Feud Between Trump and Democrats Over White House Demolition Heats Up; Government Shutdown Grinds On

Summary

Podcast Summary: 2WAY Morning Meeting

Episode: Feud Between Trump and Democrats Over White House Demolition Heats Up; Government Shutdown Grinds On
Date: October 24, 2025
Hosts: Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turndine
Notable Contributors: Rick Santelli, Elise Monroy, Hakeem Jeffries, Mallory, community callers

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Episode Overview

The October 24, 2025 edition of 2WAY's "Morning Meeting" delivers a dynamic, inside-the-newsroom discussion on America’s most pressing headline battles. The focus: the deepening government shutdown, the burgeoning feud over the White House demolition, trade tensions with Canada, and President Trump’s high-stakes Asia trip. The panel — Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turndine — bring sharp analysis, playful banter, and input from listeners spanning both policy wonks and everyday Americans.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Government Shutdown: Status, Blame, and Fallout

[04:00 - 13:09]

• Current Status:
  • Congress is out; shutdown continues.
  • Local impacts growing, with SNAP (food assistance) issues in both red and blue states.
  • Federal employees miss payday; Virginia declares state of emergency to help.
• Inflation & Economy:
  • Rick Santelli breaks down the latest CPI figures—3% year-over-year, slightly below expectations but not cause for relief.
    • Rick Santelli: "We're seeing interest rates move down and stocks move up." [06:40]
• Politics of the Shutdown:
  • Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) stresses the importance of ACA tax credits and calls for bipartisan cooperation.
    • "We're fighting for the American people here..." [07:57]
  • GOP lost messaging opportunities; Spicer criticizes both sides’ approach.
    • Sean Spicer: “Senate Republicans should be embarrassed by how bad their messaging is.” [09:54]
  • Dems accused of wavering on Obamacare supports; White House hints at separate legislation.
    • Dan Turndine: “White House has now changed its position.” [10:58]
• Predictions:
  • Panel estimates a shutdown resolution around November 5-15.
  • Halperin is more pessimistic, citing possible “false starts” in negotiations.

2. President Trump’s Asia Tour: Strategy in Trade and Diplomacy

[14:54 – 19:41]

• Trip Agenda: Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, South Korea; anticipated meetings with Xi Jinping and possibly Kim Jong Un.
• Panel Analysis:
  • Sean Spicer: “China comes in with a stronger hand… We need more from them.”
  • Desired U.S. outcomes: pause on tariffs, deals on rare earths/soybeans, softened export controls.
  • Watch for Xi giving ground on Russia at the summit.
• Domestic Perception:
  • Critique of the Democrats’ strategy—why isn’t the President’s “foreign trip during a shutdown” used as an attack?
    • Dan Turndine: “He can walk and chew gum… we hear from him hourly. No ambiguity.” [18:29]

3. U.S.-Canada Trade War & The “Reagan Tariffs” Ad Battle

[20:31 – 24:06]

• Trump accuses Canada of “fraud” over an ad campaign about Ronald Reagan’s trade philosophy.
• Trump’s bold Truth Social post:
  • "Canada cheated and got caught… Canada has long cheated on tariffs, charging our farmers as much as 400%." [21:27]
• Sean Spicer downplays PM Carney’s involvement; “this hopefully gets walked back quick.”
• Dan Turndine mocks: “Trumper tantrum... It’s embarrassing.”

4. Aggressive U.S. Policy Toward Latin America

[24:06 – 28:54]

• Trump’s military actions off Venezuela, congressional pushback, questions of constitutionality.
  • Dan Turndine: “A lot of Republicans and Democrats come out saying they’re not telling us anything… They won’t hold a public hearing.”
  • Sean Spicer draws distinction between preemptive strikes and entering countries; criticizes media framing.
    • “This is Axios creating fake news. That’s why people hate journalism.” [28:33]

5. Redistricting, Midterm Messaging & Party Prospects

[28:54 – 33:03]

• Emerson poll: Gavin Newsom strong in California.
• GOP and Democrats locked in redistricting “push”; Supreme Court fate could be a game-changer (especially on racial gerrymandering).
• House messaging:
  • GOP: “Promises made, promises kept.”
  • Dems: Focus on health care, cost of living, being a check on Trump.
    • Sean Spicer: “If you’re the Democrats, I would say health care, cost of living, and I’m going to be a check on Trump. Boom, boom, boom.” [32:47]

6. Political Potpourri: Local Races & Notable Quotes

[34:47 – 36:16]

• Brief, rapid-fire takes on mayoral, gubernatorial, and Virginia races.
• Jay Jones’ ongoing controversy in Virginia referenced.

7. White House Demolition Debate: Public Feedback

[45:20 – 50:58]

• Call-in segment features professors Daniel and Davida from Arkansas defending preservation:
  • Davida: “Destroying and replacing buildings quickly is a very undemocratic way of rewriting history… It’s short-sighted, because you regret it in the future.” [47:16]
• Sean Spicer argues additions are functional, non-taxpayer funded:
  • “This is a gift to the American people going forward.”
• Mark Halperin acknowledges emotional intensity around the issue, apologizes for prior dismissiveness on show tone.

8. Listener Q&A: Senate Fundraising, Trump-Tariff Contradictions, SNAP & Food Insecurity

[51:03 – 61:09]

• Mallory (South Carolina) puzzled by Lindsey Graham’s Trump fundraiser support — interpreted as consolidation against right-wing primary challengers, not a general election threat.
• Beef industry question:
  • Trump’s “America First” beef tariff reversal upsets U.S. ranchers; panel diagnoses political maneuvering and Argentina’s bailout trade-offs.
    • Dan Turndine: “I also wonder what he agreed to with Argentina… it’s a huge challenge.” [56:19]
• Elise Monroy (Nevada) powerfully rebuts idea that only Democrats rely on SNAP:
  • “Many people in the food bank line support Donald Trump… SNAP benefits are not primarily a Democrat constituency.” [57:24]
  • Calls for more empathy, practical support, and bipartisanship.

9. Winners & Losers of the Week

[36:44+ & 38:51+]

• Winners: (panel picks)
  • Sean: GOP Speaker Johnson’s team for effective comms, tech-savvy young Dems reshaping campaign media (Cuomo AI ad).
  • Dan: Daniel Lurie, SF Mayor, successfully navigated Trump’s National Guard threat by staying above the fray.
  • Mark: Young AI ad producer influencing political media.
• Losers:
  • Sean: Dems with low-selling books (Corrine Jean-Pierre, Bernie Sanders).
  • Dan: Federal employees caught as “pawns”; Mark clarifies “loser” should refer to poor performance, not mere hardship.
  • Mark: Illinois Gov. Pritzker for lackluster media performance, not living up to his presidential buzz.

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Notable Quotes

• Dan Turndine [03:22]: “Tonight the Knicks play Boston. Here. Game two. Yep.” (Light-hearted banter starts the show.)
• Rick Santelli [05:52]: “Yeah, excited isn’t the word. The market should be excited too.” (On inflation data.)
• Hakeem Jeffries [07:57]: “We’re fighting for the American people here, and hopefully we can find a bipartisan path forward.”
• Sean Spicer [09:54]: “Senate Republicans should be embarrassed by how bad their messaging is.”
• Dan Turndine [18:29]: “He can walk and chew gum. I think there’s no you. We hear from him hourly. We hear from him directly. There's no ambiguity.”
• President Trump (Truth Social) [21:27]: “Canada cheated and got caught!!!...”
• Davida (Community Caller) [47:16]: “Destroying and replacing buildings quickly is a very undemocratic way of rewriting history.”
• Elise Monroy [57:24]: “Many people in the food bank line support Donald Trump... SNAP benefits are not primarily a Democrat constituency.”
• Sean Spicer [28:33]: “This is Axios creating fake news. That’s why people hate journalism.”

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Important Timestamps

| Segment | Time | |---------------------------------------------------|----------| | Inflation/CPI Discussion with Rick Santelli | 05:49 | | Hakeem Jeffries on Shutdown & ACA | 07:52 | | Shutdown Politics — GOP & Dems Critiqued | 08:59 | | Hosts Predict Shutdown Resolution | 12:10 | | Trump’s Asia Trip / U.S.-China Relations | 14:54 | | Trump-Canada Trade Feud | 20:31 | | Aggressive U.S. Policy in Latin America | 24:06 | | Redistricting and Party Messaging | 29:36 | | Listener Call-in: Arkansas Professors, Demolition | 45:20 | | Listener Q&A: Lindsey Graham, Beef, SNAP | 51:03 | | Elise Monroy: Food Insecurity/SNAP Rebuke | 57:24 | | Winners & Losers of the Week Segment | 36:44+ |

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Tone & Style

The show blends serious policy analysis with humor, argument, and community input, all in a conversational, “newsroom” tone. Banter among the panelists provides color, but they dig deep on how policy decisions impact real people — especially with listener participation.

