Does New Video Show Alex Pretti Behaving Violently Toward ICE and CBP? Will It Change the Debate?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Morning Meeting

Episode: Does New Video Show Alex Pretti Behaving Violently Toward ICE and CBP? Will It Change the Debate?
Date: January 29, 2026
Host: Mark Levin (for 2WAY)
Co-hosts: Larry O’Connor, Kevin Walling

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Episode Overview

This episode of "The Morning Meeting" circles around the contentious events in Minneapolis after the release of new video evidence related to Alex Pretti's actions against ICE and CBP officers. The conversation weaves together the reactions and policy responses to recent protests, the handling of the Pretti shooting, shifting media narratives, ongoing immigration and appropriations battles in Congress, and the political implications for key figures such as Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, and Gavin Newsom.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tom Homan's Press Conference and Minneapolis Developments

• Summary:
  Tom Homan, administration figure overseeing aspects of federal immigration enforcement, held a 50-minute press conference aiming to de-escalate tensions after a fatal ICE-involved shooting. Homan called for a reduction in hostile rhetoric, praised local leaders, and announced a policy shift allowing jails to cooperate with ICE, referencing Attorney General Keith Ellison's support.
• Discussion:
  • The panel agreed Homan's tone was measured and humanizing, aligning the administration’s need to "bring order to chaos."
  • Quote (Kevin Walling, 11:55): "It was measured. I think it was the right tone. He talked about being prayerful, which is classic Homan."
  • The announcement about jails now being able to hand over criminals to ICE was seen as a significant—and newsworthy—policy update.
• Timestamps:
  • Homan’s press excerpt: [10:03–11:27]
  • Discussion of policy impact: [13:29–14:48]

2. Release and Analysis of New Alex Pretti Video

• Summary:
  A new video angle appears to confirm Pretti approached a federal vehicle, spit, and kicked, supporting the narrative of aggressive confrontation.
• Media and Political Response:
  • The right frames Pretti as hostile; the left downplays the video’s significance (“doesn’t justify being killed”).
  • The clip undermines initial media portrayals of Pretti as passive, igniting debate over shifting narratives in similar cases.
• Quotes:
  • (Mark Levin, 17:27): "What's the probative value of this video?"
  • (Larry O’Connor, 17:30): "It undermines what we consistently keep getting told about this... If ICE is so bad, why do you have to lie and misrepresent the case to tell me how bad they are?"
• Timestamps:
  • Video & discussion: [15:57–21:25]

3. Congressional & Policy Fallout: Shutdown Negotiations

• Summary:
  With Congress facing a possible weekend shutdown, the Senate moves towards a deal that may require the House to revote. Immigration-related policy riders are sticking points—such as whether ICE agents can wear masks and the standard for warrants.
• Insight:
  • Co-hosts believe a deal is likely, but Democrats may have to make significant compromises.
  • (Larry O’Connor, 23:26): "I think it's more likely...they're going to split DHS out...pass everything but DHS."
  • (Kevin Walling, 24:08): "The biggest stumbling block is the warrants, even more so than the masks."
• Timestamps:
  • Discussion of negotiations: [21:24–24:13]

4. Cabinet Dynamics & Kristi Noem’s Future

• Summary:
  Anticipation surrounds whether embattled Cabinet Secretary Kristi Noem will receive praise or face removal; POLYMARKET puts her chances of being out by March 31 at 27%.
• Panel Split:
  • Larry O’Connor and Kevin Walling foresee her departure; Mark Levin remains skeptical and notes Melania Trump’s support for Noem.
  • (Larry O’Connor, 25:43): "Ultimately, I do (think she’s out), but not until June 30."
• Timestamps:
  • POLYMARKET discussion & bets: [25:41–27:09]

5. Foreign Affairs: Iran, Ukraine, and Russia

• Summary:
  The hosts weigh the likelihood of Trump administration military action against Iran, with recent overtures (and rumors of a pending deal) increasing speculation.
  • Differing views: Mark guesses peace, co-hosts predict possible escalation.
• On Ukraine-Russia:
  • Tentative optimism for diplomatic progress, but skepticism remains about Putin’s intentions.
  • (Kevin Walling, 32:21): "I'm always bearish with Putin. He's never gonna agree."
• Timestamps:
  • Iran segment: [29:58–31:47]
  • Ukraine discussion: [31:47–33:39]

6. Political Landscape: Minnesota, California, and 2028

• MN Protests & ICE:
  • New guidance: officers told not to interact with agitators [34:50; see 107].
  • Polls show rising negative perception of ICE.
• California Governor Race:
  • Rising dissatisfaction among Democrats, weak candidate field, and possibility for a pragmatic outsider (Mahan, San Jose mayor).
  • (Kevin Walling, 40:06): "This...represents a lot of dissatisfaction among Democrats with Katie Porter and Eric Swalwell."
• 2028 Democratic Primary:
  • Newsom and Shapiro seen as current frontrunners, but both face criticism and weak public performances.
  • Newsom ridiculed for inauthenticity by "bro podcasters" Shane Gillis, Andrew Schultz, and Joe Rogan. [41:41–43:40]
  • (Larry O’Connor, 43:30): "He's such an easy person to make a caricature of...these guys would rather have Gavin Newsom be a foil."
• Timestamps:
  • Minnesota ICE poll: [34:50]
  • California governor race & poll: [39:23–41:02]
  • Newsom bro podcast clips: [41:41–43:40]

7. Media Narratives and Book Tours

• Josh Shapiro’s Book Tour:
  • Criticized as a non-event, failing to control or break through the news cycle.
  • (Mark Levin, 45:20): "I think that Shapiro book tour is a failure, and I’m getting criticism for saying it, but I just think it’s not breaking through."
• Timestamps:
  • Shapiro segment: [45:20–48:13]

8. Community Questions & Protest Dynamics

• Momentum & Decline of Protests:
  • Listeners ask whether the current protest movement around ICE and CBP will fade, with comparisons to previous cycles (Occupy Wall Street, BLM, Tea Party, etc.).
  • (Kevin Walling, 53:00): "It's indicative of a larger, you know, conversation about our society where people need to feel like they belong to something."
  • Larry O’Connor warns future movements could become more organized and potentially more violent.
• Timestamps:
  • Protest momentum: [51:28–55:37]

9. MAGA and Trump’s Base

• Will De-escalation Alienate the Base?
  • Panel largely dismisses claims that de-escalation in Minneapolis could cost Trump MAGA support, unless core policies are abandoned.
• Timestamps:
  • MAGA question: [56:39–57:46]

10. US-Canada-China Trade Tensions

• Listener Question:
  • Why does Trump pressure Canada over even minor moves towards China, given US’s own shifting stance?
  • Panel argues Canada's decision was portrayed (by leaks or messaging) as a rebuke to Trump, which made the difference.
• Timestamps:
  • US-Canada-China: [59:08–61:22]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On shifting perceptions of ICE:
  (Larry O’Connor, 14:48): "It does undermine the sanctuary policies that have been at the root of a lot of the problems in the state. And that's a big, big win for the administration."

• On media narratives:
  (Larry O’Connor, 17:30): "My instinct is, listen, if ICE is so bad and so awful, why do you have to lie and misrepresent the case to tell me how bad they are?"

• On protest culture:
  (Kevin Walling, 53:00): "People want some semblance of belonging and I think that's what's going to drive it."

• On Gavin Newsom’s authenticity problem:
  (Larry O’Connor, 43:30): "He's such an easy person to make a caricature of and to mock and...I'd rather have Gavin Newsom be a foil that they can make fun of."

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Tom Homan’s press conference & panel reaction: [09:26–14:48]
• The Alex Pretti video & media narratives: [15:57–21:25]
• Congressional negotiations & shutdown: [21:24–24:13]
• Kristi Noem's job security / POLYMARKET: [25:41–27:09]
• Foreign policy – Iran & Ukraine: [29:58–33:39]
• Political landscape – California & Minnesota: [39:23–41:02]
• Gavin Newsom and podcaster mockery: [41:41–43:40]
• Josh Shapiro’s book tour: [45:20–48:13]
• Listener questions – protest dynamics & MAGA: [51:28–57:46]
• US-Canada-China relations: [59:08–61:22]

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Tone and Style Notes

• The episode maintains a lively, insider, and analytical tone, with a mix of dry humor, political skepticism, and candid assessments from all panelists.
• Mark Levin steers conversation deftly, often poking fun at media practices, politicians’ foibles, and even his own wardrobe, while keeping the focus on the political and media realities shaping both the newsroom and national debates.

