Iran Suffocates Under "Unbreakable" U.S. Blockade, as Trump Says He Has All the Cards

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Morning Meeting

Episode: "Iran Suffocates Under 'Unbreakable' U.S. Blockade, as Trump Says He Has All the Cards"

Date: May 1, 2026
Host: Mark Halperin (with Kevin and Larry)

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Overview

This episode of The Morning Meeting centers on the escalating U.S.-Iran conflict, the political and economic effects of the ongoing "unbreakable" U.S. blockade, and election-year political dynamics in the U.S. The panel critically unpacks new developments, the efficacy of the blockade, Iran’s diplomatic maneuverings, congressional oversight, notable Senate races (particularly Maine), and broader trends in U.S. political coverage.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Latest Developments in the Iran Conflict

• Social Media Chatter vs. Reality ([07:36-09:12])
  • Reports on social media speculated the resumption of hostilities, but the war had not restarted.
  • Iran issued inflammatory threats, including boasts about their borders hampering potential U.S. blockades.
    • Mark: “If you build two walls... still about 1,000 km short of Iran's total borders. Good luck blockading a country with those borders.” ([09:01])
    • Larry: “They also have never heard of Alaska.” ([09:12])
• Ceasefire and Proposals ([07:36-12:01])
  • Pakistanis may be transmitting a new peace offer from Iran; skepticism pervades the discussion:
    • Larry: “I think it’s a bunch of bollocks, yeah... They haven’t proven that they can even maintain or enforce whatever they’re offering.” ([09:55])
    • Kevin: “Ayatollah junior doubling down on their nuclear program... Again, obviously a non-starter for us...” ([10:54])
  • Iranian military threats, including talk of weaponized drones and even using dolphins, were discussed with incredulity.

2. Blockade Effectiveness & War Powers Debate

• Blockade's Economic Pressure ([10:13-12:31])
  • The panel agrees the U.S. economic blockade is pushing Iran’s economy to the brink, serving as the primary tool of leverage.
  • Speculation that Iran refrains from striking U.S. assets to avoid massive retaliation.
    • Larry: “They don’t want to be annihilated.” ([12:38])
• Congressional Oversight & the War Powers Act ([13:14-17:33])
  • Senators Susan Collins and Rand Paul criticize the president’s overreach regarding the War Powers Act.
  • 71% of Independents and 91% of Democrats now view the war as a mistake (WA Post/ABC/Ipsos poll). ([14:02])
    • Mark: “Those are some pretty striking numbers, ladies and gentlemen.” ([14:02])
  • Consensus: Real congressional pushback is unlikely, aside from performative gestures.

3. Election Spotlight: Maine Senate Race

• Graham Platner’s Populist Challenge vs. Susan Collins ([18:25-24:41])
  • Platner, now the de facto Democratic nominee, emphasizes a grass-roots campaign, labor, and working-class alliances:
    • Platner: “We have built a campaign... focused on field organizing... working class power in the state of Maine...” ([18:25])
  • Panel doubts Platner’s “outsider” brand will remain untarnished as he accepts establishment help. New attacks against Platner, referencing his past (including a Nazi tattoo controversy), are predicted to feature heavily.
    • Larry: “This is a bad man. I'm sorry... it goes beyond the Nazi tattoo. This is an indictment, frankly, of where Democrats are right now.” ([20:49])
  • Discussion includes how the state’s older demographics might cut against Platner’s youth-based appeal.

4. U.S. Political Media & Panel Commentary Clips

• Scott Jennings vs. Adam Mockler Clip ([29:50-33:39])
  • Notable exchange on CNN where Mockler aggressively challenges pundit Scott Jennings on the war in Iran, causing Jennings to bristle.
    • Kevin: “We learned that it's good for the both of them because that clip is going everywhere... they both get something out of it.” ([30:53])
  • Meta-discussion on the role of viral confrontation in cable news and show ratings.
• Governors Races & Down-Ballot Implications ([25:03-27:59])
  • The importance of state gubernatorial races in 2026 is highlighted, including discussions on Democratic chances in Iowa and Kansas.

5. Security at Political Events

• Secret Service Critique after Security Breach ([34:14-38:57])
  • Panel critiques the lackadaisical demeanor of Secret Service and TSA agents at a high-profile Trump event following a security breach.
    • Mark: “...you cannot look at that video and say that they were on guard to protect the ballroom, can you?” ([36:18])
    • Kevin: “I was literally on the other side of those doors... I would encourage everyone to go back to that Next Up that you did, breaking it down, literally, minute by minute...” ([36:50])

6. Winners and Losers of the Week ([39:23-44:10])

• Winners:
  • Kevin: British royalty, King Charles III and Queen Camilla, for a successful U.S. visit. ([39:23])
  • Larry: Speaker Mike Johnson for effective congressional maneuvering against expectations. ([40:28])
  • Mark: Dick Van Dyke at 100, for his vivacity. ([42:24])
• Losers:
  • Unanimously: Maine Governor Janet Mills, for failing to secure primary support and bowing out of Senate contention. ([42:37-44:10])

7. Audience and Community Discussion ([47:18-59:18])

• Listener Questions:
  • Tyler (Atlanta): Insightful question about whether Trump, should Congress flip, would pivot to foreign policy and executive action. ([49:42-51:43])
    • Kevin: “...Could see a similar situation to Obama... pivoted to overseas engagement... Also executive orders as well...” ([50:16])
    • Larry: “That means focusing on what can you do pretty much unilaterally as the head of state...” ([51:03])
  • Yakov (Brooklyn): Why Democrats are seen accommodating anti-Israel/anti-Semitic voices, and specific concerns regarding Graham Platner.
    • Kevin: “...It’s extremely distressing as a proud Democrat... you can support... Israel and be a Zionist without supporting the current administration and Bibi Netanyahu...” ([55:52])
    • Larry: “...’From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ is not anti-Bibi, it’s anti-Israel... you might want to look in the mirror and wonder why Israel’s the problem and not Pakistan.” ([57:31])

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Notable Quotes

• Mark: “Groundhog Day, but we’ve got to cover the wars as they’re presented to us, not the wars we’d like to go to war with.” ([09:12])
• Larry: “They don’t want to violate the ceasefire because then they’ll open the door to the US to annihilate.” ([12:52])
• Platner: “Nothing brings people together like getting Susan Collins out of office. That is the priority for me.” ([18:25])
• Kevin: “Congress doesn’t want to take this up. ...they’re happy to cede more power to Article 2 from Article 1...” ([15:44])
• Larry: “I suppose you can be an anti-Zionist without being anti-Semitic, but I’m pretty sure every single anti-Semite is also anti-Zionist.” ([57:31])

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Important Timestamps

• [07:36] - Introduction of Iran segment and summary of latest threats
• [09:55] - Larry dismisses Iranian proposal as meaningless
• [10:54] - Discussion of Iran’s “red lines” on nuclear/missiles, U.S. posture, and bizarre military rumors
• [14:02] - Striking polling figures on war unpopularity
• [18:25] - Graham Platner discusses his campaign strategy
• [20:49] - Heated criticism of Platner and implications for the Democratic Party
• [29:50] - Viral TV clip of Scott Jennings vs. Adam Mockler
• [36:18] - Video analysis of Secret Service response at security breach
• [39:23] - Winner and loser of the week segment
• [47:18] - Audience Q&A (Trump’s post-midterms strategy, Democratic Party & Israel)
• [54:00-59:18] - Extended debate on Democrats, anti-Semitism, and support for Israel

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Tone & Style

• The episode maintains a genuinely fast-paced, bantering, and irreverent style, mixing deep policy analysis with insider campaign strategy and frequent jokes or jabs.
• Panelists are forthright in their opinions; sometimes deeply critical, other times playfully self-deprecating or poking fun at political and media personalities.
• The hosts encourage community interaction, regularly breaking to include listener voices, and challenge each other on framing and facts.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode exemplifies The Morning Meeting's inside-baseball approach to both major national security stories and the granular politics influencing 2026's campaign season. Mark, Kevin, and Larry offer unsparing, candid analysis: they don’t hedge when it comes to voicing skepticism about diplomatic window dressing, congressional cowardice, or the direction of their own parties. If you missed this episode, you’ll walk away understanding why Iran's blockade is holding (and what could plausibly break it), how Senate hopefuls like Graham Platner could reshape their parties’ image, and how deeply the current war divides both political elites and the American public.

