Israel Says It's Killed Iran's Security Chief as Iran "Unleashes New Crackdown" on Its Own People

Summary

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The Morning Meeting — March 17, 2026

Episode Theme:
“Israel Says It's Killed Iran's Security Chief as Iran 'Unleashes New Crackdown' on Its Own People”

Overview

On this St. Patrick’s Day episode, Mark Halperin and his panel (Larry O’Connor and Jaime) dissect the breaking news that Israel has assassinated Iran's top security chief, exploring the implications for the Iran war and broader Middle East diplomacy. A significant part of the conversation also deals with domestic U.S. politics—upcoming elections, political strategy, economic trends—and the evolving American response to the unfolding war and its effects at home and abroad. Throughout, the panel exchanges light banter reflecting the holiday, but quickly pivots into serious analysis of world events.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. St. Patrick’s Day Atmosphere & Warm-Up

• Panel jokes about St. Patrick’s Day, the President’s full-day calendar of Irish events, and Irish heritage.
• Lighthearted banter about personal St. Patrick’s Day traditions.
• [02:13] Jaime: “New Orleans has an incredible Irish population… The St. Patty's Day parade in New Orleans is one of my favorites. It doesn’t rival Chicago, obviously, but we do well…”

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2. President's Schedule & Washington Scene

• Minute-by-minute rundown of the President’s heavy St. Patrick’s Day schedule, including bilateral meetings with Irish leaders.

• Updates on House and Senate briefings regarding America's 250th anniversary and Iran.

• [08:33] Jaime: "My group text says the meteorologists and the teachers unions are in cahoots."

• Analysis of oil prices, stock market resilience, and the Fed’s anticipated moves.

• [10:07] Mark: “Primary elections already underway in the land of Lincoln. We'll talk about that.”

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3. Israel’s Strike on Iran’s Security Chief — Impact & Implications

[11:34 – 16:00] Main Segment

• Breaking News: Israel claims to have killed Ali Larjani (top security official) and the leader of the Basij force in Iran.

• Reaction:

  • Larry: “[12:01] It’s both symbolic... responsible for a lot of the violence... also tactically important... This could actually create more chaos in their command structure and... lead us closer to potentially some sort of negotiated deal or a surrender of some sort.”
  • Jaime: “[12:35] I agree with Larry... this may be the first couple steps toward [an endgame]... once we've taken out who's been commanding these forces... we get a lot closer to them coming to the table and ready to negotiate.”

• Risk for Successors:

  • Larry: “[13:03] Who wants to take their place? I mean... they're the number one target...”

• Prospects for Negotiation:

  • [13:46] Mark introduces a recent conciliatory interview with the Iranian Parliament’s speaker, suggesting possible openness to negotiations.

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4. Diplomacy: Endgame Scenarios & Mediation Tracks

• Possible Interlocutors: The Iranian speaker, Arab Gulf states (UAE, Oman, Qatar), and Steve Witkoff are floated as potential diplomatic actors.
• Negotiation Preconditions:
  • [14:56] Mark: “President’s big demands... get the nuclear material out of Iran and American access to some of their oil revenue.”
• Who Speaks for Iran?:
  • Jaime: “[15:39] Can we trust that he’s speaking on behalf of the people of Iran? ... Who do we even negotiate with?”

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5. US Political Response & Messaging on the War

• Debate Over Public Messaging:

  • Mark: “[17:31] Shouldn’t there be some voice from the United States every day saying, we’re not at war with the Iranian people, our war is with your oppressive government? ... Or is it too soon for that?”
  • Larry: “[18:22] No, it’s too soon for that... aggression in the Strait of Hormuz continues... they want to see some victory there... before they start discussing ... who we’ll talk to and how.”

• International Reluctance: Other nations reluctant to participate directly in US-led coalition operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

• China’s Interest:

  • Larry: “[20:33] China is the missing card here... China needs that Strait open more than others... they have some influence there.”
  • Mark: Some disagree, suggesting Europe & Japan are more desperate; China has reserves and alternate supplies.

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6. Economic Fallout & Political Ramifications

• Markets' Reaction:

  • Oil just below $100/barrel; Dow futures up.
  • [23:41] Kevin Hassett (guest): “Iran’s strategy... appeared to be that they could hurt the U.S. economy... while gas prices are higher, the economy as a whole is sound. And there’s no way... President Trump’s going to back down...”

• Democratic Skepticism & Opposition:

  • Jaime: "[25:02] Every now and again, some things just shouldn’t be political... but if this thing does end well and our country comes out on top, that should be good for everybody..."
  • Skepticism persists over lack of transparency, concerns over the president’s motivations, and absence of consultation with Democratic leaders.

• Political Risk:

  • Larry: “[27:08] Democrats might be playing the same sort of political gamble Republicans are... the midterms are not going to be decided based on frank foreign policy... it’s the economy, stupid... their real liability is halting DHS funding at a time of military conflict.”

• Shifting War Rationale:

  • Debate about whether the administration’s explanations and war aims have shifted, possibly muddying public perceptions.

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7. **Other Domestic Politics:

Illinois and Maine Primaries, Congressional Dynamics**

• Illinois Senate Democratic Primary:

  • Jaime provides a detailed rundown of the major candidates—Roger Kristomarthi, Robin Kelly, Juliana Stratton—coalitions, and role of big money and identity dynamics.
  • “[33:14] I need like two hours to talk about this. This is my favorite subject... they have proven to maintain all of its weirdness and ridiculousness.”

• Republicans in Illinois: Both Jaime and Larry admit to not knowing the GOP nominee, reflecting the state party's weakness.

• Maine Senate Primary:

  • Critique and dissection of a new hard-hitting ad by Governor Janet Mills against primary rival Graham Platner.
  • Concerns over Platner's controversial comments and whether the ad will be effective in general, even if Mills loses the primary.
  • Larry: “[41:47] Not clear... Platner will attract more grassroots energy as a populist... but I don’t know if that translates to victory in Maine.”

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8. Audience Q&A & Societal Concerns

a. Islam, Security, and Terror Threats

• Audience member Rebecca asks about the “globalization of Islam and risk to America,” referencing recent terror attacks.

  • Jaime: “[50:21] I don't want to dive into any realm of Islamophobia... there are bad people... who want to do this country harm outside of their faith... I think the threat is high, and it’s getting higher, but I don’t think it’s based on any particular religion.”

  • Larry: “[51:36] What is disturbing... is that too many elected officials in Western countries... feel intimidated and incapable of calling out and doing something about the crime and violence... for fear they’ll be called Islamophobic... It is something officials in the west need to be bold enough and courageous enough to address.”

b. Casualty Reporting in the Iran War

• Dave from South Carolina brings up inflated or misleading reporting on U.S. casualties (“200 injured” without context).

  • Larry: “[54:18] It’s hard to have this conversation... without making words get pulled out of context... Every person... who volunteered knows the risks... As tragic as each one of those deaths are, compared to other engagements, it’s actually been relatively low.”

  • Jaime: “[55:46] ...Regardless of media and clickbait, our hearts go out to families... I want to keep that front of mind... freedom is not free...”

c. American Messaging to Iranian People

• Colleen Patrick: The US should focus its messaging on supporting the Iranian people, not just targeting the regime.

  • Jaime “[57:56] ... we're not in the PR phase... But I agree... conversations like these can be squashed ... by the administration going on TV every day having this conversation.”

  • Larry: Questions whether the message can reach the Iranian street or regional audiences, but agrees on its value if feasible.

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Notable Quotes

• Larry O’Connor on the killing in Iran:
  “[12:01] It’s symbolic to the people... but also tactically important because reports are that he was making a lot of the decisions absent any other Supreme Leader...”

• Jaime on negotiating with Iran:
  “[16:27] I think I would start with Witkoff... But look... Qatar has been such a broker... I can’t see them not being a part of this conversation.”

• Mark Halperin on U.S. messaging:
  “[17:31] Shouldn’t there be some voice... saying, we’re not at war with the Iranian people, our war is with your oppressive government?”

• Jaime on Democrats’ approach:
  “[25:02] Every now and again, some things are just shouldn’t be political... if this thing does end well... that should be good for everybody.”

