,720
Speaker 8: Yeah, well, the war with fiscal conservatism is the war

562
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:16,280
Speaker 8: that the DoD will win.

563
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:18,560
Speaker 7: The war where they run is one.

564
00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:21,920
Speaker 8: I'm afraid it doesn't look like winning a strategic victory.

565
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,160
Speaker 8: The money, it's about a billion dollars a day. If

566
00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:26,880
Speaker 8: it ends after a couple of weeks, might be manageable,

567
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:31,320
Speaker 8: although you know, the cost of quotation marks place following

568
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 8: unilateral declaration of victory or some kind of off ramp

569
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,840
Speaker 8: that Trump fashions for himself that wouldn't be cost free either,

570
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 8: because Iran has a vote on whether the war ends,

571
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,800
Speaker 8: and it's got every incentive to keep the strait of

572
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:48,880
Speaker 8: Hormus closed in order to give Trump a price signal

573
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 8: there that the cost of war is too high, do

574
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,760
Speaker 8: not go back to war with US. And so those

575
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:56,440
Speaker 8: fifty thousand troops who are in the Middle East, those

576
00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:01,400
Speaker 8: three aircraft carriers, when the USS Georgia hw Bush arrives,

577
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,920
Speaker 8: it'll make three the couple of hundred of jets. I mean,

578
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:08,400
Speaker 8: this all costs hundreds of billions a day. So that

579
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,880
Speaker 8: costs not going to go away even if Trump declares peace.

580
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,880
Speaker 1: Let's talk about what's going on here, because we have

581
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:21,080
Speaker 1: Trump in a war that has really spiraled out of control. Though,

582
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 1: I think if he had just read a few articles

583
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,640
Speaker 1: about the possible danger like the Straits of her Mouth.

584
00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 1: That's something I've been hearing about, right, twenty percent of

585
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,680
Speaker 1: all oil and gas in the world goes through the straits.

586
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:39,640
Speaker 1: It seemed like an easy way for the Iranians to

587
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:44,160
Speaker 1: really make trouble and make life very expensive for everyone

588
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,600
Speaker 1: they are fighting, Like I feel like like the Ukrainians

589
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:50,880
Speaker 1: just to stay alive, right, I mean, are there parallels there?

590
00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:52,400
Speaker 7: Yeah, They're backit to the wall.

591
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:54,920
Speaker 8: I mean, this is a regime that if it didn't

592
00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,080
Speaker 8: get struck by the remnants of it struck by Israel,

593
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:02,280
Speaker 8: and I'm sure the new Ayatollah Mujtaba, you know, is

594
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,040
Speaker 8: taking every single possible precaution. But if they didn't get

595
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,760
Speaker 8: struck by Israel, they'll be sort of consumed by their

596
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,320
Speaker 8: own people. They've just killed tens of thousands off them,

597
00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:15,720
Speaker 8: so their mindset is existential. And if Iran knows how

598
00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:17,960
Speaker 8: to do one thing, it's to mess with the Strait

599
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,840
Speaker 8: of Hormuz. This is the world's number one energy choke point,

600
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,000
Speaker 8: number one, and it is within range of the Red

601
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 8: Sea and the Sewers Canal, which are up there in

602
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 8: the top five as well. The idea that Trump didn't

603
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:33,040
Speaker 8: foresee this or couldn't have foreseen this, Rather, he didn't

604
00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 8: foresee this, but the idea that he couldn't have is

605
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 8: manifestly absurd. I mean Iran, it takes the rumors of

606
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,720
Speaker 8: Somali pirates to give the frights to these tankers and

607
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,360
Speaker 8: to the insurance companies or an RPG from Yemen.

608
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:48,080
Speaker 7: From the huties.

609
00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:52,040
Speaker 8: This, you know, is a waterway that is accustomed to

610
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:56,000
Speaker 8: suddenly closing off. And Trump now has handed Iran this

611
00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 8: magic weapon. It doesn't need ballistic missiles for this, doesn't

612
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 8: need enriched uranium, just needs some drones and then.

613
00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,520
Speaker 1: There's this question of whether or not there are military

614
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,800
Speaker 1: escorts that are escorting ships. Yesterday there was a tweet

615
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:14,360
Speaker 1: that said it was and then it was taken down.

616
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:16,000
Speaker 1: What do you think was going on there?

