Trump Slams NYT, Says He's "Totally Destroying" Iran; Hegseth Says New Leader "Likely Disfigured"

Summary

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The Morning Meeting — Episode Summary

Trump Slams NYT, Says He's "Totally Destroying" Iran; Hegseth Says New Leader "Likely Disfigured"

Date: March 13, 2026
Host: Mark Halperin (2WAY), with Larry, Kevin, and guests

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Morning Meeting centers on President Trump's aggressive response to the ongoing conflict with Iran, the political and military implications of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and fresh blows exchanged between the White House and major media outlets. The panel of seasoned news executives and insiders also unpacks the day’s major political stories, economic indicators, the possible diplomatic endgames, and the sometimes insular habits of Washington media.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Iran War Update and U.S. Strategy

[08:39–28:39]

• Trump's Defiant Messaging:
  Trump posted a provocative Truth Social message just after midnight, claiming, "we are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, military, economically, and otherwise... Iran’s navy is gone... the air force is no longer. Missiles, drones, and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth."
  — Mark Halperin quoting Trump [09:28]

• Strait of Hormuz Crisis:
  Closure remains a pressing concern; 16 cargo ships and tankers have been struck recently. Despite U.S. claims of dominance, the passage remains dangerous.
  — Kevin: “Not in the short term... they’ve taken out the larger naval vessels, but still have these small attack boats, small submarines.” [13:36]

• Military Experts’ Assessment:
  Military solution alone appears unworkable:

  "The Strait of Hormuz is a difficult, almost impossible problem to solve through military means alone... The only lasting solution is a diplomatic one."
  — Mark Halperin quoting retired Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote [12:03]

• Possible Regime Change:
  The Supreme Leader of Iran may be "disfigured" or in a coma per administration sources, complicating both negotiations and regime stability.
  — Mark Halperin: “He also apparently may have been wounded or, or disfigured, according to Secretary Hegseth this morning...” [19:17]
  — Larry: “I’m going with coma. He’s in a coma. Which by the way, would explain how he got the job...” [20:07]

2. Diplomatic Endgames and International Response

[20:20–28:39]

• Active Diplomacy:
  Even as military action continues, new diplomatic channels are explored. Saudi Arabia is trying to broker talks; China publicly condemns attacks in the Gulf.
  — Mark Halperin: “Arab diplomats trying to find a diplomatic path out... Saudi Arabia... China doesn’t like things that are unpredictable.” [21:55]

• Will It Work?
  There’s skepticism about the immediate prospects for settlement, with the consensus that Iran must be further weakened first.
  — Larry: “I think they need to be beaten down a little bit more and then... there’ll be a lot more (chances for diplomacy).” [22:50]

• Political Risks of Declaring "Mission Accomplished":
  Some, like Obama’s ambassador Dan Shapiro, suggest Trump could declare victory and shift focus, but the panel expresses doubts because the Strait remains closed and core threats persist.
  — Halperin: “I thought until the strait was closed that the president was going to end the war today by just saying we won... But I didn’t think he could do that, I don’t think he can do that now.” [24:07]

3. U.S. Politics, Government Shutdown, and Senate Races

[28:48–35:24]

• Partial Government Shutdown:
  TSA officers miss a pay period, and the panel blames both parties for stalemate. No end in sight—Polymarket odds say a 46% chance of another month.
  — Larry: “Republicans should be in front of a camera daily… Democrats are insisting on not funding the Department of Homeland Security… Does anyone not know how to play politics in this town?” [29:34]

• Senate Confirmation Drama:
  Rand Paul's clash with Markwayne Mullen is previewed with humorous anticipation of "fireworks" at the upcoming hearing.
  — Larry: “Here’s the thing—Mullen has more friends in the administration than Rand Paul does.” [32:05]

• California Governor’s Race - Swalwell Residency Scandal:
  Democratic panic as questions surface about whether Eric Swalwell actually lives in California. Opp research reveals his candidate address is his lawyer's office, not a residence; panelists describe him as a punchline even among Democrats.
  — Larry: “They’re terrified of that because let’s face it, Eric Swalwell is a big, out loud, frequent punchline... He’s a very quiet, whispered punchline for Democrats who also think he’s a joke, but they just don’t say it out loud.” [34:58]

4. Media Integrity and D.C.’s Cozy Class

[35:48–39:31]

• Conflict of Interest in Media:
  Discussion of a Politico article where the reporter’s engagement party was hosted by the subject of his investigation. Panelists say this crosses ethical lines, especially in a city rife with insider ties and conflict perceptions.
  — Mark Halperin: “You cannot have someone who writes about someone who hosted their engagement party. I don’t even think it’s a close call.” [38:24]
  — Larry: “Part of the problem is the incestuous nature of the media in Washington, D.C.” [38:55]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Trump’s hyperbolic message on Iran:

  "We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, military, economically, and otherwise... What a great honor it is to do so."
  — Trump, as quoted by Halperin [09:28]

• On realism versus rhetoric:

  "There’s no doubt... many objectives are being achieved. There’s also no doubt the strait is not currently open, and any expert... will tell you getting that thing open safely is really hard."
  — Halperin [11:28]

• On Washington’s elite media culture:

  "You cannot have someone who writes about someone who hosted their engagement party. I don’t even think it’s a close call."
  — Halperin [38:24]

• On Eric Swalwell:

  "Eric Swalwell is a punchline for people who do what I do for a living. He’s a very quiet, whispered punchline for Democrats who also think he’s a joke, but they just don’t say it out loud."
  — Larry [34:58]

Humor & Banter

The panel maintains a fast-talking, sometimes sarcastic, inside-baseball tone, with running jokes about Washington parties, political strategists, Hollywood Oscars ("Do you have any idea how many people staff a tanker?"), and guest commentary about the personal foibles of politicians.

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Economic Data & Markets

[07:42–08:39]

• GDP Growth:
  Newly revised Q4 GDP number is only 0.7%, a disappointment for the White House.
  — Kevin: “And again, you think the fourth quarter, that’s the holidays, that's when the economy should be roaring...to see it revised down by that much is pretty significant.” [08:28]

• Energy Markets & Oil Policies:
  To stabilize markets during the strait crisis, the U.S. has allowed temporary unembargoed Russian oil sales and is opening strategic reserves.

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Panel Favorites: Winners & Losers of the Week

[39:43–42:30]

• Winners:

  • Kevin: Senators Tim Scott & Elizabeth Warren, for a rare bipartisan housing bill.
  • Larry: Texas AG Ken Paxton, for outmaneuvering John Cornyn in the Senate race and holding Trump's support.
  • Mark Halperin: “The American people who aren’t cynical”—recognizing rare bipartisanship in Washington.

• Losers:

  • Kevin: Democratic AGs pursuing Ticketmaster after DOJ settlement—a case of government overreach.
  • Larry: Seattle Seahawks fans, for Washington’s new tax policies discouraging football talent.
  • Mark Halperin: John Thune, reduced from Senate leadership to “minority partner to Donald Trump.”

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Audience Q&A and Final Thoughts

[47:18–59:39]

• Swalwell Scandals:
  Listeners and hosts pile onto Swalwell’s residency, Chinese spy affair, and overexposure in the media, noting Democrats’ reluctance to openly criticize him.

• Media’s Anonymous Sourcing:
  The hosts discuss the ethical pitfalls of anonymous intelligence sources in U.S. national security reporting.
  — Larry: “There are two stories. The first is... what that anonymous source said. The second... why is that anonymous source leaking this anonymously and potentially violating the law?” [55:12]

• Escalation Risks in Mideast War:
  Questions about risk of broader war are met with guarded caution—while escalation is possible, the current dynamic is more “the world against Iran” rather than rival alliances poised for a World War scenario.

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Quick Hits & Pop Culture

[43:00–44:41, 61:12–end]

• Oscars Banter:
  Jokes about Oscar predictions, Academy leadership, and whether actors will address the war, culminating in humorous bets.
  — Larry: “I’m... the straightest man on the planet, but [Chalamet] is no Superman.” [63:13]

• Media & Movie Talk:
  Fun aside about DVD screeners, with playful barbs about tech ineptitude and Hollywood excess.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Trump’s Truth Social Post on Iran: [09:28]
• Strait of Hormuz Analysis & Military Assessments: [11:28–15:45]
• Panel Discussion—Will the U.S. Secure the Strait?: [13:36]
• Status of Iran’s Supreme Leader (disfigured/coma?): [19:17–20:20]
• Diplomatic Track & Saudi/China Involvement: [21:55–22:55]
• Obama’s Ambassador Suggests “Declare Victory”: [24:07–25:03]
• Swalwell Residency Flap: [34:31–35:24]
• Media Ethics Debate—Politico Engagement Party Story: [35:48–39:31]
• Winners/Losers of the Week: [39:43–42:30]
• Audience Q&A on Swalwell & Media Sourcing: [47:51–56:27]
• Global War Risk & European Diplomatic Talk with Iran: [57:24–59:39]

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Summary in the Show’s Original Tone

Brisk, irreverent, occasionally sarcastic—the episode embodies The Morning Meeting's style: equal parts news summit, media critique, and political group therapy. It’s a ringside seat to the news the newsmakers are watching, offering behind-the-scenes context on American politics and global crises, while never letting the weight of the war crowd out insider jokes about Hollywood, Oscars, and media self-absorption.

