The Latest on the Search for Savannah Guthrie's Mom; Trump Slams Bad Bunny, Super Bowl Halftime Show

Summary

The Morning Meeting – Episode Summary

Podcast: The Morning Meeting
Host: Mark Halperin (with Hogan Gidley, Jaime Harrison, Prof. Kenny)
Date: February 9, 2026
Main Theme:
The episode offers a dynamic, insider’s look at the major stories shaping the news cycle: the ongoing search for Savannah Guthrie’s mother, the uproar over Bad Bunny’s Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime show (and former President Trump’s reaction), the continued fallout from the Epstein investigation, prospects for the midterms, and more. The tone is fast-paced, opinionated, and filled with sharp exchanges reflecting the perspectives of both Republican and Democratic strategists.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Super Bowl Halftime Show Uproar: Bad Bunny’s Performance & Trump’s Critique

• Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show
  • The hosts and guests react to Bad Bunny's all-Spanish performance (feat. Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga), noting how it has polarized American political and media spheres.
  • Former President Trump sharply criticized the performance—focusing on language and the NFL’s new kickoff rule.
  • Debate unfolds about America’s cultural identity and the role of language in national events.

Timestamps:

• [01:13] Halperin quizzes panelists: "Did you instantly know that was Ricky Martin?... Lady Gaga?"
• [12:37] Halperin to Hogan: "Should your party be running down Bad Bunny, the most popular artist in the world, or celebrating him and not caring that the halftime show happened to be in Spanish?"
• [13:17] Gidley: "I don't like that the whole thing was in Spanish. Call me what you want."
• [14:43] Harrison: “Bad Bunny is the biggest artist right now… the NFL is trying to expand internationally.”
• [16:04] Halperin: “Is this a blunder by the Republicans that will have resonance for Hispanic voters?”
• [16:20] Harrison: "At some point it does become a political liability for the Republicans."
• [18:46] Harrison: “I spent five years trying to get Bad Bunny to come campaign for Democratic candidates... Bad Bunny does not want this to be politicized."

Notable Quotes:

• Mark Halperin [13:27]: "Why does it matter? Why are people so offended that it’s in Spanish? It’s a halftime show. It’s not a government document."
• Hogan Gidley [13:37]: "Football is an American sport. English is our language. Officially, you have to learn English to become an American citizen."
• Jaime Harrison [14:43]: "The point is Bad Bunny is the biggest artist right now. Reggaeton is the largest growing music genre. This was a cultural moment and Bad Bunny brought the heat."
• Mark Halperin [17:59]: "If Bruce Springsteen were dispositive, John Kerry would be president. I just cannot believe the level of attacks and I just think they're counterproductive. Just don’t watch it."

2. Savannah Guthrie’s Missing Mother Case

• Latest Developments
  • The panel discusses the high-profile and emotional search for Savannah Guthrie’s mother.
  • News media and law enforcement remain tight-lipped, with few briefings scheduled.
  • Speculation surrounds whether ransom demands are credible, or if the Guthrie family now believes the worst.

Timestamps:

• [33:59] Halperin: “The heartbreaking video... left some people believing they’re going to pay ransom or just recover her body.”
• [35:25] Harrison: "It’s also one of those stories where it’s begun to grow its own legs. ...I think we got to sort of quiet down on the conspiracies a little bit and give Savannah and her family some respect."
• [36:05] Gidley: "I'm friends with Savannah... This gets more horrific by the day. ...There’s clearly information the family knows they’re not telling—and that’s fine."

Notable Quotes:

• Jaime Harrison [35:25]: “Everyone started talking about this in their own way… give this family the respect to get through this and try not to—if we can’t be helpful—spread conspiracies.”
• Hogan Gidley [36:05]: "This is more horrific, it seems, every day… I’m praying this poor woman is alive and the family can heal afterwards."

3. Political Week Ahead: Congress, VP in Armenia, Maxwell & Epstein Fallout

• Daybook Overview
  • Biden and VP Harris' public schedules, policy meetings, and international trips (Armenia, unprecedented for a US VP).
  • Ghislaine Maxwell to take the Fifth Amendment in a virtual deposition; continued intrigue and media attention.
  • Congressional efforts to avoid a Department of Homeland Security shutdown and the annual Munich conference as a forcing mechanism.
  • Political personalities (Jimmy Kimmel’s guests, Elizabeth Pipko’s baby, etc.)

Timestamps:

• [04:20]–[06:09] Congressional dealmaking and Munich Conference deadlines.
• [07:59] Maxwell, Epstein, and Clintons’ anticipated testimony.

Notable Quotes:

• Halperin [05:00]: “Congress...you need a forcing mechanism. Christmas is a good one. Shutdowns are usually pretty good. The Munich conference...they all want to go Thursday night.”

4. The Epstein Investigation: Redactions, Releases & Public Confusion

• Current State
  • Ro Khanna (D) and Massie (R) are headed to the DOJ to read unredacted Epstein documents by hand—no electronic devices allowed.
  • Widespread frustration over extreme document redactions and lack of transparency.
  • Growing belief that the issue has spiraled into conspiracy territory, and ordinary Americans are more confused than ever.

Timestamps:

• [19:34] Halperin introduces the latest Epstein updates.
• [20:50] Harrison: "This is permeating into the zeitgeist… candidates...will have to choose a talking point on this."
• [22:42] Gidley: "I’ll tell you the ones [coffee shops] I go to—no one even knows about the Epstein stuff."
• [23:40] Gidley: "Republicans really kind of went whole hog on this… and now...it’s not what I thought it was. Thus, there must be some even grander conspiracy."
• [25:25] Harrison: "At this point...what's the goal of this whole thing? What are we trying to accomplish?... We don't know what's real anymore."
• [25:46] Halperin: "Europe is having accountability...it’s happening in the U.S.—George Mitchell, Larry Summers, more coming."

Notable Quotes:

• Jaime Harrison [25:25]: “Now this is becoming...we don’t know what’s real anymore. We don’t know what’s fake. And the conspiracy theories are growing out of the wazoo.”
• Hogan Gidley [23:40]: "It just never stops… I don’t know how much of it becomes an actual campaign issue."
• Professor Kenny [56:05]: "There should be some kind of bipartisan committee or some committee to sift through all of these documents [Epstein] unredacted because there’s so much crap out there…"

5. The Political Economy: Messaging Wars, Inflation, and the 2026 Midterms

• Talking Points
  • Biden now “owns” the economy; recent good news is tempered by continuing concerns about prices and inflation.
  • Disagreement over the effectiveness of "affordability" as a political message.
  • Midterms will heavily hinge on cost-of-living issues, pocketbook economics, and both parties’ ability to credibly communicate solutions.

Timestamps:

• [27:12]–[30:03] Discussion of economic data, messaging strategies, and voter attitudes.
• [30:03] Harrison: "Affordability is a real word… costs are up across the board."

Notable Quotes:

• Halperin [27:20]: “Does the president now officially own this economy?”
• Gidley [28:43]: "...affordability...means absolutely nothing. It’s the fake, fictitious feeling…"
• Harrison [30:03]: “Affordability is a real word… When you go out into these states and hang out with people who are not in the Beltway, most people understand it.”

6. Other Notable Political Developments

• Ossoff’s Speech in Georgia
  • Ossoff gives a sharp, well-received speech taking aim at “the Epstein class” running America.
  • Halperin, Harrison, and Gidley debate whether Ossoff is an underrated political force and 2028 contender.

Timestamps:

• [41:12]–[46:30] Extended discussion of Ossoff’s messaging, delivery, and prospects.

Notable Quotes:

• Halperin [43:04] (quoting Ossoff): "You remember we were told that MAGA was for working class Americans...this is a government of, by and for the ultra rich...the Epstein class."

• Hogan Gidley [44:39]: "Not many factual liberties is the best description of a lie I’ve ever heard."

• Jaime Harrison [42:45]: "He is one of the most effective communicators you will find."

• Billionaire Donors

  • Bloomberg’s contributions spotlight the ongoing billionaires’ influence race between the parties.
  • [38:29]–[39:44] Discussion of how much Bloomberg and Republican billionaires will spend.

• Texas Senate Race

  • [48:41]–[54:54] Listener Q&A on whether Trump will endorse Cornyn or Hunt, and the broader significance for Republican politics in Texas.

