Tensions High in Minnesota After JD Vance Visit, Arrest of Anti-ICE Protesters Who Entered Church

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Morning Meeting

Episode Title: Tensions High in Minnesota After JD Vance Visit, Arrest of Anti-ICE Protesters Who Entered Church
Date: January 23, 2026
Host: Mark Halperin
Panelists: Jamie Harrison (former DNC Chair), Matt Gorman (Republican strategist), Larry O’Connor (political commentator)

Overview

This episode explores several top political and news stories of the day, focusing largely on political tensions in Minnesota following the Vice President JD Vance's visit and protests against ICE enforcement, as well as broader US and global political dynamics. Expect candid, sometimes humorous banter, sharp political insight, and a focus on what's driving the national news narrative.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. International Diplomacy: Ukraine-Russia Negotiations & Davos (08:12–14:06)

• Mark details late-night negotiations involving US and Russian envoys and President Trump's statements following Davos and trilateral talks.
• Jamie Harrison remains skeptical about peace prospects:

  “Will we cave yet again to Russia?...I hope there's a deal. I'm just not bullish about one.” (09:57)

• Matt Gorman echoes skepticism:

  “How many times have we been through this?...it’s just a tough thing to convince people that this is real until we see real things.” (10:48)

• Discussion of US influence in European defense and Trump’s impact on Zelensky.
• Larry O’Connor and others note media coverage bias and disconnect in covering these negotiations.

2. Vice President JD Vance's Visit to Minnesota & ICE Protest Fallout (14:06–19:09)

• Mark sets up the controversy—Vance’s tone in Minnesota was more conciliatory than usual while also doubling down on support for ICE and law enforcement.
• Memorable Vance Quote (paraphrased by Mark):

  “Come out and protest… but do it peacefully. If you assault a law enforcement officer, the Trump administration and the DOJ will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.” (16:05)

• Matt Gorman:

  “That is the Vance at his best—combative but still pushing a message…people underestimate him.” (17:10)

• Jamie Harrison:

  “He understands if he doesn’t clean up this pigsty, it’s going to be an anchor on his leg when he runs for president in 2028…there's a lot of CYA here.” (18:08)

• Panel expects divisiveness to continue, with today's protests and “walkout” activities indicating deep unrest.

3. Amy Klobuchar’s Political Future: Running for Governor (19:25–24:24)

• Mark reports Klobuchar is moving towards a gubernatorial run; panel discusses her ambitions and what the role could mean for a future presidential bid.
• Jamie Harrison:

  “Amy Klobuchar is going to win this with like double digits…she’s a force of nature in Minnesota.” (20:44)

• Matt and Larry agree the move could significantly boost her national prospects, especially if shifting from the Senate to an executive role.

4. Polls, Public Sentiment, and the Economy (25:08–28:31)

• Mark reviews New York Times polling: President faces high disapproval on most issues except the border.
• Jamie Harrison challenges rosy 2026 economic outlook:

  “We thought the economy was great in 2024…but if people don’t feel it, regardless of how much you say it, that is how they’re going to end up voting.” (27:02)

• Matt Gorman notes Republicans must ensure voters actually feel economic improvement for rhetoric to resonate.

5. Gavin Newsom vs. President: "Show Business" or Substance? (28:31–34:04)

• Mark breaks news that, despite tough talk, Newsom and President Trump were joking and friendly backstage at Davos.
• Jamie Harrison:

  “We can be social media warriors…but it’s harder to do that face-to-face…they probably admire that they both give each other hell.” (31:30)

• Larry O’Connor:

  “Trump is not like any other politician…he gets a hall pass. When Newsom tries to trump Trump…it doesn’t work. I think it really is hurting him.” (33:09)

6. TikTok and Marches: National Security & Protest Coverage (34:04–36:01)

• Concerns over TikTok deal with China—skepticism from all panelists.
• March for Life and ICE protest walkouts discussed—Larry points out that March for Life is “rarely covered” despite its size.
• All agree major media tends not to humanize protest stories effectively.

7. Managing Political Optics During Storms (36:01–36:46)

• Jokes about politicians needing to be seen actively managing winter storms—everyone agrees, “If you screw this up nowadays…you are so stupid.” (36:42)

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Quickfire Segment: Winners and Losers of the Week (37:05–)

Winners:

• Matt Gorman: “Fernando Mendoz and Kurt Signetti…Indiana football.”
• Larry: “Big Ten football.”
• Jamie Harrison: “All of the bread, eggs and milk producers…are making bank.”

Losers:

• Matt Gorman: “Everyone who had plans this weekend in the southeast” (because of storms)
• Larry: “The momentum behind the Minneapolis anti-ICE protest—they jumped the shark invading a church.” (37:56)
• Jamie Harrison: “US global credibility…Trump in the Greenland stuff…not a good look.” (38:46)

What To Watch:

• Matt: “First big snowstorm for Zoran Mamdani…Big PR blitz or big mistake.”
• Larry: “How Maryland governor Westmore handles his first big test.”
• Jamie: “Whether we actually get snow in Columbia, South Carolina.”

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Audience Q&A Highlights

Republican Messaging—What to Run On? (43:26)

• Chris from Kentucky asks how GOP can show accomplishment when the conservative vision is “get government out of your lives.”
• Matt Gorman: “Votes on a second reconciliation package” and clear policy priorities are needed.
• Larry: “We never say ‘vote for me, I'm going to have the government do this for you’…But they need to make the case that the government messed things up and we’ll fix it by getting government out.”
• Jamie Harrison: Predicts a Dem “pendulum swing” like 2006, flipping deep red seats due to perceived overreach.

The Burden of Political Fundraising Spam (49:46)

• Jen from Oklahoma: Political donations lead to spam overload.
• Jamie Harrison: Pro tip: Use a burner email and Google Voice number for political donations, “so your personal email has so much more joy.” (49:46)
• Matt Gorman: It’s still effective but margins are shrinking; industry insiders know it’s annoying.

The Gaza Board of Peace—Who’s at the Table? (51:46)

• Haley from NYC: “No Israeli or Palestinian leadership on the Gaza Board of Peace—isn’t that outrageous?”
• Larry: “You can't put a terrorist organization there…presentation is about international buy-in.” (53:26)

Primaries, Caucuses, and Iowa’s Fate (54:07)

• Greg from Iowa: “Any hope Iowa will be first again?”
• Mark: “It’s complicated,” involving negotiations between national/state parties and governments.
• Jamie Harrison: “Biggest hurdle is caucuses…Days of Iowa being first on the Democratic side are gone.” (57:43)

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Notable Quotes

• Mark (re: polling): “These are horrible numbers…All these numbers have to turn around or Republicans will lose control of the House and maybe the Senate.” (25:08)
• Jamie Harrison (on US-Russia): “I think Putin reacts to strength and power. And, you know, Donald Trump exerts that to everybody else other than Putin.” (12:00)
• Matt Gorman (on Vance): “That is the Vance that can go into mainstream media and be combative but still push a message and not get sidetracked.” (17:10)
• Larry O’Connor: “Trump is not like any other politician we’ve ever had or ever will have in our lifetimes…he gets a hall pass.” (33:09)
• Jamie Harrison (on Amy Klobuchar): “She’s a force of nature…all my money is on Amy Klobuchar.” (20:44)
• Jamie Harrison (on the economy): “If they don’t feel it, regardless of how much you say it, that is how they’re going to end up voting.” (27:02)
• Larry (on anti-ICE protests): “Loser of the week is the momentum behind the Minneapolis anti-ICE protest because they jumped the shark invading a church on Sunday morning.” (37:56)
• Jamie (fundraising email tip): “Set up a political donation email and a Google phone number, so your personal email has so much more joy.” (49:46)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Ukraine/Trilateral Diplomacy: 08:12–14:06
• JD Vance/Minnesota-ICE Protests: 14:06–19:09
• Amy Klobuchar’s Prospects: 19:25–24:24
• Polling/Economic Outlook: 25:08–28:31
• Newsom/Trump Backstage: 28:31–34:04
• TikTok & Protest Coverage: 34:04–36:01
• Storm Politics: 36:01–36:46
• Winners & Losers: 37:05–39:38
• Audience Q&A Highlights: 43:26–57:43

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Tone & Style

Clever, casual, and quick-moving—panelists offer deep political knowledge, lighthearted ribbing, and expert analysis of the day’s news. The show is unafraid of inside baseball, but always brings complex stories to a level useful for everyday listeners and serious news-watchers alike.