617
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,440
Speaker 8: I cannot imagine why the Energy Secretary Chris Wright would

618
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:24,240
Speaker 8: tweet out something so market sensitive without having confirmed whether

619
00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:25,080
Speaker 8: it was true or not.

620
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:26,840
Speaker 7: But it turns out it wasn't true.

621
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:29,840
Speaker 8: Now, I think everybody who works for Trump is always

622
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,200
Speaker 8: looking out for ways of confirming that he makes great decisions.

623
00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:35,720
Speaker 8: And Trump had announced a few days earlier that we'll

624
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:37,719
Speaker 8: solve the strait of one moves. Well, we'll back up

625
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:42,200
Speaker 8: the insurers, we'll send US naval patrols and that'll fix it.

626
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:45,400
Speaker 8: And it turns out A they just don't have the

627
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,800
Speaker 8: intensity of ships in the region to do that. B

628
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,960
Speaker 8: Under US law, you can only provide convoy protection to

629
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,200
Speaker 8: American ships, and see, you know, the insurers you cannot

630
00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:01,480
Speaker 8: with American taxpayers money under right global and so he's

631
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,360
Speaker 8: not going to be able to do this. But Chris

632
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:05,760
Speaker 8: Wright was clearly on the lookout for affirmation it was

633
00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:08,520
Speaker 8: still a brilliant, you know, decision by Trump, which it

634
00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:11,880
Speaker 8: wasn't And the old prices sawed ten dollars, and then

635
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,080
Speaker 8: when the White House said it actually there had been

636
00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:18,400
Speaker 8: no US naval escort through the Strait, then it regained

637
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:22,960
Speaker 8: ten dollars in that gyration, in that wild move, Iran

638
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:24,560
Speaker 8: has all the knowledge it needs.

639
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:28,680
Speaker 1: I wonder if you could talk about Donald Trump's relationship

640
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:32,680
Speaker 1: with Putin, because he talked to Putin, and Putin sort

641
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,520
Speaker 1: of gave him an off ramp. Explain what the hell

642
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:36,680
Speaker 1: is going on here? Please?

643
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:41,240
Speaker 8: So, yeah, he had an hour's conversation with Putin which

644
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 8: he didn't The White House didn't issue a statement or

645
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 8: summary of we know this because the Kremlin issued a

646
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:46,960
Speaker 8: summary of it.

647
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:52,480
Speaker 1: Is that normal, by the way, for the Kremlin to do.

648
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,440
Speaker 8: That, No, the normal thing is for everybody to do it,

649
00:33:55,680 --> 00:34:00,480
Speaker 8: and usually some coordination. But that was a very interesting timing,

650
00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:03,960
Speaker 8: that one out call, because it was in between Trump

651
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,360
Speaker 8: indicating in a telephone interview to a CBS reporter that

652
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:09,960
Speaker 8: the war was pretty much won and done, and then

653
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 8: a speech that he gave to the Republican Caucus down

654
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:18,640
Speaker 8: in Florida in which he said well, and then followed

655
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,880
Speaker 8: by a press conferences, said well, yeah, we're almost achieved

656
00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,399
Speaker 8: all our aims, but we're not going to end yet.

657
00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:26,680
Speaker 8: And then he was asked by a reporter very sort

658
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,600
Speaker 8: of clear question. Hegsas says, we're only at the beginning.

659
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:32,600
Speaker 8: You say we're almost done. Which is it? And Trump says, well,

660
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,239
Speaker 8: it could be both. That doesn't clear anything up, but

661
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:37,839
Speaker 8: it shows I think put In. The Putin call had

662
00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,920
Speaker 8: an impact on his mindset. And Putin has been providing

663
00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:44,759
Speaker 8: the Russia have been providing around with target They've been

664
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 8: providing them with satellite imagery to help Iran target American assets.

665
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,040
Speaker 8: He made no public I don't know what he said

666
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:53,759
Speaker 8: on the phone to put him, but he made no

667
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:57,800
Speaker 8: public complaint about that. He has been complaining though about allies,

668
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,240
Speaker 8: including Britain.

669
00:34:59,239 --> 00:34:59,960
Speaker 7: Day in and day out.

670
00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:02,920
Speaker 8: Early a day goes by where he doesn't complain about

671
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,480
Speaker 8: Britain not being fully on board with this war.