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For Listeners

This episode offers a detailed, nuanced, and at times irreverent look behind the scenes of America’s unfolding political dramas—addressing both immediate controversies like the Pretti video, and broader implications for immigration, cabinet dynamics, upcoming elections, and the state of protest movements nationwide. Whether or not the Pretti video alters the wider debate, the panel makes clear: narratives matter, media cycles are fleeting, and the politics of immigration remain tangled and volatile.

Transcript

[Larry O'Connor]

This is it.

[Mark Levin]

The world as you know it is over. Completely done.

[Larry O'Connor]

It's not about to be over.

[Mark Levin]

It's over. Some of the scientists who helped build AI are now sounding the alarm. I was selling AI as a great.

[Larry O'Connor]

Thing for decades and I was wrong. I was wrong.

[Mark]

There's a longer term existential threat that.

[Mark Levin]

Will arise when we create digital beings that. That are more intelligent than ourselves.

[Andrew Schultz]

We have no idea whether we can stay in control.

[Mark Levin]

While others say that AI will usher in unfathomable abundance, I've always believed that it's going to be the most important invention that humanity will ever make.

[Larry O'Connor]

This really will be a world of abundance.

[Mark Levin]

And among these fears and these fantasies, we seek the story of our future. Listen to the last invention on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[James Patterson]

I'm James Patterson. I write way too many books. Welcome to Hungry Dogs. The title comes from my maternal grandmother, Isabel Zelvis Morris. Nan used to always say, hungry dogs run faster, James. And I've been running fast ever since. Here's what will be coming your way soon, and this is a really terrific list. I think you'll hear from some incredible people like Stacey Abrams.

[Mark Levin]

Yay.

[James Patterson]

BJ Novak.

[Kevin Walling]

Yay.

[James Patterson]

Kathy Bates, Dolly Parton, Josh Gad. And Pope Leo. Okay, maybe not Pope Leo, but who knows, Maybe he'll show up. Hungry dogs run faster. Thank you, Grandma, for turning me into a hopeless, obsessive, compulsive. Listen to Hungry Dogs with James Patterson. That'd be me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Larry O'Connor]

Foreign.

[Mark Levin]

Welcome to the morning meeting, everybody. Thank you for being here. Secretary. Secretary Homans. Czar Omens just finished about a 50 minute press conference. I did not hear any news, but we'll see if other people disagree. But. But the tone said it all. Very conciliatory, very rational. Did not back off the President's goals and missions regarding immigration, but made it clear that he wants not just the atmospherics to be different, but the. But the operation to be different enough to mitigate some of the. Some of the risks of some of the things we've seen. Not just the deaths of Americans, but some of the tensions between state and local and federal. And there's a bunch of other news for us to get to. And we couldn't be more fortunate as a community to. To have with us today two gentlemen who understand the world. If you gave him a Rubik's Cube that was completely unsolved. 20 seconds. It'd just be Solved at least one side. Larry o' Connor is here. Kevin Walling, gentlemen, welcome and thank you for being here.

[Larry O'Connor]

Fakest news ever. Could never do a Rubik's Cube.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, I can't either. Let me do what they say called the businesses housekeeping. And again, as you know, the program's based on a network news division's morning meeting. Those will sometimes start with housekeeping, maybe announce a new LA bureau chief or announce that from now on the producer weekly meeting to share story ideas is moving from noon to 1. Crap like that. A couple of items. First of all, Tonight we're playing two, as they say, two episodes of Two Way tonight, regular episode at 5pm at our new time, and then at 6pm, confusingly at our old time, we're going to have an episode about 2028 that will be live for those on the platform. It's going to air tomorrow and it has our powerhouse team that we have to talk about. 2028 presidential sweepstakes all the time. It's just spectacular. Do we have their names up there? No, we don't. But anyway, I'll tell you more about it later, but two tonight. And then regarding this program, so grateful to all of you who are helping us figure out the direction of the program, who our permanent co hosts will be. Couldn't be more grateful to you. And I know that some of you, when we make the announcement relatively soon, will be delighted with the outcome and say, boy, you guys pick so well. These two are such worthy co hosts for the morning meeting. And some of you will say you've chosen idiots. And the only people bigger idiots than the people you've chosen are you yourself for choosing idiots. We can't please everybody, but please be patient and thank you for your attention to this matter. And I couldn't be more pleased with everyone who's been generous enough in December and January to serve as guest co hosts on the program and stay tuned for more. But I think you'll like the outcome. Thank you for your attention to that matter. All right, here's the daybook for today. Homan spoke again almost for an hour. I didn't hear any news, but we'll play some excerpts from that. That'll get a lot of attention today, but so will the Cabinet meeting. The President has one of his famous Cabinet meetings.

[Larry O'Connor]

He.

[Mark Levin]

He told an interviewer recently that he finds the Cabinet meetings boring and thinks they go on for too long. A little ironic because of course, the president himself probably is the one who determines the length. So we'll see it starts at 11 and his next events not till 4:30. And it's some sort of announcement, unnamed at 4:30. So the cabinet meeting could be, I don't know, by my estimation, about five hours, if he wants it to be. All eyes will be on where Secretary Noem is sitting, if and when she speaks, what the President says about her. Based on all my reporting, I think he'll. He'll do what he did for Secretary Hegseth when he was under some area of criticism and say some nice things about her and let her say some nice things and talk about all the great work she does. And then tonight, another screening of the film Melania. I don't know about you guys, but as I left my house today to come here to do the program, I threw a Subway ad, a radio ad, a TV ad. I was. It was promoted to me. So I don't know if my algorithm and whatever, but, man, that movie's getting a lot of promotion and reports are they're spending millions to promote it. Larry, did you want to. Mark.

[Larry O'Connor]

Mark, I. I will be in attendance at the. The tkc, as we're calling it tonight, for the DC premiere.

[Mark Levin]

Hey, now, we're a wire for us. That's very big. Very big invite. Are you invited to either of the two after parties? Larry, that's the question.

[Kevin Walling]

The after parties.

[Larry O'Connor]

I have to forego after parties because of my morning show commitments. But if POTUS invites me, I'll go.

[Mark Levin]

Page Six has a great item about their two after parties. There's kind of an official one. And. And then Don Jr. At his exclusive club I keep getting invited and uninvited to is having a VIP after party. Anyway, that's tonight. The vice president. Don't know what he's up to. Congress House remains out. The Senate is going to have a test vote on the appropriations package at 11:30 this morning amidst reports that the President and Chuck Schumer and their teams are negotiating in good faith some sort of deal that would require a revote in the House on the appropriations bill. So at this point, we may have a shutdown over the weekend, but if the House, The President, can work some magic, the House could pass it on Monday. And there's a few other little things out there, but that's about it. All right, let me just make sure I'm doing what I need to do. I need to do a quick ad, a quick sponsor ad, and then Larry and Kevin are gonna explain everything to you. First is for our great friends at Cozy Earth. And I'm Supposed to talk about the pajamas, and I will, but what I really need to talk to you about is the bubble cuddle blanket. I gave my son a bubble cuddle blanket yesterday, and after about 14 seconds, he pronounced it the greatest blanket that's ever been made. No hyperbole in my household, just the facts. If you haven't gotten anything from Cozy Earth yet, do yourself a favor. Buy one thing, whether it's the bubble cuddle blanket or perhaps take advantage of their current sale. Two for one on the bamboo pajama set, using the promo code [e-mail] just buy one thing and then. And then you'll see. You'll say, well, this is extremely well made. It's extremely high quality. It's extremely soft and comfortable. And then you'll want to buy more and then you'll send me a thank you note again. Go to cozyearth.com use the promo code 2wmmbogo for 2 for 1 on the pajama set. It's a classic Cozy Earth favorite. It's sold out over the holidays, but available now. Go buy yourself one thing, whether it's the pajamas or something else, and then come back and thank me. And if you get the post survey question, the post purchase survey question, where'd you learn about Cozy Earth? Tell them Mark's Kidd recommended.

