FBI Raids Ex-Trump Aide John Bolton's House; Will Kamala Harris' Book Tour Score or Flop?

Summary

Podcast Summary: 2WAY Morning Meeting – FBI Raids Ex-Trump Aide John Bolton's House; Will Kamala Harris' Book Tour Score or Flop?

Date: August 22, 2025
Hosts: Mark Halperin, Larry (in for Sean Spicer), Dan Turrentine
Platform: 2WAY

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Overview

This episode opens with major breaking news: the FBI raided the home and office of former Trump and Bush administration national security adviser John Bolton in Bethesda, Maryland. The hosts pivot from planned topics to break down this event, its political implications, and how it is being covered in real time. They then move through the day's political landscape: Kamala Harris' upcoming book tour, Gavin Newsom's summer, redistricting battles, updates in Ukraine, and the ever-shifting primary calendar. The tone is rapid-fire, insider-y, and often irreverent, reflecting both the urgency of breaking news and the morning meeting energy of top network newsrooms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. FBI Raid on John Bolton

[00:03–09:09]

• Breaking News Setup: The FBI raided Bolton’s house (~7am ET), seeking documents related to possible classified information retention after his White House tenure. There’s speculation connecting this to Bolton’s book written post-dismissal from the Trump administration.

• Media Coverage Analysis: The hosts play Fox News’ coverage and debate the legal and political optics of such a raid, noting “a judge would have had to sign off” ([02:44] C).

• Political Ramifications:

  • Mark: “This will be seen as another example of the lawfare retaliation—President Trump ordering the Justice Department to go after his enemies.” ([03:28] B)
  • Dan: Highlights the irony for Trump supporters: “If it is about classified papers that he took… there’s great irony… Democrats paid a huge price for lawfare under Joe Biden. I would imagine Donald Trump, if this continues, will pay a price—not with his base, but with the voters who decide elections.” ([04:43] A)
  • Larry: Stresses a need for impartial justice—“No one is above the law… There are different rules for presidents than for political appointees like Bolton… If he had classified documents, he should be punished.” ([06:44] D)

• Contextualizing the Raid: There was a similar Justice Department investigation into Bolton under Bill Barr in 2020, dropped after Biden took office. The current raid may simply “pick up” that case ([08:55] D).

Memorable Quote:

“Not a great morning for John Bolton, no matter what, potentially. But he is a cool customer—I don’t think he’s going to freak out here, but he’s very active on cable and social media…”
—Mark Halperin ([03:28] B)

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2. Lawfare, Double Standards, and Political Risks

[04:43–09:09]

• The group debates whether political prosecutions (“lawfare”) are wielded unevenly, listing Biden’s classified documents case and the dropped investigation into Bolton as points of comparison.
• Debate over whether being a vocal Trump critic brings legal scrutiny.
• Larry challenges the notion of “lawfare” being unique to one party:

  “Unlike Donald Trump, John Bolton was not president. … There are different protocols for presidents versus staff. … You know who else was never president but had classified documents? Joe Biden.”
  —Larry ([06:44] D)

• The consensus is: the facts will determine the real damage, but the perception battle is on.

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3. The News Cycle’s Unpredictability

[08:00–08:47]

• Mark: Observes how major stories “that for a day or two or three are the biggest story in the world” quickly fade, citing the “Maryland man” saga, Russia-Ukraine news (which isn’t leading cable coverage), and how quickly audience attention pivots.

  “There’s just all these stories that for a day or two or three are the biggest story and then they disappear… a weird news moment.”
  —Mark Halperin ([08:09] B)

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4. Kamala Harris’ Book Tour & Political Calculus

[39:00–39:28]

• Anticipation builds over details of Kamala Harris’ tour. Miami event tickets: $72–$472; speculation that prices may be higher in other cities. The show jokes about who will attend.

  “Maybe we’ll pull our money and draw lots and one of us will go. The loser has to go.”
  —Mark Halperin/Larry ([39:24] D/B)

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5. Ukraine War Developments & Trump’s Position

[21:57–25:36]

• Reuters scoop: Putin’s demands for Ukraine peace:
  • Ukraine give up all of Donbas
  • Renounce NATO ambitions
  • No Western troops
• Discussing whether this is a real peace opening or “just a way for Putin to conquer Ukraine.” ([22:19–23:16] A)
• Trump’s own “sports metaphor” post: maybe Ukraine should “strike in Moscow or in Russia.”
• Larry: Suggests Newt Gingrich’s hawkish advice may influence Trump, noting Zelensky’s “Flamingo” missile claim ([24:05–24:41] D/A).
• Mark speculates on “who leaked” the Reuters story—believes it came from Russian sources ([25:10–25:14] B).

Memorable Exchange:

“Maybe Trump is indicating here, in his own way, that yeah, it’s time to go on the offensive.”
—Larry ([24:42] D)

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6. Economic Watch: The Fed and Political Pressure

[25:36–28:12]

• Preview of Powell’s speech: Will the chairman focus more on fighting inflation or on supporting growth/employment?

  • Dan: “Pressure for him to pick a side… Trump wants lower interest rates… but that tends to produce inflation.”
  • Larry: “Powell’s vulnerable, he looks like a highly political player here.”

  “I mean, then how do you explain why he lowered interest rates? Is absurd. I mean, it’s just utterly absurd.”
  —Dan ([27:18–27:25] A)

• Debate over the political timing of rates decisions—did the Fed help Kamala Harris with late moves?

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7. Redistricting Battles: Texas vs. California

[15:26–16:56 & 28:12–30:30]

• Texas and California are both active on redistricting, with California removing “retaliatory” language against Texas from its measure. An LA Times poll: 46% of Californians support their new approach, but tradition suggests that’s not enough to win at the ballot box.
• Mark: “If you don’t start above 50 [percent], you don’t usually win because the no side spends a lot of money and ratchets it up.”
• Larry (on ballot wording): “The language… was very specific, retaliating. Texas was named in it. … If the final ballot measure is going to say that… [will be important].”

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8. Primary Calendar Chaos: Iowa & New Hampshire Debate

[32:06–38:33]

• Extended, heated debate about whether preserving IA/NH as first-in-the-nation is good for the Democratic process.
  • Dan: “It’s a great thing [to break it up]… Iowa and New Hampshire are too white, too insular, their track record is horrific.”
  • Mark: “You cannot make this calculation… no other state will take their job as seriously. They do real vetting.”

Quote:

“My advocacy and my passion here is based on wanting to be what I believe is the first person invited to speak at Politics and Eggs three times…”
—Mark Halperin ([37:05] B)

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9. Quick Hits & Political Tidbits

• Epstein Documents: DOJ releases tranche to House committee, to be redacted ([30:31] B).
• NYC Mayor’s Race: Ongoing corruption scandals with Adams’ aides; speculation on Cuomo as alternative ([31:30–32:06] B).
• Mandani’s Rise: Podcasters predict Mandani will play a role in 2026 and 2028 political cycles ([48:25] D).

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10. Winners, Losers & What to Watch

[39:57–44:00]

Winners of the Week:

• Dan: Mark Halperin for early recognizing Gavin Newsom’s political potential.
• Larry: Winsome Earl Sears (VA pol) surging in polls.
• Mark: California political consultants (“going to make a fortune off a $300 million waste of money”).

Losers of the Week:

• Dan/Larry: Branding/rebranding experts after “gigantic oofs” by Ms. Now and Cracker Barrel.
• Mark: Those who said Trump-Vance would destroy US-EU relations—notes unity remains.

What They’re Watching:

• Dan: How the administration handles Russia on Sunday shows.
• Larry: Personally, his own run at Quantico 12K, prep for Marine Corps Marathon.
• Mark: Next moves in Russia/Ukraine and Trump’s response.

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11. Kamala Harris’ Book Tour – Will it Score or Flop?

[39:00–39:28]

• The group lightly roasts Harris’ ticket pricing and speculates on the “excitement” factor and whether the events will create political momentum.

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12. Audience Q&A (Rapid Fire)

[44:49–58:00]

• The hosts do a lightning round, taking short, focused questions from listeners on lawfare, swing states, the census, youth support for Israel, and more.