672
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:07,400
Speaker 1: What do you think Putin said to him on the

673
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,399
Speaker 1: phone during that hour long call.

674
00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:12,600
Speaker 8: It's an I mean remember an hour is really half

675
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:17,120
Speaker 8: an hour because you need thirty minutes for the interpreters. Nevertheless,

676
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:21,360
Speaker 8: it remains, with all of Trump's engagements with Putin, including

677
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,680
Speaker 8: this latest one, a mystery that he almost never calls

678
00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:30,040
Speaker 8: Putin out even when he is actively helping the adversary,

679
00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,399
Speaker 8: the enemy, to target American troops in a war that

680
00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:37,280
Speaker 8: you know, Russia is not formally engaged in. Wit Cooff,

681
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:40,400
Speaker 8: Steve Witcoff, Trump's or, one of Trump's envoys, said that

682
00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:42,799
Speaker 8: he had been assured by Putin because he spoke to

683
00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:48,239
Speaker 8: Putin that Putin wasn't targeting American assets. And he said,

684
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,239
Speaker 8: I have no reason not to believe him. I mean,

685
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,600
Speaker 8: I've never heard such a naive statement in my life.

686
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,719
Speaker 8: I mean, Putin is the world's most accomplished purveyor of disinformation.

687
00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,799
Speaker 8: There's really nobody who quite masters the Russian art form

688
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:03,400
Speaker 8: there of which he is maestro. He's a KGB officer.

689
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,600
Speaker 8: The idea that Wickkoff would have no reason to disbelieve

690
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,000
Speaker 8: what he was telling him is stunning to me.

691
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,040
Speaker 1: We're twelve days into this war, so like about twelve

692
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:16,600
Speaker 1: billion dollars into it to replace Ayatola Kahmani with Iatola Kameni,

693
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,160
Speaker 1: the younger, angrier version of the father who has many

694
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,759
Speaker 1: more years to live. And like, what's coming out more

695
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:26,600
Speaker 1: and more is that this war was maybe caused because

696
00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,480
Speaker 1: Wikoff and Kushner thought it was a good idea. Maybe

697
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:34,680
Speaker 1: because the Israelis rolled them, maybe because the Satis rolled them.

698
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:37,680
Speaker 1: Do you think these people should be making our foreign

699
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:38,719
Speaker 1: policy decisions.

700
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,560
Speaker 7: Yeah, no, I do not.

701
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:46,480
Speaker 8: And bear in mind that Trump quoted Jared Kushner as

702
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,879
Speaker 8: having told him that what Jared Kushner took back from

703
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:54,080
Speaker 8: the final talks with Iran in Geneva was that Iram

704
00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,320
Speaker 8: was about to make an imminent attack, and no evidence

705
00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,960
Speaker 8: has been provided at this attack. It is dispute by

706
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:04,880
Speaker 8: the Foreign Minister of Oman, who was mediating these talks

707
00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:08,080
Speaker 8: and who flew to Washington the day before took the

708
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:11,960
Speaker 8: war to convey the Iranian offer on uranium, and Richmond

709
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:14,480
Speaker 8: to the White House because he did not trust Witkof

710
00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:18,160
Speaker 8: or Kushner to convey that the implication being this war

711
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:19,799
Speaker 8: was already predetermined and the.

712
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:21,400
Speaker 7: Talks were just theater.

713
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:26,640
Speaker 8: The State Department has made severe cuts to its nuclear expertise,

714
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:29,160
Speaker 8: as has other parts of the federal government, some of

715
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,000
Speaker 8: this deliberately, some of this to do with DOJE, but

716
00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:36,360
Speaker 8: even with the reduced expertise were critically important for national

717
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,880
Speaker 8: security at a time like this. Even with that reduced expertise,

718
00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:43,960
Speaker 8: Wikoff and Kushner chose not to bring one nuclear expert

719
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,600
Speaker 8: with them to the talks, not a single one. Now,

720
00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,919
Speaker 8: it is very hard even for people who are you know,

721
00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,920
Speaker 8: really up to date with the physics of nuclear weapons

722
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:57,800
Speaker 8: making a uranium and Richmond and the whole cycle, even

723
00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:02,080
Speaker 8: for IAA inspectors to keep up with everything, because this

724
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:07,000
Speaker 8: is very complex and very technical and extremely oriented to detail.