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Bad Bunny's Halftime Show:

  • Halperin [13:27]: “Why does it matter? Why are people so offended that it’s in Spanish? It’s not a government document.”
  • Gidley [13:37]: "You have to learn English to become an American citizen."
  • Harrison [14:43]: "This was a cultural moment and Bad Bunny brought the heat...the words he said in Spanish and in English were some of the most important: God bless America."

• On The Epstein Documents:

  • Gidley [23:40]: "Now the Republicans who went really all in...are like, wait a minute, it's not what I thought it was. Thus, there must be some even grander conspiracy."
  • Harrison [25:25]: "At this point, what are we trying to accomplish? Originally...we're trying to get justice for survivors. Now this is becoming...we don't know what's real anymore."

• On Political Messaging:

  • Gidley [28:43]: "Democrats...use the word, very smartly, 'affordability,' which means absolutely nothing."
  • Harrison [30:03]: "Affordability is a real thing...costs are up across the board."

• On Ossoff’s Speech and Prospects:

  • Halperin [41:12]: “That speech was sent to me...I watched the whole thing twice.”
  • Gidley [44:39]: "I have not seen...such smoothness...since Bill Clinton. Also a propensity not to tell the truth."

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |-----------------------------------------|-----------------| | Super Bowl / Bad Bunny discussion | 01:13–18:46 | | Savannah Guthrie’s mother missing | 33:59–37:16 | | Epstein case updates & debate | 19:34–25:46, 56:03–60:22 | | Economic messaging & strategy | 27:12–33:54 | | Georgia/Ossoff, 2028 prospects | 41:12–46:30 | | Texas Senate race listener Q&A | 48:41–54:54 |

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For New Listeners

This episode is a fast-moving, no-holds-barred look at the intersection of news, politics, and media. It features sharp ideological disagreement (particularly over cultural moments like Bad Bunny and enduring controversies like Epstein), bipartisan reflection on national anxieties, and some consensus on how conspiracy and confusion are reshaping the news. The hosts’ chemistry—Mark Halperin’s provocations, Hogan Gidley’s conservative lens, and Jaime Harrison’s Democratic insider views—make for dynamic, revealing, and often humorous exchanges, critical for understanding the current political zeitgeist.

Skip to segments above for the topics you care about—every major discussion advances the themes that will define the week’s news.

Transcript

[Mark Halperin]

This is it. The world as you know it is over.

[Professor Kenny]

Completely done.

[Mark Halperin]

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

[Hogan Gidley]

I was selling AI as a great.

[Mark Halperin]

Thing for decades and I was wrong. I was wrong.

[Professor Kenny]

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 Halperin]

While others say that AI will usher in unfathomable abundance, I've always believed that.

[Hogan Gidley]

It'S going to be the most important invention that humanity will ever make.

[Jaime Harrison]

This really will be a world of abundance.

[Mark Halperin]

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. Foreign. We begin with the morning meeting. Welcome back, everybody. Thank you for being part of the program. Hogan Gidley is here. Hi. Ma Moore here. Gentlemen, welcome in.

[Jaime Harrison]

Hi. Good to see you.

[Hogan Gidley]

Good morning.

[Mark Halperin]

I need to check because, you know, we follow the Regis and Kathy Lee rule here. We never leave anything in the locker room. We have no communication pre show because we don't leave anything in the locker room. We want everything to be spontaneous. Hogan, did you watch the entire Bad Bunny performance?

[Hogan Gidley]

I did, but on YouTube after.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay, Jaime, did you watch the whole thing?

[Jaime Harrison]

Yeah, I watched it twice, actually.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay, now be honest. Be honest. Did you instantly know that that was Ricky Martin? And did you instantly know that that was Lady Gaga? Like, they came up. You're like, hey, there's Lady Gaga. There's Ricky Martin. Jaime. Yes, on both.

[Jaime Harrison]

On both. Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, Hogan.

[Hogan Gidley]

Yes, obviously.

[Mark Halperin]

Obviously.

[Professor Kenny]

Okay.

[Mark Halperin]

I have to say, I mean, they're.

[Hogan Gidley]

Two of the biggest stars. Like, what do you mean?

[Mark Halperin]

They are. Ricky Martin is. Is more handsome than he was 20 years ago.

[Jaime Harrison]

I thought, yeah, he looks good.

[Mark Halperin]

I mean, he looks spectacular. I thought that very handsome guy looks like Ricky Martin. But obviously it's not because he. He's found There's a fountain of youth located in Puerto Rico.

[Jaime Harrison]

I hope so.

[Mark Halperin]

Is that the deal? Anyway, thank you for being part of two Way. If you'd like to be in on the conversation, please, please raise your hand. We have a lot of topics to get to today. Always being forward looking, always based on the network news division's morning meetings, where you think about what's coming up today, what's coming up this week. And on Mondays, we do the week ahead. There's some interesting events coming up later in the week. Then we'll have A big, robust conversation where Hogan and Heimel will reflect the spirit of peace, love and understanding, always extending the presumption of grace to each other and sometimes to me. And you all will know not to put smack in the chat, because we don't do that here. Let's see. Just. I'm just. All right, I'm gonna go through the daybook in a moment, but first, an ad from our friends at Cozy Earth. Do you guys have that picture I sent over the weekend? Maybe you do. Do you have the picture I sent? If you do, you're gonna put it up anyway. Right now you can get 20% off everything on Cozy Earth. Go to cozyearth.com use the promo code 2 WMM. The Cozy Earth Baja bedding sheets available now. Here's a. This is the picture I wanted. Those of you listening on the podcast version, I pity you because you're not seeing this extraordinary picture of our two friends who love Cozy Earth products. They love the Bubble Cuddle blanket, these two puppies, and as you can see, holding hands on the striped sheets. Striped sheets available 25. 20% off everything on the site, including those extraordinary sheets.

[Hogan Gidley]

The.

[Mark Halperin]

The dogs are not available. 20 off. Go to cozyearth.com bubble cuddle blanket, which those two puppies also love. You can get the pants. Got a great email from a source over the weekend who went to a big political meeting wearing the Cozy Earth pants. And he said all anybody was saying to him was how much they like the pants. Anyway, if you like Cozy Earth products, now's the time to save 20 off. And if you haven't tried them, go to cozyearth.com promo code 2 WMM. All right, let's rush into the daybook, gentlemen, because it's a big day at the White House where The president at 3 o' clock has a TV interview in the Roosevelt Room. Hogan, do you know what that's about? What? Who he's doing an interview with.

[Hogan Gidley]

I don't.

[Mark Halperin]

Don't. Could be with. Could be Newsmax, could be two way. We just don't know. And then he's got a policy meeting at 5:30. So we'll see what comes out of that. The vice president, fresh off his long trip at the Olympics, where he and his family enjoyed many an event, is off to Armenia. First sitting at this hour, meeting with the prime minister. You guys both know who the Armenian prime minister is, as well as you know how to identify Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga. Nicole Pashinian. Anyway, first I read this morning, first sitting president or vice President ever to go to Armenia seems kind of incredible. Bobby. Yeah, sorry, when are you saying something? Bobby Kennedy around the one year anniversary of his taking office as a speech at Heritage foundation today files a fireside chat about the Maha agenda. Gillian Maxwell at 10. Today we'll take the Fifth Amendment. All these headline Maxwell testifying. They should say Maxwell refuses to testify. She's not going to say anything. We're told going to take the Fifth in a virtual deposition from her minimum security prison. We'll see if anything comes out of that. As the House and Senate negotiators try to figure out how to get a deal done to keep the Department of Homeland Security from shutting down. You talk about your forcing mechanisms. Congress, if they're going to do something hard that requires bicameral, bipartisan White House deal, you need a forcing mechanism. Christmas is a good one. There's some others. Shutdowns are usually pretty good. The Munich conference is this weekend and Hogan can tell you, Jaime can tell you, members of Congress, they love their Munich conference. They just, for some reason, they just love that thing. So they all want to go on Thursday night to Munich to the big international security conference. They weren't going to happen, Hogan. It's not going to happen.

[Hogan Gidley]

No, no, because remember, if any part of the government, any part of the government is shut down, there is no foreign travel, there is no code.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, but that's why they have to solve it by Thursday night. So I think it's a big incentive. Guys, there's going to be another cr, right? They're going to make enough progress that Democrats will agree to another CR of a week or two. Everybody agree?