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This engaging, information-dense episode perfectly captures a moment of political tension and change, offering sharp analysis and memorable commentary from DC insiders and their audience.

Transcript

[Mark]

This is it.

[Jamie Harrison]

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

[Mark]

It's not about to be over. It's over. Some of the scientists who helped build AI are now sounding the alarm.

[Jamie Harrison]

I was selling AI as a great.

[Larry]

Thing for decades and I was wrong.

[Mark]

I was wrong.

[Jamie Harrison]

There's a longer term existential threat that will arise when we create digital beings that that are more intelligent than ourselves. We have no idea whether we can stay in control.

[Mark]

While others say that AI will usher in unfathomable abundance, I've always believed that it's going to be the most important invention that humanity will ever make. This really will be a world of abundance. And among these fears and these fantasies, we seek the story of our future. Listen to the last invention on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm James Patterson. I write way too many books.

[Matt Gorman]

Welcome to Hungry Dogs.

[Mark]

The title comes from my maternal grandmother, Isabel Zelvis Morris. Nan used to always say, hungry dogs run faster, James. And I've been running fast ever since. Here's what will be coming your way soon, and this is a really terrific list. I think you'll hear from some incredible people like Stacey Abrams. Yay. BJ Novak. Yay. Kathy Bates, Dolly Parton, Josh Gad.

[Matt Gorman]

And Pope Leo. Okay, maybe not Pope Leo, but who knows, Maybe he'll show up.

[Mark]

Hungry dogs run faster. Thank you, grandma, for turning me into.

[Matt Gorman]

A hopeless, obsessive compulsive.

[Mark]

Listen to Hungry Dogs with James Patterson. That'd be me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Foreign. Meeting based the network News division's morning meetings. We have a blockbuster episode for you today. So good in its conceptualization and about. You're about to see execution that this will be our Emmy episode. So if you're here on the platform and you want to raise your hand and get in the conversation, make sure your camera ready, check your audio levels and ask something like your Socrates and then we'll get to your questions before too long. If you're watching on X or YouTube, please, no smack in the chat. Let's end the week smackless, shall we? Peace, love and understanding extended to all. We have two great guests here today. Jamie Harrison, former chairman of the Democratic Party and a fundraising champion. I talk about it all the time because it's still one of life's great mysteries. How Jamie raised over $110 million. Over 100. 120 million. 110.

[Jamie Harrison]

132.

[Mark]

$132 million to try to beat Lindsey Graham and, and, and history should be writing about this much more than they are. And then Matt Gorman, Republican strategist, man about town, lover of children and small animals and larger animals. And then Larry o' Connor is also here because, ladies and gentlemen, Katie Kirk style. I'm being very open about my colonoscopy occurring in three hours. And Larry's here, as we say in the television business, just in case. End of the program. The new CEO of two Way, Joe Ruffalo, will join us. He's here now, but Joe will address everyone and give you some guidance about his vision of where two way is headed in 2026 and beyond. And of course, it's Friday. Our winners and losers of the week and what to look for this weekend. The answers will surprise you now. Just kidding. All right, gentlemen, welcome and thank you for being here. I'm going to run through the daybook. Here we go. The present schedule today is a is a puzzle wrapped in a mystery wrapped in some bacon because it's got all closed press events in it. First one is participates in a print interview. Most White Houses don't put the president's interviews on there. At least they didn't disclose who it's with. And we don't know at this point who it's with, but we'll see what comes out of that. Three o', clock, he signs unnamed congressional bills. Also closed press. Also in the Oval. 4:30, still in the Oval, meets with the commissioner of the eye of the Social Security Administration. And then like every president I've ever covered, 5:30 on a Friday, the president's got closed press policy time on his schedule. Baffling. Anybody any of any of you want to weigh in on what when the White House put this together, like, is what were they thinking? Anybody have any ideas? Is there some message in this thing or they just had to fill it out?

[Matt Gorman]

Let's put this way, the day won't be closed press. I think he invites the press in around 3 o' clock while he's signing the bills, there's a little gaggle and you never know again. There's no quiet days from from Trump. So I think around 3 o' clock, you'll hear from him.

[Mark]

All right. He's also speaking, I believe by recorded message to the March for Life event. The vice president is after yesterday's newsmaking trip, which we'll talk about in a moment to Minnesota, is speaking in at noon to the March for Life event. There's also a march in marches or protests in Minneapolis. Everybody's supposed to walk out of school or walk off the job or stop doing what they're doing Today to protest the presence of ice. House and Senate are out. Speaker Johnson will also be around the same time at the March for Life in Washington. The RNC meeting is taking place today in Santa Barbara, the winter meeting, 1:15pm Eastern Time. The chair, Mr. Gruder, will deliver remarks. And in Abu Dhabi, another round of peace talks with the US And Russia. This is the trilateral meeting. Am I right? Is this the first time all three countries have sat together, or did it happen once before a few weeks ago? I can't remember, but I think it's the first time. So pretty significant to have the U.S. ukrainian and Russian officials all together in the wake of last night in Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin, according to the Associated Press, till 3 in the morning. So I don't know if that augurs well or not, but that's kind of interesting. Three in the morning. All right, let me see here. I got to go in order. This is a very scripted show, as anyone who watches the program knows. The whole thing is down to the minute and I got to make sure I'm doing the right thing here. Yes, I need to do a quick sponsor and then we'll get right to our guests and we'll talk about it all. And our sponsor, appropriately, today, our friends at Cozy Earth. Cozy Earth will give you amazing 20% off everything on the site right now. Go to cozyearth.com, promo code 2 WMM. I don't know if you can order and get in time for the storm, but be prepared for the next storm with a bubble cuddle blanket, the Baja bedding set, the luxury towels, and of course, the pants, which you can wear in the snow. I know people are wondering, can you wear the Cozy Earth pants in the snow? Yes, you can. Ladies and gentlemen, right now, you can start the year off right by buying stuff for yourself, your family, refresh your routines with comfort that makes every day feel like a new year. I don't think that's literally true, by the way. So if the FTC wants my view, it's not literally true. Will not feel exactly like the new year, but you can get 20%.

[Larry]

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[Mark]

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[Matt Gorman]

Welcome to Hungry Dogs.

[Mark]

The title comes from my maternal grandmother, Isabel Zelvis Morris. Nan used to always say, hungry dogs.

[Matt Gorman]

Run faster, James, and I've been running fast ever since.

[Mark]

Here's what will be coming your way soon, and this is a really terrific list. I think you'll hear from some incredible people like Stacey Abrams. Yay. BJ Novak. Yay. Kathy Bates, Dolly Parton, Josh Gad.

[Matt Gorman]

And Pope Leo. Okay, maybe not Pope Leo, but who knows?

[Mark]

Maybe he'll show up. Hungry dogs run faster. Thank you, Grandma, for turning me into.

[Matt Gorman]

A hopeless, obsessive, compulsive.

[Mark]

Listen to Hungry Dogs with James Patterson. That'd be me on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Larry]

Foreign.

