Trump Mocks "Desperate" Iran for "Collapsing Financially" as Iran Attacks Ships Despite Ceasefire

Summary

---

The Morning Meeting – April 22, 2026

Host: Mark Halperin (B)
Co-hosts: Trisha McLaughlin (D), Jaime (C)
Main Themes: Iran-U.S. Ceasefire, Domestic Politics, President Trump's Approval, Virginia & California Elections

---

Episode Overview

Today's "Morning Meeting" dives deep into the escalating tensions between the US and Iran amid a fragile ceasefire, President Trump’s polarizing rhetoric, and the high-stakes chess game over control of the Strait of Hormuz. The roundtable then shifts into domestic politics: poll numbers paint a sobering picture for Trump and Congress, while the fallout from Virginia’s redistricting vote and the California gubernatorial primary are parsed by the panel. Throughout, Mark Halperin and his guests balance sharp, sometimes combative analysis with moments of levity and audience Q&A, providing a brisk, multi-faceted snapshot of America’s current political weather.

---

Key International Segment: The Iran Crisis

Setting the Scene – Tensions and Questions

[03:50]

• Halperin frames the day: Despite talk of resumed peace negotiations, US-Iran tensions are escalating.
• Military hardware is on the move: A third aircraft carrier (USS George H.W. Bush) is en route to the Middle East.

  “The Navy will have more firepower in the region than at any time since the start of the war.” (B, [04:33])

• Central questions:
  • Will the President resume military strikes?
  • Is Iran too fractured to make a deal?

Who’s in Charge in Iran?

[05:14]

• Joe Kernan (remote report) and Dan Murphy in Abu Dhabi detail the Iranian political chaos:

  "It could be the guy in parliament. It could be this scary guy who heads up the IRGC. It could be the guy that we don't even know if he's woken up from a coma yet — the Ayatollah." (E, [05:34])

Ceasefire in Name Only

[05:59]

• Both sides continue provocative actions undermining the ceasefire:
  • US holds two Iran-linked ships
  • Iran fires on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz

  “Funny way to do a ceasefire.” (B, [06:01])

Trump’s Escalation and Rhetoric

[06:49]

• Trump on Truth Social:

  “If we don’t get a deal, we’ll blow up the rest of their country. Their leaders included!” (B, paraphrasing Trump at [06:49])

• Media and analysts increasingly describe this as a high-stakes "game of chicken."

Economic Pressure and Global Fallout

[07:41]

• Iran faces a looming crisis: storage for oil is nearly full under the blockade, threatening the regime’s core revenue.

  “POTUS made clear the Navy will continue the blockade… in a matter of days… Iranian oil wells will be shut in… directly targets the regime’s primary revenue lifelines.” – Scott Bessant (social media, read by B, [08:16])

• Global repercussions:
  • Fuel shortages in Europe lead to Lufthansa canceling 20,000 short-haul flights ([08:52])
  • US airline exec:

    “Short haul flights are the ones that get canceled as opposed to global long haul flights. We’re watching it closely.” – United Airlines Exec (G, [09:27])

Panel Predictions: Strikes Likely?

[10:20]

• Trisha McLaughlin:

  “My gut tells me… we are going to see those strikes within the next week or a week and a half.” ([10:20])

• Jaime echoes skepticism that the war is really over:

  “The president and his negotiators don’t have a sound handle of what’s really going on… Their capabilities have been a lot better and higher than we assumed going into this strike. They’re still holding us hostage right now.” ([11:07] and [13:03])

Can Iran Be Forced to Negotiate?

[13:26]

• Halperin:

  “The Iranians may be impervious to both economic and military pressure... Unless the president’s willing to destroy the entire country… some analysts say this is a fool’s errand.” ([13:26])

• Trisha:

  “It’s the economic piece… if you’re looking at morale within the country, I think that that could [bring] Tehran to its knees.” ([14:59])

Geopolitics & Future Scenarios

[16:20]

• Halperin’s 3 possible next moves:
  1. Negotiations resume—maybe at Pakistan talks.
  2. China intervenes, presses Iran to settle.
  3. US bombs Iran again.
• On the odds of Strait of Hormuz reopening by month’s end:

  “Poly markets... put it at a 10% chance—down three days in a row.” (B, [17:29])

---

Trump’s Approval & Political Fallout

Polls Paint a Bleak Picture

[21:34]

• AP: Trump’s job approval at 33%
• Reuters/Ipsos: 36%
• RCP average: 40%

  “You want to say his approval rating is 41. You’re welcome to say it. You want to say it’s 31, you could say that, too... but the point is, if it’s 41... Republicans, history suggests, are going to have some trouble in the midterms.” (B, [21:51])

Causes & Consequences

• Trisha:

  “If we don’t start to get the war under control... that’s going to be a real problem for us potentially in the Senate and potentially long term going into 2028...” ([22:09])

• Jaime:

  “You have to ask yourself, do you feel better? Does your life feel better than it felt a year and a half ago? And for most Americans, it does not.” ([23:19])

Messaging Woes

• Clashing suggestions for improving the White House’s story, as both parties struggle to define what they’re delivering to voters ([25:05]–[25:52]).
• Jaime critiques vagueness and defensiveness in both R and D party narratives.

---

Domestic Politics: Gerrymandering, Virginia & California Contests

Virginia Redistricting – Democrats Score a Win

[27:11]–[34:10]

• Baby elephant cam brings a moment of levity ([27:17]), but focus quickly shifts to the high-stakes Virginia battle.
  • Dan Pfeiffer:

    “When we fight fire with fire, we win. And we are winning... putting a stake in the heart of the Trump administration...” (K, [29:43])

• Obama tweets:

  “Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy...” (read by B, [30:13])

  • Trisha fires back:

    “Disenfranchising millions of voters... is now ‘standing up for democracy’... Is that ‘equity’?” ([30:23])

• Jaime:

  “This is exactly what the President wanted to happen. And Democrats are just doing a little bit better in this game.” ([31:11])

The Gerrymandering Arms Race

• Both Dems and GOP seen as playing a long game that will lead to decades of redistricting battles; Trisha:

  “This is not the last battle in this war... this is going to continue to go on for probably decades.” ([34:10])

California Gubernatorial Update

[36:59]–[43:19]

• Debate preview:
  • Front-runners: Xavier Becerra (rising, now favored at 36% in betting markets), Tom Steyer
  • Fallout from embarrassing videos dents Katie Porter’s chances.
    • Trisha:

      “I thought this letter [from ex-staff] read odd... undermined their point that she was ready and equipped to be governor.” ([39:12])

    • Jaime:

      “She is fighting for her life right now... Hemorrhaging even before the Eric Swalwell fallout.” ([40:20])

  • Trisha’s debate warning:

    “If people see her and they don’t like her... it’s not going to do her any favors.” ([42:37])

Market Update

• Brief positive note:

  “Markets are back up… Booming earnings… 86% of S&P 500 have beaten estimates…” (B, [43:19])

---

Notable, Quotable, and Memorable Moments

• “Funny way to do a ceasefire.” (B, [06:01])
• “The Iranians may be impervious to both economic and military pressure…unless the president’s willing to destroy the entire country…some analysts say this is a fool’s errand.” (B, [13:26])
• “My gut tells me that there are more strikes that the US conducts. I don’t have any data to back that up.” (Trisha, [10:20])
• “Do you feel better? Does your life feel better than it felt a year and a half ago? And for most Americans, it does not.” (Jaime, [23:19])
• “This is going to be a potential blueprint for both parties for decades to come. And I think that is actually to the chagrin of the entire country.” (Trisha, [35:17])
• “If you don’t kill this snake, it’s like a bad horror movie that just keeps coming back to bite you at the end.” (John, caller, [53:39])

---

Listener Questions & Final Segment Highlights

Iran: “Just Bomb ‘Em?”

