Iran War Latest: Trump's New Deadline Looms Over Iran Amid Conflicting Accounts from U.S., Tehran

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Morning Meeting

Episode: Iran War Latest: Trump's New Deadline Looms Over Iran Amid Conflicting Accounts from U.S., Tehran
Date: March 27, 2026
Host: Mark Halperin (2WAY)
Panelists: Kevin Walling, Larry O'Connor

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Overview

This episode centers on the latest developments in the ongoing Iran War, focusing on President Trump’s new negotiating deadline with Tehran amidst mixed signals from Washington and Tehran. The panel discusses the U.S. administration’s dual-track approach of military buildup and potential negotiations, the political maneuvering at home and abroad, and the wider geopolitical ramifications. Other major topics include Senate politics, the attempted passage of DHS funding legislation, media narratives around figures like Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance, and a smattering of campaign and pop culture notes.

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Table of Contents

• Iran War Update & Trump's Shifting Strategy – [09:00]
• Contingency Planning: The Pentagon and Military Options – [10:30]
• Kushner on a Path to Negotiation – [11:37]
• Political Pressures, Markets, and Mid-April Deadline – [12:29]
• Trump’s Endgame: Oil, Regime, and “Vig” – [15:13]
• The Strait of Hormuz and U.S. Leverage – [16:50]
• Secret Weapons & “Taking It to 11” – [20:46]
• “Why All the Hype for Marco Rubio?” – [22:57]
• CPAC, GOP Dynamics, and Senate Maneuvering – [09:11], [23:29]
• DHS Funding Fight: Who Caved? – [31:09]
• Jeffrey Epstein File Attacks: Sununu vs. Scott Brown – [34:13]
• Al Gore 2028? The Democratic Bench and Nostalgia – [37:21]
• Winners, Losers, and What to Watch Next – [41:00]
• Listener Q&A: Rubio’s Rise, Trump’s Communication, and More – [47:58]

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Iran War Update & Trump’s Strategy

[09:00]–[15:13]

• The U.S. is ramping up military force in the Middle East amid ongoing speculation about possible negotiations with Iran, including a Wall Street Journal report that the Pentagon is prepping to send up to 10,000 more ground personnel.
• Panelists caution that Pentagon “contingency plans” are always in place for regional flareups, but see signs of real escalation.
• Mark Halperin: “Give President Trump more military options even as he weighs peace talks with Tehran.” [09:54]
• Jared Kushner, rarely in the public eye, confirms his involvement in possible negotiations:
  • Jared Kushner: “President Trump’s focus is to try and get to…a good outcome…He wants to just be in a position where they act like a normal country.” [11:37]
• The economic angle: oil prices (Brent at $110/barrel) and markets down, creating fresh pressure on both parties.
• The White House is keeping all options open, staging both public talk of peace and actual military preparations.

Notable Quote:

“There could be peace talks as soon as this weekend with the Vice President and maybe Steven Jarrett or not. There continues to be a buildup...so, Kevin, where are you now on the trajectory, length, you know, direction of this whole thing?” - Mark Halperin [12:29]

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Political Pressures, Messaging, and the Path Ahead

[13:15]–[15:13]

• Kevin Walling argues the administration is still “gearing up” for direct talks but mostly “messaging” at this point, with intense coordination necessary with Israel.
• Larry O’Connor, reporting from CPAC, notes most conservatives support “finishing the job,” but warn Trump not to pull out prematurely for political reasons:
  • Larry O’Connor: “If it goes past mid-April, they’re getting a little nervous... look for a voice to start emerging now from Republicans and conservatives warning the president not to get out too soon, not to leave some things and some threads loose…” [14:11]
• Trump’s focus reportedly includes direct economic benefits for the U.S.
  • Mark Halperin: “He wants his vig. He wants a percentage of the gas and of the oil.” [15:36]

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Military Leverage & Strait of Hormuz

[16:50]–[20:46]

• Discussion of the substack article “The Coercive Sequence,” which frames Trump’s Iran strategy as one of phased coercion (apply pressure, pause, negotiate, escalate again).
• Debate over whether the military focus is now on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and other regional chokepoints, both for their impact on global oil markets and as leverage against Iran.
  • Kevin Walling: “There’s a tease out that there's another strait closer to Yemen...I saw this morning there’s thousands, thousands of ships waiting...” [18:28]
• Larry O’Connor reports military sources are “more comfortable” with the strait situation and see it as part of Trump’s methodical pressure campaign.
• Mark raises the possibility of the U.S. using unprecedented “secret weapons” if Iran refuses to negotiate, referencing the use of unusual weapons in Venezuela.
  • Mark Halperin: “Does it seem to you ...that the President has something in mind that maybe we’ve never seen used by any government, any military in the history of warfare to hit the Iranians with…?” [21:36]

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Marco Rubio & MAGA Dynamics

[22:57]–[28:13]

• Debate erupts over why Secretary of State Marco Rubio is being lionized in the media and among donors despite a lack of signature achievements.
• Mark Halperin: “Why is everybody acting like he's James Baker and Thomas Jefferson?”
• Panelists point out Rubio’s communicative strengths, his effective sell of Trump’s foreign policy, and the role of media/donor expectations:
  • Larry O’Connor: “Rubio is able to articulate and communicate it and speak Washingtonese since he's been here for so long in a very effective way that makes people feel comfortable and secure. And I think that's what his superpowers [are].” [25:09]
  • Kevin Walling: “I don't think we would have likely done the Venezuela activity if it wasn’t for Secretary of State Rubio.”

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Domestic Politics: CPAC, DHS Funding, and Senate Wrangling

[09:11]; [31:09]–[33:35]

• CPAC is underway in Texas; MAGA energy is up, star panelists discussed, and Rubio is a quiet favorite in some straw polls.
• Latest Senate development: a long-stalled compromise on DHS and TSA funding is finally moving through both chambers, but neither party got the policy wins they wanted.
  • Kevin Walling: “This is something the Democrats put forward three weeks ago. We could have saved a lot of this pain...We didn't get any of the policy changes that we wanted.” [31:23]
  • Larry O’Connor: “They did cave, and they caved because Trump announced yesterday that he was going to do an executive order that would move money in DHS to pay the TSA agents.” [32:23]

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Campaign Smears: Epstein File Attacks

[34:13]–[37:12]

• The New Hampshire GOP primary turns toxic as Scott Brown’s campaign attacks John Sununu for being named (in a non-salacious way) in the Jeffrey Epstein files. This prompts a discussion about the increasing use of tenuous Epstein connections as political cudgels.
  • Mark Halperin: “Do you think in general, we'll see people making tenuous connections between their opponents and Epstein?” [36:56]
  • Larry O’Connor: “Yes...When you're that desperate and there's money, yes, they'll do garbage like this.”

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Democrats in 2028: Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, and the Nostalgia Bench

[37:21]–[41:00]

• Tongue-in-cheek speculation about Al Gore mounting a 2028 presidential bid, reflecting concern about the lack of younger candidates in the Democratic pipeline.
  • Mark Halperin: “It means we've got a lot of great. The. The beat. The bench is far and wide and stretches back to the 90s...”

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Winners & Losers of the Week

[41:00]–[45:15]

Winners:

• Larry: Chris Stigall, talk radio host, running for Congress in Missouri’s 6th—“My friend Chris is coming to Washington as a Congressman.”
• Kevin: The Ukrainians – “Their missile technology…has taken out 40% thus far of [Russian] exporting capabilities.”
• Mark: Bibi Netanyahu for accomplishments against Iran without public friction with the U.S.

Losers:

• Larry: Maryland Governor West Moore—Key Bridge still unbuilt two years after promise.
• Kevin: The entire U.S. Senate for failing to solve the TSA/DHS crisis sooner.
• Mark: American travelers—caught in political gridlock, suffered long lines for no policy gain.

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Key Listener Q&A & Notable Moments

[47:58]–[55:37]

• Kyle from Las Vegas notes Marco Rubio’s “aura” and compares him to a “Republican Obama,” stirring panel debate on Rubio’s viability and Democratic anxiety.
  • Kyle: “He is so sharp on things... I agree he will win that straw poll and that's going to put him in the next realm.” [48:34]
• Professor Kenny asks: Will Trump eventually clearly communicate an endgame to the public/congress?
  • Larry O’Connor: “My understanding…from the administration is that it is a very real and palpable concern about leaks...when it comes to these military operations, they are just dead set against opening up the possibility.” [54:51]
• Greg (Iowa): “Are we really going to see President Trump's signature on our currency?”
  • The panel agrees: yes, at least for ceremonial notes—“He’ll sign a few individually and then sell them on eBay for an extraordinary amount of money…” [56:24]

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Additional Memorable Exchanges

• Trump’s unique use of humor and pop-culture riffing at official events like cabinet meetings (the infamous Sharpie monologue) is discussed as a singular trait—not replicable by most presidents. [29:07]
• The crowd joke about comedic influences: “1/3 Regis, 1/3 Don Rickles, 1/3 Spalding Gray.” - Mark Halperin [29:07]
• Offhand, pop culture and sports notes conclude the episode, with appearances from regulars discussing the new Harry Potter trailer and The Bachelorette scandal. [60:02+]

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Conclusion & Forward Look

The episode paints a picture of a war policy at a critical turning point: Trump is fusing hardball, innovative pressure with flashes of willingness to negotiate—a posture that fascinates both his supporters and his critics. The politics of war, congressional inertia, and party infighting intertwine with a news cycle in flux, while the sidelines buzz about who will rise for 2028. The hosts promise ongoing coverage as the Iran situation—and the domestic battles around it—continue to evolve over the coming weeks.

