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The Morning Meeting
Trump Topples "Very Disloyal" Senate Titan John Cornyn, Sets Up Odd Race Between Paxton, Talarico
01:06:35
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- [00:03]
Mark
Welcome to the morning meeting. It's the day after the big Texas primaries. The show is always forward looking. It's the day after South Carolina Republicans
- [00:10]
Kevin
refused to redistrict James Clyburn out of South Carolina. Senate Republicans.
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Mark
Senate Republicans. Yeah, yeah, they did.
- [00:18]
Kevin
And this.
- [00:18]
Mark
And the. And the governor seemed to support it. Anyway, we're going to talk about both those things in a forward looking way because both have massive implications, not just for 2026, but beyond. Larry, Kevin and I will be joined in a moment by one of the greatest Texas political analysts you ever did hear from. She'll join us and we'll break down the Texas results. We'll also talk about California, South Carolina, Iran, the President's health. And the New York Times breaking a major story that Donald John Trump, New York Knickerbocker fan, may attend a playoff, a finals game, which would be kind of extravagant. So in a moment, our guest will be here and we'll talk Texas. But let me run through the day. Book first for everybody. The President's having a Cabinet meeting today at 11 o'. Clock. Was going to be at, at Camp David, but it's going to be in the White House in the Cabinet Room before then. He's got executive time and then he's got a policy meeting at 3 and a policy meeting at 4. The Vice President, of course, will join at the Cabinet meeting. And the acting labor secretary. Either of you. Can either of you name the acting labor secretary? Three, two, one, go. No.
- [01:25]
Kevin
Is it back to Julie Sue?
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Mark
It's not Julie sue, although she was
- [01:29]
Kevin
acting for many years.
- [01:31]
Mark
She's like got like a Juilliard degree in acting for that job. Keith Sonderling delivers remarks on AI in the workforce at the U.S. chamber of Commerce. The U.S. chamber is having a big event on AI today. Congress is still out. Mark Carney is in Gotham City today meeting with executives, entrepreneurs and investment leaders. He's speaking to the Economic Club of New York tomorrow. No indication he's going to Washington, D.C. conference on Mackinac Island. You guys ever been there in Michigan?
- [02:02]
Larry
Mackinac?
- [02:03]
Deirdre
I haven't.
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Mark
Yeah.
- [02:03]
Larry
Yeah.
- [02:04]
Mark
I'm just kidding.
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Kevin
Mackinac island, no cars, right? No cars.
- [02:07]
Mark
No cars, but a lot of fudge. Anyway.
- [02:11]
Larry
Don't look at the penny when you take it out of your pocket.
- [02:14]
Mark
Exactly. And you can.
- [02:15]
Kevin
But which recent vice president actually had to have cars on the island and broke the rules?
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Mark
I don't know.
- [02:21]
Kevin
Mike Pence.
- [02:22]
Mark
Mike Pence. Ironically, Mike Pence is there again today, as is Pete Buttigieg and Gretchen Whitmer. They're at a policy conference addressing topics like bridging the political divide. And I can think of no three people better qualified to do that than Gretchen Whitmer, Mike Pence and Pete Buttigieg. Anyway, Mackinac island is a beautiful place. If you've never gone and you have an opportunity to, you should avail yourself of that opportunity. All right, let's talk Texas and then we'll do some other stuff. Stock futures pointing higher. Brent crude is about 95 this morning, dollars a barrel. Texas. Here's the headline from the Texas Tribune. 104 please. Paxton topples Cornyn and Senate runoff. He won easily. And anybody tells you the president's endorsement put him over the top, is unfamiliar with the private polling that showed, in fact, that he was going to win anyway, which is probably in part why the president did what he did. We'll play some sound from Talarico and from Paxton from last night, but I just want to go straight to a analysis from Deirdre Delici. He's here. Longtime Republican and policy person. I Deidre, I muted you accidentally. Deirdre. I lived in Texas. I'm fortunate in my career in about half the states. I know people know everything about the state. So I don't need to know anything. I just need to ask Deirdre. Deirdre, welcome in. Worked for, amongst others, Governor Perry. Deirdre, just let's go right to the the chase here. Can can under some circumstances, do you believe Talarico can win this race?