[51:20]–[55:47]

• Callers urge harsher military action to “make the people get out in the street and revolt.”
• Host and panel acknowledge this logic exists within part of the right, but push for alternatives as well.

Will Trump Attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner?

[56:56]–[58:39]

• Lara Trump (clip with Meghan McCain):

  “He is one of the funniest people I have ever met… he’s there to have a good time… he’s going to do some roasting…” (M, [56:56])

• Trisha:

  “He’s going to want to be right in front of the media… if there’s bad news, he’s going to say something that’s going to distract from the broader situation.” ([58:03])

---

Summary Table – Key Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Topic | |----------|------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Introductions, Agenda | | 03:50 | Iran Situation – Ceasefire, War Powers, Ship Attacks | | 06:49 | Trump Threats & Social Media Rhetoric | | 08:52 | Global Economic Fallout & Airline Response | | 10:20 | Predictions on More US Strikes | | 13:26 | Are Iranians Impervious to Pressure? | | 17:29 | Strait of Hormuz – Odds of Opening | | 21:34 | Trump’s Approval Ratings | | 27:11 | Virginia Election & Gerrymandering Discussion | | 36:59 | California Gubernatorial Race Insights | | 43:19 | Economic and Market Update | | 51:20 | Listener Q&A – Iran and Ukraine | | 56:56 | White House Correspondents’ Dinner Preview |

---

Tone and Style

• Conversational, Direct, Engaged – Hosts pepper sharp analysis with sarcasm, banter, and pointed disagreement, especially on the party narrative, effectiveness of attacks, and candidate likability.
• Balanced, Not Afraid of Conflict – Trisha and Jaime disagree pointedly but respectfully, often representing D and R perspectives.
• Audience Inclusion – Callers’ tough, sometimes hawkish questions reflect the country’s divided mood.

---

Quick Takeaways

• Iran Situation: Ceasefire is threadbare; real risk of more conflict. Trump’s unpredictability is central to both sides’ calculations.
• Economic Fallout: Blockade on Iran hitting global fuel markets, creating fears of broader disruption beyond just higher prices.
• Political Messaging: Both parties struggle to break through the negative news cycle. Approval for Trump and Congress alike is alarmingly low.
• Elections and Gerrymandering: Both parties manipulating maps; Democrats score Virginia victory, but at the cost of deepening partisan divides.
• California Race: Becerra surging; Porter's campaign battered by negative press. Likability, authenticity, and optics now count as much as policy.

---

For Listeners:

This episode delivers unparalleled inside baseball on the day’s international and domestic news—ideal for anyone wanting to understand the layers beneath military moves, poll numbers, campaign stories, and what matters most as America barrels toward another consequential election season.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome to the morning meeting. I'm Mark Halperin joined today by two two members of the morning meeting hall of fame. They were inducted early first ballot for both. Trish McLaughlin. Hi I'm a more welcome to you both. Thank you for being here.

[C]

Good to see you.

[D]

Good morning Mark Good morning.

[B]

We're going to talk about the war of course but we're also going to talk some domestic politics. The what comes after the vote in Virginia yesterday. Some interesting developments. The California gubernatorial race and two, two politicians, two political figures I should say. One's a politician. Vivek Ramaswamy who Trish worked for. We're going to talk about his gubernatorial campaign and the ad mix between the governor's race and the senate race there and also Cash Patel who had pretty confrontational moment with the media Talk about all that. As always we'd like your participation particularly if you've never raised your hand before. Today's the day. If you're here on the two way platform we'd like to be part of the conversation. Just raise your hand, your electronic hand if you're watching on x or on YouTube. Do not raise your hand and do not put smack in the chat. I happen to happen to know that people's feelings get hurt. I hear from people sometimes. Mark you you say this is such a welcoming place and yet I raised my hand and asked a question and then there was smack in the chat and some of you put faux smack in the chat. You don't really mean it. You think you're doing like a parody of smack. It's still smack. Please don't do that. Peace, love and understanding. Thank you very much. The day book today as we wait to see if the peace talks get back on track. No indication of that. In fact all the developments since last night I would say go away from things coming together. The president today right now has no public events and yesterday he really avoided talking to the press. So he's seeming not wanting to engage at least beyond truth. Social executive time currently meets with the head of Social Security at 101230 policy meeting in the Oval. 2:30 Another policy meeting in the Oval and then joker joker and the Triple A third policy meeting at 5:30 in the Oval. As of now no briefing and nothing open for the president. Same with the vice president. Presumably he's unpacked, doesn't want his shirts to wrinkle, wants to look best if he ever gets to Islamabad but no indication he's going anywhere doing anything today. Very busy day on the hill including a lot of events involving members of the executive branch, the co equal status of Congress occasionally asserts itself and today they're hearing from a lot of folks, including on budget. 10 o' clock. The Senate's going to deal with another attempt to pass a war Powers resolution. Senator Baldwin, it will fail then may have a Votorama, maybe in today, maybe in tomorrow on the reconciliation provision dealing with Homeland Security. Secretary Wright, energy testifies at 10 before Senate Energy and National Resources. Jameson Greer, 10 O' Clock House Ways and Means. Then a bunch of Senate appropriation subcommittees here from Cabinet members Bessant, Burgum, Lutnick included. Bobby Kennedy, I think he's on six of seven. Maybe it's five of seven. Test of hearings this week. Senate Health, Education, labor and pension about the budget. And House Homeland Security is a hearing on the impacts of the shutdown at 2. Over in the UK in London, Starmer and Macron once again bringing together 30 countries to talk about reopening the strait after the war ends. Another useful meeting. 10:00 clock Eastern tonight, the big debate involving the California gubernatorial candidates, all of them in one big mix sponsored by Nexar and Kron, Channel 4 in San Francisco. We'll talk about that race today. Supreme Court both arguments and opinions today. All right, let's talk about Iran. For me, the big two unanswered questions for the two sides. One is for the U.S. will the president actually restart the war? He talks about restarting the war, but yesterday he declared an indefinite pause, extension of the ceasefire. And mixed reports in the media today. Some say he's ready, ready to go to war. And. And if you believe that the president doesn't move hardware and personnel in place without intending to use it, you'll want to look at this Washington post story number 107. The third carrier is about to be back. And if you think the President's waiting until strike before then. Washington Post. The Navy is preparing for the arrival of a third aircraft carrier in the Middle east in the coming days. U.S. george H.W. bush ordered to the region earlier this month. Tuesday was transmitting east of Africa. Once it's there, the Navy will have more firepower in the region than at any time since the start of the war. So will the President strike it on the Iranian side? Is can they. Will they make any sort of deal? Is all of this a failure to show up in Islamabad as simply a negotiating tactic? Or are they in fact too divided to make a deal? One person who seems to think they're too divided to make a deal is our Mideast correspondent Joe Kernan. 103. Please.

[E]

President Trump extending the US cease fire with Iran. He says the extension was warranted because nobody knows who's in charge. Half of them are dead because Tehran's government is seriously fractured. Let's get to Dan Murphy and Abu Dhabi. Dan. It could be the guy in parliament. It could be this scary guy who heads up the irgc. It could be the guy that we don't even know if he's woken up from a coma yet. The ayatollah. And there's three or four other factions that weigh in as well. So who are we negotiating with? And how do you at some point get to an agreement that actually the people in charge are on the other end of it? How do you get there?

