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Mark Levin
Buddy. Welcome to the morning meeting. Thank you for being here. Kevin Walling is here. The great Larry o' Connor joins us. Gentlemen, welcome. Good morning.
Kevin Walling
Hey now. Hey now.
Mark Levin
How's everything?
Larry O'Connor
Pretty great.
Mark Levin
Oh, Kevin's beyond. Kevin's beyond great. Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps Jesus. No, no, no. Perhaps you will now recognize what I was doing. 107, please. Larry's great. Kevin is regal. Ladies and gentlemen, check this out. This is at the White Hat, the British Embassy residence, yesterday. Those of you listening to the program, we'll see two of the 21st century's great figures. Kevin and the King. Kevin, what did you and the King discuss?
Kevin Walling
I just welcomed him back to the states. It's his 20th visit. I said 20 is just as lucky as all the others.
Mark Levin
This is not AI. I don't think this one's AI either. This is 108, please. This is Kevin and the Queen.
Kevin Walling
You'll note in that photo, though, he's holding onto his gin and tonic, which he held on completely, working his entire way down, greeting all of us. The guy is in complete pro.
Mark Levin
Yeah.
Larry O'Connor
I have never been more jealous.
Mark Levin
Look at that. I will say the Queen liked her, I think. Vodka martinis, anyway.
Kevin Walling
And the Queen. This is like an hour before the King. So the Queen is incredibly gracious, works the line, you know, three times as fast as the king. And she was ready. She was ready to relax after their flight.
Larry O'Connor
Did you get a dutchie out of this? Did you get a. A title of some kind or anything?
Kevin Walling
It is your lordship, and it is in ham. So, you know.
Mark Levin
So, so. So Larry's. Larry's the great Larry o'. Connor. But Kevin now is his Majesty.
Kevin Walling
Well, no. Would it go that far? Just settle for your grace. We'll settle for your grace.
Mark Levin
All right, gentlemen, I'll run through the day book, then we'll have a conversation. And then we'll welcome in the participation of those in the two way community who've chosen to join us on the platform. Let's get some new hands today. If you're here on the platform, but you've never raised your hand, join in, talk about whatever you wish, and also if you're watching on X or YouTube, no smack in the chat. Peace, love and understanding is what we're all about here. Thank you for your attention to that matter. Here's the daybook. The President today has an interesting schedule. Executive time at 8:00am that's become de rigger, greets the astronauts at 2:00'. Clock. That is open to the White house press pool. 4 o'. Clock. Closed press policy meeting, 5 o' clock policy meeting also closed in the Oval. The vice president's doing an interview with Will Kane on Fox at 4. Not sure if that's live or pre recorded. Haven't seen any clips from it yet. But Will Kane is a damn good interviewer so I'm looking forward to that and seeing what, what comes out. We haven't heard much from the vice president of late up on the Hill today.
Kevin Walling
And of course Will does this show from Texas so it'll be interesting. I don't think there's any indication that the vice president is going down there. I don't know if it's in person here or obviously remote.
Mark Levin
Yeah, great question is, is it live and is it in person? But Will's a very good interviewer so I'm looking forward to that. And that's of course right before two way tonight. So we'll have full coverage of the whole interview on two way tonight. Doug Burgum in this hour is on the Hill, Senate Energy and Natural Resources with the budget hear Kevin Warsh's confirmation. Senate banking is a 10 expected to be a partisan party line vote. The only Democrats going to vote for him is Fetterman at this point, as far as we know, House Armed Services here's at 10 o' clock from Pete Hegseth and Dan Cain, first time those two guys have been on the Hill in quite some time. And so there'll be a lot of questions about a lot of stuff connected to Iran and other issues. And we'll see if the Republicans are sort of a little bit more chatter that Republicans are concerned about the war, the cost of the war and the lack of authorization. So we'll see what comes of that hearing. Probably be a pretty big deal. And also on the Hill, just a huge brouhaha which we'll talk about in a moment about how they're going to move a bunch of stuff through the House, the Ag bill, farm bill, the, the, the security privacy security bill and foreign surveillance. Surveillance. Foreign surveillance and, and then, and then there's still the partial government shutdown continues. Bernie Sanders at 7 hosts a bunch of scientists to talk about the existential risks of AI. At 7 o' clock tonight we had a bunch of well, I'll get back to the economic data in a second. Jerome Powell230 is what is expected to be his final press conference after the Fed is expected to announce no change in interest rates. Supreme Court's hearing, a couple cases today. And Tom Dow futures are down, oil is up. Brent Crude is up to almost 3%. Economic data came out this morning. Most better good than bad. Durable good. Orders rose more than expected in March. February was revised. Higher housing starts rose in March, highest in almost a year. That's the number of new homes under construction. Building permits is the only data that came out this morning. That was not good. Permits fell unexpectedly in March. Gas is now averaging 423. That's up pretty substantially over the last week. There you have it. All right, a quick word from a sponsor and then we'll dive right into our topics and the sponsor will come as no surprise to any of you. Two things about our first sponsor today. First of all, it's Cozy Earth. And second of all, we got another dog. Picture this. This pup will be familiar to you, but this pose is not Cozy Earth. Look at that man. I don't know Larry, how would you describe that for those listening on the podcast?
Larry O'Connor
It actually looks like a bear skin rug. You know when they pose the bear with the mouth open as if it was about to pounce on you when it got shot. This looks like a a yellow lab skin rug.
Mark Levin
Well, well said.
Kevin Walling
Anyway, coach, the the Republican goes right to taxidermy of a of a beast for the floor.
Larry O'Connor
Hunting and shooting. That's the only let us have guns is to hunt and shoot.
Mark Levin
Anyway, Cozy Earth will give you 20% off to buy gifts for your dog, including the bubble cuddle blanket or for humans. Use the promo code morning cozyearth.com buy some gifts for Mother's Day. Again, we're we're closing in on Mother's Day and if you haven't shopped yet, now's the time to buy your mom a nice robe with the spacious pockets, the slippers with the special comfort for warmth and the bubble cuddle blankets. They come in various sizes and colors. It's a combination of comfort and style you won't see too many other places. I've been buying them like gangbusters and everybody I give them to loves them. So go to cozyearth.com let Mother's Day be a reminder to the moms in your life that moms deserve the Cozy Earth treatment. Turn everyday routines into moments of softness and ease. Go to cozyearth.com use the promo code MORNING 20% off and in the post purchase survey say that Larry and Kevin insisted because homes home starts with mom. Thank you for your attention to that matter.
Matt Ebert
I started with one shop. No college degree, no big investors. It was just a willingness to work. Over time that one shop turned into a Multi billion dollar business called Crash Champions. All the lessons I learned along the way came from the grind. And that's what my show Pod Crash is all about. We have real conversations with people who've built things the hard way. We talk to founders, athletes and blue collar leaders who kept going when things got tough. You'll hear stories of grit, leadership and growth, plus real world lessons you can take back to your team and your life tomorrow.
Ken Martin
When you get momentum, you step on the gas. That's how you get separation from everybody else.
Kevin Walling
I was at Harvard Law School.
Jimmy Kimmel
I was blah, blah, blah.
Mark Levin
I looked up, let me tell you something, there's kids in my neighborhood putting
Ken Martin
in sheetrock that are smarter than you. AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff.
Mark Levin
It is never going to disrupt physical blue collar traits. Girl.
Kevin Walling
And the guy just looked at me and he said, it's bloody impossible. So I asked him this question. I said, it's impossible.