[James Patterson]

I'm James Patterson. I write way too many books. Welcome to Hungry Dogs. The title comes from my maternal grandmother, Isabel Zelvis Morris. Nan used to always say, hungry dogs run faster, James. And I've been running fast ever since. Here's what will be coming your way soon. And this is a really terrific list. I think you'll hear from some incredible people like Stacey Abrams.

[Mark Levin]

Yay.

[James Patterson]

BJ Novak.

[Kevin Walling]

Yay.

[James Patterson]

Kathy Bates, Dolly Parton, Joss Gad, and Pope Leo. Okay, maybe not Pope Leo, but who knows? Maybe he'll show up. Hungry dogs run faster. Thank you, Grandma, for turning me into a hopeless, obsessive compulsive. Listen to Hungry Dogs with James Patterson. That'd be me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you, thank you, thank you, foreign.

[Mark Levin]

Let's go to our first topic, which is Mr. Homans again, he talked for 50 minutes. He took questions. He was. He was classic Homans in the sense that he came out and he said, I've got a bunch of talking points my chief of staff is making me work off of. I'd rather just be Tom, but I'll do them. And then he talked off the talking points. And then he said, now I'm going to be Tom. And he took questions. It was all. It was all exactly why the president sent him there.

[Larry O'Connor]

Let's.

[Mark Levin]

Let's listen to just a bit again. I heard no news. Let's listen to 126, please.

[Unknown Guest]

The hostile rhetoric and dangerous threats and hate must stop. And we all agreed to that. All everybody met here today. We got to stop the rhetoric, the hateful rhetoric that has caused an increase in assaults, that caused, because of that, having sent security teams out with arrest teams, which surge the city with additional resources because of the rhetoric, because of the threats, because of the assaults. Again, with the agreements we've achieved in following through these agreements, with the rhetoric dropping down, that allows us to pull more agents out once we feel the environment safer. I begged for the last two months on TV for the rhetoric to stop. I said in March, if the rhetoric didn't stop, there's going to be bloodshed. And there has been. I wish I wasn't right. I don't want to see anybody die. Not officers, not members of the community, and not the targets of our operations. For the people out there don't like what I was doing. If you want certain laws reformed, then take it up with Congress.

[Mark Levin]

So some people out there are Homan fans, some are not. This was masterful. This was masterful in terms of doing exactly what. Not just what the president wanted him to do, but what the country needs, I thought. And it looks like he's going to stay and continue to try to work this out. So, Kevin, what do you think of my analysis of how Homans did and going forward? Where do you see him taking the policy?

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, it was measured. I think it was the right tone. He talked about being prayerful, which is classic Homan and all this. He also praised the leaders on the ground. It was a little bit more conciliatory on that front. Confirmed that there would be some drawdowns. He mentioned for the first time in a while, Keith Ellison by name, the attorney General, which would have a lot of sway over the interaction between ICE and violent criminals in the justice system in terms of jails and prisons, which is something that's incredibly important. It's one of the sticking points, I think, that you see on the ground. It's something that doesn't make sense to me, honestly, as a Democrat.

[Larry O'Connor]

So I thought.

[Kevin Walling]

I thought it was measured. I thought the timing, Mark, was also interesting. Right. This is now leading the day, at least until the Cabinet meeting this morning. At 11. So I think it was important. And again, he's two hours behind. I think it kicked off at 7:30 this morning local time. So it was an early morning out there because again, I think he wanted to set the tone heading into that Cabinet meeting where this is obviously going to be a focus with Kristi Noman and, and others. I know we're going to talk about that. So I thought it was pretty masterful and classic Homan.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, Larry, he wasn't freelancing. Interestingly, the White House announced last night through their press shop that he was having this press conference covered on all the cable networks in full and not dhs.

[Kevin Walling]

To your point, Mark, it came from.

[Mark Levin]

The White House, although technically he doesn't work for dhs. Right. So it wouldn't be announced by them. It could be. I mean, you're right. Take the point. Anyway, Larry, Kevin was pleased. Has Homan's united the two of you?

[Larry O'Connor]

Definitely. I think the three of us, actually. I don't think there's much disagreement here except. Except for the question as to whether there was news made here. I think there was. I want to get to it in a second. But if the White House's mission and DHS's mission going into this week after the shooting was to shift the narrative, change the conversation and try to bring order to what seemed to be chaos, mission accomplished. I mean, this was, I think it was brilliant. And by the way, something that Tom Holman does very well and has done so all his career is to bring the human element to this. If all you do is yell law and order. Law and order. Law and order. You run the risk of sounding like Inspector Javert. At the end of the day, you need to understand the humanity of these laws and why law and order is important for the human element and those of us who want law and order so that we can have safety again, Tom Homan's great at that. But the news, Kevin mentioned it, the news that came out of this was his announcement that jails will now be able to work with dhs, with ICE and hand over criminals that they have in their custody. And he said Keith Ellison has confirmed that. Now, the word Keith Ellison used was that counties may do this, but it does undermine the sanctuary policies that have been at the root of a lot of the problems in the state. And that's a big, big win for the administration.

[Mark Levin]

Maybe I'm wrong, but wasn't that basically announced yesterday or not?

[Larry O'Connor]

I don't, I didn't see it yesterday. I didn't hear about it. Until I heard.

[Mark Levin]

All right, well, you're right, that that'd be a change. And of course, the related change which Homans wants and Stephen Miller wants is. And I think this is a big key to the whole thing is there needs to be someone keeping law and order when there are agitators around enforcement operations. This is just basic. That people should not be allowed to get so close to these folks that they can say, spit on them. That's just basic. Okay, A lot to get to. So we're going to keep going on through here. The Preddy video that came out yesterday, there's a new angle of it that some of you may not have seen. I think almost all of you have seen the one that came out yesterday from the British agency. But here's another angle on it. And if you had any doubt that Mr. Pretty spit out on them, I think this angle will put that to rest. See him there? You'll see him there on the left. Come racing towards the vehicle. Here we go. It's gonna kick in pretty soon here. I was gonna say something while this played. Okay, there you see him there. Seems to say fuck you. Okay. Seems to spit and then. And then this kick again. I know, Larry. I know what the right is saying about this video, which is this shows that this is an angry guy, a hostile guy, a guy willing to use force to destroy federal property and to. And to piss off law enforcement. Kevin, what is the left saying about this video besides saying it doesn't justify being killed? And anyone who would say otherwise, I disagree with. But what does the left say about this video? Meaningless. Ignore it? Or is there some. Some. Some probative value to it to understand the story in full?

[Kevin Walling]

No, I think, Mark, to your point, I think they are saying, you know, this doesn't justify his killing. Obviously, you know what Larry just said in terms of what Tom. Tom Holman said in that press conference, don't attack these agents on the ground. That obviously does not then welcome, you know, eight or nine bullets from two different agents on the ground. But I think what the left probably isn't really engaging on this, to be frank, and is just focused on the zeitgeist moment that was the shooting from over this weekend. And just concentrating on that initial news report and not really engaging, I think, on this video whatsoever.

[Mark Levin]

Larry, what's the probative value of this video?

[Larry O'Connor]

A couple of things. And it's one of these dangerous paths you have to walk where you try to make a point about what you see. And it is newsworthy. And try to draw some conclusions. And the immediate response is, oh, you're saying that he deserved to die? Of course, nobody is saying that nobody deserved to die. What it does though is we've got three major media narratives over the last four weeks in Minneapolis. Renee Goode, the little five year old boy and Alex Preddy. And all three of them were. The narratives that were given to the American people were very different. About 48 to 72 hours later, when more information came in, we were told Renee Goode was minding her own business in her neighborhood when she got shot by an ICE agent. We were told that the 5 year old boy was detained by ICE and used as bait. And we were told that Alex Preddy was just a good Samaritan who was there trying to help his neighbors. We now know otherwise. So it undermines what we consistently keep getting told about this. And, and my instinct is, listen, if ICE is so bad and so awful, why do you have to lie and misrepresent the case to tell me how bad they are? Because it really does undermine what they're trying to enforce. The second thing, by the way, which I don't see a lot of people talking about, ICE is supposed to be the Gestapo, the goon squad, the secret police. What did ICE do after this man kicked their vehicle and broke their taillight? Did they apprehend him? Did they arrest him? Did they say send him to seekat? They let him walk.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, he walked.