[B]

That's exactly the right question. Joe. Thank you very much. Dump out of this. Funny way to do a ceasefire. The US is, as far as we know, currently still holding two Iranian connected ships. And 104. Please. Funny way to do a ceasefire. On the other side. The Iranians apparently have fired on three different ships. And in the Strait of Hormuz today. The ap, in typically understated way says that complicates the efforts to resume the talks. A lot of provocative statements from various Iranian officials overnight. The president, of course, on Truth social last night, 109. Making. Making statements about Iran saying that if they don't. If, sorry, if we don't get a deal, he will blow up the rest of the country. Potentially everybody's. Everybody's devices going off. We got an Amber Alert.

[C]

Yes, Amber Alert here.

[B]

And all right. The president says if we don't get a deal, we'll blow up the rest of their country. Their leaders included, exclamation point. Finally, Wall Street Journal, I think, correctly frames this one. 110, please. It's a game of chicken. But they say there's another track going on. Despite high levels of mistrust on both sides and big gaps in their bottom lines, mediators and other people familiar with the talk say the two foes have been engaging with ideas that could point to a possible compromise. Both sides face economic pressures. Lots of reporting that the Iranians are about to run out of capacity to store excess oil, which will harm their energy infrastructure and they need the money that they get selling oil. Here's what Scott Bessant put on social media making that point. That's 120. Here it is. POTUS made clear the Navy will continue the blockade in a matter of days. Car island storage will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in containing Iran's maritime trade directly targets the regime's primary revenue lifelines. So the US posture and some analysts say this too, is that time is on the US's side because Iran cannot go much longer without having this oil problem, which is a huge problem. But some people say the problem, the time, is not the friend of the west either. While people in the United States have largely been insulated from the economic impacts of this conflict, except for higher gas prices, the shortage of fertilizer, gas and other things is starting to hurt elsewhere in the world. And some doomsayers say within a matter of weeks the American economy will be in very rough shape. The shortages will go from higher gas prices to shortages. Things will not be available. So here is Becky on Squawk Box talking to the head of United Airlines about fuel shortages.

[F]

Hey, Scott, let me ask you about what's happening around the globe. Yesterday the head of the IEA said that Europe has about six weeks of jet fuel left because of what's happening in the Gulf. Lufthansa. Today we're hearing Lufthansa is canceling 20,000 short haul flights in the continent to try and preserve some of that jet fuel. Are you looking at your operations headed to Europe at this point? And at what point would the situation with the jet fuel cause you to change your schedules and the flights that you are taking there?

[G]

We are watching it closely and, and there is some risk around the globe. Asia. Asia and Europe are probably the two first places that are, that are likely to be hot spots at the moment. Everything that we can see still feels manageable to us. High prices, of course, but not an actual supply shortage. And my guess is that if it does become a supply shortage, you'll find you'll, you'll see things like what have happened in Europe, that short haul flights are the ones ones that get canceled as opposed to the global long haul flights. There are more options for a short haul flight, take a train or take a car than there are or flying across the Atlantic or flying across the Pacific. And so I don't know for sure, but we're watching it closely.

[B]

That guy seems calm, talking about flights being canceled because of the war. That'd be kind of disruptive to the American economy. Tricia, who blinks? What happens next?

[D]

My gut tells me that there are more strikes that the US conducts. I don't have any data to back that up. Just a gut feeling. It seems like Iran is certainly buying time here. I think what's been so underreported as how crippling these sanctions have been. I hope Secretary Besson is correct that their economy is on the brink and that's going to really bring them to the table. But I think President Trump's Mad Men theory works because there is that uncertainty. Is he going to do what he says? Unfortunately, that deterrence only works when there is that military backing in those potential strikes. So I think that if we don't bring them to the negotiating table in the next couple of days, if these Pakistan talks don't happen soon, I think we are going to see those strikes within the next week or a week and a half.

[C]

Aima look, unfortunately I agree with Tricia. I don't think this war is over at all. I think it's far from over. And I think what's happened over the last few days is a clear indicator that the President and his negotiators don't have a sound handle of what's really going on on the ground in Iran. And I think all the above, yes, they're factions and Iran's leadership is all over the place. That is a fact. And I think we knew, we should have known that that would be the case if when we went in and we completely tried to take out that regime without any vision for a plan for the future. 2 Look, it seems like the Iranians, whomever is negotiating, they've had it with Witkoff, they had it with Kushner, the vice president go back yesterday. And so it seems like there are some more internal stalls in this negotiation around process that we don't quite know yet. So there's one thing for the president to get on truth social or to have a press conference or to say, you know, he's going to annihilate complete take out civilization or, you know, ceasefire or whatever. Another thing for the actual negotiators to be on the ground or on the phone or, you know, whatever, having these conversations about what's going to happen. And then thirdly, it seems like the President's trying to get an off ramp. I was watching Senator Kennedy from Louisiana on CNN yesterday and he essentially declared what has happened so far, enough of a win, which is not the case. And I think we'll see a lot of those senators over the next couple of days having that conversation on behalf of the President. But I think for the president to get a win and I think maybe his heart, it has to be a little bit better than the Obama deal. And it doesn't seem like it will be right now.

[B]

Well, it's going to be a little bit better. It's going to be a little bit better.

[C]

It's going to be, we hope so. Mark.

[B]

Well, well, here's why I'd say it's going to be a little bit better because he's already degraded their capabilities quite a bit through the initial bombing of the nuclear, through sinking their navy, through degrading and Mark.

[C]

Yet they have remained holding hostage a full straight for almost 50 days now. One hundred and so. And look, I am always going to be pro American. I want to win this thing since we're in it right now. But look, we've got to be clear about this. Their capabilities have been a lot better and higher than we assumed going into this strike. They're still holding us hostage right now, 100%.

[B]

Here's the premise that I'm seeing all over my Twitter feed from really smart analysts. And it's a premise that again, is not an anti American premise. It's just rational. The Iranians may be impervious to both economic and military pressure. And in fact, they may dig in more. They may be less willing to negotiate. That's what they say. They say we're not going to negotiate while the blockade's going on. And so unless the president's willing to destroy the entire country, he said in the past he is, some analysts say this is a fool's errand. There's nothing you can do. They're, they're crazy people. They're, they're, they're even rationally, they're fully, their futures are fully invested in surviving. They're not gonna, they're not going to negotiate a deal that's acceptable to the president that is any better than the Obama deal and they all cheat on it as well. So, Tricia, if the president reaches that conclusion, what does he do?

[D]

I mean, I think that the more strikes come up with some framework of an agreement not giving $20 billion in cash, getting it, getting as much uranium from them as possible.

[B]

Let me, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but let me ask you this. Are more strikes more likely? Are additional strikes more likely to bring Iran to their knees to the negotiating table? Or are they more likely to have Iran respond with more attacks on American allies, perhaps terrorist attacks? I mean, in other words, do you really think more, more strikes are going to get them to the table and as opposed to fighting back, keeping the straight closed?

[D]

I do and I'll tell you why. It's the economic piece of this as well. Like I said, I think that's been vastly Underreported. They also, I mean, there's of course been internal issues in Tehran as far as the people. I mean, if this was happening in a vacuum and it was purely militarily, then maybe not, maybe those strikes would continue. But if you're looking at the economic issues, you're looking at morale within the country, I think that that could. Tehran to its knees.