• Larry on DHS Funding:
  “[27:08] Their real political liability is the fact that they’re halting all progress with regard to funding... at a time of this military conflict. That suggests they can’t be trusted with... responsibility.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Description | Timestamp | |---------|-------------|-----------| | Opening Banter & St. Patrick’s Day | Hosts warm up, share holiday rituals, discuss White House events | 01:17 - 03:22 | | President’s & DC Daybook | Rundown of today’s political schedule and key meetings | 05:46 - 10:07 | | Israel Kills Iran Security Chief | Deep-dive into impact and symbolism | 11:34 - 16:00 | | Who Speaks for Iran? Negotiations & Parliaments | Potential negotiators; legitimacy questions | 13:46 - 16:27 | | Diplomatic Tracks & China | Mediation options, China’s stake | 20:33 - 21:45 | | U.S. Politics & War Messaging | Partisan responses, messaging strategy | 23:41 - 27:53 | | Domestic Politics: Illinois/Maine | Primary races, campaign ads, coalition dynamics | 33:14 - 45:57 | | Audience Q&A: Islam, Security, Casualties | Handling terror, reporting war wounds, ethnic/political tensions | 48:31 - 57:00 | | Messaging to Iran/Region | Should U.S. speak more to Iranian people? | 57:02 - 59:11 | | End/Sign-off | Banter, upcoming episodes, St. Patrick’s Day plans | 60:14 - end |

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Memorable Moments

• Larry’s deadpan on Irishness: “[02:42] As an O’Connor, I have to say that all the St. Patrick’s Days in my past are kind of a blur at this point.”
• Jaime’s passion for Illinois politics: “[33:14] ...this is my favorite subject to talk about the last couple days. I love Illinois. I love Illinois politics.”
• Robust audience participation, with deep/controversial questions about American security and the war’s messaging.

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Panel Tone & Style

The Morning Meeting blends fast-moving, informed analysis with irreverent humor, pop culture asides, and openness to audience engagement (via hand-raising and Q&A). The hosts are candid, opinionated, and occasionally self-deprecating, but earnest when talking through war, national security, and political stakes. The language is conversational, sharp, and at times pointed, reflecting both the urgency of the news and the experience of the panelists.

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Conclusion

This St. Patrick’s Day special distills a volatile moment in U.S.-Iranian relations, with the Israel strike cast as a possible turning point toward settlement while panelists track shifting U.S. politics, messaging challenges, and the complex grind of both war and election season. The hosts urge vigilance in messaging—toward both Iran and the U.S. public—while challenging each other (and the audience) to parse media narratives, policy nuances, and the unpredictable churn of American democracy.

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For those catching up:
This episode is a must-listen for understanding the present phase of the Iran conflict, its interconnected political and economic dimensions, and the live wire of American public reaction—all captured in the dynamic, candid, and at times witty spirit of The Morning Meeting.

Transcript

[A]

Pull up a chair Come join the day at the two way morning meeting there's room at the table have your say Two way, two way, two way hey, morning light and voices strong at the two way morning meeting different views but we belong Speak it bold, speak it kind Leave a little grace behind Peace and love will lead the way Conversation wins the day all are welcome take your seat different minds but one heartbeat Two way, two way Grace for me and grace for you Two way, two way we'll talk it through. Two way way, two way two way two way morning meeting.

[B]

All right, everybody. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Welcome to the morning meeting. Those of you listening on the podcast missed it. A bunch of extraordinary images. Jaime, who looks very good as a human being, looks even better as a cartoon leprechaun, truly. And Larry looks almost. Larry, as a cartoon leprechaun, looks almost indistinguishable.

[C]

A little taller. A little taller.

[B]

Anyway, welcome in, everybody. Thank you for being part of the two way experience. Hi, Momore is here. Larry O'. Connor, on this St. Patrick's Day, the vice president at this hour is doing a St. Patrick's Day event at his home. And the president, as all of his predecessors have done, as far as I can recall, covering presidents spending his day dealing with St Patrick's Day. It's just a. It's a, you know, many Americans of Irish descent, and I'm not against St. Patrick's Day, but, man, like, there's no other holiday like this. Like, the. The turkey thing is like an hour, but the president spends a whole day at the White House, on Capitol Hill, back at the White house, dealing with St. Patrick's Day. Jaime, what does St. Patrick's Day mean to you?

[D]

Oh, that's a tough question. I don't know. I will say this New Orleans has an incredible Irish population, And so the St. Patty's Day parade in New Orleans is one of my favorites. It doesn't rival Chicago, obviously, but we do well for ourselves in New Orleans.

[B]

Do they make the river green in New Orleans?

[D]

It's so brown you can't make it green.

[B]

Not enough dye to do that. Larry, reflections on. On this St. Patrick's Day. Like, I'm David and you're a Brit Hume.

[C]

I appreciate that. And as an O', Connor, I have to say that all the St Patrick's Day in my past are kind of a blur at this point. I. It's all sort of melds together and I can't remember a damn thing I've ever done. In fact, I'M not going to remember any of this. I'm already completely gone.

[B]

I looked on Chat G for the, the right ratio between Diet Coke and Bailey's and I just, I just went with eight to one.

[D]

Yeah, that's good.

[C]

All right, so here's the same for all the amateurs out there who have Never really enjoyed St. Patrick's Day the right way. The key is not to mix anything with anything. Just, just pick one thing and just stick with it straight. Preferably whiskey, green milk. Anyway, you're welcome.

[B]

Thank you for being part of the two way community. As the song says, grace, presumption of grace extended to all peace, love and understanding. If you're here on the platform, we'd love to have you be part of the conversation. Raise your hand if you want to be in in on it. And we'd love to hear from you. We had some, we had some great folks yesterday. Let's keep it going. Just be part of the conversation. Regardless of your view on the conflict with Iran or anything else, raise your hand if you're watching on x or on YouTube. In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, please, no smack in the chat. Just peace, love and understanding here. That's what we do. Quick word from a sponsor and then right into the daybook. Then Jaime, Larry and I are going to kick around a bunch of stuff. There's some late breaking developments we'll tell you about, some overnight and some this morning, and then again to your questions and comments. So thank you for being here. Cozy Earth Once again, I say the good folks at Cozy Earth. You're not marketing enough to dogs. Here's the latest email I got from a member of the two way community. I'll describe it vividly for those listening to the podcast. This is from Lynn. Hi Mark. Our rescue pit bull, Charlie thanks you for recommending this outrageously luxurious blanket. And there you see Charlie the pit bull sprawled out on a massive bubble cuddle blanket. You can get the bubble cuddle blanket, everything else on the cozyearth.com website at 20% off by using the promo code. Morning. Thank you for thinking about buying something from Cozy Earth. If you don't like the bubble cuddle blanket for yourself or for your dog or child or spouse, try something else. Try the towels, the sheets, the socks, the pants, everything available to you. Cozy Earth. Designed with natural, breathable, temperature regulating materials, the sheets are magical. They'll cool you when you need to be cooled and they'll keep you warm when you need to be warm. Right now, discover how Karen every Detail. Transform simple routines into moments of true comfort and ease. Go to cozyearth.com use the promo code MORNING for 20% off.

[E]

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[B]

screen all right, here we go. Gentlemen, the president today. First, let's look at the pool. And covering the president today, GB News is the secondary TV correspondent. That's a. That's a bunch of foreigners, right?

[C]

That's like they've recently opened their DC operation.

[B]

Okay, well, I don't know. I'm gonna. I want to be in the prime minister's pool. If they can be in our pool. And then center square, new media. You guys know what that is?

[C]

Larry, I believe Paul Lind started that.

[B]

Paul lynch, center square. That's right. In the modern. In the modern Hollywood squares. Who had the center square?

[C]

Whoopi Goldberg, I believe.

[B]

Whoopi.