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Summary

This episode of the 2WAY Morning Meeting offers a robust, unscripted snapshot of a frenetic news day: a bitter federal shutdown, fierce rhetoric over the White House’s fate, Trump’s ever-controversial foreign policy, and granular political fights on Capitol Hill and beyond. Both data and lived experience are given weight — from economic numbers to callers serving on the front lines of food insecurity. Host Mark Halperin keeps the show moving briskly, Sean Spicer brings DC insider perspective (and pointed criticism), and Dan Turndine channels Democratic strategy with candor and wit. The episode closes with a clear-eyed view that American politics — like the White House itself — is under constant remodeling, for better or worse.

“Destroying and replacing buildings quickly is a very undemocratic way of rewriting history… It’s short-sighted, because you regret it in the future.”
— Davida, Arkansas professor and caller [47:16]

"Senate Republicans should be embarrassed by how bad their messaging is."
— Sean Spicer [09:54]

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For Further Engagement

• Join the live chat or future call-ins via the 2WAY platform.
• To contribute to the Reno/Sparks Community Food Pantry featured in this episode:
  thecommunityfoodpantryrenosparks.com

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Mallory]

This is it.

[Dan Turndine]

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

[Sean Spicer]

It's not about to be over.

[Dan Turndine]

It's over.

[Sean Spicer]

Some of the scientists who helped build AI are now sounding the alarm. I was selling AI as a great thing for decades and I was wrong.

[Dan Turndine]

I was wrong.

[Sean Spicer]

There's a longer term existential threat that.

[Dan Turndine]

Will arise when we create digital beings.

[Mark Halpern]

That that are more intelligent than ourselves.

[Dan Turndine]

We have no idea whether we can stay in control.

[Sean Spicer]

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

[Dan Turndine]

Invention that humanity will ever make.

[Mark Halpern]

This really will be a world of abundance.

[Sean Spicer]

And among these fears and these fantasies, we seek the story of our future.

[Dan Turndine]

Listen to the last invention on Apple.

[Sean Spicer]

Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dog Boy]

It's the dog boy and I'm on the two way morning meeting. Yeah, that's how we start the day. No fake news, no fluff, just real talk, for real. We getting down to the facts, know the deal. Got creators and thinkers all in one place. Podcasters, journalists. Yeah, we set the pace. No censorship, no chains, no traditional tv, just raw conversation, that's the key. Yeah, they call it a platform, but it's more than that. It's a community built on a simple pack. You bring your brain, you bring your questions. We bring the insight from politics to parenting. We ain't scared to fight for the truth, for the facts, for civil discourse where every voice is respected. No one's getting coarse. We breaking down the boundaries, blurring all the lines, getting into the details, reading all the signs from executive orders to the latest tariffs. We're talking about it all. No need for any tariffs. We're talking about the President's schedule. What's he doing today? Signing eos, making remarks. That's what the news say bout that. 401 alternative assets, check the time. Real estate, crypto. Yeah, that's a positive sign. Sanctions on India, a summit with Russia, a ceasefire in Ukraine. We're breaking it all down. Ain't no need for a brain drain. Redistricting's a topic. What's the net gain for the Republicans, Democrats? We're feeling all the pain. The media's biases, they're a golden age. We're asking the real questions, turning over the page. So if you want to get deep, if you want to get real.

[Mark Halpern]

All right.

[Dan Turndine]

Previous. Pretty good. I like that. That's pretty good.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. Previously on the Morning Meeting. Thanks to our big fan, Snoop for providing that theme. Welcome, everybody. Good morning. This is the morning meeting. Thank you for being part of the conversation. If you want to get in on the conversation, a chance of a lifetime opportunity, thrill of a lifetime. To question Sean Spicer. Dan Turndine, please. If you're here on the two way platform, raise your hand. No smack in the chat is a good rule to follow if you're on x or on YouTube. And extending peace, love and understanding and the presumption of grace. Also a fine idea on any day of the week, but particularly on a Friday. We'll run through the day's news and then we'll take your questions. So please, again, we'd love participation. Maybe three new people today. I'm not going to threaten to cancel the show because we have too many sponsors coming online and would crush them to find out the show was off. So did the Knicks play again last night, Professor?

[Dan Turndine]

Tonight they play Boston.

[Mark Halpern]

Here. Home or home or abroad?

[Dan Turndine]

Here. Game two. Yep.

[Mark Halpern]

You want to go?

[Dan Turndine]

I got a patient here, otherwise I would. All right, watch on tv.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay, maybe I'll go. I don't know. You know, when you live, when you live less than a mile from the world's most famous arena, very difficult to not.

[Dan Turndine]

And Amazon makes its basketball debut tonight. Yep.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah, that game, right? That's right. All right. Today the President leaves late in the night, I think 10:30.

[Dan Turndine]

He departs after the Nick game.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. 10, 10:40. Leaves the South Lawn for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Nothing on his public schedule today except monitoring the trade war he started with Canada, which we'll talk about in a minute. Shutdown continues. So on Capitol Hill, Congress is out, the Senate left. The House has been gone. As you know, Vice President's got no public events either. He's back from the Middle East. It's some Cabinet. The streak is broken. At least as of now. The speaker of the House is not having a 10:00am Press conference, but the Minority Leader, Mr. Jeffries, is having an 11:00'.

[Elise Monroy]

Clock.

[Mark Halpern]

11:00 p clock press conference. Cabinet action. Doug Burgum, star of Two Way tonight is speaking at an event hosted by the foundation for Defense of Democracies. Greer and Bessant in Malaysia continuing to meet with their Chinese counterparts. Rubio another day in Israel before he heads to Malaysia to hook up with the President. Leticia James at 11 o' clock is in federal court in Norfolk, Virginia to be arraigned on the charges she faces about allegedly obtaining, fraudulently obtaining a bank loan to get more favorable mortgage terms. And a little while ago, the Consumer Price Index for what would that be for September belatedly came out delayed by the shutdown. And here's the headline from. Where's that headline from? CNBC. CNBC Inflation Rate Hits 3.0 in September. Lower than expected, although not much lower. Long awaited CPI report shows so often on the program. In order to figure out what's going on with these economic figures, which can be a little confusing, whether it's inflation or unemployment, we turn to our, our business correspondent Rick Santelli. And Rick, I'm warning you right now, I don't want something incomprehensible. I want something super clear. I want something that tells everybody exactly and clearly. What do these inflation numbers mean? Rick?

[Dan Turndine]

You're excited, Rick?

[Rick Santelli]

Yeah, excited isn't the word. The market should be excited too. Here's our late but coming out September, read on the consumer price index headline number up 3/10. 1/10 cooler than both rearview mirror and what we were expecting. And if we look at the stripping out of food and energy known as core, and it comes in also a bit less than expected, up 2. 10, we're expecting up 3. 10. Our last look was up 3.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

10.

[Rick Santelli]

Here's the money ball numbers year over year, 3%. And even though it's less than the 3.1 we're expecting, it's hotter than 2.9. And after all, it's got a three handle. And if we look at CPI year over year.

[Mark Halpern]

Rick, Rick, please, can you make, make this a little clear? I don't have any idea what you're talking about.

[Rick Santelli]

Expecting 3.1. Yeah, but last look was 3.1.

[Elise Monroy]

So.

[Rick Santelli]

So it cooled a bit. So we're seeing interest rates move down and stocks move up. You may.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay, all right. I got no idea what Rick Santelli just said. Dan, could you, could you translate that into English?

[Dan Turndine]

Yeah, it's neither good nor bad. It's about where they want it. But on a good note, corporate earnings this week have been pretty good, which is the economy's remaining resilient. A lot of. Across many sectors, companies are saying things are, you know, okay.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. And I use the Spicer flower index. Shawn, the more expensive the flowers behind you, the more I know the economy's booming. Did you understand what Rick Santelle said?

[Sean Spicer]

My takeaway is 3.