[Mark]

As I said last night, here's the Associated press headline number 105 Putin meets with Trump's envoys. As Kremlin says, Ukraine settlement hinges on territory. Zelensky gave an incredible speech to in Davos, and he said what Donald Trump says, you Europeans need to be tougher, smarter, more lethal. It's an incredible moment, and I can't believe it's not getting more coverage. But any event, they were up till 3am they're now in Abu Dhabi. Here is what the President says. 104 he talked on his way back home and he said his meeting with Zelensky was good and Zelensky's pushing Europe to do more. Here's what Zelensky's a part of what Zelensky said. I recommend the whole thing to you. Europe loves to discuss the future of, but avoids taking action today, action that defines what kind of futures we will have. If Putin decides to take Lithuania or strike Poland, who will respond tomorrow? You may have to defend your way of life, Zelensky saying, I want the US's help, but you're up. What are you doing? And of course, that's exactly what President Trump says. Kind of an incredible moment. Lastly, I just want to show you the president's latest Truth Social post from moments ago, right before we went on the air. So the president put on Truth Social. He's up and about, in a good mood. What a great trip to Davos. It was so many things accomplished, including the framework of a deal with NATO and Greenland. Also the Board of Peace.

[Larry]

Wow.

[Mark]

Make America great again. President TJT didn't mention Ukraine there, but I can tell you that people in the administration working on this are as bullish on the prospect of a deal as they've ever been, even as there remains doubt about whether Putin will actually do a deal. So, Jamie, are you bullish or bearish this morning on the prospects of there actually being a deal? Because everybody's saying they're closer than they've been.

[Jamie Harrison]

Yeah, I'm just not there yet. You know, the question is, will we cave yet again to Russia? You know, America is great, but I don't understand what this administration has with Putin and why we can't exert that greatness on him. I mean, I, I just think we need to step up and, and listen, I would love a deal. I, I think, you know, what Ukraine has done is. Mark, I, I think somebody needs to write a book about that. Who would have ever thought when this started that Ukraine would still be holding on today, fighting hard, and, and all of the casualties that you've seen in Russia? It shows that Russia is not as strong as they like to be or portray themselves.

[Matt Gorman]

But.

[Jamie Harrison]

But I hope there's a deal. I'm just not bullish about one.

[Mark]

Okay, Matt, Bullish or bearish on a deal?

[Matt Gorman]

I'm bearish in a deal as well. I mean, look, there's just. How many times have we been through this? Right. Like. And so I think that's going to be just a tough thing to start convincing people that this is real until it actually is. We see real things. I mean, you know, I feel like we did get closer in Alaska than people give a credit for, but obviously the Germans wanted to cease, didn't want a ceasefire immediately. We wanted one. But I think one of the other things is, you know, especially coming from that story that you just mentioned, we talk so often about how much Zelensky can press Trump and influence Trump into the kind of the way of thinking and getting behind Ukraine. I think the underrated part of this is how much Trump is influence influencing Zelensky, particularly when it comes to how the Europeans need to step up. And that's been a theme this whole last year, the administration dating back to Vance and Munich.

[Mark]

Yeah. Larry, I want to ask you about what. Go ahead. I want to ask you about.

[Larry]

Well, I actually want. Chairman Harrison, I think, actually sort of tickled my fancy there when suggesting that the administration should step up a bit here. And I think a lot of people would agree with you. Can you expand on it, though? I mean, what does stepping up look like, especially compared to the pressure the Biden administration put on solely on Putin, and that didn't seem to do much. So what are you suggesting?

[Jamie Harrison]

Yeah, I mean, it's A good question, Larry. One of the things, I just think, I think Putin reacts to strength and power. And you know, Donald Trump exerts that strength and power to everybody else other than Putin. You know, he seems soft when it comes to Putin.

[Mark]

He has, he has put, he has put sanctions on. And I think if this falls apart, he'll put more on.

[Jamie Harrison]

Yeah, Mark, I don't.

[Mark]

He has greenlit the use of force by, by Ukraine more than Biden did. Yeah.

[Larry]

And helping to bring down the global price of oil is sort of, you know, put them in an economic situation.

[Matt Gorman]

Closing the Indian loophole, certainly. I guess I just don't.

[Jamie Harrison]

Yeah.

[Matt Gorman]

I'm curious.

[Larry]

But other than that, what have the Romans done for us?

[Mark]

Let me. We gotta move on because we've got so many topics to get to. Larry, I do want to ask you one question about Witkoff. And as you know, I don't like to turn everything into a case study in liberal media bias, but I just thinking I looked at Witkoff in Davos. He and Jared announcing the, the, you know, the next stage for Gaza. He then goes back to Moscow and stays up till 3am he's an older guy, he's a volunteer. He has his detractors in the administration. He's got detractors. A lot of people say he's naive, he's too pro Putin. But if this were a Barack Obama or Joe Biden's envoy volunteering and, and, and involved in these historic negotiations, I feel like he would be lauded as this incredible political public figure and instead he's either ignored or derided.

[Larry]

Well, I think it's worse that it's being ignored as well as the extraordinary remarks from the Chancellor of Germany yesterday about the dysfunctional bureaucracy at the eu. I think you're right. Part of it is biased, but also I think, frankly, part of it has to do with these newsrooms are staffed up with people who are used to covering these world events and the World Economic Forum in the EU from one very specific perspective, not necessarily a biased perspective. And it's just their wheelhouse. It's what their resume sort of supports. And when something outside the box and a different approach comes into the mix, they don't know how to handle it. It's not their expertise.

[Mark]

Yeah. All right, let's talk about Minnesota. Incredible moment in the 10 years of Trump. This story is as divisive as any other one. People on the left want to talk about a five year old. People on the right want to talk about why Don Lemon is not in prison and Both those stories are more complex than the caricatures. The vice president went to Minnesota yesterday, you'll recall a few days ago, a week ago, he went in the White House briefing room and was incredibly divisive in his tone and what he emphasized. The coverage of his trip to Minnesota emphasizes in many cases that he was conciliatory on a range of issues, tone wise and policy wise. He was conciliatory. He also attacked the press. He also attacked local Democrats. So we'll show you one clip. But you'd have to watch the totality of what he said to see the moments of conciliatory rhetoric were unmistakable. Very different than he'd been previously, very different than the president. And he said the president sent him there to do it. So for those looking for someone to step up and try to bring a little bit more unity there, this apparently was it for many. Here's just some of the vice president. You'll see. You'll hear both reconciliation and divisiveness in this one sound bite. Just a few things. First of all, I wanted to meet with business leaders, with ICE officers, with local law enforcement to try to understand a little bit better what's going on so that we can tone down the temperature a little bit, reduce the chaos, but still allow us as a federal government to enforce the American people's immigration laws. That is the purpose of my visit. Now this is step one or step two of the that process. There's going to be a lot of work that follows through from here. I'm happy to talk about that, but I think I learned a few things that were very important. So number one, one of the things I learned is that the guys behind me are doing an incredible job. And frankly, a lot of the media is lying about the job that they do every single day. Now, it doesn't mean that there aren't occasionally stories out there, there aren't occasionally videos out there that suggest that these guys or at least some of the people who work for them are not, not doing everything right. But very often if you look at the context of what's going on, you understand that these people are under an incredible amount of duress, an incredible amount of chaos. And because of a few very far left agitators, a lot of these guys are unable to do their jobs without being harassed, without being doxed, and sometimes without being assaulted. That's totally unacceptable. And that's one of the things that I want to send a message to is, yes, come out and protest. Protest me, protest our immigration policy, but do it peacefully. If you assault a law enforcement officer, the Trump administration and the Department of Justice is going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. The reaction from the mayor of Minneapolis and from the governor, I have to say, was not in the same spirit as the vice president seemed to go. They both were pretty combative and confrontational in reply. So, Matt, will the vice president's visit going forward have an impact on Minnesota? Are we back to today and beyond with the protests, the walkout occurring today, a very, very divisive situation locally and nationally.