725
00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:10,080
Speaker 8: Kushner and Wikoff do not have the grasp of the detail,

726
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:14,520
Speaker 8: and even accomplished the most accomplished diplomats in America's modern

727
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 8: history have not gone into nuclear talks of any kind,

728
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,480
Speaker 8: or weapons talks anything within the ballpark without a whole

729
00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:25,560
Speaker 8: raft of experts accompanying them. They went in essentially naked

730
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:29,720
Speaker 8: to the negotiating chamber and came out with this completely

731
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,719
Speaker 8: phony imminent attack line that it's hard to believe the

732
00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:36,080
Speaker 8: Amanis or anybody else would want to mediate.

733
00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:37,239
Speaker 7: Ever again, I was.

734
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:39,760
Speaker 1: On Morning Joe this morning, and Joe had this really

735
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:44,719
Speaker 1: good point about how when Bush I and Bush two

736
00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:48,440
Speaker 1: both went to war, they went and put together a

737
00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:52,279
Speaker 1: consortium of countries, and even if you pushed even a

738
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:57,200
Speaker 1: bit further like bush on, there was an imminent issue

739
00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:01,200
Speaker 1: in Kuwait and then Bush two was after nine to eleven,

740
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:05,120
Speaker 1: so it was not just like they were foreign adventuring, right,

741
00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:08,480
Speaker 1: there was something else going on. And this is really

742
00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:12,000
Speaker 1: a radical, radical change.

743
00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:14,959
Speaker 8: It says, I would sort of separate Gulf War one

744
00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:17,719
Speaker 8: from Gulf War two, and people recording this one Gulf

745
00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:21,120
Speaker 8: War three. So yeah, I think Bushenia went to the

746
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:25,000
Speaker 8: United Nations, got an international coalition to enforce the law,

747
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:28,080
Speaker 8: which was that you cannot seize another country. You can't

748
00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:32,000
Speaker 8: just radically change borders by force. And he conformed to

749
00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:35,879
Speaker 8: a fault to that UN mandate, which is to get

750
00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:38,920
Speaker 8: Iraq out of Q eight. I'd say Bush two was

751
00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:41,200
Speaker 8: a little bit more adventurous. This was more of a

752
00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:44,400
Speaker 8: war of choice. I think what differentiates Trump from that

753
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:47,360
Speaker 8: is that Bush two still tried to get the United

754
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:50,600
Speaker 8: Nations behind He failed, but he still went through the

755
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:51,600
Speaker 8: effort of doing that.

756
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:53,279
Speaker 7: He did have some allies with him.

757
00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:55,680
Speaker 8: The Coalition of the Willing, you know, included countries out

758
00:39:55,680 --> 00:40:00,000
Speaker 8: Britain and Australia and Poland that provided considerable ballast. Trump

759
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:03,840
Speaker 8: didn't attempt to get any legal permission, either from the

760
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,440
Speaker 8: United Nations or from Congress, or even from his own

761
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:07,320
Speaker 8: Department of Justice.

762
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:08,400
Speaker 7: He didn't even pretend.

763
00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:12,480
Speaker 8: He didn't marshal public opinion, he didn't prepare public opinion.

764
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:17,040
Speaker 8: He didn't even build up America's strategic petroleum reserves a

765
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:20,839
Speaker 8: basic sort of precautionary measure. This is a war of wim,

766
00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:22,320
Speaker 8: not a war of choice.

767
00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:25,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's a really good point. It's a

768
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,080
Speaker 1: war of whim, not a war of choice. So talk

769
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:33,840
Speaker 1: me through what happens next, because there are some off ramps.

770
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,800
Speaker 1: There's some feeling that Donald Trump will get bored with this.

771
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,520
Speaker 1: We do have this Cubad situation which is wild. What

772
00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:43,799
Speaker 1: do you think is sort of the map looks like

773
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 1: at this moment?

774
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:48,520
Speaker 8: I mean, so really in any sort of changing sentiment

775
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:52,080
Speaker 8: on that question that you've just asked, Molly sends markets

776
00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:55,000
Speaker 8: wildly in one direction or the other. I mean, everybody

777
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,120
Speaker 8: wants to know what is the end? How does this end?