[Mark Halpern]

3. The handle. What do you say? The handle something handle.

[Sean Spicer]

The Moneyball number.

[Mark Halpern]

The Moneyball number is three. He's like, he's like doing lottery numbers. All right, well, we'll talk more about that. The shutdown continues as we said. Mr. Jeffries went on the TV, the idiot box, the boob tube squawk box the same show in which Rick Santo clarify the unemployment. Here is the gentleman from Brooklyn.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

We've made clear in the House that we will consider he looks better arrested.

[Mark Halpern]

Than I've seen him in a while.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

In good faith in a bipartisan way that both reopens the government while at the same time addresses this health care crisis and extends the Affordable Care act tax credits in a meaningful way. The 90% or so of the people who benefit from these Affordable Care act tax credits make $63,000 per year or less. And a significant number of small businesses and entrepreneurs across the country rely upon the Affordable Care act tax credits in order to provide health insurance for themselves and for their families. So this is an issue that needs to be addressed. In fact, we know that red state residents actually are disproportionately higher represented in terms of the Affordable Care act tax credits than any other part of the country. And so we're fighting for the American people here and hopefully we can find a bipartisan path forward.

[Mark Halpern]

All right, Sean Spicer, where are we on the shutdown?

[Sean Spicer]

Well, one, I was surprised to see both Georgia senators yesterday vote. So yesterday was this Ron Johnson amendment. What that meant was military members and what they're calling essential employees, meaning if you're being forced to go to work right now, air traffic controllers, border patrol, TSA and obviously active duty military, then you'd get paid for. 45 Democrats voted against it, but they picked off the two Georgia centers, Ossoff and Warnock, which I actually this is what you know, this was the sort of the game. The question I had is who falls for that. I'm actually shocked that not more did I have a I'm one, shocked that the Democrats didn't not enough Democrats peeled off. But two, I was absolutely embarrassed how bad the Republican response was. They should have been out on the steps last night when with military members and border patrol and saying this is insane. The idea that they voted and then bolted is an embarrassment to the Republican Party. What they did last night, how they're messaging this, there's not another vote. It's literally the lamest response I've ever seen. Senate Republicans should be embarrassed by how bad they're messaging this clip that off.

[Mark Halpern]

Dan, where do we stand on the shutdown?

[Dan Turndine]

I think that I still think next week this is going to start getting real because of the continued and Max mentioned this yesterday, you're seeing local press in blue and red states about the snap issue and I think this is going to start to hit Home like it's real lives of real people here.

[Sean Spicer]

And we need today's payday for federal employees, and they're not getting it. And to Dan's point, Senator Youngkin here in Virginia declared a state of emergency to help get people resources. So that's going to start reverberating. And this is to dance point. November 1st is a big day because it's your next big snap deadline. So today's a payday.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah.

[Sean Spicer]

And, and, and Americans, they're dealing with. What do we do now?

[Dan Turndine]

One other thing that I found was James Blair did an interview with our friends at Punchbowl and said the White House does not support the Obamacare reauthorization of the credits, which they had been saying that they were in support of. Now they're saying they're not, and they're saying they're going to do their own bill, which is astonishing. Great if they are. But what's interesting is Thune's been saying, yeah, we know where you need to deal with it. Johnson is not committing to dealing with it. And the White House has now changed his position.

[Mark Halpern]

Sean's friend James Blair sometimes freelance, is a bit, sometimes he freelances a bit. So we'll see. Here's Caroline Levitt. On the unemployment, on the inflation numbers came in below market expectations thanks to President Trump's economic agenda. This is good news for American families and it's a shame the Democrats are using them as, quote, leverage to fund health care for illegal aliens. Okay, let's just close off here. Talking about shutdown. Sean, just gimme a date. October 24th is today. What day? Not the final vote, but what day is there, Is there, is there an agreement about how to. And the shutdown.

[Sean Spicer]

Today's Friday. They're not back till next week. I could pencil them in five. November 5th.

[Mark Halpern]

November. Dan?

[Dan Turndine]

Yeah, I'm going to say right after the election. So the election is the fourth. Yeah, I'll say five or six. Yeah.

[Sean Spicer]

I mean, look, here's the deal there. It's. Today's the 24th. They're not back until the middle of next week. The house gets 48 hours, no matter what. Best case scenario, you're looking at the 30. I mean, I'm looking at the calendar.

[Mark Halpern]

But I'm not talking about the. It's going to take a week to get it done, but I'm talking about the process beginning. I'm a little bit more bearish than you guys because I still think there's going to be a false start. I think it's going to be like, okay, there's some Senate Democrats who say, let's make a deal or whatever. But then I think there's going to be some blowback and it's all right.

[Sean Spicer]

So give me a day.

[Mark Halpern]

Take a second round. I say the 15th.

[Sean Spicer]

I mean, look, I. I'm not. The funny thing about that. Again, when you actually pull the calendar out and look at this, I don't think that's crazy. I mean, I don't. Yeah, that's the scary part about this, right?

[Mark Halpern]

All right, today's episode brought to you by our friends at Fairway and Green. All three of us wearing great merch from Fairway and Green with the two Way and morning meeting logos. It's available to you if you want to be part of our gang, our group, our club, our community, or you're starting to think about holiday gifts and you want to buy some nice merchandise. All the things on Fairway and Green website available to you with 20% off using the promo code 2way20. Go to Twoway TV Fairway to find your way to the site. You can get catchphrases on the sleeves. You guys got any sleeve catchphrases? I don't today, but you're.

[Sean Spicer]

You're not. You know, it's a morning meeting. Yeah, catchphrase.

[Mark Halpern]

Oh, is that the way it works? All right, so no snap. You can get. No snap. No smack in the chat. You can get peace, love and understanding. You get conversations like no other. Whatever you want. And whether it's the polos, the quarter zips, there's just great stuff on there. And as we've told you before, it's the highest quality stuff you'll ever wear. It's just. It's beautiful. It's like a work of art. I have some framed around the house because they're so lovely. Again, Sean, remind people where they can go.

[Sean Spicer]

Mark, I'm glad you asked. You can go to 2way TV Fairway and use promo code 2way20 on any of the items sitewide.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah, highly recommend it. And again, I'm telling you, we'll be. We'll be saving you for the holidays because you'll be doing all your shopping there.

[Dan Turndine]

Hey, Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now, I don't know if you've heard, but Mint Premium Wireless is $15 a month. But I'd like to offer one other perk. We have no stores. That means no small talk. Crazy weather we're having. No, it's not. It's just weather. It is an introvert's dream. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Mark Halpern]

Of $45 for three month plan.

[Sean Spicer]

$15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first three months only.

[Mark Halpern]

Then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com all right, let's go overseas. A bunch of international stuff to discuss first. As we said, the president leaving shortly. Number 104, please. On this Asia trip, four stops, Malaysia and then Tokyo. I mean, three stops. Yeah, Malaysia, Tokyo and then South Korea. Easy on to host Trump at summit as US And China seek to for trade war escalation. The president's meeting with Xi scheduled for Thursday. So six days from now, this is a very busy trip. The talk that he may meet with Kim Jong Un, he'll be meeting with the new Japanese prime minister. I don't know if he's ever actually met her in some other context, but obviously the first time he'll have met her as PM. And here's a 105 BBC headline. Trump will meet with Xi in South Korea says White House. Not a very exciting headline. All right, Dan, obviously the Xi meeting is a key part of the trip, but what would you expect the various deliverables along the way if the White House does this right, what are some of the headlines we'll see from the three stops?

[Dan Turndine]

I think the hope is that all those other countries make some sort of statement alluding to kind of aligning with Washington or a deal of some sort, whether it's economic or military, so that we, China knows that we are continuing to strengthen our alliances around them, to ultimately confront them or manage them. I think that's your, that's your hope, John.

[Mark Halpern]

There's stories in both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times today about sort of Xi's posture towards Trump and where they stand, who comes, who comes in here with the stronger hand and why?

[Sean Spicer]

I think China comes in with a stronger hand because we need more from them right now than they need from us. And I'm not entirely sure I agree with the analysis and that story, but I do think that she definitely does feel a little bit more emboldened in terms of how he is dealing with Trump. So I think coming out of this thing, getting a headline that says tariffs paused, deal on rare Earth soybean purchase imminent, and then we agree to pull back some of the export controls, that's where they've got to have a path forward and give a sign that something's moving forward, moving in the right direction.