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This summary covers the essential content of the March 13, 2026, episode. For a deeper dive or comedic banter, fans should consider listening to the full show.

Transcript

[Larry]

Foreign.

[Mark Halperin]

Welcome in everybody. It's a morning meeting. Lots already happened today. There was a briefing at the Pentagon with the Secretary of Defense and the head of the Joint Chiefs. There's some new economic data out. And just after midnight, the President was on Truth Social with a spicy and provocative tweet spicier than anything you can order at Taco Bell. That's how spicy it was. We'll have all the news for you with Larry and Kevin and the two way community coming up right after this. Just kidding. I was hoping we'd have some big, big open, some graphic. But we don't. Larry, good morning.

[Kevin]

Good morning. Those babies doing. We need those babies doing something again.

[Mark Halperin]

We do need the babies. There was a great.

[Larry]

I missed the babies.

[Mark Halperin]

There was a great baby the other day with Senator Kennedy of Louisiana. Did you guys see that one? Yes.

[Kevin]

Can only imagine.

[Mark Halperin]

I should have said spectacular. It had incred. He was awesome. But the baby, John Kennedy. Senator Kennedy was awesome. But the cutaways, I forget who they were, but there were a couple that were just genius. Just so genius. Kevin, good morning to you. How's everything going?

[Kevin]

Everything's great. Back in Washington D.C. the down in Charleston.

[Mark Halperin]

Do you already have your winner and loser and what to look for? Just like locked and loaded.

[Kevin]

I have it at the beginning of the week every week. Yeah, I'm like itching I mentioned to share it.

[Mark Halperin]

You guys have like committees of consultants and volunteers who help you pick yours. I think my. I pick my.

[Kevin]

There's great two way members that, that tweet about it too and send us thoughts. We use it all the time.

[Mark Halperin]

There are.

[Larry]

Larry, I'm thinking of putting mine out to bid.

[Mark Halperin]

Actually.

[Larry]

Just say, hey, you want me to mention you as my winner of the week? It's going to cost you. But I wouldn't engage in that kind of journalism.

[Kevin]

Yeah, pay to play to play. Larry. That's what we call him.

[Mark Halperin]

We have a couple of great media topics we're going to cover on the show today that I'm really looking forward to. I'll just say. I'll just say, Larry, did you have an engagement party?

[Larry]

I did. It was great.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. If you, if you wrote for Politico, would you write a story about one of the hosts of your engagement party? Would you?

[Larry]

Not without divulging it, certainly. I mean, I mean, I mean I'm. It depends on the assignment. But I might say, just so everybody knows, you know, this person hosted my engagement.

[Mark Halperin]

You think if you wrote an investigative piece about someone who hosted your engagement party, it would be sufficient to just disclose it in the piece. Is that what you're saying?

[Larry]

You did not say, you did not say investigative piece. You just said write a piece.

[Mark Halperin]

Well, even, even write a piece. I don't know.

[Larry]

Oh no, listen, my good friend Kurt Schlichter is an author of many books. He's often asked me to do a review of his book. I'll say, kurt Schlichter is my best friend. And then I go and talk about the book.

[Kevin]

Huh?

[Mark Halperin]

I think, well, we're gonna talk about this is not a hypothetical.

[Kevin]

And then you sketch, and then you sketch some art for it too, like the first lady of New York.

[Mark Halperin]

We got a couple interesting stories off besides the war, but we'll talk a lot about Iran and of course we'll want your participation. If you're here on the two way platform, you want to be part of the conversation, all you got to do. All you got to do is raise your hand if you're watching on x or on YouTube. No smack in the chat. Peace, love and understanding for all. Extend the presumption of grace to all. As many chose to do for Jeffrey Epstein. Extend the presumption of grace if you wish to all around you and be part of the conversation. And if you are looking for some clothes, some bedding, some towels, Ladies and gentlemen, I got news for you. Cozy Earth will give you 20 off everything on their site right now with the promo code morning. You can buy whatever you want. And I told everybody to put away your bubble cuddle blankets that turned out to be in air. It's freezing here so keep everything around you, whether it's the bubble cuddle blankets, the sha, the towels, the, the sheets, everything available to you. The comforters are designed with naturally breathable temperature regulating materials. Luxuriously soft. The essential socks come in calf, quarter ankle and no show Lux bath towels. Impossibly soft and plush. All these things and more. Just go on the site. If you haven't been on the site yet, just go to cozyearth.com there's some new pop pictures. I, I pity those. Oh my gosh. Listen, listening to the podcast because if you're not watching, you're not seeing. Kevin, use your powers of description. What are you seeing there?

[Kevin]

I can't even. The dog is so camouflaged in comfort. There's, there's a little bit more with more contrast. Where did both very cute pups.

[Larry]

Where does the puppy end and the bubble cuddle begin?

[Kevin]

Exactly right.

[Mark Halperin]

I'll just say if you're going to put dogs that Appear to be the size of a shoebox on a bubble cup blanket. Please, please, next time put a quarter in the shot so we have a sense of scale. Those look like little. Those just look like miniatures. Anyway, go to cozyeart.com, promo code morning for 20% off.

[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.

[Mark Halperin]

When you get momentum, you step on the gas. That's how you get separation from everybody else.

[Kevin]

I was at Harvard Law School.

[Rand Paul]

I was, blah, blah, blah.

[Mark Halperin]

I looked up, let me tell you something, there's kids in my neighborhood putting

[Kevin]

in sheetrock that is smarter than you.

[Mark Halperin]

AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff.

[Kevin]

It is never going to disrupt physical

[Mark Halperin]

blue collar trade skill. And the guy just looked at me and he said it's bloody impossible.

[Kevin]

So I asked him this question.

[Mark Halperin]

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 Halperin]

Okay, let's get to the day book. Now, the President today has no public events, including one that I would think would be public. And then he goes to Florida. Right now he's in executive time, so he's watching yet again. Mr. President, we appreciate your viewership. Executive time started at 8:00am Then 2:00pm he signs executive orders. 3:00pm he meets with the National Finals Rodeo winners. I would think that would be an open press event, ladies and gentlemen.

[Larry]

Yeah, but it's currently. Unless they're worried, they might be worried about them putting a cowboy hat on him. I don't think he likes to be seen with a cowboy hat.

[Mark Halperin]

Do you know my friends in West Hollywood pronounce that event.

[Larry]

What's up?

[Mark Halperin]

The National Finals Rodeo Rodeo. Anyway, all close press. And then the President goes to Palm Beach. Now maybe he'll talk on departure. We don't know when departures, but that's his schedule. The Vice President, on the other hand, does have a public event. A rare announced public event. He's going to be in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina doing some stuff at 2 o'.

[Caller/Guest]

Clock.

[Mark Halperin]

So full coverage of that on two way tonight. This evening. Earlier today we'll look at just a moment briefing by the secretary of Defense, War and Dan Kane, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. They took a lot of questions. They dodged some, but they answered some. And we'll look a little bit that and talk about that in just a moment. House and Senate are out. The national association of Southeast Asian nations are their economic ministers are meeting in the Philippines today. The DNC spring retreat kicks off in Park City, Utah. They're hearing from quite a few people who may end up running for president. Elizabeth Warren is in Illinois rallying for her favored Senate candidate in that open Senate seat race, Juliana Stratton. 830 economic data came out. Let's look at that. This is GDP. Personal income, consumer spending all came out at 8:30. And here it is, boom. Fourth quarter GDP revised down to just 0.7% growth. January core inflation 3.1. So the inflation number is pretty good. But the growth numbers, one of the macro numbers the White House was really leaning on to say the economic the economy is booming, has been the gdp, but that ain't great. Larry, are the fundamentals of the economy strong?

[Larry]

I would use your ain't great term there for the gdp, that's for sure. But I think again, everything I hear from the Besson folks think that everything kicks in after the tax season, but who knows?

[Mark Halperin]

They keep saying, Scott Besson keeps saying we set the buffet last year and now everybody gets to eat. Kevin, are the fundamentals of the economy strong?