778
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:00,480
Speaker 8: This around war? Because you know, as as we were

779
00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:02,120
Speaker 8: saying at the beginning, you can take a couple of

780
00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:05,120
Speaker 8: weeks some damage, but if this goes on for months,

781
00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:07,800
Speaker 8: who you're looking at a global recession. So the difference

782
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,399
Speaker 8: between the two is enormous. And therefore people that have

783
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:12,719
Speaker 8: to know how this ends. What's the off ramp. And

784
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:15,480
Speaker 8: the problem here is that, you know, Israel has been

785
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:18,520
Speaker 8: This is the fourth Israeli war with Iran in two years.

786
00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:21,680
Speaker 8: The first two Israel was alone, the second to the

787
00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,280
Speaker 8: United States has led them the twelve Day war last summer,

788
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:27,520
Speaker 8: and then this one, and there's about eight months between them.

789
00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:30,080
Speaker 8: Iran has not won another war eight months from now,

790
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:32,840
Speaker 8: unlike last time, all the previous ones, it has no

791
00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:35,680
Speaker 8: incentive to agree to a cease fire because this time

792
00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:38,800
Speaker 8: feels regime changes on the line, and it's been given

793
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:41,959
Speaker 8: this weapon. It's been handed this tool by Trump, which

794
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:45,960
Speaker 8: it can see Trump responds to instantly at is oil prices,

795
00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:48,080
Speaker 8: and when they went one hundred and twenty dollars at

796
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:51,240
Speaker 8: the end of last weekend, the next day, Trump's talking about,

797
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:53,520
Speaker 8: you know, ending the war and that it's all over

798
00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:55,840
Speaker 8: and it's a success, and the oil price is dropped

799
00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,400
Speaker 8: down again. They know exactly what the tool is to

800
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:02,959
Speaker 8: shape Trump's behavior. They have every incentive to make Trump

801
00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:07,160
Speaker 8: pay for this well beyond he's declared unnatural victory. And

802
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:11,080
Speaker 8: so market's trying to guess, or investors trying to guess,

803
00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,280
Speaker 8: or people who'se you know, family are deployed to the Gulf.

804
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:17,640
Speaker 8: Trying to guess when this ends from Iran's point of view,

805
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:20,400
Speaker 8: that's the big question and it's very hard to answer.

806
00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:21,400
Speaker 7: And meanwhile, as.

807
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:24,839
Speaker 8: You said, Molly, he's talking about Cuba and he's saying, well,

808
00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:28,160
Speaker 8: maybe we'll maybe we'll occupy Cuba, maybe we won't. Again

809
00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:30,520
Speaker 8: this sort of you know, maybe we're at peace, maybe

810
00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:32,759
Speaker 8: we're at war. Maybe it's at the beginning, maybe it's

811
00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:37,239
Speaker 8: at the end. He has no ability to focus and

812
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:41,480
Speaker 8: there's clearly no strategic plan there, so we're stuck with

813
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:45,400
Speaker 8: reacting wildly like sort of you know, manic depressive to

814
00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:46,440
Speaker 8: everything that he says.

815
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:49,040
Speaker 1: I think it's worth pointing out too, is we're in

816
00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:53,000
Speaker 1: the middle of a conflict, but we no longer take refugees,

817
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:56,719
Speaker 1: and if anything, we have refugees in our country who

818
00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:01,240
Speaker 1: we are trying to revoke their refugee staff. So usually

819
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:06,680
Speaker 1: when a country like America, which is theoretically at least

820
00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:10,240
Speaker 1: trying to sort of sell itself as a soft power,

821
00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:13,719
Speaker 1: you know, up until pretty recently, Donald Trump was sending

822
00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:16,320
Speaker 1: refugees to the Middle East.

823
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:19,800
Speaker 8: Yeah, I've got friends that you do sort of outside

824
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:22,680
Speaker 8: of America, all over the place, countries I've lived in,

825
00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:25,480
Speaker 8: like India, the Philippines, and then friends you know from

826
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:27,840
Speaker 8: countries I haven't lived in, but people in what we

827
00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:31,040
Speaker 8: might call the global self. It's a rather annoying phrase,

828
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:34,240
Speaker 8: but the majority of the world, and they watch Pete

829
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:39,360
Speaker 8: Hegseth delight in language like lethality and kill the pleasure

830
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:42,400
Speaker 8: he takes in it. They see Trump talking about his

831
00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:46,040
Speaker 8: power of life and death, something he clearly values. They

832
00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:48,839
Speaker 8: know he had other options here and that war ought

833
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:51,640
Speaker 8: to be the last option, after all the others have failed,

834
00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:53,400
Speaker 8: but the talks hadn't failed.