[C]

Okay, and then. Or maybe Jim James. Maybe Jim Jay Bullock at some point,

[B]

I think Jim Jay Bullock on the days Whoopi could not be there. Larry, you're all over it. All right, here's the president's schedule again, largely about Ireland. I don't understand why. Once again, 8:00am Executive time, which means again, Mr. President, thank you for spending your morning with us. And then he's got 10:45, participates in the greeting with. How do you pronounce that thing, Larry? The dash.

[C]

Oh, I cannot. I think I Dan do the Gaelic thing.

[B]

Oh, how do you pronounce that guy's name?

[C]

Ambassador.

[B]

Yeah, the guy from Ireland. Huh? The T sock of Ireland. 1045, 11, participates in a bilateral meeting in the oval at the pool there. So we hear. We could hear from the president at 11. He could give like he did yesterday. Two press conferences. Friends of Ireland luncheon on the hill at 12:10. We'll see how the Democrats treat him. The Republicans will slap his back, literally and figuratively. 230. Policy meeting. Closed. Press 4 o'. Clock. Signing time. Close. Press 5 o'. Clock. Back to Ireland stuff. Greeting with the deputy prime minister of Northern Ireland. 5 5. A greeting back with the T sock. And then 5 20. My favorite thing. The participates in the Shamrock bowl presentation. The vice president, as I said, meeting with the TSOC and his wife, Mrs. Mary Martin. She was incredible as Larry Hagman's mom.

[C]

And Peter Pan. And Peter Pan and, and, and. Oh, God. What else? Nellie Nelly Forbush of South Pacific. I'm gonna watch that man right out of.

[B]

Right out of my hair.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Valley High will find you, Larry.

[C]

I told you I was drunk.

[B]

Yeah. St. Patrick's Day breakfast at the Vice President's house was not invited. Capitol Hill the Larry, there was no bad weather. Hi. There was no. You're not in D.C. are you? There was no bad weather.

[C]

Oh, no, it was. It wasn't to the extent that they promised. There were no tornadoes, but we had some. Our wind was pretty rough and we had some sideways rain for about 10 minutes.

[D]

My group text says the meteorologists and the teachers unions are in cahoots.

[B]

Yeah, that's funny. House Republicans are getting a briefing on the plans for the Americas 250th anniversary at this hour. Then they meet. They have their regular conference meeting. Mike Johnson and the leadership press conference at 10am Eastern Time. All Eastern time, by the way. There's. According to Axio, Steve Witkoff's gonna be at the Hill at some point briefing a small bipartisan group of senators on Iran. That should be interesting. Amidst rumors and reports that he's been texting with the Iranian foreign minister. Democrat House leaders hold their weekly press conference at 10:45. Already talked about the President going up to the Hill. House Democrats caucus meeting at 2:00'.

[F]

Clock.

[B]

Chuck Schumer hosts a roundtable with Democratic senators and energy and utility experts on how the Trump administration's policies are driving up energy prices. At 315, the head of Stratcom testifies before House Armed Services Subcommittee on the posture of the strategic forces going into 2027. And the annual congressional football game is at 7 o' clock tonight at NATS Park. You guys ever been to that?

[D]

No, I didn't realize they had one.

[B]

Is it, is it. Is it full on tackle?

[C]

I didn't realize it was going to

[D]

happen until two days ago.

[C]

Yeah, it's got to be flag football. Is it actual football or soccer?

[B]

Michael, see if you can find any video of that thing. I would like to see.

[D]

I think it's American football.

[B]

Primary elections already underway in the land of Lincoln. We'll talk about that. A lot of Democratic contests people are interested in. President Zelensky is In the UK for some Indian food and to meet with Keir Starmer. Not sure about the Indian food, but he's meeting with Keir Starmer. And the Prime Minister of the UAE is holding talks on the Iran war with Jordan's King Abdullah in Dubai today. Oh, to be a fly on the wall while they waste a lot of time talking about that. And the Fed starts its two day meeting decision expected tomorrow. Nobody expects there to cut rates anytime this year really at this point, despite the President's insistence that they do overnight. Oh, somebody texted me. That's economics. We'll talk about this in a minute. But oil is at $95 a barrel. I think it was slightly higher than that earlier. So it's, but it's still, you know, not, not going towards 200 quickly or at all. And the Dow futures are up right now. So again, another, another day of defiance by the markets of the doomsayers. Okay. Overnight, Israel claimed to have killed two people. No one seems to be disputing it. I think the Iranians may have even confirmed it, including, you can put up the headline for this. Ali Larjani, who has been one of, it's hard to describe, maybe kind of like a Prime minister, I don't really know, but in charge of the security, top top official. And then also they killed another guy, they say the head of the oppressive Baji force. These are two guys who obviously knew they, they could be targeted. And Larry, Johnny was like strolling around on live tv, so a couple days ago maybe or yesterday. So he wasn't, he wasn't like living in bunkers. But Larry, people are saying that this is potentially a major development. Is it symbolic? Is it substantive? What does this mean?

[C]

I think it's both. It's symbolic to the people. I've seen a lot of videos of expatriates who said this guy was a terror and he was responsible for a lot of the violence that we saw against civilians and protesters. But I think it's also tactically important because reports are that he was making a lot of the decisions absent any other Supreme Leader, you know, directives. And so this could actually create more chaos in their command structure and it could lead us closer to potentially some sort of negotiated deal or a surrender of some sort.

[B]

Jaime?

[D]

Yeah, look, I agree with Larry. I know we're going to talk about endgame in a little bit, but this may be the first couple steps toward that. And we talked about this last week, you know, if we once we identified and sort of taken out, take out who's been commanding these forces. I think we get a lot closer to them coming to the table and ready to negotiate. So this is a huge, both symbolic and tactical success for this mission, I would say.

[C]

Because who wants to take their place? I mean, who wants to step. Okay, I'll take this job now. Because they're the number one target, particularly

[D]

when the President is threatening you every day. You better not meet.

[B]

Yeah, here's someone who may be attractive to the United States and to Israel to negotiate with. This interview is from yesterday, by the way. Two Way has expanded. This is basically the Iranian version of the morning meeting. Heavy licensing fee paid with oil, which for some reason we haven't received yet. Anyway, this is the current speaker of the Iranian parliament. And again, he may be someone the US And Israel can do business with. The President's big demands, I can tell you, are going to be get the nuclear material out of Iran and American access to some of their oil revenue. And that's going to be a big. A big step along with everything else. It's going to be a big step. Here's a little bit of the Iranian speaker talking. Maybe you want to interpret his tone and his words. Talking peacefully about trying to find an accommodation to end the war. His tone does seem conciliatory. And some people are telling me that he's. He's a potential interlocutor. But the other is if they're making another season of that Claire Dane show, I would cast this guy as something. He just is. Way he's dressed, the way he looks, the beard. Homeland. I put him in Homeland.

[C]

This is the speaker of the House, right?

[B]

Yeah, this is the speaker of the

[C]

House or the speaker of the House, it seemed. But by the way, also, I spend way too much attention on my set design. If they're able to get away with.

[B]

Right.

[C]

It's pretty.

[B]

But for wartime. But for wartime, it's pretty good. His name is Golly Boff and. And it's possible he'll step up. They got to find somebody.

[C]

But no, the key, assuming the translation is right, Mark, the fact that he's saying we have no interest in escalating I think is definitely an opening here and an indication because that's the last thing we've heard from any of the people who are getting in front of the camera right now on behalf of the regime.

[D]

Who. Who's he speaking? Who's he speaking on behalf of? Who's he speaking?

[B]

That guy's known as the Mark Halpert of Iran. You know, I don't know what his name is. Why do you ask?

[D]

But Mark, can we trust that he's speaking on behalf of the people of Iran or he's speaking, I mean, so I don't know. I think there's, it's still so questionable there, who is actually, who's leading, whose ethos are we following and what does all of this mean? So who do we even negotiate with?

[B]

Yeah, we should have some sort of countdown. Not countdown or count up clock, day, whatever. We still haven't seen the supreme, the new Supreme Leader. Right. Like, that guy needs to surface before too long. So let's talk about endgame scenarios again. All these rumors about Steve Witkoff talking to the Iranians, some of the Arab Gulf states trying to have conversation. I'll just say if there's a diplomatic track, is it, is it Witkoff, is it, is it first through Oman or uae? Where's the. Where, where, where are you looking for the most fruitful diplomatic track?