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Select Quotes & Timestamps

• “If they don’t surrender in a conference room with Jared Kushner, then the President will destroy them.” — Mark Halperin [16:09]
• “Trump always says everything’s on the table...the subtext is to demonstrate to China and others what we’re capable of.” — Larry O'Connor [21:57]
• “The only reason I’m doing this is because the good folks at Two Way in the Morning Meeting asked me to.” — Mark Halperin (on ad sponsor) [03:03]
• “He talks purdy, but what’s he done?” — Mark Halperin (on Marco Rubio) [24:34]
• On Senate negotiations: “As I said at the outset of this, budget fights trying to change policy never work. When Republicans do it on the border. When we do it here, it never works.” — Kevin Walling [33:07]

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For Next Week

• Watch for big developments at Mar-A-Lago over the weekend: Will talks with Iran materialize, or does the standoff escalate further?
• Will Marco Rubio solidify his frontrunner status in the CPAC straw poll and among party elites?
• Ongoing scrutiny of legislative gridlock, especially with the Senate and House on recess.
• Listeners encouraged to watch for surprise moves—diplomatic or military—from the Trump administration as pressure mounts.

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This summary has maintained the tone and nuanced observations of the original panel, provided clear attributions, and referenced key timestamps for listeners seeking more detail.

Transcript

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[Mark Halperin]

Fox News is now streaming live on Fox 1. When it matters most, turn to the voices you trust. We go beyond the headlines, bringing you the stories you won't hear anywhere else. Live coverage, sharp analysis, real perspective at home or on the go. Stay connected when it counts. Stream Fox News on Fox one. Download Today

[Kevin Walling]

Foreign

[Mark Halperin]

Everybody, this is the morning meeting on two way. Kevin Walling, Larry o' Connor here. Larry's still at cpac. For those looking for a keen update. Larry's panel was delayed, so it will be today. Full live coverage, team coverage on two way tonight, this evening and then extended coverage, aftermath coverage on the morning meeting on Monday. Larry, how's CPAC going? Just a quick update to any other

[Larry O'Connor]

still of my voice. I was out too late. The bourbon tastes great and oh, and the conference seems to be going well too.

[Mark Halperin]

Any Star Wars?

[Kevin Walling]

It's in Dallas, right? Y' all are in Dallas, right?

[Mark Halperin]

Dallas. Dallas Metroplex. Any, any running run ins with the celebrities? MAGA celebrities.

[Larry O'Connor]

Maga. Well, I'm a MAGA celebrity.

[Mark Halperin]

I mean, I mean you and someone else. Like, like did you, did you do play quarters?

[Larry O'Connor]

You know who was the superstar yesterday here. And kid you not 23 year old Nick Shirley. The, the independent journalist who went out

[Kevin Walling]

and got the fraud guy, right?

[Mark Halperin]

I bet, I bet he was mobbed.

[Larry O'Connor]

Big deal.

[Mark Halperin]

Kevin, Kevin, I can't. I don't think you've been here for me to ask you because I didn't. I forget, did I already ask you? Have you ever been to cpac?

[Kevin Walling]

I've not been to cpac. I'm still waiting on an invite. I know the schlabs well, we're all going.

[Mark Halperin]

We're all going next year.

[Larry O'Connor]

Ambassador Grinnell was asking for you. Kevin.

[Mark Halperin]

Yes.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, I'm a big fan. It's going to get him and me in trouble, but I actually like Rick Grinnell quite a bit.

[Mark Halperin]

Anyway, welcome in everybody. This is the morning meeting. A different kind of program than you see other places. We're going to about to have a very civil and sophisticated conversation about what's going on with a big focus on Iran, but not only. We're also going to talk about Jeffrey Epstein in 2026 and Al Gore in 2028 and amongst other things. Please raise your hand if you're here on the platform. Would like to get in on the conversation with Kevin and Larry at the end of the program. We'd love to have you. If you've never raised your hand today, be a good day to do it. If you're watching on X or on 2way on YouTube rather. No smack in the chat. Just put stuff in the chat that's friendly. Say like I'm so sorry to see what happened to Bambi's mother or Carol o'.

[Kevin Walling]

Connor.

[Mark Halperin]

Left us, left us, left us early. Whatever. Just put nice things in there. No smack in the chat. Peace, love and understanding for all. And do a quick sponsor and then get to your the day book and then to your questions before too long. Code 020 off everything on the site Promo code Morning Comfort carries you from the morning through all throughout the day. Whether it's the bubble cuddle, blanket, the bedding, the the the bedding. I'm forgetting what it's called. The comforter, the essential socks, luxe bath towels all been available to you right now with an extraordinary 20% off discount. Using the promo code available to morning and and try it today. Try something. Indulge in luxury. This is affordable stuff that's extremely luxurious. It's soft and elevated. It will experience the craft behind the comfort and make every day feel intentional. Again, go to cozyearth.com use the promo code MORNING for 20% off if you get the post purchase survey, don't click the little X and get rid of it. Fill it out and say the only reason I'm doing this is because of good folks at two way in the morning meeting asked me to. Otherwise I'd spend my money on something else. Again, go to codezero.com promo code morning for 20% off everything on the site.

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[Mark Halperin]

All right, the President is headed to Florida eventually today, but before then he participates in executive time again. How many days in a row do I have to tell you? 8am Executive time means he's watching the show. Then at 12:30. Hello Mr. President. 12:30, a closed press event with farmers. That's not going to stay closed press. I just find that hard to believe. But he said yesterday there'd be like a thousand farmers on the lawn.

[Larry O'Connor]

And then overalls. Do you think, you know, whenever they have doctors they're always wearing the white. Yeah, right.

[Mark Halperin]

I think they'll be wearing bib overalls. And many of them will come through the northwest gate in the tractor and the John Deere. I want to see, you know like a, like a motorcade of John Deere's. Anyway, then the President flies to Miami, Miami beach, where he's speaking at this conference. You guys ever been at the Faena Hotel? You've been at that hotel in Miami Beach. It's Lux. It's a Lux hotel. I stayed there once. Anyway, he's speaking to this.

[Kevin Walling]

Larry and I are like. Larry and I are red roofing guys. I understand the people. You know all this. You're in a French park.

[Mark Halperin]

Come on. I didn't, I didn't pay for my. I didn't pay for my room there. Just to be clear, I'm in my way.

[Kevin Walling]

I'm in my double wide in Charleston right now.

[Mark Halperin]

You know this is an investment conference that he's speaking at at 5:30. Jared spoke there too. It's a favor for somebody. I can't get into it. But in any event, he'll speak tonight at 5:30. Right. During two way tonight. So we'll see how he screws up that. And then he goes to Mar a Lago where he spends the weekend just to run through his weekend because of course it's germane. Because at any given time he could eviscerate all of Iran. Saturday, more executive time at 8am now that runs against my thesis because we don't have a show tomorrow. But he's got executive time and then 6:30, a Maga Inc. Meeting and then a dinner at 7. And the pool is going to be allowed to cover that. It's rare that the pools lately is allowed to cover events at Mar a Lago, so that's kind of interesting. And then on Sunday the President is still at Mar a Lago and has executive time in the morning and then flies back at some point to Washington. The vice president today is having the first meeting of his task force to eliminate fraud. Joined by FTC chair Andrew Ferguson and Stephen Miller will Be there as well some members of the cabinet. So that'll be an interesting event. Marco Rubio is here in Paris. Really on the outskirts of Paris at Cernay La Vie, where he's meeting with his G7 colleagues. We've seen a lot of, as they say in the diplo media world, comings and goings. We've seen him walk past cameras and smile and wave. We can show that while I say it, but no sound from the vice, the Secretary of State as of yet. So don't know what's going on in those meetings, but. But one of the many topics they're discussing besides Ukraine is Iran. The Senate has left after last night at 3am Eastern. Here's, here's Rubio. See him there, coming, Smiling, smiling. Shaking hands, hugging.

[Kevin Walling]

Got a little hug there.

[Larry O'Connor]

That suit tie combo is very familiar looking, isn't it?

[Mark Halperin]

It is a dark suit, red, long red tie. And look at that little G7 rectangular cardboard thing. That's, that's edgy. Wearing the floor.

[Larry O'Connor]

Do you think?

[Mark Halperin]

French, I bet.

[Kevin Walling]

Probably it also.

[Mark Halperin]

It also could be the French national security advisor because, you know, he wears so many hats. Anyway, you see them walking past the flags of the various allied nations.