[Mark Halpern]

Watch to see if she gives on Russia during their Summit. That may be some movement there. What's the biggest headline out of the trip going to be besides China related? Something not China related, Sean.

[Sean Spicer]

China contributes to Big Ballroom and.

[Mark Halpern]

No, nothing with China. Something unrelated to China. Anything or every headline. Biggest non China headline.

[Sean Spicer]

Well, I think that, I think there's obviously a big Middle east component in the Malaysia stop. So that would be where I would go on that.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. Dan, as both Kevin McCarthy and I have said, this is the shutdown about nothing. It's been much remarked that the president, some have said no president would go on a foreign trip in the midst of a shutdown. Can you use your understanding of media, politics, government, zeitgeist, explain why is it not even being discussed? Why aren't the Democrats saying, Mr. President.

[Sean Spicer]

Trump a horrible video on this yesterday?

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah, yeah, but I mean, it's not, it's not their dominant message. Why is the president being. Again, I'm not, I'm not taking a position, but I'm just surprised that that's not being discussed very much.

[Dan Turndine]

I think because he can walk into gum. I think there's no you. We hear from him hourly. We hear from him directly. There's no ambiguity. I don't think anybody. I mean, it's just like, you know, he plays golf all the time and nobody bats an eyelid. But in years past, that was a huge deal.

[Elise Monroy]

Yeah.

[Sean Spicer]

There's two things at play. One, to Dan's point, this is a very active presence. You can't say, like, wow, he was playing golf and we didn't hear from three days. The guy's like playing golf, texting, truthing, doing interviews. I mean, there might as well be a camera on the front of the golf cart. So. So that's number one. Number two is this is a very unique fight. The dynamic doesn't. I know they want to drag him into it, but. But it's not. The Senate needs the votes. The president, you know, ostensibly doesn't have the same optics. But then third is that what he's doing is important. Right. It's not like it's saying he's going off to Wally World to hang out for the weekend and ride rides. This is a guy who's saying, we're sitting here talking about the big agenda with China, Middle east peace. He's got a big, big agenda and he's getting things done. And that's a contrast. It's not like this is he's going to some apex, you know, Australia, to hang out on the coast.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I wonder.

[Mark Halpern]

Last time he was on an Amusement park ride. The BBC has got a big breaking news banner up saying Zelensky is in the UK to meet with allies. Is that breaking news? Did he sneak into the uk Maybe seeing Mary Poppins in the West End? I don't know. All right, all right, that's that foreign story. Now listen carefully, North Americans, that sounds you. Here is a trade war between the United States and our neighbors of the north, the Canadians. President Trump last night on Truth Social and then again this morning, making it clear that this outrage, this outrage committed by the Canadians will not stand. What's the outrage, you ask? I'll show you the outrage. Give me six. Take that down. Give me 60 seconds. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the cause of a massive war between the United states and its second largest trading partner. 107. Please play it all.

[Narrator/Reporter]

When someone says, let's impose tariffs on foreign imports, it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while, it works, but only for a short time. But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs. Throughout the world, there's a growing realization that the way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition. America's jobs and growth are at stake.

[Mark Halpern]

Outrageous. We should be bombing them. Just kidding. Here's the President on Truth Social today, bookending one from last night. I'll read it in full. Canada cheated and got caught. Three exclamation points. If you put Trump's tweets through AI or true social posts, you will not see that many uses of the triple exclamation point, which, by the way, is in here. Twice they fraudulently took a big ad buy saying that Ronald Reagan did not like tariffs, when actually he loved tariffs. For our country and its national security. Canada is trying to illegally influence the United States Supreme Court in one of the most important rulings in the history of our country. Canada has long cheated on tariffs, charging our farmers as much as 400%. Now they and other countries can't take advantage of the US Any longer. Thank you, the Ronald Reagan foundation, for exposing this fraud. Make America great again. Triple exclamation points. As Sean told me at the top here before we started, the Reagan foundation put out a statement saying that President Reagan's views on trade, not fully in context in that delightful 60 second well produced video. Sean, I assume this will all settle down, but is this a big rupture?

[Sean Spicer]

Well, yes and no. It's a pain in the butt, to be blunt. So Mark Carney, the new prime minister, I think, has been doing a pretty good job of creating a good working relationship with President Trump. Doug Ford, the mayor of Ontario, is the one who, behind this ad, who has been a thorn in Trump's side. He launched this ad. It was not, I have a feeling, you know, Carney last night was trying to get a hold of the President from what I'm told, and, and again has really sort of gotten a good working relationship going with him. I got to imagine that he's having, calling on Mayor Ford and saying, can you knock this off? This is not helpful to the overall trade relationship. And because it came from Ford and not Carney, I think that this hopefully gets walked back pretty quick.

[Mark Halpern]

Stan, can you, can you imagine? Normally we think of the Canadians as mild mannered, but what a provocative commercial. Just kidding.

[Dan Turndine]

Yes, it's a Trumper tantrum. I mean, it's just embarrassing that Trump behaves like this. I mean, first off, if false, if, if misleading ads, which it isn't in the macro, I don't think any of us would say Ronald Reagan, one of the great free traders and gave a bazillion speeches on the virtues of free trade to try to pretend like he was some sort of in love with tariffs. I get they're saying it's not the full picture, but it's just a pathetic, embarrassing Trump pretend. I was sitting with my wife last night when the Wall Street Journal alert came out and she just started laughing. I mean, it's just the average person just says this is ridiculous.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah, Reagan was a free trader. Again, breaking news from the Associated Press. Pete Hegseth says another strike in the Caribbean targets lakes, drug running boat killing six even as the President deals. I've said this before with Russia, Ukraine, Middle east and China even, and, and, and the tariffs around the world. This is the largest change in American policy towards Latin America since Roosevelt or at least in my lifetime. I mean, there's never been an administration engaged bilaterally with so many people in the country in these Latin American countries. And, and it's, it's hard to keep track. Every day stuff happens. But here's one thing that, and we haven't talked about it enough here, here's one thing that's going on that is definitely worth talking about. 112, which is the President's aggressive posture towards Venezuela and Congress, which Laughably, every so often likes to pretend it's a co. Equal branch, is upset that the President thinks he can just have undeclared wars. Senate GOP Chair declines hearings on Trump's Boating attacks off Venezuela. Democrats and some Republicans like Rand Paul are saying, Mr. President, you can't just go to war with Latin American countries without a little check in with us. Dan, where does this stand? Not just Venezuela, but the President's overall Latin America overhaul?

[Dan Turndine]

Well, I mean, part of this is we don't know. And the reason that I think this is important is we talk a lot about off the record. Republicans complain this is an issue where the White House has gone to brief in private and classified briefings. Both parties, a lot of Republicans and a lot of Democrats come out saying they're not telling us anything. They're being, you know, pretty silent on a lot of details. And they won't even. They're so afraid of Trump they won't hold a public hearing. I mean, whether you agree or disagree, there ought to be a public airing of who we're targeting, providing, you know, more information. What is the bigger play here? What are we trying to achieve? Because Trump made a comment offhand yesterday that we're now going to start doing this on land, and that is, forget international waters. It sounds like we're now going into Venezuela or possibly Colombia and start targeting people that he's talked about going into Mexico. There ought to at least be a public discussion about this.

[Sean Spicer]

Just quick point of clarification, thanks to Dave. I do read the chat. Doug Ford is the premier of Ontario. The mayor was his late brother Rob. So I apologize for my failure to.

[Mark Halpern]

That's okay. That's okay. Brett Bear said the other night that Chris Sununu was running for Senate. So.

[Sean Spicer]

Well, he. Well, that's a whole separate. Yeah, but, but I, I got my Ford family, Ontario positions mixed up.

[Mark Halpern]

My point is, my point is, even if Brett can make such a mistake, human, human skin, too.

[Dan Turndine]

Thank you.

[Sean Spicer]

So, look, I, I think that, as I've said before, I've, I've looked into this. There's a big difference between preemptive strikes and, and history is replete with them going back to the, with preventive strikes to stop, you know, a variety of, you know, threats entering our country. There's a big difference between that and what Dan was saying when the President did allude to going into a country.

[Dan Turndine]

Right.