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For deeper engagement:

• Skip to [07:36] for today's Iran war coverage
• For campaign insight, start at [18:25]
• Polling and congressional strategy at [14:02]
• Secret Service/security breakdowns at [34:14]
• Winners/losers and political ad analysis at [39:23]
• Audience questions and party identity debate at [47:18], [54:00]

Stay tuned for after-show discussions and further listener engagement!

Transcript

[Mark]

Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings, there's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe [e-mail]. Good morning everybody. Welcome to the morning meeting. Thank you for being here at this time of war, threats at home and abroad and good humor here on the morning meeting. Larry and Kevin are back. Gentlemen, good morning.

[Kevin]

Good morning, Good morning.

[Mark]

A lot of good to be with you. A lot of the pregame conversation involving real estate and Apple versus Android. And now we move to less control controversial topics of Graham Platner and the war in Iran. We're glad to have you here. If you'd like to be part of the program and you're on the two,

[Kevin]

we can stay on those previous topics. We don't need to talk about grand flat.

[Mark]

We can, we can. If you want to, if you want to be part of the program, you can be. That's how, that's how incredible the two way platform is. You don't need to just sit and listen to a bunch of knuckleheads, some, some jugheads talking about stuff. You can be part of it. Raise your hand if you're on the platform, would like to be part of the conversation. And, and best of all, you don't need to have ever raised your hand before. You know, Bob has raised his hand 50,000 times in the history of the program and he gets in sometimes, not every time, but Bob would delight in hearing some new voices. Bob would seed his slot. So if you'd like to be on the program today, tell us what you think. Ask Kevin and Larry a question, you're welcome to do that. And if you're watching on X or YouTube like it says here on the sleeve of my very handsome fairway and green shirt, no smack in the chat. You can buy one of these yourself. Go to Fairway and green two way TV Fairway. Buy some great shirts from these folks. They're, they're so comfortable, they're so nice. Anyway, right now don't put smack in the chat. Peace, love and understanding. Let me run through the daybook and then we'll get into our conversation here. Here we go. The President today has kind of an unusual schedule and I'll, I'll say it's a little confusing to me. He's going to Florida executive time right now, intelligence briefing at 10 o' clock and then at 3 o' clock he's at the villages in Florida, leaves the White House and heads to the Villages, where he's doing a charter school event. Villages Charter School. I don't know. This event is on the tax. It's not on. It's at a chart. It's confusing, but it's. It's about tax break. The tax breaks for seniors.

[Kevin]

Seniors, right. Yeah, Exactly.

[Mark]

About the tax break. I don't know why it says the Village is charter school, but. But I don't know why he's doing it in Florida. I don't know why he's doing in. In that. Because he's speaking at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches dinner. I suspect some friend of his said you got to be our dinner speaker would be my guess. Anyway, early bird special because it's Florida. 6:15. So two events and then he stays overnight down there. The very end of the season here.

[Kevin]

I don't know what to say. It's starting to get hot down there. I think he's starting to get hot. Transition to Bedminster.

[Mark]

I would think so. House and Senator out with a lot of unfinished business. Today is the last day for tech companies to tell the White House that they plan to ward off cyber attacks from AI. The news is filled today with stories about the upsides of AI. You don't need a doctor anymore. The AI can do the whole thing, but a lot of the dangers of AI And Bernie Sanders says we got to figure this out with the Chinese. Gretchen Whitmer at 12:30 Eastern addresses the graduates of Michigan State University, the spring convocation. And Graham Platner is campaigning today after doing Morning Joe. We'll look at a little bit of that in a moment. He's campaigning today, Guys, you know what? Governor is campaigning today with Graham Platner on this historic day of his candidacy. What? Governor?

[Larry]

American Governor or from the.

[Kevin]

Tim. Tim Walls fighting. Tim Walls fighting.

[Mark]

Tim Waltz will be campaigning with Platner today. So we look forward to covering that on the special Kingmaker.

[Kevin]

The King Maker.

[Mark]

The Kingmaker. Exactly. Special Saturday edition of the morning meeting. All right, quick word from a sponsor and then we're going to talk about the war and everything else. Cozy Earth will give you 20% off. And today I'd like to tell you about. First some pops. New pop Photos of dogs enjoying the bubble cuddle blanket. Paul, just throw those up. These are incredible pictures of. I think we got two new photos. Oh, you got those. Maybe I spoke too soon. Here we go. Here's one. Pop. Oh, my goodness. Kevin, use your powers of description. What would you say about that picture?

[Kevin]

Just the. The sweetest little ears On a little pup, probably no more than £20.

[Mark]

Just it could, it could be a Martian.

[Kevin]

Engrossed. Engrossed in just pure comfort. If this isn't a wrinkle, follow up one too. Oh my God. If this isn't a reason to join us on a video platform accessing this conversation, I don't what it is.

[Mark]

So bubble cuddle blanket for your dog at home. And here's two pups. Double, double the fun. But that's not all, ladies and gentlemen. Did you know you can take the bubble cuddle blanket on the road? Here's another one. Look at that dog. Beautiful animal in the back of a car on a bubble cuddle blanket.

[Kevin]

Look at that.

[Mark]

All of these uses are for. Not for humans, but for dogs.

[Larry]

These, but these dogs get better treatment than Queen Camilla. Unbelievable how these people treat their dogs.

[Mark]

They do.

[Kevin]

And we've got to start. I think we've got to start a two way calendar of these photos. By the way, that might be a good idea.

[Mark]

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[Kevin]

I'm going to. Hey, I'm get me. I don't know what Larry is laughing. I'm going to get me a pair. You know, he's all in this suit with that tie and anyway that doesn't

[Larry]

look the CEO of Cozy Earth imagining that his his copy would ever say turns out Cozy Earth is not just for dogs. Yeah, I don't think he ever expected that to be part of the marketing.

[Mark]

I mean we were moving a lot of merchandise to pet owners so they should be glad we've opened up a whole new line of sales. Anyway, the joggers and the clogs available to you now. 20% off everything on the site. Go to cozy earth.com use the promo code morning for 20% off everything on the post purchase survey. Say you heard about them right here on the morning meeting.

[Michael Graham]

I started with one shop. No college degree, no big investors. It was just a willingness to work. Over time that one shop turned into a multibillion dollar business called Crash Champions. All the lessons I learned along the way came from the grind. And that's what my show Podcrash is all about. We have real conversations with people who've built things. The hard way. We talk to founders, athletes and blue collar leaders who kept going when things got tough. You'll hear stories of grit, leadership and growth, plus real world lessons you can take back to your team and your life tomorrow.

[Mark]

When you get momentum, you step on the gas. That's how you get separation from everybody else.

[Kevin]

I was at Harvard Law School as blah blah blah.

[Mark]

I looked up some tell you something, there's kids in my neighborhood putting in

[Michael Graham]

Sheetrock that are smarter than you.

[Mark]

AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff.

[Kevin]

It is never going to disrupt physical

[Mark]

blue collar trade skill.

[Michael Graham]

And the guy just looked at me

[Kevin]

and he said it's bloody impossible.

[Mark]

So I asked him this question.

[Michael Graham]

I said it's impossible. Unless that's Podcast with me, Matt ebert. Watch on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcast.

[Mark]

All right, Iran There was a lot of buzz on X last night that maybe the war was starting back up. It didn't. Susan Collins joined Rand Paul in saying that the president's over his 60 day limit. The Senate left without doing anything to enforce. Though Pete Haggs says there is no the clock stopped. Maybe the clock reset. It was a little unclear because of the ceasefire and there may be or is about to be, according to the Pakistanis, a new peace offer from the Iranians. The President continues to say the Iranians really want peace, they're desperate for peace. But yesterday on social media, the Iranians were making all sorts of threats. Here's from Reuters. 103 please. The Ayatollah again may not be the Ayatollah, but in the name of the Ayatollah, they said there'll be long and painful strikes on American positions if Washington renewed attacks and Iran restated its claim to the Strait of Hormuz. Here's a good one from the speaker. 105 Again, I'm sorry if people don't object to my laughing at the Iranian social media humor, but the speaker tweeted this. If you build two walls, one from New York City to the west coast and another from LA to the east coast, the total length will be 7,755 km, which is still about 1,000 km short of Iran's total borders. Good luck blockading a country with those borders. And then it says for Pete Hanks, at 1km equals 0.62 miles. Man, they're cheeky in Tehran.

[Larry]

They also have never heard of Alaska.