[Larry O'Connor]

He.

[Mark Levin]

But they should try that.

[Larry O'Connor]

You try.

[Mark Levin]

But they shouldn't. But they shouldn't have. They should have.

[Larry O'Connor]

I know they shouldn't have, but. But ICE is everything they keep telling us they are. Why did they show tolerance there, if anything, ICE de escalated.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah.

[Larry O'Connor]

After having their vehicle attacked like that and broken. They didn't detain him, they didn't arrest him. That sort of undermines everything we've been told about ICE and border Patrol on the ground as well.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah.

[Kevin Walling]

And I do think.

[Mark Levin]

Go ahead, Kevin, go ahead.

[Kevin Walling]

These videos provide context for what is actually happening on the ground and just the tense atmosphere that's playing out day to day. And again, hopefully cooler heads will prevail coming out of this press conference this morning and some of the announcements that Homan made. But, you know, it's this kind of third world mentality in terms of what we're seeing play out on the ground. And there was images and video of, you know, protesters lining around one of the hotels in town and invading the ICE agents and stuff like that. Again, all, all of this is not helpful and Homan spoke to this.

[Mark Levin]

Certainly, Larry, I appreciate how careful you were. And of course, no one thinks he deserved to have been killed.

[Kevin Walling]

And.

[Mark Levin]

At the same time, and I agree with you about the media and the misleading coverage, I will say my reaction to that video is that was not a guy who was shying away from conflict.

[Larry O'Connor]

Right.

[Mark Levin]

Attitudinally. I mean, we've talked about, we've said for Ms. Good, for Pred. If that was your kid, how would you feel if my kid kicked in the tail light of a government vehicle? Not only would I say it was improper, but I'd say you are really taking a risk. I mean, you are really asking for trouble. If you kick in, kick in a taillight. Doesn't mean he deserved to die, but they should have arrested him. And then, of course, he'd probably still be alive. But if we want to think about the narrative of this and the meaning of this and of his death, that was not a guy trying to avoid trouble. Just wasn't.

[Larry O'Connor]

I wish there were more people in Mr. Preddy's life who could say to him, dude, I love your passion. I love you for wearing your heart in your sleeve and being so, you know, intent on getting out there. But. But this kind of engagement and this kind of direct action with law enforcement, it's not going to end well. You really. I love you enough that I need you to stay on the sidelines.

[Mark Levin]

Couldn't agree more. All right.

[Kevin Walling]

In the right direction.

[Mark Levin]

Yep. Moving forward, it looks like, again, this one of these negotiations to try to avoid a partial shutdown where nothing is decided till everything is decided. But it looks like there's a determination on Chuck Schumer's part and the White House's part to reach a deal contrary to what Senator Thune was saying, I think yesterday, which is they didn't want to reopen up the appropriations package required, which will necessitate the House acting again. But it appears that's where they're headed. Carl Host of the New York Times, one of the people ahead on the story. Trump and Schumer move towards possible deal to avert a shutdown. The sequencing here is the Republicans are going to have to accept some policy demands of the Democrats, some of which go too far for Republicans. For instance, there's opposition to saying ICE agents can't wear masks. That's, that's one of the things the Democrats are demanding. That may be a sticking point. Also, the question of whether they, they need to have a judicial warrants as opposed to administrative warrants to go in so it's a pretty, it's a pretty big list of things, but it appears that there may be a deal, but that will necessitate a vote in the House, which probably can't occur until Monday. That's, I believe, where most people think this is headed in terms of the players. Kevin, do you think that's, that's where we'll get some sort of Senate deal passage in the Senate House passage Monday?

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, 100%. And I think that's why you're seeing the change in tone just from Thune in the last 24 hours. He's really kind of deflecting all questions to the administration. He needs the COVID of the President engaging on this to get his members in line, especially when it comes to the House. Right. We're going to have a special election this Saturday in Texas for Sylvester Turner's seat. So the margins for Mike Johnson get even smaller coming into Monday. And I think Johnson needs the President to engage on this to provide cover, to accept this. He's already seen some indications from the Freedom Caucus and others. If you're going to open this up, we want changes as well in terms of the DHS policy when it comes to ice. So I do think, like you just laid out is likely the process that's going to happen, Mark?

[Larry O'Connor]

Larry, I think it's more likely. I don't know why, but my instinct tells me that they're going to split DHS out and take their time on that and pass everything but dhs. I could be right. Unless you're hearing otherwise with the stopgap.

[Kevin Walling]

With a stopgap. Larry, do you think for dhs?

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah, I think so. And then they can dive a little deeper into dhs and that wouldn't require the House coming right back. I don't think would. Yeah, they might need the House back, but the, the judicial warrant thing is a non starter. That's not going anywhere. That's amnesty by another name. The mask thing. Let's see. Body Republicans are fine with it because one of the demands is to add body cams for the agents and Republicans seem okay with that.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, it's going to be. Go ahead.

[Kevin Walling]

The biggest, the biggest stumbling block is the warrants, even more so than the mass. To your point, Larry?

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, I think it's going to be an interesting choice for Schumer because Democrats, we've talked about this before, they're fired up on the, on the principles. They're really emotionally and intellectually offended about what's happened. But they also see the politics of this and there's all these memos floating around from Democratic strategists and pollsters saying, we're on offense, we've reclaimed immigration as an issue. Don't let up. But they're not going to get a whole loaf. They don't have the president so much over a barrel. And the president can say to them, I can't deliver the house if you insist on everything. So I think there's going to come a gut check in the next three days where Senator Schumer is going to have to decide does he want, does he want a victory of a policy victory of some sort, but does not include the full list that he had that he, that he put forward. I think the ball is going to be in his court at that point. It's going to be an interesting thing. Cabinet meeting again. We're going to try to take you guys some topics quick here. Cabinet meeting. Will Secretary Noem get praise from the president and will she speak and emphasize. I think she'll emphasize the rest of her portfolio to talk about all the other things she's doing. But Larry, will, will she get an attic girl in the Cabinet meeting?

[Larry O'Connor]

I think she will. And I listen. The president, the president is not he doesn't hesitate to make personnel decisions as we saw in the first term, but he is loathe to do it because of pressure from people he has no respect for and from pressure from the media. So I do think it changes a foot. But I don't think you're going to see anything but unequivocal support today.

[Mark Levin]

You think she's on the way out?

[Larry O'Connor]

Ultimately, I do.

[Mark Levin]

Really? Huh.

[Larry O'Connor]

Let's. And I also think, I think Corey Lewandowski is on his way out even sooner than that.

[Mark Levin]

Let's Polymarket this because that does not match my reporting. 123. Our colleagues at Polymarket are partners there, and people wager from around the world on different prospects. And here's the question. Will Kristi Noem be out by March 31, which is two months away? 27% chance, about 1.1/20, 25.27% chance. You can see it's been as high as 35. And 27 is higher than it's been. Kevin, are you with Larry, me or the Poly markets on this one?

[Kevin Walling]

I'm with Larry. Again, I think the president is loathe to Larry's point to take action based on people he doesn't like and trust or have any kind of semblance of respect for. And he's learned a lot of lessons from round one, right, where he went through 14 different national security advisors, I think, in the course of six months or something like that. So certainly he doesn't like the optics of that. And it's been a relatively stable, impressive cabinet headed into the second year of this administration. But, you know, we also saw the similar dynamics. A lot of praise for Mike Walls, you know, his national security advisor through signal gate, and then a month later, you know, he gets redirected to the UN So I could see something like that happen.

[Mark Levin]

Larry, did you see my reporting that Melania Trump supports Christina? Did you see?

[Larry O'Connor]

I did see that.

[Mark Levin]

But that doesn't sway you. Does not sway you.

[Larry O'Connor]

But I think, by the way, I won't go with the March 31 number. I'd say by June 30, but I do think that'll happen by June 30 also, because you want to make sure the confirmation of her replacement is done before it gets too close to the midterm election, because you don't want that to be necessarily an election issue in the Senate. And I think frankly, it'll be similar to how Dan Bongino was handled here, where it will be her idea and it will be seen as sort of, in a weird way, a triumphant sort of return to the next phase in her career.