[C]

Yeah, go ahead, Mark. It seems like, and I look, I'm no international affairs expert, but it does seem like the President had some sort of, he factored into his calculus that the, that China and some of the Asian countries would be a little bit more involved and they would take a little bit of harder stance against Iran in this as well or they would suffer a little or suffer enough economically that they would help us to get this thing over the finish line. And that didn't seem to be the case. And then secondly, you know, we still have to keep our eye on how Israel responds to, you know, their aspect of this. And while we are, you know, continuing to push this ceasefire down the road and kick this can down the road, I do think Israel has its own agenda. Bibi Netanyahu has its own agenda and it won't always align. We've said this before, it may not always align with what we're trying to do here in America. And so I do want to see what that's going to be like over the next couple of days.

[B]

Yeah. All right, well said. A couple more things on Iran and then we're gonna, we're gonna move to other topics. Again, if you want to get in on an Iran conversation, please raise your hand. I, I think one of three things happens next. Either the negotiations get started because it turns out the Iranians were just kind of stalling for leverage and they, and they say they're going to show up in Islamabadin and there is a deal on the table. I and others have reported on it. It's possible that there is a deal that is Obama Light plus. That's what I call it called light plus. Sound like Donald Trump when I say that I call it light plus. Second, I think the Chinese may get involved. I'll talk about that in a second. And third, the president bombs. Why would the Chinese get involved? Well, the Wall Street Journal has a piece today that says, well, tries to explain why the US Markets are still so buoyant in the wake of all this. It's a pretty good piece, but it doesn't really explain. It's all so irrational, as you've heard me say many times. Before. But the Chinese have an incentive. They want order in the world. They want their energy. They want, they don't want. They don't like this. And but yet they've done anything. They all they've done is prolong the war by secretly helping the Iranians. Here's a poly market on what people in the poly markets think about the Strait of Hormuz opening 112. And you can see that pie market wagers, partners of pie market, they're not too bullish on what's going on. It's down to a 10% chance that it opens by the end of the month. That's a week away. But back to normal by the end of the month. 10%, it's been significantly higher. You can see those of you watching the video version of this program, you can see it's plummeted now three days in a row down to 10%. So maybe the Chinese get involved and maybe the Chinese say to the, to the Iranians and seriously, just we got it. We got to end this and go back to the table and maybe there's a negotiation. I will say though, that if the US Keeps taking ships and the Iranians keep shooting at ships in the Strait, it's hard to imagine the talk starting back up now. Maybe that stuff just all stops on a dime. All right, we're going to switch topics. We can talk about the president's approval rating in a minute. But let me do a quick sponsorship here from our friends at cozy earth. Cozyearth.com 20 off for members of the two way community. Everything on the site and it's an opportunity to buy some Mother's Day gifts right now. Buy some stuff for yourself. But if you haven't bought your Mother's Day gifts, I keep telling you it's coming fast because your earth creates comfort designed for the rhythm. Those women in your life who are moms live every day. Whether it's the bathrobes, which are very nice, come in lots of different colors, very soft bathrobes, slippers that are also super comfortable, and then the bubble cuddle blanket, I'm told reliably back in stock. I know some of you went on and they weren't in stock, but they're back in stock. The two way community when we act on mass, we're like crowdsourcing. We can put them out of stock for a bit, but there's lots of colors, lots of sizes there too. Go to cozyearth.com use the promo code. Morning. 20% off if post purchase survey pops up, please Tell them you heard about Cozy Earth here on the morning meeting right now. Cozyearth.com, promo code morning because home starts with mom. Get your Mother's day shopping done immediately with Cozy Earth.

[H]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail]

[D]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per intro rate. First 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] I started with one shop.

[I]

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 talked 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.

[B]

When you get momentum, you step on the gas.

[J]

That's how you get separation from everybody else.

[K]

I was at Harvard Law School. I was blah blah blah. I looked up. Let me tell you something. There's kids in my neighborhood putting in sheetrock that are smarter than you.

[B]

AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff. It is never going to disrupt physical blue collar trade skill.

[C]

And the guy just looked at me

[B]

and he said it's bloody impossible. So I asked him this question.

[C]

I said it's impossible.

[I]

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

[B]

All right, the President's approval rating, obviously a lot of factors go into that including the economy, but the war where he's not particularly popular. Here's two new polls out that has his approval rating quite low. Number 113. The Associated Press new poll has the President's approval rating at, I think it's 33% overall job approval and you can see it's only 68amongst Republicans, which is lower than usual. I suspect it's higher, but 33%. And then RIP, Ipsos, Reuters 114, they've got his job approval rating at 36%. Now, overall, his job approval rating is higher. Here's the Real Clear Politics average of the President's job approval for the year, 115. And as you can see, they've got it at 40% approval. So as I've said to you all many times, don't call these fake polls because the private Republican polls show the same thing. The president, you want to say his approval rating is 41. You're welcome to say it. You want to say it's 31. You could say that, too, between margin of error and different samples, et cetera. But, but the point Is, if it's 41, even if it's the absolute highest, you think it might be. The Republicans, history suggests are going to have some trouble in the midterms. Tricia, what, what, what would you say currently about the President's approval? Ready? And I'll stipulate it's April and not November, so the election is not tomorrow. But what would you say about the perils of the President's political standing currently?

[D]

Well, I mean, looking at the different cross tabs of this, as far as, you know, the President's people saying he's erratic or his temperament or his feud with the Pope, those issues don't concern me because those can turn really on a dime. I think the American people, when they voted for the president in the popular vote, of course, the electoral College, it wasn't because of his temperament. It wasn't, they were saying this is a very even keeled leader. It was because they felt like he could get the economy back on track, he could get immigration back on track. So I think that the real issue here is if you look at one of these polls, it was saying about 26% of people approve his handling of cost of living. That's where I have concerns because if we don't start to get the war under control, gas prices, general cost of living, that's going to be a real problem for us potentially in the Senate and potentially long term going into 2028, because that is what the American people elected Donald Trump to do, was get cost of living under control.

[B]

And they vote with their pocketbooks at the dnc. They look at these polls and what do they say?

[C]

Well, I mean, I don't think anyone's surprised at the dnc. I, I think it's, it's, it's, there are obvious indicators that, that lend itself to why these numbers are what they are. And I think the biggest one is, and Trisha kind of hit on this. We have to be honest with ourselves as much as even if you are the deepest red MAGA pro Trump, get in the game, coach. I'm going to support you forever. You have to ask yourself, do you feel better? Does your life feel better than it felt a year and a half ago? And for most Americans, it does not. Nothing has really changed, with the exception of sometimes higher inflation, higher gas prices, wars and conflict all over the world. Health care has been completely decimated this year and people are paying higher premiums. And so with all of that said, it's kind of hard to feel better about what's happening in America. And so the president is going to have low ratings. However, that's not what I care about right now. When I'm thinking about November, I'm thinking about Congress. And I think the president's approval ratings are going to matter in opposition, you know, to particular candidates. But it won't really matter in the grand scheme of the midterms. When I think Politico just put out an article this morning about the congressional poll numbers reaching an all time low. And that's what I'm looking at right now. There were just three members of Congress put out in the last seven days. You know, the congressional lame duck session is going to start soon. And I think what people are seeing in the country is not just the president not doing his job. In their eyes, what is Congress doing? The people who are supposed to represent the most, who are asking them to be reelected yet again in November, are asking them for a new job. What are you going to do when you get there? You can't just go there and block everything. And so I think that polling on Congress is going to probably end up being more important in November than the president's approval ratings.