[Mark]

Yeah, good point, Larry. You make a good point. I guess Iran is a very big country. We've learned here. Anyway, if you didn't know that the Iran Most people I've talked to don't think the Iranian offer is going to be worth the paper it's written on. And maybe Scott Besson's another tweet about the Iranian economy is on its last legs. So again, some people say it's Groundhog Day, but we got to cover the, the wars as are presented to us, not the wars we'd like to go to war with or whatever ever it was that, that Donald Rumsfeld said. So Larry, are you concerned, are you interested in the Iranian offer? You think it's just going to be a bunch of bullocks?

[Larry]

I think it's a bunch of bullocks, yeah. And even if, yeah, even if it's a sincere offer, they haven't proven that they can even maintain or enforce whatever they're offering.

[Michael Graham]

So.

[Mark]

So we're just in, Larry, for another week of blockade and no, nothing, no other change in the status quo, just the blockade and other economic measures.

[Larry]

That seems to be it. Although there were other, there were reports about the war powers situation and all of that. But there were also reports that the president got one more briefing that explained to him what the next lethal steps might be if we choose to come back to the table. And I think that the fact that that briefing happened means that in fact we could use that force. But at the moment it appears as though the president is pretty comfortable with the effectiveness of the blockade and that there are no cracks in the blockade.

[Mark]

So Kevin, significant in the next week, would you anticipate any change? Either it could change could be American attacks or change could be the Iranians present something that's a worthwhile step towards peace.

[Kevin]

I mean, not to give away what I'm watching this weekend early, but I was interested to see if there would be any further developments in terms of what the Iranians are offering. You know, there is new reporting too, Mark, as you mentioned, the Ayatollah doubling down, Ayatollah junior Doubling down on their nuclear program and their missile program, that those are non starters for them to give that up. Again, obviously a non starter for us bringing them to the table in Islamabad or somewhere else. And you know, additional reporting that they still have some military capacity. Read something about drones on dolphins potentially to target one of our ships, which is insane in some of their submersibles as well because again, the blockade, we're entering a new phase of this kind of warfare where it's economic warfare and we're really punishing the Iranians clearly based on their economic conditions. And I think we continue this on and really push to the extreme extent their economy to the breaking point and potentially we'll see some action out of Tehran when that happens.

[Larry]

Don't we think if they had an effective way of ending the blockade or striking against our ships, they would have employed that up until now. Why wouldn't that? Do we, Larry?

[Kevin]

I think it's, I think it's the calculation of if we attack one of, if they attack one of our destroyers, then all hell breaks loose.

[Mark]

Honestly, are we still, are we still holding three of, three of their ships? Do we know?

[Kevin]

And their crew too? That's a good question. You know, I mean the blockade has been extremely effective. Yeah, but again, if they attack, God forbid they attack one of our ships.

[Larry]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

You know, it's all.

[Larry]

I agree with you.

[Mark]

They don't, they don't want, they don't want to be. Of violating the ceasefire. But I, I do think it'd be a good.

[Larry]

No, no, no, wait, Mark. It's not that they don't want to be accused of violating the ceasefire. They don't want to be annihilated. That's, they don't care about that. You think they care about, you know,

[Mark]

the, well, no, I think, I think, I think I, I, I think they know, just to be clear. I agree with you.

[Larry]

Sorry.

[Mark]

They don't want to violate the ceasefire because then, because then they'll open the door to the US to annihilate.

[Larry]

Oh, I see.

[Mark]

But, but I think it would be a good mammoth play, the dialogue of the Iranian crews that are, you know, been held now for a couple weeks, like just sitting around talking to the, their American, American officials.

[Larry]

What's Farsi for the F word if mammoth is doing it?

[Mark]

Exactly.

[Kevin]

So bollocks.

[Mark]

I think so war powers. Why would Congress, why would Republicans in Congress like follow Susan Collins down this path? Potentially because they believe in the importance of asserting that they're a co. Equal branch. No, we know that they don't really care about that or they would have done it sooner.

[Kevin]

Could be they haven't cared about that for generations.

[Mark]

Exactly. Going back presidents of both parties. It could be, it could be because the midterms and it could be because of the Data like this106 is a Washington Post ABC Ipsos poll about how people feel about the war. And this is pretty striking. Again, most of most polls. A lot of questions are 50, 50 considering everything, do you think the United States did the right thing in using military force against Iran or do you think it Was a mistake? 19% of Republicans say was a mistake. 71% of independents say it was a mistake and 91% of Democrats, 61% overall. Those are some pretty striking numbers, ladies and gentlemen. Particularly, obviously the independent number, 71% of independents say this war was a mistake. Do you guys think again, there's the 30 day clock that they could invoke? Invoking the 30 day clock is kind of bold because 30 days is supposed to be for the withdrawal, the safe withdrawal of forces. And there's no indication that there's a mass withdrawal from the region, to the contrary. So Kevin, do you think it's possible that. Well, I shouldn't say that. At which, at what point would you say Republicans might try to force the president to end the war?

[Kevin]

I mean, not, not anytime soon. Again, it's the the old playbook from Susan Collins, God love her, she's concerned, you know, and she said in, in joining Rand Paul and the Democrats that this is not a suggestion, this is a requirement by law. But you've seen the administration, you know, kind of play that off. I thought Peg Seth played it off fairly effectively in questioning with Tim Kaine about the War Powers Resolution. And again, you know, Congress doesn't want to take this up. Obviously, they left town. They've got a lot of things on their plate and are happy to cede more power to Article 2 from Article 1 as part of this. And I don't think you're going to see actually any real oversight again, these oversight hearings. We actually had a long conversation with the after show last night. I joined a lot of the community members about it, have just become farcical. Right. There's no real oversight going on, no real fact finding. It's all, you know, postulating by both sides with whatever cabinet member at the time is before them. And I think it's it's a huge problem.

[Larry]

LARRY Yeah, I think Susan Collins has a very unique situation and always has. Being a Republican from Maine, she's given a lot of leeway, especially in an election year, to do what she needs to do to keep that seat. And I think that that will be about as far as it goes. I don't see what other Republicans are going to join her in this effort. And by the way, on that poll, which I don't necessarily doubt, and I also say that the independent number is the one that really sticks out at you. That wasn't likely voters, it wasn't registered voters. It was just Americans. And that is an important decision.

[Mark]

It is, although I care what Americans think, too. ALAN how was KEVIN but you're asking

[Larry]

us in the context of the election.

[Mark]

Absolutely. Alan, how was Kevin on the after show?

[Kevin]

Kevin was fantastic. Very generous with his time with the community last night. Answer a lot of questions. It was a lot of fun last night.

[Mark]

Is it, is it possible, Alan, thank

[Kevin]

you for reading from that script.

[Mark]

I just, is it possible to overstate Alan, how much the two way community loves Kevin? Is it possible overstate that Kevin is

[Kevin]

a fantastic addition to the 2A community and stay on script.

[Mark]

Alan, keep reading the prompter. Allan, keep reading it. I don't have a prompt.

[Kevin]

I nominate him for the, the Dem seat for permanent host if that's at all possible.

[Larry]

I ever hear around here is Kevin,

[Mark]

Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, Kevin. There's a, there's a lot of love.

[Kevin]

Alan was a great host last night.

[Mark]

Thank you for your nomination, Alan. I will tell you that we're nearing a decision for the permanent co host. That's all I can say.

[Larry]

Fine. I'll do the after show next.

[Mark]

Okay.

[Larry]

Okay.

[Kevin]

The one interesting again on the polling too is I saw headlines Iran war now as unpopular as Vietnam. You know, and I think if they, you know, we continue to couch it in that it's not good for those independent voters which are getting critical come November.

[Mark]

All right, we'll keep monitoring it. Again, there's some reports that Iran has already transmitted to the Pakistanis, to the Pakistanis, their new proposal. Some say it's coming today. There's also been conversations between the Iranian foreign minister and some European officials. Here's the headline from the Times of Israel. Iran says it has sent its latest proposal to the US via Pakistani mediators. So we'll see. And it's something they develop during the program. We'll keep watching that. We all know that yesterday Graham Platner became the de facto Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine. We said earlier he's campaigning today with Governor Waltz. This morning he took a gruff but resolute and delighted victory lap on Ms. Now with the gentleman from Florida, my friend Joe Scarborough. Here's a bit of Graham Platner this morning.