[Mark Levin]

I'm still skeptical, Mark.

[Kevin Walling]

The first lady was not. The first lady wasn't in that Oval Office meeting, was she? You're reporting in that.

[Mark Levin]

Can't comment. Okay.

[Kevin Walling]

All right.

[Mark Levin]

Can't comment, but thank you for asking. One other polymarket, I want to show you this 1 22, will there be a government shutdown on Saturday, which is the Deadline Saturday at 12:01am 1 22. 1 22. Will there be a shutdown? 55% chance, according to Polymarket wagers. You can see that the chances have gone up a little bit, but way down since midnight. And I think people betters were reading Carl Holz's story which posted so it went down but now a little back up as I think people think through. Just because the White House and Schumer are talking doesn't mean their deal. So a little bit better than 50% chance according to Poly Market wagers, that there will be a shutdown. Of course there could be a shutdown Saturday, but then solved by Monday. Okay.

[Larry O'Connor]

With the snow and the ice, it feels like it's shut down anyway.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, I hear you.

[Larry O'Connor]

No one's moving around town.

[Mark Levin]

Yes. Okay. The president was on had two massive rounds of truth socialing this morning and last night. So we'll show you. This is going to be like a scroll on the Simpsons. We couldn't possibly read them all. But here's, here's the President's true social account. And Paul, remind me, the first round was last night at like 9 o'. Clock. Maybe Paul's not. Yes, it was. So last night and then an hour and a half. And how many total posts, Paul? Around 60 last night. And then another. Another transfer. Yeah, yeah, lots of stuff. And Paul, Paul looked through them all and, you know, we could do. We could do them all. He did claim that all the Walmarts in California are closing. That's not true. And the newsome folks struck back. But anyway, just so you know, the President's active. If you want to, if you want to get a sense of the ID of Donald Trump, you can go on there and see all the things he posted. Iran. I had thought the President was moving towards striking Iran militarily. And there have been conversations with the Israelis and the Saudis. According to Axios, the Israelis were helping figure out what targets to hit. But then there's a story in the New York Times today that has David Sanger's byline on it that talks about all the conversations that have been taking place either directly or indirectly with the Iranians and the prospect that there's going to be a deal. Here's the headline. You can see David Sanger's byline is on there with two colleagues. Trump threatens Iran with massive armada and presses a set of demands. I'm now leaning towards that. This is all bluster and that Witkoff is going to suddenly announce a deal with Iran. That's my current guess based on body language and the crevices of this story. Kevin, are you more in, Are you more in lover or fighter on this one?

[Kevin Walling]

I'm more in the fighter camp. Again, I think, you know, we talked about this before. I think Iran has learned all the wrong lessons from the Maduro situation in Venezuela. They're still out there taunting the President. And this, I think, is giving some cover for, you know, these military plans to move forward. Obviously there's more resources moving into that CENTCOM area. We talked about the Lincoln already being there on yesterday's show. And again, I think, to your point, Mark, the fact that you've got the Saudi military chief and the Israeli intelligence chief separately meeting with folks here is some kind of indication that some kind of military planning is going forward, at least in that contingency scenario.

[Mark Levin]

Larry?

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah, I'm sort of with Kevin on this. I don't quite see what a, what does a deal look like exactly? And how do you make a deal with people who were, you know, historically rather untrustworthy? And, and how do you verify whatever deal you're entering into? I think that the military strike is still going to happen. I think it's just a question of what the biggest problem during the protests, Mark, was. You know, I think the president wanted to act militarily, but he didn't have any sort of real targets that could effectively accomplish what he was hoping to accomplish, and he didn't have the vessels in the place as he does now.

[Mark Levin]

Just to be clear, if the president fires Kristi Noem at the cabinet meeting and then announces he's bombed Iran, I won't be the least bit surprised. But I'm betting on peace and peace, at least for now. Ukraine, Russia speaking, Exactly. Speaking of peace, very optimistic sounds coming out from the administration about the prospects of a deal, maybe even this weekend in the Middle east, the second straight weekend of tri part conversations. Ask you guys pretty much every day, whoever's here, bearish or bullish on Putin agreeing to something.

[Kevin Walling]

Kevin always, always bearish with Putin. He's never gonna, he's never gonna agree. I will say, I will say it is interesting that, you know, we, we had some indications early on from Abu Dhabi in terms of the, these trilateral meetings that are going on, they've kind of gone a little quiet, which makes it almost seem that they're heading more in the right direction. I think whenever they're talking about how good the meetings are, whether some Zelensky's in Mar a Lago or they're meeting overseas in Kyiva or where have you. They're always like, oh, he's productive, all this. They've gone a little quiet in the last 24 hours or so in terms of reporting from those meetings, which would be the only indication that they actually might be achieving something.

[Mark Levin]

Larry?

[Larry O'Connor]

Well, and Secretary Rubio yesterday in his testimony, he kept focusing on, is it Donetsk, Is that how you pronounce it? Or Donetsk?

[Kevin Walling]

Oh, the regent. Yeah, yeah, exactly right.

[Larry O'Connor]

The Dunbar regent. He kept saying. He actually used the words one remaining item. Like everything else we've solved, everything else we've settled. That struck me that Secretary Rubio during his testimony said that that that's the one remaining item. And that sort of suddenly gives me some sort of glimmer of hope that they might get something.

[Mark Levin]

I mean, that's really. Go ahead.

[Kevin Walling]

That hearing was also masterful by, you know, speaking as the Democrat that it was little Marco knocked it out of the park yesterday.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah. If this show weren't relentlessly focused looking, we would have showed you 20 clips. He was quite something. Two, two more things on Minnesota just to double back. And again, if you want in on the conversation and you're here on the platform, please raise your hand. If you've never raised your hand, today would be a good day to do it. One is Amy Klobuchar is running for governor. No surprise, but she delayed her announcement a few days in the wake of the shooting. But she's going to run. And Democrats very bullish on her chances. And here's a FOX poll on Minnesota on ice 110 Again, another poll with a lot of negativity about ice. All voters. Is ice too aggressive? 59%, even a quarter of Republicans say ICE is too aggressive. And that's up from July of last year when only 40% said ice was too aggressive. There's more in the FOX poll. None of it's particularly good for the president on this matter. Okay. The Georgia search still not clear why.

[Kevin Walling]

What's her name? Tulsi.

[Mark Levin]

Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard. Thank you, Tulsi Gabbard. Were there? Here's the headline from the Georgia The Atlanta paper, FBI raids Fulton county election office seeking ballots from Trump's 2020 laws. The president's alluded to this. Lindsey Graham and others have talked about it and basically said all you who doubted that Georgia was stolen from the president in 2020 are about to be proven wrong. I don't understand how the statute of limitations on any of this stuff could, could still be in play because it's now six years old. But Larry, I don't want to go on forever on this, but do you what is this about, as far as you can tell?

[Larry O'Connor]

It seems to be connected to the statement the beginning of December about the fact that there were upwards to 300,000 ballots that lacked the required signature on the machine receipt that you're supposed to have with two witnesses. Those ballots were counted. Again, with regard to statute of limitations. This isn't going to change the results, obviously, and we're not going to rewrite history and all that jazz. But I think that there is, there is some interest in getting partly to the truth of what happened or at least validating many of the concerns that many of us had about how the ballots were handled in Fulton county in particular, but also looking forward. This is to send a message, I think, and a signal to jurisdictions around the country coming up in the next election and certainly the 28th presidential election that this stuff is going to be looked at. The, the, our elections, frankly, are not really examined much after the fact. There aren't a whole lot of inquiries. And there, there, there shouldn't be anything wrong. This is all public information.

[Mark Levin]

But, Larry, not by.

[Larry O'Connor]

But it shouldn't be secret.

[Mark Levin]

Well, but why should it be done by prosecutors? Let someone else do it. But prosecutors shouldn't be auditing our elections.

[Larry O'Connor]

Well, I think that many requests for these ballots and for audits have been sort of turned away and ignored up until now. I think that's part of the problem.

[Mark Levin]

Okay, but as a, as a, as a 10th Amendment guy and a Mitch McConnell guy on elections, do you really want the federal government telling states how to run their elections?

[Larry O'Connor]

Oh, in a perfect world, absolutely. So can we go back and get rid of Motor voter from the mid-90s where the federal, federal government holds.