[Matt Gorman]

How fortunate I'm to walk out on a Friday. I would love to walk out for my jobs on Friday as well. But look, I will say this. I don't think it matters much to the Minneapolis stuff as say, the fact that it's really, really cold in Minneapolis right now with the protests. But I will say this, too. That is the Vance that is at its best. That is the Vance that can go into mainstream media and, and be combative but still push a message and not get sidetracked. That's the Vance who, during the VP debate, when everyone thought he was going to, you know, fillet Tim Walls with, you know, a sledgehammer, his team specifically, they said beforehand, watch, we're going to be, we're going to surprise people, we're going to be surprisingly conciliatory and then wield the hammer very subtly. That was that there. So I think that's the JD Vance that people underestimate. If he's going to go in 27, 28 and be the standard bearer, I thought that was a very, very good SOT for the, the White House.

[Mark]

Yeah. Jamie.

[Jamie Harrison]

Matt, I, I would add that is the JD Vance who understands that if he doesn't clean up this, this, this pigsty that is going to be an anchor on his leg when he runs for president in 2028. This is not going well. The, the, this, the, these rays and these images that are coming out is not going well for the administration. And it's only going to get worse, particularly you kids, the, the shooting of folks. And these, and some of these folks are American citizens. And that is not what I think the American people wanted when they wanted immigration enforcement. These aren't the images that they wanted. And So I think J.D. vance understands that. He sees that and he wants to make sure, again, that he's not, that he, he's not thumbing his nose at the president, but he wants to make sure that, that he is coming off is somebody that can try to get above the free.

[Matt Gorman]

But.

[Jamie Harrison]

But I think there's a lot of CYA here.

[Mark]

Mandatory prediction that we're going to move on. Will Don Lemon be indicted? Mandatory prediction, Larry?

[Larry]

No.

[Mark]

Matt?

[Matt Gorman]

I. I think yes. I think yes.

[Mark]

Jamie?

[Jamie Harrison]

No.

[Mark]

The correct answer is yes. Oh, we'll see. Amy Klobuchar is filed papers to run for governor. I say this not in a. In a derogatory way. You meet people in my line of business who let it be known they might run for president. Sometimes they run and then they think about running again. Here's the headline from the start. Tribune, U. S. Senator Amy Klobuchar takes step forward. Run for Minnesota towards run for Minnesota governor. Amy Klobuchar is amongst the most ambitious potential presidential candidates I've ever met. She wakes up every day, and at least historically, she has, and says, what are the five things I need to do today to increase my chances of being president? What dinners can I speak at? Party dinners? What key states can I travel to? What donors can I talk to? She's like in the John Edwards category of just. At least she was. And that's my question. Here's. Well, let's poly market this. Poly market wagers. Our partners at Polymarket are asking people, who will the Democratic nominee be for governor of Minnesota? And it's pretty overwhelming. Klobuchar, 91% chance, according to the Polymarket Wagers. Steve Simon, Mr. Chairman. Who's Steve Simon? Do you know?

[Jamie Harrison]

I have no idea.

[Mark]

But 7% chance, according to Polymarket.

[Jamie Harrison]

That's crazy. They should be 100%.

[Mark]

100%.

[Jamie Harrison]

Amy Klobuchar is going to win this with like double digits, probably 20, 30%. I mean, she. She's a force of nature in Minnesota and she's well respected, probably has been running at the top of the ticket there for. For decades. So, you know, all my money is on Amy Klobuchar, so.

[Mark]

So it saves the party. And again, my reporting suggested that she may have urged Governor Waltz to get out of the race, maybe even with some polling data to avoid a wipeout for the Democrats. Remember before we were talking about immigration in Minnesota, we were talking about the scandal involving government money going to places it shouldn't have gone. Here's my question, and this is like a super sophisticated seven bank shot. Amy Klobuchar as governor of Minnesota versus Amy Klobuchar as a senator from Minnesota. To what extent does that increase her chances of someday being president of the United States? To what extent does it increase it? Give me a percentage. If. If her chances before were 10% have ever been president. What is it now, Matt?

[Matt Gorman]

Oh, well, let's say 70%. And I'll tell you, because once increases.

[Mark]

It increases from what to what?

[Matt Gorman]

Oh, let's say 10% to being president. Let's say 50 to 60. Because this is a VP play. This is a VP. Once you're on the ticket, as we know, you're.

[Mark]

No one plays for vp. I've never believed that. Larry, what's the percent chance? And Jamie will tell us the real answer.

[Larry]

I think it goes up to 20% from 10 because I think it's important to be an executive, a chief executive of a state. But I think the Democrats have already learned one lesson about nominating a Minnesota governor as their running mate.

[Mark]

Jamie, is it possible that she could turn right around and run in 28 if she wins overwhelmingly or not?

[Jamie Harrison]

I doubt that she'd run in 2028 after. After winning. But, you know, listen, Barack Obama was in the US Senate for two years and ran for president, so anything can happen. But, but I do think it strengthens her portfolio, becoming a governor and then running for president, then, you know, being a creature of the U.S. senate. I just think it's harder now going from the Senate to the, to the White House.

[Mark]

I think she's going to run. Go ahead, Larry.

[Larry]

You think? I'm curious from anybody on the panel, if, If Tim Walls had to suspend and not run for reelection because of the growing pressure on the Somali fraud investigations and other issues going on in the state, unless Amy Klobuchar actually takes a proactive approach on those exact same things and offers something different, what's the difference as to whether it's Tim Walls or it's Amy Klobuchar? It's a party problem, isn't it?

[Jamie Harrison]

I don't think so. Listen, in the end of the day, I think Tim Walls could have gotten through whatever that was. Listen, if Donald Trump got through all the crap that he's been through, then I think Tim Walls could have gotten through that. So, I mean, I've campaigned a lot in Minnesota, and given what the Trump administration is doing in Minnesota, in ice right now, it is actually strengthening the hand of Democrats rather than making it weaker.

[Mark]

Larry.

[Larry]

I think.

[Mark]

I think she can distance herself much more easily than Waltz can, both. Both in terms of her record and because she wasn't in the state, and also because she's more skillful than he is. Sorry, go ahead.

[Matt Gorman]

Look, she's a better politician. And look, and let's also be honest, she was not going to beat Shats for the majority leader or minority leader spot. So this is a good exit ramp for her too. And she understood that.

[Mark]

Yeah, she's an underrated political force and I'm telling you. And again, don't take this as a denigration. She's extremely ambitious and, and, and a lot. It's hard to get to be president.

[Jamie Harrison]

Well, Mark, she works her ass off too.

[Mark]

Yeah, she does need to work for us.

[Larry]

Do you have a.

[Mark]

And, and remember also in 2008, in. Sorry, in 2020, 20, something happened that had never happened in my experience. Two candidates who had money in the bank and a chance to be nominated quit the race for the good of the party. Buttigieg and Klobuchar Barack Obama got them out of the race because if they hadn't gotten out, Bernie Sanders would have won Super Tuesday and been the nominee. And she set aside her ambition, as did Buttigieg. Money in the bank. No one gets out with money in the bank and a chance to win. No one. They both did. And she made some friends off of that. Go ahead, Larry.

[Larry]

What's the two way code for the mypillow guy? Discounts. Do we have that yet?

[Mark]

No, but he will not be the governor of anything. All right, more polling. The New York Times. The folks at Axios did a nice job of graphicizing the New York Times Polling. The New York Times graphicizing the New York Times. Visual people should take note that they should be doing the their own graphics, but put that up. These are, these are horrible numbers. Now those of you who say fake poll, fake news, New York Times oversampling Democrats. This poll is consistent, ladies and gentlemen, with every other public and private poll. The President's poll numbers are horrendous right now. Job approval of disapproval 56. Disapproval on Epstein, 66. Cost of living disapproval 64. Immigration supposedly his great issue. Disapproval 58. The economy 58. But border is his one net positive. He's at 50% approval, $0.40 46 disapproval. All these numbers have to turn around or Republicans will lose control of the House and maybe the Senate. There's time to do it and there's as far as I'm concerned, you know, because we have to talk about stuff. There are other things that will come up. There's one variable. How will the economy be in the next few months? There's one person who's extremely optimistic about how the economy will be. Ladies and gentlemen, I show you Scott Bessant with Dasha Burns on Politico. Cockeyed optimist. Roll tape. I think we are going to see.