[Kevin]

They aren't, especially with that number. And again, you think the fourth quarter, that's the holidays, that's when the economy should be roaring on all cylinders. And to see it revised down by that much is pretty significant.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. All right. Let's talk about Iran. FOCUS continues to be on the Strait of Hormuz and whether the US can get in there. Last night the president on Truth Social just After Midnight said this 1:03 about about the the war overall, we are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, military economically and otherwise. Yet if you read the failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning. Iran's navy is gone. The air force is no longer. Missiles, drones and everything else are are being decimated and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth. We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition and plenty of time. Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. They've been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years. And now I as the 47th President of the United States of America am killing them. What a greater, a great honor it is to do so. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President Donald J. Trump. The president also did an interview with Brian Kilmeade which is unfurled on Fox and Friends and online in part, although all of it will play shortly this morning. Later in full, here is what the president told Brian Kilmeade about escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. 111

[Rand Paul]

so they are able to basically shut off the Strait of Hormuz. The word is that you're about ready to escort these oil tankers through. Is that true? Well, we would do it if we needed to, but we would do it if we needed to. But you know, hopefully things are going to go very well. We're going to see what happens. A lot's going to be we've already damaged them so badly would take years for them to ever rebuild. And we're going to be hitting them very hard over the next week.

[Mark Halperin]

Here's Pete Hegseth this morning at the White House briefing on the question of whether the US is going to get the strait back open. This is 131 please

[Pete Hegseth]

that the only thing prohibiting transit in the straits right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit. Should Iran not do that? Now there's a reason why we chose as one of our primary objectives destroy the navy. We understood the ability to interdict shipping is something Iran has done for 40 years. It's key terrain. They've used it as leverage. The world is seeing what they'll do to fight back in that context. And so we've heard them talk about taking various measures and we're planning for all of them. So we have a plan for every option here. We're working with our interagency partners and that's not a straight we're going to allow to remain contested or with a lack of flow of commercial goods. So we're aware of that. We're laser focused on our military objectives but also want to make sure our partners across this government understand we're working with you to make sure that energy flows.

[Mark Halperin]

All right. So there's no doubt that there are other objectives in the war besides opening up the strait. And there's no doubt that many of the other objectives are being achieved. There's also no doubt that the strait is not currently open and no doubt that any expert, including some in the administration, will tell you getting that thing open safely is really hard. And some are some of my sources are quite pessimistic about it. Here's the New York Times quoting an expert. This is 112, please guy guy who they quote, seems highly credentialed. The strata for There's a quote from a guy named a retired Air Force lieutenant general named S. Clinton Hinote Hinot, I don't know how you say his name. He serves as Street Senior Air Strategist in the Middle east in the 2000s. Quote, the Strait of Hormuz is a difficult, almost impossible problem to solve through military means alone. He did a military study looking at the question of a scenario in which Iran attacked ships in the strait. His team concluded that while the United States could use advanced sensors and precision strikes to mitigate Iranian attacks, they could not stop them completely. The shipping lanes are too narrow and the vessels are too vulnerable to a mix of rockets, missiles and swarms of small craft. The only way militarily to guarantee the waterway is open to move from mitigation to control would be to take and hold the Iranian territory bordering the strait. He said it would require large numbers of ground forces to seize the coast. Short of that, the only lasting solution to the strait is a diplomatic one. I reported this the other day. You got to control the coast. You got to disarm the coast at least. And and so we're going to talk about the wider war in a moment. But just on this key question of, of of this one more thing. Polymarket asking let's do a pie market. 114. When will us will us begin to escort commercial strips through Hormuz by the end of the month, 20, 35% chance, according to Poly Market wagers, that that will happen. Kevin, what's going to happen? Will the US Control this? Will somehow ships go through whether they're escorted or not, and if so, when?

[Kevin]

Yeah, not in the short term, Mark. And you talked about this in your monologue the other day at referencing, you know, Newt Gingrich saying this is the linchpin for all of this. Sixteen cargo ships and oil tankers have been struck in the last two weeks, and there's reporting obviously in the last couple of days, saying that the administration failed to properly account for the strait as well as these drone attacks. And you saw Pete Hegseth this morning so animated about that one particular story because it shows and it's well referenced, these stories. It's not just Pentagon sources. It's also from the Hill briefings that members have gotten behind closed doors. So this is definitely a pain point for this administration. And I don't see a solution in the short term because, again, they've taken out the larger naval vessels, but you still have these small attack boats, small attack submarines that are responsible for these attacks.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry, you know what I want to invent? I want to invent a mine that can be controlled remotely so you can turn it off when your friendly ships go through and then turn it back on. That should exist, right? Because Pete Scott Besson says, said yesterday in an interview, well, we don't think they've actually mined the Gulf, despite media reports saying they have because there are Iranian and Chinese ships going through.

[Larry]

So an Indian and Indian.

[Mark Halperin]

So, so what's going to happen, Larry? Are we going to be able to get oil through? Oil not exploded in the last 24 hours? It's still high, but it's not, it's not, it's not, you know, super high. But what's going to happen?

[Larry]

Well, an hour ago, General Kaine in that briefing said that today will be the most active day we've had since the military engagement began. And he said specifically that the targets are going to be the capabilities that they've got right now on the Strait of Hormuz. So it looks like they're going after the launching places for those drones. And let's see, as the dust settles, I think March 31st might be optimistic because that's only 18 days from now. But I will also remind everybody, we haven't even been doing this for 18 days. So that's more than twice as long as the effort that we're currently engaged in. I think eventually you'll see Navy vessels escorting tankers, but it's after they've depleted their very lethal capability that they have right now.

[Kevin]

Let me state and mark you, Mark, you mentioned this in your monologue, too. It's not just the insurance issues. And you saw the president out there saying, I wish these captains would show some guts and do it. Their lives are on the line and they're, they're driving boats with massive amounts of oil on them. They don't want to risk their own lives. Insurance is a separate question on this. And you see that narrative from the president saying, you know, just take your lives in your own hands and do it for the sake of the global economy, I think is the winning message right now.

[Mark Halperin]

Do you guys have any idea how many people staff a tanker? Are there hundreds of people on a tanker? 20. How many people are on a tanker?

[Kevin]

I think it's like 20 to 30, right?

[Mark Halperin]

20 to 30.

[Larry]

It depends on how big the Tanker is, it's not a huge group, so less than 20.

[Mark Halperin]

It's fewer than 20. So, so what I imagine, go back to the.

[Kevin]

How many did we lose in the Edmund Fitzgerald? Like 30.

[Mark Halperin]

Exactly. But, but, but what I imagine is, you know, because they can't move now and a lot of them are in the region, they're at port waiting to see if they can go through. So they're all, they're all getting drinks from Brandy because she's a fine girl. They're just, they're all just waiting around to see.

[Kevin]

She serves them whiskey and wine.

[Mark Halperin]

Exactly. Anyway, to state the obvious, maybe there's kind of parallel tracks here. On the one hand, the, the government's, the US Government with its allies to some extent is doing everything it can to keep the markets from going haywire. Because if they don't do anything, we could see $200 a barrel oil well before the other track happens, which is the US tries to secure by dealing with drones and the weapons on the shore, on the coastline and the mines and the small craft that they can secure it. So what have they done? They did this Jones act thing. They jawboned a lot. They worked with the Lloyds of London and others to try to understand how to get insurance last night. I'm surprised this isn't getting more coverage, although it's gotten some. They said the Russians can sell oil now unembargoed for a month and some of that, and then, and then of course the SP release. Right. So some of that is, is, is really meant to change the market conditions. But a lot of it's the psychology. Right. They want to convince the markets. Here's the headline from cnbc. US allows temporary purchases of Russian oil already at sea to stabilize energy markets. Secretary Besson called a quote, narrowly a narrowly tailored short term measure. But make no mistake, this is one of many ways Russia is being strengthened by the war, the Iranian war. But they're trying to convince the markets, hey, we got a plan here. We're going to eventually be escorting through. Don't go crazy on oil, don't go crazy on price. And, and, and, and compared to yesterday, given, you know, I'm, I'm like Donald Trump. I'm a day trader, completely dictated, influenced by a single day. They, they do have a chance now to keep the price low long enough to maybe be able to start to escort ships through. And, and that would be a massive win on, on this important point.

[Kevin]

Okay, and Ut and Mark, we talked about this last week about them and the strategic oil Reserves, those are now being opened up. And those, those, those world reserves are also being opened up too. To your point, in terms of, I think it's more expectation setting than actually 100%, 100% controlling the price directly.

[Larry]

But to the general's point, the Air Force general, one of two things needs to happen if you want the strait to be open and free. We pummel them into submission and they're incapable of threatening, obviously. Or we get regime change where the new leadership says, okay, we want to be friends. Those are the only two options.

[Mark Halperin]

Well said.

[Kevin]

And to your point, does the pummeling involve boots on the ground too? I mean, that might be the red line if you really want to secure, you know, the strait. That, that's the, the, the critical factor here.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Now, the Supreme Leader was not a perfect choice for a variety of reasons. Hereditary, not particularly well known, not necessarily have the skills his dad did to rule the country. He also apparently may have been wounded or, or disfigured. According to Secretary Hegseth this morning, uh, they think he might have been disfigured by the attacks. The President told Brian Kilmeade that he thought he was alive. Kevin, is the supreme leaver alive, do you think?