[Mark Levin]

You're saying in a perfect world, the states would be in charge of their own elections.

[Larry O'Connor]

But we don't live in that perfect world and haven't, sadly.

[Mark Levin]

So if you had, if you had a bubble cuddle blanket, Larry, you might feel different about the perfection of the world. You know, Kevin, is this, is this going someplace, this thing?

[Kevin Walling]

I don't think so. I mean, again, this has been a focal point of the president for years, Fulton county, especially in the drama with Fannie Willis that he still calls out by name. So this is not surprising. The only surprising element to this, I think, is the nature of Tulsi Gabbard. Right. Had the dni, you know, unless there's a foreign interference thing, why is she there? Something that Mark Warner, our ranking member on intelligence, who's a sober kind of guy, ran it with Marco Rubio for a number of years. The Intelligence Committee is like, why the heck is she there in that grainy photo? I think was released by Reuters. So again, I think there's more questions than answers right now at this point because it is breaking news in the last 24 hours.

[Mark Levin]

She was supposed to have a press conference yesterday, but I don't think she did. Okay. Another thing I forgot to show you about Minnesota. Sorry. I want to show you is 107. Reuters reported exclusively that officers and the ICE officers in Minnesota directed not to interact with agitators in new order guidance is the most detailed look so far. Is how the operations would change. Again, this would be very positive, but someone's gonna have to hold the agitators back. Speaking of which. Quiz, gentlemen. There's an agency not ICE the other Agency. Cbp. Right, cbp. What does the P stand for, Larry?

[Larry O'Connor]

Protection.

[Mark Levin]

Protection. Correct. It is. It has been said many times on this platform and I heard on CNN a thousand times this morning that it stands for Patrol. It's Custom and Border Protection. Everybody repeat after me. Custom and Border Protection. Don't say Custom and Border Patrol. They don't like it. And I get why California? There's a new candidate running for governor of California. It says, do we have this somewhere? I don't see it on my list, but I'm sure it's here. 117. This is a weak field, ladies and gentlemen. Polymarket. Most highest betted candidate is Eric Swalwell, the House member from California. And number two is Mr. Mahan. I don't even sure if that's how to pronounce him. Do you guys know who that is? Mahan.

[Kevin Walling]

I think he's the mayor of San Jose. Is that right?

[Mark Levin]

He is the mayor of San Jose. He's a moderate Democrat. He's announcing for the race today.

[Kevin Walling]

Pragmatic guy.

[Mark Levin]

Very pragmatic. A lot of Silicon Valley is going to get behind him. I, I think if he, if he, if he plays this right, he could become the front runner and, and maybe even an easy winner. Even though he's the, you know, the mayor of a. Of the. Probably the fifth largest city in California. Fourth largest. Would it be so is that the fourth largest?

[Larry O'Connor]

Well, LA would be larger. San Diego.

[Mark Levin]

What would be larger?

[Larry O'Connor]

Sacramento, maybe?

[James Patterson]

I don't know.

[Mark Levin]

Paul, what's the fourth largest city in California? Is it San Jose? Anyway, keep your eye on that one. Lastly, Gavin Newsom.

[Kevin Walling]

I do think this, though, Mark, represents a lot of dissatisfaction among Democrats with Katie Porter and Eric Swalwell. And they're looking for a savior and that's why he's getting in.

[Larry O'Connor]

Don't forget, it's a jungle primary. The last Emerson Poll. The Emerson. The last Emerson poll still shows the top two slots. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and number two, Steve Hilton.

[Mark Levin]

Both Democrats are focused and the unions are focused. They know they need one strong candidate or they're in danger of electing a Republican governor because the only two people who will make the runoff are two Republicans. Okay. I continue to believe that Gavin Newsom and Governor Shapiro are the runaway frontrunners for 2028. But I also believe they're both having bad weeks. Newsom is being criticized. Third largest city in California. It's larger than San Diego.

[Kevin Walling]

San Jose.

[Larry O'Connor]

Wow.

[Kevin Walling]

You heard?

[Mark Levin]

Oh, is that true? It's larger than San Jose. San Diego Crazy. Okay.

[Kevin Walling]

It's.

[Mark Levin]

Anyway, Gavin, what's the San Diego's fourth? San Francisco? San Francisco's not second. Nope. Those are actual city limits.

[Larry O'Connor]

Well, not metro areas.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, not metro area. Sorry. It's always confusing. All right. Anyway, Gavin Newsom is being mocked and characterized as a phony and a fake and a. And too liberal and too conservative. Just. He is getting. He's getting attacked everywhere. I want to show you one category of attack on him. Democrats know that part of why they lost in 2024 was they lost the bro podcast primary.

[Larry O'Connor]

Right.

[Mark Levin]

The bro podcasters favored Trump over Harris and over Biden. Just look at these two. Three iconic figures mocking Gavin Newsom. 118.

[Kevin Walling]

Shane Gillis is no stranger to politics.

[Andrew Schultz]

Trader Joe, that's what we call this guy.

[Mark Levin]

He's sold out this country. On episode 594 of his podcast, he broke down one of the most cringe interview reactions from California Governor Gavin Newsom.

[Kevin Walling]

He's on a podcast, and they're like.

[Mark Levin]

Do you take money from apac? And he's like, what's apac? Oh, apac.

[Kevin Walling]

It's interesting you bring that up.

[Mark Levin]

I will not vote for a candidate.

[Andrew Schultz]

That takes $1 from APAC.

[Kevin Walling]

It's interesting. I mean, it's.

[Mark Levin]

It's interesting. I haven't thought about apac. And it's interesting. You're, like, the first to bring up.

[Kevin Walling]

APAC in years, which is interesting. Kept being like, why is it interesting? He's like, no, it's just interesting.

[Andrew Schultz]

What's interesting about it?

[Mark Levin]

That it's just interesting as you bring.

[Kevin Walling]

Up APAC that it hasn't been part of.

[Mark Levin]

That's interesting.

[Larry O'Connor]

I never even thought about apac.

[Kevin Walling]

But Gillis wasn't the only comedian to.

[Mark Levin]

Weigh in as Andrew Schultz and Joe Rogan reacted to the interview on episode 2396 of JRE asking him about APAC. Did you see this? He just says something interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Larry O'Connor]

Interesting.

[Mark]

Not something.

[Professor Kenney]

I. I don't think about it.

[Kevin Walling]

I don't.

[Mark Levin]

It's interesting. It's interesting. I'm interested, Larry, if I'm running for president, regardless of party, I. I want Andrew and I want. I want Shane and I want Joe. I want them all for me. I want them all to think I'm cool and interesting and authentic. And so my question to you is, can Newsom turn it around, or do you think those guys are so set on him now that they're going to be against him?

[Larry O'Connor]

Oh, I think it's always going to depend on who his opponent Is. But. And I will never underestimate Gavin Newsom's ability to worm his way into an ingredient with whomever he's sitting in front of. But. But it's a. It's a tall order because he is. He's such a easy person to make a caricature of and to mock and. And he's sort of shameless in his presentation that I think that these guys that you just mentioned, they would rather have Gavin Newsom be a foil that they can make fun of. It's better for their content and for their product.

[Mark Levin]

All right, Kevin, my favorite play acting. You play Kevin Wong. I'll play Gavin Newsom. Kevin, what are these guys? What are these guys keying off of to make fun of me like that?

[Kevin Walling]

I think that the Larry's. But The. The kind of authenticity factor, right? He's too cute by half and, like, you know, sticks his finger up to the window. But if he's that guy.

[Mark Levin]

But if he were your client, remember, we're play acting here. I'm Gavin Newsom. If you're your client. And he said, Kevin, I don't want those guys to mock me. I think those guys. Halperin says those guys are key. What would you tell him? Be less fake.

[Kevin Walling]

Like, tell them to go. Tell him, number one, to go on his show, their show. Because, again, to Larry's point, I don't doubt, you know, Newsom's ability to navigate that world and win those folks back to their side. He's very persuasive. Again, you played what the truth social posts were all last night. None were against, you know, Josh Shapiro or Kamala or anyone else. They were all mostly about Gavin Newsom because, again, Trump also knows that he's got to cut him down to size. And they're both foils for one another. And when the president's attacking just one Democrat, that's also elevating Newsom within my party ranks and elevating him on a way that gives him an advantage over everyone else running.