Matt Ebert
Unless that's Podcast with me, Matt ebert, watch on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Mark Levin
All right, guys, let's start with the topic I like to start with most every day, which is a little thing we called Iran. The president, according to the Wall Street Journal, is going to stick with the blockade for now and maybe beef it up while continuing to monitor the international and domestic political effects. The Journal says the President has instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade. In recent meetings, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran's economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports. He assessed that his other options, resume bombing or walk away, carried more risk than maintaining the blockade. Following on the AP story from yesterday, the Wall Street Journal has another story today. They have the two best stories of the day on Iran saying that the Iranian economy is in very tough shape and having some examples of the governments having to subsidize a bunch of staples. Mass unemployment, construction has come to a standstill. The Internet's down. That's hurting folks who rely on the Internet for their business. So, Kevin, what are the risks of just continuing the blockade for the United States? In other words, how long can the president just continue with blockade only, no negotiations and no kinetic action?
Kevin Walling
Yeah, I think indefinitely at this point. Again, the Iranians came forward with a plan a few days ago, obviously right from the get go, said we want to handle the nuclear component later. That's been three days in the past. Now they're going back and there's reports from John Ellis, others that the Ayatollah is weighing in. Again. We have not seen or heard from him that they're actually going to revisit what they've already put forward. So an indication that just in these three days they're realizing that the initial proposal on Tehran's terms is not acceptable obviously to the Americans. That's three more days of crippling of the economy. Mark, as you point out, over a million folks out of work, not just obviously because of the blockade, but the Internet outage. And also reports too that the internal police in the regime are preparing for what is to be likely protests, hopefully like we saw last December, where folks were taking to the streets to protest this regime based on economic hardship. So I think the President has a lot of cards here to play. And it seems like the Iranians are already recalculating without even us going to Islamabad, their initial offers.
Mark Levin
Larry, are you as bullish on the just the blockade only strategy as Kevin seems to be?
Larry O'Connor
It seems to be effective. It seems to be working. And I would answer, though, the only downside, the only downside that I can see is if God forbid, one of those little IRGC smart guy boats, as the President likes to call them, or a drone or something could actually do some damage, God forbid, to an American vessel. But I would think that if that were to happen, it would have happened by now. It hasn't affected oil prices, it hasn't affected the economy. It seems to be working. And why not continue a smart and effective strategy.
Mark Levin
Yeah, here's something the President posted at dawn this morning on Truth Social. A little, a little imagery of himself and, and another of what's been for the last couple days, some bellicose language towards Iran. Iran can't get their act together. They don't know how to sign a non nuclear deal. They better get smart soon. President DJ she shows there's no more Mr. Nice Guy President in sunglasses with a. A weapon.
Larry O'Connor
Don't worry, Kevin, he's only going hunting with that one.
Mark Levin
Exactly. It's going to be, I mean the
Kevin Walling
amazing, the amazing thing to me that this ceasefire has been in place again, reading these reports, April 7th is when the true hostilities stopped. Yeah, that's 22 days in the past. And I don't see a willingness. Again, I share Larry's fears that a desperate regime might strike out even more. And they do still have some limited resources as we've seen them attack cargo ships in the Strait that that will be directed at one of our destroyers or frigates or what have you.
Mark Levin
Yeah, I mean as the journal story points out and Secretary Hegseth will probably be asked about Today, you know, we've got four carriers in the region. We've got all this other stuff there. It is, it is expensive. It's not cost free to the American taxpayers to keep all that stuff there. But if, even if the, even if the outer limits of estimates about how soon Iran's oil back backup are true, even if it's three, four months, really a small price to pay if this is what brings them to their knees. But from talking to folks, there's still, there's less confidence in the Pakistanis that they can pull this off than there was before. There's far less confidence that whoever shows up to negotiate for the Iranians are there with either the authority or to the extent they have the authority, the good faith that they're really there to try to negotiate a deal rather than to just stall and probe. So I think we, barring some, you know, shooting of the Archduke of Ferdinand type of event, I think we may be looking at the blockade now for the foreseeable future.
Larry O'Connor
I also just want to clarify because clarity is important. I saw some confusion in the chat when I said this hasn't affected oil prices. I don't mean the Iranian engagement from day one. I mean the blockade itself. The blockade, its, well, except it is
Mark Levin
anything, it is, it is over, it is up, as I said, it is up over the last week. So, you know, it is, it is, it is affected prices.
Larry O'Connor
But it will be interesting to see the effect of UAE dropping out of OPEC as they announced yesterday, and what that might do to absolutely that.
Mark Levin
That is a wild, wild card. All right, Comey, as far as we know, not arrested yet, folks. It's, it's a ridiculous indictment and, and a lot of conservative legal experts will tell you that, but it doesn't mean that this case won't go forward. I, I, I got some messages from folks saying, oh, Mark, you're, you're predicting that this could go to trial or Comey might have to plead to something. I'm just telling you folks, the reason they brought in North Carolina, eastern North Carolina was because they've got a judge who might be sympathetic, maybe not judge might throw it out in a second. But we don't just don't know. Poly market wagers have a pretty interesting point of view about this. Here's a poly market. We want to polymarket the Comey thing. This is number 105. Polymarket wagers say 71% chance Comey is arrested by May 15th. So that's in a couple weeks. I suspect it will be sooner than that, but we'll see. Larry, is this case going anywhere? What's the most likely, in your view, disposition of this case from dismissal to plea to trial?
Larry O'Connor
I don't know. It should also be pointed out, you're right, there's going to be a friendlier judge and a friendlier. Well, let me rephrase that. A less hostile to the administration judge and less hostile to the administration jury, potentially, if this goes forward. But also in North Carolina, that's this is where the scene of the alleged crime took place was North Carolina. So it makes sense that that would be the district. I don't know. I've been told by some people that this may be sort of a placeholder in connection to the ongoing grand jury investigation into Russian collusion now headed up apparently, or at least advised by Joe diGenova, the former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who has forgotten more about the Russian collusion situation than most people know. And James Comey's name will certainly come up there. Maybe there's some sort of plan for a plea bargain. I don't know. I do know that people have been arrest and convicted for making online threats to presidents in the past. Do I think that this was a legitimate real threat that James Comey made? No, probably not. But I want to see the evidence that the grand jury saw. And I think it's also noteworthy that his story has changed a little bit. He first claimed that he had no idea what this meant. And now I think that the argument from his lawyers at least, or from yesterday is, oh, this was a harmless thing and it's a free speech. Speech question. Well, it's true. You can hyperbolically say the president should be killed and that is protected. It goes back to a Vietnam War protest against Lyndon Johnson. But, you know, which is it? You didn't know what 8647 meant or 8647 is protected free speech. I think that's interesting and noteworthy.
Kevin Walling
Kevin, is it possible, do you think that I was just going to ask Larry for his perspective. Do you think this followed there's a connection to obviously, the assassination attempt on Saturday, the conversation around threats around the president that then maybe the administration, the US Attorney thinks it's the timing is better now given this environment that we're in to bring this kind of threat charge against the president?
Larry O'Connor
I don't know.
Kevin Walling
Or do you think they're not going to.
Larry O'Connor
I don't know if they mobilized a grand jury that quickly to be able to something out. But the timing is I think it's relevant, considering what we've been discussing as a nation for the last several days.
Mark Levin
Kevin, do you think it's possible that they've got some email or some other things from Comey that bolsters the case?
Kevin Walling
Well, obviously, you know, you need some, some percentage of a grand jury to indict. It's not a high bar because again, I think we've seen a lot of celebratory messages, tweets when, when a perceived enemy of the president has been indicted. That's a low bar. But clearly there's going to be some evidence as part of this. There's indications, I'm watching the four screen right now, that Comey is going to turn himself in today. Again, he's no champion for the Democrats. I don't defend Jim Comey. I think it was an asinine thing to do in terms of posting that. We all know what it meant. But again, that's also a very high bar in terms of free speech, that kind of thing, even when there's threats involved. That's a, that's a pretty high bar. Again, he wasn't, you know, sending manifestos. He wasn't telegraphing a lot of things, like a lot of people that have been properly prosecuted to Larry's point in the past.