- [03:54]
Deirdre
I don't. He is deeply, deeply out of line with the majority of Texas voters. I have a hard time seeing a guy who said that there are six genders and God is non binary has a chance to actually win. Now. I don't think that will deter national Democrats are coming into Texas. It's too juicy of an opportunity because of Ken Paxton as the opponent. But I think they're going to spend a lot of money. Paxton still will win. I think the bigger impact that money might have on Texas is down ballot. We saw this in 2018 during Trump's first midterm election in Texas. We lost 12 state House seats. If we hold the current environment or if it gets even a little bit worse and we lose 13 House seats, all of a sudden our Republican majority in the House goes down to 75. 75, which is hugely problematic. Right. So, you know, the most important player in this election in November is not going to be Ken Paxton or Tal Rico. It's going to be Greg Abbott in his $110 million plus war chest because he's going to have to be the stopper.
- [05:04]
Mark
Before I turn you over to Larry and Kevin, I want to ask you a couple more. First, I agree with you about Talarico, and I just, I, as I said, Texas is happy to elect people who've been indicted and have committed adultery. They've done it, but they've never elected anybody who says the kind of things this guy has said. But let's take the candidates out of it. Let's just take a normal demographic Texas race, where Texas is a, is a less white state than it was before, where we've seen nationally and in Texas erosion From the Trump 2024 levels of support from Hispanic votes. If Talarico, if Talarico puts together a coalition of brown and black, young, urban, suburban, he's in the ballpark, isn't he? If it's just a generic, if he can, if he can somehow be a generic Democrat, you and I agree he won't be by the end. But if, but a generic Democrat right now against Paxson, who's going to, who's going to shed some suburban Republicans either won't vote or might vote for the Democrats. So doesn't that put them in the ballpark?
- [06:04]
Deirdre
Sure. And you're basically talking about the candidate Beto O' Rourke was back in 2018.
- [06:09]
Mark
Right. With changing demographics.
- [06:13]
Deirdre
With changing demographics. The fundamental problem Texas Democrats have, people focus a lot on the schism in the Republican Party in Texas and they kind of ignore the Democrats because the Democrats haven't been, you know, they haven't won a state of wide elections since 1994. It is an absolute truth that in order to win the nomination in Texas as a Democrat, you have to appeal to those urban core voters in Austin, Dallas and Houston and then you take them to the general election. And these are not people that can appeal to that, that coalition you're talking about, Mark, particularly those Hispanics in South Texas that are by tradition Democrats but still very fundamentally moderately moderate on the social conservative issues. So, you know, it's yes, in theory, and I think Beto was their best shot back then to do that. But Talarico's record is way more established in some of these areas that I just don't think they can come back in. And you know, it's funny to me when you look at the four of the top races that are going to be on the ballot in November, four of them are members of the legislature who represent Travis county, or as we like to call it, and I live in Travis county, but we call it the People's Republic of Travis county for a reason. They do not look like anything like those Democrats who live in South Texas and the ones that still remain in East Texas and West Texas. It's just a really hard needle to thread. You know, they had a, in the last election cycle, the, the state party chairman for the Democrats just observed that the party's position on gender issues or transgender issues in kids was problematic. It was an observation. They ran them out of Dodge. It's just a problem to have.
- [08:04]
Larry
Yeah.