[Mark Levin]

All right, thank you for that. I think that Shapiro book tour is a failure, and I'm getting criticism for saying it, but I just think it's not breaking through. He's got great bookings. He was on Morning Joe. He was on the View Prime Time.

[Kevin Walling]

I had a great conversation with Gail.

[Larry O'Connor]

If we. Good question.

[Mark Levin]

Too soon.

[Unknown Guest]

Too soon.

[Mark Levin]

I mean, where is Michael? Where's the book on Amazon? Now, that's a good question, but I think that it's just. They're just not driving a message with this thing. I just don't think it's breaking through. And when people say to me, oh, it's going great. He's getting all these bookings, I say, to what end? Here's. Here's a bit of him on the View.

[Andrew Schultz]

I didn't view my book as a response. In fact, I finished that before I ever read her. So it's hardly a response. I wanted to make sure that I was being forthright with people about what I went through, how I process these decisions. As I said a moment ago, getting the chance to speak about this for the first time and what is otherwise a process that's pretty closed. And to me, this wasn't about dishing respectfully. It was just more about how we went through the process, what I thought, what I felt coming out of it. And I hope the story there shows that I'm someone who's driven to serve and to serve in a way that still allows me to be a good dad, a good husband, and have an impact on people's lives. That was my focus. You are right that continuing to look backwards is not the answer. We've got to look forward. And that's why I write about the stories of the people that met along the way who've inspired me to serve and make an impact going forward. I think we have some unbelievably talented Democrats in our party. I think we have some amazing governors and members of Congress, mayors and others who do great things. And I think that we have to look ahead not to 2028, but to 2026, our midterms, and focus on putting some constraints on this lawless administration.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[Kevin Walling]

So I think we lost Larry.

[Mark Levin]

I think we lost Larry. I'm sorry, the question. I should have set it up. That I should. Yes, exactly. I should have set it up better. The question was, you know, why are you attacking Kamala Harris in your book? And again, either he and his team are naive if they think that's not going to overshadow whatever message he wants to drive, or they don't understand the world so briefly because we're over time. And I got one other news item to tell you about, but. Kevin, am I being too hard on his book tour? It just seems like it's a nothing burger to me.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, well, I think the timing is tough. Right. And again, capturing people's attention is not easy. And the salacious parts are what people talk about. Right. Are you an Israeli agent? Have you ever worked for a foreign government? Some things like that. That's the only thing that's really broken through. But again, I don't bet against Josh Shapiro. He's got 60% approval rating as a governor in a bellwether state. A lot of Republicans support him, and he's going to be critical in the midterms. Right. There's a lot of House seats that he can flip and then run on that two years later. So, I mean, my money's always been on Shapiro.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, I think he's very strong. I just don't get it. I don't get the book.

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah, I don't get the book tour either. Listen, you can cut through.

[Kevin Walling]

Everybody's gotta do one. I mean, Newsom's doing one.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah.

[Larry O'Connor]

But in the coming weeks.

[Mark Levin]

But his will break through.

[Larry O'Connor]

The best parts about his book he's now shying away from and not steering into and actually sort of laying into it. And by the way, those are really good, important political points he could making to differentiate himself from the Democrat Party of the last two election cycles. But he's not doing that. I understand the appeal to Josh Shapiro. On paper, he makes sense. And if the first primary were in Pennsylvania, absolutely. Great. But I feel like he's the D.C. manhattan candidate. But do you. I mean, look at Mark. Do you see that guy that you just saw lighten a fire in any state that the opening primary states are.

[Mark Levin]

He can be fiery than that. But the book's at 44 on the stump.

[Kevin Walling]

He's on the stump. He can be.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, he can be fired.

[Kevin Walling]

He brings some passion. He gets. He gets assailed all the time for channeling Obama, you know, on the stump. So.

[Mark Levin]

Okay, real quick. Mayor Fry of Minneapolis is going to DC today, the US Conference of Mayors meeting. And he's going to meet with Democrats in Congress. And he was on CNN last night in their town hall. And Jake Sherman, a punchbowl, says that the DHCR could last as long as six weeks. Democrats don't want it to be that long, but they need time to negotiate all of this. Okay, to your questions. If you want to get in on the conversation, please raise your hand and we'll get to you. I need to do another quick word from another sponsor and then we will commence with the community.

[Kevin Walling]

Here we go, Larry. Got that little nap in during Shapiro now.

[Larry O'Connor]

I just love it when we hear from the community. I'm excited.

[Mark Levin]

Yes. All right. When was the last time you woke up feeling actually rested? If you're looking for better sleep and maybe some pain relief and relief from stress, do what over 2 million people have done, try the products from CB Distillery available to you now, 25% discount. Go to CBDistillery.com promo code 2 WMM National Natural Solutions to relax and get more sleep. They're premium quality third party tested products. They're free from artificial dyes and fillers and 100% money back guarantee. So if you're looking for something to help you relax, feel better and sleep better, go to CB distillery.com use the promo code 2WMM for 25% off your entire order. Again, promo code 2WMM. CB distillery.com thank you for your attention to this matter, ladies and gentlemen. Time for your questions and we'll start.

[Larry O'Connor]

Mark, the, the YouTube chat is really taken by your sweater this morning. There's, there's been really.

[Mark Levin]

What do they like?

[Kevin Walling]

What color? What color?

[Larry O'Connor]

There were a couple of uncharitable references to the Teletubbies, but I have, I've deleted those from the chat.

[Mark Levin]

But beyond that, just to be clear, no smack in the chat extends to my wardrobe. So thank you very much. I got a great.

[Kevin Walling]

I want to ask our, our new guest Mark that just came on, what color would you call that sweater? You think?

[Mark Levin]

Mark?

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah.

[Mark Levin]

What color is my sweater? Maybe coral. Okay.

[Larry O'Connor]

The Ammon.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, Yeah. I don't know what it is. I'll look. It's J. Crew. So it's probably on the website. Mark, welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind for Larry.

[Mark]

And for calling from underwater in central New York here in my sub. So my question is going to be how this ends. But not on the ice side, on the protester side. And just a little bit of background. If you've been to any protests and I've been to a bunch, there's a whole social dynamic to it that has nothing really to do with, with the cause at hand. So you know, you have your one day protest. I was at 500,000 people in New York, the no nukes rally. Right. We all, it was so much fun. There was a Bruce Springsteen concert when I was in La Pair Meet Pete Wilson was speaking an event and there was some gay rights thing that he just signed. And so there was a huge West Hollywood contingent out protesting him. And I walked down and it was like a big pickup scene. And within these groups, if you go to Standing Rock, for instance, those people like they were on there and it was a big thing and then it's kind of died in a whimper when it got too cold or the L A riots, I was there. It was Tom Bradley that said I'm bad and you should be mad too. Same thing Fry said that set off the riots. And the riots just kind of ended with a whimper as people just got tired of looting for three days. So now that this whole thing is built up, the signal chat, this whole social dynamic with stuff, something to do in Minnesota in the winter, how does that end? Even if I sleeps, does that.

[Mark Levin]

Great, great question, Kevin. Is this Peter at somehow or if the cold has hurt them, what might.

[Kevin Walling]

It's a really great question. I think it's indicative of a larger, you know, conversation about our society where people need to feel like they belong to something, right? I mean, we got a lot of loneliness. I think that's, that's more, that's one of the reasons, probably the leading reason why people turn out so much and have turned out in previous rallies that you talked about. I just saw on the radar that they're planning another series of no Kings marches in March. And I think again, people want some semblance of belonging and I think that's what's going to drive it. But again, I think with home and on the ground, I've been surprised with, you know, it's single digit weather out there, the number of people out there, you know, I'm like, I need that bubble cuddle blanket right here because I don't want to. I shovel, I've been shoveling in D.C. the last couple of days and it's miserable. So that has been one of the astonishing things is just the number of people that have taken to the streets up there.

[Mark Levin]

Larry?