[Kevin Walling]

But I want, I do wonder with the photo op if, if the G7 members traded out some that are taller participants because Rubio's, like, up there with the height situation. Usually he's, you know, he's got folks towering over him. Yeah, well, they're all about the same height. I don't know if they're playing the B team just to make sure the photo looked okay.

[Mark Halperin]

We just saw a guy who looked like maybe the German foreign minister towering. But you're right, it's not like a very tall group. In fact, Rubio is not.

[Kevin Walling]

Look at that right there.

[Mark Halperin]

He's not, he's not the shortest. He's got. There's like four people shorter.

[Larry O'Connor]

Could be a Desantis situation here in the shoes.

[Mark Halperin]

Could be the floor shines with the floor shines with the lifts. Anyway, the Senate passed the, this compromise, which we're going to talk about, came out of nowhere as far as I was concerned. The Democrats kind of caved. The Republicans kind of caved. This was a deal. They could have been made weeks ago, but the combination of the recess and, and the long lines caused them to do it. The House is in and at some point today probably will pass this compromise. We'll talk about that again in just a moment. CPAC again, day three in Grapevine, Texas. And that's it. Let's talk about the war.

[Larry O'Connor]

Today's the day of the Bannon speech. By the way, what time? There'll be a lot of eyes on that. I believe it's early afternoon.

[Mark Halperin]

It's Bannon. And Paxton also speaks tonight.

[Larry O'Connor]

Paxton is this evening.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. There's a long story.

[Kevin Walling]

And Corn's a no show. Right? He's not.

[Mark Halperin]

Cornyn's a no show. There's a long story in some news organization today saying maybe it's Politico. I think it's in the playbook that some people now Trump's not going to endorse. We've talked about this ad nauseum, but Larry, is that Cornyn race, given you're in Texas, is that the talk of CPAC or not really?

[Larry O'Connor]

A little bit. Little bit. But it's any talk is all. Paxton. It's. Yeah, it's. This is Paxton country. If Cornyn showed, he would have been booed.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, Here's a couple of the big headlines related to Iran before we set the table for where we think everything stands. 109. Wall Street Journal reports that the Pentagon is thinking of is working on maybe sending even more pentagon way sending 10,000 more ground troops to the Middle East. I don't like the word troops because that's not always accurate. But in any event, give President Trump more military options even as he weighs peace talks with Tehran. DoD officials with knowledge of the planning said they're calling it the Department of Defense. Are they going to get kicked out of the White House pool for calling it that?

[Larry O'Connor]

Certainly from the Pentagon, which I believe has already happened. Can I just jump on this? This is in the similar way that you noted yesterday that Brit Hume and Byron York sort of, you know, undercut one of the Wall Street Journal. And I agree Wall Street Journal is doing a great job. But is it a surprise that the. What does that mean Pentagon is looking at. I have no doubt that they have plans for any contingency.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, contingency plans for. I bet they have a plan to invade.

[Mark Halperin]

Totally.

[Kevin Walling]

Plans to invade Canada still. We've got contingency plans. Invade Canada.

[Mark Halperin]

Totally agree, Larry. I totally agree with you. Except I think in this case, it's possible they're leaning into being told that those 10,000 might go. But that's not what he says. I agree with you. I agree with you. You're absolutely correct. Okay. We rarely hear from Jared Kushner, but he's one of the people, along with Mr. Stephen Witkoff and vice President who might be involved in negotiations here's Jared at that Miami conference yesterday talking about the prospect of the conversations and why he's involved.

[Jared Kushner]

You know, President Trump's focus is to try and get to try and get to, you know, a good outcome with them. You know, he wants to just be in a position where they act like a normal country and they have so much economic potential for their population, their country that I think you would love to see them, you know, focusing their efforts on helping their citizens achieve a great economy instead of focusing on how they can cause provocations and trouble in the regions through their proxies or through their missiles or through their threats or from trying to become a nuclear power in that regard. And so the answer to your question was that my thought was that I was coming back to my business, I was getting ready. You know, we've been very successful. We're going to raise our next fund. But then I've been asked by the President and Steve to stay on, you know, my volunteer capacity with more intensity. And so we've spended that effort with our fund. And so the fund's doing great.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay, so there could be peace talks as soon as this weekend with the vice president and maybe Steven Jarrett or not. There continues to be a buildup. The we'll see what the markets do. Where are we at? Where are we, by the way, at this moment, asking my colleagues, where are we on the Dow and oil? Where are we right now? Anyway, futures are down 232 and Brent

[Kevin Walling]

crude is at 110.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay, so we'll see what the numbers do today, but that's not great. So on the one hand, talk of peace, on the one hand, needing to address the markets. On the other hand, the military builds up, continues. So, Kevin, where are you now on the trajectory, length, you know, direction of this whole thing?

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, I mean, Mark, you had that great conversation with Hume yesterday where you know, there's been so much reporting about what the President is telegraphing and saying that days, you know, weeks, not that, months. And I think that's where we're at. I think, you know, you saw the 10 day extension that the President highlighted in the cabinet meeting yesterday. There's a lot of reporting out this morning about J.D. vance being the point person when these kind of conversations. I think we're still at the messaging exchanging part of the conversation. Obviously there isn't any kind of direct talks, but certainly I think the administration is gearing up for what those direct talks will look like. Wyckoff recommending that the vice President lead those efforts. He's had a lot of calls with Bibi already to figure out alignment where we are with the Israelis and where we're not. And I think that's going to be happening and continue to happen and I think we're going to see some level of resolution hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

[Mark Halperin]

Either of you will. Larry, go ahead.

[Larry O'Connor]

No, I think Evan's right. Although I will look at the mood here at CPAC, if you'd like to know, since mid April is what I keep hearing from people. They're on board, they think it's good support the president, finish the job. But if it goes past mid April, they're getting, they're getting a little nervous. But look for a voice to start emerging now from Republicans and conservatives warning the president not to get out too soon, not to leave some things and some threads loose because there have been a lot of people who've been supportive of the president and they haven't said much. They've just let the conversations go on. But there's actually a good chunk of people who are worried that he may prematurely end this for political purposes because he's starting to get too many voices telling him it's got to end. I'm just saying that like Erik Erickson type Republicans and he's certainly going to

[Kevin Walling]

hear that when he's talking to the Saudi investment down in Miami. The Saudis are very much uae, others are saying stay the course and not just pull out prematurely. So he's going to get an earful on that front to Larry's point at least tonight in Miami.

[Mark Halperin]

We're always forward looking here. But I'm just going to look back to the cabinet meeting yesterday. I thought the most undercovered thing was one of the questions the president got was do you want a piece of the Iranian oil? And he basically said yes. Now we know he does. But the fact that he said it yesterday because that's not on the list of the 15 demands. Do you guys know the word vig? Do you know what the word vig is?

[Larry O'Connor]

Short for a little vig. It's Italian for percentage, isn't it?

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, fee or commission what it means. But it's actually diminutive of the word vigorous. Vigorous. There it is in the chat, vigorous. Anyway, the president wants a vig. Look, the president definitively wants to wipe out their capacity for nuclear terror, naval air, missile. He wants to if he can bring about regime change but at least get a Venezuela style government he can deal with. And he wants his vig. He wants a percentage of the of the gas and of the oil.

[Larry O'Connor]

And.

[Mark Halperin]

And the Israelis are fine with all that. I think they'll. If they don't surrender in a conference room with Jared Kushner, then the President will destroy them. And, and people who say he's edgy, he's nudgey, he's hearing from so many people who say, you got to stop. He's obsessed with the markets. I just don't believe that's correct, based on my reporting. He's at peace with this thing. He's not. He's not blind to the negativity, but he's at peace with it. And. And he. And he wants to. He wants to walk away with the things that he started out seeking. And there's. There's a great story I recommend to all of you. Great substack. Rather than by someone I had not heard of, put up number 113. Mehdi parpanchi.

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

Standard spelling of both Mehdi and Parpanchi. He's an Iranian journalist, I guess. I recommend you all go read the substack.

[Larry O'Connor]

It's a great read.

[Mark Halperin]

You don't have to agree with it. But if you want to understand why the president did this and why the president believes he's on track to succeed, and you should want to understand that, even if you're, you know, if you're Adam Schiff, you're dead set against the war. You want to read this. The title is the Coercive Sequence. How Trump's Iran War Actually Works. Why negotiation and war Are Part of the Same Strategy and what critics failed to see. And he says the media's got this all wrong. And he says, look, this is a risk. He's not saying it's going to work. But don't confuse the fact that it may not work with whether Trump has a strategy, because he lays out what Trump's strategy was from the start and why what's happened is consistent with that. So we talk about how long it's going to last. Larry said cpac, you know, two and a half more weeks. I think it could go four more weeks. But I think if it got to two and a half weeks and the president needed more time, he'd find a way to do it. Kevin, the one thing I would criticize about that gentleman's substack is he didn't address the Strait of Hormuz head on. And I'm wondering, there's lots going on there in the president's thing about the gifts yesterday. How, how much of the focus do you think of what they're doing militarily is about the strait right now.