- [08:04]
Mark
Okay. I'm going to make two points. Ask Deirdre one more question, then turn her over to Kevin and Larry. First point number one is this. The, the. There are people who disagree with Deirdre and me who think that Talarico can win. And, and we're open to that thought. We're not trying to squelch that. If you think he can and you want to raise your hand to make the case, please do. But understand that the case you're making is, is, is, is not supported by history, but it may be supported by the moment we're in because the president's approved rating in Texas is horrible. So second point is the media coverage in the dominant media in the last 24 hours is all about Paxton. It's all about divisions in the Republican Party. It's all about his, his controversial background. And his controversial background and criminal conduct will be on the mind of some voters. But none of the coverage in the dominant media, in Texas media or in national media is about James Talarico. And, and we've shown the video here a few times. This is, Republicans always are going uphill against the media in Texas as they do nationally. That stuff is not going to get covered unless Republicans can force it into the bloodstream. Lastly, there's this hundred million dollar number. Deidre and Larry and I just laugh every time we hear it. It's notion that it's going to cost Republicans $100 million more than it would have been if it was corny. It's a made up number. I asked people who cite it, tell me what, tell me what Cornyn was going to have to spend. And then you'll have to say, well, add 100 million to that. We don't know what Talarika will raise. Maybe he'll raise with Jamie Harrison raised in South Carolina. Maybe he'll raise $140 million and maybe the Republicans will have to spend close to that. But explain to me how much you think will cost Paxton's, including the Super PAC versus what's the delta between that number and what Cornyn would have had to spend, in your view?
- [09:51]
Deirdre
Yeah, I mean, I don't see why it's that much different. And listen, and to Ken Paxton's great credit, he has a history, a well documented history of spending very little to get elected in the state of Texas,
- [10:02]
Mark
as he did just now in beating.
- [10:04]
Deirdre
As he did just now. I mean, he's done it time and time again. And, you know, and. And he has a demonstrated track record when it comes to winning runoffs. So, you know, I find that hard to believe. I do think the temptation is going to be too great for the national Democrats. The money's going to come in, like I said, with Abbott's insanely large war chest. That number is probably going to shrink for what Ken Paxton is going to need because Abbott's team is well seasoned, they're disciplined, and they will in. They will most definitely ensure message discipline up and down the ballot that Ken Paxton is going to benefit from. And more importantly, be that message discipline that if, because of the president's numbers and if there is a headwind, which we expect there to be, that we can stop some of the bleeding down below.
- [10:54]
Mark
Is there any limit on how the governor can spend that money? Can he spend it on negative TV ads against Talaria?
- [10:59]
Deirdre
He can spend it any way he wants to.
- [11:01]
Mark
Amazing.
- [11:02]
Kevin
Kevin, Deirdre, good morning. Thanks for being here and for these great insights. I want to talk about some of the national implications of this race, especially on the fundraising front. You know, John Cornyn's raised over $400 million for national Republicans. With that link gone, of course, you work closely as chief of staff to repair, you know, many of those donors, Republican deep bench donors. What happens to those folks? Is it harder than with Ken Paxton in that seat for that bridge to national, you know, national candidates, national fundraising?
- [11:34]
Deirdre
Yeah. I mean, it. It remains to be seen about how effective a fundraiser Ken Paxton's going to be. I don't think those donors become unhitched. They are not going to go away and all of a sudden support James Talrico. Now, I don't also want to imply that fundraising is like gravity. It's just going to happen. We raise the money because we actively go out and raise the money. And you know that we've never really seen that out of Ken Paxton. So the extent to which he is going to be a player in sort of that national committee world, I don't know if it's important to him. And I don't know, if he's going to prioritize it the way Cornyn did, you know, Cornyn prioritized it because Cornyn had a goal in mind, which was to be Senate Majority Leader, which obviously didn't happen and was, I mean, that's amazing too.
- [12:20]
Kevin
That was just two years ago that, you know, that race.
- [12:23]
Deirdre
Right.