[D]

Yeah, I mean, I think I would start with Witkoff. I want, I want to see what his thoughts are and what, what the negotiation sort of structure will be. I think he's going to set sort of the tone for where they, where they begin. But look, I think, you know, based on what the President said about encouraging allies and friends to get involved, that's going to be a big piece of how this conversation actually starts, too. In the uae, they've been beat down as much as they've been trying to, you know, cover up how, just how bad it's been over there. But they're in the middle of this as well. And so I think all of that's going to be taken into account. Obviously, Jordan's going to be a part of this conversation. And then Qatar, you can't ever discount how much Qatar is part of these sort of conversations as well. And Qatar has been such a broker of about Middle east talks that I can't see them not being a part of this conversation.

[B]

Larry, I don't cover the State Department full time, but have you seen Marco Rubio on camera in like five days?

[C]

I made a joke on my morning show that he's already at the Bay of Pigs putting on his camo war paint and getting ready for the next assault in Cuba. No, he hasn't.

[B]

I know he's focused. I know he's focused on that, and I know he's been somewhat deferential to, or delegational maybe to Witoff. But, but which just strikes me, this is what strikes me. You hear all the military commanders and they're talking about the prosecution of the war. And when the president talks about a possible deal, he's not very specific and he stopped trying to inspire the Iranian people to rise up pretty much. Wouldn't it make sense? And again, I'm not being, I'm just asking, I'm not being critical or, or, and maybe I'm wrong, maybe he's given speeches that I haven't seen covered, but shouldn't there be some voice from the United States every day saying, we're not at war with the Iranian people, our war is with your oppressive government. We'll happily settle this war if the following conditions are met. Give us your nuclear material, you know, whatever. Like, shouldn't that be part of the dialogue? Or is it too soon for that because we're just about the war?

[C]

No, it's too soon for that. I think that we're still in the, in the sort of the pummeling part of that.

[B]

But can we do both? What's wrong with doing both simultaneously?

[C]

Well, because the aggression in the Strait of Hormuz continues. And I think that that's, I think that they, they want to see some victory there or at least some, some backing off militarily before they start discussing, okay, here's who we'll talk to and here's how we'll do it. Oh, by the way, and Marco Rubio has been engaged, but, you know, the president has put his players on the board and Rubio's spot right now is to communicate with the Senate. He's still very popular, well, somewhat popular with the Senate, and he's been doing overtures up and down Pennsylvania Avenue from Foggy Bout.

[B]

Yeah, that's a good point. Endgame. I mean, not endgame, the straight. Rather, we just talked endgame. The strait here. Where are we going here? Other countries don't seem keen to participate there. There is American military efforts to degrade Iran's capacity to hurt ships. Other countries are looking for solutions, but don't seem to want to participate in a coalition. So, you know, it's Tuesday. When, when, when will ships go through the strait with impunity anytime soon?

[D]

I mean, I don't know. I don't think any type. Yeah, go ahead, Larry.

[C]

I still, I'm still aiming around the Easter time. I think we've got a few weeks and I think we're going to be all right.

[D]

I think so, too.

[C]

And don't forget, France got an 8 out of 10 yesterday from the president, which is, you know, for France is pretty good in terms of.

[D]

You also have to admit, I mean, look, the president's asking these countries and these friends for assistance now, but a lot of them are saying that he didn't give them a call and give them a heads up that he was going to make this strike. So I think there's some, there's some hurt villains there. But in the day, these, these, these countries need this strait to work and operate much more than we do. A lot of their oil reserves coming from there. So they don't really have much of a choice. And I think, you know, the President, we always, you know, I sometimes think about, say that he doesn't have a vision or a plan, but it's quite clear that his going to Venezuela before going over to Iran was a part of this master plan. And so, so America is going to be in a much better position than some of these other countries. And so he's put them in an almost impossible place to not come in and help us get this thing back open.

[C]

And I still think that China is the missing card here. I'm going to continue to ride that horse, that China needs that straight open more than others. And I still think that they have some influence there. Yeah, I agree.

[B]

So the summit was delayed, the president said maybe a month. You know, the Chinese want to summit and they want a summit that's organized. Undercovered. The New York Times had a story, I didn't see it anywhere else, that what Bessant was talking about and what's his name, Jameson Greer, is they're going to form like a committee to keep sort of more directly in touch on trade and have rules of the road for certain sectors and that'd be a pretty big deliverable and it's what the Chinese would love because they love organized things and they love regularity and all of that. Larry, you said the Chinese need the straight open. Some of the people I'm talking to disagree. Say it's a higher priority for the Europeans, for the Japanese, for the Indians because the Chinese are getting some oil through and they've got their own reserves. So here's my question between now and the summit. Is there, is there, is there Iran business that the President's going to do with Xi or basically not. Is there, is he touched? What does he want from Xi now?

[C]

Yeah, I think through Besson. I think it is interesting that Besson is sort of, he seems to be heading up the entire Chinese delegation, doesn't he?

[B]

And I think that that's got the action on that.

[C]

I just learned of that from you just now. I had not seen that. That.

[B]

It's a really interesting story. Go read it. It's a New York Times story. I've never seen this floated and basically it seemed like that was going to be the big deliverable and maybe it still will be at the summit.

[D]

I do think some of this delays on our side as well. I mean, look, the Supreme Court is taking some of the President's tools away as it relates to tariffs, I think particularly the 301. And so as they continue negotiation and set the summit for China, the President obviously wants to go in with a new toolbox, particularly potential tariffs that, that he can employ if it gets to that place. So I think they're back at the table trying to figure out which tools they can use, particularly for China and other Asian countries.

[B]

Yeah. So you have to ask yourself, just as in the wake of the tariffs, the economy took a hit, but the markets took a hit, but didn't, didn't go insane in terms of crashing right now, as I said before, Dow futures up, we're eight minutes away from the open. Oil still is below $100 a barrel up above where it was before the conflict, but not headed towards 200 right now. And, and, and the President's plausibly right. When the conflict ends, oil could come down, it could come down substantially, particularly if the United States makes the deal. Though I think the President wants to take some of the Iranian oil for the United States. It's some combination of substantive belief that the President and his team know what they're doing, some belief that the President will taco and the war will end, but also a belief that the war will end whether you want to call it taco or not. And I believe some sense of agreement with Mr. Kevin Hassett, who went on CNBC this morning to talk up the economy yet again. 110, please.

[G]

The US economy is still through this fundamentally strong that we're still seeing strong signs of productivity growth. We had The Business Roundtable CEOs in town in Washington about a week ago and everybody was talking about how solid things look. And so, so the other thing to mention is that Iran's strategy appeared to be that they could hurt the US Economy and then that would make President Trump slow down. In fact, they're not hurting the US Economy very much at all. While gas prices are higher, the economy as a whole is sound. And there's no way that President Trump's going to back down until he sees this through to the end.

[B]

So, Ahmed, there's two pieces that are being widely read. One in Al Jazeera's website by an academic and one in the Atlantic, very bullish on how the war is going and saying we're in the military phase now. People who say this is a disaster or quagmire are wrong. And then the economy, which is not cratering. I continue to listen to Democrat, Democratic members of Congress, governors talking down the war, saying no end game disaster for the economy, et cetera. I continue to ask you and other Democrats this question. Isn't this potentially a problem if this, if this ends well for the United States? Won't Democrats look like they were, you know, foolish and timid in the face of a very aggressive move by the president?

[D]

Well, look, I think every, every now and again, some things are just shouldn't be political. And so if this thing does end well and our country comes out on top, that should be good for everybody. And so I don't think regardless if you're a Democrat or Republican, you should look at that from a political perspective. And so if we can bring these costs down, we can get some more oil and we can bring the gas prices down and set people up for a better life, that's good for everybody.

[B]

I hear you saying that. But, but just if you listen to the senators from Connecticut, for instance, they say the president of the United States is destroying America. It's destroying the Middle east, destroying our economy. What are they going to say if that turns out not to be true?