[Larry]

A fantastic economic year in 2026. I said we set the table now we're going to have the banquet. I think 2026 is going to be a great year. And I think the Republican Party is.

[Mark]

Happy to run on the economy of 2026. Jamie, is your fellow South Carolinian, Scott Bessant correct? Maybe if you're a billionaire, saying banquet is not the right choice, but word choice. But is he right? Is he, is he, is he possibly right that the economy is going to be great this year?

[Jamie Harrison]

Let me, let me tell Scott, you know, too many mint juleps down there in Charleston because, you know, listen, we thought the economy was great in 2024 in the Biden administration, right? But just because you think it in Washington, D.C. is great, if you go on Main street and people aren't feeling that, it's great if they feel like they're still paying too much, if they feel like their paycheck is not going as far. And with health care increasing, I mean, we just got to notice that our healthcare, my wife is a professor, that that's going to increase, that they're going up there. I mean, it is those types of things. If people don't feel it, regardless of how much you say it, if they don't feel it, that is how they're going to end up voting. And right now, people are not feeling that the economy is great.

[Matt Gorman]

Matt, Look, I think the Republicans are going to get jumpy because they're in wait and see mode right now. Like they can't do anything except hope that certainly the inflation numbers keep ticking down. GDP numbers which came out the other day seem good, but they got to kind of go and make sure people feel it. I think they really need, come the spring, those rates to go down when the new Fed chair comes in. I think that is what Besson is counting on to loosen up some capital. And again, people need to feel that. I think that is what everybody's kind of waiting on. And until we get to that point, you're going to hear a lot more like Besant, where you're just trying to set the table rhetorically for that to happen.

[Mark]

Can't predict it, can't propose fake policies, you can't cite data. People have to feel it, as has been said. And we'll see if Scott Besant's right. All right, two quick things on Ukraine. Zelensky just talked to a bunch of reporters. I'm not sure if he's still in Davos or where he is, but he said he reminded me there were trilateral talks early on, but at a much lower level than this. They were. I forget who was there for the US but it was lower level than this. And he said he's keeping in regular touch with the negotiators. And the tone of what he said is very bullish. This is just moments ago somewhere in Europe. And then let's poly market what wagers at our partner polymarket say about the prospects of a deal. Will there be a ceasefire by the end of this year? 45% chance by the end of the year that there'll be a ceasefire. 45% chance by the end of the year. BCSF. All right, Gavin Newsom, the President of the United States. If you look at his public statements in Davos and you look at his feed on On Truth Social 115, no big fan of Gavin Newsom. All right, here's just some of a long true social post from the President from yesterday evening. Gavin Newscomb, as a lame duck governor of a failing state, should not be at Davos running around screaming for the attention of foreign leaders and embarrassing our country. He made a mockery of himself. Goes on and on and on. Well, last night while I was minding my own business, I did some reporting and I learned that in fact, Gavin Newsom and the President were clowning around backstage before the President's speech. Here's my tweet, if you haven't seen it. World exclusive, by the way, and I don't believe anybody's matched this yet, but I promise it's true. Newsom was with his security team and the local police and backstage they ran into each other and the President was his normal self. Anyone who knows the President is not surprised by this anecdote. He was super charming and they banter and then he said, quote, gavin, we're good, meaning, you know, this is all show business. At least that's how some people are interpreting that. And Gavin Newsom gave him a little, a little crap as well. They chatted with Susie Wiles, they chatted with Caroline Levitt, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jim James Blair, because he does like inter governmental stuff, knows Newsom, and they chatted as well, very friendly. So here's my question. And Matt, start with you. We'll start with the chairman. Some people look at this who are on the left or on the right and they say this is just show business. These two guys are sniping at each other, calling each other these horrible names, saying they're failures, and then they run into each other backstage and they're palling around. And I've seen on social media, in response to my reporting, people on the left and the right saying, this is gross. How should a normal person who doesn't understand necessarily how this could be, how do you explain that? Is it, is it gross or is it, is it, is it just the nature of humanity and leadership that you run into somebody and you do political combat by day and by night you're, you know, palling around?

[Jamie Harrison]

Yeah, I think it's part of the dynamic of what social media brings to it.

[Mark]

Right.

[Jamie Harrison]

We can be social media warriors when we're on our Twitter or X or whatever you call it these days, and we can be tough and bold and all that other stuff, but it's harder to do that when you're face to face with a person, even if you don't really like the person. It's harder to just, you know, to not be pleasant. And I, and I think I have.

[Mark]

To, I have to tell you, I think they like each other, by the way. I think they do genuinely like each other.

[Jamie Harrison]

They probably admire that. You know, they, they both give each other hell. And, and, you know, there's a little admiration that comes out of that.

[Mark]

Yeah. Matt, what would you tell people who complain that this is. Puts a lie to the notion that they're actually principled warriors fighting against each other?

[Matt Gorman]

It's. It's kayfab. Right. With what they use in wrestling. Look.

[Jamie Harrison]

Oh, there you go, Matt.

[Matt Gorman]

You know, I'll be, look, I'll be honest. I was talking smack in the chat to Jamie years ago, got blocked by Jamie and his staff, and now here we are on, on two way, having a good time. So, like, you can have that, you can have that conversation. I think, I think this too. I think the, the disconnect also between staff and the principals are a big thing. You can tell when staff is just a. Does not have the voice of the principal, in my opinion, or is just totally out on their own. I think Gavin's accounts a really good example of this. Louise Lucas is a good example of this stuff. I'm sure there's, there's ones in the right. Those are the two that come to me too. That disconnect is something you can't underestimate either.

[Mark]

Yeah. Larry, does this appall you or this is the way life is?

[Larry]

It doesn't apply me. Listen, Trump is a unicorn. Trump. Trump is not like any other politician we've ever had or ever will have in our lifetimes, mostly because this is the first office he ever ran for, he does get a special permission slip. He gets a hall pass. He can do stuff that other politicians can't do. And when Newsom tries to trump Trump and be like Trump on social media or on media appearances, it reminds me of my oldest daughter when she was 14 years old. She had a very wry, sarcastic, cynical sense of humor and personality. And my wife said, you know where she gets it from? She's you, she's acting like you. And my response was, yeah, because I'm a 40 year old man, it's different. In a 14 year old girl, it comes across as obnoxious. When Gavin Newsom does it, it, it doesn't work. I think it really is hurting him. And I also think the American people, by 28, we're going to be ready for a different tone.

[Mark]

All right, a couple more topics in your questions. If you're here, want to be in the conversation and you've never raised your hand before, give it a try. TikTok, there seems to be some sort of deal. Haven't seen enough myself to know whether it actually addresses all the national security concerns that precipitated this effort. Any of you have any thoughts about whether this is going to happen, whether it's good enough, whether TikTok should be banned? Anybody?

[Larry]

If China's happy, if China's happy with it, it's a bad deal.

[Matt Gorman]

I totally agree. I'm very skeptical. Very skeptical.

[Jamie Harrison]

Same here.

[Mark]

Yeah. Okay. These two marches today I mentioned earlier, March for Life in Washington and then the walkouts. I know they're happening in Minnesota. Are there walkouts in other cities? Does anybody know? Or is it just a Minnesota thing or is it everywhere? I don't know, I haven't heard.

[Jamie Harrison]

But, but I do know that there are little mini protests all over the place. Even here in Columbia, South Carolina, there was protests right downtown.

[Mark]

Here's my question. And again, I don't have a long conversation about because we're short of time, but I get people in my business don't seem to cover protests very extensively. Typically, these seem like two big stories to be covered. Will these stories be covered in the major media tonight and tomorrow or not? Should they be?

[Larry]

March for Life is rarely covered. That's nothing new. But it's always so. It's always phenomenal.

[Matt Gorman]

Yeah, PR on these things. The Women's March, they have their own PR apparatus. You tend to get some coverage otherwise.