[Kevin]

I think he's alive. And I think, you know, he released this statement read on Iranian tv, but the interesting word today was disfigured that Secretary Hegseth used, not just injured. Which is, I think somewhat interesting that, that word choice instead of just, you

[Mark Halperin]

know, you know, Larry, you think he's alive and disfigured. Is that what you think?

[Larry]

I'm going with coma. He's in a coma. Which by the way, would explain how he got the job because who wants the job? They gave it to the guy in a coma. Yeah, and let's just be clear. He did not release this. We don't know objectively that he released the statement. A statement was released in his name.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, yeah, I, I, it's just all, it's all nuts. Okay. Diplomatic track persistently being reported on X and a few other places that the US is talking to Iran. I'd be skeptical about whether there's meaningful talks there, but this again, surprised this isn't getting more, more coverage. This is buried in a Washington Post story today, guys. Or maybe it's a Wall Street Journal story. Somebody will help me find this, put it up, you know, I'm talking about, I can't find it on my list, but I know we have it. Here it is, Wall Street Journal. Arab diplomats trying to find a diplomatic path out of the war are now being now being waged by the US and Israel. Bolden efforts to bring the combatants to the table have been continuing since the conflict began and picked up early this week with a fresh round of calls initiated by Saudi Arabia which is concerned about escalating attacks on energy infrastructure. A lot of speculation about whether Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, whether they want the war to continue until, until Iran is no longer a threat or whether they want to try to end it. China, the Chinese foreign minister spoke out on Iran yesterday. A bunch of gobbledygook. We'll listen to a few minutes, a few seconds of it here. I don't really, I'm not sure this is meaningful, but there's a lot of speculation also about China wanting to end this even though they, they, they, they filled in their reserves before the conflict started. They're getting some oil from the Gulf, but still China doesn't like things that are unpredictable. They don't like differences. Here's the Chinese foreign minister on the war. 116, please. China does not agree with the attacks on Gulf states and condemns all indiscriminate attacks on civilians and non military targets. The urgent military operation prevent further expansion. We're still waiting for the summit to come at the end of the month between the president, she and if the war is still going on, it'll obviously be a topic of conversation. Larry, are you bullish on the prospect of a diplomatic settlement

[Larry]

between us and China or between. No, no, no.

[Mark Halperin]

Between or with Iran that the war, the war with Iran could end with a diplomatic settlement? Are you bullish on that prospect or no time soon,

[Larry]

if soon as by Easter? I think I am kind of bullish about that, actually.

[Mark Halperin]

Well, I mean eventually they'll have to be some. But in other words, the Saudis seem to think they can bring about a settlement soon. In other words, without significant change on the facts on the ground. Do you think, do you think the current facts on the ground are conducive to a settlement?

[Larry]

No, I think they need to be beaten down a little bit more and then, and then they'll be a little bit more. A lot more.

[Mark Halperin]

A little bit more.

[Larry]

Let's say a lot more.

[Mark Halperin]

Kevin, could there be a settlement without the US and Israel securing the nuclear material? In other words, do you think the US and Israel will be open to a settlement that required the Iranians back to the drawing board of trusting them to hand over their nuclear material?

[Kevin]

I mean, potentially. The interesting thing too, Mark, is you saw the Security Council pass A resolution with Russia and China condemning Iran. So Iran is continuing to be on this island, mostly because of their indiscriminate attacks on regional folks around, especially on the energy sector. So we'll see if that pressure. The other key thing, too, Mark, is who's going to be on the other side for the Iranians. Right. You saw, obviously, we don't know where the Supreme Leader is. And you've got the president of Iran out there in the streets, interestingly enough today, you know, as part of their, you know, their national show of unity against Israel. You know, does he come to the table again? The key thing and the problem that Trump has had is who's on. And we talked about this. Who's on the other side of that table? He wants to negotiate, but if he's decimated their leadership and no one's on the other side of the table, you can't see that happen. Like you saw in Venezuela. Yeah. All right.

[Mark Halperin]

One more on Iran and then a few other topics, then to your questions, or a lot of other topics, actually. But then to your questions. Please raise your hand if you want to get in the conversation. I thought until the strait was closed that the president was going to end the war today by just saying we won. They're degraded, recognizing that Israel would object, recognizing that the US Would probably have to go in again. But that, you know, just. Just sent a message to the leadership. We can kill you at any time. Whoever running your country can be killed. We've destroyed your navy, we've destroyed your ballistic missiles. Yeah, you still got your nuclear material, but in fact, you're not. You're not on the precipice, despite what we said before, of, of getting a bomb, a working bomb. But I didn't. I didn't think he could do that. I don't think he can do that now because it leaves the question of the strait to open. Here's what Barack Obama's ambassador to Israel said on x. This is Mr. Shapiro. Is that his name? Yep.

[Kevin]

Dan Shapiro.

[Mark Halperin]

Dan Shapiro. Here's what Dan Shapiro said on X. He basically said the president should declare victory and leave. Here's his long tweet. Here's the. Here's part of it. Trump, as he has said, can claim victory at any time. He should do so now. He will say, we have hit their leadership, missiles, nuclear sites, Navy and regime targets hard. We have left the regime much weaker and limited their ability to project power, threaten their neighbors and suppress their people. Their leadership knows what we are capable of. They are deterred and if required to prevent a nuclear breakout, we have additional means of attack. We are open to talk to the new leadership about the peaceful dismantling of their nuclear program. We will shift our focus to helping the Iranian people in non kinetic ways, fighting their freedom and their nation. The Israeli. The reporting is the Israelis are very pessimistic now about regime change. But the point is you could turn your attention to that now. I think the only person I could think of who Donald Trump is less likely to listen to than Dan Shapiro is this guy. 120, please.

[Larry]

Thanks for saying it before I had to.

[Rand Paul]

I hope that diplomacy will re enter in a very forceful way in the next days. I think it's incredibly important for the world that folks find an off ramp here and begin a very legitimate and important dialogue about the road ahead. But this is underscoring to everybody in the world the importance of energy independence, of not being. All right, Kevin, hostage.

[Mark Halperin]

If the president just bombed the hell out of him today and said, don't you dare hit ships in the Gulf, in the strait, but this operation's a big success and you know, BB whatever, could he get away with that? Would that, would that be a problem for credibility or, or achieving the mission?

[Kevin]

Yeah, I think he's got to make the case to the American people why that is the fact that this is the exit ramp. You know that the press conferences this morning, it was 5,000 targets earlier in the week. Now they're saying 15,000 targets. And again, I think the other question too, and you just mentioned Bibi, is what do the Israelis do? Do they continue on with, moving towards even though there's pessimism around regime change? Do they continue this effort even if we cycle back a bit?

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Larry, could the president just say, sucks to your quagmire, we're out of here, the war's over, we won. Israel might have some cleanup, but we're done. Could he do that? Would that make sense?

[Larry]

Could he do that? Well, of course he could do that, but it wouldn't make sense. And I can tell you that knowing a lot of the people who have the President's ear or in the room at any given time with the president, they would look at the ambassador to Israel who brought us the nuclear deal that ended up with billions of dollars of cash to the mullahs that they then used to slaughter innocent Americans and Jews on October 7th. And then John Kerry saying, oh, you need an off ramp. And they will. That emboldens the president's team. It emboldens the president and his supporters. And they will look at what John Kerry just said and said. You know, finding an off ramp right now is loser mentality. You don't look for an off ramp right now. You look for victory. And you need to define victory and claim it when you get it. And that's, I think, what their mindset is right now. And don't discount what Ambassador Walls did yet Waltz did yesterday at the UN by rallying the international community to condemn Iran and. And show support for this endeavor. That was a big deal. That's one of the biggest UN Votes condemning a single nation that I can remember. And that. And I think that has sort of strengthened the president's hand right now that

[Kevin]

had countries like Oman and others in the region signing on for that. And the fact that you got Russia and China on board is significant, too.

[Larry]

And didn't get much attention.

[Mark Halperin]

No, it didn't. All right, we're going to speed through some stuff and get to your questions.

[Kevin]

They should have had Melania back in the Security Council. That would have gotten more attention had she presided over that.

[Larry]

True.

[Kevin]

Come on.

[Mark Halperin]

It's true. Today is the first day the TSA officers are missing a full pay period, payment. There's efforts around the country to help them make. Get donations. Here's a poly market. On the question of. Of the partial government shutdown, this is number 122. Basically, the question is, will it go another month? Will it go another month? 46% chance it will continue another month. If you look at what happened yesterday with all the votes, this is still a total stalemate. Both sides seem to think they're winning, but neither. There's no. There's not. There seem to be no talks. Kevin, just tell me when this will end. When will the partial government shut down? Just give me a date.