[Hogan Gidley]

Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

Yes. Yeah. Can you agree with that? All right, all right. Opening arguments in that landmark social media addiction trial in Los Angeles today. And then here's what's happening this week. Vice President Harris's book tour goes back Macon, Georgia, then Montgomery, Alabama Wednesday, Georgia Thursday, Alabama Prime Minister Netanyahu was supposed to come to Washington next week, is coming on Wednesday, talk to the President about Iran to make sure that in addition to talking about their nuclear program, they're talking about their missile program and talking about their terror sponsored activities. And amongst Jimmy Kimmel's guests this week are Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry, a bunch of other guests I'm not really sure about. All right, let's talk about the, all the sports, politics stuff, a lot of sports at the. Oh, sorry. Two more things I wanted to tell you about right here at the top. Two of our great friends of the two way of two way in the News or on our minds, whatever. First of all, Elizabeth Pipko was here like a week ago. She was on two way tonight. Here's what, here's, here's a little bit of that. This is Elizabeth Pipko, Hogan's former colleague, Trump advisor, communications official. Here's Elizabeth. This is 119. Here's Elizabeth, as always, coming on, big smile on her face, nothing out of the ordinary turned out, ladies and gentlemen, she was about to give birth and she announced on Instagram, much to our surprise, she didn't tell us 118 that she just had a baby. And she quoted Charlie Kirk in this great photo of her cute baby. Get married, have children. She got married, I think seven years ago, but had a child. So congratulations to Elizabeth and her husband and their family. And then another person who a regular on this platform, AJ Edelman. Let me play the AJ's been on two way tonight a lot. He's a great guy, very outspoken supporter of Israel and just a wonderful, wonderful person. Also a member of the Israeli bobsled team and in the Olympics. Here's a great promo video. They haven't, they haven't raced yet, but here's a great promo video of AJ and his colleagues. You can play some of that. A story over a decade in the making. Israel bobsled.

[Hogan Gidley]

Three months ago, five Jews, a Druze and a Sheba Inu, took Israel to.

[Mark Halperin]

The ice to fulfill an impossible dream. Some call them shul runnings or the little sled that could truly just an inspiring run for a team that has made the impossible possible.

[Hogan Gidley]

A story that can be described as only in Israel. Blood, sweat, tears and a massive dose.

[Mark Halperin]

Of never say never. All right, you saw AJ there in the video. Unfortunately, they were robbed in Italy over the weekend. Their, their, their, their resident, their, their accommodations were robbed. They lost a bunch of stuff. Very sad. But we're rooting for them, aj. Go, go win a gold so everybody can cheer you on. Anyway, I wanted to acknowledge the two of them. All right? In the Olympics, some athletes said negative things about the United States. President Trump didn't like that at the halftime show in the Super Bowl. Bad Bunny loved. Bad Bunny was loved by every Democrat, at least every Democrat on TV and social media. Here's a New York Times. Americans at the Olympics can't escape the politics at home. The 232Americans competing at the Winter Games have trained for years, traveled thousands of miles and had already give their best on the ice and snow in northern Italy. But politics, perhaps inevitably, is intruding on their Olympic moment. A lot of controversy over the vice president and whether he was booed or not. Some conservatives claim he wasn't. I'm not sure how they're making that claim in any event, because it's right there on the audio. In any event, the Bad Bunny performance celebrated by the left, celebrated as a just a great watershed moment for culturalism. You can see if those of you watching here some of the performance. You got it. Technically, it was brilliant.

[Jaime Harrison]

I don't know.

[Mark Halperin]

Forget. Forget all the criticism. Now. The president hated it. And of course, there was an alternative show, Republican. Here's the president's social media post. Said it was, you know, ridiculous and horrible. And of course, for the. At least the third time, he attacked the NFL new kickoff rule, which is my favorite obsession of the president's. But people on the right were divided. Here's the Paul brothers are divided. Jake and his brother don't agree. Jake Paul said, you know, purposely turning off the halftime show. And Logan Paul said, I love my brother, but I don't agree with this. Puerto Ricans are Americans, and I'm happy they were given the opportunity to showcase the talent that comes from the island. Here's someone else who didn't. Who doesn't think the right should be running down the performance. This is Alexis Wilkins. 109. She. She's an influencer, I think. She also happens to be Cash Patel's girlfriend, but she's an influencer in her own right. I think that's what she's. Hogan, right? She's a friend of yours? Yeah. Is that what she is? She's an influencer?

[Hogan Gidley]

Yeah, sure.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Okay. Very pop singer. That's. That's. I. I knew she had a whole other career. Alexis Williams is. Wilkins is a singer. And here's what she says in response to the DNC's extraordinarily lush photo of Mr. Bunny. And she says, unpopular colon Republicans need to unite and get on better messaging because this branding is fantastic. She's talking about the Democratic branding and allows all Dems to get behind it. Also super aesthetic. Couldn't agree with Alexis Wilkins more. Democrats are united. The branding is fantastic. And. And the aesthetic was incredible. I mean, again, I don't know who the actual producer of that thing was, but that was a triumph of live programming, really. Just incredible. So, Hogan, you first, because your party's divided going forward, should your party be running down Bad Bunny, the most popular artist in the world, or celebrating him and not caring that the halftime show happened to be in Spanish language spoken by many People in North America. America. Latin America.

[Hogan Gidley]

Yeah. I don't know. It seems a little.

[Mark Halperin]

Would you agree with your friend Alexis or not?

[Hogan Gidley]

In part. I think it was a bad choice for the halftime show. Do you remember the one. The super bowl in Detroit not too long ago? I'm thinking to myself, what a great opportunity to have, like, Motown or Eminem or, you know, someone there that has moto. You could talk about Michigan, whatever. And they went with, like, the who or something. Like, I don't understand. For the life. Meaning, while the NFL wants to have, like, a more global brand. I get it. But at the same time, Puerto Rico, obviously part of the United States. I don't like that the whole thing was in Spanish. Call me what you want.

[Mark Halperin]

To. I want to hear from Jaime so badly. But I need to ask you to follow. Why does it matter? Why are people so offended that it's in Spanish? It's a halftime show. It's not. It's not a government document.

[Hogan Gidley]

No.

[Mark Halperin]

You might go see. You might go see the Mikado, and that'd be in Japanese. Like, why are people. Why. I'm being serious. Why is it. Why are people bothered by that?

[Hogan Gidley]

Well, I think because football is an American sport. English is our language. Officially, you have to learn English to become an American citizen. So it makes a little sense that it would be in English, and you'd want more people to enjoy that, considering it's a homegrown sport. You want a homegrown Hogan.

[Mark Halperin]

Do you know that the most popular artist in the world now sings regularly in Spanish, and people seem to be able to enjoy that. Yeah.

[Hogan Gidley]

You're making two different arguments. I understand it's globally significant. Global artists speak in other languages. I'm saying this is an American sport. It's halftime at the American Super Bowl. Theoretically, you'd want someone. And quite frankly, you want to understand it. I'd love to hear what the lyrics are. I'd love to understand what he's trying to say.

[Mark Halperin]

All right. I won't speak for Hogan, but I'll speak for the President. They're trying to turn this into a. Like a Fox News. Like, they're canceling Christmas. Like, this is some. There's some cultural outrage. I'm wondering how big an opportunity you think this for Democrats to take advantage of the. The attitude of. Of Hogan and his friend the President.

[Jaime Harrison]

Hey, Mark and Hogan. Good to see you guys. I'm not. I'm not sure what we. Were we even arguing at this point and what we're debating. Honestly, I'm A little biased. I thought it was a fantastic show. I've been a fan of Bad Bunnies since, you know, 2021. 2020. And so. And I'm a huge fan of Puerto Rico. I go there every year. So those are my disclaimers. However, I. Look, I. I can understand where Hogan's coming from. Some other people, I was talking to some, Some friends yesterday. I'm saying my dad was probably upset it was all in Spanish because he doesn't speak Spanish. But that's not the point. The point is Bad Bunny is the. The biggest artist right now. Reggaeton is the largest growing, growing music genre right now. And to your point, Hogan, the NFL is trying to expand internationally. And Spanish language, aside from America's Spanish language, is still widely spoken across the world. And so I understand what you're saying about NFL being a homegrown franchise in the super bowl, but this was a cultural moment and Bad Bunny brought the heat. And not only bring the heat, he was so lovely and he was so kind. The words that he said in Spanish, in English were some of the most important words. God bless America. And so I welcome Bad Bunny. I welcome Puerto Ricans. I want to make sure that as we're expanding sort of the American cultural footprint, we bring the Puerto Ricans into this culture even more. And if you haven't been to Puerto Rico, you should go and you should be proud that Puerto Rico is an American territory.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay, but hold on. I just want to. I want to. I loved everything you said, but I want you to answer my question. Is this, Is this a huge. Is this a blunder just in pure politics, is this a blunder by the Republicans that will have resonance for Hispanic voters in the United States, will help your party?