[Mark]

And I'll tell you what they don't do is they got to humanize it. They got to, they Got to find a single group of people, and then they got to call the New York Times and say, hey, we're going to give you an interview with this really compelling person.

[Matt Gorman]

And I never protest. I never.

[Mark]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. Like, you know, here's a. Here's somebody who voted for Kamala Harris who's at the march for life, or here's a Trump voter who, who's doing a walkout today. They just. They need better pr. They need to hire Matt is basically the answer. All right.

[Larry]

Apparently that's an Evergreen comment. I mean, that applies to everything.

[Mark]

Apparently there's going to be some snow. Apparently there's going to be some snow, and there'll be questions about how local officials handle it, how FEMA handles it. Are we in an age still where there's possibly an elected official who doesn't know what they need to do? In other words, we're going to see somebody like Ted Cruz flew to California a couple of days ago, and I said he was going to go back in time for the storm. But, like, do you think. Do you think we're past the point where people don't get it, that if you're an elective office, you need to be in the command center, you need to be briefing regularly. You should be wearing some. Something like this incredibly nice fairway and green three quarter zip. Like, am I right that no one's going to blow this? Right.

[Matt Gorman]

If you screw this up nowadays with all this, you are so stupid.

[Mark]

Right. Okay. That's my view. Everybody agree. No one's going to screw it up. Be too stupid. All right, here we go, ladies and gentlemen. Last thing and then your questions. Winners and losers of the week, what to look for over the weekend. This is a fan favorite category, and we have three great people here to participate. Chairman Harrison, winner of the week.

[Jamie Harrison]

Oh, Winner of the week. It's a.

[Mark]

It's.

[Jamie Harrison]

Maybe.

[Mark]

You want me to come back to you?

[Jamie Harrison]

Yeah, come back to me. On.

[Mark]

Okay, Matt, Winner of the week, plenty of losers.

[Matt Gorman]

No, you're good. Fernando Mendoz and Kurt Signetti, winners of the week. Because we're normal people. Indiana football did a great job. Fernando is on. Jimmy Fallon last night did a great job.

[Mark]

Yes, exactly.

[Matt Gorman]

And losers of the week. Everyone had plans this weekend in the Southeast because.

[Mark]

All right, Matt's doing both of his. Larry, sorry. That's okay. No, we do it that way sometimes. Larry. You got winners and losers.

[Larry]

Well, I'll spin off of Matt Gorman and make the winner of the week. Big Ten football. That's three years In a row, they've won the national championship. Could we Forget about the S.E.C. please?

[Mark]

Please? Yeah. Okay. And loser. Oh, oh.

[Larry]

We're going to follow Matt's lead on this.

[Mark]

That's all right. That's all.

[Larry]

Let's call honestly. Loser of the week is the momentum behind the Minneapolis anti ice protest because they jumped the shark invading a church on Sunday morning. I think that's the beginning of the end, Mr. Chairman.

[Mark]

You ready or you want me to do mine?

[Jamie Harrison]

Yeah. So winners of the week, particularly here in the south, all of the bread, eggs and milk producers, because I just went to Publix last night and there is nothing on the shelves. So those, those folks are making bank this week because it's all gone. Losers of the week. I, I just think u. S. Global credibility. I, I think Trump in the Greenland stuff and having Canada, like rail against us, it's just not a good look for us. And I worry about our long time, long term alliances once this administration's done.

[Mark]

All right. Winner of the week are the planners of Davos. That thing was declining in relevance and for three days they were like the UN Meets the Grammys. Just an incredible opportunity for the plutocrats to say we matter. And loser of the week, same people. Because while they had a great three days, this, this, the populism is, is they're, they'll be lucky if, if they're not peasants with pitchforks next year outside their hotel rooms, because that's where this is headed. They're winners and losers. All right, what to look for this weekend. Matt Gorman.

[Matt Gorman]

I'm really curious. First big snowstorm for Zoran Mamdani. If he screwed it up, of course, that, as we said, that's his own thing. But if he does, great, they're going to be a big PR Blitz.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Matt Gorman]

And then the other thing is I, I'm just still watching.

[Mark]

You only get one, dude.

[Matt Gorman]

Sorry. Rant.

[Mark]

Only get one. Iran. Always watch your end, Larry. Always. What to watch for this weekend, whether.

[Larry]

I lose power or not, I'm in Annapolis, I'm in the center of the storm, literally in Maryland. But in conjunction with that, not a different one. Same one. How governor Westmore handles this. It's his first big test in terms of natural disaster and he is still auditioning for some national ticket position. So let's see how the governor does in Maryland.

[Mark]

Jamie, what are you watching?

[Jamie Harrison]

Whether or not we actually get snow here in Columbia, South Carolina, because, you know, the weathermen always say it's. And it never happens.

[Mark]

You got a sled in case it happens.

[Jamie Harrison]

Yeah, we, we, we actually got these little slit this hill right near our house that we can go down, but you never get to use it.

[Mark]

Yeah, well, I was going to say Mondami because all politics is local. I want to make sure my mayor can dig me out. But I'll say the NFL on Sunday. It's one of the best NFL seasons we've ever had. No, looking forward, looking forward to being snowed in and watching the game. All right, a quick word from a sponsor and then to your questions. Right now you get 25% off everything on the CB Distillery website. Products from CB Distillery have been purchased by over 2 million people. They come with 100% money back guarantee. So what could go wrong? Follow the lead of 2 million people and see if this will help you sleep better, relax pain after working out the great products from CB Distillery, our premium quality third party tested and free of artificial dyes and fillers. 100% money back guarantee. As I said, 25% off right now. Your entire purchase go to CBDistillery.com use the promo code 2WMM promo code 2WMM from CBDistillery.com and give it a try. Because if you're having trouble sleeping, as many do, and your New Year's resolution is to get more sleep, this is one thing that works for so many. Go right now. Cbdistillery.com promo code 2wmm cbdistillery.com Promo code 2wmm and the last thing I'll say is if you are going to be doing catalog shopping, what I used to call catalog shopping, cyber shopping during the storm. I recommend to you these products from our friends at Fairway and Green. All very attractive, you can get with the two way logo if you want. And you get little phrases like no smack in the chat on the sleeves or get them unadorned. But whatever you do, you'll enjoy them and great for winter and of course for golf, if you golf. I've never held a golf club in my life, unless you count miniature golf. But I still love the clothes. All right, here we go, ladies and gentlemen. Questions, comments, predictions, Amy Klobuchar campaign slogan, suggestions, whatever you'd like. Here's Chris. Here's Chris Holliday. Chris, welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are. Is that fairway and green, or is my eyes deceiving me? No, it's not. It's not. All right. Welcome and tell folks who don't know where you are and what's on your mind. For Chairman Harrison, Matt Gorman and Larry all right. I'm from southeast Kentucky, Appalachian, part of the state. Yes, sir. And my thoughts are on the GOP and running for trying to keep control, both the House and Senate and where we have control of the White House. And I think as conservatives, we struggle sometimes because we're usually trying to get government out of the line and we're trying to get the government to do less. And then I know there's been a lot of talk about foreign policy. And even on next up, you talked about some of that stuff this week, Mark, and that Trump's focused on that. And I think as conservatives, again, that's kind of what we want the federal government to do. We want to have them to run the foreign policy, focus on that and kind of get them out of our lives. But then that's hard when it comes time to run for reelection because you don't have this great big legislative record to say, here's what we did, because as conservatives, we don't see a problem and say, oh, the government should do something to fix that. And so I just wonder, you know, maybe if you all could talk about what are some of the things that we could discuss or bring up to try to keep the majorities in Congress well framed. Chris, thank you for that, Matt. Right in your wheelhouse. Go ahead.

[Matt Gorman]

I think that's a, that's a great, that's a great question. And I think what you're seeing right now is some of these things that pop in polling, like credit cards, swipe fees or whatever, and they're just kind of rushing towards it to try and figure it out. What I'm looking for and curious of is whether or not can get votes together on a second reconciliation package and what that would look like. And then also can they sell it?