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Kevin
To think of that, you know, I
- [12:25]
Deirdre
would argue that, that the race today or the race, the, the runoff yesterday was lost the day he lost that election. And he probably suffered from an affliction a lot of people in D.C. in politics suffer from, which is you stay too long. So you know, to the extent that Paxton, Paxton doesn't have the connection to a lot of those donors that a more established establishment politician might have because he's never been in that cool kids club. Right. But you know, I suspect if he, if he wants to take on that role and he puts the effort into it, they will give to him. Just because they're not going to go to the Democrats, they're not going to go to James Talrico.
- [13:08]
Larry
So, Larry, I was surprised at the turnout numbers, especially the racial breakdown here in terms of Paxton doing very well with Republicans of color in Texas. And it seems like Democrats are trying sort of a southern national strategy to sort of rile up a lot of racial division over the redistricting and suggesting that Republicans are trying to stifle representation amongst the black community. Texas obviously took the lead on that this year. Based on what you saw in these primaries and based on what you saw in turnout models, is there any suggestion that the redistricting in Texas might have a boomerang effect there, there?
- [13:47]
Deirdre
You know, I, I, I don't know. And it might be a little bit too early to see that, to see, you know, we've gone through, we have a history in Texas of mid decade redistricting that has not, that has been ultimately positive for the Republicans, additive to the Republican base. So I, I don't see why that wouldn't be the case this time. I mean it's a hard, it's a hard analogy or a hard comparison to make as a lot other times just because there are significant headwinds and the redistricting we did this time was partly based on those Trump numbers of 2024, which we're not going to achieve those levels in South Texas for Republicans like that Trump, it's just not overall we've seen that growth trend.
- [14:37]
Larry
Is that the Latino vote that people keep talking about isn't going to come out.
- [14:41]
Deirdre
Yeah, I mean it's Just not going to come out in the same numbers now. When you go back, though, over time, you know, maybe starting like in 94 to today, that Latino South Texas vote for Republicans has steadily gone up because we've made an effort to go communicate to them. It doesn't happen just because of one person. Right, right. This was a big thing for George Bush heading into his presidential campaign in 2098. His campaign was all about South Texas. Perry and Abbott have both picked up that mantle, and so I think you're seeing that growth over time. And Trump just put octane into the tank last time around when it came to turnout. I do a lot of work down in South Texas, driving around the number of trucks with Trump flags in the bed driving around. It was incredible, absolutely incredible. I think Trump was important to that, but I think it's something we've been building, building towards for, you know, two, three plus decades.
- [15:40]
Mark
Deirdre, least some of the public polling right now does have Talarico ahead. Why is that?
- [15:46]
Deirdre
You know, I, I don't trust it, you know, and maybe it's just a sort of like this, you know, he's new. It's, it's different, it's exciting kind of, you know, I don't know who they're polling. I don't know who they're talking to. So if I don't know that, I don't trust it. Talarico is relatively new on the scene. He's fresh, he's young, he's this, you know, Christian minister. So he has some things that are, I think, attractive to people, but it's not going to take a lot of effort from Republicans to educate people about the things he has said. And so even if those numbers are accurate right now, I expect them to fall pretty quickly once the, once the educational effort is kicked off about who he is.
- [16:30]
Mark
Anything we didn't ask you about either this race or the state that we
- [16:34]
Larry
should have,
- [16:36]
Deirdre
nothing springs to mind. I mean, I, you know, you know,
- [16:40]
Kevin
I was going to ask about Chip Roy going down, too. That was also an interesting factor last night. Yeah.
- [16:47]
Mark
How'd that happen?