[Kevin Walling]

I mean, it certainly is. And obviously the president is attuned to the markets. There's a tease out that there's, you know, another strait closer to Yemen that also controls some oil flow.

[Mark Halperin]

Go ahead and put that. Go ahead and put that up. Sorry, interrupt. Keep talking this 114, Kevin, keep going that.

[Kevin Walling]

They've highlighted that as a choke point too with the Iranians as well as the Strait of Hormuz. Again, this is the only leverage right now that the Iranians have. I saw this morning there's thousands, thousands of ships waiting and obviously the president, part of what I'm watching this weekend that I'll preview is what happens to those 10 or 12 tankers that the president highlighted yesterday in that cabinet meeting. I will also say what I love about the two way community is a chat firing up whenever you ask a question about what the the definition of a word is, number one. And number two, speaking of that, something that's foremost in the president's mind going back to the invasion with Iraq is Iraq oil. Right. So that's always been a focus of Trump going back 20 years ago saying we should have gotten that and that's certainly, I think, going to be at play in this current incursion slash war.

[Larry O'Connor]

Yep.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry. Larry, where are you currently in terms of concern about the strait not being open? Is it, does it seem headed to being open to you or not? Not the big focus like 2 weeks ago Newt Gingrich and others were saying like this is it, they got to get this open and now it's not doesn't seem to be front and center.

[Larry O'Connor]

So in the last 10 days I've had more conversations with sort of military people either in it right now or recently in it. And, and I feel more comfortable that what's happening in the strait was anticipated and planned for and it's part of the the methodical process here. They could be spinning me, but I feel a little bit more comfortable about it. That said, Mark, I agree that substack that you shared just now doesn't directly address the strait, but the pattern of behavior going all the way back to the bombing of the nuclear sites in June of last year fits into the pattern where the straight you, you escalate, you go, you force a new circumstance and push the coercion, then you stop and you reset and you try to get something done. And if it doesn't get done, then you bring it to the next level. So it's not directly addressing the Straight right now, but making that now a new sticking point and part of this thing. It fits into that overall pattern and it does sort of make sense of how Trump is approaching this. He does. If he doesn't see leverage in a situation, he creates a new scenario where he has leverage now. So how that fits into the straight is a different question.

[Mark Halperin]

Let's talk about the concept of the next level. In Venezuela, the US Military used a weapon that at best I can tell, had never been used before and hasn't really been explained too, too thoroughly, at least not in the popular media. That made everybody, like, made all of Maduro's guards like, vomit. Some sort of, you know, high tech weapon, microwave gun. I saw in the chat. I don't think the US Is going to use nuclear weapons. But Trump now, at least twice President Trump has referred to the notion of if the Iranians don't do what he want, he's going to take it to 11, is going to be some maximum force thing that extends beyond what's been used, the discombobulator. Another thing in the chat, I know neither of you are. Who's the agent in James Bond Q who has all the high tech stuff. Yeah, I know neither of you. Neither of you are Q. And neither of you are.

[Larry O'Connor]

Don't link me with Q, Mark, for God's sake. I'm trying to shake that image.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay, neither of you are experts on secret military programs, but does it seem to you, as it does to me, that the President has something in mind that maybe we've never seen used by any government, any military in the history of warfare to hit the Iranians with if they don't come to the table and surrender? Is that. That's my gut based on what he said.

[Larry O'Connor]

Well, first of all, it's typical Trump that he, he always says everything's on the table, number one. But number two, in keeping with something I've been saying this day, I keep hearing that part of what's happening here, the subtext is to demonstrate to China and others what we're capable of. And so that would fit.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Kevin, do you think there's some secret weapon that's going to just eviscerate Tehran?

[Kevin Walling]

Well, I go back to the raid to take out Osama bin Laden when we found out and it got teased out that we had these stealth helicopters. Right. That folks did not know about beforehand.

[Mark Halperin]

Good example.

[Kevin Walling]

So there's always the case when we do this. And I think Larry makes an excellent point. A lot of this is also telegraphing to Xi Jinping and the CCP with their eyes still on Taiwan about our capabilities. And I think that's there's a geopolitical element to this, too. That's why I hope we obviously continue to stay strong in Ukraine, too, because that's also telegraphing things beyond just the borders of Europe, but also when it comes to China.

[Mark Halperin]

Don't take this as a negative question. It's just a search for the truth. I'm a perfectly big fan of Marco Rubio. Again, nothing against the guy. He gave a, I thought a great speech at the European meeting at the Munich conference, but he's getting the best press clips of anybody in recent memory. What's he done? What is it? He's good. He's a good talker. He gave a great speech. He's done okay at some press conferences. But why is everybody acting like he's James Baker and Thomas Jefferson? And again, I'm not saying he's not. Maybe he is.

[Kevin Walling]

No, he's.

[Mark Halperin]

What are people keying off of, Kevin? What's he done? Has he done some great negotiation or has he proposed some doctrine? I just don't see what he's done except give some good speeches.

[Kevin Walling]

And again, not to beat a dead horse, but everyone should go watch that interview that you did with Brit Hume yesterday. The biggest thing for Marco is he's not J.D. vance, right? And the press love J.D. vance back in the day, hillbilly elegy and stuff like that. And I think they, you know, they want to make him potentially the mainstream press, you know, the enemy in terms of what's going to look like for 2028. So they're propping up Marco Rubio as a media darling. And again, he did give a compelling speech in Munich. But I think he, you know, he has also been very deliberate in terms of, you know, obviously going from little hands Marco on the debate stage to to now this MAGA kind of darling right hand of Donald Trump. And again, I think more of the fact that he's not JD Is what's driving a lot of this media coverage, that he's now this darling.

[Mark Halperin]

I say with respect and affection for you and those putting stuff in the chat, he's normal, he's a good communicator. He's not Vance. But I don't see how that adds up, Larry, to this beautification of the guy as like the greatest of all time. And of course he should be the nominee and of course he should be president. Again, I just say he talks purdy, but what's he done yeah, well, first

[Larry O'Connor]

of all, I don't think, at least from my perspective, he's not celebrated right now in any, his celebrating him is not meant to be any slight or criticism of Vice President Vance. I mean, don't make me choose. I like them both.

[Mark Halperin]

Well, but I think Kevin, again, I'm not interrupting you. We're having a conversation. I think Kevin's, I think Kevin's right, that it is part of why people are celebrating him.

[Larry O'Connor]

Because maybe from the media and for Democrats, because.

[Mark Halperin]

Well, no, a lot of, no, a lot of donors, including Jewish donors, are saying we don't like Vance's failure to distance from, from, from. Although of course, Marco hasn't been asked to distance himself from Tucker. I don't know what he would actually say. But, but Larry, I know you don't want to tell you.

[Larry O'Connor]

Well, I'll tell you. First of all, I think number one, he, he enjoys a, he, he enjoys the benefit of low expectations from the MAGA crowd. I'll be honest with you, a lot of us were not, we were a little skeptical of Marco Rubio and what kind of Secretary of State he would be. He has grown quite a bit from little Marco. 2016, the last year as a surrogate for the Trump campaign on meet the press, etc. He was fantastic. But when he got Secretary of State, a lot of people, oh, this is, he's kind of a Nikki Haley type. Is he gonna really grow into it? Secretary of State, when you said he hasn't done anything. Secretary of State is there to implement the President's foreign policy and national security policies. In Marco's case, cuz he's National Security Advisor as well. He has done that in such a way that he can articulate, communicate and make accessible Trump's positions and policies. Where sometimes from Trump, they seem a little scattered and, and they seem a little bit, you know, mercurial. Rubio is able to articulate and communicate it and speak Washingtonese since he's been here for so long in a very effective way that makes people feel comfortable and secure. And I think that's what his superpowers

[Kevin Walling]

and I would say his performances before, you know, House Foreign affairs and Senate Foreign Relations have been masterclasses in terms of his ability to translate, to Larry's point, that element of policy. And I think too, I don't think we would have likely done the Venezuela activity if it wasn't for Secretary of State Rubio. And I don't think whatever's going to happen in Cuba would not happen without a Secretary of State Rubio driving that train. So to Mark, to your question, in terms of what has he done? I think he's shaped a lot of that. Those two big issues, you know, one that's happening in real time and one that's about to happen, I think also in real time.

[Larry O'Connor]

And for a lot of the MAGA types who initially liked Vance and loved Vance so much more than Rubio was because Vance fought back, Vance would fought the fight, the media, Vance would push back. I take it back to that Rubio interview on Face the Nation with Maggie Haberman. When Maggie Haberman was talking about free speech, I think it had, it had something to do with, in fact, it was a reaction to Vance's speech in Europe and she said something about free speech and the Holocaust. I can't remember the details. And Rubio absolutely hammered her. It was a viral moment. And suddenly we're like, oh, Rubio's got fight in him. Rubio's not soft. Rubio can do it and he does it with a softer touch. And I think that that's what he's benefiting from.

[Mark Halperin]

I remain baffled despite your extraordinary efforts.

[Larry O'Connor]

Well, maybe you should shave.

[Mark Halperin]

Maybe I should. A couple things.