[Jaime Harrison]

I think so. I mean, think about this, Mark. This is the same party that spent the last five years talking about the inroads they made with the Hispanic community.

[Professor Kenny]

Yeah.

[Jaime Harrison]

And then they've spent the last two weeks, two months lambashing the. The largest Latina artists maybe of all time. And so at some point, it's going to be, you know, some incongruent messaging from the Republican side because you can't say that you want to expand your electorate and bring sort of those Spanish speaking voters into the fold when you don't celebrate an artist that they beloved and that they, you know, that they really respect. And so at some point, it does become a political liability for the Republicans.

[Mark Halperin]

And probably really soon, Hogan, it's two.

[Hogan Gidley]

But it's two different things because, yeah, we've made inroads into the Latino community, in large part because we were protecting against illegal aliens coming into this country, jumping in front of those who are doing it the right way, paid the money, you know, have assimilated into this country. So those two cultural differences notwithstanding.

[Mark Halperin]

I.

[Hogan Gidley]

Guess it's almost like it's a job at this point. The halftime show is one that kind of no one wants. It's like responding to the State of the Union from the opposite party. It's like you're kind of destined to fail because half of the country's gonna hate it regardless. So I don't really know that it matters that much because you're not watching the super bowl for the halftime show anyway. But from a larger geopolitical argument. I get what you're saying, Jaime, for sure. I just. Whatever, man. Look, he did the whole thing in Spanish. We'll let the people decide whether they want to watch it or not. I know a lot of people flipped over to the TP USA counter programming show as well. So I don't know.

[Mark Halperin]

Whatever. I think, I try not to overreact. And if Bruce Spinksteen were dispositive, John Kerry would be president. But, but, but I just, I cannot believe the level of attacks and I just think they're counterproductive. Just don't watch it. But, but, but the other thing I'll say is Bad Bunny is genius because there's so much political stuff in there, so many dog whistles in there. Like the little five year old boy standing in for, for Liam and, and, and calling saying God bless America, but meaning all of the Americas, not just the United States. It was genius. Dog whistling. But, but done in a, in a subtle way where people couldn't say, I haven't heard anybody say, even the President didn't say he's politicized. The thing he just said didn't like it in Spanish. Genius. Guy's a genius.

[Jaime Harrison]

I spent like five years trying to get Bad Bunny to come campaign for Democratic candidates and he wouldn't do it, you know, and even when Joe Biden was the president. So I think, I think Bad Bunny does not want this to be politicized. Politicized. I think what Bad Bunny would like to see is for, for Puerto Ricans, other folk who are from the Latin diaspora, be treated like either first class citizens, Americans, or give some sort of respect. I don't, I don't think it's about Democrat and Republican politics. So I think that's the thing. Mark, why I didn't answer your question. Bad Bunny's not like, oh, I'm, I'm gonna.

[Mark Halperin]

He did, he did. He did endorse Kamala Harris in reaction to a comedian's joke about Puerto Rico.

[Jaime Harrison]

Yeah, yeah, but that, that was irrespective to him endorsing the DNCR Democrats. I think he felt strongly about that moment. Yeah, I don't think he's like, trying to divide the country at all in political faults.

[Mark Halperin]

He felt strongly about a joke. All right, we gotta move on Epstein. Tons going on with Epstein. Ro Khanna and Mr. Massie are going to the Justice Department today to read the redacted documents. Unredacted. They're not allowed to bring electronic devices. The craziest thing in the world. It's like 1940. They're allowed to go there and review them and they can take notes, but they can't take pictures. They can't photocopy anything. It's ridiculous. Anyway, we'll see what comes out of that. We mentioned already, Maxwell's going to take the fifth today. The Clintons continue to fight with the Republican House about the terms of modalities of their upcoming expected testimony. Keir Starmer lost his chief of staff over the weekend. This morning, his comms director quit and widely expected. Laurie, he's going to be gone by the end of the week, I think so. George Mitchell. This didn't get much coverage. George Mitchell was booted by from a bunch of his affiliations because of his appearance in there. And there's one other thing going on. Well, there's a lot of investigative work, of reporting work. Every day. People, major and minor news organizations are, are pulling out documents that haven't gotten much attention yet and connecting some dots. Jaime, what, what do you, if you're, if you're just interested in understanding where the story's going, what's the next big thing you think's happening on this?

[Jaime Harrison]

Well, I think, I think one thing we have to, we have to admit that this, this thing's not going anywhere. And as much as, you know, we've, we've, we've all tried to, to move past it or, or get through it or sort of bring it front of mind so we can watch it out. This is not going anywhere. And it's grow, it's permeated to the zeitgeist and to American everyday culture. And so I think a couple things are going to happen, you know, this thing every single day. The more we get into the primary season of the 2026 midterms, the closer we get to the election, the more that candidates, both the Republicans, Democrats are going to have to choose a talking point on this, which means it's going to continue to grow. And so Ro Khanna, who would like to be president, we all know that I think he's going to continue to use this as one of his, one of the legs of his stool to be on TV to talk about what's going on with President Trump and others Republicans. But I think it's going to continue to become a real big dividing line between Democrats and Republicans, however, is going to also become a big dividing line between Republicans. Republicans who are on the front line, who want to be reelected are going to have to have some sort of salient message to either distance themselves from this chaos or continue to protect the president and protect other Republicans who may be named in this. And so this is going to continue to grow. It's going to continue to be something that's going to be a litmus test for where people stand on either side of this. And, and I, and I think what I'm really, really, really afraid of, I was, you know, I don't know, maybe I was in a coffee shop last week. And the number of regular people that are talking about this that don't have the context of it. And so the conspiracy theories have grown completely. I mean, there was some connection I heard last week to Savannah Guthrie's family, you know, coming from. So there's all kind of things that are being said both on the Internet and in real life. And so this thing is going to continue to grow. It's going to be a big conversation for 2026. And Republicans are going to try to have to, you know, decide where they stand on it.

[Hogan Gidley]

Hogan, I don't know how polloi coffee shops you frequent. I'll tell you the ones that I go to, no one even knows what's going on with the Epstein stuff. It still ranks really, really low in polling as far as a major issue is concerned. I will say it is a little confusing because every day there tends to be something that comes out new. Now there's some orange figure carrying some orange coming into the frame. And then the video now is showing another person did a claim was made by one of the guards that he was actually taken out of the jail cell that night. Now they can't find the noose at all. They said he was brought down from a hanging position.

[Mark Halperin]

And in that, in that litany, just add there's a just department draft press release dated the day before Epstein allegedly killed himself talking about how he killed himself. I think they just misstated it. But.

[Hogan Gidley]

Well, okay, but I'm saying, like, I don't even know what's real and what's a, a fake on the Internet, this whole thing.

[Mark Halperin]

I know, but. Hogan, But, Hogan, where's it going? Hogan.

[Hogan Gidley]

Well, but here's. Here's where I'm going, which I think is where it's going, number one. And I appreciate the attempts to tether it to Republicans and Trump. However, Democrats had it for four years and did nothing with it. We wouldn't be having this conversation but for Republican Congress and for a Republican Trump administration getting this information out to the public. The problem, though, is from the start, Republicans really kind of went whole hog on this, that Democrats were protecting people in the last election cycle for four years under Joe Biden. And so now they have the keys, they've got all the information. And now the Republicans who went really all in on the Epstein stuff are like, wait a minute, it's not what I thought it was. Thus, there must be some even grander conspiracy now with our own people. Like, it just never stops. And so I was right. It's going to continue on. How much of it becomes an actual campaign issue, I don't really know. And the Clinton show is going to be what Clinton's always are, a big show. Hopefully now between when he first got deposed and. And the current issue with the Comer Committee, he'll learn the definition of is. So maybe that'll be some breaking news, but I don't know that it continues more than just kind of underneath the surface with people just throwing barbs each other. Giving Massie and Kana a chance to look at these documents, I don't think.