Notable Q&A Exchanges:

• On Lawfare:

  “Do it by the book. Don’t do it in a way that’s clearly meant to intimidate people, because this is a disaster for America…”
  —Mark ([52:11] B)

• On Biden, Lawfare, and Retribution:

  “The Democrats would tell you that what they did was in response… get out of here that Donald Trump was the first person to face conspiracy theory allegations. Like, MAGA's got to grow up.”
  —Dan ([53:07] A)

• On Youth/Shifting Sentiments on Israel:

  “I think part… goes to the state of our education system… Teachers' colleges have been very politicized…”
  —Larry ([49:07] D)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “This will be seen as another example of the lawfare retaliation — President Trump ordering the Justice Department to go after his enemies.”
  — Mark Halperin ([03:28] B)

• “No one is above the law. That was a lesson hard learned over the last several years… under President Biden and the various district attorneys…”
  — Larry ([06:44] D)

• “If it is about classified papers that he took, obviously there's great irony in this if you're a Trump supporter…”
  — Dan ([04:43] A)

• “There's a bias in news business towards new stuff. … New stuff in this Bolton thing is new and it's got video.”
  — Mark ([19:48] B)

• “The irony of what Trump's doing…” (Debate about Fed policy and inflation.)
  — Dan ([27:47] A)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:03–09:09] — John Bolton FBI Raid: Facts, coverage, and politics
• [21:57–25:36] — Ukraine peace talks, Trump’s posture, and Russian demands
• [25:36–28:12] — Fed, economic pressures, & inflation debate
• [32:06–38:33] — Primary calendar, Iowa/NH vs. new states
• [39:57–44:00] — Winners, Losers, What to Watch
• [44:49–58:00] — Rapid-fire audience Q&A

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Tone & Language

• Tone: Lively, quick-moving, inside-baseball, with frequent teasing among hosts.
• Language: Familiar, sometimes irreverent, often analytical but always conversational.

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Summary Takeaway

If you missed the episode, you’re caught up on one of the most dramatic news mornings of the summer. The hosts dissect the breaking FBI raid of John Bolton’s home—wondering aloud about motives, fairness, and the reshaping of the “lawfare” narrative. The second half surfs the major issues of the day: Kamala Harris’ political brand, shifting campaign calendars, Ukraine-Russia obstacles, the Fed’s political dilemma, and the never-ending seesaw of winners and losers in the modern news cycle.

Best encapsulated by Mark’s summing up:

“This is not the America I want to live in… Weaponizing indictments ruins people’s lives. And it will never end. And there’s no way to run a country.”
([51:48] B)

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Listeners can expect updates in the next live episode after a holiday hiatus, and are encouraged to engage with the ongoing 2WAY platform conversation.

Transcript

[Dan]

Foreign.

[Mark Halperin]

As we come on the air, there's breaking news. John Bolton, former Trump national security Advisor in Bush 1, his third National Security Advisor's home was raided in Bethesda, Maryland, about 7am this morning Eastern time, and his office was raided just a little while ago. And we'll be monitoring that. In fact, let's jump right to cable news in just a moment. Not quite yet, but in just a moment we're going to jump to the quad split and see how all this is being covered. But we'll be talking about that quite a bit. Hadn't planned on that story. And that's what happens when news breaks. There's other things breaking this hour, at least potentially. We'll tell you about those, too. Larry's here in for Sean. Just as you know, this program is based on the network news division's morning meetings where they're supposed to run through the day. And often if news broke during the meeting, you face this choice of do you just have sit around the morning meeting talking about the breaking news and turning the audio up on the TVs in the conference room where the meeting's anchored from, or did you say, all right, well, the story's playing out and we got to still do the business of the morning meeting and in my experience could go either way. Sometimes we just all sat around, watch TV and talked about that one story. And then after like, you know, 30 minutes of that, somebody said, hey, there's other stuff we need to talk about and there's shows that need to be produced. So let's all, you know, go back to work like at the end of Hill Street Blues or sometimes we just say, well, okay, that's breaking. You know, let's talk about that for 20 seconds. And now let's run through the rest of it. So I'm not sure which way we're going to go here, but let's dip in to cable, please, and see how everybody's covered it. Start with the Fox audio, if you would.

[David Sponge]

Sign off. They could find they had a very specific list of what they're looking for. Multiple sources say this is related to classified documents. What's not clear if these potentially are the classified documents that Bolton, Ambassador Bolton, after he was fired from the first Trump administration, was trying to hold onto as he wrote his book back during the first Trump administration. If that's related to that. We know his attorney at the time said that there were no classified documents. But that's a little bit murky right now at this point. So we're waiting to See what's happening there. Separately, at his office in Washington, Fox's.

[Mark Halperin]

Justice Department correspondent, David Sponge.

[David Sponge]

Ambassador Bolton is there. He's been talking to agents, and we saw some FBI agents, agents leave with a couple of SUVs with some documents outside the back of the office there, as you see a live look there.

[Dan]

So Mark Bolton was a Fox contributor at one point, right.

[Mark Halperin]

Is no. Million years ago. A million years ago arrest or I.

[David Sponge]

Think, oh, yeah, maybe early in the process. But I will note one more time, Judge would have had to sign off on such a warrant for FBI.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, leave the quad, split up, kill the audience.

[David Sponge]

They would have had.

[Mark Halperin]

So Bolton is a, is a seasoned Washington hand. He's an attorney, practicing attorney. He's been in the national security establishment for a long time. As we were talking about before we came on the air, he had an exploratory committee to run for president in 2016. Right? It was 2016. Yeah.

[Larry]

Well, I think he set up the committee in 15, but it was.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, but for the 16th cycle. And I'll just be straightforward here. He toggles, in my experience, between being like a rational, rational, reasonable, a normal member of the gang of 500 in the establishment, and then he could be a bit of an odd duck. He wrote a book about his time in Bush One that President Trump did not like, and questions were raised about whether he inappropriately disclosed classified information in the book. And obviously, again, I'll try to be straight down the middle here. This will be seen as another example of the lawfare retaliation. President Trump ordering the Justice Department to go after his eminese. As my, as my mythical fifth grader might say, in a long line of people who, who have been investigated over. Investigations have been open. I, I keep saying proof will be in the pudding if, if Ms. Cook, uh, improperly had two mortgages or maybe three. Uh, now it's being alleged, uh, you know, truth will out, uh, and hopefully the justice will be done. I don't know if John Bolton did anything, but I know, as one Trump person said to me this morning by text, not a great morning for John Bolton, no matter what, potentially. But he is a cool customer. I don't think he's going to freak out here, but he's very active on cable and on social media, so we'll get a reaction from him. Dan, your initial thoughts about this Bolton development?

[Dan]

Well, if it is about classified papers that he took, obviously there's great irony in this if you're a Trump supporter, that this has happened, winning. But I'll just say it goes to the Koch allegation and others. Democrats paid a huge price for lawfare under Joe Biden. And I would imagine that Donald Trump, if this continues, will pay a price not with his base, because just like our base loved what the Biden people were doing. And I know some of it wasn't the Biden Department of Justice, it was out of New York, but all with, I think, the same goal. The voters that decide elections don't love this stuff.

[Mark Halperin]

Cash Patel had a provocative tweet this morning about justice being done. And, Dan, I take your point, but before Larry jumps in, let's say Bolton again. I'm not saying this happened, but let's say Bolton did something wrong. I don't know that voters, I think voters maybe didn't like lawfare against Donald Trump because those cases, in all but one case, maybe were so flimsy.

[Dan]

Well, Mark, I would just, I mean, there's no doubt that Donald Trump wouldn't return the papers.

[Mark Halperin]

Well, that's the one.

[Dan]

Well, I think what was going on in Georgia was also pretty legit. But, I mean, look, it is what it is. It's now, you know, history. But I think, as was often the case with Trump, you had to ask yourself, if he were not running for president again, would those cases have likely happened? Right. In this case, you have to ask yourself, if they were not such vocal critics of Donald Trump, or in the case of Cook, not doing what he wants, would they have received this treatment? And that's a question for the public to decide. We'll look for the facts.

[Mark Halperin]

Well, no, we can tell the public, no. The answer is no, they wouldn't have been brought. Larry's here. Larry, yesterday seemed to favor Republican lawfare and oppose Democratic lawfare. Larry, John Bolton, what are your thoughts on basically?

[Larry]

Well, I would reject the premise that I oppose one law fair and not the other. I believe I used the word justice. And Cash Patel's tweet, I think, says it all. No one is above the law. And that was a lesson hard learned over the last several years under President Biden and the various district attorneys in Atlanta and in New York and in the state of New York as well, the attorney general, in fact, coming on the heels of the egregious penalty levied against President Trump unfairly by that very odd judge in New York thrown down by the appeals court yesterday. I think that this. You're right. There's some irony here. I suspect, though, that our irony focus is a little different, you and I, because unlike Donald Trump, with whatever Documents he had from his time as president. John Bolton was not president. And there are different rules, there are different protocols with regard to having documents from your time working in service for an administration. If you're the President of the United States versus a what, three month long stint as the National Security advisor. So if he had classified documents, he should be punished. And here's the other problem. You know who else was never president but had possession of classified documents?

[Mark Halperin]

Joe Biden.