[D]

Jaime, I push back a little bit because I actually do think, with the exception of cost of billing, President Trump has a good story to tell as far as Venezuela, illegal immigration, 2 million illegal aliens leaving the country, tax cuts. I mean, there are great messages that we could be selling. Unfortunately, that's not what the news of the day is. And I do think that the White House and the administration at large will kind of getting sucked into this news cycle, of course, about the war, which has been controversial, something that's been incredibly hard to sell the American people. But on the other side, I don't think that Democrats really have a vision for what they're selling the American people. Besides that they hate the war and that they don't like Donald Trump. What are they actually selling to the American people that they should be Voting for Trisha.

[C]

With all due respect, you sound like I sounded a year and a half ago when I was defending Joe Biden and asking people to pay attention to what he was doing to lower inflation and to lower costs. Look, that is fine and well. And I think, you know, if the president has such a great story to tell, he will be telling that story, and he's not telling the story. So this is not just about the media following a headline. This is about the President being disciplined. This is about his Cabinet members being disciplined. And if this is the story they want to tell here domestically as they go into the primary, they ought to tell that story. When you're. If you're a Democrat, there are three things that you want the American people to know. First and foremost, you have been fighting for them as much as you can for the last year and a half. Secondly, health care is one of the biggest priorities for Democrats. The reason why they allowed the government to shut down the first time for so long was because they knew that the health care costs were going to skyrocket, and they cared about that. And look, we're in that. We're feeling that right now, but we want to figure that out. The third piece, things. This is not about parties, Democrats and Republicans. This is about making sure that the American future is going to be better, making sure that people have a little bit more access to the American dream. And for Democrats, it's about jobs, about AI it's about retooling, it's about training. It's about going down to the labor unions and helping to reorganize people for the future economy. That's what Democrats want people to know. And that's what it is. And that's what I've been hearing for the last couple months.

[B]

So the Republicans aren't just sitting back. We're going to put two things up on the screen. First of all, there's a new baby elephant at the National Zoo. And there's a baby elephant.

[C]

That's so cute.

[B]

So let's put up the baby elephant cam. Those of you listening on the podcast version. I'm so sorry. Do we see the baby elephant? Yeah, there it is. All right, you watch that. But we can put up a second thing, right? Put up the politico story, number 116, along with the baby elephant. Oh, my God, look at that. Baby elephant. 116. Politico has a story. Republicans aren't just sitting back. They're. They're jumping into the midterm mode. There's great confidence in Republican Circles and Susie Wiles and James Blair. Here's a quote where you've gotten Susie and James. They're doing the blocking and tackling that needs to be done to put Republicans in the best possible position, says a person close to the White House. They have a lot of money too to spend. But they also suffered last night in Virginia, a narrow loss, but a loss nonetheless. The redistricting, the mid, the mid decade redistricting scheme, I use scheme in the British sense here of the Republicans. It's a massive failure. Even if Ron DeSantis comes up with a couple seats. And I think that's in doubt because you can't just be certain who's going to win a redistricted district unless it's overwhelmingly red or blue. It's going to be awash at best. And Republicans may actually be on the short end of this in terms of the numbers. They won't have more than a one or two seat pickup probably unless the Supreme Court rules on the voting rights case, in which case we're all going to have a separate conversation at the same time. Maybe more significant in some ways for Democrats than the actual numbers are, as significant is the energy involved and the proof that they can mobilize, raise big money. Hakeem Jeffries raised tens of millions of dollars to win this Virginia fight. There's some shadowed Republican money that went in, but in terms of disclosed money, they didn't match the Democrats. Here's what Dan Pfeiffer, Obama strategist, wrote on his substack126 about what he sees as significance of the Virginia victory for Democrats where they're going to turn the entire delegation, say for one seat into a Democratic seat in a state that Donald Trump, you know, came within a few points of winning, he said. Dan says a year ago Democrats were in a panic about Republicans gerrymandering themselves into semi permanent majority. But Democrats didn't just whine, cry or get in the fetal position. Unlike in the past, they didn't complain about broken norms and talk about how little power they had. They got their ass off their asses and got to work. Here is the godfather of the Democratic fight back efforts, doing his own victory over what happened 3,000 miles away. This is number 118, please.

[K]

What a night in Virginia. We keep saying it. When we fight fire with fire, we win. And we are winning all across the United States in state houses, in courthouses and now in the court of public opinion. But what is at stake is putting a stake in the heart of the Trump administration by taking back the House of Representatives and taking back the United States Senate. Mega dare I say they're losing at their own game. They're on the defense and they're scared.

[B]

Finally, whenever there's a big political development, the titans of American politics take to X and war it out. Here is a battle 119 between former President Barack Obama and our own Trisha McLaughlin on X. Barack Obama celebrating Congratulations, Virginia Republicans are trying to tilt the midterms elections in their favor, but they haven't done it yet. Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back. The decision will be appealed, but most court watchers don't believe the courts will overturn it. Taking no guff from President Obama, Trisha on X says disenfranching millions of voters, enforcing 45% of Virginians to be represented by one congressional district and 55% represented by 10 is now, quote, standing up for democracy. Is that, quote, unquote equity. Jaime, who's right? Barack Obama or Trisha McLaughlin?

[C]

Well, look, I love Trisha and I love being on, but you guys have to know by now I'm never going to call President Barack Obama wrong on any account.

[B]

Yeah, but look what happens, what happens next?

[C]

Now on this thing, I, I, this is, and I tend to be a little bit more Pollyanna when it comes to this. And I've been talking about this for a year now, even when this first came up in Texas and California. And I thought that this was going to, this is going to precipitate a ping pong for the next 20 years of getting, of gerrymandering enough to get a Democrat or Republican led House. And that's not going to be good for the American people. And it hasn't been good for the American people. But here's the reality. You know, President Trump and the Democrats decided to do this in Texas and they thought the Democrats were going to just roll over and allow this to happen. And so Trisha, with all due respect, I understand, but this is, this is exactly what the President wanted to happen. And Democrats are just doing a little bit better in this game. And that's just the reality of, I was with Hakeem Jeffries last week and he feels so emboldened by how this process has gone over the last year that regardless of how gas prices tend to drop over the next couple of months, they believe that they have stockpiled enough on the Democratic side to take back the majority. And that seems to be the case now. What happens down in Florida. You know, another thing, Martin, I hate to like just, you know, be so political like Gavin Newsom and now Abigail Spanberger and of course Desantis is like, oh, now my turn. Look, all these governors are starting to line up for 2028. It's not really about democracy for them. It's about being the one that's seen as saving democracy. And that's why Gavin Newsom was you talking last night and basically taking claim, taking a claim for what happened in Virginia because he did that in California. You're going to see that it's not going to be super helpful. It's going to be annoying and people at some point are going to get tired of it. And what's going to happen is going to be too many only red districts, too many only blue districts and the Congress is going to continue to be divided because we're going to send people who are hyper partisan to Congress and it's going to be gridlock. It's going to be hard to get anything done and people are going to get sick of that at some point.

[B]

Yeah, Trisha, I have to say I'm surprised. There was no mistaking what Democrats were doing in California and now Virginia. Hakeem Jeffries deserves a ton of credit. He raised a big load of money. How could James Blair and the White House having initiated this idea, how could they have fallen so, so short in those two states just in terms of fundraising?