[Mark Halperin]

Helps at all, but whatever. Okay, we'll see. I'm interested to see what those guys do with their handwritten notes when they come out of there, because the redactions are ridiculous. I mean, just on the merits, they just. Horrible.

[Hogan Gidley]

You can't release something and have pages of it look like turn four at Talladega and then expect people to be okay with it.

[Mark Halperin]

Right?

[Hogan Gidley]

You have to take those names. You have to show those names.

[Jaime Harrison]

I think Hogan made a really good point earlier. At this point, what do we. What's the goal of this whole thing? What are we trying to accomplish? I think originally on the Democratic side, there was some, you know, thoughts that we're trying to get some justice for those who were survivors. And now this is becoming. We don't know what's real anymore. We don't know what's fake. And the conspiracy theories are growing out of the wazoo.

[Mark Halperin]

Yes. Those who say there have been three stories like this that I've seen, Europe is having accountability. People are losing their jobs. But it's not happening in the U.S. trust me, folks, it's happening in the U.S. it's already happened to some. George Mitchell, Larry Summers, there are more coming. Plenty of people in the United States are going to lose their jobs over this. All right, the economy, the president said in his interview with NBC over the weekend, it's his economy. It's no longer the Biden economy. Kind of more clearly than he ever said it. Some good economic news continues to come out along with the less good. Americans expect the stock market and the economy to improve majorities 50 and 49%. They are worried about higher inflation. And rents now have fallen for 32 consecutive months. And that's part of CPI, obviously. So that's good. But there's also great concern about the economy as it marries up to the midterms. The White House relying on people's taxes. Really unclear where this is headed. Great story in the Washington Post, great solid that just ran this morning about how people don't know in the Republican Party what exactly the president's midterm plans are. Is he going to spend the tens of millions of dollars he's raised on the midterms? Is he's going to endorse John Cornyn? A lot of concern in the Republican Party right now. Here's Kevin Hassett this morning on Squawk Box talking about the economy.

[Jaime Harrison]

And whether the president now owns this, this economy. Does the president now officially own this economy?

[Mark Halperin]

Right? I mean, yes, of course he does. The president is the leader of the free world and he's the leader of this economy. The bottom line is that there are.

[Hogan Gidley]

Some things that moved in the last.

[Mark Halperin]

Couple of years that haven't recovered.

[Hogan Gidley]

So for example, excuse me, there's a.

[Jaime Harrison]

Big truck going by all of a sudden.

[Mark Halperin]

So, for example, there was 20 something percent inflation and we've got inflation way down. Incomes are up, real incomes are growing, but we haven't filled the hole from the inflation. So is it Trump's economy or Biden's economy? I think that at some point that's, you know, you need to just like slow down and say, okay, so when.

[Hogan Gidley]

We'Re talking about whose economy it is.

[Mark Halperin]

That whose economy are like, whose economy is the policy being driven right now? Who's going to manage the policy going forward? Who's going to give you the state of the union In a few weeks that says, here's what's going to happen over the next few months or years. And for that, it's definitely Trump's economy. All right, definitely Trump's economy. Two other data points, Hogan, Dow hit 50,000 highest ever. The president said it'll go to 100,000 while he's in office. And be Bitcoin is just collapsed and people have lost millions and millions of dollars even as the Trumps and the wit coughs have gotten very wealthy off bitcoin. So, Hogan, what's the connection between the midterms and the economy going forward?

[Hogan Gidley]

Oh, I think it's going to be a messaging battle for sure, because Democrats are going to continue to use the word and very smartly done, by the way, affordability, which means absolutely nothing. It's the fake, fictitious feeling, because regardless of what cost is, if it's high or low, I can say it's not affordable and then rally some support around that, that message. The real issue to me are prices. Have they gone up or have they gone down? They're measurable, quantifiable. That's what people are going to care about. Now, feeling matters too. For the electorate. The worst thing you can do to a voter is tell them what they are feeling is not real. That's a problem. So what the Republicans have to do, starting with State of the Union, I think some of this stuff is happening at the local level. A lot of these members of Congress outselling the big beautiful bill and others other pieces of legislation, is explain here's what has happened, here's what is going to happen. And now we are running on fill in the blank to make sure it continues to improve your life. Those are the types of things you have to focus on in the midterm. The economy will most assuredly dictate wins and losses across the board for both the House Republicans and House Senate as well. Yeah, or Senate Republicans, House Senate. Yes.

[Jaime Harrison]

No, I, I agree. I agree with Hogan. Look, with all, be it just one aspect of his, his messaging, I think affordability is a real thing and I think you explained it quite well what it, what it is. And when you go out into, into these states and you go out and hang out with people who are not in Beltway, who are not hanging out in New York, in la, most people understand affordability is a real word. It's not just a political football. When you think about what's been happening over the last few years, costs are up across the board. You think about if you're paying $25 more for your diabetic medication, diabetes medication than you were the previous year. That's going to add up over the course of 12 months. If you are just receiving Social Security or disability or, or whatever, that one time check is a month. And so these are real, real indicators. And so what we're going to see over the next couple of weeks is Democrats for sure are going to try to really put a stake in defining what it means around these costs, around affordability and around the economy. Now, here's the thing that to your point, Hogan, what Director Hassett just sound, he sounded like he was working for the Biden administration just now. These are the same things that we were. I spent literally two years on TV trying to explain that, you know, everyone who wanted a job, had a job. You know, they're bringing costs down. Inflation was still too high, cost was still too high. We were, there were still indicators on that economy that we couldn't quite sort of get to where we needed to be because we had just decimated it with COVID the year, the years prior. And so this is Kevin Pasta standing there saying, oh, there's still so much, so much we need to do. Give us some time. Joe Biden said the same thing. And while I agree the economy is in a decent place, into Mark's point about the 32 months of lowering rent costs, that's because Joe Biden and the Democrats were working on this specifically before he ended his first term. And what they thought is if Kamala Harris and Joe Biden were going to have a second term, we were also going to be able to get there and make this economy hum and bring those costs down. And so if Donald Trump and his administration are going to, are going to get on TV and say, give us time, give us time, give us time. But when Republicans are running in these districts and these individuals who have already spent by that time, already spent thousand dollars more than they wanted to spend this year, that's not going to be a salient message. You got to say, look, we know that the costs are too high. We told you that we're going to bring them down on day one. We lied to you. But give us a little bit more time and see what people are going to say. So I think what people are going to measure the Republicans against is Donald Trump saying through the entire 2024 campaign that he would lower costs on day one. That does not happen. That is not true.

[Hogan Gidley]

The, the, the point Jaime made, I think is interesting because he said affordability is real, and then he said The. The cost of Drugs are up $25. Right? That's a cost that's measurable.

[Mark Halperin]

That's.

[Jaime Harrison]

Well, if you can. If you can afford it, Hogan, if. Here's the thing, your paycheck is $25, and that's just what it is. And then your drug costs go up by $10, and your. Your paycheck does not go up, then that's why you can't afford it. It's basic.

[Hogan Gidley]

I understand that.

[Jaime Harrison]

It's not a feeling. It's basic economics.

[Mark Halperin]

Right?

[Hogan Gidley]

But if a. Coffee. Cuppies.

[Mark Halperin]

Coffee. Cuppy.

[Hogan Gidley]

A cup of coffee is $5 at your bougie coffee shop, for example, you frequent. And. And I can afford that. I still can't afford it, but I don't like it. It's not something that I appreciate. And I can say it's unaffordable. Now if the price goes down to $3, I can say, look, we have lowered costs. And what the Republicans have to do is say, look, remember where we were in 2019? Do you remember you were paying $5 for gasoline a gallon? Do you remember inflation was at 9%.

[Professor Kenny]

Do you remember?

[Hogan Gidley]

Interest rates were way higher. Now it's all lower. And we have brought them down and we work together to do that. Now, moving forward, here's our plan to keep it coming down so that we can erase all the.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, all right. We gotta. We got. We gotta move on. Thank you both.

[Hogan Gidley]

You asked the messaging.