[Sean Spicer]

That's, that, that's a very different thing and obviously requires a much different legal analysis. So we'll get to that. If that were to happen, I will say, just going back to that, that headline from Axios, can we just put that Back up for one sec, please? Like this is, this is a BS headline. Jim Risch of Idaho is the chairman. No. 1, they went and asked him, are you having hearings? And he said, I have nothing scheduled. He didn't decline. He's the chairman. He sets the agenda. He sets them because you get asked a question. I mean, that's one of the Democrats.

[Mark Halpern]

The Democrats have asked him to have hearings and he's declined. So what?

[Sean Spicer]

But you know what? Republicans ask the. I mean, this is.

[Dan Turndine]

Yeah, but this isn't. Sean, this is a big but.

[Mark Halpern]

But.

[Sean Spicer]

I mean, no, no, this is Axios creating fake news. There's the chairman decides the schedule. And if you want to, if they want to play this game every time.

[Mark Halpern]

There'S so many examples of fake news, this is not one of them. So.

[Sean Spicer]

Well, it is because the idea that if we're going to play that game, then every time someone asks a Democrat to do something they don't, the headline should be Pelosi declines to do this or Jeffries decline. And that's not how it works. The only reason Axios wrote that is because they are left leaning. Publication that. I mean, this, that was BS and that's, that's why people hate journalism.

[Mark Halpern]

All right, we'll talk more about Latin America. Let's move on. New poll from Emerson out this morning showing yet again that Gavin Newsom is poised for a huge victory in California. 57% in California support yes on Proposition 50. And the recriminations on the Republican side. Still not clear to me what exactly happened. They're being badly outspent. And we're also in the midst of a sort of whether you call it the second wave of the third wave of redistricting efforts popping up all over Democrats in Virginia. More talk about Florida, Indiana continues along. What are the other two states? But there's another new one that just popped besides Virginia. I forget what it is.

[Dan Turndine]

Anyway, they're talking about Illinois, but Illinois is getting a little wobbly on this. Yep.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. And I continue to say, watch the courts. Some of these things are going to be struck down. And then of course, there's the Supreme Court possibility that they get rid of racial use in gerrymandering. That could bring Republicans tons of seats. So North Carolina also. So, Sean, just short answer. Which party is winning the redistricting wars overall?

[Sean Spicer]

I think it's a push right now. I mean, this is again, just quick numbers. Texas 5 California, 5/ asterisks plus because they're going to win on that. I think they net out on that, meaning they take a bunch off the table. Indiana's being a bunch of wusses. Missouri Potentially 2. Florida Potentially 3 for the Republican side, Virginia, which is a whole nother. I mean that's worth a show with what's happening here. The idea, this is unbelievable. They're doing this 12 days before an election while the entire House of Delegates has been up during early voting. I mean, that could net 2 to 3 in Virginia for the, I mean, when the dust settles, potentially, you're looking at a Republican net gain of maybe 4 to 6 if Indiana doesn't get some backbone. So after all that.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. Dan, do you agree it's a push right now?

[Dan Turndine]

Now I think Republicans for the reason that Sean just ended with that they're going to net seats and you know, eight seats may be enough to save yourself. Like if your margin, if you add 3 or 4 plus what you have now and you lose like 5 majority is a majority.

[Sean Spicer]

Well, look, that Supreme Court case, if they, if they say that you can't make majority minority districts, which I think is probably where we're headed, then you do start pulling it. That's where that's the game changer. Then Louisiana comes into play. You push those seats out. Alabama, I think had one. I mean, you could really do some damage.

[Mark Halpern]

Dan, let me ask you this on my new episode of Next Up. You're a big fan of that judge. You already listen to my Tom. My Tom, Enter Tom Emmer interview.

[Dan Turndine]

I did not because I was in the hospital yesterday.

[Mark Halpern]

Understood. Anyway, Tom Emmer, I said, what is your message going to be in the midterms for House candidates, incumbents and everybody else? He said promises made, promises kept on the border, et cetera. And then I said, what's the Democrats message going to be? And he said they don't have one. What is the Democratic House candidate message in the midterms?

[Dan Turndine]

Well, I think it's going to, I think there'll be two things. I think one, they will come up with a proactive message just like they did, you know, Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer, the famous six for oh, six. These are the six things that will do for you. And then I think it's going to be a check on power because and.

[Mark Halpern]

By the government and on the sex, presumably something on health care. What else? What are the other areas that they'll focus on, do you think?

[Dan Turndine]

That's a great question. I mean, I know that they're thinking about this. There's working groups in the House and in the Senate. The DS and the DCCC are actually starting to talk about this. So I think, look, you don't want to. No party would set their messaging necessarily this far out. You want to see kind of where the country is as we head into next spring. And you got to see who wins some of these primaries. But they'll have a positive. I guarantee it. The party's going to.

[Sean Spicer]

Look, I'll tell you this. I mean, you need to have one to say you have one, but no one gives a crap, to be honest with you. I mean, if you're the Democrats, I would say health care costs, cost of living, and I'm going to be a check on Trump. Boom, boom, boom, that's it. And then you have some pocket card that you say, we've got a positive agenda. I mean, no one.

[Dan Turndine]

Well, I do think the thing. They're going to have to be careful of it because. And this is going to be the contrast with where Trump's going to go, which is promises made, promises kept, Right? They're going to say, if you elect them, they're going to try to defund ice. They're going to pull out the National Guard from every. In other words, they're going to make you less safe and less secure. And there's going to have to be. Just like, if you recall, in 2006, part of the Democratic caucus wanted to defund the war in Iraq, cut off the money for the troops. And Nancy Pelosi said, guys, knock it off.

[Sean Spicer]

By the way, also, we're pivoting from Pelosi, who will make her plans known after the election, too. We're going to take Zorhan Mandami and make him the poster child for every Democrat.

[Dan Turndine]

So that's what I was going to say, which is Jefferies and Schumer are so weak. Pelosi had the iron fist and the base. She had the base and she was able to tell them to knock it off because they trusted her. We're gonna see.

[Mark Halpern]

All right. Who do you think Tom Hammer said when I asked him who the smartest political strategist was in the Democratic House caucus? Who do you think he said the smartest? No.

[Sean Spicer]

That'S a good question. I don't know.

[Dan Turndine]

Ro Khanna?

[Mark Halpern]

No. Steny Hoyer. Steny Hoyer. All right, that interview is available now.

[Sean Spicer]

I'm gonna believe him when he said that.

[Mark Halpern]

I, I. Well, I said, beyond people who are on Social Security, who would you Say.

[Dan Turndine]

And he said, by the way, Danny, I think.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. He said Richie Torres. Okay, I miss. I'll say something. I'll mention something. This is our political potpourri. We're about to get to Europe of the program here. Community. So raise your hand if you want it in the conversation. I'll say something. You can, you can give one sentence with no semicolons or colons if you want or you can say pass.

[Sean Spicer]

Not really good at grammar.

[Mark Halpern]

Here we go. Here we go. New York City mayor. Race, one sentence or pass. Over. Over. Dan, I just used a word what.

[Dan Turndine]

To watch for this weekend.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay, we'll get to that then. New Jersey. New Jersey. New Jersey. New Jersey. Governor, Anybody want to say anything? Pass. Just for today. You have to.

[Dan Turndine]

Cautious optimism for the Democrats.

[Mark Halpern]

Cautious, Sean. Sean. That's right, Sean.

[Sean Spicer]

I'll use the same phrase for our size.

[Mark Halpern]

Cautious optimist. Okay. All the Virginia races. Governor Ag There was new, some new polling yesterday. Anybody want to say anything about that?

[Sean Spicer]

Oh, well, I'll tell you this right now. Jay Jones, the dump is not done on him. It's going to get worse.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay.

[Dan Turndine]

Are Democrats worried about base turnout? That VA redistricting makes me wonder if they are trying to stoke the base. They're seeing get out the vote numbers.

[Mark Halpern]

That make them nervous and maybe there'll be two Obama stops. One in.

[Dan Turndine]

Down in Tidewater there.

[Mark Halpern]

Tidewater and one road and Hampton Roads and one in Northern Virginia. Lastly, Platner. Anybody have anything to say about Platner?

[Sean Spicer]

I just say this. Marine Corps buddies. I hope they all got the same tap buddy.

[Dan Turndine]

Yeah, Dan, what's the phrase? Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. He's still alive.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah, I want to. I'm going to call David Br. I want to do a big poll in Maine or you know what I want to do, Laurie? Ask David Burrell. I want to do a focus group in Maine. I want to hear Mainers talking about Platner.