Mark Levin
I've told this story before. The day the President fired Jim Comey. I happen to be in the Oval Office by fluke. And, and, and then that night when Stephen Colbert announced that Comey was fired, the liberal audience was a little confused about whether to cheer or boo because Comey is more responsible for Donald Trump being president than literally anybody because of the Hillary Clinton investigation. But now he turned on Trump and he became a bit of a hero. So, Kevin, right now, what does the left think of Comey? Because, Because Donald Trump's turning him into a hero in the abstract. If it weren't for the Hillary thing, this is Lincoln, he'd be a big hero. But is this going to turn him into a martyr of the laughter the left?
Kevin Walling
No, I think he's still Persona non grata for both sides. I mean, he's, you know, the Farm Bill used to be the vestiges of bipartisanship. I think Jim Comey is one of the last vestiges of bipartisanship with equal hatred on both sides.
Mark Levin
But like, but like, will he be.
Larry O'Connor
Will he be on ms? Will he. The Green Room at Colbert, Kimmel and on Nick.
Mark Levin
But what about ms? What about Ms. Now? Will he be. Would he be on.
Kevin Walling
Doesn't say that he's not a darling. Not a darling of some of these
Larry O'Connor
people at this point. Come on.
Mark Levin
Yeah, but he hasn't been on yet, right? He hasn't been on since the indictment. Right. Wasn't on Ms.
Larry O'Connor
I don't think he was on last night. He was busy making a video, selfie video for Instagram.
Kevin Walling
He did go to Colbert after that photo was posted, I think. I mean, this was last year.
Mark Levin
Yeah, yeah.
Kevin Walling
And they talked about it and stuff like that.
Larry O'Connor
He also had a book coming out at the same time, ironically, that same week.
Mark Levin
Kevin's close personal friend the King is in New York City today. As far as we know, he's going to ground zero with the mayor, although that's the only thing he's doing with the mayor. I don't know what else he's doing here, except I think he and I may have lunch at Sushi Nakazawa maybe. I'm not confirming that, but I wouldn't steer you away from thinking, well, AI
Larry O'Connor
a picture either way.
Mark Levin
Besides Kevin having some scrapbook memories, did anything come out of yesterday that's meaningful? We learned the King tells a lot of good jokes about history, but has anything real happened that's we should think about?
Kevin Walling
I think it's a little too early to tell. Mark. I would be interested to see the next couple of weeks if the President scales back his attacks on the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, if there's a change in that kind of attitude again going into this, there was a lot of focus on that relationship between the Prime Minister and the President. I think the King has done a marvelous job in terms of renewing again that special relationship. I hate that term, as does the our current ambassador from the UK about it. So we'll see. I think this play out, but certainly this has been a slam dunk, I think, for His Majesty and Her Majesty thus far.
Larry O'Connor
I would gently disagree with Kevin. I think he's right in theory, but I think it has more to do with looking at a change in tone from Keir Starmer on the other side of the pond, not a change in tone from President Trump. The imagery here was that the relationship between these countries and these two heads of state transcend the current very, very unpopular prime minister. And the fact that we're sitting here right now with the Falkland Islands in the news again and our government has a better relationship with Argentina than with the Parliament in London is an outrage, I think from the British perspective. And I think the King sent a message, frankly, that Keir Starmer needs to try to repair this because the relationship transcends this current, very shaky government led by him.
Mark Levin
All right, as we said, pal's last press conference expected today, this afternoon. We have that element of that. I can't remember now. I don't know. Do we have that? I can't remember. I got a bad memory about all this.
Larry O'Connor
Anyway, numbers did juggle anyway.
Mark Levin
Do you guys think Powell will say at his press conference, yeah, number 116, will Powell say at the press conference today that he's going to leave the Fed? I'm sure he'll be asked about it. His term is up and his term's not up till January of 28. Chairs typically is the AP story. Chairs typically leave the board when their leadership term ends. But Powell signaled he could remain. He'd be the first chair to do so since 48. I know before all this brouhaha started, Powell was planning to leave and he was talking to people about other stuff he planned to do in terms of teaching and writing and stuff. But it says if Powell has made protecting Fed independence a key part of his legacy. Three of the seven governors are Trump appointees. If Powell left, the president would have four of the seven, which presumably would give him more influence over Fed decisions. Some people say, well, as long as the investigation's now with the IG that Powell won't want to leave. Other people say he understands now this thing's going away. So do you guys think he'll. When asked today what do you think he'll say? Do you think he'll evade the answer, Say he's staying, say he's going.
Larry O'Connor
I think he'll evade. I get a vibe from him. He reminds me of Fauci. He's sort of a nerdy little functionary who sort of advanced upward just because that's what happens in D.C. and he's now enjoying his 15 minutes of being so popular on the left in the TDS crowd. And so he's going to drag this out. He's a bit of a drama queen, I think, and he's going to drag it out till the last second and then he'll announce, of course I'm going to resume my normal life. I don't want to have anything to do with the Fed anymore, but I think he's going to enjoy it while it lasts and all the drama around it.
Kevin Walling
Who appointed him? Who appointed him chairman? I always forget that Donald John Trump
Larry O'Connor
made a few mistakes with his. Can we? Can we.
Kevin Walling
He is not watching Ms. Now, Larry, to see how popular he is on the left. He is a bureaucrat. He is a kind of nerdy, you know, but he's not calculating based on what the left is saying about him from him.
Mark Levin
Larry, Larry, I say, I say with affection. That's the nuttiest thing you've ever said on this show. Literally.
Larry O'Connor
You say that a lot.
Mark Levin
Well, no, I say. I say it only when it's true. I just. But I agree you've topped your previous best.
Larry O'Connor
So you. I agree with Larry confirmed today that he'll stop.
Kevin Walling
I know. I agree with you that he's gonna be ambiguous.
Mark Levin
Yeah, we all agree. Okay, then why is it nutty?
Larry O'Connor
Hold up. Why do you think he'll be ambiguous?
Mark Levin
Not a left wing functionary? He's very well thought of.
Larry O'Connor
Donald Trump appointed he was a left wing functionary. I'm saying he reminds me of Foushee, that he's enjoying this moment of popularity.
Mark Levin
I don't even. I don't think that's true either.
Larry O'Connor
Well, okay, why won't he say, do you think he has reached a decision whether he will leave the Fed?
Kevin Walling
Because he cares about the independent, cares
Mark Levin
about the independence of the Fed.
Kevin Walling
Exactly. Right.
Mark Levin
Yeah, that's exactly.
Larry O'Connor
So you're buying press releases. You agree with that? So I guess I'm a little more cynical than you are.
Mark Levin
I mean, yes, you are in general. True. But, but, but also I just, I just know a lot of people who know him and I know sort of what his worldview is.
Larry O'Connor
So, so wait, let's get to the crux of it though. So you don't believe he has made a decision on whether he will leave the Fed or not?
Mark Levin
I believe he wants to leave and he'll leave if he think he can leave without going to prison or compromising the independence of the Fed. That's correct.
Larry O'Connor
But it has.
Kevin Walling
And again, let's also see. Let's also see wars, but, you know, likely to clear committee today. Banking Committee, I think by May 15th. Yeah. He would take over. So there are some other variables at play. Yeah.
Larry O'Connor
Quick follow up.
Zimmy
Yeah.
Larry O'Connor
When he leaves, will he then become very vocal and criticize the Trump administration?
Mark Levin
No, he'll be a policy.
Larry O'Connor
If he does, will you, will you concede that I'm not a lunatic for I will.
Mark Levin
I will eat a Taco Bell Grande something right on the end.
Kevin Walling
If he goes to Stephen Colbert, you know, days after leaving to. Then we will both eat whatever. Shoe cardboard.