[Michael Graham]

Yeah, I mean, I spoke to the leader last night and I'll just say that nothing brings people together like wanting to get Susan Collins out of office. That is the priority for me. That is the priority for Senator Schumer and I am happy to get whatever help that they are willing to provide. This is going to be a very expensive race. The Republican party's already committed $42 million to this thing and that's from the party that's not even Considering all the outside spending from billionaire super PACs. So we're going to. We'll take money. But I will say this. What we have built is ours. We have built a campaign with tens of thousands of Mainers as volunteers. We have built a campaign that is focused on field organizing, in building, frankly, working class power in the state of Maine by getting labor unions and community groups and civil rights groups and political organizations and just individuals combining in a coordinated and broad based coalition. That's what we've done. If we, if people want to come in and give us money to help us grow, that, that is fantastic. But that is the game that we're playing now.

[Mark]

The NRSC says they're going to go so negative on Platner. I saw one of the spokespeople say he'll have to leave the state. He won't just leave the state. And they use profanity when they said it. Schumer is taking a lot of heat. And, and, and just to be clear, ladies and gentlemen, if it were not for Chuck Schumer's recruitment, Democrats would have zero chance to take the Senate back because he recruited in North Carolina and in Ohio. Exact candidates like you recruited in Maine, an old establishment candidate who was perceived as the only one who could win a general election. So he may be off in Michigan, he may be off in Iowa, he may be off in Maine, but he did, he did put them in a position to win. And same in Alaska. He recruited really well there too. Again, in at least three states, he recruited the only candidates who could possibly win a general election. So, Larry, I'm just curious if you think Platner is going to have any problem now taking establishment help. Will that hurt him as all or his brand will stay clean even if the establishment helps him.

[Larry]

Wait, his brand will stay clean? Oh, you mean his brand of being a populist and a. Yeah.

[Mark]

An outsider.

[Larry]

Yeah, because there's nothing clean about his brand.

[Mark]

Yeah, his brand in terms of being an outsider and not beholden to.

[Larry]

No, absolutely not. He won't have any problem taking that money. And I think the establishment won't have any problem giving him that money. I. This is a bad man. I'm sorry, I hate to put it in those perspectives, but I, I have learned. And it's not just. I've heard, I know things about this person that will come out. The RNC is not joking about this. And frankly, it goes beyond the Nazi tattoo. This is an indictment, frankly, of where Democrats are right now. When this populist radical base gets Energized, and it's a real problem that the Democrats need to face. And I think he made a strategic error there in that hit. He said, the only thing that, you know, nothing coalesces Democrats together like defeating Susan Collins. Why didn't he say about defeating Donald Trump, about pushing back on maga, about. Why did he make it about Susan Collins? Because, say what you will, I think she's still pretty popular there.

[Mark]

Yeah, well, he's running.

[Larry]

He's running against her, but shocked that he went after. I know he's running against her, but

[Mark]

I think for him to win, he's got it. Yeah. Kevin, if you want to be the

[Larry]

51st senator to stop Donald Trump, that's how he wins in Maine. And going after Susan Collins personally isn't

[Mark]

the way to do it. Yeah. Kevin, do you. If you were a platter, would you want a lot of debates? No debates? Like, who do you think debates will help in that race?

[Kevin]

It's a good question. I, I probably want some debates. Although, you know, Susan Collins has been at it for a long time. I'd have to really beef up my chops in terms of. But, but you want that, that visual of a younger, energetic kind of outsider against a kind of tired, older, you know, individual there. Right. In terms of the split screen, I, I think it's a question of resources right now, and, you know, both sides are going to spend a fortune. What Platner needs to do now is to. To define himself now that it's the general election in the present time, inoculate himself against these attacks that are coming, and he has opened him up himself up to a number of attacks. You saw a little tease of that with what Janet Mills was running in that primary before she dropped out.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

But it really is a question of who defines who first. Susan Collins is a defined entity. You know, I, it was kind of laughable to see that the majority PAC response saying, oh, we've got plenty of attacks on Susan Collins. Sure. She's been at a long time. Yeah, they're probably not going to be as effective of a guy who has. Is untested and hasn't run before. But again, it is a question of who defines who first.

[Mark]

I assume this will happen. I assume that the RNC will drop some oppo on the eve of the first debate, like, like the afternoon of the first debates. In the evening, they'll drop it in the afternoon. Susan Collins will come in the debate, and the reporters, whoever's moderating will say, you know, Mr. Platner, you you know, you wrote this thing or you said this thing and Collins will say, you know, oh, my God, this is so outrageous. Will Platner just say, you know, I was young and irresponsible. I was young and irresponsible. And this is really about the future of Susan Collins. Like, that's right. Is that.

[Kevin]

Again, I just, I just returned from war. I was 22, 23. And, you know, these don't reflect my values now. But again, you know, I'm a little, I'm nervous about what Larry is previewing on, you know, and we've already seen a lot of effective attacks.

[Mark]

Oh, there's, there's more stuff. There's more stuff.

[Larry]

But it's all of a sudden, yeah, it is all, it tells you who he is. And it's an insult to men and women who wear the uniform to say, well, you know, I was in combat. What about all the Marines that came back from combat who didn't do and say all of the things that this guy did? And the party, the party of E. Jean Carroll and attacking Donald Trump from something that allegedly happened 30 years ago with very sketchy evidence is now going to say, wow, Graham Plattner has learned a lot and he's grown a lot. And that's all in his past. Give me a break. And, and one other thing. Everybody's thinking that he's going to do well because he's young and vibrant compared to old Susan Collins. Quick, everybody, what's the oldest state in the country that, what state has the oldest median age population in the nation?

[Mark]

Iowa. I think it's Iowa.

[Larry]

It's Maine. No, no, it is Maine. It is 100%.

[Kevin]

I will say, though, old people, old

[Mark]

people know, old people might, might not be good at the job, Larry. I'm not sure. Old people, they voted for Biden. Yeah, they did. Barely.

[Kevin]

All right, is this guy talking to him every day on Fox News.

[Mark]

You guys. Exactly. You guys ever been to a National Governor's association meeting?

[Kevin]

Yeah, in Maine. It was the last one I was in.

[Mark]

The governors, the governors like to say as they act all hoity toity about Congress, they say it's where the, we're where the rubber meets the road. That's what they always say. Governors are super important. And I think the national press doesn't give enough attention to the governors. When we talk about the midterms, they're often talking about Congress control, the House, controlled the Senate, a lot of governors races in 2026. And if there is a big blue wave, you may see governors Elected Democrat governors elected in places like Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, elsewhere.

[Kevin]

In other words, it's not a sure bet that Democrats lose Kansas either, potentially with Laura Kelly stepping.

[Mark]

So you see on election night, again, if there is a big blue wave, you may see. Dean, you're wrong. You're wrong, Dean. I say respectfully, I'm not predicting Democrats are going to win all those, but they could. Now, one of the stars for the Democratic Party is the guy who's running for governor in Iowa. And he could win. Ladies and gentlemen, Iowa hasn't had. Last Democrat governor was my. My college high school basketball rival, Ched Culver. Was he the last Democratic governor?

[Kevin]

I think he was. Yeah, he was. The brand said, the pride era.

[Mark]

The pride of. The pride of Bethesda Chevy Chase High School. We whipped their butts, by the way, my senior year. Anyway, here is a new ad for the Democratic candidate for governor of Iowa. Roll tape. I'm Rob Sand. Being thrifty is a Sand family tradition that goes back and back and back. That's why as state auditor, I created new efficiency programs to save your tax dollars and uncovered record amounts of misspent tax money. Then politicians changed the law, taking away my power to protect your tax money. It's wrong.

[Larry]

As governor, I'll bring back accountability and

[Mark]

make jail mandatory for stealing tax dollars. You should never be in the dark about your tax money. Kevin, what do you think of that ad?

[Kevin]

Funny. Catchy. Cuts through some of the noise. Iowa's going to be a loud state. You got some competitive congressional races, competitive Senate, you know, anything that cuts through. And it also tags into an effective attack that I think Republicans are going to play out. Actually, Hogan and I have talked about this a bit on the fraud issue, and this guy was responsible for prosecutor taking on fraud in the state in terms of his current position in Iowa. So it undercuts a key Republican argument, I think, too.

[Mark]

Larry, if that guy wins, what's the significance?

[Larry]

Part of the significance is I dare you to find in that ad any party reference he didn't identify himself as a Democrat or Republican. I think that's very key. Yeah, and that's the most effective thing about the ad. And as well as a little bit of solar humor, although just as a. As a Gen X purist. Excuse me. It's clap on, clap off.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Larry]

He clapped twice.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Larry]

And the light went on. That's wrong. That's not how it works.

[Mark]

Yeah, I agree. I agree. It's like a. It's like an east outrageous Easter egg. All right, Mike Johnson Mike Johnson has been the most effective speaker Republicans have had in a while. And Pelosi ask.