[Kevin]

Probably another month from now, because again, the incentive structure isn't there.

[Larry]

Yeah, Larry, I'm hoping end of March, but Kevin's probably right. When we get close to the holiday. Well, that is the end of the month. Can I just quickly say how frustrated I am with Republicans in the Senate? They should be making a deal out of this every day. We just had two terror attacks yesterday. We've had four terror attacks linked to radical Islamic terror In the last 10 days since this strike in Iran began. And the Democrats are insisting on not funding the Department of Homeland Security. For God's sake. Does anyone not know how to play politics in this town? Republicans should be in front of a camera daily talking about this.

[Kevin]

Yeah, and I'm going to take Democrats to task, Larry, and say the White House sent you two weeks ago a response to what your conditions are, and Democrats have still not responded to that.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, true. All right. Rand Paul's my guest on Next Up. It's available now. We talk a lot about Iran. We talk about the deficit. We talked about talk about political reform. I also asked him about the hearing next week that he's chairing for the confirmation of Mark Wayne Mullen. What did Mark Wayne Mullen say about him? He was a snake.

[Kevin]

Yeah, snake.

[Mark Halperin]

He said he was a snake. So people are interested in knowing what does Rand Paul think about how's he going to preside over this hearing? And I knew he probably wouldn't want to talk about that, so I just asked him a basic softball question. I thought about their relationship and here was Senator Paul's reply. Tell me about your relationship with Mark Wayne Mullen, your colleague from Oklahoma who's been nominated. You'll preside over his confirmation hearing. Just what's the history of your relationship with him?

[Rand Paul]

You know, I think you're going to have to wait. You'll hear more about this. There's going to be a hearing next Wednesday and I don't want to preempt what happens in that hearing, but I think you'll perhaps learn more about that, you know, during the hearing.

[Mark Halperin]

About the history of your relationship or about him?

[Rand Paul]

All of the above. This will be a hearing to examine his fitness, but I don't want to pre examine it. I want to let him have his chance to, you know, make his argument for. For why he should be the nominee.

[Mark Halperin]

Do you like his chances to be confirmed?

[Rand Paul]

I'm going to reserve judgment till next week. You can ask me about almost anything but that. I'm gonna wait until next week, Larry,

[Mark Halperin]

because, Jerry, you feel you need to not preach. What are your thoughts on this, Larry?

[Stephen]

There's a variety.

[Larry]

It's remarkable and it's a great exchange. But I love your style there, Mark, when, as you start to sniff the blood of the water, you just really casually keep pulling.

[Kevin]

What is the nature of your actual objection here? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

I'll say this be anticlimactic or you think there's something big coming?

[Larry]

No. Oh, there's going to be fireworks. I don't know how big it'll be. Here's that Markway Mullen is a big personality. He did not play, play this soft, silent, meager freshman senator when he joined that body. But he's also got a lot of friends. Let me just say this, Mark Wade Mullen has more friends in the administration than Rand Paul does. And I'd venture to say I think he's probably got more friends in the Republican caucus in the Senate than Rand Paul does, despite Senator Paul's seniority.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, Kevin, you know, Senator Paul is wildly like a fox, crafty like a fox. He's crazy like a fox.

[Kevin]

Consistent.

[Mark Halperin]

He's consistent. So do you think the hearing, there's something brewing here. This will be anticlimactic.

[Kevin]

I think it'll be mostly anticlimactic. I think, you know, Rand Paul is excellent when it comes to engaging with the media and setting expectations. And I think, you know, I give Mark Wayne Mullen a lot of credit. I think he's built relationships not just with Republicans, but Democrats too. He did, you know, what's the senator, junior senator from Vermont, the Democrat. He did like a video series with him and their hideaways and stuff like that. So he, you know, Mark Wayne. And again, he made peace with Sean o', Brien, the teamster guy, when they were about to fight each other in that committee hearing and now they're doing podcasts together. So I don't, you know, I don't discount Mark Wayne Mullen's abilities there in terms of charm, a charm offensive as part of this hearing.

[Mark Halperin]

Well, I wasn't necessarily looking forward to the hearing particularly, but now I am. All right. The California Post dog with a bone over the question of where Eric Swalwell lives. A lot of members of Congress who aren't millionaires or billionaires move their families to Washington and then establish quasi real residences in their state. But Eric Swalwell, there have been questions raised. Here's the New York Post headline today. It's not the first time they've written about this. Democrats panic over Eric Swalwell residency doubts as rivals demand he quit race. He's listed in his as his address a place where the New York Post found the neighbors don't recognize him and you're supposed to in California to run for governors have had residency there for five years. It's not just the New York Post and the Republicans who are criticizing him, although there is that. But the Democrats are they claim it's because they don't want him to be win the nomination or get one of the final two slots in the jungle primary for the general and then be disqualified, allowing a Republican to win. But obviously he's become something of a front runner. Something of a front runner, at least on Democratic side. Kevin, will Eric Swalwell be on the ballot? Yeah.

[Kevin]

This is the Dumbest thing. And this is the biggest self inflicted wound that you see with Republicans and Democrats when they come to Washington. You know, Tommy Tuberville, you know, they were going after him saying that he's a Florida resident. This is the dumbest thing on Swalwell's part to, to let this get any gas in terms of the narrative out there.

[Mark Halperin]

Governor Whitmer is currently having a press conference about the synagogue shooting yesterday. We'll monitor that. Go ahead, Larry. Swalwell, will he be kicked off the ballot?

[Larry]

Now, let's be careful. This is Oppa research coming from Democrats, okay? Because, because Democrats. The headline here is that Democrats see that Swalwell right now is poised to finish in second and he would be the Democrat nominee. They're terrified of that because let's face it, Eric Swalwell is a big, out loud, frequent punchline for people who do what I do for a living. He's a very quiet, whispered punchline for Democrats who also think he's a joke, but they just don't say it out loud.

[Mark Halperin]

Well said, Larry. Correct. All correct. I don't think he's going to be on the ballot. I think they're going to force him off because I think this is going to lead to a spate of additional opposition research. And that's all I'll say. All right.

[Kevin]

I mean, who could forget the guy running. We forget that the guy ran for President in 2020 on the debate stage.

[Mark Halperin]

Oh, I don't forget.

[Kevin]

And, oh, I don't forget it.

[Mark Halperin]

Some, some do, but I don't forget it. All right.

[Kevin]

He is not the strongest Democrat that we could nominate, that's for sure.

[Larry]

He's no James Talarico.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm gonna, that's, I'm gonna skip over a couple topics because I want to make sure we leave enough time for everybody's questions. So please raise your hand if you want to be in on the conversation. Politico has a story today about a woman who's probably a good friend of Kevin's, I'm guessing Juliana Glover Weiss. She a good friend of yours?

[Kevin]

We know one another.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay. Anyway, Juliana Glover Weiss is in the Epstein files and she did not co

[Kevin]

host my engagement party, let's just say that.

[Mark Halperin]

So she emailed back and forth with Jeffrey Epstein about various matters of some political, some business. She represented Elon Musk at the time. Lots of people are in the Epstein files. She's not accused of anything illegal. She's not accused of knowing anything about his activities. But the story in Politico is by a guy named Daniel Lippman. Daniel Lippman writes a lot of stories like this. A quasi investigative. And he makes the point in the story that she's very well known amongst Politico reporters. All right, so it says her townhouse in Kalorama is a gathering place for a wide array of DC operators, think tinkers and campaign funders and journalists. She's built goodwill across town and a thriving personal network, in part with her willingness to host book parties, new job celebrations, and more. Indeed, she was a co host of an engagement party in 2023 for the author of this article. Okay, now, I understand we talked about this earlier in the program. There's the disclosure. So by some people's measure, hey, they disclosed it. Everybody the readers can know. But I'm pretty sure there's other reporters of Politico. Kevin, if you were the managing editor of Politico, would you assign a story about someone that involved, you know, a controversy, that. Who. For Whom they'd hosted the engagement part, co hosted the engagement party, or would you just find another reporter?

[Kevin]

You know, Daniel's so good at these kind of investigative, D.C. kind of focused things that I don't know if political. They've got a lot of great people out there. Maybe you reassign it, but Daniel. Daniel's like a dog with a bone on a lot of stories.

[Mark Halperin]

Come on, Kevin.

[Kevin]

Yeah, I mean, I'm not defending Daniel or Politico. I'm just saying.

[Mark Halperin]

But I'm saying is. Larry, back me up here. The editor should not let him do the story.

[Larry]

Correct? Correct. I. My reporters.

[Kevin]

It's negative. It's negative about Julia especially.