[Larry]

And we know what happened with that investigation.

[Mark Halperin]

He was president. What do you mean he was never president?

[Larry]

No, he had those documents. Oh, when he was, he acquired documents when he was a senator.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, let's, let's reset the whole thing here. We'll keep up the quad split, we'll look, see if anybody worth listening to pops up. I will say this summer more than at any point I can remember, and maybe it's just my old age and I'm forgetting. There's just all these stories that for a day or two or three are the biggest story in the world and then they disappear. We're going to talk about the Maryland man. I say that in air quotes in a moment. He's in the news today for, for weeks that was like every day was leading the news. And now, now no one seems to care. Russia this morning there's, there's some developments in the Russia story, Ukraine story, and yet the network cable News shows at 6am none of them led with it and they, I, I mean I never even heard them mention it. So it's a weird, it's a weird news moment. Anyway, let's run through the daybook one.

[Larry]

Other item real fast on this. Yeah, let's not forget there was actually a Justice Department investigation under Bill Barr in 2020 over John Bolton possessing classified documents. When Biden became president, that case was dropped. So they're just picking up this investigation.

[Mark Halperin]

Well, so you think maybe, maybe they got him on something else? Who knows? But they could be. All right, I'll run through the daybook. We'll kick things around. We'll do winners and losers. Lots of interesting stories to discuss them. We'll take your questions if you're here on the two way platform. Want to be in on a conversation, Please raise your hand if you're watching on X YouTube. Don't raise your hand. Don't put smack in the chat. Peace, love and understanding, yada yada yada, presumption of grace to all, so on and so forth. Very glad to have you here. Make a couple of announcements before I do the Daybook. First of all, brace yourselves everyone. This is the last episode of this show for until the Tuesday after Labor Day. Same true for the two way tonight we're going on a little hiatus because Dan is getting some work done. Dan is bad that I told people that. Dan's getting some work.

[Dan]

I'll have a new face.

[Mark Halperin]

Dan's getting some work done. And, and, and it's a lot like what's that actress's name? I can't remember her name. I'll think of it.

[Dan]

Knows everything.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, Dan doesn't need the work but his agent says, you know, you gotta look, you gotta look to the future Dan. It may not need it now. So we're all gonna take a week off and we'll be back to Tuesday after Labor Day. So a week from Tuesday and, and, and again I'm expecting hundreds of emails saying it's nine o'. Clock. Where's the show? Listen to me now, hear me later. There's no shows next week. Two way tonight is on this evening four o' clock special time for the live show and then we'll spool out on YouTube at 4 at 6. But no shows next week, no morning meeting. Even though of course as Larry well knows, the boarding meetings momentum now is extraordinary as we are a podcast. And let's go ahead and show the folks, Paul, where we are. Number 12 now. Now we've been higher and again just crushing for Dan to be once again behind Candace Owen and and for Larry, just the Tim Miller. Now I got an email yesterday saying someone said this is so against peace, love and understanding you denigrating the people ahead of you in the podcast listings. Joke fellas, joke. Ladies, this is not serious, but this is serious. Please subscribe to the podcast. Apple, Spotify, YouTube right now.

[Larry]

Serious about the bulwark?

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. No, to be honest and to be honest Dan, serious about Candace. But I have to pretend not to defuse the accusation.

[Larry]

My ex wife is a big fan of Candace Owens. I'll just let that statement stand.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay, so again we've fallen well behind Ben Shapiro, well behind Charlie Kirk, well behind Tim Miller, well behind Candace Owen. I try not to blame you the two way community for anything but I blame you for this. So get to it please. If you haven't done it, please subscribe. All right.

[Dan]

By the way Mark, don't look at the chat. It's melting down over us not being on.

[Mark Halperin]

Really? People are unhappy we're not on next week.

[Dan]

They're very unhappy. Very unhappy.

[Mark Halperin]

Look, we were like a jinx since we've been on Trump has not gotten Putin to the negotiating table. Let's assume we're like the Sports Illustrated cover jinx and we just, we dip out and and piece piece. I take down everything. You, you watch TV for us and if Paul, if something good comes up, you'll upon you'll pop it up. But go ahead and put us back regular.

[Dan]

If you know your party's Extension, press or say 1 to leave a message in our company mailbox. Press or say 2. Spoiler alert.

[Mark Halperin]

It will be full representative.

[Dan]

Would you speak to your mother in that tone?

[Mark Halperin]

Speak to a real human being.

[Larry]

You shouldn't need to shout into the.

[Mark Halperin]

Void to get your health insurance questions answered. Pacific Source Health Plans. This is a real person. How can I help you? Human service, not automated phone trees. Pacific Source Health Plans. Hello Miami. All right, a quick word from our sponsor, Cozy Earth. We're so happy to have them at a sponsor because I hate help. As they say in the TV business, pay the bills. They say that in radio too and podcasting. But they're also produce incredible products. All the Cozy Earth products made from viscous from bamboo naturally wicking away heat and moisture. I'm wearing the pants right now. You can't see it but trust me, I am. They're cool, they're comfortable. They're great when it's warm. They're also great when it's cool. And I'm going to wear them to the beach later and then I'm going to wear them to a cocktail party. They're so nice looking. They're the nice. My dad taught me don't do any double superlatives but this demands it. They're the nicest, most comfortable pants you'll ever own. And there's some new models. There's the bamboo joggers. There's the everywhere pant go buy them all. If you buy their sleep stuff, that's good too. I've been sleeping on that during this hot summer. Very comfortable and 10 year warranty or 100 day money back guarantee. Pick your poison. Upgrade your summer sleep head right now to cozyearth.com use the code morning. 40 for 40% off. 40 off. Best selling sheets, pajamas and more. Please go to cozyearth.com right now. Sleep cooler Lounge lighter. Stay cozy. All right. The daybook. The president.

[Dan]

By the way, are you like rfk? Do you wear your pants like to the gym, to the beach and then to the same pair?

[Mark Halperin]

I work. I wear the pair I'm wearing now everywhere but the gym. I'm not like rfk. I can't work out in long pants. I do the. I do the step mill and I can't. I could not do this in these pants. Plus, I don't want to get them any. Any sweaty. Yeah, I don't want to test the wicking beyond, you know, the reasonable normal of physics. All right, today the Spectator is the new media pool. And the President is making an announcement at noon in the Oval Office. I don't know anybody who knows what that is, so that'll be exciting to see what he says at noon. And of course, if he takes questions, there'll be at least one on John Bolton and the President. Does he have a nickname for John Bolton? Does anybody remember, does he call him the Walrus? What does it call?

[Larry]

Had something to do with his penchant for war. I can't remember Something.

[Mark Halperin]

Anyway, we'll see what happens. I think it's possible the President will play Dom and act like he doesn't know anything about this thing. We'll see. We'll see.

[Dan]

Does Gavin Newsom get in on this?

[Mark Halperin]

Oh, he gets in on everything now. Vice president don't know what he's up to after his trip to Georgia yesterday. House and Senate back September 2nd, which is, I believe, the day this program will return. Texas legislature didn't finish up their thing yesterday, so California actually beat them to the punch. Texas Senate will meet to consider the redistricting bill at 11 Eastern. And then Greg Abbott will sign it. I read this yesterday, guys, and, and I saw it in one place. It said that the California language changed to not be predicated on Texas anymore. Do you guys see that?

[Dan]

No, I had not.

[Larry]

My understanding is that it's pretty explicit.

[Mark Halperin]

It was, but it may. No, no, no, no.

[Dan]

The original was the original one.

[Mark Halperin]

The original one said others Texas, but I think, but, but I read in a reputable place it said, it said at the last minute they struck any contingency. So we'll talk about that in a minute. Mr. Pulte, who oversees Freddie and Fannie and is also a one man vigilante band calling out wrongdoing by people like Adam Schiff and the Attorney General of New York. And now Ms. Cook tweeted this morning, I will be making a statement on new evidence in the Cook matter today at 9:30am Eastern Time. That's in about 15 minutes. So we'll be watching to see if he does that or if he bows to the Bolton news and holds off. And Jerome Powell right after we go off the air. 10 Eastern. What time is it in Wyoming at 10 Eastern, 8am yeah.

[Larry]

Mountain.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Mountain time. 8am Mountain time. Jerome Powell delivers the much expected, long awaited, always closely watched annual address, the Federal Reserve bank of Kansas City's economic policy symposium, full coverage of that speech and much more on Two Way tonight. This afternoon, RNC gathers for their summer meeting at 10:15 in Atlanta, Georgia, where they're going to pick Mr. Watley as their next party chair. Ruben Gallego, a much touted and highly overrated presidential candidate, might not be overrated. Too soon to say. Senator from Arizona is speaking at Politics and Eggs. Either of you guys ever been to the Politics and Eggs breakfast?