[D]

Well, we don't know yet. And we don't know if that's not going to be true yet. So I think what they're saying is it seems like the president doesn't have a grand plan for what he's trying to accomplish in the Middle East. He said a year ago that he had gone in and he had completely obliterated any capability of nuclear, nuclear capability in Iran. And here we are using that as a tactic to get into this war right now. And so I think Democrats don't trust the president. They don't believe the president is doing it for the right reasons. And let's just be quite frank. The president has not given them any reason to trust them. He doesn't go to Capitol Hill and talk to Democrats. And so what are they supposed to do? Go in and say, yes, the president's great, he's amazing, let's trust him. This is not the way it works. It's okay to have a strong opposition party in this country. It's okay to have a strong opposition party that is going to stand to the president and say hey, sir, maybe you're not thinking about this the full length of it. And so I don't want admonish Democrats for saying what they're saying right now. If it turns out that things happen to be okay after this insurgent is over, then that's fine, then we'll move on and we'll figure it out. But if it does not, I think Democrats are going to go on the record and say we were sounding this alarm very early on and we believe that the president did not take the right direction. Now, here's what, here's what we're looking at. Three weeks, $11 billion, 13Americans have been killed. And so it's going to be hard to use those metrics as we get more into the midterms, more into this year as an indicator for success.

[B]

Larry,

[C]

I think the Democrats might be playing the same sort of political gamble that Republicans are, which is ultimately, the midterms are not going to be decided based on frank foreign policy and military incursions. So, you know, if, if Trump ends up being successful and the Democrats are on the losing end of it, oh, well, it doesn't matter. It's the economy, stupid. That said, I think that their real political liability is the fact that they're halting all progress with regard to funding Department of Homeland Security at a time of this military conflict. That suggests that they can't be trusted with power, power, responsibility and the majority. And if the Republicans were adept politically, and that is a huge if right now, they would make more hate out of that than they are. Right.

[B]

I wish they would. Right.

[D]

I think that's a good, that's a good point, Larry, because, and that's one of the things that keep me up at night, honestly, and particularly as the homeland itself becomes a little bit more fraught and we have all these incidents that are popping up. This is, this is the issue the Democrats have got to be very careful about, particularly this week and how they're discussing this on the Senate floor.

[B]

What happened to the kind of refrain that the president needs to explain why he did this more? That was like a drumbeat of the thing. And you hear that occasionally. Is it because everybody's focused on the strait? Is it because the war is going better now by some measures? Where did that debate go?

[C]

From my perspective, it looks like they were just throwing whatever against the wall and see what would stick. First, it was there was no imminent threat. Next, he hasn't made the case, the American people. Then it was, oh, they keep changing their reasons for doing this.

[B]

That's partly true, but and whatever works,

[C]

they stick with whatever doesn't. They move on.

[B]

But even some Republicans were saying it and now I just don't hear that right now. All right, J.D. vance, we do this quick. Just if you think in pure 2028 prism, nothing else. He spoke yesterday, you know, there's a story in the Atlantic about him, comparing him to Mike pence. Just pure 2028 has the war so far for his prospects of not just being the nominee but getting elected president. Hurt him, helped him or no change? Here's the Atlantic headline. J.D. vance learns what Mike Pence already knows. The vice president is realizing that signing on with Donald Trump might seem like a shortcut to the top, but it's actually a guarantee of humiliation. Larry, has the worst so far hurt his chances of being president in 2018. Helped it or no change.

[C]

Taking into account that this is the Atlantic, I think if anything has hurt him, it's been the rise of Marco Rubio. I don't think J.D. vance is helped or hurt in terms you're talking about the nomination, right?

[B]

No. Becoming president, meaning both. Winning the nomination, winning the general helped him, hurt him or no judge.

[C]

I honestly don't think that it has affected him. I think if anything, Marco Rubio has been helped by the events of the

[B]

last three or four months, but helped him, hurt him or no change.

[D]

I think being the vice president ultimately will help him. And I look, I talk to many Republicans all the time and they seem to think that he is still in a really good position. But what I am looking forward to seeing and I would judge in a couple of weeks and a couple months, Marco Rubio cannot go out and campaign in the midterms, but J.D. vance can. And so I'm looking to see how J.D. vance responds to being out in the states. Again. He's going to campaign far more than President Trump can. He's going to essentially I, if I were him, like Kamala Harris tried to do, build these really great relationships with these members of Congress those are running for Senate, the governors. And so he's going to go out there and build a spider web that actually may be much more fruitful than we can see right now.

[B]

All right, one more Iran thing and then two more quick topics and then to your questions. So again, if you're here in the two way platform, please raise your hand. If you've never raised your hand, today we could be the day where you get right in the conversation. Today is March 17th. You guys both know what March 20th is, right? You guys both know March 20th, first day is spring here in the United States. Larry, but that's just part of your jingoistic, isolationist, America first attitude. Do you know what it is in Iran? Do you know what it is in Iran? March 20. Put it up on the screen. Ladies and gentlemen, call to my attention this morning. Iran's new year is March 20th. It's called, I don't know how to pronounce that, Na Ruz. It's Iranian or Persian New Year's Day. Historically, it's been observed by Iranian people now celebrated by ethnicities worldwide. It's based on the Northern hemisphere spring equinox, first day of the new year on the Iranian calendar. It's March 20th this year and it's like a two week long celebration. Anybody think this is going to affect the war? Will the president pause the bombing? Will Netanyahu pause the bombing?

[D]

No, I mean he started the bombing in the middle. Well, in the beginning of Ramadan. Yeah. So I don't suppose he's going to have any.

[B]

But it could be an excuse. If Steve Wyckoff says, hey, let's give peace a chance, it could be an excuse. I'm just saying. Put it on your calendars, folks. March 20, Interesting. It's the start of the new year. All right, Illinois primaries.

[C]

You owe me an apology. The first day of spring is a worldwide thing, not just an American Jinga. We America first thing. I mean that description, just the equinox happens around the planet.

[B]

I'll give you a half apology because you really were just thinking about the United States. Larry, you admitted it, you confessed. But I apologize.

[D]

You're right, he doesn't mind that.

[B]

All right, Illinois primaries. There's a bunch of themes implicated here. Question of the governor's political power, questions of, of when you've got two strong black female candidates, whether that doesn't serve their interests well in the, in the Senate primary for the open Durban seat. You've got a PAC money in there, Big. You've got, you've got money in there from, what do you call it? AI and crypto. So there's, there's a lot of themes. It's all about the Democratic primaries. I don't think any of these races implicate who's going to win the general. Jaime, what are you watching to what should people look at the results to see in all those various thematics?

[D]

I need like two hours to talk about this. This is my favorite subject to talk about the last couple days. I love Illinois. I love Illinois politics. And in True form. They have proven to maintain all of its weirdness and ridiculousness.

[B]

Why do you love Illinois politics so much?

[D]

I just do. I mean, as a student of politics, I love, and I'm from Louisiana, so, you know, there's some similarities there. But look, so a couple corruption, a couple of things. Amongst other things, David Pritzker, who's soon to be third term governor, first governor in quite some time, who has not been indicted. So, so here's gonna happen. So Jamie Pritzker is. It's gonna, it's gonna get renominated and that's gonna, that's gonna be fine. Win by 20 points. You know, the Bailey, it's gonna be a rematch of the Republican who ran against him last time. So that's gonna happen. The most important race that people are watching right now is the Senate race. Dick Durbin's retiring. We have three Democratic members of Congress who have two who are going head to head and then one lieutenant governor. And so what's been happening is Roger Kristomarthi, who is a member of Congress from the suburbs of Chicago, has raised more money than got himself over the last five years. He's been running for the last five years. He knew that he wanted to be senator regardless of if Dick Durbin was going to retire or not, he wanted to be senator. He's run a really good campaign. He's been very involved in constituent services on the ground. He's spent a lot of money on tv. You have Robin Kelly, a representative who is a, who's been endorsed by the Progressive Caucus, endorsed by the Black Caucus, who is a clear progressive in this race. She has not raised as much money. She has a decent profile in Chicago. She's a wonderful person. And she is looked at as sort of the third of the top three. And then you have the one everyone's talking about right now, Juliana Stratton, who was a lieutenant governor, she was a two term lieutenant governor for JB Pritzker. She ran with jb, had never run before, has never raised her own money. But J.B. pritzker has put many millions of dollars into her campaign. And super PACs that are affiliated with the Pritzker family and Pritzker friends have put a lot of money into this campaign. And I think, albeit from that money, she would not have had a fighting chance to raise her own money. Now here are the three issues. You have Roger's money, you have two black women who people think are going to split the vote in Chicago and some of the urban areas. And then you have the Pritzker effect. And so everyone's trying to figure out how all of that sorts out. But what I believe, and I've seen some polls, people think that Roger's going to knock it out. Roger has been. He's been on top of the polls consistently, but albeit the last week where Juliana Stratton has, there's new polls to show that she may edge him out by a point or two. So this is going to be a lot closer than people think. And I think that the politics people are talking about, will this thing portray a bigger future for JB Pritzker, or will this be just another law, or will it be his first loss that he needs to notch? So I think those are the things that we're dealing with right now.