[Kevin Walling]

Hey, no smack. No smack in the conversation. You know, Blair, don't make it personal. I like just because we're joined with this scruff element here, the two of us and you're clean shaven. Don't, don't make it personal.

[Mark Halperin]

I don't, I don't read the chat. I glance at it. A couple things quick. We're going to a few more topics and we're going to get to your questions. Please raise your hand if you want to get on the conversation. Shouldn't the markets go up today? The president gave a 10 day reprieve and pretends they're going to be talk. Shouldn't the markets go up today?

[Larry O'Connor]

Yes. And the oil news yesterday from Burgum? I would think they would.

[Mark Halperin]

Shouldn't they go up? All right, we'll see if they do full coverage.

[Kevin Walling]

I also think, and we've talked about this before, he can only do this a few times, right. In terms of teasing things out and you make that argument that he can still do it. I, you know, I don't know.

[Mark Halperin]

Are you?

[Kevin Walling]

Words and actions.

[Mark Halperin]

I don't know if you guys watched the full cabinet meeting yesterday, but I described it as a 1/3 Regis, 1/3 Don Rickles, 1/3 Spalding Gray. I mean the president did this like extended riff on the Sharpie and he claimed he used to have thousand Dollar pens. And now he's using Sharpies and talked about, you know, the company wanted to give him free ones and add the presidential seal, blah, blah, blah. And we talk all the time about how Trump gets away with stuff that other people can't. He's doing a fundraiser tomorrow night during a war at his luxury resort. Just go back to the comedy. Do you guys agree? Trump's hilarious. Oh, God, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so can other people joke like that and get away with it? Or is this another weird thing that Trump can do that other people can't do? Because, I mean, joking around at a, at a cabinet meeting, like this extended riff on the Sharpie, like, can other people do that? If someone else were president right now, could they make a, do a 10 minute monologue on the jokey monologue on the Sharpie? Yes or no?

[Larry O'Connor]

Probably not. I don't know if that's a skill set that needs to be repeated in future presidents, but.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay.

[Larry O'Connor]

The better question is what president, until now, would have been able to do it?

[Mark Halperin]

None. This guy's, this guy just plays by his own rules. But if you haven't watched the, if you haven't watched the Sharpie monologue, I recommend it.

[Larry O'Connor]

My favorite moment was when Burgum told him that Venezuelan was going to erect a statue to him. And then, and then Burgum goes on to talk about oil imports and Trump says, what's that about the statue?

[Mark Halperin]

Yes, Kevin, Kevin, what were you gonna say?

[Kevin Walling]

I was just gonna say not just the cabinet meeting. And, you know, I, I have a hard time with a lot of this stuff in terms of being the Democrat and just because his ability to, to throw things out there. But when he called into the five too, and talking about the gay ayatollah and that, you know, he, he plays ymca. It's like, you know, I'm from New York, it's a gay. I mean, he was also. And you played it last night with

[Mark Halperin]

Brett, but yeah, that was, that was also.

[Kevin Walling]

He's something.

[Mark Halperin]

He's something. He's something. All right. VHS funding. We said for days. I said for days. That never can be a deal. Did the Democrats cave? Did the Republicans cave? Did they both cave? Kevin? What, what, what, what happened there?

[Kevin Walling]

That there was a deal they both gave. This is something the Democrats put forward three weeks ago. We could have saved a lot of this pain. You know, we didn't get any of the policy changes that we wanted. I think the biggest motivating factor, and we also see it usually around the holidays, right. Is recess Right. When, when these members are staring down two weeks away from Washington, which they're, they're leaving town now, that is the driving factor for a lot of this stuff. And again, no one, you know, Schumer's already out there claiming credit. That's fine. Again, this is something we put forward. You know, it's a clean extension, but we didn't get any of the policy changes that we wanted to. We'll see what Mark Wayne Mullen does now, you know, heading up dhs, but nothing written into law right now. And we'll fight another day about this.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry, why aren't the, why isn't the Democratic base more angry? The Democrats made a deal without any policy changes. I thought that was, this was something they'd offered up.

[Larry O'Connor]

But you'll have no leverage question. That's why.

[Mark Halperin]

No leverage now. They have no leverage now.

[Larry O'Connor]

I agree. And Mark, Tuesday you asked this panel, wasn't this exact panel, but you asked when does this end and how does it end? And I said, I think it ends by the end of the week. And I think the way it ends is that we carve out what was already proposed, is that they carve out ice. And I remember the response was, well, the Democrats just rejected that. They're going to keep pushing this until they get the win. Well, they didn't. They did cave, and they caved because Trump announced yesterday that he was going to do an executive order that would move money in DHS to pay the TSA agents. As soon as Democrats were facing the recess and realizing the, that they couldn't create painful scenarios for the TSA agents and for American Airline travelers, they said, what the hell, let's just move on. I mean, they didn't get things they want.

[Kevin Walling]

As I said at the outset of this budget fights, trying to change policy never work. When Republicans do it on the border. When we do it here, it never works.

[Larry O'Connor]

Will work for them because they will work for them because they're going to raise money on it. And as Mark just said, the base will not be pissed off because they're happy that they fought. Even if they didn't get what they wanted. They, they will, they'll be fine.

[Kevin Walling]

Part of it is, part of it is trying to push back the, the, the element of fighting.

[Mark Halperin]

Make sure, make sure on the morning meeting, toad board, we note that Larry got that right. Because he did.

[Larry O'Connor]

Oh, I, I didn't mean to, you know.

[Mark Halperin]

No, no, I want to. I want to. All right. Epstein curious about whether Epstein's going to play in the 2026 midterms. It turns out that there's a prominent candidate who's in the Epstein files on the ballot in November, at least if he wins the primary. John Sununu is running for Senate. He's got a primary against Scott Brown. And I know is this, There's a, there's a mailer showing up in Republican New Hampshire mailboxes. Is this, is this. Do we know this? Paid for by the, it's paid for by strongest Granite Pack. And that's the pack supporting Scott Brown, right? Yeah. Yeah. So they're, they're doing this mailer, and basically there's a reference to John Sununu. The primary is in September, right? September. There's a reference to September 8th. There's a, there's a reference to Sununu in the Epstein files. It's unclear what it means. And here's how they frame it in the mailer with this picture. I go back to the previous one, a picture of Sununu with Jeffrey Epstein, you know, juxtaposed. John Cenu has spent his career connected to all the wrong people, voting for all the wrong interests. New Hampshire deserves better.

[Larry O'Connor]

Next,

[Mark Halperin]

his name appears in the Epstein files. And here's an email to Jeffrey Epstein, maybe from Jeffrey Epstein.

[Larry O'Connor]

From Jeffrey Epstein.

[Mark Halperin]

You are the most interesting person there. They should be calling me and asking me how to meet you. John Sununu has good stories, and there's no indication in the files what that refers to.

[Larry O'Connor]

Right.

[Mark Halperin]

So here's what, here's what you guys know. One of the best members of our community quoting him here. The New Hampshire Journal wrote this up today, and they quoted our friend Matthew Bartlett saying that this mailer is desperate and crazy. Yes, crazy. Crazy is one thing, desperate is another. But when you have both in politics, it shows you are losing. And Sununu's heavily favored with the primary in part because he's got the President Trump's endorsement in a Republican primary. So my first question is, will his ties. I say that in air quotes to Jeffrey Epstein hurt John Sununu either in the primary or if he's the nominee in the general.

[Larry O'Connor]

No, no, Kevin.

[Kevin Walling]

No, but it's, it's great that we're talking about this and not the main Democratic primary, which we did yesterday, and what a terrible situation that is. Again, all the, all these attacks are not going to be helpful, likely for Graham Platner, who's going to be the nominee in Maine. Right. That, that he's facing Janet Mills, all this stuff, and Sununu, it's not Going to be helpful to Sununu come the general election against Chris Pappas when it turns nasty like this. And obviously it's a bit of desperation, two former senators trying to get back into the upper chamber and not pulling any punches to do it.

[Larry O'Connor]

Can I just go back quickly, though? And Mark, completely understandable. You led this by saying apparently John Sununu was in the Epstein files, which is accurate. It's true. But look at how he's. When people hear that Sununu's in the Epstein files, some people will say, oh, so he was having sex with underage children. That's what's so insidious about this garbage. And, you know, he's in the Epstein files less than Whoopi Goldberg is in the Epstein file. Right. And yet here we are. That's why I'm so disappointing for Scott Brown to do this.

[Kevin Walling]

Well, and again, you know, Epstein had photos with Pope John Paul II right on his credenza. So, you know, to Larry's point, you know, there's gradients to all of this, and it's go negative on the Pope.

[Mark Halperin]

But do you guys think in general, just closing this up? Do you think in general, we'll see people making tenuous connections between their opponents and Epstein?

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah. When they're pulling under undecided. Scott Brown is right now polling below undecided. And when you're that desperate and there's money, yes, they'll do garbage like this.

[Kevin Walling]

All right, what's next from Scott Brown? Does he do another centerfold photo spread? That's, you know. All right, Kevin, that might be the question.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, our last topic before we do, winners and losers and Vava potential candidate in 2028. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Tim Miller with the gentleman from Carthage in St. Albans, Al Gore. 12130, please.