- [16:48]
Deirdre
You know, Chip, this one was sad for me. Chip's a longtime personal friend and he would have made a great Attorney General. I think. Chip, Chip is who he is. Right. He, he is a principled guy, and sometimes those principles were in conflict, conflict with Donald Trump and his opponent. And it wasn't just Mace Middleton, his opponent. You got to keep in mind, Ken Paxton deeply doesn't like him. And, you know, then the lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick deeply doesn't like him because of the things he has said, Chip has said in the past about Trump surrounding the, the election in January 6th. And so I think it just, it became too much for, for one guy. And, and you know, when these runoffs, we've seen this in the past where, and Ken Paxton's been really good at this, at sort of placing the players into teams. Right. And Chip, even though he is a huge, like just fundamentally hugely conservative guy, he was sort of lumped in with the side, you know, the corn inside and the, the Jim Right side who was, you know, ran for commissioner and barely lost. That was viewed as the more moderate, the non maga side. And he, you know, he tried very hard to, to break that image. And you know, he, he, I think if he were it, you know, I think being honest, he probably underestimated Mays a little bit and Middleton's bank account in, in the, in the election. And I think had he run the kind of election he ran in the runoff in the primary, we might have had a different outcome.
- [18:32]
Mark
Yeah. All right, let's look at a couple things. First of all, Senator Cruz, 110, who inexplicably was able to stay out of the primary without too much fuss, not supporting his incumbent colleague yesterday after the results, put out a statement celebrating the whole thing and congratulating Paxton and saluting his friend John Cornyn and you know, saying it's time to unite to make sure that Texas stays Texas tall. Rico is a radical, dangerous and does not represent the values, ideas and principles of the Lone Star State. Defeating him is critical. You will hear that message, that final message from every Republican from, from dog catcher up to the governor, in unison with, even if the media won't echo it through every public statement they make for a good long time because it's only May and the election's not until November. Here's a polymarket 111. Probably not a surprise because the people who in the poly markets aren't as smart as Deirdre about Texas, but they just, they watch too much Ms. Now Polymarket has a 54, 54% for Paxton and 47% chance. Even Kevin doesn't think it's 47% chance for Talarico to win this race. And then finally, here's Talarico last night with his message about his chances and about Paxton. Go ahead and play 107 and 108 back to back, please. Right.
- [19:53]
James Talarico
And you know, I'm an eighth generation Texan. I've been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton's first indictment. And if all they have on me is lying about me being a vegan, I feel pretty good about our chances this November. Something just happened in Texas. The most corrupt politician in America just became the Republican nominee for the United States Senate. Three years ago, Ken Paxton was impeached by his own party for using his public office to. To enrich himself and his donors at the expense of the people. That kind of corruption is the rot at the core of this broken system. It's why we can't afford anything. It's why we can't get ahead no matter how hard we work. For 50 years, mega donors and their puppet politicians like Ken Paxton have stolen from us with their bribes, their bailouts, their. And their billionaire tax breaks. Ken Paxton has gotten away with it. They've all gotten away with it. But that ends this year. In this state, in this race. If we the people can come together to defeat the most corrupt politician in America, we can defeat this entire.
- [21:11]
Larry
Oh, let him cook. He's getting rolling. I feel the excitement. He's got to put that tofu.
- [21:16]
Kevin
He's got to put that tofu down.
- [21:19]
Mark
Kevin. Kevin, if Deirdre, Larry and I are underestimating him, what are we underestimating?
- [21:24]
Kevin
I think you. You point out the president's numbers in Texas and everywhere, and I think, you know, one of the reasons why I think Cornyn lost was just, you know, that Paxton put up strong numbers, obviously increase his share in a lot of those different counties, but the. The Cornyn vote was just depressed, and we will win. If Republicans don't move over to Tower Eco, that's not the option. But if they just opt for the couch and stay home, and I think that's. That's the issue with Trump not at the top of the ticket.
- [21:54]
Deirdre
I have great clip drives home to me is that they. That clip drives home the fact that they're still obsessed with Ken Paxton's personal baggage. It is well documented.
- [22:07]
Larry
That's right. You know, that's what I was going
- [22:09]
Deirdre
to ask at this point, it's maybe like $100 million telling voters, then, Ken Paxton has personal baggage. We know.
- [22:16]
Kevin
Right.