[D]

They initiated this tactic right this mid decade redistricting. But it's not like this gerrymandering is the Republicans original sin. I mean you look at Maryland, you

[B]

look at Illinois, I'm interrupting you because we don't need to relitigate it. Democrats and Republicans have done this for a long time and there are many states now where all, all Republicans were doing, were trying to equalize. But, but then the fight was on. The fight was on for new states to try to do this and you guys just got killed.

[D]

Yeah. And I think unfortunately for the Republican Party, but unfortunately for the country that this is not the last battle in this war. I think this is going to continue to go on for probably decades to come. And I don't somebody, I'm sure at the RNC, I hope is projecting how this fight ultimately could end. Cuz I mean we did start with that tactic but I mean fundamentally the framing from the campaign, from former President Barack Obama saying that this is saving democracy and what a fair campaign this is, that is absolutely a farce. This is purely about partisan politics. This has nothing to do with actually being fair. And it's, it's under. Undermining 45% of Virginians. That's. This isn't California. This is.

[B]

You're, you're right. You're right. But let me, let me go back and ask it this way. If you could turn the clock back now from seeing what happened and you were the rnc, you know, executive director or whatever, what would you do about California and Virginia? Would you, would you try to raise more money?

[D]

I mean, I'm hopeful that they,

[B]

yeah,

[D]

I'm hopeful they're playing chess, not checkers, and that this is just one of, one of the moves. I think that there's been a lot of internal squabbles and debate on this very issue, not just at the rnc, but also at the White House itself. Itself. Was this the right move? I think for 2026? It probably wasn't as far as 2028 and beyond. Potentially this could be advantageous for Republicans as a tactic down the line, but I don't think that we're going to have that answer in the next four years even. I think that this is going to be a potential blueprint for both parties for decades to come. And I think that is actually to the chagrin of the entire country. I don't think that this is great.

[G]

Mark.

[C]

I do have to underscore, if I can, for, for Virginia and for California. I mean, these were, these were put to, to vote the voters. And so this wasn't just the state legislatures pushing down new maps like these. The voters of Virginia, instead of the 45% of the, of individuals that Trisha referenced, had an opportunity to vote against this and they lost. And.

[B]

Well, they did. They did. But, but they, but they probably, given how close, given how close it was in Virginia, at least they, the Democrats won in part because they raised way more money and they spent way more on TV ads.

[C]

Well, look, Kamala Harris lost in 2024 and Donald Trump won. Look, that's what happens. And so this was a snap election

[D]

to change the constitution of the state. I do think that that, I mean, it looks a little slimier in this case.

[C]

It was, it was the legislative process and the Democratic process worked out, and Republicans lost this one, just like in California. And that's a, that's what you guys have been telling us for the last year and a half. And I think, you know, that's just something we're going to have to deal with.

[B]

All right, 120, please. California debate tonight. As I said, this is the first big debate we had one that was canceled previously and it features the leading candidates. Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Xavier Becerra, Matt man, all Democrats. And then the two Republicans, Chad Bianco and. And Steve Hilton. We've been talking about Becerra here, and he's certainly been on the rise. Here's a poly market of who will win ultimately. Not who will make the final two, but who will ultimately be the governor of California. And as you can see, Becera has come from nowhere, well below 15%. Now he's the front runner, according to Poly Market Wagers, 36%, almost 4, 37%. Tom Stier right behind him. And then these people don't agree with Larry o' Connor because the top four are all Democrats. Katie Porter, Matt man. Basically right around 7%. Also, I want to talk about Katie Porter because she was the front runner. Then those two videos came out. One she fought with the reporter and then one, she. She was seen yelling at a staffer. She's a very smart person, Katie Porter. Jaime, do you know her?

[C]

I met her a couple of times. I don't know.

[B]

She's very smart. She's very ambitious. She's not. She's looking for a second run here. And so we always talk about a turtle on a fence post. Some of her ex staffers magically got together organically. I guess they were all just sitting around on a Facebook chat and said, hey, let's do this. So 30 of them put together a letter that says she's a great boss. Headline from the Washington Post. Ex staffers defend California Governor Hopeful after viral clips, raised conduct questions. There's also some indications and accusations that she helped her team, helped organize the accusations against Eric Swalwell, whether. Whether true in each instance or not. And as you can see, she's there in the poly market. She's doing okay in the betting. She lost some of her endorsements, but not all of them. So, Trisha, if you were thinking about the Porter campaign here, does this seem like an organized effort as a second act, or am I wrong?

[D]

Oh, 1,000%. This is completely a coordinated campaign. What I don't understand is why they didn't do this directly in the aftermath when this was a main part of the news cycle. They should have been doing this letter. They should have been doing some sort of a selfie campaign of former current staffers talking about what a great boss they were, maybe even a group sit down TV interview. Instead. I thought this letter also read odd. It was talking about how the stress of the COVID Pand in the aftermath of January 6th, this was a highly stressful moment when that clip occurred. Never mind the fact that that clip was in July of 2021 for so six months after January 6th and in no way in the throes of COVID I just thought it was a very odd excuse. And also it kind of undermined their entire point that she was ready and equipped to be governor. If you think that this is a high stress moment six months after January 6th, you're going to be dealing with a lot higher stress moments as governor of one of the largest states in the country.

[B]

Well said, Jaime. What's going on here?

[C]

I almost want to just retweet what Trisha said, honestly, and I think a lot of what she said is absolutely correct. I think it's all the above. And look, the Katie Porter campaign has been hemorrhaging for quite some time, even before the Eric Swalwell fallout and drama. And obviously when Erica Swalwell jumped into that race part, paired with the, the videos of Katie Porter berating her staff, you know, that, that upended the race in a way that she wasn't prepared for. And so she's always sort of wanted to get back at Eric Swalwell for, for, for doing that and for the course of the last seven months. But I agree with Trisha on, you know, I think, you know, just putting my political hat on if she had coordinated this to, to happen, sort of, you know, it's just sort of 1, 2, 3, 4, step after, you know, the Eric Swalwell fallout. They obviously knew that this was coming. I, I don't know this to be true, but I suppose that some people on her team, and maybe some people on the entire, on the Tom Steyer team help put together, you know, some of these stories and help the reporters get to the right people. But look, she is fighting for her life right now. And you see Secretary Becerra is starting to, is starting to step up and he is loving this. He's having a great time with this. He seems to be having a lot of fun. Tom Stier still has a lot of money. And I think he, you're going to see the next thing that's going to happen is Tom Starr is going to start running a barrage of ads against Katie Porter, which he was doing with Eric Swadwell just a couple weeks ago, even before the fallout. And so this is far from finished for Katie Porter. She's not going to really benefit a lot from what's happened over the last couple of days. I don't think this letter is going to do, do much favors for her. It's already baked in, in some people's minds that she is has been, you know, allegedly a tyrant and, and hadn't treat her staff so well in the past. And, and to Trisha's point, you know, temperament is going to be really important when you're taking over a state led by a governor for two terms who wants to be president. A lot of attention on, on what's happening in California. And so I still think that Becerra and Tom Steyer are going to fight this thing out. Matt Mahan, who has basically no name ID right now and he's, he's gaining a little bit in the polls and getting out there and using this. But I still think Katie Porter has the most approved right now and she's going to try to take the most advantage of it. I'm not sure it's going to work out in her in her favor.

[B]

Brilliant, brilliant analysis. Go ahead, Chris.