[B]

Brilliant. And there's no runoffs here, guys, so you can win that, right? You can win a Senate seat with 22% of vote. Larry, do you even know who the Republican nominee for the seat's going to be?

[C]

Couldn't tell you.

[B]

Couldn't tell you. Larry, any thoughts? I'm aiming was encyclopedic and comprehensive, but

[C]

is, isn't there a subplot going on here with the Congressional Black Caucus potentially at odds with J.B. pritzker, who would love to still have Elaine for the Republican nomination for President?

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Well, yeah. So look, I mean, the, look, I think the caucus and I think the cheerleading and I think they have been very, very prudent in making sure that they are standing up for their caucus member, Robin Kelly. Juliana Stratton is not a member of the caucus because she's not an elected member of Congress, but Robin Kelly is. And so, like, that's, that's just one thing that they are going to have to contend with later. But I think, but you have, you know, Senator, also Brooks, who has endorsed Juliana Stratton, who's a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. You have Senator Warden Cover who said that Warnock said he's not going to, not going to endorse. He's going to see how things play out. And so there is some dissension in the caucus, but I do think that the caucus chair was right in her approach to, you know, support Robin Kelly, who's been a great member of the caucus.

[B]

I got to go back, you know,

[C]

the Republican nominee for this.

[B]

I don't. Because the Republican Party is as dead in, in Illinois as the Democratic Party is in Florida. So I don't need to pay attention to what they do. Do you guys know? Yeah, you're absolved. Do you guys know who Joe Kent is?

[C]

Joe Kent. In what context? Reporter for.

[B]

He's the. Yeah, he's the director of the. He was the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Retired Green Beret, Gold star husband, father of two amazing boys. 278,000 followers on Twitter. I think he ran for Congress, right? Or didn't he run for Congress? Anyway, he just quit. He just quit. He was a top aide to Tulsi Gabbard. And he says this on Twitter. Moments ago, after much reflection, I've decided to resign from my position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran poses imminent threat to our nation, and it's clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. It has been an honor serving the president. Tulsi Gabbard. Michael, this guy ran for. Ran for Congress, or was he in Congress? I'm trying to remember. I think he did from, like, Washington State, anyway. Those are pretty incredible words from a guy who up until moments ago was a senior counterterrorism official in our government. Jaime, thoughts on this? Will this get a lot of attention?

[D]

I don't know if. I mean, nothing gets a lot of attention anymore, but I think this will be banked. And then some Democrat will use this in an ad in the future or, you know, but I don't think this is going to be something that still is the news cycle for the day or for the week.

[B]

Yeah. Larry, he speaks for tens of millions.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, maybe he's running again. I, I.

[B]

Did he run for Congress?

[C]

Am I reading some sources? I'll. Hopefully I'll get something for you by the end of the program.

[B]

About whether he ran for Congress. About whether he's. This.

[D]

No.

[C]

About what? Whether there's something he ran for Congress

[B]

he did in Washington. Yeah. I always thought it was a little flaky. I don't know. Hard to imagine somebody working for Tulsi who's a little flaky, but in charge. Maine Senate. Lastly, there's a new ad again. Democrats have a primary. Jaime, when's that primary?

[D]

I don't. It's not until May.

[C]

It's the first. First week of June.

[B]

First week of June. So we're a little bit away here, but it's a critical one because if Democrats have any chance to win back the Senate, and I'm working on some reporting now for next up, their chances of winning the Senate are not nearly as good as people think. But they cannot Win the Senate back. If they don't win Maine. And Susan Collins has got tons of money. John Thune is determined to spend millions and millions to make sure she wins. And the Democrats have this primary between the Governor Mills and Platt Plastner. Platinum. What's his name?

[D]

Graham Prattner.

[B]

Platner. And he's taken a lot of beating in the media. And now he's going to take a lot of beating from Governor Mills. Here's her new ad. Very hard hitting in the main Senate primary. Roll tape, please. Did you know Graham Platner wrote that

[C]

women worried about rape need, to, quote,

[H]

not get so f ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to?

[D]

It's disgusting.

[B]

Platner wrote, to avoid rape, women should,

[D]

quote, act like an adult.

[C]

For sake.

[B]

Graham Platner, seriously, We blame the victim.

[I]

That's a horrible thing to say.

[D]

Disqualifying. I have not seen that.

[C]

This.

[D]

He's a bully. This guy gives off a vibe.

[J]

Just.

[B]

No way. I could vote for you. No Graham Platner. The closer you look, the worse it gets. I'm Janet Mills and I approve this message.

[G]

Dude.

[B]

Okay, whoa. First of all, hi. I'll ask you both, is it clear to you who the stronger general election candidate is at this point, Platinum or Mills? Is it clear to you?

[D]

No, it's hard to say. And look, and I. Full disclosure, my firm has an office there and some of my colleagues are involved in this race and a little height.

[B]

Working for whom?

[D]

No, not working for anybody, just friends of. But I have a lot of colleagues who are really close with the governor and who think that she will emerge as the better contender for the general election. But she's proven that she's a fighter. So this ad shows that she's willing to slap back and you can't f. With her.

[B]

Yeah. Larry, is it clear to you the stronger general election candidate is?

[C]

It's not. Because I know that Platner is going to attract a lot more money and a lot more grassroots energy as a populist and the AOC's Mamdani and Bernie Sanders and that I don't know if that translates to victory in Maine. But in a weird way, not comparing the personalities involved, but this feels like Maine's version of the. Of the Texas primary.

[D]

That's exactly what I was.

[C]

And Corporate Hornin. You know, it's very, very similar. Not that Ken Paxton has a Nazi tattoo or anything, but I think that's a super effective ad and it certainly tells you who Janet Mills and Probably Graham Platner also thinks the electorate. Who's going to make this decision, look at every single, that those are white suburban women in Maine. That's who she's targeting. Obviously. What's interesting though is if you look at a rally that Graham Platner goes to, the women in the crowd are not that old and they're more hippie. Like, you know, they're the, they're the Maine has a very grungy hippie kind of subculture there and they're the ones coming out for Grand Platner. Now. It's very much a microcosm of where the Democrats are.

[B]

So whenever I see an ad like that with real people, often they're actresses or actors. Those people had names and, and main towns on them. How does a campaign find people like that for an ad? Does it matter if they're, if they're supporters of the campaign as opposed to real people? Do they audition them? How does that work?

[D]

No, you prefer for supporters of the campaign? Well, she's been the governor, she's two term governor, so she knows almost everybody. And these are probably women that she knows personally and she has chatted with him about these things. And she probably put this together in some ways herself. And so I don't think this is a matter of auditions. I think these are a matter of her sitting at the table and saying, hey, call Gail, you know, from, from, from Portland or call, you know, so and so from from wherever. And so I think she probably had a lot more to do with this ad. And typically a candidate would. You see, you see these kind of emotional ads every now and again you'll see them pop up where a candidate really cared a lot about putting this particular ad out. I think this is one of them.

[B]

You think it's possible that they're actresses?