[Kevin]

As I've said, Pelosi asks very difficult job.

[Mark]

There's a big story in Politico today about how well he may have gotten a bunch of stuff done before the recess, but he's in a lot of trouble and they're angry with him. Is Mike Johnson, what are they not what are they? Just, just a one word answer on this one. Is Mike Johnson's speakership at all imperiled?

[Larry]

Larry no. No. Only if, if. No, no.

[Kevin]

Kevin no. And there's no alternative out there that can effectively do it.

[Mark]

Greg, you guys friends with Scott Jennings? You guys friends with Scott?

[Larry]

Yes, I am.

[Kevin]

You're friendly, Larry Larry and he are setting, they're setting sail in a few months. Yeah.

[Larry]

On Larry Cruise with me.

[Mark]

We all like Scott and Scott has just vaulted to prominence with his book and with his appearances on CNN where

[Larry]

and as a radio host on the Salem Radio Network.

[Mark]

And again, he's got about 42 kids and I'm just so happy for his success. But at the same time, I will say CNN puts him on often with a bunch of chumps, liberal chumps who can't keep up with Scott. And Scott has his patter, Scott has his thing and Scott just, just humiliates them all and runs circles around him. And I don't know, I don't quite get why CNN decides what to do. So last night, Adam Mockler, young man who before he became too big and busy would appear on two way all the time. Hopefully he'll come back soon, hadn't been on here for a while because he's busy. ADAM Mockler with, with Scott and I don't know if this has never happened, but watch Scott's reaction when somebody turns the tables and goes full Jennings on Scott himself.

[Kevin]

If you have kids in the room,

[Mark]

honestly, they have been take them away

[Kevin]

from the screen for 47.

[Mark]

We all know that Scott Jennings is more than happy to defend a war with a country that starts with the letters that we are currently failing that is going to put us trillions and trillions of dollars more in debt. I was only a few years old while you were in the administration defending prior endless wars. Now this war is failing. Eight weeks is endless to you. Okay, you said it was going to six weeks.

[Larry]

You have the attention span of a net.

[Mark]

I debated you on TV four to six weeks ago and you said we were weeks away from it. Now you're making condescending remarks because you can't defend the fact that this war is not going your way. Wait, one more time.

[Larry]

Not going.

[Mark]

Not going. Name one political concession. Honestly, I'm not going to have this guy.

[Larry]

Everybody, everybody, hang tight.

[Mark]

Honestly, stop it right there. Stop it there for a second. We're having a debate. All right, all right. It ends pretty Snapchat. So I, I like how Scott like turned to Abby Phillips is like, I, I will not, I will not. Let's stand for someone to be going Jennings on me. Guys, what do we learn from that? Did we learn about Scott? Did we learn about Mockler? What did we learn from that exchange?

[Kevin]

We learned that it's good for the both of them because that clip is going everywhere we're talking about it. And you know, they both profit from, you know, they both get something out of it.

[Larry]

I don't accept that he was going. Jennings. Jennings doesn't come across as a, as a smarmy little smart ass. You know that.

[Mark]

That was.

[Kevin]

Well, my circles, in some of my circles, Larry.

[Mark]

Yes, exactly, Larry. I had the holder. I, I wasn't saying though he was being a smarmy smart ass. What I was saying is.

[Larry]

No, not.

[Mark]

Well, no, I'm saying, I'm not saying either of them is. What I'm saying is he got up in his grill, he interrupted him and he came at him hard with facts the way Scott does. And Scott, I'm surprised and I'd say this to Scott's face if he were here. I'm surprised that Scott's reaction was to say, I won't have this, Abby, you know this guy. Get this guy out of my face.

[Larry]

Well, let me say I feature a lot of Scott Jennings clips on my program and the reaction and comment that I get from my viewers all of the time on my list listeners is how does he keep his cool? How does he not lose it? He is always, it's four to one and Abby is one of the four. She constantly interrupts him when he's making a good point or goes to commercial in the middle of it. And you're right, they're all liberal chumps. But that's because, Mark, you've cornered the market here on your platform of the non liberal chumps like Kevin and like Jaime and like Melissa. And so, you know, that's all they've got. And I just think this is past due for Scott to finally lose it and just show a little bit of. Because I wouldn't be able to endure what he endures without throwing an F bomb now and again. So good for Scott. For letting it out.

[Mark]

Kevin.

[Kevin]

Again, it's all good for Scott. He's got a new book out again. You know, folks say all the time, how can he go into the lion's den and do this every day? It's great for him. Yeah, he loves it. You know. And again, the. The producers of Abby show. And I don't watch it because I want to calm down at night. You know, I usually tuck myself in bed Tuesdays, Thursdays with next up, very relaxing into a, you know.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

Into a peaceful sleep.

[Larry]

Very different dynamic than what we have here.

[Kevin]

Exactly, exactly. And it's very intentional that they sat them next to one another.

[Mark]

Here's my question. On the other exit question on this topic. Will the bookers of that program. What's that show called? News night. What is that called?

[Larry]

No one.

[Kevin]

Yeah, I think so. News Night with Abby.

[Larry]

It's Scott Jennings in the crew.

[Mark]

Will. Will they book Mockler back on and see sit him next to Scott anytime soon?

[Kevin]

Kevin Walling 100%.

[Mark]

Larry.

[Larry]

No way.

[Mark]

No, because Scott.

[Kevin]

Because of Scott. Because of Scott saying Scott will.

[Larry]

Scott will privately on contract. Scott's on contract also, by the way.

[Kevin]

Again, it's good for Scott though. It's good for Scott. Again. He's being. He's being offended. But on the right.

[Mark]

He likes the chumps. Scott likes the chumps.

[Larry]

He's keeping it real. Mark, you're a student of the business. Here's what's so fascinating because I look for this every single time the ratings come out. That show does not do well. That show is pop. The show is only popular in the clips that everybody sees.

[Kevin]

We literally talked about this. We talked about this on the after show last night. Ratings are terrible on that show. It only survives because of those minute long clips.

[Larry]

It's got Jennings and Ben Ferguson.

[Mark]

That is Scott and Ben and the chumps. Hey, Paul, do we have the clip of the head of the Secret Service?

[Kevin]

We have that John Kern from yesterday.

[Mark]

We have him from.

[Kevin]

Sure do.

[Mark]

Sure do. Okay. So as the regular viewers of my work know, I think the Secret Service is a bunch of very brave people and I think that their ability to stop that guy from racing through very heroic. But the security at the hotel was junk. And as we saw in the video that was released yesterday, the, the. The very agents who are. Who are being. And law enforcement. Hold, pause it there for a moment. Who are credited. Pause the video, please. Who are credited with such heroism, as you'll see from this video that was released by the government yesterday. We're not doing A good job. I'm sorry, I just have to say it. They're breaking down the mags, which they can do because the magnetometers, because no one else is going through it at that point. Everybody's in. But you can see these agents. They're lounging around. They got folks up against the wall. Now, nobody's on their phone buying stuff on Amazon, but these. These folks are not on guard the way they should be, okay? And you see them pulling down the mag. You know, one guy's looking around, but they're chatting, they're leaning against the wall. And then, you know, the dog, here he comes running through. Okay, now here's Curran, the head of the Secret Service, with Will Kane yesterday, once again saying what a great job everybody did.

[Larry]

Michael Duncan and I were both there, and I can tell you what I saw is very similar to what Brett just described. And I thought I heard some cracks, but you never know. Is that a trade dropping? Is it something else?

[Kevin]

I think those are the Ruthless guys.

[Mark]

Sorry. Yeah. Anyway, those guys. Sorry, stop this. The head of the service was on with Volcano, so. And he said, we did a great job. The agents, the retired agents who are criticizing the agents who were there don't understand how things work today. They're at. You know, they've been out for too long. And, Larry, again, you cannot look at that video and say that they were on guard to protect the ballroom, can you?

[Larry]

Not based on that video. No, not based on that video. That. That doesn't show. By the way, John Ashcroft from Ruthless is a big fan of the show. Pulled me.

[Kevin]

John Ashbrook. John Ashbrook. Not John Ashbrook.

[Larry]

I do that all the time.

[Mark]

Ashbrook, probably.

[Kevin]

We love John. John's a great guy.

[Mark]

Nice. That's nice to hear.

[Larry]

I do that all the time. I'm sorry. John Ashbrook, he has kind things to say about.

[Mark]

Very nice, Kev. Very nice. Kevin, does it stand up to say that the Service and the other law enforcement that were there were at the top of their game in the moment the guy ran through.