[Larry]

No.

[Dan]

Up in New Hampshire? No.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Okay. I've been there many times and I've been honored to be the speaker twice. It's a great event. It's sponsored by the New England Council and the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, two great associate organizations. It's usually at the, sometimes it's at St. Anselm, but. Yeah, but it's usually at the, what's that hotel called? Bedford Inn. Bedford Village Inn, one of the great New England hotels. And every, every guest gets a little wooden egg that says Politics and eggs on it. It says egg size. And then the host signs them. Not the host, the guest speaker. And I've got some great ones signed by people. But, but truly one of the 15 highlights of my valency career, my whole life being asked to sign those eggs. They're a little tricky to sign because, you know, they're egg shaped.

[Larry]

Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

Anyway, lastly, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who Larry calls a gang member and Dan calls a Maryland man. He's being released today, we believe from a Tennessee jail. And he's got private security that's going to bring him back to John Bolton's state of residency, Maryland. But then the Associated Press says the minute he gets to Maryland, he might be arrested by immigration officials and, and deported. So we'll see what happens. But again, another story that, like once upon a time, if I told you the Maryland man was being released and brought back to Maryland, you tell me. Well, there's going to be a lot of coverage of that thing, especially in.

[Dan]

Late August with Congress.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, exactly. And he's coming to the D.C. area where there's lots of bureaus and crews. Larry, I mean, are you going to be waiting for him on the border and give him a, give him a crab cake or something?

[Larry]

I am, in fact, a Maryland man. Maybe I'll have an honorary can of Old Bay for him. Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

Some season.

[Larry]

The reason why you do know why these stories are huge and then they go away is because the huge story is meant to be, oh, this is it. We finally got Trump and his horrible policies. And this is awful. Just like this story in particular. Then when the facts come up and catch up with the headlines, it turns out, oh, actually, Trump's in the right. This isn't that big of a deal. So that's why the story dies.

[Dan]

Well, that's funny, because on the left they'd say, Trump put stories out with no facts and then they just disappear. And then we all learn that, like, oh, wait, there actually really isn't anything there.

[Mark Halperin]

I think that's part of it. But. But I'll give you three more explanations. Number one, a lot of these stories that got a lot of attention aren't really worthy of it too is. We've had a lot of big stories. Like there's been a summer of big stories. And three, I've said this before. John King Associated Press reporter, circa 1992, when we were covering the Clinton campaign, and he had incredible influence over the networks and what they covered because there was nothing else to look at in New York for the news executives but John King's copy or Ron Fournier's copy about what was going on. And. And John would always say to me when I say, well, why isn't that the story? He'd say, because the first three letters of news are new. There's a bias in news business towards new stuff. New stuff in this Bolton thing is new and it's got video. All right, let's talk about Ukraine. Reuters, some. Some fresh reporting. Peggy Noonan's column today says basically Trump may not succeed, but he's trying. And that's been my point of view as well. Like, this may not work, but it's different than what the Biden administration was doing. And it could work. But the Journal itself is very negative. Paul, she goes editorial is very negative. The news story in the Journal basically says a reconstruction of how did this thing fall apart in four days. But here is. There's the Journal headline, how Trump's Ukraine. Sorry, it's blocked here on my screen. How Trump's Ukraine peace push stalled out in four days. Recent optimism has faded and Trump is looking for new answers again. Yesterday, the president on social media saying a sports metaphor that in effect, maybe Peg Zelensky should strike in Moscow or in Russia with advanced weapons. Reuters this morning has exclusive reporting not getting very much attention. 117Reuters says. Reuters says this exclusive Putin's demands to Ukraine give up Donbass, no NATO and no Western troops. And the lead says this. Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up all of its eastern Donbas region, renounce ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of the country. Three sources familiar with top level Kremlin, Kremlin thinking told Reuters. If that reporting is accurate, and Reuters is pretty good on this stuff, it's way ahead of what anybody else has reported because all we've had are public comments from the Russians saying, we reject everything, Dan, with the exception of no Western troops on the ground in Ukraine. That, that, that's, that could be part of a deal. There's nothing else I see on there that's, that's ruled out by the, by the, by the Zelensky side. Or am I wrong?

[Dan]

Yeah, that story says that this is what the Russians told Trump in Alaska. And you're right, because there's an olive branch in there. The story says, I'm not going to, I can't remember the specific names that two regions. Russia's willing to give some land back to the Ukrainians, but they want the remaining 15, 20% of the Donbas region that they do not have. So there's a little bit of a trade there of like, we'll give you some of what we have, but we want some of what we don't. But obviously the big deal breaker in there is no Western troops, no one from any NATO countries, not the United States. And of course, if you're a cynical person with Vladimir Putin, your first thought is then he would just take the rest of Ukraine at some point and oh, and he also says Ukraine cannot have any military, which is another like, you know, bonkers statement like, you can't defend yourself. No one with any strength can defend you. Otherwise it's a peace agreement.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Larry, List what Newt Gingrich, who's an advisor to President Trump on these kinds of issues, but more hawkish than the President's policies towards Ukraine. Here's what Newt tweeted. Russia's deliberate attack on an American related company in the far west of Ukraine is an example of an arrogance and contempt with which Putin is operating. He has in fact just showed the world that anything he said in Alaska is baloney or someone say bologna. He is determined to conquer Ukraine and sees no serious effort stopping him. His foreign minister, Lavrov, has been making it very clear that Putin's idea of a deal is a conquest of all Ukraine. We will have to get much tougher to convince the Russians they can't Win. Larry, we've been saying here he probably will get tougher, but not right away. What do you make of Gingrich's advice and will the president jump on that?

[Larry]

I don't know if he'll jump on it, but he is a trusted advisor to the president on a lot of issues and I think that's going to resonate, especially as you mentioned, his somewhat cryptic and curious post on Truth Social yesterday about maybe Ukraine needs to go on the offense. If you never win a game, if you're always on defense, I think is sort of to be paraphrase the president and there is some suggestion there that you got to start punching back. And also yesterday, didn't Zelensky announced that they've got a brand new missile system? They're calling it the Flamingo missile, which is hardly striking fear.

[Dan]

Yeah. By the end of the year, they think that their new missile system will be ready.

[Mark Halperin]

Maybe.

[Larry]

Maybe part of the rhetoric and Sable rattling here is an indication that Trump, if Putin doesn't give up on some of these things, especially the Western, he, Putin can't dictate what a sovereign nation can do with protecting their own borders, then maybe Trump is indic stating here in his own way that, yeah, it's time to go on the offensive.

[Dan]

Mark, do you think that Reuters story was leaked by the US to say to everyone who's starting to chirp, hey, we're a little closer than people think, like Putin was willing to give some. No. So you think the Russians leaked it?

[Mark Halperin]

Well, they didn't leak it. I think they put it out there. Reuters has good Moscow sources.

[Larry]

Okay, Larry, I think the sources are identified as people close to Russia.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry, just to clarify, do you prefer the Rod Stewart or Manford man version of Pretty Flamingo?

[Larry]

Oh, Manfred man, absolutely.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. The vocals on both, though, are memorable.

[Larry]

Problem with Rod Stewart is at some point all the songs start to sound the same because of his vocal quality.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Okay.

[Dan]

Everything's still good.

[Mark Halperin]

Thank you for the clarification. All right, the Fed, I don't think we need to say much about it because I want to see what happens with Pulte in five minutes, assuming he goes forward. But Dan, what do you expect to preview the chairman in 30 minutes? What do you expect from the chairman?

[Dan]

I think, look, the Fed has two. There's two mandates and there's two issues in front of them, which is the threat that inflation may be kind of starting to resume a little bit. And at the same time, the economy may be slowing and job, you know, worrying about Job losses. And so the issue, when you have something called stagflation, which is both of those happening simultaneously, is there's going to be pressure for him to pick a side. And Trump wants lower interest rates for, you know, for employment and to juice the economy. The problem is, even in normal times, that tends to produce inflation. A hot economy, which is why the Fed historically raises interest rates when the economy gets going too hot, they call it. So I'll be curious if he says we don't, you know, we're still weighing both, or if he starts to say this is our. One of those two is going to be our bigger focus.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry. Yeah.

[Larry]

The biggest problem is that so much of Trump's initiative here is being bringing investment for manufacturing into the United States. And those companies would like to have some pretty good interest rates when they're financing their equipment and they're building and their real estate. And the interest rates are hurting, and it's hurting everyday Americans as well. The refinance industry has just cratered for years, and Powell's vulnerable because of the moves he made right before the election. It's inexplicable that he made moves right before Election day that would have held Kamala Harris, although it didn't really work, and now he's not budging. He looks like a highly political player here.