[Mark Halperin]

I understand your show. I understand y' all are shows. Everybody here, raise your hand if you want in on the conversation. In a moment. As if we didn't feel bad enough for Savannah and her family before this weekend, the heartbreaking video that they made over the weekend left some people believing that they're going to pay ransom to get back by tonight's deadline. Savannah's mom and other people looking at the language, believing that they now believe she's passed away and they're simply trying to recover her body. That's a reality that you'll hear some places, but not every place. That's how people are interpreting the language in some quarters. Also something you won't hear in some places is almost every member of the media believes they know who the suspect is and they're not saying it publicly. Over the weekend, they did another search of Savannah's sister and brother in law's home. Not clear why that is. We don't know very much about what's going on, in part because the sheriff said there's no briefing. No briefings are planned today. Or in the future, unless they have major developments. And we'll see about tonight's deadline. I believe it's 7 Eastern time is the deadline. We'll see if something happens by then. This is a massive media story. The president on Air Force One on Friday said he expected some major developments happening soon and that suggested it had to do with the federal investigation. But so far there's been nothing out of that. So, Jaime, what do you expect to happen in this case today and this week?

[Jaime Harrison]

I don't know. It's so sad, but it's also one of those stories where it's also begun to grow its own legs as well. And everyone started talking about it in their own way. There's a lot of conspiracies. I think we just have to give this family the room and the respect, expect to get through this and, and try not to. If we can't be helpful, we're getting to a conclusion and bringing Nancy back home. I think we got to sort of quiet down on the conspiracies a little bit and give Savannah and her family some respect and, and just, you know, and just pray. My mom's name is Nancy as well. And so she's been praying and we've been praying for them as much as we can, and I think that's all we can do at this point.

[Mark Halperin]

Hogan.

[Hogan Gidley]

Yeah, and look, I'm friends with Savannah. I was texting with her. This is more horrific, it seems. It gets more horrific by the day. What a tragic, sad story in so many ways. You know, in Savannah, if I'm not mistaken, Mark was a Court TV reporter, is kind of where she kind of got in. So she knows a lot of these things that other reporters wouldn't know because she covered cases like this in the past. Also, one of the reporters who's done some good work on this, Ashley Banfield, a friend of mine too. I was her intern in Dallas back in 1999, if that tells you how long I've been doing this. She does a lot of work too, and has great sourcing. She's making some claims about the brother in law. I don't know if any of that's true, but there's a lot going on in this space and I think there's clearly more information that the family knows and some of the people really close to this situation actually know, then they're telling the rest of us, and that's fine. This is up to the family. It's a situation that they're facing. And I'm praying against everything that this poor woman is alive and this family can heal afterwards.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. In addition to Savannah's great experience and connections, her husband is one of the country's most accomplished crisis communications expert, used to be Al Gore's chief of staff. And so they fortunate to be able to have information and a lot of help on this, but all behind the scenes and all quietly and we'll see where we end up by the end of the day. All right, we're going to speed through some stuff and then again to people's questions. Either of you see anything happening this week on Iran or Russia, Ukraine or just all incremental this week?

[Jaime Harrison]

I think we'll see what happens on Wednesday with the president. With the two presidents.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Prime minister and president. Yes. Okay. Mike Bloomberg gave $2.5 million to Josh Shapiro for his reelect campaign. And he, you know, he gives a lot. He doesn't give as much as Elon necessarily, but he gives a lot. Giving money to Shapiro is interesting in terms of will he support him for 28. But it also raises the question of whether Bloomberg will be a big donor in 26 to other Democrats. Jaime, anyone who's worked at the DNC has gazed to the Upper east side of Manhattan and wondered where, where is more money for Mike Bloomberg? If he believes in Democrats, he's got basically unlimited money. What's your sense? Is Mike Bloomberg going to be a big funder of Democrats in 26?

[Jaime Harrison]

I hope so. We're still waiting for some of those checks from 2020. But look, I've heard from some of his people and I think he is trying to figure out his strategy. Mike Bloomberg is sort of in a legacy laying sort of phase of his life as well. So he's trying to figure out which of these sort of good governance candidates he can support. He really likes Shapiro. He thinks that he's, he's sort of the right kind of governor at this moment. And so I think he's going to be pretty prolific this, this, this cycle. Just not quite sure how and where. But they are looking right now. They're trying to figure it out.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Hogan, how are your billionaires going to do compared to Jaime's billionaires?

[Hogan Gidley]

You know, the billionaire on billionaire crime ought to be epic this upcoming cycle for sure. Look, I think these candidates will have plenty of money. Democrats typically have way more support for millionaires and billionaires than Republicans do and, and quite frankly outspend us in a lot of ways in these states too. Don't shake your head. No, that is 100.

[Mark Halperin]

Your, your billionaires do just fine.

[Jaime Harrison]

Hogan, dispense.

[Hogan Gidley]

Oh, they do just fine. Don't they do just fine. I'm just saying, like Republicans typically are way behind in that demographic.

[Mark Halperin]

I don't believe that's correct. But I'll pull the data and bring it to you.

[Hogan Gidley]

I will pull it. I'll send you the data.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, I think you're a Billionaires do more. All right. John Ossoff gave a speech in Atlanta over the weekend that was spectacular. If you haven't watched the whole 30 minutes and you're interested in American politics, go watch the whole thing. It was brilliantly written, talked about the Epstein class. It's compared the. It said the president what he posted about the Obamas was like a Klansman. It talked about the economy. It was optimistic. I've Ossoff is incredible that he got elected. Some people say he got elected on the coattails of Senator Warnock, but he is heavily favored to be reelected. He's raised a ton of money. The Republicans have a three way primary, almost certainly will have a runoff. None of those are world beaters. There are a lot of Republicans who are Senate strategists who have given up or close to giving up on the Georgia race. This is incredible. This is a young Jewish American liberal. His voting record is liberal, ladies and gentlemen. And he is in an incredible position. And that speech was sent to me. I watched the whole thing twice. Like I'm a watch bad bunny twice. I watched this twice because it's a really important speech for messaging for the Democrats and potentially for Ossoff to run in 28. Now, some people say to me, no, I'm a little bit exuberant here about, about how serious a person also is that he's not actually that serious a person. Jaime, you'll go first on this one because it's your team. Am I overreacting to one speech or is this guy actually underrated as a political force?

[Jaime Harrison]

Well, I think we'll see. He's gonna get through this race first. But I worked for John Ostoff in 2017 when he ran for Congress and lost to Karen Handel. And so I've spent a lot of time with John Ostoff and have a great deal of respect for him. He is one of the most effective communicators you will find. And so I think what's happened years while he's been in the Senate, he's had to grow and learn and sort of build a portfolio. His resume was a little light before he became a senator. Let's just be Honest. And I really like him and respect him, but he's really grown into this role really well. And he and Senator Warnock have been really great partners for Georgia. But I've watched Ossoff in his office. He has fantastic people working for him, both on the ground in Georgia and here in the Senate. And he's gotten really, really, really smart on politics. And so I think Jon Ossoff may organically become an option for 2028, based on how he runs his campaign. I mean, look, he's basically cleared. He basically cleared the fill in Georgia and didn't and didn't allow for any big viable Republican to run. And so that's going to be a big deal. And two, you know, when I got several text messages over the weekend, one from my friend who's a, who's been a sort of a despondent Democratic donor, and she's just, she just sends me so inspired. And so look, I think Democrats are going to use that as a moment of getting re engaged and inspiration. I think we're getting above, you know, we're getting way beyond our skis by saying he's going to be a 2028 contender. But there's a world that Jon Ossoff could be the vice president someday.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah.

[Jaime Harrison]

In the world that Jon off could run in 2032.

[Mark Halperin]

Yes, sir. All right, let's look at a clip of it. I'm telling you, if you're a fan of this program and what we talk about here, go watch all 30 minutes. It's on YouTube. Here's a little bit of Jon Ossoff from over the weekend that Hogan will dissect. Now, you remember we were told that.

[Jaime Harrison]

MAGA was for working class Americans.

[Mark Halperin]

You remember that? But this is a government of, by and for the ultra rich. It is the wealthiest cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class.

[Hogan Gidley]

Ruling our country.

[Mark Halperin]

They are the elites they pretend to hate. So prices are up, jobs are going away. Medicaid and school lunches are slashed.

[Jaime Harrison]

Nursing homes are getting defunded. If you're Steve Bannon and your pitch, your pitch was Trump for the forgotten man and woman.

[Mark Halperin]

How do you sell any of this? Trump was supposed to fight for the working class.

[Jaime Harrison]

Instead, he's literally closing rural clinics and.

[Mark Halperin]

Hospitals to cut taxes for George Soros and Elon Musk.