[Kevin Walling]

More of a comment than a question. I just. I'm sure you know this. You're 77 years old, spring chicken. Two years younger than Trump, younger than Biden. Maybe one more walk around the block. Well, New Hampshire is nice this time of year. I don't know. South Carolina, Charleston. I do sense a kind of a groundswell of a real desire for another septuagenarian. People are saying, Gore, Gore. You can hear it in the cornfields. Violet, you know, it's worked. We've had these septuagenarians for long enough. We're kind of used to it. I think there's a lane there. Me, too. And I appreciate you suggesting it. I'll give serious reflective thought to what you said, Tim. All Right. You think about that.

[Mark Halperin]

I need to be clear that the. Al Gore was kidding there. And at the same time, yesterday we talked about Hillary Clinton maybe being a candidate. Now we're talking about Al Gore maybe being a candidate. That's. Kevin, what does this mean for your party and search for a nominee who's not on Social Security in a lockbox?

[Kevin Walling]

It means we've got a lot of great. The. The beat. The bench is far and wide and stretches back to the 90s, stretches into the future. We've got a lot of compelling candidates out there. I just love. I just love that Tim. Tim talked about how great Charleston is, though, during the primary.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry, He. He did win the popular vote.

[Larry O'Connor]

I heard that.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah.

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah, that. That is.

[Mark Halperin]

That is scary good on two martinis. It's better. And I auditioned once to play the voice of Al Gore in an HBO movie, and I didn't get the part. Although there's a reason why everything is

[Larry O'Connor]

better with two martinis. Do you remember who played Gore on Saturday Night Live during that campaign? I can't for the life of me.

[Mark Halperin]

Maybe John Lovitz.

[Larry O'Connor]

No.

[Kevin Walling]

Who was going.

[Larry O'Connor]

No, wait, who was?

[Mark Halperin]

Daryl. Daryl Hammond. Darryl Hammond. Daryl Hillman played everybody. He played Clinton. He played Gore. Lockbox.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah. If.

[Mark Halperin]

If Gore. If Gore had been given the presidency, which he should have under because more people went to the polls in Florida intending to vote for Al Gore than for George Bush, I would have changed my career because back then my Gore slipped a little bit. But I can do it as well as just about anything I do. And whether it's St. Albans A and M, a small agricultural school in Northwest Washington, or Harvard University Law School. I. I know what I'm doing when I do my.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, you don't get this on any other morning program.

[Larry O'Connor]

I'm just saying that since you mentioned the. The Brit human. Brit Hume also went to St. Albans. Were they classmates, though? I never got that straight.

[Kevin Walling]

No bridge. Britain is 80. No Brits.

[Mark Halperin]

No, no, they're. No, I think they're both 78.

[Larry O'Connor]

They may have been classic.

[Mark Halperin]

Somebody. Somebody put it in the chat. I think they're about the same. Same age. I think they're about the same.

[Larry O'Connor]

I don't think they're Brit Hume's Al Gore. Stories from.

[Kevin Walling]

From Brit's 82. Well, yeah, so he's 77. Brit's 82.

[Mark Halperin]

So Brit's 82. Man. Brit's in good shape.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, I told. I was amazed with that.

[Larry O'Connor]

Classmates. But they would have been there at the same time.

[Mark Halperin]

All right. Winners and Losers of the week, what to look for then? To your questions, please raise your hand. Larry Winner of the week.

[Larry O'Connor]

Winner of the week. I don't know if you saw this, but it was announced this morning that 13 term Congressman Sam Graves from the 6th district of Missouri is stepping down and retiring. My best friend and best man at my wedding, radio talk show host Chris de Gaulle announced this morning that he is going to hang up the microphone and he is running for that seat. He is a 5th generation 6 district Missourian and I believe he has Congressman Gray's backing. He met the speaker this week and my friend Chris is coming to Washington as a Congressman. I'm just worried this is going to start a trend of talk show hosts being recruited to run for office.

[Mark Halperin]

As Chris ever run for anything before,

[Larry O'Connor]

he has never run for office.

[Mark Halperin]

Is he, is he getting Trump's endorsement?

[Larry O'Connor]

That remains to be seen, but it looks like the party, Congressman Graves and many other Republicans in Missouri are announcing

[Kevin Walling]

today, though I don't know who, I don't know who the Democrat is running in that race, but I will say that man has a, that, that man has a great beard. So Chris is one.

[Mark Halperin]

Oh, Larry, that's awesome. Kevin, who's your winner of the week?

[Kevin Walling]

Kevin My winner of the week is the Ukrainians, right. Reporting out that their missile technology, their ability to target Russian energy exporting is incredible. They've taken out 40% thus far their exporting capabilities inside Russia. Zelensky was with MBS negotiating with the Saudis deals to take on the drones. They're helping us all over the Middle East. 200 Ukrainians on the ground trying to stop these drones attacking American personnel and assets. So the Ukrainians are still in the fight, we're still with them and they're doing incredible stuff.

[Mark Halperin]

My winner of the week is Bibi because he keeps it going with still with no public tension. Even though there's private tension. No public tension. The Israelis continue to decimate Iran's capabilities. Even if the war ended today, Bibi would have achieved a ton of what his goal was and the war ain't ended today. Larry Loser of the week.

[Larry O'Connor]

That's very smart. Loser of the week is West Moore. Yesterday was the two year anniversary of the collision that took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge. He was seen as a man of action there the next day saying that he was going to spearhead the effort to rebuild that bridge. Nothing has been rebuilt as of today. Two years later, they're still removing parts of the old bridge. It's now projected to be built by 2030, if he's really going to be a viable running mate to Gavin Newsom, they'll just show that bullet train project of Gavin and the unbuilt bridge of Westmore and show you the incompetence of blue state governors.

[Mark Halperin]

KEVIN Loser of the week My loser

[Kevin Walling]

of the week are the hundred members of the United States senate for taking 41 days to reach some kind of situation here with the DHS and TSA and the Coast Guard, a deal that was out there three weeks ago. And a lot of people felt a lot of pain over these last couple of weeks, not just travelers, but obviously these TSA agents that showed up not getting paid and keeping us safe. So the failure of this upper chamber to actually do anything about it is are my losers of the week.

[Mark Halperin]

All right. Now, usually we think of loser of the week as someone who's performed poorly, but sometimes it's people who have been, you know, in a bad place. American travelers. It's ridiculous that people had to kill four or five hours in line, miss their flights, make their flights, but wait five hours in line when they solved it with nothing. There was no there was nothing they could have done this weeks ago. And it's a failure of governance. But the American people should demand better. They should expect better. They should get better on something so basic as being able to do air travel.

[Kevin Walling]

Larry what did Bill Barr ever make his flight, I wonder? The photos.

[Mark Halperin]

Good question. He certainly was watching.

[Kevin Walling]

If the former AG is in the chat, just let us know if you made your flight all right?

[Mark Halperin]

Good question, Larry.

[Larry O'Connor]

I will just note I stayed away from the TSA and DHS story. You both picked it and but neither of you actually targeted who was really responsible, which was the Democrat senators. But I'll just leave it alone.

[Kevin Walling]

I am what am I getting that dig?

[Larry O'Connor]

I am I instead of watching March Madness because you yelled at us for sports, I'm watching the straw poll at CPAC to sort of follow up on a conversation we had earlier. It will be shocking, but I think Marco Rubio has a real chance of winning the straw poll tomorrow as the pick for 2028.

[Kevin Walling]

That would be wild.

[Larry O'Connor]

A remarkable, remarkable political story and will even up more of this sort of conversation that continues in the Republican Party about 28 and Vance and Rubio, but I think Marco is going to win it.

[Kevin Walling]

Kevin I'm watching the fate of these 10 or 12 tankers, depending on who you ask. The president talked about in that cabinet meeting that was the surprise from Tehran to see if they actually navigate that and where they go and if that's indicative of more transit through the strait.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry I was going to do sports, but now I feel like that would be like a double cross. So I won't. We, we cite this, we cite this all the time.

[Larry O'Connor]

But the president show. Mark, you can.

[Mark Halperin]

No, no, it's always everybody's show. The community show. The president's going to be at Mar a Lago. There'll be a makeshift sitting room down there. Skiff. And let's just see how much he's on true social. Let's see if he launches a big attack. Let's see if there are talks. I mean, it's a big weekend either for peace or for war in that conflict.

[Kevin Walling]

And he loves to do stuff for Mar a Lago. To your point, Martin?

[Mark Halperin]

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[Kevin Walling]

All right.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm glad we had this little chat. Here we go, ladies and gentlemen, raise your hand if you want in on the conversation. We start with Kyle Unmute. Tell folks who don't know where you are and what's on your mind for Kevin and for Larry. And thank you for two way.

[Kyle (Caller)]

Hey, Kyle, I'm in Las Vegas, Nice Las Vegas, Nevada today. But I wanted to comment on something that Mark said. Yeah, he said, by the way, everyone needs to watch that Brit Hume interview is incredible, one of Mark's best. And I've been watching Mark for a long, long time. So great job, Mark there.