[Dan]

Oh, I just. I think the complete opposite. He does not.

[Mark Halperin]

That, that, that.

[Dan]

I mean, then how do you explain why he lowered interest rates? Is absurd. I mean, it's just utterly absurd.

[Larry]

It was just coincidence of timing.

[Dan]

So, Larry, let me ask you this. If he slashes interest rates and all this money pours in. So last last month, it went up almost 1%, 0.9%, month over month. So you, you would be looking at an annualized basis.

[Larry]

The consumer price index didn't go up.

[Dan]

So if you're looking, then on an annualized basis, that'd be 12% inflation. If that were to continue, we usually.

[Larry]

Talk in terms of the month to.

[Dan]

Month, year to year before, before you juice the economy. So it cost us the election. I would argue that inflation for one year in the middle of Joe Biden's term skyrocketed. Then it came back down the last year and a half, but no one cared. They were just like, that was so painful. We hate you. That's the irony of, like, what Trump's doing.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, hold on one sec. Because we got a lot to get to here and there are a lot of hands up, and I want to get to a lot of folks. So CNN is reporting what Larry said, which is that this is a reopening of the Bolton investigation into the an unauthorized disclosure of classified information in his book. So we'll see if that's right. I'm going to run through some stories, guys, just as news items. We won't talk about them, just so we can get through a bunch of stuff. And then we'll talk about one more thing. Then we'll do winners and losers and what to look for, and then we'll get to everybody's questions. Redistricting again mentioned. Texas is acting today. California acted yesterday. New poll from the LA Times 116 sampling California public opinion. You support this or not? Now they asked love it or hate it? Poll shows how Californians feel about Newsom's redistricting fight with Trump. Not my favorite type of headline on a poll story, but whatever. Here's the poll they surveyed. Subgroup of people more likely to vote than not. And this is. This is not. This is just the general population of registered voters, not super likely voters with a history of voting. Do you support this or not? A counter. Texas 46%. Yes, good idea. 36% bad idea, you'd say, well, good is ahead. But let me tell you some things. In California, generally, in these propositions, no has a. Is favored on a particularly on a process question. That's just the history. And you generally want to be starting above 50. That's the history. If you don't start above 50, you don't usually win because the no side spends a lot of money and ratchets it up. So you cannot look at this poll even though good is a good idea is ahead, you cannot look at this and say Newsom's in great shape. Now, we debated last night on two way tonight we've talked about this. Is this a winner for Newsom no matter what? You can take that down. Is this a winner for Newsom no matter what? Yes. Yes. Is slightly ahead again, though, under 50.

[Larry]

Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

He's already raising money and collecting names. He's showing he's fighting Donald Trump, but if he loses, you know, it could be really bad for him, symbolically. Larry, real quick. Yeah, real quick.

[Larry]

Oftentimes, the California state ballot measures hinge on what the final approved language is. The language of that question was very specific, retaliating. Texas was named in it, that kind of thing. I don't know if the final ballot measure is going to say that. And that'll.

[Mark Halperin]

Good point.

[Dan]

That's a great point.

[Mark Halperin]

Epstein documents going today, the first tranche of documents about Epstein from the Justice Department to the House committee. The House committee says they're going to take some time to redact. So who knows when that will come out. But we'll, we'll be watching that. Maybe, maybe they'll some will come out today. We'll talk about in two way tonight. Lots going on in the New York Mayor's race. There's a video we were going to show you but we won't spend the time doing it. Mondami continues to produce quality online content. The Wall Street Journal and others continue to ring their hands that no one's emerging to to oppose Mondami, even though again every bit of data will tell you there's only one person who can beat Mondami potentially and it's still a long shot, which is Andrew Cuomo. They're still talking about Adams and Sliwa. I don't know why anyone who wants to be Mondami continues to talk about Adams and Sliwa. It's a complete waste of time. And now Adams top aide was indicted in the New York Times has an incredible story about some of his aides handing out those Chinese cultural yellow red envelopes with cash. It's like a Chinese and by the.

[Dan]

Way it's the second reporter set of corruption allegations against the same top eight now has two layers.

[Mark Halperin]

So, so Adams is, is even more ridiculous. And again every poll you see Adams cannot win literally if, if Sliwa and and Cuomo got out, Adams would not win a head to head and he certainly can't win a three way. Cuomo can win a three way if, if Adams is, is either out or down. But for some reason Paul Gigault who's a very smart man can't figure that out.

[Dan]

Mark, I want to just flag between now when we come back on air watch talking to Adams and see if Sliwa gets nominated for something by the Trump administration.

[Mark Halperin]

And again the other thing we haven't seen is there's all these big money groups who want to beat him. They haven't geared up yet, they haven't showed their hand, they haven't demoed some negative ads to see how effective they could be. So we'll see. But, but the piece in New York magazine by a guy pro Mandami who makes the case for why it's all but over unless something unexpected happens and then the guy discloses in the piece that Mondami was his campaign manager when he ran for office. I didn't know Mondami had worked as a campaign manager. That was interesting. All right. Last story, guys, real quick. Iowa is. Iowans are trying to get. Iowa Democrats are trying to get their caucuses back to the front of the line in 2020 or 2024 rather. We had the calendar we did in part because Joe Biden has never done well in Iowa, New Hampshire, and wanted South Carolina and Jim Clyburn to be first. We had the calendar. We did because the Democratic Party was so woke. They said, forget the valuable role that Iowans and New Hampshireites play. Granted staters play in our process. We're going to eliminate their influence because Iowa, New Hampshire too white. And also because Iowa had screwed up their caucuses in 20 and so they lost any claim to know knowing how to do it. So now it's not clear who has influence. Right. There's no, there's no Hillary Clinton, there's no Joe Biden, there's no incumbent. There's no front runner who's spending the time working the dnc. So Dan, where will the DNC come down? Just on, just, you know, like in a fair assessment with all these cross cutting currents about who should be first?

[Dan]

Yeah, I mean, look, I think breaking up Iowa and New Hampshire has to do with breaking up the industrial complex of those states and just they're so dependent on both their, their political parties there and, and the state business, on all the money that comes in. I actually think it's a great thing. I don't know. And it's.

[Mark Halperin]

You think it's a great thing to take away their first in the nation status?

[Dan]

Yeah, because, I mean, look, the, the. Why the Iowa Democratic Party? Every candidate pays $25,000 for their voter rolls. Everyone buys stuff at their, at their annual events. The hotels are full because all the operatives come in. They're buying.

[Mark Halperin]

You know, you're emphasizing all the negatives.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

Also they also are. The, they take it seriously. They go to.

[Dan]

That is such a joke.

[Mark Halperin]

It is not, Dan. They, they ask serious questions. They put them through their paces. I'm not, I'm not advocating.

[Dan]

Mark, would any other state be able to do the same thing, Give me opportunities?

[Mark Halperin]

No, absolutely not. Maybe, maybe with 30 years to get the culture there. But Dan, we don't have 30 years. We don't have 30 years. I'm telling you. You are. You are. I've literally, in the history of this program, I've never heard you be so wrong about something. And again, I'm not, I'm not advocating for them or defending them, but I'm telling you the value of them asking people, serious candidates, serious Questions on policy and taking their measure in a sustained way. People go to five events to see the same candidate. No state, including, by the way, South Carolina. No state will do it.

[David Sponge]

But I.

[Dan]

If everybody can't. Well, I. Look, all right, you. Another element to agree on this.

[Larry]

The other thing about Iowa and New Hampshire to a lesser degree is if you haven't raised a ton of money, you can still direct because.

[Mark Halperin]

Because you can talk to the voters. Dan, Dan, I don't want you to. I don't want you to stop. Explain why you're devaluing the public service that the citizens of two states have agreed to do. They're too white. It's unfair. I get all of that. I'm just saying you cannot make this calculation because if it's Michigan, it's to go to Larry's point. It's all TV ads. It's phony town halls. You do two of them and say you've done town halls.

[Dan]

I mean, look, there's. There's two things. One is that's how normal presidential campaigns are so great that you can go to Iowa, New Hampshire, whose track record of picking nominees and presidents is horrific in the last 40 years. So start with that.

[Mark Halperin]

No, it's not true.

[Dan]

Secondly, Mandani showed that you don't have to go out there and be the highest spending candidate. There are plenty. John McCain lived off the land.

[Mark Halperin]

It's not a. It's not a presidential race.

[Dan]

But, Mark, those states feel that it is their entitlement.

[Mark Halperin]

I understand.

[Dan]

And sit on their.

[Mark Halperin]

Dan, if another concede. Dan, I'm conceding every downside. You're right. You're raising every.