Mark Levin
Ladies and gentlemen, don't accuse me of varying the lead, but this could have been the lead. The Republican Party's in a heap of trouble potentially what I'm about to bring out for you here, this is not a prediction. This is not something they can't change. And this is not something I wish for because I'm, I don't have rooting interest here. But I'm telling you, we've got some data points today. The Republican Party may be in a lot of trouble. The midterms could be again, ladies and gentlemen, saying could be. And there are people in the Republican Party, including Newt Gingrich, who would tell you that this is true and they don't want it to happen. It could be a bloodbath. It could be a blue bud bloodbath in November. Plenty of time for things to change. Republicans have some ideas about how to change it. But I'm going to tell you some things now that suggest that this could be a nightmare. They could lose control of the Senate. You've never heard me say that. I've said just the opposite. They could lose more than 30 House seats. They could lose governor's races. No one's expecting them to lose. Let me tell you what's going on. First, just a mess on Capitol Hill. Here's the Politico headline. Johnson and Thune are just they get along but man, they're having internal problems. Hill Republicans want Trump to solve their internal problems. Growing frustration among Senate Republicans and Trump allies that the House hasn't yet take up their funding of the Department of Homeland Security. There's also, as we said before, other things that the House is having trouble moving. Now, voters don't really care about this, but Republicans who think they're in trouble would like some accomplishments. And there's just a big logjam on the Hill. They're waiting for the president to fix that. Then there's this poll out this morning from Emerson. 123, please. And again, it's one poll, but Democrats hold a 10 point advantage in the generic ballot question. 124, please. Here you can see the numbers. And those of you watching can see back In July of 25, it was 44, 42 Democrats. Then it was 43 all. And then it was pretty even up until this January when it went to 6, then 8, then 7. Now 10 point generic advantage. And this one may be the biggest canary in the coal mine of all. Ladies and gentlemen, just as I've been a leader in saying the chances of Democrats taking the Senate are highly overstated and overrated, I've also said Mr. Talarico is not going to be the Democrat who breaks the decades long streak of no Democrat winning statewide in Texas because he is extremely liberal. However, a new poll from Texas Tribune 119 shows Mr. Talarico ahead within the margin of error of both John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, beating Paxton by 5 in this poll, Cornyn by 3. If the environment is horrible for Republicans, if the president's approval rating is down in Texas, and if Talarico is the one who finally does what Democrats who've tried to win statewide has said have been trying to do, get every liberal to vote, win over Independence and get some Republicans because he's religious, he could win. I now believe he could win. And the first time you've heard me say that, I've been totally dismissive. Democrats could win seven, eight Senate seats potentially and, and hold all of theirs. Again, could. And lastly, I'll say this. The, the president, a lot of stories today in the press. The press loves the story. The president's doing his retribution tour. He's, he's talking about a bunch of stuff that voters don't like. They just don't like it. The base likes it, but independents don't like it. And it fires up Democrats going after Comey, going after the Fauci associate, talking about the ballroom, putting his face on the passport. So, Kevin, what do you think of this Rosie scenario for your party that I painted here as something that could happen on the current trajectory?
Kevin Walling
I agree with you and I listen to the great conversation you had with Mark Penn yesterday on polling. And there's huge now divisions that we're seeing. Not just obviously we're siloed, Democrats will, job approval, Republicans cost of living, but the fact that I think Mark shared a poll where only 19% of Republicans think Trump's handling of the economy is strong. Now, a strong majority, 76% disapproval on the president on the economy, including 47% of Republicans. Again, that's a huge indicator of where this potential midterm is headed. Again decided on the election, on the economy. And we'll see where people are feeling, you know, two months from now when folks are really locking in their perceptions of the economy heading into the midterms. But clearly the president needs to make some changes here in order to stem the tide.
Mark Levin
Larry, before you jump in, I will say I don't read the chat. I do glance at it on rare occasion, and I saw somebody put in there, Mark, you're just clickbaiting. This is what's wrong with people on the far left and the far right, ladies and gentlemen, I'm giving you premium reporting. Premium reporting, talking to a lot of Republican strategists who have races whose private data is really freaking them out. Okay? And you can say I'm clickbaiting, but you're wrong. What I'm doing is informing you. And to the extent that you're a Republican who's complacent, I'm warning you, on the current trajectory, this could be the kind of wipeout we've seen on occasion in a midterm for the President's party. It's not clickbaiting. And the fact that one of you said that demonstrates your failure to understand that this is a reality based program. We're not here to do anything but talk about truth. Larry, where are you on this issue of just how bad this could be?
Larry O'Connor
So I'll see your Emerson College poll and raise you the Harvard Harris poll with a larger sample size and a smaller margin of error. And that shows 50. 50 right now.
Mark Levin
Now.
Larry O'Connor
Which is frankly bad news for Democrats. Yeah, number one. Number two, as we always say, this is not a party preference election. This is not a voter for Republican vote for a Democrat. It is candidate versus candidate. And so to really gauge how things are going to go in November, we need to see who those candidates are. Democrats right now are electing radical left wingers who want to abolish ICE and have no idea how they will enforce immigration laws afterwards. When Republicans are able, with their war chest to point that out, you'll see on a district by district basis, a very different picture. And with regard to Texas, Mr. Talarico has been able to enjoy the fact that he doesn't have an opponent yet. The two Republicans are going after each other, not going after him. It is Texas. We shall see what happens after we know who the nominee is.
Mark Levin
I agree with every word Larry just said, by the way. Every word.
Larry O'Connor
I will also say absolutely, it could be a bloodbath. And you are going to see a lot of emails from Republican candidates saying it could be a bloodbath because they got to raise some money and they need to scare supporters to tell them that.
Mark Levin
Now, the Harvard Harris poll, which we talked to last night with Mark Penn about, shows what other polls also show, which Larry alluded to the Democratic brand is not great. It's not like they've risen up as the President and the Republican Party has fallen. And ladies and gentlemen, the braveheart, the warrior, the person who's going to lead the Democratic Party into this battle in the fall is this guy. 120, please.
Ken Martin
So I think people see that we are actually putting into action the lessons We've learned we're actually building the infrastructure we need.
Mark Levin
We're competing, I may play the whole game.
Ken Martin
We're making the investments throughout the country to make sure that we're organizing everywhere. I mean, part of the challenge, John,
Mark Levin
is for those of you who don't know, this is the chairman of the
Ken Martin
Democratic that this party, for years, and this is why I ran for it, has had a very myopic vision of just focusing in on one campaign cycle, one candidate, one campaign at the expense of a long term strategy. And for us to break out of that, we actually have to have a long term strategy. And that requires us to build through the lens of building long term infrastructure. And so, you know, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. If you throw all your eggs into one basket, which is one campaign or, or one campaign cycle, then you've built nothing permanent. Or if you do as I am right, which is to start building the permanent infrastructure we need to have a long term strategy, then you get, or you had enough, you don't have enough cash on hand to compete with the Republicans. Well, the reality, we've been competing with the Republicans.
Mark Levin
Former Chairman Joe Andrew, John Bon Jovi,
Ken Martin
at the same time. And so what I would ask you
Mark Levin
to do is just shut it off. That's enough. It goes on. More conventional wisdom, he's not, he's not able to raise money. And, and the donors in New York just think he's a joke. And, and, and, and the proof's in the pudding. I mean the DNC's fundraising compared to the RNC, and that's one of the big things that chair is supposed to do. On the other hand, he's a likable guy and he's not getting in the way. How about that, Kevin? What do you think of the leader, the leadership of Chairman Martin and what, what role that might play in Republicans having or avoiding a blood ban?
Kevin Walling
Listen, again, the proof is in the pudding. In New Jersey and Virginia and all these special elections and the investments that, that they, that Ken is out. I supported Ken in this chairs race. Larry's laughing. That's fine, you can laugh all your way. He took a state like Minnesota that was fairly purple. You had Rudy Bosk, which you had others, and went 25 and 0 in terms of statewide elections for Democrats. So I think you laugh at your peril. Larry. I will say there, there's obviously a money advantage between the RRNC and the DNC. It's going to be much more about candidate recruitment and the ability of those candidates to raise money. I think parties in general, national parties for the last number of cycles have, have lessened in terms of significance. Right. We're not the, you know, it's not the party, Terry McAuliffe, it's not the party, you know, of strong Republican leadership where they dictated from Washington outcomes. But again, Ken, the proof is in the pudding right now. And, and I want to bet against him.