[Dan Turndine]

I think you got to give it like a week, let this settle a little.

[Mark Halpern]

It'll take us a couple days to set it up. Yeah, I want to. I want to hear a focus group with main. The main Democrats primary voters. What do they think of Platner? All right.

[Dan Turndine]

I would imagine maybe someone with the Republican senatorial campaign committee on the outside is probably doing that.

[Mark Halpern]

Well, I know, but it won't be here on the two way. David Burrell, if you're watching, please get me 10 main Democrats. All right, Sean. Winner of the week.

[Sean Spicer]

My winner of the week. I gotta set the clip up first, I want you to see this clip. This is Democrats. Speaking of, not the best political strategist on the dumb side. This is Kathleen Clark. She's the whip for the House. Dems. Play the clip for us, please.

[Dan Turndine]

She's the winner.

[Mallory]

I mean, shutdowns are terrible. And of course there will be, you know, families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leveraged times we have.

[Sean Spicer]

Okay, so she said it's the American family suffering is one of the 1 points of leverage that they have. Speaker Johnson's comms team, I assume, set that clip up, put it outside, put it on repeat. I give them my winner of the week.

[Dan Turndine]

Okay.

[Mark Halpern]

Dan.

[Dan Turndine]

Okay, I didn't know. I didn't know if you were going to have something. Okay, sorry, I dropped mine. Is the mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie. You know, kind of. Oh, by the way, Trump is not, at least as of now, has announced that he is not going to go into San Francisco with the National Guard here. There was rumors that they were going to do it. Daniel Laurie has again, mayor of San Francisco, made a real effort to not kind of try to be antagonistic with Trump, not to kind of go after him by name, but to kind of keep his head down and do his job. It worked. He leveraged his relationships with the tech community. Just somebody who's going about doing the work of his, of his area and not trying to be consumed with Trump derangement syndrome.

[Sean Spicer]

I think that, Dan, you're right on that. And also the mayor of Michigan that Mark has talked about before.

[Dan Turndine]

The mayor of Detroit. Yeah, right.

[Sean Spicer]

Sorry, I can't get my provinces or my states or anything right tonight.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay. Winner of the week is, is the young person who produced that, that Cuomo AI ad because that he's, he is going down in history. I don't know his name, but he's going down in history as having produced something that will influence American politics forevermore. Sean, Loser of the week.

[Sean Spicer]

My loser of the week are Dems who are publishing books. So let's start with Corinne Jean Pierre. Congratulations to her. Her new book came out this week and she cracked the top 25,000 this week, which is, you know, that's what you're always aiming for. But it got better because Bernie Sanders also put out a new book this week. He did a little bit better. He cracked the top 4,000 in brand new books. So congratulations to Democrats publishing books.

[Mark Halpern]

Dan, Loser of the week.

[Dan Turndine]

It is federal employees. They are the, you know, they are home And a lot of them are at home. They're, they will likely get paid here at the end, but getting from here to there, a lot of them live paycheck to paycheck. They have families. They're the kind of, you know, pawns in all of this along with the American people. So federal employees. And by the way, folks, wait, can I just add, because I'm just, I'm not saying what Daniel Laurie did is right or wrong, but for him and his politics, it was a great day for him that Trump announced that. So.

[Mark Halpern]

Right. Just. Just to be clear, I think of loser of the week as the person who performed badly, not someone who was a loser because they got the short end of the stick. So.

[Sean Spicer]

I know, but I actually, I generally agree. But I think Dan's point is they, they are unfortunately the losers because there's millions of them that are dealing with. I get.

[Mark Halpern]

All right, my loser of the week is Governor Pritzker. I don't know if you guys watched his interview with Brett.

[Dan Turndine]

Brett, yeah.

[Mark Halpern]

But it was, I mean, it confirmed everything I think about his skill set. I just, I just don't understand why people are taking him seriously as a presidential candidate except that he's a billionaire. He, he did nothing to help himself in that interview. He was totally on defense, sputtering, vague, said a bunch of things that when they're fact checked, will be proven wrong. And it was a high profile interview. And he goes on there, gets a ton of time. I just, I just don't get why, with his record and his communication skills, why he's considered a serious candidate and.

[Dan Turndine]

That interview and it's a big state.

[Sean Spicer]

I think the interview got panned from a lot of direction. I, I watched, I mean, but like his answers, some of. Brett, I mean, I, I sort of was.

[Mark Halpern]

It wasn't a disaster, but I just, I just think it was a missed opportunity. And again, like, if you're going to go in and sit with Brett on set, kill it. Kill it.

[Sean Spicer]

This goes back to when, when Mandami got went on. It's like I, I've been a prosecutor and, and I. People like a, I either asked my boss, like, here's why we should do this, or they would say to me, explain why this makes sense. And if you're JB Pritzker's comms people and they said, we're going to do Brett, the answer you should have is why? Why?

[Mark Halpern]

What's the metric? What's the metric of success?

[Sean Spicer]

And the idea of, I mean, he held the thing out and said you're Chicago ranks 30th. He goes, you're pulling out statistics. He goes, yeah, murder.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah, Dan.

[Dan Turndine]

So I think there's two things. One, Pritzker wants to run. So don't, you know, in terms of why does he get so much buzz and attention? He's working it. He works the press. He's meeting with people, you know, kind of off camera like. So the fact that he's so kind of publicly and privately out there, I think people talk about it.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah.

[Dan Turndine]

One of the things that's emerging with him is he follows meaning when somebody else does something, then he goes to do it. And that is a sign of a cautious candidate that is kind of not the tip of the spear out there leading. You know, it's early. We'll see.

[Mark Halpern]

Sean, what are you looking for this weekend?

[Sean Spicer]

I'm actually looking for, for Besant, I think priming this meeting with China. Any signs that things they've got this team over with, with Jameson Greer and so what did they got? Did they say anything that gives us an indication what this Thursday meeting with XI might look like? That to me is the big what I want to see movement on Dan.

[Dan Turndine]

Do Hakeem Jeffries and or Chuck Schumer endorse Mandani between now and Monday? I am looking for tonight a Friday night dump and what Sunday morning at 8:22. Yeah. What do they say? Is it how weak or how strong? And what's the reaction of the base?

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. So Monday, the DNC committee that's supposed to set the nominating calendar is meeting and today the New Hampshire Democrats gave to Politico their kind of table setter to say here's why we should be first, because we take it seriously, et cetera. The race for the nomination is now. It's a joke in terms of how people are thinking about it. Early states matter, whatever the calendar is. So I'm looking to see where we end up. Again, it's Monday, Sunday into Monday, but I'm looking to see the jockeying on this thing over the weekend because once there's a calendar set, then we can have a serious discussion about who can win the nomination because who can do well in these states. And, and so, for instance, is AOC a good candidate for the New Hampshire Democratic Party? I'm skeptical. For instance, that's one example.

[Dan Turndine]

Would she be for Nevada?

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah, she would.

[Dan Turndine]

Yeah, she would.

[Mark Halpern]

So that's. I'd say let's. I'm looking to say what else has.

[Sean Spicer]

To do with money, right? I mean, you can go to New Hampshire. The lot cheaper date than you could go to, you know, somewhere like Michigan.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah.

[Dan Turndine]

So, Mark, do you think.

[Elise Monroy]

Can.

[Dan Turndine]

I want one quick question. You think Kamala Harris is trying to influence this?

[Mark Halpern]

Good question. Don't know.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Don't know.

[Mark Halpern]

Good question.

[Dan Turndine]

Because, I mean, if you're her, this is like, the one place you may have some levers to try to pull because a lot of those people are still your people.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah, absolutely. All right, remember our rules here. You're most likely to be called on if you're on camera with another person, a dog or a cute baby. So, Danny, welcome in. Thanks for the two of you for joining us.

[Dan Turndine]

Great name. Tell us.

[Mark Halpern]

Tell us. Tell us where you are and what's on your mind. Thank you so much.

[Dan Turndine]

We're both first time. Long time.

[Mark Halpern]

We're awesome.

[Dan Turndine]

We're in Arkansas.

[Mark Halpern]

Huge fans of what y' all are doing. Awesome.

[Dan Turndine]

Long. Wanted to give a testimonial and just.

[Mark Halpern]

Say that I had a terminal case of Trump derangement syndrome and a steady dose of Mark Halpern, Dan Turntine, and Sean Spicer can cure that. That's awesome.