[Dan]

Another state was given the opportunity where 20 candidates came and camped out. Okay, who, who pioneered the strategy in Iowa that gave them that?

[Mark Halperin]

It was James Earl Carter.

[Dan]

It was James. It was Jimmy Carter who went and spent month after month in those towns. Now, if Jimmy Carter went to Nevada and spent seven months going around to Silver City and Carson and everywhere, no.

[Mark Halperin]

One would show up, Dan. No one would show up.

[Dan]

I mean, we'll just, we're just going to disagree. I feel just to be strongly on that.

[Mark Halperin]

Just to be clear, my, my, my advocacy and my passion here is based on wanting to be what I believe would be the first person invited to speak at Politics and Eggs three times. That's what I'm going for here. My friends in New Hampshire all watching want you to know how strongly I feel.

[Larry]

Oh, you should do a morning meeting live.

[Mark Halperin]

I think. I think Steve Forbes might have done three, but it's like being in the Five Climbers club on Saturday Night Live. Like, not many people have done three. So can we.

[Dan]

Can we just go back to this, though, for one second? If not, not. Not the. The Iowa, New Hampshire thing. If it really matters, who goes first? Because if it's, let's say Michigan or let's say it's Nevada, well, candidates like Josh Shapiro that have been quiet here that are, you know, have a history of. Of being bipartisan, of getting stuff done. It's a very different electorate. Let's say if Nevada goes first with its Latinos and, you know.

[Mark Halperin]

Yes, yes, it is. And I'm for that. It's. It's totally huge. But, Dan, I'm just telling you, you know, have you been to town halls in Iowa, New Hampshire versus town halls in South Carolina and Las Vegas? Have you been to them?

[Dan]

I have not been to a town hall.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay. Do you know how different they are? Do you know how fundamentally different they are?

[Dan]

They are. And I. I think it's disgusting that they think they're so entitled.

[Mark Halperin]

I do, too.

[Dan]

My front porch. I do, too, Dan, that somebody thinks in over New Hampshire. I want you to come fifth time. Tell me why I should vote for you. Because nobody wins.

[Mark Halperin]

Once again, I'm agreeing with you about the negatives, but you must not.

[Dan]

Is that how a national campaign is run?

[Mark Halperin]

It's. It's. It's the best.

[Dan]

We have nothing to do with your ability to win. North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Ohio.

[Mark Halperin]

Well, yes, it does. Yes, it does.

[Dan]

No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't.

[Mark Halperin]

Dan, how many presidents have won? Neither Iowa nor New Hampshire. And Bill Clinton doesn't count because there were exceptions in both states. Well, how many. How many of our presidents won?

[Dan]

Joe Biden didn't either.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. How. Yeah.

[Dan]

Okay, so, all right. Barack Obama won Iowa, then loses New Hampshire. So then South Carolina.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm off.

[Dan]

Not.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm. I'm all for South Carolina.

[Dan]

Right. I mean, the modern history of it.

[Larry]

All right, can I just add one.

[Mark Halperin]

Quick point real quick, Real quick.

[Larry]

It's pronounced Nevada.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, I know, I know. That's why I never say. Because I can never say correctly, I say the Silver State or the state where Las Vegas is. All right, Kamala Harris is later today. There'll be full details on the events for her book tour. Yesterday, they put out the cities. Today, the specifics. We do have specifics. For one, this is the Miami event. Larry, what do you think? The ticket range is low. It's a low ticket. High ticket.

[Larry]

200 low end and you can get up to a thousand on the high end.

[Mark Halperin]

I thought it'd be more like that and maybe other cities were Miami. 72 bucks gets you in the door. 472 is the top ticket in Miami. Maybe it'll be higher in other places, but maybe we'll pull our money and draw lots and one of us will go. All right, one last thing and then your questions.

[Larry]

The loser has to go.

[Mark Halperin]

So so far, I'm told we have no new people raising their hand. So maybe we'll do a golden oldie day and get our our red or regular vets in. And we're going to ask you to be quick. We're going to do like rapid rounds. Try to get everybody in today since it is the last show until September 2nd. Dan, winner of the week.

[Dan]

Winner of the week. I'm talking to him. It is our own Mark Halperin who was telling me back in January and February, Gavin Newsom is a much better political athlete than I thought. He also in his second next up interviewed Gavin and shed a lot of insight. Gavin Newsom's had the best summer of anybody. He may not be the nominee. He may flame out. But hat tip to Mark Halperin for being first telling everyone, don't underestimate.

[Mark Halperin]

I want to thank the academy. I want to thank my, my friends at Creative Artists. I want to thank Larry most of all who's been with me. Kids, you can go to sleep now. Larry, winner of the week.

[Larry]

You don't seem a CA type, but sure I was.

[Mark Halperin]

I used to be represented by ca. Oh, yeah.

[Larry]

Winsome Earl Sears is surging.

[Mark Halperin]

Virginia. Larry. Larry. Larry.

[Larry]

In May, she was 10. She was 17 points down. Poll came out this week. She's only 7 points down, which is actually better than Youngkin was at this time against Terry McAuliffe. And she had a big night last night at a school board meeting laying out the gender policies of that school board. And Abigail Spanberger is trying to play rope a dope in a basement like Biden. She's surging.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry. Dan, truly, thank you for your kind words and, and thanks to everyone who's told me. I don't understand Gavin Newsom. He's the worst governor in the history of the country. You people on the in red America, there's no Democrat who you would say would be a strong candidate. And I'm not saying Newsom's going to win the general. I'm saying he's alone in the top tier for the nomination. And, and the irrational way you're acting to what I'm saying makes me question our whole relationship. I am not telling you that Gavin Newsom is the best candidate of all time. I'm not saying he's a successful governor. All else I'm telling you is right now he's the most likely nominee. And of course, I'm also telling you I don't think he's going to run. Dan. Oh, I have to do my winner.

[Larry]

He's no winsome Sears.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. My winner. Are California political consultants who are going to make a fortune off of a 300 million. $300 million waste of money. Dan. Loser of the week.

[Dan]

My loser of the week is the brilliant people on Madison Avenue. Those who do rebranding. Man, they had some gigantic oofs this week between Ms. Now and Cracker Barrel. Not a good week for rebranding.

[Mark Halperin]

Good call. That's a good one. Larry.

[Larry]

I can't believe you stole mine. That was mine as well. Rebranding from Ms. Now to Cracker Barrel. The only way to salvage Cracker Barrel is to bring back the old logo, but replace. Replace the old dude with Sydney Sweeney and Daisy Dukes. Then you got loser of the week.

[Mark Halperin]

Is those who said that Donald Trump and J.D. vance were destroying losers, were destroying the relationship between the United States and Europe. We saw on vivid display on Monday a close relationship. We saw the furtherance of the trade deal and whatever happens with Putin, I think we see a united Europe in the United States. It's not perfect. And behind their back, they snicker at the president. United States, but they are united in their goals and in most of their methods. And that is a far, far distance from what the critics said was going to happen between the United States and Europe during Trump 2.0. Dan, what are you watching for this weekend?

[Dan]

I am watching for the administration. On the Sunday shows about Russia, do they try to turn the heat up more or do they try to kind of calm it down to buy more time?

[Mark Halperin]

Who's on. I think Vance is on some show.

[Dan]

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure they'll.

[Mark Halperin]

Who's on the Sunday shows? Somebody look that up and tell us Politico has it. Yeah. Okay. Larry, what are you watching for this.

[Larry]

Weekend on a personal level? And this is for Dan's enjoyment, I'm looking to see how well I do at the Quantico 12k race tomorrow morning down at the Marine base. I am. I've run many half marathons, but I'm training for the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October. It's My first time doing it, and so far, so good. But I'll let you on my 12k.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, Larry, that's. That's awesome. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm all about Russia. I know I was joking before and, and also being serious about all the changes in the news, but this is, to me, just, this is. This is historic. It's epic. It's vital for the planet. And so I'm just, every minute, I'm just, what is Donald Trump going to do now that Putin has given him the back of the hand on this stuff? So that's what I'm looking for. All right, your questions and, and pay attention, everyone. A little bit different. I'm gonna. I'm gonna call on people in the order you raised your hand. So Haley will be first. Oh, Professor Kenny, you weren't first today. What happened? Sleep at the switch. But. But I want to. I want to. I want to say question for X and then I want a short, declarative, one sentence question. And if you go over, I exercise the power of the mute button. And Haley, who's extraordinarily good at following directions, is going to set the tone. So I unmute. You don't say where you are. You don't say your name. You just say, dan. Do you like peas? And Dan says, haley, I love peas. And I say, thank you, Haley. Professor Kenny. That's how we're going here today, folks. Trying this out.

[Dan]

And again, is this because Sean's not here?