[D]

I don't, I don't think so.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Can I ask you if it doesn't work in Jamie, Janet Mills still, you know, ends up on the losing end of this in the general. Would this exact ad work for. In the, in the general election on behalf of.

[D]

Well, that's, well that you brought it up. It's just, it's just like the Texas thing. Just like Cornyn's last two ads against Paxton. This is, this is, this was a gamble that Janet Mills has to. Had to take as she got. She's got to make the, the run. She's got to get through the primary. This could come back and invite Graham in the butt if he becomes a nominee for sure.

[B]

How would you advise Them Hyman to respond to that ad.

[D]

I mean, look, he's having a hard time responding to a lot of these things. I mean, look, he's got the tattoo, he's set these things. And so the only thing he can do right now is continue to prove that he's trying to expand the way he has thought about these things, particularly issues around women. And he wants to move forward. Is hard to respond to unless these are lies. Unless he, unless his voice was distorted or there's some AI used of it, it's going to be hard for him to combat this. Aside from just moving forward and saying that he's moving forward.

[B]

I think that was AI simulating his voice. I don't think he read that thing. I think that was off a blog or something. I think that was an AI voice.

[C]

He posted it on Reddit.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I'm just telling you there's more stuff, there's more women related stuff out there on him. It's just.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, it's general anyway. I honestly, after that ad and they could do an ad on the Nazi tattoo and all the other stuff. And he attacked Maine. He talked about how horrible Maine is. I just think if this is the path she's going down, she'll be the nominee probably. But it's hard to see him, as Larry, you pointed out, it's hard to see him surviving a general election because Susan Collins will run all the same ads. She might just literally run the same ads.

[D]

Yeah. You know, Well, I think that's what, that's what Jenny Millis is trying to say. She's like, look, I am the stronger candidate. And I'm proving to you right now. And I think. And that's been pretty effective in the last 24 hours. Yeah, I've heard.

[B]

Yeah. All right, a word from our new sponsor. And then. And then to your questions, please raise your hand if you want in on the conversation. Very happy to have Shopify as a new sponsor here. And you can get a free trial for $1 a month with the promo code. Mark. I'll tell you how in a minute. If you've got something new you're trying to get started, a new podcast, a new business, any idea you want to get started? Do what so many people have done. Use Shopify. It's a commerce platform. It's helped millions of businesses get launched around the world. 10% of all E commerce in the United States is done by people who are using Shopify. You basically can go on there. The AI powered tools will allow you to build Your online presence. Everything you need in one place. Inventory, payments, analytics, marketing tools. It's time to turn those what ifs into. That's our weak sound effect. We got to get a better sound effect. Turn it into dollars. Use Shopify again. If you sign up now, you get $1 a month trial. Go to shopify.com mark again. Go on and look at it. If you're trying to launch something and you want to have a presence in the world, make money, go and look at it. Shopify.com, that. Shopify.com, mark Ching. We need a better Ching. Did Shopify give us that or did we do that?

[D]

That's theirs.

[B]

That thing. Just call them up, tell them that's not good enough. I don't like it.

[H]

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[C]

When you get momentum, you step on the gas.

[B]

That's how you get separation from everybody else. I was at Harvard Law School.

[G]

I was.

[B]

Blah, blah, blah. I looked up. Let me tell you something.

[D]

There's kids in my neighborhood putting in

[B]

sheetrock that are smarter than you.

[D]

AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff. It is never going to disrupt physical

[B]

blue collar trade skill.

[D]

And the guy just looked at me and he said it's bloody impossible. So I asked him this question. I said, it's impossible.

[H]

Unless that's. Podcast with me, Matt ebert. Watch on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

Rebecca, welcome in. Thank you for being part of Two Way Unmute, everybody. What's on your mind For Larry and for Jaime. Thank you for being here.

[C]

Great shirt, Rebecca.

[I]

Hi. I'm from Michigan and.

[B]

Wait, show us where.

[D]

Yep.

[B]

I'm sorry, show us where.

[I]

Oh, on the hand.

[B]

Yeah. Is that what you all do?

[I]

I'm originally from Texas, so I don't. I think I'm like down here.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

The nation state.

[C]

Oh, you're over there. Okay.

[B]

How come you don't talk funny?

[I]

Because I'm from Texas.

[B]

Well, I know, but you don't talk like you're from Texas. I know. You'd really talk funny if you're from Michigan. Welcome in. Thank you for being here. Tell us what's on your mind.

[I]

So, I, I guess my question is for mainly Jaime, but I would like to get everybody's take on this as as far as the, as far as the. This is going to be about the Iran war and about all about the recent terrorist attacks that we have experienced in America these last two weeks.

[G]

How.

[I]

I guess my question is, how dangerous do you think the globalization of Islam is to America? Because we have seen a lot of terrorist attacks. Now, I know that people can say that, you know, it's because of the Iran. Iran war, but in my opinion, I feel like this was gonna happen regardless. So I just, I guess I just want to get yalls take on how serious do you think that the globalization of Islam is? And. Yeah, that. I want to start with that.

[B]

Okay. Thank you for that, Rebecca. Jaime first, then Larry.

[D]

Yeah, I mean, look, I, look, I'm, I'm, I am not going to thank you for that question, by the way. I don't want to dive into any, any sort of realm of Islamophobia. I have so many friends who are Muslim and who are celebrating Ramadan right now. And so I don't, I think regardless of religion, I mean, obviously there's some aspects of it, I think there are bad people and there are people who want to do this country harm outside of their fate. And so what's happened since we've embarked on this war with Iran is individuals who have either, you know, we call them sleeper cells who've either been waiting for a moment to, you know, put their hat on and sort of get out there and cause us harm, are doing that. I don't know. I mean, I think the threat is higher than I would want it to be. And I do lose sleep over this. And this is, I was telling Larry that Mark the second ago, this is one of those things where, when it comes to DH funding that I feel like Democrats have got to restart the conversation because the homeland is just not as secure as it needs to be right now. And so, yes, I think the threat is high, and I think it's getting higher, but I don't think it's based on any particular religion.

[B]

Larry.

[C]

Rebecca, I think what's jarring to a lot of people, if I can sort of pick up what you're throwing down, is some of the cultural differences that we're seeing specifically in certain areas of Europe after so much mass migration of people from the Middle east and from other Islamic dominant countries coming in and, and frankly bringing a rather radical criminal element, whether that is a result of their, of their faith or whether it's a result of the culture that they had in the country that they left behind. What is disturbing to people, and I think I acknowledge and reflect your concern is that there are too many elected officials in Western countries who feel intimidated and incapable of calling out and do something about the crime and violence that is happening in many countries in Europe. And we've seen a little bit of it here in America, thank God. Not as much for fear that they will be called Islamophobic for fear that it will in some way be reflected as a racist or a, or a, or a religious intolerant policy to actually crack down on those things. We've seen it in England, we've seen it in France and in Scandinavia. And I think it is something that our elected officials in the west need to be bold enough and courageous enough to address to protect those of us that they are meant to protect. I hope I phrased that properly for you.

[B]

Rebecca. Thank you. Grateful to you. Thanks for being on two way. Dave, welcome in unmute. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind for hi Mind for Larry.

[F]

Hey there. Good morning. I'm in South Carolina right now.

[D]

What city currently?

[F]

Greenville.

[D]

Greenville, Yep.

[F]

My question, I guess for all of you is around the casualties of the war. One thing I've noticed recently is all the articles and all the news coverage for the most part, cnn, msnbc. It seems like everybody is using a week ago the 140 number. Now that there's been confirmed 200. They're talking all about the 200 casualty or injured estimate. Even in the bylines you see nothing about the fact that like 180 of those people have been returned to service. So it kind of feels entirely, you know, I don't know if you can just call it clickbaity, but it just feels very disingenuous to a certain extent. Any thoughts on that?

[B]

Larry?