[Elise Monroy]

Although.

[Mark Halpern]

Although your governor probably stokes it on a regular basis. Where do you live? Where do you live? Where do you live in Arkansas?

[Dan Turndine]

Northwest.

[Mark Halpern]

And I'll also say we're both professors, and I've learned so much about how.

[Dan Turndine]

To manage difficult conversations with students from just watching.

[Mark Halpern]

See the way y' all handle things. So I totally appreciate that. I recommend a mute button, by the way. I don't know if you can do that in class.

[Dan Turndine]

Yeah, that would be great.

[Mark Halpern]

What do you. What do you teach?

[Dan Turndine]

I'm a law professor and she teaches art history.

[Mark Halpern]

Awesome. Well, thank you for joining. Thank you for your nice words about the platform.

[Dan Turndine]

What's your wife's name?

[J]

I'm Davida.

[Mark Halpern]

Hi, David.

[Dan Turndine]

Hello, David. I get a chance to speak here.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah, yeah, sorry. Yeah.

[Dan Turndine]

So actually, we wanted to call in and talk about the White House demolition construction because we have a slightly different view.

[J]

Been listening intently to your critique, and it's well taken. And we come at this from a legal and cultural heritage perspective thing that we were actually working on a class that we're going to teach together. But my background is in modernism, the art of the earlier 20th century. And my. My sort of insight into this is that often when governments sort of destroy and replace buildings, monuments, very, very quickly is a very undemocratic way of rewriting history. Countries come up with these stories and they build these narratives using material culture. And so a Example that I often like to give is the example of Russia, the Soviet Union after the Bolshevik Revolution. They tore down all these churches and put the gold and the jewels and marble into the subways. And one of the sites that they destroyed was the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. And they realized after perestroika that they were sad that they know had this enormous monument and so Yeltsin rebuilt it to the tune of 250 to 500 million dollars. Huge drain on the Russian people. So it's, it's a bit of a theft. It's an indication of often broader violence. You know, I don't want to over overstate anything here, but also it's just very short sighted because often when we, when we, I know you don't like to talk about as destruction, but it's a replacement. At least you, you regret it in the future.

[Mark Halpern]

Very, very well said. Thank you for that. Very learned. Danny, do you want to, do you want to say what you think of it?

[Dan Turndine]

Oh, no, I'll just defer to the experts.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay.

[Dan Turndine]

Outside my scope of expertise.

[Mark Halpern]

All right. Dan lives on the Upper east side near, near a bunch of fancy museums. So he's probably has something learned to say.

[Dan Turndine]

No, I, I, that's a really interesting way to think about it in terms of, of, of what you just said. I mean, I think the other part is I've been thinking about kind of an analogy based on our conversation yesterday. And I think in addition to the cultural side, and I think a lot of people would agree with you in that the White House is an important national institution that people just associate with. Everyone has a memory, whoever your president was, Reagan or Obama or whatever, of, of, of the, of the White House. We all know of like somebody who moves into a neighborhood and buys a house, they're wealthy, they put in a permit for like a small renovation and taken a tree out and they just bulldoze ahead, do a massive renovation, take out tons of trees. Think of Dan Snyder in the Washington area. The famous took out 500 trees and it's like, okay, I'm sorry, but it's going to stay. I'm rich, I'm powerful, the rules kind of don't apply to me. And everyone in the neighborhood says, look at that house, look at that SOB who blew off everything is, did what he wanted to do. I know, again, I get the ballroom. I actually think it's needed for the White House. But again, we all agree he lied. And it's like the classic Trump. You just bulldoze literally and Figuratively through. And it's like, kiss my. You know what? I'm doing this, John.

[Sean Spicer]

I sort of, I look at this and go, I wonder what the conversation is going to be in two years when everybody's saying, wow, what a beautiful ballroom. And look at the events that are happening and how practical this says. And I've watched video after video. I've watched thing after thing where renovations have occurred, people have knocked down stuff. There's a whole thing that has now been put out that happened under Obama's watch when they redid the front of the facade in the back. I mean, like, this happens now. Not like this might be bigger. It might be a lot bigger. But the bottom line is I just, I cannot believe everybody's freaking like, this is going to be a great addition to the country. It won't even be done to close to Trump's to the end of his term. This is a gift to the American people going forward. There's no cost to the taxpayer, and it's going to be hugely beneficial and practical going forward to host international events.

[Dan Turndine]

Why don't you go through the normal process? Why didn't they go through the National Historical Preservation Board and put all like, why?

[Sean Spicer]

Because. Well, that's a separate issue because you would have delayed everything. I mean, my point, my bottom line is I feel like this is where we get wrapped around the process instead of the result.

[Mark Halpern]

I just want to thank everybody who's educated me this week. And I'll apologize again. I think I already have one, maybe on the other show. I'm sorry for my tone. I know it bothered some of you. I just remain a little confused about how intensely people feel about democracy dying in demolition. But I'm very grateful to you and to everybody who this week walked me through various perspectives on why this is so upsetting for people. And I get, I get it upsetting for a lot.

[Dan Turndine]

I will say, because this has been in the news, there is a movement in the Democratic Party that Whoever wins in 2028 will tear it down. To your point, Sean, I do think people will ultimately say this is a good thing and it gets needed. But the fact that there's this, like, brewing, you know, just as a new president redoes the. What is it, the Mexico abortion policy every time.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah.

[Dan Turndine]

Tear the thing down.

[Mark Halpern]

Turn and turn into a daycare center for White House employees. Thank you both. Appreciate it so much. Sui, Go pig. Thank you very much.

[Dan Turndine]

They shouldn't tear it down, guys.

[Mark Halpern]

Mallory. Mallory, welcome in. Thank you for joining. Tell folks who don't know where you are. What's on your mind?

[Mallory]

Hey, I have two questions. One is maybe more for Sean. Maybe both of you will know. Dan. Sean, we have a Senate race coming up. Lindsey Graham, where are you? Yeah, I'm sorry. South Carolina.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay.

[Dan Turndine]

Yeah.

[Mallory]

And Lindsey Graham is up for election. He's been here forever, but he's running against Annie Andrews, who previously had lost to Nancy Mace. I mean, it's usually a long shot when someone runs against Lindsey Graham, but I heard recently that at one of his fundraisers he's bringing Trump in, which seems weird to me because usually, like, it's a Republican state, he's a Republican senator, he's a sitting senator. She's already lost a campaign before. I wonder if that's abnormal. He did have like a 30 approval rating back in June, but we don't get a lot of polling about these kinds of things. And I'm just curious, like, is this just because there's 33 seats up for grabs, this, this coming up and Trump's just making the rounds, or do we think that maybe there could be some blood in the water?

[Dan Turndine]

Graham Classic, I think they're calling it. It's a go.

[Sean Spicer]

And it's at, but it's here, it's, it's in Virginia.

[Narrator/Reporter]

No, I.

[Sean Spicer]

It'S at Trump national, as.

[Dan Turndine]

Far as I know.

[Mallory]

Yeah.

[Sean Spicer]

And it's a, it's a joint. It's a three way, so it goes to the, the, so it's, it's, it's silly and complicated, but basically there's a three way split on the, on the take. So Lindsey gets a piece for his campaign, his hard dollar campaign. I think the RNC gets a cut and then Trump's Make America Great pack. And I could be wrong on the split, but, but that's the way I, I understand it. That's not, I mean, look, Lindsey's got a good president. That's probably the biggest fundraiser that you can do in terms of bringing in big money. So I think he's just doing what he can and getting as much in the door as quick as possible. And it's very symbolic. Right. It tells the base. I've got a great relationship with the President, so it's a smart political move. It raises a ton of cash. I wouldn't read more than that into it. He'll be fine. He'll get reelected by.

[Dan Turndine]

I actually read into it and I've heard it's not that they're worried about the Dems winning the seat. It, you know, Lindsey Graham, whatever you Think of him has been a Bush Republican, a Tea Party Republican, a Trump Republican. I don't know too many people that look at him and say he's a principled standby, you know, and I think that makes him vulnerable to an attack from the right that you're not, you know, kind of tried and true. And so bringing in Trump, to Sean's point, to say, lindsey's one of my guys, stand by Lindsey, it's like a vote against him is a vote against me type of argument, because in a vacuum, I don't know how stable Lindsey Graham is. Where do you live?