Larry O'Connor
I, I, I'm laughing more at the way Mark set it up and yeah, and the payoff was, was quite good. But that's right, Listen, can't argue with the results. What you will say is one of his strengths though, Mark, Kevin actually could be a potential weakness because you're right, he remade the Minnesota Democrat Party in his image or in Tim Walls's image or Keith Ellison's image. And Minnesota has now become the new California. We Republicans will point to Minnesota and say, look, they, they, they brought in a guy from Minnesota for their national party and look at what's going on in Minnesota right now. And most of the states don't want to be Minnesota.
Mark Levin
Yep. All right. Last night, another California group.
Kevin Walling
Great education, great health care.
Mark Levin
Yeah.
Kevin Walling
You know, come on.
Mark Levin
Yeah.
Kevin Walling
Minnesota. People like Minnesota.
Mark Levin
Yeah.
Larry O'Connor
Billions in fraud.
Mark Levin
A lot of people vote. A lot of people vote. I voted.
Kevin Walling
Well, we're working on that.
Mark Levin
All right. Last night, another debate in the California gubernatorial contest and we'll just show you some highlights of it. It was pretty raucous. A lot of talking over each other. But we'll watch it and then the boys will tell you who they think the front runner is currently play clip.
Moderator at California debate
It's going to come up in the next. We have to hear from, from a student. Now I know you're not against that. Right. You have to hear from our students.
Mark Levin
The pat.
Moderator at California debate
At least you're still going to be here.
Mark Levin
The PAT at least give those of us who had our name used give at least a 10 second response.
Moderator at California debate
And since you've said my name several times, go ahead. Mr.
Mark Levin
Okay, really quickly to respond to Mr. Mayhem. The only person who's actually run a healthcare system, the largest system in the world, is me. I expanded healthcare beyond what we had ever seen in the country's history. So if you want to talk about what works, ask somebody who actually did it.
Moderator at California debate
Thank you very much.
Mark Levin
I'm the only person here who's going
Jimmy Kimmel
to get the money back that Donald
Kevin Walling
Trump took away from us.
Mark Levin
I'm the only person who how to raise revenue so that we can pay for health care.
Moderator at California debate
Thank you, Mr. Steyer. Mr. Thurman, really quickly, you know, it's interesting. Everybody wants to talk at this debate. So that means we're doing a good job.
Mark Levin
I think so.
Kevin Walling
I think we're going to move on
Mark Levin
to a touchy feeling moment.
Larry O'Connor
If I could. Every candidate has spoken. If I could just answer your question. You asked the question about revenue. What none of the candidates have said.
Mark Levin
All right, Kevin, who's the front runner?
Kevin Walling
Still Steve Hilton, according to the polling, at least for that number one spot. I do. It is kind of fascinating for a kind of primary election debate to have the Republicans and the Democrats because of that top two finishing element. And they were obviously going at each other.
Mark Levin
Let me, sorry, let me ask a different way. Who's going to make the runoff and who's going to win?
Kevin Walling
I mean, my, my heart says Matt Mayan, my, my San Jose mayor who, who had a pretty good debate performance yesterday. The money hasn't really kicked in in terms of the ad spends and stuff like that. I think Tom Steyer didn't do himself any favors. There's a big pack now spending against Tom Sty. I don't think Katie Porter did herself any favors. The new darling the last five days has been Javier Becerra. Again, not a lot of strong. He's not well liked as HHS secretary. I can testify to that. Not very effective. So, again, I think we're still trying to figure it out on our side.
Mark Levin
The Sarah got hit hard today. Comey, as Kevin said, is now expected to be in court today at some point. Larry, who's going to make the final two and who's going to win?
Larry O'Connor
Hilton for sure. And then I think, I think Becerra might. Becerra, based on the party coalescing around him, it appears, and the unions and that sort of thing and the infrastructure. But Steyer, because of his war chest.
Mark Levin
Yeah.
Larry O'Connor
Bianco in some polls is still looking okay, too. But if I had to guess today, it would be Steyer and Hilton.
Mark Levin
I'll be a little.
Larry O'Connor
Sure.
Mark Levin
I'll be, I'll be a little Weasley. I think Mayan has one more chance here to coalesce support. And if he does, I think he could surge and I think he could make the finals. If it's not, I think it'll be Becerra and. And Hilton.
Larry O'Connor
Can we just point out Becerra will win?
Kevin Walling
I think that's right.
Larry O'Connor
Single American right now. Every single American right now is struggling with their health insurance premiums and the cost of health care. And we're all angry over what happened to Covid. And Becerra is really trying to make that like a crown jewel of his resume.
Mark Levin
Yeah.
Larry O'Connor
That he, that he was in charge of hhs and especially during COVID I know.
Mark Levin
Go for it.
Kevin Walling
Well, if only, if only we were able to pass that health care conversation, you know, that one shut down over one more topic.
Mark Levin
And then to your questions again, please raise your hand. If you've never been part of the conversation, we'd love to have you. Jimmy Kimmel, ABC has not spoken publicly as far as we know, but. But they've said privately to folks they're not going to fire him. He's not going to leave. Yesterday, kind of an inexplicable thing, the President made a joke about dying and leaving his wife as a widow. And Jimmy Kimmel had great sport with it. Kind of a wacky development. Here's Jimmy Kimmel from last night's monologue.
Jimmy Kimmel
Trump was very excited about hosting the King. And a lot of it is because Trump's mom was a great fan of the Royal Family. My wonderful mother, Mary McLeod. She came to America at 19, met my incredible father. We loved him so much. We all loved him. We loved her. We loved him, Fred. And they were married for 63 years and. Excuse me, if you don't mind, that's a record. We won't be able to marry.
Larry O'Connor
I'm sorry.
Jimmy Kimmel
Just not going to work out that way.
Mark Levin
Wait a minute.
Jimmy Kimmel
Did he just make a joke about his death? My God, we should be fired for that. Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age and then a day later go out and make a joke about his own old age.
Mark Levin
All right, let's poly market this. 122, please. Poly market wagers from our partners of Polymarket say on the prospect of Kimmel leaving, here's what they say. 122, please. Will he be fired or resigned by May 31st? That's one month away. Only a 6% chance according to Poly Market wagers. Way down from the beginning. Maybe people read the reports that ABC say he's not going anywhere. Larry, you think he's. Any chance he's going or ABC is not going to do it over?
Larry O'Connor
He should not because of it. By the way, don't give me the First Amendment because no one's saying the government should jail him for what he said.
Kevin Walling
But you know, some people are saying Disney should lose its licenses for what he said, which is problematic. Not that he should be.
Larry O'Connor
He should be jail because he's bad. He's bad for business and he's bad for the Disney ABC brand.
Mark Levin
And not that funny.
Larry O'Connor
He's become. And he's not that funny. He's become a murderer for the cause. And by the way, I'm sorry, two quick things. Number one, that wasn't a joke about the President dying. It was a joke about the fact that this is their third marriage. So it's kind of a long shot to make it 63 years.
Kevin Walling
Oh, that. He wasn't gonna. Yeah, come on.
Mark Levin
He's not gonna.
Larry O'Connor
They got, they got married later in life. Not, not about death. It's not about the age difference. Guess what? If, if Donald Trump lived long enough for a 60 year marriage, I don't think Melania Trump can live that long either. How old was she when they got married? I'm sorry, that's just not what it's about. And how many jokes did Jimmy Kimmel say about the age difference between Joe and Jill Biden? I don't remember any of them.
Mark Levin
What's their age difference?
Kevin Walling
It's not as significant as what's their age difference between.