[Kevin]

It certainly doesn't. You know, and I. And I will say in that video, I was literally on the other side of those doors. So probably the closest dinner guest to all this heard the shots, saw the commotion through those double doors as I was just literally on the ground on the other side of those stairs. So right there in the. In the heat of it. And again, you'll also note that the guys taking down the mags are actually TSA officers. Interestingly enough, the folks that obviously Run the airports, they run a lot of the mag security, you know, in terms of screening of gas, which is also interesting. But again, not just protecting the President, but the fact that seven out of eight of the. In the line of succession folks were there in that ballroom. Not just the President, the Vice President speaks volumes as well. And again, I, I would encourage everyone to go back to that next step that you did, breaking it down, literally, minute by minute, floor by floor, to get a real appreciation of the lack of security for something this significant.

[Larry]

Mark, did you, Mark, did you make note of the canine officer, though, and the dog? Yeah. Going back twice to that door. Yeah. And obviously the dog saw something.

[Mark]

Yeah. Does anybody.

[Larry]

Officer pulled the dog away.

[Mark]

Yeah. Yep. Does anybody know what that room was that he was in?

[Larry]

I mean, the initial, the initial report said that that was a stairwell.

[Mark]

I thought stairwell. Yeah, that's a stairwell.

[Kevin]

Okay, so the dog went over an unguarded stairwell.

[Mark]

Unguarded stair.

[Kevin]

So maybe there's even, maybe there's, there's even more footage marked, too, of day hours before all this. The guy casing the joint.

[Mark]

Yes.

[Kevin]

Right.

[Mark]

Walking.

[Kevin]

There's video footage of him walking in the halls to figure out the point of attack.

[Mark]

Maybe those law enforcement folks who were leaning up against the wall could have been standing in front of the stairwell. Maybe that would have been a better use of their time. And again, they can break down the mags because they're not screening anybody else because the ballroom's closed, but they really need to break it down during the event. Maybe, maybe somebody would need to come through in an emergency and you'd want to screen them.

[Larry]

You know, I don't think the problem is that they were breaking down because if you notice, they're breaking down one, but they were going to leave that last one there. I've seen, I've seen the operation before and they tried it. You know, now that we don't have the crush, we take down few of them. Yeah, yeah.

[Mark]

But again, it should do it after the dinner. It just, I just. It's just very frustrating to me. All right, we're going to do winners and losers of the week. And then to your questions again, please raise your hand if you'd like to be on the conversation. If you've never raised your hand before, please do. Kevin. Winner of the week.

[Kevin]

Winner of the week are their Majesties, King Charles III and Queen Camilla for four days of Picture Perfect spot on engagement across the board, they visited a ton. Again, meeting two, the most important American right there on Monday with The King and the Queen. Thank you to our team for putting that back up there. But picture perfect New York visit Front Royal yesterday in Virginia. They're off to Bermuda yesterday afternoon. Spending the day there today and tomorrow. And just a great visit, reestablishing and reminding the President just how much he likes the royal family, which will hopefully, as we talked about, yield some nice results against, you know, Keir Starmer and others.

[Mark]

Kevin, you should know I'll be spending my weekend with the team trying to strategize how we can get an excuse to show these again next week.

[Kevin]

Larry, that's what I'm watching. Yeah.

[Mark]

Larry, how old? Winner of the week, Larry.

[Larry]

By the way, the takeaway is freeing up bourbon and single malt scotch exchanges.

[Kevin]

With those tariffs dropping already tangible things that the President is doing.

[Mark]

Deliverables, we call those deliverables.

[Larry]

Knowing that limousine liberal monarchist Kevin was going to go with the royalists here, I've decided to stick with our constitutional republic. Gentlemen, why is this man smiling? Because he's the winner of the week. Mike Johnson once again.

[Mark]

Mike Johnson. Yeah.

[Larry]

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson because he has once again defied all odds and all the smart conventional wisdom in this town that said he couldn't do it. And he did. And not only did he pull out the DHS funding and the extension of FISA for another couple of weeks, but he also got that big Supreme Court win on the redistricting and the Virginia redistricting as the still up in the air. This man might be in much better place right now than he was at the beginning of the week. That makes him the winner.

[Kevin]

Larry. Just a plug following the time with the royals. Monday and Tuesday, Alex and I went and saw 1776 at Ford's Theater to remind us of what it was. Incredible. Everyone should go see it. So well done.

[Larry]

Great show.

[Kevin]

And it's running for the next couple of weeks. It's beautifully done in historic Ford's Theater to remind us of why, why we're celebrating 250 years.

[Larry]

It's not the lesbian trans cast that a couple of years ago spirit.

[Kevin]

No, none of that. From the Kennedy Center.

[Larry]

I'm all over it.

[Mark]

The President is doing something with kids today because I see a video here of high school students excited to see him. So maybe he's doing two events. Maybe he's doing a kid event and a senior event. But he is doing something with kids in the villages. My winner of the week, you might think the winner of the week is 86 year old Al Pacino. Who's still able to cut a run. All right, this man dances at 86 and you think, okay, Halpert's gonna make Pacino winner of the week. A shaggy dog, ladies and gentlemen, a MacGuffin. It's not Al Pacino. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of the week. 100 year old Dick Van Dyke.

[Kevin]

Wow.

[Mark]

With Herb Albert of Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass at some weird outdoor event. Anyway, Nick Van Dyke, our winner of the week. Kevin. Loser of the week.

[Kevin]

Loser of the week is Janet Mills in Maine. Sitting governor couldn't assemble the coalition necessary to win a primary. She's still fairly popular in the state again with national support. The fact that she bowed out is a clear indictment of her and her political jobs.

[Mark]

Larry.

[Larry]

Yeah, I know people get frustrated when Kevin and I agree but same but I do want to highlight this video that's making the rounds in my right of center circles. Take a look.

[Kevin]

Is the Maine here the governor of Maine? Are you not going to comply with it?

[Mark]

I'm complying with state and federal laws.

[Kevin]

Well, we are the federal law and enjoy your life after Governor because I don't think you'll be in elected politics.

[Larry]

That was one year ago. And here we are.

[Kevin]

That helped her though. That helped her, you know, in the primary for a little bit.

[Larry]

No it didn't. No it didn't. Because pandering she that that was all about letting men play in women's sports and pandering to the far left trans cloud. And here comes Graham Platner cutting her off on the left because she couldn't be left enough because there's no such thing as a moderate Democrat anymore.

[Mark]

Regarding my loser of the week ladies.

[Larry]

He's right here.

[Kevin]

You got to take a breath there.

[Larry]

Present company.

[Kevin]

Sit down, John. Sit down, John. Literally quoting 1776.

[Mark]

Yes.

[Kevin]

Better open up a window.

[Mark]

My lose, my loser of the week in the words of the great Wink Martindale. Joker. Joker and the triple Janet Mills is all of our losers of the week.

[Kevin]

Wow. This is the first time we've been united.

[Larry]

It really is.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Larry]

Wow.

[Kevin]

We should center something.

[Mark]

Kevin, what to look for this weekend?

[Kevin]

Well, as I previewed earlier was going to see what kind of follow up response from the Tehran regime if they actually double down on anything else.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

Because again they like to see some weekend action and we haven't seen anything from them.

[Mark]

Yep.

[Kevin]

Larry.

[Larry]

Well, that's right and, and I think we're going to agree again because unlike past weekends when we've said let's watch Iran. Mark always says, where's the president? Is he in D.C. is it? He's in Mar a Lago this time, guys.

[Mark]

In Mar a Lago, same thing for me. The Mar A Lago war room, the skiff set up right off the patio is where everybody should be watched this weekend. All right, quick words, quick sponsor and then to your questions, please raise your hand. Shopify will let you try out what they do for a dollar a month. And if you've got something to promote, if you want the world to know about your new podcast, your new business, whatever it is, try Shopify, one of the leading e commerce platforms in the world. 10% of all e commerce in the US is done over Shopify right now. Go to shopify.commarket for a trial offer of $1 for a month to start your account. And everything's there. The AI powered tools, inventory, payments, analytics, marketing, 24 hour customer support. It all isn't is there to help you get up and running and monetize what you do. Go to go right now. Shopify.com Mark if you want to turn, just hypothetically, just follow me here. If hypothetically you want to turn your ifs into reality, if you want to turn your ifs into this, ifs into big money, go right now and give it a try. Just log on to shopify.com and and take a look at it. Shopify.com Mark and I think what you find will be ease and monetization which is really, if you're in business, what you want to do. Shopify.com mark today. Lastly, ladies and gentlemen, big news. Perfectly snug. Oprah's favorite best of the best Mattress Topper is available to you for 15 off. Perfectly snug.com/promo code mark allows you to have a game changer in your life. If sleeping to you is disrupted ever by temperature, too hot or too cold, you want to try this mattress topper? Oprah says best of the best sets the bar high and I'm setting mine up this weekend. Test perfectly snug at home for 30 days risk free to see if you can change your life by temperature regulating. It has an app. I've downloaded the app. And if you're a little hot, you make it cooler. If you're a little cold, you make it warmer.