[Larry]

Well, how more negative could it have been, though? Kevin, what did they leave on the cutting room floor? Here's the thing. If. If it's an investigative piece connected to Jeffrey Epstein, I think that's very important in this context. If we were covering a story like that and a reporter at town hall had a similar relationship, I would take them off the. The story.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm all for trusting reporters, and to some extent, the story and the disclosure speak for themselves. But you cannot have someone who writes about someone who hosted their engagement party. I don't even think it's a close call. I just. I really wonder why they did that. I mean, the minute. The minute the story came up, even if he developed the story now, it's all just based on the Epstein files, so you just have to read the Epstein files. But the minute it came up, just find another reporter, hand it off. Very confusing.

[Stephen]

Mark.

[Larry]

Mark isn't part of the problem. The incestuous nature of the media in Washington, D.C. you know, what we call

[Mark Halperin]

the people involved in this, we might call the members of the Epstein class. That's what we might call them.

[Larry]

Some, some, some would use that.

[Kevin]

Some would say always some blurred lines, for sure.

[Mark Halperin]

That's, but that's, that's why I said,

[Kevin]

thank God we have town hall under the leadership, holding everybody accountable.

[Mark Halperin]

But that's why it's not just an investigative story. It's an investigative story around which a lot of people have doubts about Washington elites and their attempts to cover things up. I'm not saying they did in this case. It's just not worth it. It's not worth it to me.

[Larry]

All right.

[Kevin]

And again.

[Caller/Guest]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

And again, you got Catherine, what's her name, that is still the lawyer at Goldman Sachs, even though she said she's resigning in a few months to the point of that Epstein class that we talked about a few weeks ago.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. All right, Kevin Winner of the week.

[Kevin]

Winner of the week. My home state senator, Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren, the chair and ranking member of Senate banking, who passed this housing bill yesterday, 89 to 10, something. We don't really see that often on a policy issue like this. Obviously, it's going to go to a conference committee. The House passed a different version. But this is a good thing for the American people and something we should celebrate when we see these kind of numbers with bipartisanship.

[Larry]

Larry Ken Paxton, Attorney general and candidate for Senate in Texas. Not only did he survive another week without that long anticipated endorsement of John Cornyn from Donald Trump, he forced John Cornyn to reverse the stand that he had, which plays into his sort of swampy Persona. And the latest poll shows that even if Trump endorses John Cornyn, Paxton still wins. That's a triple play. Winner of the week.

[Mark Halperin]

You know, we don't discuss these in advance, and I had no idea that was your pick, Kevin, but mine's similar. It's based on the passage, the overwhelming bipartisan passage of the housing bill in the Senate. Because you're a Washington elite, you make the winners two senators. My winners are the people in this country who aren't cynical. This is an election year and Donald Trump is going to get a huge victory because I think they're going to figure out a way to get a bill through that. The House. Donald Trump's going to get a huge victory on affordability. And all but one Democratic senator said, great, that's fine, because this is a good bill. And all the experts I know say this is a good bill. So the winners are the American people and those who are not cynical about, about the fact that members of Congress will vote for what's right and in a bipartisan way. And even with Donald Trump's president and the president.

[Kevin]

This is like when Time magazine named us all, you know, people of the year.

[Mark Halperin]

Mark with the mirror, you know, you, you are personal here. KEVIN Loser of the week.

[Kevin]

Loser of the week Are all these Democratic AGs that are continuing this campaign against Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The DOJ reached a settlement on this antitrust case, a quarter of a billion dollars for that settlement, along with some transparency involved in that. And, you know, I can't imagine the case where you had these ags. Now moving forward with the case. It's already been settled on the federal level. The winners are the American people and live music fans, because this has been settled.

[Larry]

LARRY Loser I was tempted to make a Paul Begala over the Lobstergate nonsense, but instead let's make it the fans of the Seattle Seahawks. You may have won the super bowl, but that might be the last one for a while. State of Washington just passed a first income tax focusing on millionaires. Guess who were millionaires in the state of Washington. NFL football players, the general manager has said is going to make it really, really hard to sign new players. And of course, the founder of Starbucks just moved to Florida and the headquarters for Starbucks has moved to Nashville, Washington. You have not served your fans well.

[Mark Halperin]

My loser of the week, John Th. Who was just, you know, treated like a, like a poor cousin or whatever, the right whipping boy whipping boy by the president and just told he has to put a bill on the floor that's going to waste a bunch of time and produce a bad outcome because the base is going to take all their anger out on him. And the president knows better, but he's just doing it. And poor John Thune got this job and now he's not the majority leader of the Senate. He's the minority partner to Donald Trump. Kevin what you're watching for this weekend,

[Kevin]

the Oscars on Sunday and does, you know, one battle after another, clean up as people are predicting, or sinners, obviously there too. I got to spend some time this weekend watching some of these movies. I've only seen like one or two of them because I've been too busy getting ready for the morning meeting most mornings.

[Mark Halperin]

So who's the head of, who's the head of the Motion Picture Academy these days? It used to be Dan. It was Jack Valenti who is it now?

[Larry]

Wasn't it Chris Dodd?

[Mark Halperin]

It was Chris Dodd, too. Those three guys. But do you have any idea who it is?

[Kevin]

Charles. It was Charles Rivkin, too. I don't think he is still a former ambassador to France.

[Mark Halperin]

Larry, do you know who it is?

[Kevin]

Maybe he, maybe he is in charge of it, the npa.

[Mark Halperin]

I want it to be somebody who

[Kevin]

I think he is.

[Mark Halperin]

I want it to be somebody who sends Kevin DVDs of all the, of all the nominated films. And then I want Kevin to figure out how to play a dvd. Larry?

[Kevin]

Yes. Hey, Charles Rivkins. I got it right. Is the Charles, Please send former master.

[Mark Halperin]

Please send all of us DVDs and a DVD player and the cables to connect the DVD player.

[Kevin]

I need their show.

[Mark Halperin]

How about, how about Mr. Rifkin just send us links with passwords to all the films.

[Larry]

Larry Mark, as a professional broadcaster in a major market, I'm a member of SAG AFTRA and I get the DVDs and I get the encoded links, which is what they're sending most of the voters now. So if you'd like, I could, you know, Kevin.

[Mark Halperin]

Kevin and I would appreciate it. Yes, sir.

[Larry]

I'm not supposed to share them. And now I've told the world that I might for the right price. I am also watching the Oscars.

[Kevin]

Play Larry, Pay to play Larry.

[Stephen]

Come.

[Larry]

I might want. I'll be watching the Oscar, but I think like most people, I'll just be watching Conan o' Brien at the beginning and once he loses me or one of the, except in speeches loses me because I vote the wrong way, I'll turn it off.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, I'll be watching Larry over, over, under.

[Kevin]

How many actors and actresses and directors get up there and say something about the war? More than five?

[Larry]

Nearly. Nearly all. Oh, absolutely. More than all. Right, so that's about the war, about ice or whatever.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm watching two things to the Oscars. How much of that there is because in the pre Trump intimidation of Hollywood era, they'd all be just trashing Donald Trump, but they're all a little worried about doing that. Their agents have probably told them, don't take him on. So I want to see, and I also want to see the Rob Reiner tribute. I think it's just going to be amazing. And, and I don't think the country's had much closure over his death. And so I want, I want to see that. All right, quick word from a sponsor then. To your questions, Please raise your hand if you want to get in on the conversation right now. Download the free Upside app and get cash back on every purchase you make at participating gas stations, restaurants and supermarkets. This is a great thing, folks. It doesn't cost you anything. There's no membership fee. The app is free, it's easy to use, it tells you where you can get your cash back and it doesn't interfere with anything you already get in terms of benefits from the credit card you use. Use the same credit card. It's just additional cash back. Go right now and you can see on the app a hundred thousand participating locations, cash back opportunities all around you. I've used it at home and I use it when I travel and they're everywhere. I mean, I've never been any place in the country that doesn't have lots of options to use it. You just open the app, claim and offer, pay with your credit card like normal and you get cash back. They give out a million dollars a week to the people who use it. They've given out over a billion dollars since the app started operating. Go right now to your phone and download the Upside app. And if you use the promo code Mark, you can get 25 cents a gallon back in addition to the normal rebate on on your purchase of first tank of gas.

[Larry]

You want me to get that for you?

[Mark Halperin]

No, it's not. It's not. It's an alarm. I don't know why I don't have an alarm set, but thank you for offering anyway. Go right now. The Upside app. Download it. Go crazy. This is it.

[Larry]

The world as you know it is over.

[Mark Halperin]

Completely done.

[Larry]

It's not about to be over. It's over.

[Mark Halperin]

Some of the scientists who helped build AI are now sounding the alarm. I was selling AI as a great

[Larry]

thing for decades and I was wrong. I was wrong.

[Mark Halperin]

There is a longer term existential threat that will arise when we create digital beings that are more intelligent than ourselves. We have no idea whether we can stay in control. While others say that AI will usher in unfathomable abundance, I've always believed that it's going to be the most important invention that humanity will ever make.

[Larry]

This really will be a world of abundance.