Larry O'Connor
Yeah, their age difference is like 10 years. And I'm not one to talk about age differences, so I'm not going to throw any stones. Kevin met Meredith over the week last week. And finally, be careful with using his clips because when I use Jimmy Kimmel clips on my YouTube show and criticize him, they hit us with a copyright infringement.
Mark Levin
But.
Larry O'Connor
And if they don't hear, that'll be remarkable and it'll take, we're doing it for the publicity.
Mark Levin
Hope. Yes, hope Disney sees us. Kevin, thoughts?
Kevin Walling
Yeah, again, I, he's not the funniest guy. Right. I, you know, I'm an old school Johnny Carson guy, right. That you really didn't know his politics and stuff like that. So I, I'm a big believer in let the ratings decide who stays and who goes and that that should be what decides this. Not infringements on the First Amendment or things like that or jokes that necessarily torpedo people. Again, let the ratings decide. And I was there at the South Lawn. It was a great honor to be at the arrival ceremony. President actually had some pretty funny jokes. I think he was sad that again that he wasn't able to deliver a lot of stuff at the correspondence dinner. So he stepped it up the last two days with his toast, last night with the state dinner and then the arrival ceremony. So I think he took that energy that he had from Saturday night and has been doing the last two days.
Mark Levin
I still hope Somebody leaks that thing.
Larry O'Connor
If you're a professional comedian and you're spending a lot of time, number one, explaining your jokes, number two, explaining jokes that all happen to, you know, revolve around people's deaths and people you don't like and them dying. How funny is that? Also real fast. She was 34 years old when she married President Trump. That means if they get to their 63rd anniversary, she would be 97.
Mark Levin
She could live to 97. Her parents are a lot of good.
Larry O'Connor
Very well, trust me, if I made that joke with my wife about, you know, making it 63 years, it would not be about my death. It would be about the fact that we both got married a little later in our lives.
Mark Levin
Understood? You make a good point.
Kevin Walling
All right, I appreciate, I'm sorry, Larry's explaining the President's joke, which he just.
Larry O'Connor
No, he's not a professional comedian.
Kevin Walling
Yeah.
Mark Levin
Appearances to the contrary, Larry's not a professional comedian. All right, questions, questions. In a moment, please raise your hand if you want to be in on the conversation. I'm speaking now to those of you who've got something new you want to promote or a business that you want to get more out there. Podcast, new business of any sort, try Shopify. Is anything new that you want to promote? Whatever it is, it's an extraordinary, well used, widely used platform for commerce around the world and in the United States. 10% of all E commerce in the United States is done on Shopify. And the folks at Shopify are so confident that you'll understand how powerful their platform is that they're going to give members of the two way community a trial offer of a dollar a month. There's nothing at Starbucks. Starbucks you could buy for a dollar. A dollar a month. To start your Shopify account, go to shopify.com mark. It's all there, ready to use. Templates, AI powered tools, inventory, payments, analytics, marketing, 24 hour customer support. If you're trying, if you want to just try it out for a dollar and see how it goes. You'll see why so many people know that if you want to move from your what ifs to your making real coin, try Shopify. Go to shopify.com mark right now. Shopify.com mark. Try it today. All right, One last thing. Perfectly snug for those of you who have trouble sleeping, because sometimes it's too hot and sometimes it's too cold. Try the product recommended by Oprah herself. Oprah herself, ladies and gentlemen. You don't get much better recommendation than that, except maybe Larry and Kevin perfectly snug. 15% off. This is a mattress topper that Oprah says is best of the best. And perfectly stuck.com mark 15% off. Stabilize your body temperature at night. It's a game changer for anybody who is either too hot or too cold or sometimes a little bit of both. It is basically like a human thermostat right on you. It keeps you warm when you need to be warm, cools you down when you need to be cooled down. It can warm the bed before you get in it. Very easy to set up, very easy to use. There's an app that goes along with it that allows you to operate the device, unbox it in moments, put it on the bed. Oprah says again, best of the best. I'm excited to get mine unboxed. I just haven't had time to do it. But if you want to give it a try, you can test Perfectly Snug for 30 days risk free. Go to Perfectly Snug.com promo code mark 15% off their deepest discount available. Thank you for your attention to this matter, ladies and gentlemen. Now it is time to bring in folks to ask some questions and we start with Barry himself. Barry, welcome in. Thank you for being part of Two Way Unmute. Tell folks about the array of products on the desk behind you, where you are and what's on your mind. There you go.
Dr. Barry Craco
Those are all my books about sleep disorders. I'm a board certified sleep specialist and a mattress is usually not something that's going to solve anybody's problems. But going to a sleep center is going to solve people's problems and they got to get tested and figure out what is physiologically wrong with sleep.
Larry O'Connor
Barry I Woke up at 2:30 in the morning and I could not get back to sleep. I am running on fumes already and it's only.
Dr. Barry Craco
Okay, well if you want me to tell you what your diagnosis is online,
Larry O'Connor
I can probably talk offline. I'm sorry.
Kevin Walling
Yeah,
Mark Levin
Barry, you'll be treating us all before too long, so thank you.
Dr. Barry Craco
Yes, well, there is something very special about Larry who I very much appreciate and that is that his facial structure is similar to my facial structure, that it's more vertically aligned as opposed to square or horizontal shape. You know, like the movie stars have these really big heads. So people with vertically shaped faces do have a greater degree of risk for sleep breathing problems. I discovered this about myself in my journey as a sleep doctor and it's a big deal because they've actually done research showing that rabbits when you tighten up the way their nose is operating as they're growing, they have these end up having vertical shaped faces. So that's how they actually proved this was a relationship. Sleep is sort of. Anyway, my question is how can you, how can you put the Emerson Poll and not put the Harris Poll, which has its tide?
Mark Levin
Yeah. So I mean, good question. We did Emerson, we did the Harris poll last night. There are other polls, both public and private, that show the Emerson Poll as, as being not out of, out of, out of bounds. So we try to show the latest polls and we could aggregate them all. But if you aggregate them all, I think the Harris poll may be closer. The Emerson poll may be closer on that question. We don't know for sure. But I can tell you the reason I showed the Emerson Poll, I'll be more clear, is in talking to Republican strategists this week who are working on races and have polling. They're very worried, they're very worried about the generic ballot. They're very worried about the President's approval rating. And there's even some stuff that came out yesterday in districts of battleground districts, of, of Trump districts Trump won. They're very, they think there's only three members of the House, Republican members of the House who are in districts that Trump, Trump lost. Right. So most of them are in districts Trump won and many of them are in districts that Trump won by double digits. Some of those polling in some of those districts mirroring the Emerson Poll show Trump's approval rating much lower and, and the Republican incumbents imperiled. Now, as Larry pointed out, some places the Democrats haven't even had their primary yet. Some places those Democrats may get stronger once they're nominated and better known. But there's no doubt that the generic ballot right now and the President's approval rating in some of the districts that will determine control of the House ain't great. And that's why we showed the Emerson Poll.
Larry O'Connor
And Barry, I can also add, because I have a similar job as Mark when I'm not on this show, sometimes you build a segment with a lot of data points to sort of show a premise that is worthy then of discussion. And for the premise that Mark was setting up and the thematic conversation we were having, the Emerson poll was more relevant, especially he knew he had a very well educated, very well read analyst from the right who would probably raise the Harris poll.
Mark Levin
Yes.
Larry O'Connor
I'm only that plugged in because I watched his show last night when they talked about the Harris.
Mark Levin
Yeah.
Kevin Walling
And I will just say on the on the generic ballot front too, you know, we also have some tangible data from all these special elections where you've seen again special elections are special for a reason, but massive Democratic over performance, especially in Trump +25, 30 districts that have given Republicans also a lot of heartburn and pause when actually we have voter data in terms of who's turning out in elections with a lot of ad advertising that would mirror what we're going to see in November in terms of turning folks out.