[Mark Halperin]

Thank you, thank you. But all credit to Brett. He's a national treasurer.

[Kyle (Caller)]

He is. You mentioned something. What does Marco have? And I'd say, I'd say to you, Mark, what did Obama have? He had an aurora about him and he gave great speeches just the same. But I look at, I look at Marco as the Republican Obama, if you will, but with more substance. Just to back up what Larry was saying, he has this aurora about him that is just incredible. And from when I saw him back in, you know, debating Trump back in those early days, he is much different now. He is more polished. He is so sharp on things like, I agree he will win that straw poll and that's going to put him in the, in the next realm and a lot of steam around him. So that's that. That's all I wanted to log in and make a point about.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay, Larry, I'm just curious.

[Larry O'Connor]

Did you, who did you vote for in the 2016 primaries?

[Kyle (Caller)]

I voted for Trump all the way I've been and everyone said he didn't have a chance. And when it narrows down, I remember all these conversations, no way can win. And yeah, I've been for him all along.

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah, I agree. Kevin, gonna agree with Kyle.

[Mark Halperin]

Kevin, I hear part of the Rubio thing that's so interesting to me is not just maga's excited about him, donors are excited about him. Some members of Congress I've talked to, but also Democrats are worried about him. Like I think Democrats look at beating JD Vance is not that tough, in part because he's more closely now associated with the administration, even though of course Rubio sent it too. But they look at Rubio as formidable, young, attractive Hispanic guy with great political skills. So almost the shades of George W. Bush where there's just like, whoa, if this guy's a nominee, look at the electoral map, he could start to do some real damage. Yeah, okay, Kevin. And then Kevin and then Kyle.

[Kevin Walling]

Kevin, first I was just going to say, you know, I think Democrats are hopeful potentially about Florida, some of the changing dynamics down there. But obviously Marco coming from Florida and what Mark just said about the Hispanic vote, I mean, that's been decimated for the president recently and is going to decide a lot of elections, not just in Florida, but in Texas, around the country. I will also say for Marco, I always like members who have served on House or Senate Intelligence. That's still one of the few committees that you actually have. And you had some silliness on the House side with, with Schiff and others, but that's still one of the more, more serious committees. Nancy Pelosi came up through House Intelligence. Marco led Senate Intelligence with Mark Warner, back and forth. So I, you know, just to put a plug for actual statesmen and women that have come up through that committee.

[Mark Halperin]

Kyle, did you want to say one more thing?

[Kyle (Caller)]

Yeah, just the last thing, Mark, what you were touching on, I think earlier this week or last week was him with Vance having a newborn coming and whatnot. Right. I don't think he runs. I agree with you.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, I'm leaning into that pretty hard these days, particularly, particularly if Rubio has passes him, you know, because they're friends, he's not going to go negative on his friend Marco to come back. Larry, what were you going to say?

[Larry O'Connor]

Well, I wasn't when you said that the Democrats are worried about him and correct me if I'm wrong and maybe, well, both of you will know, but if I remember right, Hillary's team during 2016, they were most, it was always leaked that they were most worried about Marco Rubio. If I remember right, even back then

[Kevin Walling]

we were most worried about Ben Carson.

[Mark Halperin]

There's a lot of Ben Carson. Kyle, thank you. Thank you for your kind words. Thank you for being part of two way. Professor Kenny, welcome. Thank you for being here. Tell folks what's on your mind.

[Professor Kenny]

Hey, Mark. Winner of the week, Mark Halperin. Great interview with Brit Hume. And also this week we've had awesome discussions on his platform with Larry and Kevin. So thank you guys. And a little plug for the Post shows. We've been kicking ass on discussions on the Post show. Thank you to Andres, Josh, Richard, Nicole Allen, our crew.

[Kevin Walling]

Anyway, you've had some great co hosts with you on. That's awesome.

[Professor Kenny]

We have a great community. Awesome. All right, so my question is This, I think this is going great. I'm one of the, you know, people who says press gas, keep going. I think Trump's doing a great job with this war effort, this military effort, I should say. And I'm, my question is, though, is there going to be a time where he's going to come before the American people and discuss what, what the end game is, and is he willing to bring people from Congress into the Oval Office and discuss this and at least get that on camera so it looks like he is letting people know what's going on instead of, you know, well, we don't like what's going on because he doesn't tell us what's going on. I mean, the generals have said we've knocked out two thirds of their capabilities and we're focused on the last third. So they have a focus on ending this thing. And I think the American that are against this need to just be, you know, let let know what's going on here so that we can get behind, get more people behind it.

[Mark Halperin]

Kevin, thoughts?

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, no, I Professor, I think you make some good points. I think part of, part of the problem with, I think some of the polling around this is people believe, to your point, that the President really hasn't spoken directly specifically about some of these, some of these great military victories that we're seeing in the decimation of Iranian capabilities. Mark and Britt talked at length about the failure of the media to really cover this in an effective way, highlighting some of those things. So, you know, will there be that moment? You know, I think the President more than anyone is a television show producer, news show producer, and will look for the optics of some triumphal event in the next couple of weeks, likely that he can highlight and say, okay, we've reached this tipping point, a level of success, and to broadcast that to the world because, again, that's what this president thrives on. Are those made for TV moments?

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, Larry.

[Larry O'Connor]

But in terms of bringing the members of Congress in at various stages, as we reach the climax here, my understanding, Professor Kenney and I know that the people in the House and the Senator are frustrated that they aren't kept in the loop. But my understanding from the administration is that it is a very real and palpable concern about leaks. There's when they do stuff like that, things do leak out, and when it comes to these military operations, they are just dead set against opening up the possibility. And if you look at it honestly, it's been remarkable how little has leaked about this, this operation at all. Really? So. And I think that's why Congress has been kept out, because they. Because they think that people in Congress leak. Because they do.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Professor Kenny, so grateful to you for all you do for two way. And it's such a great part of our community. Thank you for being here. I hope you have a great weekend.

[Kevin Walling]

And join the professor and team every day at 11. Every chat opens at 10 to continue the conversation.

[Mark Halperin]

Yep, every day. Big part of our community. Greg, welcome in. Greg's been on fire in the chat today. Greg, tell everybody doesn't know where you are. What's on your mind?

[Greg (Caller)]

Well, this Iowan's rooting for an Iowa. Iowa State final in the NCAA championships.

[Mark Halperin]

Be kind of amazing.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah, it would be.

[Greg (Caller)]

And my question is, are we really going to see President Trump's signature on our currency?

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, yeah, I think so.

[Kevin Walling]

He controls it with the control of the.

[Greg (Caller)]

Is he going to use the auto pen or sign each one individually?

[Mark Halperin]

He'll sign a few. He'll sign a few individually. He'll sign a few individually and then sell them on ebay for an extraordinary amount of money, I would say.

[Larry O'Connor]

Is it really that rare? I don't know why I have a memory of seeing President signatures on currency all the time.

[Greg (Caller)]

It's been 156 years.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah.

[Larry O'Connor]

So whose signature is there?

[Greg (Caller)]

It's the treasurer, Treasury Secretary who releases President Trump deserves this, et cetera, et cetera. So, yeah, there's two signatures.

[Kevin Walling]

Two signatures.

[Mark Halperin]

Oh, really? Okay, Greg.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah. Treasurer and the Treasurer of the United States. And. And the Treasury Secretary.

[Mark Halperin]

Great. Greg, why does it bother you so much? I've been all serious.

[Greg (Caller)]

I don't know about so much, but it seems like a little much, you know, at some point. I mean, putting his name on everything. And so anyway, just wondered your thoughts on it.

[Larry O'Connor]

Can I tell you, Greg, just this is what I hear, because I've asked that question, I've pressed on it off the record.

[Mark Halperin]

I.

[Larry O'Connor]

It's not off the record, but, you know, just I've heard that the feeling within the Trump administration is that they truly are doing remarkable things. And there has been such a negative and deceitful narrative about President Trump and he roused so many emotions that no future generations are going to put his name on anything. So they've just decided, screw it, we're just going to put our name on things now.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Greg, I know this isn't Caitlin Clark big, but how big is the. Is the basketball tournament in the state now?

[Greg (Caller)]

Oh, it's big because the Hawkeyes haven't Been to the elite 8 since 87.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah.

[Greg (Caller)]

And so yeah, this new coach is great. And yeah, and the Cyclones have been good for a while now, but of course we loaned our coach to Nebraska. And anyway, so it's going to, it's

[Mark Halperin]

going to be an incredible weekend.

[Larry O'Connor]

Big Ten athletics in general. I mean, three national championships in football in a row and now you've got what could be a complete Big Ten. Final Four. Three of the four Final Four.

[Kevin Walling]

Come on sec. Come on, sec. What the hell's going on?