[D]

One thing I like to add. I don't think that this debate is going to do Katie Porter any real favors. I mean, a lot of people will remember that interview she had with a TV reporter. She was incredibly combative. She was unlikable, unwilling to answer the question. So this is at the end of the day a popularity contest and people have to like you to elect. You might be brilliant as far as policies go and ambitious, but if people see her and they don't like her, she comes off as combative. It's not going to do her any favors. I think this could be a boon for Javier Becerra or even Matt Mahan, who, like you said, Jaime doesn't have the name ID but he does come off likable and he has a good record to run on.

[B]

Yeah, well, brilliantly said by both. The best analysis of the race I've heard, I will say, although I don't normally make predictions, I predict Katie Porter tonight will smile as broadly as she can smile to try to be as likable as she can, no matter what happens, and probably tell stories about her pets. One more topic after an economic update and then to your questions, please raise your hand. If you've never raised your hand, we'd welcome you in the conversation. Markets are back up. We've been open for about 11 minutes here. Dow is up, NASDAQ up S and P all up a little bit. Oil prices are up, too. Brent crude is up a little bit. Gas average is $4. Last week was 411. Maybe we'll fall below 4 today, we'll see. And we continue to have just booming earnings and that's driving the market, maybe in opposition to fears about the war. 86% of S&P 500 who have reported earnings so far this quarter have beaten estimates. That's pretty incredible. All right, last topic. Jonathan Bush, member of the two way community, is running for governor of Maine. And he is a Bush. He's a member of the Bush family. He's George W. Bush's cousin. And obviously 30 years ago, if you wanted to run for governor of Maine as a Bush, you'd say, well, that's a great advantage. You'll probably win today. Maybe not. I remember when one of the Obama advisors said to me in 2008, running against Hillary Clinton, they said, bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton, which would have been the order of our presidents if Hillary had won, will never feel like change. And at a time when people want change, how do you run for governor with the name Bush? Here's Jonathan's new ad. And then Trisha and Jaime will tell us what they think.

[J]

Hi, I'm Jonathan Bush and I know what you're thinking. Not another Bush. But hear me out. I'm not a politician or a lobbyist. I'm a veteran, an entrepreneur who created over 900 jobs in Maine. And as governor, I'll take a sledgehammer to Janet Mills wasteful spending. I'll slash your taxes, property and income and put the Democrats woke policies in the shredder. I'm Jonathan Bush. It's time for a Donny, don't touch the shredder.

[B]

Trisha, work doesn't work.

[D]

I think it's appealing. It does. Harken me back to when George P. Bush ran for attorney general out of Texas. He had previously been land commissioner. He really tried to distance himself from the Bush family name. I thought that was the wrong tactic. It came off very inauthentic. Who wants to forego their family for politics? I think it didn't land right and he was unsuccessful. And I think this is certainly a better tactic, more likable. But we'll see.

[B]

I've got a little bit of news, so be brief on this one.

[C]

Yeah, no, I mean, I agree, Trisha. I mean, having kids is so cute too. But I think this is going to be on the backdrop of the Senate race and I think this could play really well once this thing sorts out, particularly if Graham is the nominee on the Democratic side. I think this Bush metrics could play well. I would say one thing. I am so sick of hearing the Word woke up. It's always ill used. I can't wait till it's over. You guys are annoying me with it. No more woke. No more woke.

[B]

You might have a while to buy. A while to wait. Yeah. All right, here's some news. And then to your questions. You guys know this New York Post reporter, Caitlin Dornboss?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Where. Where did she come from? What was she been covering?

[D]

You know, she was covering. Actually, she was doing 20, 24 primary stuff. That's how I got to know her. I had a great. I thought she was great.

[B]

I don't know her, but she's been covering the peace talks, and she was in Islamabad for the first round, and she's back there now. I think maybe she waited there and she just tweeted maybe I'm not going anywhere so fast. She just talked to President Trump and he says good news about a second round of talks. President Trump and Pakistani sources told the Post. I discount the Pakistani sources because they just want the talks because now that's their reason for being. Sources in Obama touted positive mediation efforts with Tehran. Asked about this possible breakthrough by the Post, Trump in a text message, not a phone call and a text message said, quote, it's possible, exclamation point. President djt Sorry, the website's been a little balky here. Does she have anything more? No. Anyway, the President says it's possible to Pakistani, so maybe we'll have peace talks. Time for your questions. Please raise your hand if you want to get in the conversation. We welcome participation from all, regardless of what you think of Jaime's hat or Trish's artwork. And we start with Mr. Crouch. Welcome in, sir. Unmute. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind.

[A]

Washington. I'm the same as Hyma. Hi. I count on you for reality and reporting to fear I was true.

[B]

You guys live in the same. You guys live in the same building? Yeah.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Oh, my gosh.

[B]

What kind of What. What kind of amenities do you have there?

[A]

Swimming pool, great gym.

[B]

You have a swimming pool in your building?

[A]

It's nice on the roof.

[C]

And Nelson uses. Nelson uses all the amenities.

[B]

Just so you guys know, I'm a Winston pool party. All right. Sorry to interrupt. Nelson, floor is yours.

[A]

I want the truth on Ukraine. 10 Ukraine people. Podcasters saying that Ukraine is building a million drones a year.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They are not only doing aerial drones, but on ground drones. They showed 35,000 Russians in March. This is territory in March. They have attacked three cities on the coast and taken out half of the petroleum production of Russia and they're seizing territory. Is this true? I mean, David has a, an article that says we're worried about Russia invading Sweden. Russia's done. Is that true or false?

[B]

And it doesn't seem, it's a great, it's a great question. You know, from afar, the data is totally mixed. You cited some things I've heard, all of which I think are true. At the same time, Zelensky seems very much on the defensive. He said some very pessimistic things in the last couple days, weeks about the US and about Europe. And Putin doesn't give up. But Jaime, thoughts on, on where we are on the ground in the war as far as you can do it?

[C]

I mean, I agree with you, what you just said to Mark. It seems like, you know, it's hard to know what's going on exactly on the ground. It seems like the media has taken their spotlight off a little bit, but maybe that's a good thing. Maybe, maybe Russia is pulling back a little bit and, you know, and things are starting to cool off, you know, within means. But I agree with Mark. I think, Nelson, you know this better than most. I mean, Putin is not going to back off fully. He's clearly stated what he would like to see. And to the president, Ukraine's point about being pessimistic this week, I don't think Russia is going to back off until they officially assume more Ukrainian land and as much as they can get. Trisha?

[D]

Yeah, I don't have any great insight into this. It sounds like you have quite a bit and have been following closely. I think the longer the war in Iran goes on, the more distracted the UK and the European allies are going to be by that war that really impacts their oil prices and cost of living. So being distracted by that probably won't be helpful to Ukraine because their resources are going to be funneled elsewhere.

[B]

Nelson thank you. John, welcome in Caitlin Dornboss. I hope I'm pronouncing her name right. She used to write for Stars and Stars and Stripes before the New York Post, and she's a graduate of the Kansas University School of Journalism. John, welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind. Patricia and for Ayman, thank you for being part of Two Way.

[L]

Well, thank you. I've been here since the beginning. Huge fan and it's always a real privilege to spend a few minutes talking to you guys. I try to listen y' all every day, even though I'm running a business so I'm in Texas. I know a little bit about a war zone and that's all we're going to get into there. So I'm not a hawk, but I will tell you we're now at the band Aid rip off moment. We're not going to get anything. We're probably not even going to get an Obama like deal where we are right now. We should just go ahead and bomb Iran's infrastructure and then go ahead and let the chips fall. They may. Our allies will have to get in pack and after us because they're going to attack all the allies over there. They're going to try to attack the Straits straight. But if we don't eventually take the straight and own it ourselves along with all of our, our partners, then we're going to have this problem for the rest of our lives. I mean we obviously taught Iran a very bad lesson. My guess is this war was designed around revolution. It didn't happen. I'm sure they've identified some IRG generals who own a division of 13,000 men or so that are ready to go. But you know, the people just haven't come in the streets. So you're going to have to do something. Otherwise everything that the Republicans are trying to do will just fall apart because everything is wrapped into what's going to happen at the Iran war.