Mark Levin
Yeah. And let me just say one more thing. Do I think the generic is 10 points like Emerson shows? I do not. But I think directionally it's helpful for people regardless of whether you want Republicans to keep control of the House or not, it's helpful for people to understand that even amongst Republicans, not just Democrats and media, even amongst Republicans there's real concern about increasing number of House income, House Republican incumbent held seats whether the incumbents running or retiring and now it's open. But seats currently held by Republicans. There's a lot more in play currently than it's comfortable for Republicans and would obviate any possibility that Republicans would keep the majority. Does that explain.
Dr. Barry Craco
Yeah, I'll wait till the fat lady sings.
Mark Levin
Yeah, always wait for the fat lady to sing. That's what a Poland taught me. One more question asking for a friend. Barry, do you deal with snoring? Is that part of your, your basket of, of tricks?
Dr. Barry Craco
Of course. Snoring though is very misleading symptom. People think that snoring somehow means something. It only means something if it's loud and it means something if it annoys the person in your bedroom 100%. But lots and lots of people have sleep breathing problems who do not snore. Here's a good one for you. Why do people wake up at night to urinate?
Mark Levin
In order to get to the other side.
Dr. Barry Craco
So most people think it's normal to wake up at night to urinate. They think that's normal. Urologists think that's normal. Sleep doctors don't. It turns out if you snore heavily and or if you have some kind of sleep breathing issue, your body actually generates in the heart its own diuretic that goes to your kidneys and say pass more water. You put somebody on a CPAP machine and their trips to the bathroom go away. Ask some urologist to explain that. He'll have no idea what you're talking about. But if you go to a sleep doctor, absolutely. Trips to the bathroom, nocturne. I have a free video you can watch about it. On my website, barrycracomd.com and it literally, from your heart, a diuretic is released and now you pee more. And no primary care doctor is going to tell you that. Sleep doctors will tell you that. And you can eliminate trips to the bathroom, which by the way is one of the leading causes of death. Because elderly people keep waking up at night, falling and having difficulties after that and end up in the hospital. So it's a really big deal. So that's my Barry.
Mark Levin
Thank you. Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, a surprise twist. I'm announcing now, starting Wednesdays, 10pm Eastern time every week it's Barry Premieres here on Two Way. Barry will answer all your questions. And Barry, thank you, man. Enjoyed having you. Barry, that was great.
Larry O'Connor
I gotta object. We can't reward this kind of behavior. What Barry just got from the morning meeting is incredibly valuable that we charge people. What did he do?
Kevin Walling
Well, you're also only. You're also only saying that because Barry. Dr. Barry said you had a nice long face. And it said nothing about Mark and I having horizontal faces, which is another term for. You got a big fat head.
Larry O'Connor
Yeah, my little nieces and nephews used to call me Uncle Pickle Face. I am not kidding about that.
Mark Levin
Yeah, I believe that. Does your name Zimmy or Jimmy. And it's a typo. Zimmy. Zimmy. Welcome in. Zimmy. Glad to see you here. Tell us what's on your mind.
Larry O'Connor
Please do not plug any product or service.
Mark Levin
It's fine. Don't listen to Larry. We're all fine.
Kevin Walling
I will not.
Mark Levin
Jimmy, welcome in. Tell everybody where you are. What's on your mind.
Zimmy
I'm in Marina del Rey, California.
Mark Levin
Beautiful place.
Zimmy
And when I go outside of my. My little area here, I immediately enter Gotham, which is now what Los Angeles has turned into.
Mark Levin
How far are you from. How far are you from the Ritz?
Zimmy
The wrist.
Larry O'Connor
Very close.
Zimmy
Within walking distance. Bicycling. But I play powder.
Larry O'Connor
You cross the Polveda and it's over.
Zimmy
Later today.
Kevin Walling
Yep.
Zimmy
Later today I'll be going down to Venice beach and seeing the.
Larry O'Connor
The.
Zimmy
The refuge out there and this, the situation out there. Okay, back to what you were talking about today.
Mark Levin
86.
Zimmy
The number 86, that comes from Agent Maxwell Smart of CONTROL. And that's about being thrown out of a bar when you're too drunk. That's what 86 means. I don't know.
Mark Levin
It can mean that. It can mean that. It can mean that. It can also mean killing someone. But certainly, certainly, certainly the defense. If it Goes to trial, the defense counsel will probably call you Demi as a. As a witness to say everybody knows it can mean lots of different things. For sure.
Kevin Walling
I was more. I was more of a fan of Agent 99.
Larry O'Connor
Come on.
Mark Levin
Oh, yes.
Larry O'Connor
Yes.
Mark Levin
Yeah.
Larry O'Connor
Is that where it originated? I think it predates that. I think it's a mafia term. I know the restaurants use it for
Mark Levin
killing and I think it's been a restaurant term forever, but.
Zimmy
Well, that's why they named him 86 because it was so funny. It was a joke.
Mark Levin
Yeah.
Zimmy
Okay.
Mark Levin
You know, you know what I say, say. Missed it by that much. Zimmy. Thank you, man. Appreciate it. Thank you for being part of Two Way Adams. Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen. I'm gonna head over to SiriusXM to host from there the second hour of the morning meeting. And we'll be. We'll be talking about lots of stuff that's going on, including stuff happening at 10am hour. Join me there. If you want to get in on the conversation there, you can. All you need to do is give me a call. Phone lines will be open at 10 833-446-3496. And my new episode of Next up is. Is out now. And a great conversation with Dan senor with Melissa DeRosa. And my reported monologue on the security at that hotel that I walked through with maps and charts. I recommend it. Gentlemen, I leave the rest of the program in your very, very, very capable hands. Kevin, what royalty are you meeting today?
Kevin Walling
I'm off today, so. Yeah, we'll see.
Mark Levin
All right, I'll let you know. I'll let you know. I'll let you know. At Sushi Nakazawa, if the king orders extra Wagyu Wagyu sushi, he's definitely gonna
Kevin Walling
have a gin and. He's definitely gonna have a gin and time.
Mark Levin
Yeah, they have a good bar.
Larry O'Connor
I might be lunching with a Burger King later if that matters to anybody.
Mark Levin
Yeah. White cat in a white castle.
Larry O'Connor
In a white castle. Mark, I just want to say I. I told myself I'd give short pithy answers today and you guys just make me go on and on and. I apologize.
Kevin Walling
Yeah, it's that long face of yours. It's that long gorgeous face of yours.
Mark Levin
That. Which one. Which one of you guys is actually going to be treated by Barry? Because I am.
Kevin Walling
I am too. We're gonna have a two way with Barry. I thought that was the chat was interested, you know. Yeah, we gotta talk all about sleep disorders.
Mark Levin
I wonder. I wonder what Barry's gonna want for compensation. For hosting a show. What do you think? All right, gentlemen, I'll see you over on Series xm. Larry, plug away for the rest of the thing, including our friend Megan McCain.
Larry O'Connor
I will. Thanks, Mark.
Kevin Walling
We'll see you on Sirius.
Larry O'Connor
Kevin, what did you drink at the garden party, by the way?
Kevin Walling
I had some champagne.
Larry O'Connor
Of course, Champagne. Very nice.
Kevin Walling
You know, it was a. It was a lovely affair. The Brits hosted a beautiful party. You had Speaker Johnson, you had Speaker Pelosi. You had. It was actually funded. You know, it's been recorded, too, that the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessant, and I was, you know, right next to him, goes way back with the king and the queen, back to his Charleston days. So it was a reunion of sorts.
Larry O'Connor
Was there a no kings protest out front there on Massachusetts?
Kevin Walling
I'm yes Kings. I'm yes Kings now, you know. Yeah, I was debating. I was debating about putting one of the. Picturing one of those posters, the pictures with the king and saying no kings. But, you know, did you see the.
Larry O'Connor
The photo the White House put out on their social media, the two of them, and it said two kings. They. They're so good at trolling and pushing the buttons of. Of the maniacs out there. I loved it.