[Kevin]

Is it a mattress topper? What is it? Mark?

[Mark]

The mattress topper. So it's right on top of the

[Larry]

mattress, but how does it know it's like a third.

[Mark]

It's like the thermos. Larry One of my Dad's favorite jokes. How does the thermos know you control it? Anyway, go right now. Give it a try. Go to perfectlysnug.com? promo code mark for 15 off. And stay tuned for my real life reporting. Here we go. Your questions, ladies and gentlemen. Raise your hand if you want in. And Tyler, Tyler, Tyler, you ever been on this show before? On mute. Tyler, you ever been on this program?

[Tyler]

Not this program. Long time ago. I was on the evening program.

[Mark]

All right, Tyler, those shows are as different as Jeff.

[Tyler]

I know.

[Larry]

Jeff.

[Mark]

And Pink lady and Masterpiece Theater. Those shows got nothing to do with each other. Tyler, welcome in. Tell everybody who doesn't know where.

[Kevin]

I'm obsessed with that color coordination of those books, though. We had beautiful.

[Tyler]

I'm sure there's a game change back there.

[Mark]

We had someone on last night who also had color coded books on their bookshelf. It's an incredible thing, Tyler.

[Larry]

Big with people with ocd.

[Mark]

Yes, exactly. Tyler, tell everybody where you are and what's on your mind for the great Larry o' Connor and Kevin.

[Tyler]

So I'm a liberal chump from living in Atlanta. First time, long time, course, you know.

[Kevin]

Are you a Hawk?

[Mark]

Are you a Hawks fan at all?

[Tyler]

Yeah, not after last night.

[Larry]

Okay.

[Mark]

Man, that was incredible. 90 to 90 to 30 at one point. Incredibly.

[Tyler]

Yeah. Incredibly depressing.

[Kevin]

A mercy rule there. Yeah.

[Mark]

All right, Tyler, what's on your mind? From deep, deep South.

[Tyler]

So I have really, as a liberal chump, I really have enjoyed this show a lot and learned a ton from the panelists and definitely the community. I was one of very few people before the 2024 election that was saying in my liberal enclaves that the Harris thing might not really turn out. There might be a kind of a groundswell for Trump. And I must say that I have grown to really love this lovable, straight shooting, slightly mega, encyclopedic knower of all things Broadway, Larry o'. Connor.

[Kevin]

Thanks. That's how they get, Tyler. That's how they get you. Be careful. Be careful.

[Larry]

Exactly.

[Kevin]

Don't look directly in his eyes. Don't look directly in his eyes. When we're together, I never make eye contact.

[Mark]

Tyler, if we let you pick the permanent coach, maybe Larry and Melissa. Larry and Jaime. Larry and Kevin. What would you say?

[Kevin]

I like.

[Tyler]

I like Larry and Kevin, but Melissa says a lot more curse words, so she kind of has an edge for me.

[Mark]

Okay, a vote for Larry. I'll vote for Larry and Melissa. Okay. Tyler, did you want to say anything else or is that it?

[Tyler]

Yeah, I have. I Just have a quick question. So.

[Kevin]

So he said me first and then mentioned Melissa second there.

[Mark]

Mark.

[Kevin]

Okay. Yeah, we got to bring Alan back.

[Mark]

Yeah. All right.

[Tyler]

So usually, like in the midterms, we're talking about like the Democrats maybe taking the House in the midterms most of the time presidents, after they get clipped like that, like they pivot to foreign policy in their last two years. Right. But Trump is so involved in foreign policy right now. Like what. How do you guys see, you know, the last two years, is he going to go full in or is he going to pivot back to if he

[Mark]

loses the House and, or the Senate? That's what you're asking, Right. It's a great and important question. Kevin, what do you think? How would he spend the last two years if he's dealing with the loss of Congress?

[Kevin]

Yeah, Tyler, it's a great question. And, and the President's getting dinged quite a bit for, in some circles for his focus on foreign policy. It's obviously something he's more comfortable with, likes to be fetted overseas, likes the pomp and circumstance. I think you could see a similar situation to Obama, you know, after 2012, where he quote, unquote, got a shellacking and pivoted to overseas engagement. Also executive orders as well, where he said, you know, this is going full throttle on a lot of EO domestically. And I think you'd see the president do that as well to tackle some of the, the issues because again, this knock on wood hopefully will be the last two years of the Trump administration. He still has a lot of things to do and will likely do it through executive action as well.

[Mark]

Larry.

[Larry]

Yeah, and then there's a lot of people in MAGA world who sort of, they bounce between again with all of the changes that happened today, this week, potentially with districts that they're got renewed hope that they will retain the majority in the House and that will allow the President to do even more in the last two terms. But there's some who believe, you know what, he already thought it was baked in the cake, that he was probably gonna lose the House anyway. So he's just going full on and doing whatever he can right now and then through executive action and try to make the most of, of that process. So I. And that means focusing on what can you do pretty much unilaterally as the head of state and the executive branch without needing the legislative branch. A lot of foreign policy. That's what, that's what's going to.

[Kevin]

What an interesting world would it be too If. If Democrats take the Senate, but we lose the House because of this VRA decision and other things and. And redistricting in Florida. I mean, I don't think that was on anyone's bingo card.

[Mark]

Unlikely, but not impossible. I should have mentioned. Tyler, thank you. Grateful to you. Please come back.

[Larry]

Thank you very much, Tyler.

[Mark]

I really appreciate it. I should have mentioned before the. The markets were up and oil was down, although gas prices are still quite high. And now we're past the open. Larry. The Dow is exploding.

[Larry]

Well, when I sent that, it was exploding. And now it's up. It's up. NASDAQ and S and P, though, just broke two records. That biggest S&P month since 2020.

[Mark]

Yeah, so the markets are expecting peace. And imagine they're surprised if they come back to work on Monday and there's a war going on. We'll see. We'll see what happens. All right, ladies and gentlemen, uh, Brooklyn's in the house. Yakov's here.

[Kevin]

Yakov.

[Mark]

No, you don't need to have your hand up.

[Kevin]

No, no, he does.

[Mark]

Well, he does, but he's waving me off, so.

[Kevin]

No, no, I think he was saying hi. No.

[Mark]

Let's see now. Do you have a question or. No.

[Kevin]

Yeah, why not?

[Mark]

Okay. I thought.

[Larry]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Your hands up so where.

[Kevin]

It's the second time that happened. He was waving to us.

[Mark]

No, I thought he was waving me up anyway. All right, you're on. Let me count you down in three, two, one.

[Kevin]

Good morning, Mark. Thank you for taking my. My call.

[Mark]

Inadvertent question.

[Kevin]

Yeah, inadvertent question. So why do you think Democrats continue playing with these anti Semites and not calling them down?

[Mark]

Which ones? Platner.

[Kevin]

Platner. The guy in Michigan.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

And how do you feel. And how do you film on Donnie greeting the king at. Not at the memorial, down in the World Trade Center? How did that feel?

[Mark]

Let me ask you a question. You may know. I feel very strongly that we should not throw around words like racist and anti Semite without, like, a lot of proof. So what has Platner done that proves he's an anti Semite?

[Kevin]

Okay. Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people. When you. When. When you call for the elimination of Jews living in our homeland, I don't know how much more you could get. There, there. And for. That's for Piker and for Platner, I don't know. My grandfather's first. First wife, eight siblings, daughter, were all murdered in the Holocaust. My grandfather survived three concentration camps. And you're gonna have a Nazi Tattoo on your body?

[Mark]

Yeah. He says he didn't know that's what it was, though.

[Kevin]

Oh, okay.

[Larry]

Well, that's one of. That's one of his claims. He sort of changed it around.