[Mark]

Right.

[Matt Gorman]

One of the great dichotomies of this administration you're seeing is for, you know, a time you had Vance and others talking about the working families tax cut, et cetera, and Trump was just kind of meandering when he was trying to sell it. Now does is Wild's promise that she made on the plane of Davos that he's gonna hit the campaign trail every week from now to November. Does it actually take shape? That's what I'm kind of curious about. But I'm looking at reconciliation and sure. Is that one of the policy priorities and what's in there?

[Mark]

It's not going to happen, I'm told. Jamie.

[Jamie Harrison]

Well, listen, Chris, interesting question. I'm sorry, but I'm on the other side. So I'm fighting to make sure that you guys don't have the majority. But, you know, history is really instructive here, Chris. You know, I was the Ed of the HouseDem caucus in 2006, and many of the same dynamics that I saw in that election cycle, I'm seeing in this election cycle, which is when, you know, you remember 2004, Republicans cleaned the Democrats clock. You know, John Kerry lost. Republicans solidified majorities in the House and the Senate. And then 06 was a huge flip. Democrats flipped 31 seats. 14 of those seats were in Republican districts that were greater than plus five Republican. Like, we went really deep into red territory. And that's partly because, you know, it's a pendulum in America. When they, the American people vote for something and they see a little too much overreach in some some way, then what they react by going to the other side. And for. Regrettably for you, but happily for me, I think this is going to be one of those historic pendulum swings where Democrats will flip a number of seats, go deep into red areas. We've seen it so far in these special elections and I even think there's a path to the majority in the senate. Remember in 06, Mark, it was an Alaska seat that helped. I think it was baggage that we won in 06 and it might be Pelotola again in Alaska in 26.

[Mark]

Larry.

[Larry]

I'm with you, Chris. We're always at a handicap because Republicans never approach a campaign saying, vote for me and I'm going to have the government do this for you. Because that's not our vernacular, it's not what we say. What they need to do this year is make the case that if you don't like the fact that your health care costs more, it's because those guys had the government mess it up. And we're going to fix it by getting the government out of that. If you didn't like all the money you were spending on gas a year ago, guess why it's cheaper now? Because we got the government out of the mix and they need to make that case. It's not as sex, but that's the case. I think your question is relevant, Mark. Do you want my Amy Klobuchar campaign slogans?

[Mark]

Yes, I do.

[Larry]

Klobuchar 20, 26. Because someone has to comb through this mess or inspiring.

[Mark]

Larry.

[Larry]

Thank you, Amy. Klobuchar. This is sort of the edgy social media 1. Amy Klobuchar, no forks given.

[Mark]

Yeah, I guess that one. I get that one. Hey, Chris, let me ask you a question. As long as you're here, what do you think of J.D. vance as a potential president attractive to you? Too soon to say. I think that he would be able to bring together the coalitions because I was actually thinking about this. This week we're going to have, when Obama was termed out, the Democrats have had a problem ever since because they could not put back together the Obama coalition. Yeah, Biden did it to some chance in 2020, but I really think Vance will be able to keep together the Trump coalition. And if we mess this up and try to run somebody else, I don't, I don't think we could keep the Trump coalition because of the low propensity voters. We would definitely lose in 28. If the vice president called you and said what, what can I do to maximize my chances of keeping the coalition together, what advice would you give him? Well, I think unfortunately, and you know, in full transparency, I didn't vote for Trump in 24. I did in 16 and 20. But I think that he's going to have to kind of continue to bring forth the Trump policies. But I think that he's going to, he will make them more attractive because he's not a bomb thrower as bad as Trump. Yeah. When you, when you say, when you say you didn't vote for Trump, you mean you didn't vote for him in the, in the primary. Right. You voted for him in the. Oh, I didn't vote for him in the general election. Who you didn't vote in DeSantis. After January 6th, I just vote for Trump again. Got it. Okay. Thank you, Chris. Grateful to you. Thanks for being part of Two Way. Okay, Jen, welcome in. Jen lives in Oklahoma, as you can see from her side. Thanks for being here. Tell everybody what's on your mind for Jamie and Matt and Larry. Well, I just wanted to bring up after your next up and with Jamie here and you were talking about grassroots donations and stuff. So back Trump was running in 2016, I did for me what was, you know, a big donation. Although for the rest of the world it would be a very small donation. But my reward for that was anywhere from 20 to 50 emails every day for years that I had to spend up to 10 minutes of my workday every day eliminating, you know, from my email. And it was until I retired that I had the time to unsubscribe and unsubscribe and unsubscribe and unsubscribe to the point where now I only get just a very small Handful. So I think, I don't know about any other voters, but I would imagine that that's a real annoyance to people because, you know, I guess lists are sold and sold. I mean I was getting them from every senator, from every, everybody running. I was getting emails and it was a huge turnoff and I have not donated since. Jamie, how many emails did you send out to raise 130 million?

[Jamie Harrison]

Oh, a lot, A lot. And this is my recommendation to folks because I also get all, not only do I ask for money, but I also give money as well. And so I get a lot of emails and text messages and stuff from Democrats as well. This is my little suggestion. Now since I'm no longer chair, I can tell you get set, set up a, a political donation email and a Google phone number so that, that you never check. Right? So anytime you make a contribution, it is, you use that email and you have a Google phone number there and it goes there. So all the voicemails, all of the text messages, all of the, it goes there. And your life and your personal email has so much more joy as a result.

[Mark]

Good, good, good advice.

[Larry]

Chairman Harrison with the Burner account.

[Mark]

I love it. Matt, are your clients grappling with this and found any solutions?

[Matt Gorman]

I mean, yes, but we like, we like when people respond to our emails. I'm still in the business. No, but I get it. It's an annoyance for people. They're also incentivizing how the vendors are paid and it's a lot of backend mechanics. You know, sometimes people get paid by the send and that incentivizes you to be spammed. I get it, I get it. It's annoying, it annoys me. So I completely understand. It's still effective. The margins are getting squeezed. It's not as, say, lucrative as it was 10 years ago, but it's still pretty lucrative.

[Mark]

Yeah, Jen.

[Larry]

Thank you, Jen. Is it Cleveland county, by the way? Sorry, Oklahoma. Because my father in law used to be the chair of the Republican Party in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. And I'd just like to apologize on his behalf if that's the case. I'm sorry.

[Mark]

Thank you for that, Larry. Welcome intel folks who don't know where you are today and what's on your mind.

[Matt Gorman]

I am in New York City today as usual. So good to see you guys. Good morning.

[Mark]

So I wanted to bring up the.

[Matt Gorman]

Gaza Board of Peace. I. Everyone here knows that it's pretty personal for me. I'm Israeli and I just find it kind of outrageous that there's no Palestinian or Israeli leadership anywhere on this board of peace. I know that the Israeli government can't really do anything. They're kind of, you know, giving Trump whatever they want because Bibi is, like, kind of beholden to everything that Trump wants to do right now and. But I know that they're not happy.

[Jamie Harrison]

I'm. I'm like.

[Matt Gorman]

I feel like every time there's, like, a few steps forward, we have, like, you know, have the ceasefire now the hostages are back.

[Mark]

And, like, we took a few steps.

[Matt Gorman]

Forward and now we're taking 100 steps back.

[Mark]

Because if anyone knows anything about this.

[Matt Gorman]

Region, to have Turkey and Qatar involved in anything that's on the Israeli border, I'm very, very, very worried about what's happening.

[Mark]

What would you like to see happening in the alternative to what is happening? Something that involves the two groups that have to live side by side.

[Matt Gorman]

I don't see any Israeli or Palestinian leadership involved here, and I don't understand how that's physically possible.

[Mark]

Is it. Isn't Bibi on the board?

[Matt Gorman]

I don't think so.

[Mark]

I think he is. I think he just didn't go because they'd arrest him. But I think he is on the board. Somebody will check, but I think he is. Gentlemen, thoughts about where it stands and how it could be different.