[Mark Halperin]

Exactly. I have. I have the quickest. The quickest mute finger you ever saw. So it's gonna. And I'm gonna get emails. People say, oh, you're so mean to Haley. Because she asked us two part question. No, because Haley. Haley won't do that. And again, interrupt me if Pulte brings forward his information. Here we go.

[Larry]

I'm not even.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm not even going to bring people in. Haley, go.

[Dan]

Okay, I'm gonna try. Dan. Yes. His regards to the conversation yesterday.

[Mark Halperin]

Oh, Haley, Haley, such a bad example. Disregards the conversation. Professor Kenny, set the tone.

[Dan]

Oh, my God.

[Larry]

Set the tone, man.

[Dan]

We love Haley, Larry.

[Mark Halperin]

We love Haley. But Haley says. Haley says Dan in regards to. That is not what we're going for here. Professor Kenny, go.

[Dan]

I liked it. Larry, will Donald Trump come to his senses and send bunker busters up Putin's. You know what?

[Mark Halperin]

Thank you, Professor Kenny. Brilliantly done.

[Larry]

I doubt it, considering he's also sitting on the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet.

[Mark Halperin]

Good. And Larry, right in the spirit of what we're doing. Short answer. Haley. After three more people go, you're going to get another chance. Listen and learn. Bob, welcome in. Go. Good morning. Question for Larry. Are you concerned at all about some of the profanity that's crept into the political discourse these days, like calling Trump, you know, f Donald Trump in front.

[Dan]

Of a crowd of supporters?

[Mark Halperin]

I. I'm concerned about this kind of thing. What do you think?

[Larry]

Yeah, well, listen, I mean, hold on. You're lecturing Mark Halperin from yesterday.

[Mark Halperin]

Exactly. Although Larry, you did too. Larry. Before you answer, Bob, no need to say good morning and no need to say question for Larry. Just say Larry comma, because we'll know. That's a question. Larry, Decent job. Way better than Haley. Larry.

[Larry]

Yeah, I mean, there is a course. I think that it's. It's our broader culture, not just in politics, but sure, I would. I would rather have a Reagan type figure who is able to be aggressive and yet at the same time show some decorum.

[Mark Halperin]

Drew. Dan, assuming Newsome and Vance are competing for the presidential ticket, how many swing.

[Larry]

States would Newsom win?

[Mark Halperin]

Drew. Genius. And Haley, I hope you paid attention. No niceties from Drew. Nothing. And Haley, if we didn't love you, we wouldn't kid. Dan.

[Dan]

Impossible to predict at this time, but given we're a 50. 50 country, he'd be right there, probably in six of them.

[Mark Halperin]

It's a non answer, Doug. Non answer, Drew.

[Dan]

I mean, we don't know what's going to matter.

[Mark Halperin]

Drew. The answer is all of them. Doug.

[Dan]

No. If inflation's 20%, he's in it.

[Larry]

Don't California my North Carolina. Don't California my Ohi. Insert the name of the state and he wins.

[Mark Halperin]

Doug.

[Dan]

Unless Trump's at 30%.

[Mark Halperin]

So let me on, Doug. I'm the only one who's thinking the US Is looking more and more like.

[Dan]

A banana republic by this constant targeting.

[Mark Halperin]

No, Doug, I don't even understand what you're saying. Haley.

[Dan]

Damn barcodes.

[Larry]

I actually like this.

[Dan]

Yeah, okay, I think I got it. Dan. Can the Democratic base elect Gavin Newsom along with the general electing Gavin Newsom? Can that equation come together and happen 100%.

[Mark Halperin]

Good. Matt. Matt knows.

[Dan]

I know.

[Mark Halperin]

Matt. Matt knows how to follow directions. This will be a template for everyone. Matt.

[Dan]

All right, Dan and Larry, Is it constitutional to not count non citizens in the census?

[Mark Halperin]

Brilliant. Larry.

[Larry]

Hasn't been determined yet.

[Mark Halperin]

Dan.

[Dan]

I agree with Larry.

[Mark Halperin]

Rebecca.

[Larry]

Dan, do you think Mandani, or however you say his name is gonna play a role in 2026 and 2028.

[Dan]

A 1000%.

[Larry]

Oh yes. On both sides.

[Dan]

Yes, exactly.

[Mark Halperin]

Yes, he will. And, and, and, and Democrats will rue the day they elevated him if he wins. Agreed. Greg, unmute.

[Dan]

Larry, what do you see as the underlying reason for the younger generation's lack of support or declining support for Israel?

[Mark Halperin]

Larry, take a little. Thank you, Greg. Perfectly stated. Great. Larry. Take a little more time because that one's not a bumper sticker.

[Larry]

Yeah. And I think, in my opinion, I think part, much of it goes to do with the state of our education system right now. You know the, that the teachers, universities that crank out most of the teachers that work in public schools, they've been very politicized. And every demonstration you see on our college campuses right now that seem to be sympathetic.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm sorry, Larry needs to have you. The President has gotten into the Beast and the motorcade is rolling to an unknown destination. Standby. Maybe he's going to, maybe he's going over to cheer the FBI on it in Bethesda. Larry.

[Dan]

At Bolton's house.

[Larry]

Yeah, I wonder if he's bringing wise guy pizza with him. That would be something.

[Mark Halperin]

Something.

[Larry]

And because every demonstration you're seeing on college campuses right now that seems sympathetic to Hamas and supportive of terrorists because of the anti Israel sentiment that's made its way into the teachers, universities as well. Teachers, colleges and those are the teachers that are teaching our students. So I, I think sadly they come out of this system and come out of the university system with a built in bias against the state of Israel without a full historical perspective. And it's lamentable and I hate it. It. So homeschool your kids.

[Mark Halperin]

Michael and Noah, please watch. See where the President's headed. That's interesting. Kyle, welcome in.

[Larry]

You know, can I real fast. He doesn't. There aren't a lot of places where he goes in the beast in D.C. right?

[Mark Halperin]

I mean, not typically. Not. No.

[Larry]

I like even if he's going to the Pentagon, they fly him over there.

[Mark Halperin]

Maybe he's going to injury. Maybe he's going to Bethesda Naval for some sort of medical.

[Dan]

I was gonna say maybe he's got medical.

[Mark Halperin]

No, they usually drive. They don't usually fly to. Sometimes they do both.

[Dan]

Yeah, they sometimes do because they used to.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Kyle, welcome in. Go Mark. Why are you so dismissive of a tit for tat strategy by Trump to.

[Dan]

End Lawfare when game theory has shown.

[Mark Halperin]

That is the most effective way to end? Because this is not the America I want to live in or raise my son. In. I don't want prosecutors. Me neither. Well, but, but, but you could say, well, he should do it, too. I do want to solve it. And the way to solve it is to have a full invest. Listen to me, Kyle. You asked the question. Full investigation of the outrages done by the previous administration and the DAs. Full, fair investigation. Lay it all out, interview them, expose it for what it was. Okay? And then if you find wrongdoing amongst your political enemies, talk about how regrettable it is and lay out the facts and do your arguing not on social media and not at White House press conferences. Do it in court. So if Adam Schiff broke the law, file the papers, do the case the normal way. And if the president deserves retribution. And Kyle, if your game theory is great, I'm not against it. But do it by the book. And don't do it in a way that's clearly meant to intimidate people, because this is a disaster for America. I've been covering this my whole career. My whole career, starting with the Bork hearings. This is not the way the country should be. I'm not against politics. I'm not against partisanship. But weaponizing indictments ruins people's lives. And, And. And it will never end. It'll never end. And there's no way to run a country. It's an embarrassment. It's an embarrassment.

[Dan]

When you say it. It never ends.

[Mark Halperin]

There's five Nobel Prizes that have been awarded for game theory because how effective it is in getting results.

[Dan]

Game theory.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm offering you. I'm offering you, Kyle, a way to do tit for tat that minimizes the lawfare aspect of it. Don't threaten indictments. I agree with you. Don't.

[Dan]

Don't indict someone for something they didn't.

[Mark Halperin]

Do well, but they're not even indicted. Some of these people are never going to be indicted. And to go on, that's fine. But to go on truth social, and to have Caroline from the podium and the president in the Oval Office threatening these people and the President saying, I'm going to go after them, that is not the right way to do it. Get all the game theory retribution, get all the tit for Tatum, get all the deterrence without the downside of my having to explain to young people why we're weaponizing the Justice Department. It's not necessary to get the exact effect you want to have, Larry, what you like.

[Dan]

Well, I mean, look, the Democrats would tell you that's. That what they did was in response. Bill Clinton went through for eight Years. You're shaking your head. Maybe you weren't old enough back then to remember Clinton was accused of killing somebody, that he killed Vince Foster and dumped him in Lafayette Square. I mean, get out of here. That Donald Trump was the first person to face conspiracy theory allegations like Magnus got to grow up that they think it was only Donald Trump. It's ridiculous.