[Mark]

Thank you for the question. The whole issue of the connection between the Democratic Party and Israel and Jews is an extraordinary topic and it's discussed a lot, but I don't think we've even scratched the surface. Members of this community have such a broad range of views on this and. But there's no doubt the polls are clear Israel is out of favor with the Democratic party compared to five years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago. There's no doubt that that's the case. There are people now who may be the Democratic nominees for Senate in some places who are really distrusted by people who are pro Israel and, and are cheered on for their very same positions. Maybe not the Nazi tattoo by others in the party. Kevin, what about this notion that the Democratic Party is on the precipice of nominating folks whose positions on Israel are anathema to people like Yaakov?

[Kevin]

Yeah, no, I'm with him on all of this. It's extremely distressing as a proud Democrat. And the problem isn't just with the Democratic Party, it's with youth writ large too. The abandoning of support. And I think so much of this is couched in the idea of the disconnect that should be you can support the people in the state of Israel and it's right to exist and be a Zionist without supporting the current administration and Bibi Netanyahu. And so much of that has been made to confluence that it's a problem. And I think this is worthy of a whole larger conversation. We could do a whole hour on this or more. And it's incredibly distressing to me in terms of this lack of support among Democrats and where these trend lines are headed, because this is our only one true ally and one true democracy in the Middle East. That's why I'm pushing so hard within my party for our standard bearer to be Josh Shapiro, a governor that doesn't shy away from his faith. Go read his book Where We Find the Light, where it starts with an arson attack, an anti Semitic arson attack on the governor's mansion. So it's a huge problem with the Democratic Party. We talk about it all the time. And I'm going to continue to fight that and fight against nominees within my party that have those views. Again, you can be very much against Bibi Netanyahu that the direction of the political conversation without calling into question the legitimacy of the right of Israel to exist from 1948 on.

[Larry]

Larry, Kevin is right, but the opposite side of the same coin. Chanting from the river to the sea Palestine will be free is not anti Bibi Netanyahu. That's anti Israel. It's anti Zionism, 100%. I suppose you can be an anti Zionist without being anti Semitic, but I'm pretty sure every single anti Semite is also anti Zionist. And, and it appears to me that if you make a big deal about a nation state that was, that was formed based on a religious identity in the late 1940s, that was proclaimed a legitimate state by the United nations. If you're only talking about Israel and ignoring Pakistan, which I just described by the way, under the exact same conditions, but your only focus is on Israel and not on Pakistan that was created for religious purposes and identified as legitimate by the United nations at the exact same time, then you might want to look in the mirror and wonder why Israel's the problem and not Pakistan.

[Mark]

I will say this. And then I got to go over to SiriusXM. I'm still reporting out my next edition of 8 for 28 Top Most Likely Democratic Nominees for President in 2028. As of now, five of my eight are juice.

[Kevin]

Wow.

[Mark]

Kind of incredible, right? I'm still reporting, but five of my eight on my current, my current list are Jews, which, which flies in the face of those of my sources who say the party won't nominated Jew. Well, five of my haters.

[Larry]

But you know what, Mark? But, but how many of them are pro Zionist? Because you can be Jewish. You cannot be pro Zionist.

[Mark]

You can be, or you can be like the gentleman from Long Island, George, Santa's Jewish. Yeah.

[Larry]

You can be you. Yeah.

[Mark]

Jakob, thank you.

[Larry]

Exactly.

[Mark]

Thank you.

[Larry]

I'm glad you got your question in.

[Mark]

And of course, as always, I'd like to say the Republican Party has its own problems with anti Semites and Jews too, as well. I'm headed over to SiriusXM right now. Larry and Kevin will ride out the rest of the program, tell you what's coming up, including Larry, you gonna plug next up?

[Larry]

Absolutely.

[Mark]

All right. Anyway, a couple, a couple of your friends were on my show.

[Kevin]

My friends too.

[Mark]

My friends too. Your friends too. 833-446-3496. If you want to talk to me on SiriusXM at the end of the 10 o' clock hour. And then I'll be back at 5 tonight. Gentlemen, love spending the time with you. Thank you for playing, playing along and I'LL see you soon. All right, Sounds great, Mark.

[Kevin]

Have a great weekend.

[Larry]

You know, we're supposed to bring Haley in here, aren't we? But. But you know what? Our friend Michael Graham has his hand up, and Michael always gives good reporting from New England on politics. Can we grab him first and then you mind? Michael Graham has left the building. Oh, he's left the building like Elvis. All right, then let's bring Haley in here then for our quick cultural moment. Haley. I'm sorry, Joshua. We'll have to do it now. We have very little time to work with. Make it fast. Haley. I mean, hi, Haley. Good to see you.

[Kevin]

Oh, no. Haley's frozen and muted. Oh, my gosh.

[Larry]

There you go. All right, then, Joshua. I'm sorry, Haley.

[Kevin]

There she is. She's moving. Come on.

[Larry]

All right.

[Kevin]

Come on, Haley.

[Larry]

Go, Haley.

[Kevin]

Come on, Haley.

[Larry]

Oh, the tolerance for Haley is just out of control.

[Kevin]

Oh, my gosh.

[Larry]

All right, Joshua Johnson,

[Kevin]

she's on. Can you guys. Yeah, Real quick, Haley. Okay. Met gala Monday, costume art. We also have, from what Kevin said, we might have a new crown prequel based on Queen Victoria and.

[Larry]

Oh, I'm all over that.

[Kevin]

Yeah, it's gonna be epic.

[Larry]

Prince Albert in the can.

[Kevin]

It's gonna be amazing. Can't wait to see who they pick for Queen Victoria. But yes, Met gala Monday night. We have to have pictures on Friday. Tax the rich. Tax the rich. Dress, I hope.

[Larry]

Apparently, I'm appearing on the after show of the two way tonight. Next week on Sunday.

[Kevin]

Yeah, Larry, it's about time. It's about. Well, I am too. And I hope we don't get double booked.

[Mark]

You know, look at you pandering.

[Larry]

You're doing it. You're double dipping on the after show. And two.

[Kevin]

Always. It was. We had a great. We had a great conversation. I love it. Actually, what we need to do, Larry, is get Alex, my Alex and your Meredith on for a show on the

[Larry]

after talk to the spouses.

[Kevin]

That's actually.

[Larry]

Actually, that would be dangerous. We probably shouldn't do that.

[Kevin]

I think the both of you would do fine together. It's almost like you do it every morning. I know, I know.

[Larry]

Thank you.

[Kevin]

Thank you, Haley.

[Larry]

Weekend.

[Kevin]

Stay safe.

[Larry]

New episode of Next up just dropped yesterday. And yes, Mark did speak to two of my friends. Katie Pavlich, dear friend, host of Katie Pavlich tonight on on News Nation and NBC anchor for NBC News Daily and author of Now Then, Morgan Radford.

[Kevin]

And that was an in person conversation that looked. That looked to be great. So I will be checking that out this afternoon.

[Larry]

He also debuts Mark the mailman answering your questions on bias rhetoric and the Trump assassination attempt. So check that out. That is. That is Two Way tonight. No, that's not.

[Kevin]

And Mark. And Mark did have a great conversation. And it's been obviously a topic that we talk about all the time, about the dehumanization of people in politics and the fact that you see numbers on the rise all the time, that people think political violence is an ends to means now. So that's what part of this show is all about in terms of, you know, a respectful dialogue and engagement. And we need to encourage more of that. So definitely check out that conversation. Of course, Two Way Tonight is live at 5pm and again, we also have the official after show. The chat is open now. That kicks off at 11 with Professor Kenny Bob and Alan C. Co hosting. So don't miss out on that conversation as well. But then, of course, join Mark on Sirius right now.

[Mark]

That's right.

[Larry]

And join me at noon on my town hall program streaming live at noon, where I have a big announcement to make. And he's going national, folks.

[Kevin]

He's going national. That was teased yesterday. So exciting stuff.

[Larry]

My morning radio show is going national, so. And, and I'll also be streaming live everywhere with video and, and I don't know, Kevin, maybe, maybe, maybe you can be on my show. I would. I paused. I hesitated. But.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Larry]

What was that on the show?

[Kevin]

What was that? Has that. You know, my answer to you is always yes.

[Larry]

I don't know.

[Kevin]

It's like improv audiences for.

[Larry]

All right, all right.

[Kevin]

Let me tell you, your national audience watches Fox News, sees me every day on there as maga's favorite Democrat. Copyright.

[Larry]

Yeah, I think you'll be fine. You'll be fine. Jessica Guitar loves not so much, but you'll be okay.

[Kevin]

Okay.

[Mark]

All right, Good.

[Kevin]

Yeah. Have a great weekend, everybody.

[Larry]

Have a good weekend. Bye.