[Mallory]

I live in the Upstate.

[Sean Spicer]

Okay, so you're not in the first. You're not in low country?

[Mallory]

No, no, no, no. I'm in Greenville.

[Dan Turndine]

Oh.

[Sean Spicer]

Oh, awesome.

[Dan Turndine]

Nice. You know.

[Mark Halpern]

You know, there's a block and there's a block in Down Crown, Greenville that has three Japanese restaurants on one block. It's great. It's crazy.

[Sean Spicer]

Near the Peace Center.

[Mallory]

I didn't. I'm in the Peace Center. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sean Spicer]

Voting for governor.

[Mark Halpern]

Oh.

[Mallory]

That'S a hard one.

[Mark Halpern]

That's a hard one.

[Mallory]

There's a lot of really interesting characters running.

[Mark Halpern]

Mallory. Mallory, did you have a second question?

[Mallory]

I did. My second question is, I would like to know. And again, this is probably more of a Sean question with Trump's agenda, this America first agenda we're pushing with the tariffs and we're trying to. America made all these things. And then recently we've kind of come out and I can't remember where he posted this, if it was X or through social, but he made a comment about how the American beef farmers are just charging too much and their prices are too high. Now we're going to have Argentinian beef coming in. And maybe it's my algorithm, but now I'm seeing all of these beef farmers popping up on social media, kind of like arguing against why we should be buying American beef and how this is going to hurt them. And I'm just curious, like, how we're reconciling this. And he's talking a lot about, like, their costs are so high. And then they're saying, well, my costs are high because John Deere is screwing us with the right to repair. And they've just filed that lawsuit earlier this year. There's things like, people make arguments that things like Acre Trader are doing things that are causing, you know, the cost of land to go up and all these different input costs that are increasing for farmers, which are therefore increasing, you know, rising the prices of beef. But I just Find it interesting that like we're, we were on this path of America first, America first, America only.

[Mark Halpern]

Beef.

[Mallory]

It just sort of in about face.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay, Mallory, thank you, Sean.

[Sean Spicer]

It's a very good but long cont. I mean, the, the, the short answer is this. The, there's two big groups getting pitted against each other. The American consumer that wants cheaper beef and farmers and ranchers that are finally getting a lot more money coming in because of the higher costs. And, and they've been through a ton. And then obviously what you discussed, there's a lot of supply chain and big, big ag issues that they're facing. So I mean, I'll just say this is, you're seeing a lot of pushback from farm state Republicans right now saying, hey, going out and buying Argentinian beef to take down the price might sound great, but it's going to hurt a lot of our folks that are finally benefiting a little bit from this. So there's a lot there. Great question, but a lot to unpack. On the, the, the other side of this, why it's costing a lot of these guys a lot more and the hardships they're facing.

[Dan Turndine]

Dan, I don't think it's that complicated. I think it's the tariffs fair, point blank. And so you're right, it's a huge challenge. I also wonder what he agreed to with Argentina. You know, we provided them $20 billion bailout. We're asking a lot of them as well, whether perhaps there was an ask to help Argentina and Trump was like, sure, I'll try.

[Mallory]

Wondered the same. I wondered.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. Mallory, thank you gratefully. How did you start watching Two Way?

[Mallory]

Well, I'm a fan of yours from your Morning Joe days and Game Change was one of my favorite books. So I started. You popped up somewhere on my algorithm and I saw it and I jumped on and I've been watching it since before, during, I mean, the election.

[Mark Halpern]

Before the election. Yeah.

[Mallory]

And I get on every day. I love it. It's good.

[Mark Halpern]

Grateful to you. Thank you for that. Appreciate it. Dan, you skew Southern me. Well, the whole show, I mean.

[Dan Turndine]

Yeah, that's all right. More equal opportunity.

[Mark Halpern]

Yeah. Just. Well, let's, let's sneak in. One more question. Let's quick. Gotta be quick. Elise, welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind.

[Elise Monroy]

Hello. Elise Monroy, Reno, Nevada. I am with the community food pantry and I would like to. In Reno, we are on track to serve a hundred thousand people this year. We are a small food pantry in Reno, our food bank of Northern Nevada is not doing Thanksgiving meals this year because they can't afford it. The social safety net is being decimated. We have not been able to get product from the food bank, so we are having to go to regular grocery stores to buy it to help people. I actually got up at 6am on my day off to respond to something that Sean said yesterday that left me slack jawed while I was listening as I commuted to work. Sean, when talking about SNAP benefits, you commented something to the effect of, you know, people who receive SNAP are a Democrat constituency. There are 41 million Americans on SNAP in the United States. Half a million Nevadans are on snap. And I volunteer at the food pantry on a regular basis. And I would encourage you to go to your local food pantry and walk the line. And what you will find is that many people in line at the food bank support Donald Trump and you know, also, you know, but it's just, I would encourage you to walk the line and hear the conversations that people are having because SNAP benefits are not primarily a Democrat constituency. One other thing that we've noticed is more people now that are coming to us for food assistance are also on snap, which means their SNAP benefits are not going as far as they have been. So I just wanted to put that out there.

[Mark Halpern]

Thank you. Thank you. Before Sean responds, tell us the name of your organization again and if people want to contribute, how they can do that.

[Elise Monroy]

Thank you. The Community Food Pantry in Reno, Nevada. We are probably going to be one of the only organizations in Reno that's providing, that's a non church providing food assistance for Thanksgiving. We're doing boxed meals. We hope we can do a thousand people and it will cost us $30,000. So we are on a, on a.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay. Is there, is there a web.

[Dan Turndine]

Is there a website, Nevada, is that you?

[Mark Halpern]

Is there, is there a website people can go to, to contribute?

[Dan Turndine]

Yeah, there is.

[Elise Monroy]

Yeah. Thank you. The community Food Pantry, Reno Sparks is our. Is our website.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay. Dan's going to put it in the chat. Thank you for that, Sean.

[Elise Monroy]

Thank you.

[Sean Spicer]

Yeah. First, just to be clear, first, thank you for what you're doing, Elise. I appreciate you helping all these folks that are going through troubled times. Not just now, but obviously. I think just to be clear on my. There's. I didn't mean to. Obviously, as I've said, I've seen a lot of service members in some of these news reports. So my point was more of a political sensitivity issue. Who is going to react quicker to that and not who gets the benefit. Right. It was more which political parties more sensitive to that outreach. And my point was that's going to trigger a lot more Democrats to pay probably. So again, it was trying to more analysis than it was trying to talk about who gets the benefit.

[Dan Turndine]

So I.

[Sean Spicer]

Okay, that came across that way then. That's not what my intent was.

[Elise Monroy]

Well, I'm glad that I got a chance to clear it up. So thank you.

[Mark Halpern]

Thank you, Elise. Thank you. Come back and tell us how generous our community was, because I will. I'm predicting. I'm predicting great generosity. Dan, read the URL again. I know it's in the chat, but. And somebody put it in the, in the YouTube chat, but just so people can hear it.

[Dan Turndine]

Yep, it's www.the community food pantry reno r e n o sparks s p a r s p a r k s dot com the community food pantry.

[Mark Halpern]

Renosparks.Com okay, everybody, great job. Let's everybody give.

[Elise Monroy]

Thank you.

[Mark Halpern]

Give a little bit of something. Elise will give us reports on Monday. Elise, thank you. Sean, what do you have tonight?

[Sean Spicer]

Well, a lot of questions. We're talking about Virginia redistricting, Jay Jones, what he did, his community service. Guys, when you hear some of the stuff that Jay Jones, he used his own political action committee to commit to, to serve time. And we're going to break it down tonight with the Virginia Attorney general, Jason Meares.

[Dan Turndine]

So okay, great spidey sense. Might news be broken or no?

[Sean Spicer]

Yeah, we might have a little, little something for you.

[Mark Halpern]

All right, well, we'll see. Elise again, thank you for what you do. And everybody, thanks for helping Elise's organization out today. Ethan strives two o' clock here on the two way platform Random offense. I'll be back, last show of the week, six o' clock tonight on two way tonight and then we'll see you all Monday morning, 9:00am Eastern Time with lots to talk about. Thank you. Thank you for being part of the two way community. And go next, Dan. I hope everybody's good there.

[Dan Turndine]

Thank you. Yeah.

[Mark Halpern]

Okay. Have a great, have a great weekend, everybody.