[B]

John, before, before I turn you over to Trish and I, let me just ask, are you saying take carg bomb every, every energy and water, just not every.

[L]

I would just give them a list. Here are the, here are the electrical plants that I'm going to start with and you know, in every hour or two hours or three hours, just mom one. Because eventually you, you know, we're at a stalemate point and you know, I know there's a fear that they're going to, you know, take out desalination plants and whatever. They could do that anytime they want to anyway. So if I'm, I'm, I wasn't for the war. It's not what I hired Trump to do. It's not America first, but here we are.

[B]

Yeah, so, so you're saying just keep hitting things until they surrender. You just have to hit them till they surrender. Is that what you're advocating?

[L]

But I'm advocating that you start hitting stuff that makes the people get out in the street and revolt.

[B]

Serious. And what if they don't?

[L]

Well, if they don't, you just keep, you just keep doing until there's nothing left there for there's no country left there.

[B]

I mean, you.

[L]

If you don't kill this snake, it's like a bad horror movie that just keeps coming back to bite you at the end.

[B]

Yeah, John, I appreciate you giving voice to that. I'm not sure tens of millions agree with you, but I know millions do. And you're at least arguing for something that's got logic behind it, that takes into account what we've seen up until now, which is the Iranians don't seem inclined to make a deal worth having. Exactly right. And as you. And as you said, they can't be after the war. They can't control the strait. They just can't. They can't just. Yeah. Hi. My thoughts on John's idea.

[C]

Well, John, I know where I need to go if things get crazy around here. I'm coming. I'm coming to Texas, just so you know.

[L]

You're welcome.

[C]

We'll make sure that your tactical support is put to good use. But look, I think I've heard this, John, from many people, particularly in D.C. over the last couple days, and I think you make a very valiant point that people, and some think that the President, in his heart, knows that this is probably the way that you have to go next in order to accomplish the things that he said he would accomplish. But I think to your point, John, about not seeing the President there to start a war, but understanding that now that we're there, if we pull out too soon, if we're too unstrategic, that can have consequences that are going to go 25, 50 years down the road. And so I don't want to, you know, I agree that the President's going to have to think about this sort of course of action. And I think a lot of people are starting to think about, like, a lot like you as well, Trisha.

[D]

Yeah, John, I think you make some great points. I'm not personally particularly hawkish, but I do think in this moment, like I said at the beginning of the 9am hour, I think that strikes are very likely. That's what my gut says. That's not what data says. But I think that there's no appetite for the American people, for the President's base, probably for the President himself, for this to be a protracted war and we clearly haven't brought Tehran to its knees yet. So what is it going to take to actually get them there and get the objectives, particularly that uranium that we first set out for?

[B]

Right. Hey, John, just one more question for you. My room service order is a little late. Any advice about how to get it up here?

[L]

Where are you in Texas?

[B]

No, no, no, I'm not. But I just, I just, we all have great confidence, your ability to put forward action. Action. Right.

[L]

Yeah, I don't, I, I'd have to do that offline for you.

[B]

Yeah. John, thank you. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. I'm just kidding. It came a while ago. I just want to tell everybody about stuff that's coming up here on Two Ways Noon today, Megan McCain is got John Fetterman as her guest and interview hasn't happened yet, of course, but you can join and ask Senator Fetterman questions. But I recommend you join Megan at noon. She her, this is just, this is going to be a great interview. I just, I can't tell you why my confidence is sky high, but it's going to be a great interview. Last episode, Megan talked to the president's daughter in law, Laura Trump and they talked about the White House Correspondents Association. I want to show you a clip from that because it's great. But on the back half of that, I want to ask him on Trisha if you guys think the president might cancel his appearance because of the war. Here's Meghan McCain with Lara Bush, Laura Trump, Sorry.

[D]

White House Correspondent Center Week is this week. Lara, your father in law will be attending for the first time as president. Tell us anything you can, any gossip about what we can expect.

[M]

What, what I'll say is people probably already know this about the president. He is one of the funniest people I have ever met. He's there to have a good time

[D]

and I feel like it's such a

[M]

good full circle moment for him because a lot of people like to kind of get under the surface and say, oh, I think the reason Donald Trump actually ran is because of the Obama joke at the White House Correspondents dinner all those years ago. So now he's president and now he

[D]

gets to go back.

[M]

And I agree with you, Megan. I love that he's going. I think it's great. And yeah, I think everyone should get ready because he's going to do some roasting and we know that he doesn't hold anything back.

[B]

All right, so check out our crazy, check out Megan's interview with Laura on the website now on YouTube and then again, join her live at noon today for an opportunity to hear the conversation and participate there. Tricia, you think there's any way the president canceled because cancels?

[D]

I think there's no shot he cancels if we have good news. As far as out of the Middle East. He's going to want to be right in front of the media, having them, you know, eat their crow and then if there's bad news, he's going to say something that's going to probably distract from the broader situation.

[B]

Yeah, I'm a. Do you agree with that?

[C]

Yeah, totally agree. Look, I, and I think there's a palpable excitement in D.C. i have to admit. I've been out to a couple events already.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Having the President there for the first time. Even the journalist, he's going to lambash them, of course, but they're excited that he's coming. He's never been there as president and so I hope he doesn't cancel. Is a lot of excitement in the city right now.

[B]

Yeah, there is. I, I, I went so much. I bought a new tuxedo shirt. I'm so excited.

[C]

I got, I got a new bow tie.

[D]

Can't wait to see it. Mark.

[B]

I'm wearing my old bow tie, actually. I'm wearing my regular tie tonight. Thank you, Trish. I. Are you. That means you're going, huh?

[D]

We'll see you there.

[C]

I'm just doing the parties.

[B]

Five o' clock tonight. I'll be back with two Way tonight, all the latest on what's going on at the war today. Amongst my guests will be Democratic strategist Nomi Kunst. And if you haven't listened to my new episode of Next up, interviews with Joe Scarborough and Neera Tandon. And my monologue, my reported monologue is on the Iran war and what might happen next. That's available now on YouTube and everywhere else on a pod podcast as well. And we'll be back tomorrow, 23 hours from now. You guys on tomorrow? Probably not. You guys are booking. Who's on tomorrow? Anybody know?

[D]

I think tomorrow is Larry and Kevin.

[B]

Larry and Kevin. All right. Larry and Kevin will be here. They're, as people say to me all the time, Larry and Kevin are no Trisha and Jaime, but they're pretty good.

[D]

They say that all the time.

[B]

All the time. Very grateful, Latricia. And I'm very grateful to all of you for being part of Two Way. Two great questions. And if you want to talk more to me, I'm going over right now to Sirius XM for my appearance there. We roll into the second hour. You can give me a call there. I'm looking at the number 833-446-3496 if you want to talk to me on SiriusXM. And then at 11 o', clock, my regular Wednesday appearance with Michael Smart. Konish. So if you haven't had enough of me from 9 to 10. I'll see you 10 to 11 and 11 to 11:30 on Sirius XM. Hope everybody has a great day. See you later.

[C]

All right.