[Mark Halperin]

And among these fears and these fantasies, we seek the story of our future. Listen to the last invention on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here we go. Stephen, welcome in. Thanks for being part of Two Way. Unmute, Tell people. Oops, Stephen disappeared. I'm bringing him back. Unmute, Tell people where you are. What's on your mind? After you finish chewing, Take Your time for Larry. Larry and Kevin at. Thank you for being part of su.

[Kevin]

You got to give him more of a war. You got to give Steven more of a warning when he's.

[Mark Halperin]

Look at that.

[Kevin]

That is that.

[Larry]

Now that's. That.

[Mark Halperin]

Does that beautiful ammo have a bottle bubble cuddle blanket?

[Stephen]

He does. Not yet, but. But we're working on it, so probably have one by the end of the week, but.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, good. Good to hear. Go ahead, sir. Thank you for being here.

[Stephen]

Comment on the Eric Swalwell thing. I mean, I'm a. I'm a, you know, super minor fan of that guy. Like, that's is the best way I could say that.

[Mark Halperin]

Where do you live, Stephen?

[Stephen]

I live in Dallas. I'm in Houston. I travel a lot.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah. Why are you a fan of Eric sowell?

[Stephen]

I'm not a fan of Eric, so I was trying to be sarcastic.

[Mark Halperin]

Okay.

[Larry]

Okay.

[Stephen]

My good friend, see, and his kids go to school there. Eric Swalwell does not live in California. I mean, everybody knows that he's got basis in there. His kids are registered at the same school my friends went to. They were in the same supper clubs. They know each other well. And I used to, you know, comment to my buddy all the time about, you know, what a smarmy little fella he was, and, you know, he would say, look in person, nice. And I said, you know, you can be a nice guy, but it doesn't mean you should be making policy, you know, as a policy. So I just. I thought I would just share that little tidbit with you, like, as a comment. I love your show. Thank you very much. What are we doing about the group chat? Can we get that?

[I]

Is that.

[Stephen]

Is that gone or is it back?

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, it's on every Thursday. On every Thursday.

[Larry]

It's just been going.

[Mark Halperin]

And you can go watch it. You can go watch it online on demand. Stephen, I'm trying to think if there's a way to have a competition between you and Larry of who detests Swalwell more. I'm wondering if there's a way to. I wonder if there's a way to measure it.

[Kevin]

You know, what if.

[Stephen]

What if Larry and I just hugged it out because we could.

[Mark Halperin]

Stephen, do you like Paris?

[Stephen]

Paris?

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, Paris, France. You like going to Paris, France?

[Stephen]

I don't like the French, other than my dog.

[Larry]

Too many French people. Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

What's the place you like to go to, Stephen?

[Stephen]

Mexico.

[Mark Halperin]

Mexico. All right. If you could go fishing in Mexico for a week, all expenses paid, everything, the whole thing. But Swalwell was in your party, would you take it? Oh, I would. I would.

[Stephen]

I would take him on a trip.

[Larry]

Oh, yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

I would pay for it, like, gladly.

[Kevin]

Come on.

[Larry]

So you could torment him the whole time?

[Kevin]

I'm a little worried about taking you taking him fishing, Stephen. On open water,

[Mark Halperin]

my shirt would just

[Stephen]

say hashtag thing, hashtag fun, fun, hash. You know, like, you know, the whole thing.

[Mark Halperin]

Like, I. These.

[Stephen]

Everybody's got problems, but that guy just is just such. Not a genuine person.

[Larry]

I mean, we're having fun with it, Kevin, but, I mean, I was surprised you downplayed this. You know, the address he used when he filed to run was the address of his lawyer's office in Sacramento. Everybody knows he doesn't live in California. Doesn't this feed into the problem with Democrats, that they're just professional politicians and he just wants to hop from this job where he lives in D.C. with his family to being governor of California?

[Kevin]

Sorry, I mean, this.

[Mark Halperin]

Go ahead. I mean, I was just gonna say

[Kevin]

this is the biggest unforced era. Era with political candidates. And the dumbest thing, too. And again, Eric Swalwell is a guy that has prioritized media engagement over legislation. We see that a ton in Congress, and that's why so many folks run for office now. It's not to actually do the work in committees, which is 90% of the work. It's to get on television and make a name for himself, which is one of the reasons why he's doing so well in this primary, unfortunately. So, again, I'm not the biggest Eric Swalwell fan. He's got to get out there and defend himself. But this is the biggest, dumbest, unforced error when it comes to residency. One more thing, Steven. I will say, you know, it was more the case that members of Congress, senators before the 90s, and Newt Gingrich changed the Senate calendar and House calendar. They would move their families here. And so many members of Congress had kids that went to all the schools in Bethesda, D.C. northern Virginia. So that's not.

[Mark Halperin]

That.

[Kevin]

That's not. You know, I think.

[Mark Halperin]

Stephen. Hold on, hold on just one second. I want to ask Larry a question which I tried to ask, but I stupidly muted myself. Larry, you are a modern day de Tocqueville and an extremely good anthropologist. Don't answer. Jokey answer. Seriously, why does Swalwell inspire so much disdain and mockery amongst Republicans? What is it about him?

[Larry]

Well, I mean. Well, first of all, the man literally had an affair with a Chinese spy, and he's gotten away with it, and still the Democrats allowed him to sit on the Intelligence Committee.

[Mark Halperin]

But is that a source of mockery? That should be a source maybe of outrage, you know.

[Larry]

Well, that's both. But he audaciously claimed that there was nothing wrong with it while going after the President of the United States about having affiliations with Russian spies and that he was put into office because of Russian collusion, which was all a lie. Being on the Intelligence Community Committee, he should have known that. He did know that. So while he's got his own spy problem with Red China, he's slandering and sliming Republicans and the President at the same time.

[Mark Halperin]

Stephen, you got it. You got to buy it.

[Larry]

But the reason that turns into. The reason it turns into mockery is because he's such an easy target, because he's such a lightweight. And you know that Democrats.

[Mark Halperin]

Well said, Larry. Stephen, you got to give Swalwell credit for audacity and to have all that in your back, to have all that in your background and then say, I'm going to run for governor as the president.

[Stephen]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

I want Larry Decamera to say, I'm Steve Hilton and I approve this message. After that diatribe you just gave us.

[Larry]

I haven't picked a candidate there yet.

[Mark Halperin]

Thank you, Stevens. All right, we got from Steve.

[Kevin]

He also.

[Larry]

He also broke gas on live television, let's not forget. I mean, that's always a thing.

[Kevin]

I would like to go fishing with Stephen in Mexico, though.

[Mark Halperin]

So we'll set it up.

[Larry]

Me, too.

[Mark Halperin]

Tell folks who don't know Steve where you are what's on your mind for Kevin and for Larry.

[I]

Hey, guys.

[Caller/Guest]

Calling in from Norfolk, Virginia, where We are remembering Lt. Col. Shaw, who was killed yesterday. Oh, to you.

[Kevin]

Just thank you for mentioning that.

[Caller/Guest]

Hey, media and politics question. So these folks, you see a lot of talking heads that claim a level of knowledge that they would have to be in a briefing with the CIA director to sit there and make statements of. There was no imminent threat. There wasn't any of this other stuff. Where do these guys get off on that? Why don't they get called on the carpet? Like, what classified brief did you attend to get that information? And then on the politics side of it, the briefings, as you see the folks coming out, like, I'd say Blumenthal and Warren.

[Mark Halperin]

Stephen. All right, Steven, you froze a little bit. I'm gonna. I'm gonna go first and answer your question that we heard. Look, there's irresponsible reporting and there's hostile reporting. But on the question Steve raised, there are plenty of experts who are not biased, who will tell you that based on the available data, Iran's capacity to actually complete building a weapon was not imminent. Not every expert will say that, but many will. Number two, the administration has been inconsistent in its characterizations and its absence, and with an absence of proof of various ways they've described the degree, the timing by which Iran might develop a nuclear weapon. So I think in this case, skepticism. And of course, you look at what happened with Saddam Hussein and the Bush administration, skepticism on this point would be good. And. And they may have classified sources. We don't know. So I'm certain that some of the reporting is irresponsible, but I'm also certain that some of it is not. Larry, Kevin, you guys want to weigh in on that question?

[Larry]

I would just quickly weigh. I am now forever skeptical of stories that have anonymous source from the intelligence community or what have you when it's undermining the Trump admin. We've been down this road before, and I just. This is something that needs to be said over and over again when there's an anonymous source leaking to a media figure. Mark, And I think you'd agree with this. There are two stories. The first story is what that anonymous source said. The second story is, why is that anonymous source leaking this anonymously and potentially violating the law when they do it? That story is never told. And I think that's a big part of the story sometimes.

[Mark Halperin]

Sometimes. Sometimes. But, Larry, if you. If you were a government official and you'd seen the intelligence and it suggested that what's the country in the Marx Brothers movie? Fredonia was nowhere close to having a nuclear weapon, and the president you served was telling the country, we need to go to war against Fredonia because they're about to have a nuclear weapon.