[C]

It's hard to have this conversation without making words get pulled out of context to suggest that you're downplaying the seriousness of this. So I'll start by saying I know people who are in harm's way right now wearing our uniform. This matters a great deal to me. I also know every person that I've ever known who have volunteered to become an officer or enlisted member of our military knows full well what those risks are and their family members know those risks. And so the there is A grave concern that we're not getting all of the information because there is a worry that it will be politicized in terms of injuries. We do know the casualties, we do know the deaths. And as these military endeavors go, as tragic as each one of those deaths are compared to other engagements, it's actually been, believe it or not, relatively low right now considering the damage we've done. So we hopefully we're continuing to get all of the impressions, information and all of the details about the injuries. I didn't see the number hit. Is it a 200 at this point in terms of injuries related to the.

[F]

Yes, it's, it's a 200.

[C]

Yeah. And, and by the way, a lot of those are not actually members of our military directly engaged in the actions. It's, they're in facilities in neighboring countries that have been struck by Iran. Right. Which is, I mean, it's cold comfort to the people, but it, it's not a reflection on anything with regard to our actual military engagement.

[B]

Well said, Larry.

[D]

Yeah, that's perfectly said, Larry. I mean, look, I mean, I, I think we gotta also keep in mind that we're dealing with real American lives. And I keep bringing up the 13 that have, have been killed. And so regardless of, of media and clickbait, I think our, our heart goes, go. Our hearts go out to the families who put their lives and their families ahead of, of, of themselves. And so I do want to know, and I do want to hear as people are being injured, as they're being murdered, so we can keep it front of mind that freedom is not free. And at the end of the day, there are real individuals who are out there, regardless if they're military or contractors or allies or friends that are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and our safety. And so I want to keep that front of mind, whoever these individuals are always, and their families.

[C]

Context is so important though. And thousands of American soldiers have been killed. And I've, you know, I've met so countless individuals who wore the uniform in the Iraq war who have been devastatingly injured for the rest of their lives because of Iran. You know, so, I mean, we always have to frame it within that context do. Knowing who the enemy is in this endeavor and know what they've done to us in the past. So I just want to throw that

[B]

out hat call on the Very Irish,

[J]

very Irish Colleen Patrick State.

[D]

And you're great.

[J]

Yes, of course. I was actually going to ask Chaim about the Democratic strategy on this and how this might backfire on them. But what I will focus on instead is what Mark said earlier, how it would be very helpful, in my opinion, focused every day on stating we are here to support the Iranian people. We're doing this for our own interests in a way, but also to help the future of Iran. And I think that would help with the PR campaign. It would reduce any future retaliation against us because people in the region would be less combative towards us. And I think that's an excellent, if anyone, I think the administration should be doing that daily, as Mark said. I don't know what you guys think, but I think it's critically important.

[D]

Yeah, but I think, I think I agree with you, Colleen. I think Larry made a good point about this earlier. I don't think they're in the PR phase of this campaign yet. I think Mark disagrees and they should be doing both. But I agree with you and I think that's part of when people are asking, what are we doing? Why are we doing it? What's the vision? I think a lot of that can be squashed by the president, by the administration going on TV every day and having this conversation. So I think you're absolutely right, Larry.

[C]

Colleen, PR here at home domestically for the president. Or do you mean PR with the people of Iran? Because I don't even know if messages are getting to the people in Iran,

[J]

both and in the region to reduce hatred towards us. If the, you know, if all the, like, you know, the sleeper cells and everybody else who hates us was hearing this message that in addition, we're really here to support the people of Iran and we want them to succeed in this. I think that message would be very powerful.

[B]

I agree. I agree. And I hope despite all the cuts of that have been made in various programs like that, I hope the US is doing that vitally important.

[C]

Well, I can tell you the people who can make that happen absolutely are watching right now as we speak. So well, do it, people.

[B]

Colleen, thank you. Grateful to you. There's a story that just posted on the Jerusalem Post website with a little bit of good reporting on how the Israelis were able to target and track and kill these two latest major leaders in Iran. Recommended to you. It's interesting just how, how the Israelis figure all this stuff out and get to locate them and then, and then get the operations up. I'm going to be stepping over to Sirius XM in a moment to host the next hour of the morning meeting there and welcome you to join me. If you'd like to get a question in there. If you didn't get a question here or you prefer to do it on the, on the, that platform? 833-446-3496 at the bottom of the hour. Join me there and I leave you in the capable hands of my colleagues. Gentlemen, thank you for participating. We'll always have St Patrick's Day, no matter how many more episodes this program ever are. The 2026St. Patrick's Day episode of the Morning meeting is ours. And it's, it's really three days away from the Iranian New Year, so it has special resonance, at least for me.

[D]

And I need a James and Mark,

[C]

I think you'd agree that this show was far superior to yesterday's show with Hogan and K. Kevin, wouldn't you?

[B]

Much better. Much.

[D]

They didn't have green on.

[C]

That's what I thought, too.

[B]

Thank you, guys. I'll see you in a bit over at SiriusXM. And I'll see you tonight at 5. On two way tonight. Have a great list of guests that Larry's about to tell you about.

[C]

Thanks, Mark. Hi. Do you have a go to St. Patrick's Day that you like to get some people?

[D]

They are. There is. And we're big cabbage people. So cabbage is a, is a, is a huge part of this.

[C]

I like cabbage. But can I just say, since it's just us, it's just family here. I love cabbage. But Gassy, right? Makes it gassy.

[D]

Nothing. Yeah.

[C]

That's why we drink a lot of whiskey.

[D]

What about your, what's your go to?

[C]

Well, I'm just thrilled that St. Patrick's doesn't fall on a Friday because then you're stuck with fish and chips as a Catholic. Right. So today I'm thinking I'm going with shepherd's pie. We got a, we got an Irish pub in town going with shepherd pie.

[D]

And I'm excited about in the District or, or, or.

[C]

Oh, no, I'm up in the Annapolis. A lot of Irish in Annapolis. Before Annapolis had a naval academy, it was known basically for houses and pirates. So obviously there's going to be Irish. That's true too. If you know the sail, know the Navy. All right, coming up tonight, next up, new episode of Next up, dropping today, today's episode. Mark's going to be joined by founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Ralph Reed. Boy, there's a very influential voice in D.C. politics for the last several decades. He's also going to be joined by Guardian columnist and host of Politics Weekly America, Jonathan Friedland. So that's next up, dropping today. And. This is Eli Lake, who has forgotten more about Iran than most reporters in D.C. will ever know. And former chief of staff, Security Council and former CIA analyst Fred Fleets. Boy, that show needs to go on for four hours tonight. That's a hell of a lineup for two way tonight. Tomorrow, this very show, tmm, as the kids like to call it, will be back live. I'll be back. Melissa derosa also, we hand report job in the case. Ubi, I had BI once but you know, you get a little. It's an outpatient thing and it clears it all up. That's live and in person on Wednesday, March 18th at the Village Underground. Airing on YouTube from 6 to 7:30. Automation Nation will focus on AI's impact on our workforce and whether or not this impact will renew the conversation around universal Basic Income. Tickets can be reserved on the Village Underground website if you're in Gotham or on two way TV Automation. Check that out. That should be a party. And that's all she wrote today. Jaime, have you already had an adult beverage or when. When do you predict your first adult beverage of the day will be? Today.

[D]

I have CBS with Major Garrett at 5 and so at 5:35 I will head over to get some Jameson.

[C]

I. You should bring Major with you. Although you're going to be doing it via remote, aren't you?

[D]

No, no, I'm going to be with him in dc. Yeah.

[C]

Oh, you are? Oh, well, Major, Major can. He'll take you up to his favorite haunts up in Chevy Chase, I'm sure.

[D]

Yes,

[C]

that's. Oh, you are in D.C. right now.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Okay. I didn't real. I thought for some reason I thought you said you were down in New Orleans.

[D]

All right, I try to be. I was there last week.

[C]

Nice. Very nice. All right, well everybody, I hope you have a great and safe St. Patrick's Day. It is amateur day, so make sure that you've got a taxicab or even better walking distance to your favorite establishment. Or just stay home, watch two way tonight at 5 o' clock and do shots every time Mark Halperin says smack. You'll be done by 10 minutes in. Thanks for watching. We'll see you tomorrow.

[D]

Oh, smack.

[C]

See you. Sa.