835
00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:56,160
Speaker 7: They know this. They see the videos the White House

836
00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:57,000
Speaker 7: puts out.

837
00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:01,759
Speaker 8: Mashing up scenes of you know, miss strikes on Iranian

838
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,240
Speaker 8: missile sites or whatever it might be, or electricity grid

839
00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:10,000
Speaker 8: and interspliced with flips from action movies. Is if this

840
00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:12,799
Speaker 8: is sort of some kind of teenage video game that's

841
00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:15,719
Speaker 8: going on. The global South watches this. I cannot put

842
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:19,200
Speaker 8: a measure on the damage this does to American soft power.

843
00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:21,160
Speaker 7: It is reckless. It is a.

844
00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:25,319
Speaker 8: Vandalism of America's standing in the world, and it's very

845
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:27,560
Speaker 8: hard to put a price on it. Long after the

846
00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:31,560
Speaker 8: oil prices are stabilized. Whenever that is, these images cannot

847
00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:33,360
Speaker 8: be unseen ed loose.

848
00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:36,960
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, go to the airport, goodbye, goodbye.

849
00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:39,799
Speaker 8: Thanks so much money, and I'm sorry to stand so

850
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:40,920
Speaker 8: to prising.

851
00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:44,000
Speaker 1: Now I think that's just what we call accurate.

852
00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:53,600
Speaker 2: Jesse Cannon, Mali Jung Fast. The DHS is trying to

853
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:58,080
Speaker 2: seize a massive government database with Americans info. We know

854
00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:00,399
Speaker 2: how bad this goes, yet it keeps going.

855
00:45:00,680 --> 00:45:04,600
Speaker 1: Well. Remember DHS as most recently having spent two hundred

856
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:08,880
Speaker 1: and twenty million dollars for Christynome to ride horses and

857
00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:12,760
Speaker 1: do videos of herself. Now she's out and Mark Wayne

858
00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:16,640
Speaker 1: Mullen is going to replace her. Look, they will do

859
00:45:16,719 --> 00:45:21,320
Speaker 1: anything anything they can, and this is one of those things.

860
00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:25,200
Speaker 1: The Department of Homeland Security wants to access the Federal

861
00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:30,360
Speaker 1: Parent Locator Service, which is considered to be the government's largest,

862
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:34,480
Speaker 1: most detailed database. This is really good reporting from Pro Publica.

863
00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:38,239
Speaker 1: And it's a people finder for the US government. Why

864
00:45:38,239 --> 00:45:40,560
Speaker 1: do you think they want a people finder for the

865
00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:42,680
Speaker 1: US government? You want to guess it.

866
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:44,640
Speaker 2: Does it have something to do with the porting people?

867
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:47,160
Speaker 1: It might, or it might have something to do with

868
00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:49,640
Speaker 1: trying to knock people off the voter rolls, or it

869
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:53,000
Speaker 1: might have something to do with trying to hunt the

870
00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:55,760
Speaker 1: president's enemies. I mean, there are a lot of choices here,

871
00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:59,239
Speaker 1: but none of them are trying to help people. None

872
00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:01,840
Speaker 1: of them are trying to give poor kids free breakfast.

873
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:06,040
Speaker 1: They're all things that are nefarious and things that our

874
00:46:06,040 --> 00:46:07,600
Speaker 1: federal government should not be doing.

875
00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:07,920
Speaker 7: Well.

876
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:10,160
Speaker 2: You know, when you get poor kids free breakfast, you

877
00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:13,600
Speaker 2: just get people driving by your house yelling really stupid words.

878
00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:18,440
Speaker 1: Yes, that's right, like the Ursler. That's it for this

879
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:25,000
Speaker 1: episode of Fast Politics. Tune in every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday,

880
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:29,080
Speaker 1: and Saturday to hear the best minds and politics make

881
00:46:29,239 --> 00:46:33,239
Speaker 1: sense of all this chaos. If you enjoy this podcast,

882
00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:37,000
Speaker 1: please send it to a friend and keep the conversation going.

883
00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:38,600
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.