Kevin Walling
They're just trying to keep up with Iranians in their level of trolling. That's the only. That's the only thing that the Iranians have been able to do is they're trolling as their. As their economy collapses.
Larry O'Connor
I'm looking at the clock and I realize I could regret this, but we do have about a minute to bring in Haley here because we got a lot of hate on Friday for not bringing in Haley for the pop culture minute. So. But let's. If you don't mind, let's.
Kevin Walling
As long as in here, as long as there's no cigarette extinguish the.
Larry O'Connor
The siggy butt. But yeah, can we bring Haley and I don't know how. I can't do it myself.
Kevin Walling
They. They have not given us that power
Larry O'Connor
production infrastructure to be able to do it for me.
Mark Levin
Her camera isn't on, guys.
Kevin Walling
Oh, her camera isn't on. Okay.
Larry O'Connor
Oh, her camera's.
Kevin Walling
Well, maybe she's. Maybe she's having a Friday.
Larry O'Connor
You know what? Here's our keys for Friday's show. Kevin and I will be back on Friday. Oh, there she go. There is.
Kevin Walling
There she is. There's our down.
Larry O'Connor
All right, now you've got 30 seconds, Haley, go.
Kevin Walling
Yep. You got to be pithy. You got to be pithy, Haley. And you got to unmute.
Larry O'Connor
Can't unmute. All right, well, we saw you, Haley. Now we'll see Haley on Friday.
Kevin Walling
No, there she is.
Haley
Okay, they only unmuted me now.
Larry O'Connor
All right, go ahead.
Haley
Well, I just have to say, Kevin, your thing with the King and the Queen is like, above all, but pop culture isn't the Met Gala this weekend, so that's what we have to look forward to.
Kevin Walling
Yeah, I think so. And then when does the Devil Wears product come out, too? I know there's been some premieres already
Haley
12th and I think it's about, you know, they're gonna have Meryl Streep there and it'll be all about Devil Wears Prada. And the theme is costume art. So it's gonna be an awesome, awesome night. Lots of fashion.
Larry O'Connor
Thank you, Hayley. Thank you for that.
Kevin Walling
Thanks, Hayley.
Larry O'Connor
Nice to see you. All right, new episode of NextUp dropped yesterday. That's Merck joined by author and host of Call Me Back, Dan. Senor, senor, senor. I never knew that it's senor. Did you know that?
Kevin Walling
Senor, senor.
Larry O'Connor
And Democrat strategist Melissa DeRosa. Of course, the report of monologue broke down the White House Correspondent's Dinner attack. And it really is compelling as he breaks goes through the entire thing and some of the false narratives that came out there. So check that out. And then Citizen McCain is live at noon with UK Correspondent for the Royal insider, Lady Sarah Elliott. She's a lady, Kevin.
Mark Levin
A lady.
Kevin Walling
It's gonna be a great conversation as the king and the Queen, Their Majesties head to New York today. So you won't want to miss that, certainly at noon. And then of course, we've got two way tonight live at 5pm in the morning meeting. We'll be back tomorrow at 9.0am as well. You've got the official post show with Professor Kenny and friends. The chat is open now. And of course, that conversation is kicks off at 11. And a special plug, I'll be joining the evening tonight post show after two way tonight, tomorrow, Thursday the 30th at 6pm with a bunch of two way committee members. So you won't want to miss out in that conversation too. But certainly join Professor Kenny and fam at 11. And now obviously on Serious with Mark. And then at noon, at noon I'll
Larry O'Connor
be live double back with Larry Town hall. Check that out. Can't wait to see you then. Also, by the way, tomorrow's morning meeting is Melissa DeRosa and TBD, which I think means I might get an emergency phone call this afternoon.
Kevin Walling
Yeah. And then of course, that great conversation, too, from yesterday that we talked about with Mark Penn is also available on YouTube and X channels. And that's the first of many going forward in terms of bringing a polling expert like Mark Penn to the community to engage. So a lot of exciting things. And then, of course, sleep works with Barry also, we're working on that debut as well. As long as he doesn't call me horizontal face for that conversation.
Larry O'Connor
Being able to read polls, though, and analyze polls and get information and recognize that polls don't tell the whole story, but figuring out the story the polls do tell you, it is so valuable if you're plugged in and a politics junkie like I know you are. That's why that conversation with Mark Penn is so important. And that Harvard Harris poll that I mentioned, the 5050 split right now on party preference, it's the main topic of conversation. So if you're interested in hearing about it, make sure you watch that episode.
Kevin Walling
And keep resting on those laurels. Keep resting on those laurels, Larry.
Larry O'Connor
That's a rap. You keep nominating radicals and then we'll.
Mark Levin
Exactly.
Kevin Walling
Exactly.
Larry O'Connor
Did you see the video of the woman running for Congress in.
Kevin Walling
I'm sorry, I'm getting. I'm getting told we're out of time, so we'll have to take that.
Larry O'Connor
Well, how do you enforce immigration laws? I don't know.
Kevin Walling
Again, sorry, we're getting cut for time. More to come. Thanks, everybody, for joining. Have a great day.
This episode of The Morning Meeting navigates a dynamic U.S. and global news landscape: Trump administration policy in Iran, the controversial indictment of James Comey, American and UK political relations, coming midterms, polling anxieties for Republicans, and cultural touchstones from California’s governor's race to late-night host controversy. Panelists deliver insider analysis in a candid, fast-paced, and occasionally self-deprecating conversational style, keeping the tone lively but grounded.
“Durable goods orders rose more than expected in March…Gas is now averaging 4.23, that’s up pretty substantially over the last week.” – Mark Halperin [02:41]
“The Iranian economy is in very tough shape… over a million folks out of work… internal police preparing for likely protests… the President has a lot of cards here to play.” – Kevin Walling [09:18]
"It seems to be working… why not continue a smart and effective strategy." – Larry O’Connor [10:37]
“I think Jim Comey is one of the last vestiges of bipartisanship with equal hatred on both sides.” – Kevin Walling [18:34]
“This relationship between these countries and these two heads of state transcend the current very, very unpopular prime minister…” – Larry O’Connor [20:38]
“The Republican Party may be in a lot of trouble…could be a bloodbath in November.” – Mark Halperin [32:32]
On Dual-Sided Disdain for Comey:
“Jim Comey is one of the last vestiges of bipartisanship with equal hatred on both sides.” – Kevin Walling [18:34]
On Potential GOP Midterm Disaster:
“The Republican Party may be in a lot of trouble…could be a bloodbath in November.” – Mark Halperin [32:32]
On DNC Chair Ken Martin:
“He took a state like Minnesota…went 25-0 in terms of statewide elections for Democrats. So you laugh at your peril, Larry.” – Kevin Walling [34:26]
On Comey’s Threat Case Legal Threshold:
“That’s a pretty high bar…even when there’s threats involved…he wasn’t sending manifestos.” – Kevin Walling [16:52]
On King’s U.S. Visit:
“The relationship between these countries and these two heads of state transcend the current very, very unpopular prime minister.” – Larry O’Connor [20:38]
On Economic Blockade:
“It is expensive…it’s not cost free to the American taxpayer to keep all that stuff there. But…if this is what brings them [Iran] to their knees…” – Mark Halperin [12:05]
Jimmy Kimmel/Trump Jokes:
"Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired... and then a day later go out and make a joke about his own old age." – Jimmy Kimmel (clip) [41:00]
This episode expertly blends serious political analysis (on U.S. foreign and domestic policy, legal and party drama), media criticism, and irreverent cultural commentary. Panelists deliver real-time news “ahead of the cycle,” debate the day’s most controversial legal and political developments, and field audience questions with depth and wit. The episode is a must-listen for politically engaged audiences seeking not only the facts, but also the insider anxieties and strategic frameworks shaping current events.
End of Summary