[Larry]

You.

[Mark Halperin]

It's reasonable, isn't it, to say that, well, maybe you should put out the fact that the president's not telling the truth.

[Larry]

I wouldn't violate the law in so doing, and I wouldn't leak anonymously. I think that we've put enough channels in place for be able to do it in a legal and ethical way.

[Mark Halperin]

All right, thank you.

[Larry]

And it lends more credibility to it, in my opinion.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, okay.

[Kevin]

Yeah. Obviously there's a time and a place for whistleblowers and those protections and stuff like that. I think I'm with Larry, to some degree, where you see officials, whether they be members of Congress, trying to shape the narrative by releasing this information to see a Policy change when that's not their role.

[Mark Halperin]

Anthony.

[I]

Hi, guys.

[Mark Halperin]

Welcome in, sir.

[I]

Yeah, overseas. Frost, just a quick question. So I don't know. I mean, I put it in the group, in the chat there, because last night there were five service men in Iraq who were injured and one killed. We learned that this morning, at least. So. And also with the. What is that now? Four terrorist attacks in the U.S. yeah. Am I right?

[Mark Halperin]

Maybe. Yeah, maybe four.

[I]

So with all of that, so what is the risk that it becomes like, you know, a wide war? I know we have a carrier strike group in the region, and I think, you know, the Brita have also been hit. Yeah.

[Caller/Guest]

So.

[I]

Yeah. So what's the likelihood that it will

[Mark Halperin]

just escalate into a world war? Kevin? There are a lot of countries already implicated and maybe more coming, and we know previous world wars started in a similar escalated way, so over years. So what are your thoughts on that, Anthony?

[Kevin]

It's a great question. There's something like 20 countries actively involved in this because. Mostly because of Iran's indiscriminate attacks. One of my big fears is you're seeing increased attacks on Turkey, which is a NATO nation we are obligated, obviously, to defend as part of Article 5. Thus far, those drones have been intercepted over the skies of Turkey and haven't reached to cause any damage. But that's certainly a concern. And we know this is how Iran fights too, right? They fight indiscriminately, whether it be cyber, whether it be sleeper cells, whether it be obviously targeting energy components in the surrounding countries, so that the risk of escalation is certainly there because you're dealing with a country that does not care and does not value human life and wants to further their agenda.

[Larry]

Larry, I don't think it's a world power. A world war is imminent in terms of what we know as a world war, where you've got major powers fighting on multiple continents around the world. If you mean the entire world against Iran, well, that's sort of what we're building up to. And I don't mean to be flippant about it, but the World War II and World War I scenarios had to do with an axis of countries that all had formidable militaries that were linked together and had alliances against our side, the allies. That's not what this is looking like in any way.

[Mark Halperin]

Anthony, thank you.

[Kevin]

And one thing to Anthony, too grateful for France's support in this effort, too. And obviously, as he started at the start of his question, there's been French service members injured as part of this effort too do and it's better to fight with allies than fight without them.

[Mark Halperin]

FT breaking news. Anthony, sorry I had to cut you off but we're right at the end here. FT is just now reporting this. European countries including France have opened talks with Tehran seeking to negotiate a deal to guarantee safe passage for their ships through the Strait of Hormuz, according to people briefed on the efforts. So there's the European track. Maybe not to end the conflict in full but maybe to open up and the FT talking about anonymous sources. The FT is usually pretty reliable. I'm gonna go over head over to Sirius XM for the roll into the 10 o' clock hour on channel 111. Before I do want to thank Larry and Kevin and all the guest hosts we had this week. Want to thank the two way community. Mark Halperin's wardrobe not supplied by Botany 500 but rather by our friends at Fairway and Green. Go to two Way TV Fairway. You can get clothes like this here. You see the nice two way logo on my sweater. Nice vest. Morning meeting is a fair Go to Fairway two Way TV Fairway and you'll get to see the discount there and buy yourself some nice stuff. It's great spring stuff.

[Kevin]

Lifelock.

[Mark Halperin]

How can I help the IRS that I filed my return but I haven't. 1 in 4 tax paying Americans has paid the price of identity fraud.

[Pete Hegseth]

What do I do My refund though.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm freaking out.

[Kevin]

Don't worry, I can fix this.

[Mark Halperin]

Lifelock fixes identity theft guaranteed and gets

[Matt Ebert]

your money back with up to $3 million in coverage.

[Mark Halperin]

I'm so relieved.

[Caller/Guest]

No problem.

[Mark Halperin]

I'll be with you every step of the way. One in four was a fraud paying American. Not anymore. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast Terms apply Larry, what were you going to say?

[Larry]

We never got to Mamdani's wife's art.

[Mark Halperin]

I know. We didn't get to that. We also didn't get to the my advice of people how to use Twitter which We'll get to it. It'll be a lot.

[Larry]

Yeah.

[Mark Halperin]

Next week we'll get back to it.

[Larry]

I apologize. Were you going to talk about the cardboard cutout of the Supreme Leader? Is that the. That was that the example of a.

[Mark Halperin]

Now just in general people see stuff on Twitter and then they call me. They're like is this true? And I wanted to. I know it's called X.

[Larry]

Well that's what I was getting with the cardboard cutout.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, I know all Right.

[Kevin]

He's got to get over and host serious.

[Mark Halperin]

Thanks you guys. Talk to everybody and I'll see you at 5.

[Larry]

I like to push him. It gives him more energy when he's pushed at the end there. That's exactly opinion. Are you. Do you have a pick in the Oscars, Kevin?

[Kevin]

I mean, everyone's talking about one battle after another. You know, in terms of actors and Best Picture. I think that's where the money is right now.

[Larry]

Can I admit, even though I have the DVDs and links, I have not seen any of these movies yet. I've had a very busy.

[Kevin]

Any of the 10. Any of the 10 best pictures. You've been moving. You've been setting up a new place, new studio.

[Larry]

Exactly.

[Kevin]

They can be excused.

[Larry]

Let's bring. Haley really quickly. Wants to give us her quit and it's going to be very quick.

[Kevin]

Can we bring. I don't. Do we have the power to bring. I don't think we have the power to bring.

[Larry]

If we ask for it, we can. If we. The Harry Potter movies are not involved in the Oscars this year. But do you have a. Do you have a.

[Kevin]

Just wanted to say an Oscar prediction

[Mark Halperin]

ruined his chances to win best Actor after he made that comment about the

[Larry]

ballet and about opera and ballet.

[Mark Halperin]

Yeah, he was on. And now his whole campaign just up in the air. It's over.

[Kevin]

Does it make you. Haley, does it make you just want to give him a spanking like wow. Endured in that. In that. In that movie.

[Mark Halperin]

I'll leave that to Kylie.

[Larry]

Haley. Some. I saw somebody on X saying that Timothy Chamalay or Chalamet is more. That he's more attractive than Henry Cavill. Are you kidding me? I mean, I'm the straightest man on the planet, but even he's no Superman.

[Kevin]

He's a Superman.

[Larry]

Thank you.

[Mark Halperin]

Good looking kid, but he needs to get some muscles. But he is a fantastic actor. He just ruined it because he can't shut his mouth.

[Larry]

Superman. Not even the best Henry Cavill movie, by the way. Best Henry Cavill movie. Anybody? Anybody?

[Kevin]

I mean, I liked him in the man from U.N.C.L.E.

[Mark Halperin]

yeah, I loved him in the Witches.

[Kevin]

Man from U.N.C.LE.

[Larry]

oh, yeah. No, they've ruined the Witcher. Man from U.N. uncle is Meredith and I will watch Man From U.N.C.LE every six months. And we just try to pretend we don't know all we know about Armin Hammer because that's just nasty. Haley, have a great weekend and enjoy the Oscars.

[Kevin]

Thank you so much and congratulations on surviving Florida.

[Mark Halperin]

Not yet.

[Larry]

That's right.

[Kevin]

Soon soon. Soon.

[Larry]

Tonight Two Way Tonight is live at 5pm Democrat strategist Al Mutter and editor in chief of National Review Rich Lowry. Wow, that's a, that's a good way to close out the week.

[Kevin]

My buddy Richard car up right there at five o'. Clock.

[Larry]

Absolutely. And then of course the morning meeting continues right now on Sirius XM.

[Kevin]

Swing over there, channel 111. And then of course join Professor Kenny and other fan faves at 11 o' clock to continue the conversation over there as well.

[Larry]

And if you would like to see me and Kevin co host the morning meeting with Mark Halperin next Monday morning at 9:00am well, you're just gonna have to wait and see if that's what happens.

[Kevin]

We're like Rand Paul. We're teasing it. We're teasing it. We don't know what's gonna happen next week.

[Larry]

It's going to be huge. Thanks everyone.

[Kevin]

Thanks everybody. Have a great weekend.