[Mark Halperin]

Greg, thank you, man. Thank you for being part of two Way. All right, I'm gonna step, I'm gonna step over to SiriusXM the second hour of the morning meeting. Join me there. Call in if you would like to be part of the conversation there. And I'll be back at 5 o' clock for two way tonight. Last of the week again, the number on SiriusXM, 833-446-3496. And I'll be there 10 Eastern to 11 and then again back at 5. And gentlemen, grateful to you for making time. Larry, look forward to hearing about your panel and I'll turn the, turn the rest of the program, including a special announcement about a big two way return in the, in you in the hands of Larry and Kevin. Larry, if you haven't checked your text, please, I've got.

[Larry O'Connor]

I'm on it. I'm on it. Okay, thank you. Is Scruff gonna turn into a full grown beard? Is that what's happening here?

[Mark Halperin]

Are we gonna get a beard like Al Gore? I grow a beard when I feel I'm in the wilderness. I don't know, I'm just gonna grow it for another week and then see. But I always shave it off. You know, I once grew it and then I shaved it during breaks on Morning Joe. So I started the show with the full beard, then I went down and so I may do that again. I may do. I may reprise that here on the morning meeting. You guys will have to cover for me while I shave.

[Larry O'Connor]

I was gonna say, on legacy media, we don't do breaks exactly.

[Mark Halperin]

Not long breaks.

[Larry O'Connor]

Thank you, thank you.

[Mark Halperin]

Thank you both. Great to see you guys. Have a great weekend. Thanks, Mark.

[Kevin Walling]

You too.

[Larry O'Connor]

Be safe over there in that crazy continent.

[Kevin Walling]

All right, Dad's gone now. Now, now the phone. Now the phone starts.

[Larry O'Connor]

Kevin, should we, should we, should we let Haley in? Because she's like, she's becoming entitled, honestly.

[Kevin Walling]

And as long as she's not smoking, we do have some young people, you know, watching.

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah, don't, don't Don't. Well, she's going to be a bad influence either way, but not with tobacco usage. All right, hey, let's bring in Haley real fast for her. You came on with the Oscar predictions last time, and you were right.

[Haley]

Oh, yeah, I was right. But apparently that they voted before he ever said the comments. But whatever. You guys can pick either the Harry Potter trailer or the Bachelorette.

[Larry O'Connor]

Oh, Harry Potter trailer, I think, because I thought it was amazing.

[Haley]

I think I cried about. I watched it about 15 times, and there was two tears every time. Every time.

[Kevin Walling]

But, Haley, did you cry for the Devil Wears Pro? Did you cry for the devil wears Prada 2 trailer?

[Haley]

No, I. I screamed. I kind of like a lot of emotions.

[Kevin Walling]

A lot of emotions with these trailers.

[Larry O'Connor]

That. The new Harry Potter kid, though, is. He looks so young. He's supposed to be 11, right?

[Haley]

Yeah, he looks 11.

[Kevin Walling]

He looks eight. Yeah, he looks a little young.

[Larry O'Connor]

He looks so young.

[Haley]

I said, how is it possible that they found, 25 years later, another kid that looks exactly like Harry Potter?

[Larry O'Connor]

It's crazy.

[Professor Kenny]

It's different.

[Larry O'Connor]

It's very cool. And the Hagrid looks very cool, too. The Hagrid looks. I. I'm. It's a great trailer.

[Haley]

John Lithgow is Dumbledore. I cannot wait. It's gonna be so good.

[Kevin Walling]

All right, this is why we bring Haley on for a little pop culture.

[Mark Halperin]

We need a little.

[Kevin Walling]

We gotta do this every Friday. This is great.

[Ashley]

I know.

[Haley]

I know. All pop culture, but you guys didn't comment on the Bachelorette controversy, and I still want to know.

[Kevin Walling]

I don't know enough about that.

[Larry O'Connor]

Pretty. Oh, I do. Oh, you don't. Kevin.

[Mark Halperin]

Wow.

[Larry O'Connor]

Kevin, you listen to my radio show we've been on.

[Kevin Walling]

Was it, like an influencer thing or something like that? And, like.

[Larry O'Connor]

Yeah, well, no.

[Kevin Walling]

So she used domestic violence or something? Yes.

[Mark Halperin]

They.

[Larry O'Connor]

ABC knew that she had a domestic abuse history. They. They went ahead and cast her as the Bachelor anyway, and then TMZ released a video of her chucking a stool at her boyfriend and hitting her little daughter.

[Haley]

Seven of them.

[Larry O'Connor]

Absolutely outrageous.

[Kevin Walling]

Did they film. Did they film a whole series? Oh, it was already.

[Haley]

They canceled it three days before it was supposed to premiere.

[Larry O'Connor]

Oh, it's a complete loss. Absolute disaster.

[Haley]

It's. It's incredible.

[Larry O'Connor]

They.

[Haley]

She, like, destroyed the brand. It's incredible.

[Larry O'Connor]

Kevin, do you know. You've got to know Jillian Anderson, former Fox producer. You know, Jillian. Jillian used to be a. She was a contestant on the Bachelor.

[Kevin Walling]

Of course. Yeah.

[Larry O'Connor]

And so we had her on wmal this week to talk about it because

[Kevin Walling]

you got like a subject matter expert right there.

[Larry O'Connor]

Oh, absolutely. For everyone in the community. Gillian Anderson was a. She was a Redskins cheerleader. She was on the Bachelor. Then she was a producer at Fox News. And then she. She's really a PR person. She worked with Charlie Kirk and Turning Point usa and really sweet lady. And she used to co host with me, you know which season?

[Haley]

Do you remember which season?

[Larry O'Connor]

Oh, crud. I don't know. I don't know. But I know she's famous because she went to go accept her rose and she face planted.

[Kevin Walling]

Yeah.

[Larry O'Connor]

To do it.

[Mark Halperin]

It's a big.

[Haley]

I'm gonna Google that.

[Larry O'Connor]

Julian Andrew. And also she also did Bachelor in Paradise and she, like stripped off her clothes and jumped into the hot tub. Just saying. Not that I video many times.

[Kevin Walling]

Haley's not smoking next week.

[Larry O'Connor]

All right, Haley, you've dragged down the entire. Entire thing.

[Kevin Walling]

Never. Thanks, Haley.

[Larry O'Connor]

Mark just sent us a picture. Mark just sent us a picture of him. Are they going to post this on social media? There's a picture of Mark doing two ways with what can only be described as a white peacock walking by.

[Kevin Walling]

Look at this. In the wild.

[Larry O'Connor]

A white. And there he is on the little terrace doing two way. That's an action shot there. I didn't know there were albino peacocks. That's phenomenal. Only in France. Alrighty, Kevin, probably wrap this up.

[Kevin Walling]

I know. Well, we've got some things to highlight. We've got two Way tonight Live at five with Robbie Starbuck. So tune in there.

[Larry O'Connor]

And then Citizen McCain returns live Monday at noon. Oh, we have a special video for that.

[Kevin Walling]

Yes, we do.

[Larry O'Connor]

Do we?

[Haley]

Like I said, I will be giving birth hopefully sooner versus later.

[Larry O'Connor]

Because I can't take this anymore. It's awful.

[Ashley]

I don't want to do it without you. It's not right. Not right. Totally natural. I don't want to do it without you, but I will. Megan's return. I have her return date. And you can expect to tune in not next Wednesday, but please join us on Monday, March 30th. Ashley, please tell me that that's the right day because I didn't double check my calendar. Yes. Okay. That's the third whatever day Monday is. This upcoming Monday, we will be going back to two days a week. Megan will return and everything will go back to normal. And I will pipe down and probably tell you fewer stories about quadruple amputees. But we had a good run.

[Larry O'Connor]

There have been way too many quadruple amputees. In the news lately. That's very exciting. Our long national nightmare is over Megan Mc.

[Kevin Walling]

Like MacArthur in the Philippines. Our dear friend Megan McCain returns on Monday.

[Larry O'Connor]

I got. And no, none too soon because Ben's been texting me saying she's got to get back to work. She's driving me up the wall. Please, please get the show back up. So that's very exciting. My wife just knit a little. A little hat from the baby. So we gotta.

[Kevin Walling]

I love that. Well, we gotta get photos of that, too. And again, congratulations to Megan and Ben.

[Larry O'Connor]

We will get on that. And then next week, the morning meeting returns, of course, but with something special. Let's go to. Don't we have a video for that? Or is that a different video?

[Kevin Walling]

I think we have. I think we have a video for.

[Larry O'Connor]

Oh, the video was for Citizen McCain. I read my texts wrong. All right, never mind. There's nothing special about.

[Kevin Walling]

This is what happens when dad leaves. It all goes down.

[Larry O'Connor]

Meeting will be just the same old regular, no excitement. Morning.

[Kevin Walling]

I'll be back next week. Well, I'll be back next week probably.

[Larry O'Connor]

Until then, if I make it through this weekend, at least my trip.

[Kevin Walling]

Got to get you out of Texas. In the meantime, hope everybody has a great weekend and we'll see you all next week.

[Larry O'Connor]

Thanks, guys. Take care.

[Mark Halperin]

Before the music comes back, one idea. Between work and family, who has time for long sports shows? TikTok gives you quick updates and highlights in seconds. Easy to watch, easy to keep up. Download TikTok now.