[Jaime Harrison]

He was supposed to end the globalist.

[Mark Halperin]

World police foreign policy.

[Jaime Harrison]

Instead, we're doing war for oil and nation building again and threatening to conquer Greenland. He was supposed to drain the swamp. Instead, this is the most corrupt administration of all time.

[Mark Halperin]

And Everybody knows it. Everybody knows it. Hogan, just, just as political athlete ranking, how would you rank that? He took some, he took some factual liberties, but not many.

[Hogan Gidley]

Not many factual liberties is the best description of a lie I've ever heard. And I'm stealing it and using it from now until eternity. Listen, he is very talented. I have not seen, I saw parts of this clip online. I've not seen a smoothness and a delivery of information that's so untrue since Bill Clinton. Very smooth. Also a propensity not to tell the truth. I will tell you, as you know, Mark the saying, and Jaime knows this too, what every senator sees and they look in the mirror is a president. There's no question he's angling for running for president. But I will tell you this. One speech does not a presidential candidate make. And as my friend Rick Perry can attest to, you can oops your stay oops yourself off that stage pretty quick because the lights get really hot and the stage is really big. Everything is fixated on you. So should you decide to make that leap and should you decide to run for it, good. I mean, I think anyone who thinks they have the talent and the chops to do it should do it. But it's a rougher road than just giving a speech to your buddy.

[Mark Halperin]

I understand. But I'll tell you something about him. Like Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, that guy's a political operative. He could be the manager of a presidential campaign.

[Hogan Gidley]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, he's an operative.

[Jaime Harrison]

Like I said, I, I, I, I staffed him for interviews and all this in 2020. In 2017. This is almost 10 years ago. He was great then. He's excellent, and now he's going to keep getting better. And also, you have to realize this too. Before my old boss, Jamie Harrison, hit that the high, the most raised for a congressional candidate, John Ossoff, in 2017 had raised more money than ever in the history of congressional candidate. So not only he's good as orator, he's also a good fundraiser.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, I mean, the fact, the fact, the fact that, that, that some Republicans say he can't be beat in Georgia, a, a red, purple state, is incredible. And it's testament to how aggressive he's been, the coalition he's building. And remember, in any southern state, including, including Jaime, if the Democratic candidate can swell Black turnout by 5%. Can't lose. Can't lose. And he's going to swell Black turnout by 5%, I'm confident. So, yeah. All right, quick. We'll see. Quick word from a sponsor then to your questions, please raise your hand if you want in on the Conversation. 25% off everything from CB Distillery if you're trying to sleep better. If you're trying to deal with pain after exercise. If you're trying to deal with the mood being a little off. Ladies and gentlemen, I have to tell you something that 2 million Americans have tried and it has worked for them. Trying to do my Jon OSSOFF Invitation here. 2 million. Don't be part of the Epstein class. Be part of the CB Distillery class. Go to CB distillery.com promo code 2WMM to get 20% 25% off everything off the site. Two million happy customers have benefited from their products. You can use my promo code 2WMM for 25% off to join them third party tested free from artificial dyes and fillers. Premium quality products that can help you. Natural solution to sleeping better and enjoying life better. Less stress. Break the vicious cycle of stress and no sleep. Go to cbdistillery.com use the promo code 2wmm cbdistillery.com, promo code 2wmm well, the holidays have come and gone once again. But if you've forgotten to get that special someone in your life a gift. Well, Mint Mobile is extending their holiday offer of half off unlimited wireless. So here's the idea. You get it now, you call it an early present for next year.

[Jaime Harrison]

What do you have to lose?

[Mark Halperin]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch limited time 50% off regular price for new customers. Upfront payment required $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for 12 month plan taxes and fees. Extra speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes per month when network is busy see terms. Thank you for your attention to that matter. Mike. Welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are and what's on your mind for Hyma and for Hogan.

[Jaime Harrison]

Hey guys.

[Mark Halperin]

Yes sir.

[Hogan Gidley]

I just wanted to ask a Texas question.

[Mark Halperin]

Yes, sir. I think you mentioned that Trump was.

[Jaime Harrison]

Possibly gonna endorse Corny. Why not Wesley Hunt? And if he doesn't get the Senate.

[Hogan Gidley]

Primary win, what do you think his.

[Mark Halperin]

Political future is for Wesley Hunt? Yeah, great question. I have my own view of this, but Hogan, you first. What's going on? Why wouldn't the president follow John Thunes? Is that a word? I don't know. Why wouldn't he endorse the guy who's who everybody believes is the strongest general election candidate? He's an incumbent and if you endorse him and he wins the nomination, you don't have to spend $100 million protecting the seat.

[Hogan Gidley]

Who are you talking about?

[Mark Halperin]

Cornyn? Yeah. Yeah.

[Hogan Gidley]

Look, I think their, their process there at the White House with his political team is to take a look at these races in totality. It's not just now who can win a primary, who can win a general. I think they've learned a lot of lessons over the years of candidates matter, establishment, not candidates, but establishing rather a good apparatus to do the non sexy parts of politics. The turnout, the voter calls the voter contacts the door, knocking the ballot wherever states you can ballot harvest and those types of things. Having people on the ground that can do that. I think they're just looking at the field and deciding to kind of stay pat for a little bit and see what happens and, and, and jump in, help.

[Mark Halperin]

Primary. Primary. Primary is next month. Yeah.

[Hogan Gidley]

And I don't know he's gonna get involved in the primary. I don't.

[Mark Halperin]

And if, and if, if con, if Congressman Hunt loses, what's his future look like?

[Hogan Gidley]

Did he have to drop his seat to, to run? I believe so.

[Jaime Harrison]

I believe.

[Mark Halperin]

I think you have to both federal offices.

[Hogan Gidley]

He's talented, he's attractive, he's an incredible speaker. He fires me up every time I see him. Who knows, he may run for something else. He may get into the private sector and make a ton of money. Who knows?

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Jaime.

[Jaime Harrison]

Yeah, no, I agree. And I, look, I, I saw Wesley Hunt in the airport recently. I was, I was going to Houston. But he, look, I think he's, he's very talented. I think he has a future in Republican politics. And, and look about this too. President Trump is still going to be president for three more years and there at some point will be some, some, some musical chairs in the, in the cabinet and he's going to have people like Wesley Hunt to, to look at for potential cabinet positions that they open up.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. I would say it's incredible to me, not only Thune want the President to endorse Cornyn, of course Cornyn does for the primary. But Chris La Civita and Tony Fabrizio, two of the President's top political three. I'd say two of his top three or five political advisors are both working on behalf of Cornyn. One for the campaign, one for the super pac. I just, and the President made some noises the other day that he might endorse. So I really do, I really do think he's going to endorse. Yeah.

[Hogan Gidley]

And this is not saying Anything about Wesley Hunt. I'm just saying you're a Texas guy, obviously, a lot of times you see a candidate like Ossoff, for example, you're like, man, that guy would be a great president. He could do all these things. But people around him or locally go, let me tell you about some shady stuff that if he were to run and the spotlight gets hot, then all of a sudden these things come out. So there could be. I'm not saying that with Wesley, but I'm saying just with candidates in general, you look at them from afar and say, perfect. People around them go, never could survive the scrutiny because, remember, the higher of the. The higher office, the brighter the spotlight. And I look at someone in North Carolina, for example, who was thought to be a really good gubernatorial candidate. And then as he became, you know, went through the ranks, he was lieutenant governor, then ran for governor, then a lot of stuff started coming out that people knew but didn't really care about. When you were lieutenant governor, it was when you're running for governor that those things really kind of, you know, rear their ugly head.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Now, let's say. Let's say a couple of things. Go ahead. I'm good.