[Matt Gorman]

On the Palestinian side? I think they're using it as a chit. Like, unless Hamas does arms, you're not getting on the board. I think that is. I know what's happening on that side.

[Larry]

That's the big question. It's like, who do you put on there? Because right now the official elected representatives of Gaza is Hamas, and you can't have a terrorist organization there. Also, by the way, Haley, just. I mean, maybe I'm naive, but I sort of took that presentation, especially given the setting, as less about the direct interested parties. The whole purpose was international buy in. This is about everybody being part of this solution. And so that's what I agree.

[Mark]

Haley. Thank you, Greg. Welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are and what's on your mind for the group here. I am from Iowa, and I have a comment and a question. The comment just related to the situation.

[Jamie Harrison]

In Minnesota, north of us here in Iowa.

[Mark]

You know, it was just really upsetting.

[Jamie Harrison]

I guess, is the word I'll use to see the invasion of the church last Sunday.

[Mark]

As an.

[Jamie Harrison]

As a Christian, that was just extremely upsetting.

[Mark]

And I think it was a real jump the shark moment. I just can't believe they did that. And so, anyway, I could go on and on about that. But yeah, my question's a little bit more personal and can you just explain what's going on with the primaries and the caucuses and give me any ray of hope, sliver of hope as an Iowan, that we might still be at the front of the line for that?

[Jamie Harrison]

When's that decision being made? How is it being made?

[Mark]

I don't get any of that. Right. I'll go first and then Jamie will give the real answer. It's complicated, right, because it involves the national parties, the state parties, and then in some states, the governments. Right. Because like, for instance, Georgia Democrats would like to go early, but they require Georgia Republicans to go along with that and Georgia Republicans may not want to do that. And then we've gotten away from, in the last few cycles the party's strong belief that they should be on the same day. Right. So even if Iowa Republicans go first, Iowa Democrats may not. And getting that agreement to try to be on the same day, particularly for the early states, is something that state leaders need to do. I continue to believe, despite the flaw in the caucuses. Both, both how they were executed in 20. But, but Democrats. But, but also how they're just not, they're just not as fair because it's hard to participate for some people as compared to vote in an election, in a primary. Iowa and New Hampshire voters, and it's no disrespect to South Carolina voters. They're in a class by themselves. They'll go to town halls during the workday. They ask serious questions. They put the candidates through their paces. I wish other states were as good and I wish those states were more diverse. But we have a problem in this country, the two states that can do it. And again, I mean no disrespect to the other 48, but I'm telling you, those two states are head and shoulders above the others. Those two states are not diverse. And so for the Democrats in particular, it's a real challenge. You also are no longer a battleground state in the presidential, at least for now, and that makes it less attractive to Democrats. Mr. Chairman, how is your party going to solve this over the next few weeks and months?

[Jamie Harrison]

Well, I think the biggest hurdle for Iowa is the fact that they have caucuses and caucuses have been, you know, there's a souring on caucuses within the Democratic Party at this point in time because, you know, you don't have enough folks that can participate. Those folks who have to work can't be there, but want to elect, you know, who the next president of the United States is they really can't participate in the manner in which we, we want. And so that's, that's one of the biggest challenges. And then because of the hurdles with the execution of the last big set of caucuses, it made it even worse within the DNC that people are like, see, this is, this is broken. We need to move past it and we need, we need to choose some other folks. I think Iowa is trying to make a push to get back into the game. You know, there's going to be one Midwestern state, and right now it's between Iowa, Illinois and Michig in terms of who actually gets that, that nod. And the decision on that will be made probably by the end of the year on whether or not Iowa gets back into the early window. The days of Iowa being first on the Democratic side, though, are gone. That's not going to happen.

[Mark]

Which means my chances of getting a Smitty's Point park pork tenderloin in January of 2028 have reduced significantly. And I think we can all be upset about that. Greg, thank you. Grateful to you. And I think for what it's worth, the chairman was spot on with everything he said. All right. Some stuff we need to talk about, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, we've told you repeatedly you're going to get a lot of announcements about this program, about other two way programs, existing and new, and we're excited to roll those out in the coming weeks. I'll give you one right now. Two Way Tonight will be on this evening at six o' clock Eastern as it normally is, with two great guests and two first timers on two WAY tonight. Get this right. Janaya Thomas, a Republican strategist, and Al Mater, a Democratic strategist. You guys know those two people?

[Matt Gorman]

I do. Janaya is great.

[Mark]

Worked with her on Tim Scott, you know, Al. All right, so they're endorsed. They'll be my guests on Two Way tonight at 6:00'.

[Larry]

Clock.

[Mark]

It's the last episode at 6:00'. Clock. Starting Monday. Two Way tonight will be on at 5 Eastern Time. Now, as I said last night, some of you will send me emails to say, mark, this is a disaster. That's what I drive carpool. I'm not home from work by then. This is horrible. Others will say, mark, this is fantastic. Now I can eat dinner with my family rather than watching you. My point is there's no great perfect time. But regardless of how you feel about the move, it's on at 5 o'. Clock. So Whether you like it or not, if you want to watch the show, five o', clock, but I'll also remind you, you can watch it on demand whenever you want on YouTube. So if you don't want to, if you can't watch it live at 5, pretend it's on at 6. You won't be able to participate. Of course, he still can put smack in the chat, 5 o' clock Eastern Time starting Monday. Now, lots of other changes are coming. Lots of exciting things happening. None more excited than our new leader. Joe Ruffalo is here. Joe is a longtime media executive who believes in two Way, who appreciates our community, who understands what we're doing. Joe just began the job as CEO. I'm so delighted to be able to work under his leadership. And ladies and gentlemen, for a few words of vision, passion and gratitude towards the two Way community, I present to you the CEO of two Way, Joe Ruffler. Joe, welcome. Thank you so much, Mark, and thank you for everyone. It was great to be part of the community this morning. I've been a huge fan of two Way and the morning meeting for a very long time, and I'm grateful to be part of it and working with Mark and the tremendous team that you don't get to see every day that's behind the scenes here. I've been, as Mark said, in media for a very long time and I think it is completely changing. And I think just sitting here this morning and being with all of you and allowing you to have your voices heard and have this community behind the scenes and in front of the scene now is a really exciting opportunity. And you're going to see more of that from two Way, not only in the spaces with Mark that you already know and love, but will continue to expand and do new and other things that brings audience directly into participants in programming. And there's a huge revolution in media happening. And I'm excited to be part of this great team to bring that to all of you. So if you have ideas or other questions, I'd love to hear from you as well. That's what this is all about and being part of this community. So thank you very much and good morning. And I. And I will also reiterate that Indiana was the ultimate winner this week as a Hoosier by trade. I was very excited to see that. Yeah, Joe, thank you. Grateful to have you here and excited. And again, you'll be seeing some announcements about two Way programming coming up really soon, and we look forward to sharing those with you. But Monday, 5pm but tonight, 6pm, I'll see you there. And we're gonna have news to cover. I can tell you there's going to be at least some news today. Can't say what it is right now, but there could be a lot of news. But there'll be at least some news. So I will see you at 6. Matt and Jamie and Larry, thank you all for making time. Larry, if I die during my colonoscopy, please be available at 6 o'. Clock.

[Larry]

God forbid that happen. But don't worry, the colonoscopy will behind you before you know it. Also, Mark, I don't glance at the chat, but I do read it. Joe has been an absolute assassin with the smackdown there. I don't know if you've seen it, but Ruffalo, you've got to like, chill on the smack in the chat.

[Mark]

He's been policing the chat or adding to it.

[Larry]

Oh, no, he's been the chief smacker. He's the smacker in chief. I wish I was that cool.

[Mark]

Yeah, the, the smack policies will be under review by the new administration. We'll see. We'll see where they end up. Very grateful to you all. And I'll see you at 6 tonight and have a great day. And again, Matt and Jamie and Larry, thank you so much. And Joe, welcome.

[Larry]

Thank you, sir.