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah, and Mark, I think you're very wise to look at the evolution of this. And I'd go one step, this latest iteration, the, I don't know, Neanderthal or Homo sapien. I don't know where we are in the evolutionary chain, but it sort of started with the Madison, Wisconsin shutdown of the Capitol, with Scott Walker, that evolved to Occupy Wall street, that evolved to blm, that evolved to what we're seeing now. And it just does seem like the same tactics, the same organization, it gets more muscular every single time it comes out. And I'm afraid of where the next step is. They'll move on to the next outrage and the next cause. Mark. And actually I'm sort of concerned about how organized and how violent it could get.

[Kevin Walling]

Do you think I will say this?

[Mark]

Go ahead. I just think some of this is a romanticism to 60s, the 1960s too, partly.

[Mark Levin]

I think for some of them, again.

[Kevin Walling]

I think it's just a longing to belong right and, you know, people compete over the most flashy sign and most engaging sign. But I do think, Larry, to your I wonder if there's parallels, you know, that you saw the Tea Party movement, right? And then what led out of the Tea party movement was 63 seats flip in Congress. And that kind of petered out because that was channeled into a political moment and movement. I wonder if there's something, you know, if the midterms are successful and a lot of folks sway and they're successful in changing the mood of the country, I wonder if that also peters out and then it's a pendulum back.

[Larry O'Connor]

As someone who was sort of part of the Tea Party at the time or covered it for the for Breitbart at the time, those were a lot of people who had not been politically engaged until then. I feel like everybody you're seeing right now are already reliable votes. I don't know if that's a movement that will then translate to votes.

[Mark Levin]

Professor Kenney, welcome in. Mark, thank you for the question.

[Professor Kenney]

Morning, gentlemen. Good morning. Two Way Community. Kevin, I got a doozy for you tomorrow on the Post show. It has to do with the resurrection of Kamala Harris, but because every time Mark brings up Gavin Newsom, I want to go nuts. But I'm going to save that for you for tomorrow. By the way, to a Kevin will be on our Post show tomorrow. So, Larry, the New York Times, I think it was the Times or the Post, I forget which one is talking about now with de escalation in Minnesota happening, that MAGA is losing their minds, that they're going to, you know, that they're, they're very upset and that it's a conundrum for Trump, obviously, because he's trying to save what, what little left he can of the center. But there's a concern he could be losing maga, which I always find kind of hilarious because where else is MAGA going to go? But I just wanted to know if you think this de escalation is a problem for him when it comes to maga.

[Larry O'Connor]

Well, because Tom Holman is the voice and face of it and he's leading the way on it. I think this term de escalation is sort of overblown a bit. It's a different tone, but it's not a different policy necessarily, or maybe a different focus. Without changing the policy, MAGA would lose its mind. My understanding from hearing from them on a regular basis and reporting with them on a regular basis is if the president announced, okay, fine, we're going to step back on the mass deportation policy and the stuff that he ran on and won on, or to retreat and say, okay, fine, Minnesota, you're on your own. We'll just focus on these other places. That would be a problem because the tactics that we saw in Minneapolis would be seen as a victory and then it would get replicated elsewhere. So I don't see what the New York Times might be reporting. But of course, the New York Times usually has a better handle on MAGA World.

[Professor Kenney]

But, but what's funny is in that article, they don't give you specifics like what we spoke to so and so from MAGA on the right. There's nobody saying anything but yet, hey, MAG is against Trump now.

[Larry O'Connor]

It's conventional wisdom. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mark Levin]

Professor, thank you. Grateful to you. Quick. Well, we'll get one more sponsor in and then back to the show. If you need life insurance and you do if you don't have it, if you're the breadwinner in your family, here's an opportunity to get a policy quick, go to ethos.com market a free quote on life insurance up to $3 million in coverage takes as little as 10 minutes and you get the opportunity to help provide for your family the case of tragedy, rent, mortgage, college tuition, other big costs. Consequences of not having life insurance if you pass away for your family is extraordinary. So right now, go to ethos.com/get a free quote, doesn't require a medical exam. Just answer a few health questions and other questions. In as little as 10 minutes, you'll get a quote to be able to get life insurance for your family. As I said, up to $3 million in coverage. It's an opportunity to take advantage in this moment of doing something that will be quick and super important for your family. So go to ethos.com, it's the online platform that allows you to get health insurance fast and easy and affordable and set your family's mind at ease again. Ethos.com Mark okay, let's go quick to Jack. Jack, welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind For Kevin and for Larry.

[Jack]

Good morning. Wanted to pivot a little bit out of Minneapolis and I had a question on the relations with Canada. As I recall, the president has been making a variety of concessions over time with China because for any number of reasons which I tend to support. But when Mark Carney makes a very limited concession to China with respect to the EVs and his interest is maybe canola oil, all of a sudden Trump gets so upset about that. And I mean, my goodness, we've been dealing with China and changing our policy on tariffs left and right. And when Canada just splits and they're our ally, my goodness, we know we want to keep them on our side. Am I missing something there, Larry?

[Mark Levin]

LARRY great question.

[Larry O'Connor]

LARRY and then, Kevin, what quick observation, I think, from the administration's point of view. Didn't Carney sort of either very overtly or at the very least through leaks, present this decision with China and the policy with China specifically as a rebuke, a rebuke to the Trump administration and sort of a as a in your face to the American government? I think that's the difference here, that it was meant to be a provocative act, whether overtly or just leaked through the media. That was my understanding of it at least.

[Kevin Walling]

KEVIN and to Larry's point, kind of a one, two punch coming out of Davos, obviously, he kind of put the marker in the ground in that speech that got a lot of attention. JACK It's a really good question. The president has been obsessed about Canada for a long time, going back to the first Trump administration. He's back to calling him Governor Carney and not prime minister. Premier Carney, but and again, you saw, you know, the Canadians floating that it was a massive trade deal with the with Beijing. And now it's obviously tailored just to that EVs, you know, Keir Starmer similarly is in is in Beijing for three days of meetings with them. So again, this is also not great that we're driving our allies to China. I think there's got to be a recalibration there as well. To your point, Jack.

[Mark Levin]

JACK thank you. I'm grateful to you. All right, let me play better hockey.

[Larry O'Connor]

Than Canada, by the way.

[Mark Levin]

It's very important a while since they've won a Stanley Cup.

[Larry O'Connor]

Stanley cup. And we're going to remake heated rivalry and make it about baseball and it'll be a much better show.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, you heard it here first before. Two Way will be so big. I'm not going to be able to tell you about every show coming up that just take too much time. But I'm going to tell you about five right now. Here we go. Four o' clock today, the group chat. A great lineup of folks. Mary Margaret, I don't think. Yeah, let's listen a letter. Mary Mario Land, who was on two Way tonight last night, spectacular reporter Robbie Suave, Steve Olakara and Chris Hahn will all be together to talk about today's news. And to answer your questions. So join them at four, then at five o'. Clock. The new time for two way tonight. I've got former Republican strategist, former Trump adviser Elizabeth Pipko and former former Democratic New York state Senator David Carlucci. That's five o' clock tonight. Then at six o'. Clock. Don't it'll be air tomorrow on YouTube. But join us for live. This is a great group. We love when they come to talk about 2028. Who's up, who's down, who's doing well. Both Democrat and Republican side want to talk about J.D. vance and and Israeli Americans who are Jewish Americans, rather Israeli Americans who are unhappy with him and all the stuff on the Democratic side. Our four stars, Amy Parnes, John Allen, Alex Castellanos, Nomi Kunst, all here with me. Six o' clock tonight. So back to back double header of two ways tonight, five and six and then the Moynihan Report at seven. And then tomorrow, this program closes at the week with our usual coverage of the news. Looking ahead to the day and of course Friday, winners and losers of the week and what to look for. No one will be allowed to say they're looking for the snow and how much snow there will be. I can rule that out right now. And our guest co host tomorrow, a couple of great American legends, massive figures in broadcasting, in politics and news. I speak of course of these two gentlemen joining us again tomorrow, Kevin Walling, Larry o' Connor will be back here tomorrow. Grateful to all of you for being part of the two way community. Thanks to Kevin and Larry for today and we'll see you tomorrow. And a new episode of NextUp drops later today as well. My guests, Rich, Larry, National Review and Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingle. And you'll be able to listen to that and watch that later today. Thank you all for watching this program. Kevin, Larry, thank you gentlemen. Have a great day and I'll see you at 5 and 6 tonight.