[Jaime Harrison]

Well, I am shocked that the president and I have been. That he hasn't endorsed Senator Cornyn a bit quicker. I think that that is. That's a. That's a bit embarrassing for the senior senator who was almost the leader. I mean, think about what just happened in Louisiana with Bill Cassidy and Julia Letlow. I mean, the president has been unpredictable in these incidents of not supporting incumbent, strong Republican senators.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, well, Cassidy did vote to convict the president in an impeachment trial. Cornyn, on the other hand, has been relatively supportive of the president. Not 100%, but relatively supportive. I'll say this. The Democratic field is weaker than the press would like you to believe. And of course, Democrats haven't won a statewide race in Texas, I think, since Ann Richards won as governor. So big uphill. But on the other hand, if this is a blue wave year, and if the nominee is Paxton or maybe even Hunt, if. If he has trouble running statewide and there's a big blue wave and whoever the Democrats nominate turns out to be great, and they raise a ton of money online, they could lose the seat. I mean, it's not impossible. Very far. Very unlikely. Very, very unlikely. But. But the other thing about Cornyn is I don't even think. I'm not sure if the president endorsed him, he wouldn't have to have a runoff. I don't. I Don't know that even with the president's endorsement, he'd get to 50. So it's possible that the president's waiting to see if Cornyn gets the runoff. And if the runoff's against Paxton, which it probably would be, then maybe he endorses because the primary's in March, but the runoffs, I think, in May. Right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. So, I mean, there's plenty of time there. There's no. If the goal of. Of the people, the pro corn and people are to get Cornyn the nomination, you probably can't get him the nomination till May anyway. So maybe the president's to say, well, let's see how it goes without. Because the President doesn't want to endorse Cornyn because Maga prefers the other two. So it's not as urgent to endorse him now as it would be till after the runoff. Now, if he doesn't make the runoff, then I think he probably. I don't know what he'd do. Maybe the endorse hunt at that point. I don't know. Mike, thank you for the question. Appreciate it. Well, I. You can. Thank you for saying it's a good point, but I didn't think of it. Somebody pointed it out to me. Professor Kenny, welcome in. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being part two way. Tell people about the after show either before or after your comments. Everybody knows that it exists and how to join up.

[Professor Kenny]

Yeah, I send a link in the chat if you guys want to join the post show. We have a good community. We keep the discussion to going. Jaime, I've been sending you emails, buddy.

[Jaime Harrison]

I'm gonna. It's. I have a. I have a call immediately after these. That's why I haven't joined yet. Sorry.

[Professor Kenny]

And Hogan, you're always invited and I send you a private chat all the time, but I don't have an email for you, buddy. So if you like, if you look at the private chat. Anyway, thank you, guys.

[Hogan Gidley]

I'll give it to you. But I also have a call right after.

[Professor Kenny]

Yeah, no, I got you. No, hey, whenever you guys can join, we appreciate it. We have a good community, good discuss both sides to the aisle. So what I want to bring a couple of things. Republicans got to spend so much money now in Texas and places like that. That's a big problem in terms of the money they're raising. But I wanted to get to this Epstein thing, and I'm just experiencing this personally from my wife's side of it. I really believe that Congress, which They probably will never do. You can't just leave it to Ro Khanna and Massie to go into a room and take napkins and write notes. You know.

[Mark Halperin]

I think they will have some line paper. But I take your.

[Professor Kenny]

Well, you know the old Carl Bernstein, right. All the President's men take with napkins and coffee. Right. But, but I really think there should be some kind of bipartisan committee or some, some kind of committee to sift through all of these documents unredacted because there is so much crap out there that like it's going to cost me my, my marriage.

[Hogan Gidley]

You know what I mean?

[Mark Halperin]

Professor, what's, what's the goal? Because time on Hogan both raises before. What's the goal? What's the public goal now to go through those documents? Is it, is it justice for the victims and the accusers or is there some other goal or is that the only goal?

[Professor Kenny]

Well, obviously Mark, this is, it becomes so politicized. Look at Ossoff, right? The Epstein class. That's very, that's very brilliant on his part to go that way. So of course as a human being you want to get justice for the victims. You know, for me this Epstein thing is not about politics because it's both sides of the aisle. These rich guys on whether you're a lefty or a righty, you're a billionaire, you're floating around with Epstein. But the sad thing is I use an example like let's say I was friends with Bill Clinton back in whatever day and he goes, hey Professor, Kenny Epstein's a big movie guy. Would you come with me on this trip to. Because I'm trying to get money out of Epstein and I go on this trip with Clinton and now I'm in the Epstein files. Yet I just went on a trip because Epstein wanted to talk about movies, you know what I mean? So we got to get through all of the bullshit and get to the truth because it's A lot of people are going to get hurt and, and the victims are never going to get their justice.

[Jaime Harrison]

Yeah, no, no, I agree. I think my issue now. Professor, I completely agree with you. My issue right now is I'm not quite sure how we get there and put the politics aside. What does that look like? Is it some sort of non elected commission that's going through it and sort of offering, you know, recommendations? I just don't know. And I think both Democrats and Republicans, and I use this very loosely, both have done a good job of sullying this subject to the point where no one knows how to get through it. And no one knows really what we're trying to accomplish. No one knows how to sift through the paperwork. No one knows how to read the unredacted implications of this. And so I don't know. I agree with you. I just, I'm just not quite sure. How do we get back on track to. To get through this? I just don't know.

[Mark Halperin]

Hope you don't.

[Hogan Gidley]

You don't. Listen, Professor Kennedy, I appreciate the question and the thought. This is one of those deals where if you're part of the conspiracy group, where you think something is happening, once the information comes out, if it doesn't affirm your conspiracy, you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, then clearly there's more information. And by the way, I'm sure there's more information. I'm not trying to say people are wrong in that, but unless there's like a list that says, here are the people on the plane. Here are the flight logs, here are the women that I traffic for them, here's the money they paid me, then there's a large group of people out there in this country go, no. Then none of it's real. That's one of the problems with it. And quite frankly, I would say the benefit of being in on conspiracy, in with conspiracy sometime is because you don't really have to care about the evidence until you. Your ideas are affirmed.

[Mark Halperin]

Right.

[Hogan Gidley]

But, but, but these women suffered unspeakable evil. So I think justice for them is where my mind goes. Whoever caused this. And right now the evidence is Jeffrey Epstein trafficked underage girls to himself. If there is evidence he did that for other people, then by goodness, put it out there and let us see it, because those people deserve to be held accountable for their crimes.

[Professor Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

The Associated Press, which seems to have pretty comprehensively read through the release files, say so far there is no evidence that they were trafficked to anyone else.

[Professor Kenny]

Professor, one quick thing I just want to say, just want to get it on the record. President Trump's tweet last week was totally reprehensible. It was racist, it was wrong, and as a Republican, I'm ashamed.

[Mark Halperin]

Thank you for that, sir. And heard a lot of people over the weekend saying the same thing, who are Republicans, including some who normally don't speak up against the president for almost anything. Mark Halpern's wardrobe, not brought to you by Botany 500 or even the Spiegel Catalog, but by our friends at Fairway and Green. Go right now, shop the whole catalog, get your stuff with our slogans, our catchphrases on the sleeves and logos and you get morning meeting two Way. All available, go to two Way TV Fairway. Two Way TV Fairway to shop the entire collection. Jaime, what do you got coming up today that we should know about? I don't know.

[Jaime Harrison]

I'm still running on my Bad Bunny high right now, so I may watch it one more time. I'm interested to see what's going to happen on Wednesday with the prime minister and the president. And so I'm going to be reading about that today just to prepare for that.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. And do you think the whole thing was live or do you think pieces that Bad Bunny thing were recorded?

[Jaime Harrison]

There were pieces that were recorded. There were a couple of things that were inserted if you look back. And to be fair, you guys also, I did watch the Turning Point USA show, not as an already, but I did just because I'm a consumer.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, Hogan, you gonna watch Bad Bunny again today?

[Hogan Gidley]

Probably not. I did watch Turning Point, but I did that afterwards as well. Watched them both post production. But today we'll be focused mainly on getting the house back and figuring out how to get a CR that funds a 4% chunk of the government that is quite frankly, a very important 4%.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm sure we'll be talking about that this week. Later tonight, 5:00pm Eastern Time. Two way tonight. We'll be back. Join me for a roundup of today's news, some great guests and your participation. 5:00pm and then 7:00'. Clock. Ethan Supley, it's Lifelong Again. A show you should sample if you haven't watched yet. Ethan. No real health, real community, no bs. David Knapp, founder of on the Pen, will join Ethan at 7pm Eastern time. And if you want to invest in this program, you can invest in two Way. Rather, you can send us an email. Send an email to invest2way TV to join our series B coming up before too long. And if you want to sponsor this program two Way Tonight or any of other shows, send us an email at sponsorso Way tv. Tell us about yourself. Thank you for watching. Thank you, Hogan. Thank you, Jaima. Be back tomorrow with another episode in 23 hours. We'll see you then. Have a great day, everybody.

[Hogan Gidley]

Thanks guys.