[Larry]

Am I back?

[Dan]

I think Mark might have frozen.

[Larry]

Yeah, I think the whole thing fell apart there. I was going to announce.

[Dan]

Oh, you froze him. Who killed Kenny?

[Mark Halperin]

It wasn't.

[Larry]

I was asking if he wanted to know what Pulte's breaking news is.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah, I just saw it here. Yeah.

[Larry]

We've obtained a document Lisa Cook submitted to the US Government while serving as Federal Reserve governor. In it, on 2-28-23, she represents to the US government that the Atlanta property is her personal residence. However, Lisa Cook is a then sitting federal governor, and six months earlier, on September 1st, appears to have listed the same property for rent.

[Mark Halperin]

That's.

[Dan]

I mean, look, I think that, you know, this goes to what Mark just said. Right. So somehow the evidence is now being put out and not in a. In a court. Right. So you're selectively leaking out stuff. I mean, I get it if this. That if this is true, obviously, you can't do both. This is what they tried to get Trump on. Right. I mean, this is the literally the same exact thing. So there's obviously great irony, but again, would they be doing this if Lisa Cook was a cook in a restaurant? I don't think Bill Pulte would be out there putting this out. Yeah, they want to get rid of her.

[Larry]

I completely understand your resistance to the fact that this is just being leaked out in the media instead of in a formal court of law. And I love Mark's passion on this issue. Let me just say Mr. Pulte is putting his name on it. It's not an illegal, anonymous leak handed in the dark of night in a garage in D.C. to some.

[Dan]

Well, Trump's very. Yeah, they're very public about it.

[Larry]

How many illegal, anonymous, false leaks did we have to endure during the first Trump administration about Russian contacts? And so many of them dried up and they were nothing, but they still had their headlines, and they still undermined that president, you know, and a lot of people I noticed were saying, you know, why am I. Why do I take it so personally that the Russian collusion thing happened in the first term? Couple things. First of all, I have friends. Sean Spicer is my friend, and he had to spend a ton of money to lawyer up. Because of all of those things, people's lives were affected and in many cases, ruined, number one. Number two, it did affect me. You know why? Because I voted for Donald Trump to be the president and not be encumbered and inhibited and undermined by anonymous, powerful people who are just trying to stop him from being an effective president. It affects all of us when these things happen.

[Mark Halperin]

Do you guys notice I was gone.

[Larry]

Welcome back.

[Mark Halperin]

My power went out. I don't know what happened. Lost Internet access, so it was weird.

[Larry]

Because it knocked me out, too, but it didn't knock Dan out.

[Mark Halperin]

Are you serious? Are you serious? Are you kidding?

[Larry]

Yeah. No, no, seriously, huh?

[Mark Halperin]

We're dealing with the storm here, even though it's sunny. All right, Wickham, go ahead real quick.

[Dan]

Hello?

[Mark Halperin]

Yes. Can you hear me? Yes, sir. Okay. Sorry, sorry. Wickham, you can hear me. Doesn't count. John, welcome in real quick. Mark. Mark, Kamala is going to the Wickham. It's part of the stick. Now you're interrupting me, Mark. Yeah, no, you go. All right. Kamala's coming to the Ryman, so you.

[Dan]

Have no excuses now. You can sell out the Ryman.

[Mark Halperin]

Dan Platners launch in. Oh, John, serious. Evan, what do you do? He said something to me that wasn't a question about that. We should come to Nashville and do an event. Evan, go.

[Larry]

Great format.

[Mark Halperin]

I hope you adopt it. Why you take. Why do you provide so much substance to weekly economic reports? We don't. We just report them. We don't report that much subsidies. They're cumulative. But their data. And we do in part because the markets react to them. You know, by the way, the number.

[Dan]

One issue in polls is still the economy. That's why.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, Benjamin. Dan, since Trump was elected as a populist and mom Donnie, for better or worse, represents a different form of populism.

[Dan]

Why or why not?

[Mark Halperin]

Would you advise Democrats to begin to embrace him?

[Dan]

Or should they instead moderate on some.

[Mark Halperin]

Of these proven loser issues? Like, oh, Benjamin, that's good enough. Thank you, Dan.

[Dan]

Winning campaigns appeal to both the middle and the base. You can't do just one.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay. My performance art was not meant to offend anyone. Thank you for all playing and for raising your hands. I was just trying to have a little fun this morning on our last episode before Dan goes to. Where are you going, Betty Ford? Where are you going, Dan? Dan's going off somewhere.

[Dan]

I'm going to rehab, getting my nose done. By the way, people, I am not having any worries. He went from plastic surgery to.

[Mark Halperin]

It's a two for. That's why we're off till the second because Dan has to do three days of Betty Ford BE and get his skin supple enough that he can go get the rhinoplasty.

[Larry]

Don't touch that beautiful face.

[Dan]

The Russia Gate stuff has driven me to drink. I got to get off.

[Mark Halperin]

Emma Stone. Emma Stone, perfect face, but had work done because she was planning ahead. Dan, same thing. Larry here on behalf of accepting the award for Sean Spicer. Larry, what do you have for what does Sean have tonight?

[Larry]

Sean, by the way, I filled in for Sean on his show last night. It was a great show. Catch it on Demand. But Sean is back tonight on his program and he's got Dr. Peter McCullough, a Maha favorite.

[Dan]

Very nice.

[Mark Halperin]

Dan, what's going on with you?

[Dan]

Well, for the third time this week, I am scheduled to be on Sean Hannity. But pending world events, I may or may not be on.

[Larry]

Breaking news changes everything.

[Dan]

That's exactly it. I take no offense.

[Mark Halperin]

Pulte's thing that he put out obtained documents Lisa Cook submitted to the US Government while serving as Fed governor. She represented that the US Government that the Atlanta property is her personal reference. But then as a Fed governor, she listed the same property for rent. In other words, he's alleging previously they'd said that the submission of false documents pertaining to mortgages was done before she was a Fed governor. What Pulte is now alleging is this was while she was a Fed governor, not vouching for the validity of it, but that's what he's putting out today as the pressure on her to quit or to be fired or be removed by Copper Cause continues. We'll continue to follow that. Ethan Strauss, our talented colleague, is on the show. Random Offense. It's moving. It was on at 4 Eastern. It's not going to be on 2 Eastern time on Friday. So please check it out. Ethan's guest today. See if I can pronounce this correctly. Amin L. Assassin. El Assassin. Well, anyway, they'll be on it too. Ethan is an incredible talent. If you haven't sampled the show, I'd urge you to do it and then two way tonight. This evening, our last episode before our break is going to be on the two way platform here at 4:00pm Eastern Time. 4:00pm Eastern Time. Our guests include Stephen Klubeck, who's running for governor of California. I ran into him in a restaurant in the West Village a few weeks ago. Fascinating guy has been long involved in Democratic politics as a donor and now he's running for governor of California. Dan, amongst the best swag I've ever, I've ever seen. Incredible swag just carrying around. All right, 3,000 miles away from California, just carrying around the West Village charger, you know, portable charger and hats. Anyway, so join us for that and then Lindsay Keith, Sean's old co host from Newsmax, will join and maybe one other person. So I'll see you at 4 o' clock and then I'll stream at 6 o' clock on YouTube and X. So please do that. And again, reminder, reminder, we are on hiatus. Last episode of the morning meeting. So if you need more of Larry or Dan or Sean, please find some other outlet. They're all over social media. For one.

[Larry]

I'm live at noon every day.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry, Larry doesn't, Larry doesn't take breaks. So you'll be able to see Larry go to all his socials and see that. And, and, and, and by the way, next up is off next week too. So don't think, wow, don't think you're gonna get two hours from me that way. I'm taking a little bit of time off to refresh and to, and to learn how to cut people off even more quickly. Just kidding. I know some of you like the format, but don't get used to it. Thank you for being part of the two way experience. We're very grateful to you all. Don't begrudge us our break because when we come back on September 2nd, we will be loaded for bear. Lots of surprises, some new sponsors so you'll enjoy and the occasional guest appearance of America's sweetheart, Larry o'. Connor. Larry, thank you for the two days.

[Larry]

Thanks for welcoming me and making me feel a part of the team.

[Mark Halperin]

Appreciate it. All right, everybody, I'll see you at 4pm Eastern Time with all the latest Bolton news and the President's field trip and, and the Fed speech and redistricting and Putin's surrender.

[Dan]

Whatever happens Friday in August.

[Mark Halperin]

Whatever happens. Thank you everybody. See you at 4.