- [22:16]
Deirdre
And if they're going to focus on that, what's going to change? The one thing that the Corning campaign did that I thought might have been interesting, and it came too little, too late, is they started focusing on, okay, what kind of job did he do as attorney general? And they were talking about a sweetheart deal he gave to a child molester, another sweetheart deal his office gave to a human sex trafficker down in Corpus Christi. They didn't put any TV behind that. They, you know, was in a few mailers, and it was maybe too little too late. Maybe if that's the discussion they're having, maybe that's something different people haven't heard about, but they've heard about the impeachment, they've heard about securities fraud, They've heard about the affairs, and they've decided they don't care.
- [22:53]
Kevin
Yeah.
- [22:54]
Mark
Everybody watch Deirdre's face closely. I'm gonna, I'm gonna abuse the privilege of having her here. Deirdre, do you think Texans will get the opportunity to meet the woman James Talarico says is his longtime girlfriend during this campaign?
- [23:06]
Deirdre
You know, I, I'm guessing not. It's. That was incredibly weird. I, I don't understand why he's hiding his girlfriend, but I'm, I'm gonna go with a no on that. I don't, I don't know. I don't know.
- [23:20]
Kevin
You. You did that on purpose, knowing Deirdre's in a swivel chair and you saw that? I did swivel.
- [23:27]
Mark
I did.
- [23:27]
Larry
Can I ask. Can I ask one mischievous question, since you asked a mischievous question?
- [23:32]
Mark
Yeah, I did indeed.
- [23:34]
Larry
Deidre. I know it's, it's a woulda, coulda, but I keep going back to this place. I actually think Jasmine Crockett might have been a more effective candidate for the day. I know it's early. I know there's a lot of game to be played. But starting today, if it were Jasmine Crockett, Ken Paxton we're running against, I think it would actually be a more challenging fight. What do you think?
- [23:52]
Deirdre
I don't know. I mean, I think people. That's an interesting. What a. Should have cut it. But she ran a deeply unprofessional campaign. Where was, like, her priority was getting in the DJ booth in Houston. Right. Like, at least Tal Rico runs a professional campaign and he has professional people around him. She wants to do tik toks. I, I, I, you know, maybe for
- [24:12]
Larry
mom, Donnie, she, she wouldn't have ra.
- [24:14]
Mark
She wouldn't have raised. She wouldn't have raised.
- [24:15]
Kevin
Texas ain't no New York City, that's for sure.
- [24:18]
Deirdre
Yeah. No, So, I know. I think for the, for the Democrats, T. Rico is probably the better candidate.
- [24:22]
Mark
Yeah.
- [24:23]
Deirdre
But, you know. Well, that remains reasonable.
- [24:24]
Kevin
Wow.
- [24:25]
Mark
Deirdre, very, very grateful to you for joining us this morning and sharing all your. Look forward to having you back if you're gain. Thank you.
- [24:33]
Larry
You know what? They say about Deidre, Mark.
- [24:35]
Mark
What's that?
- [24:36]
Larry
You don't mess with her.
- [24:37]
Mark
You do not mess with her. I do. I do know why. I didn't know why. And as. As we say about Deidre, it ain't bragging if you can do it. That's my. One of my favorite George Bush lines. I taught that to my son last night. He made a really good salad dressing and he said, am I bragging too much about it?
- [24:52]
Kevin
She's all cattle, no hat.
- [24:54]
Larry
You teach your son how to emulsify and he's going to be set for life.
- [24:58]
Mark
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- [25:29]
Larry
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- [25:29]
Mark
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- [26:05]
Larry
Oh, yeah, I did. I was leaning into it.
- [26:07]
Mark
Exactly.
- [26:08]
Larry
I thought you were.
- [26:08]
Kevin
You were.
- [26:09]
Larry
You were endorsing Graham Platner there for.
- [26:11]
Mark
Exactly, Exactly. I only, only, only Larry and I know what's going on right now.
- [26:16]
Kevin
Okay? It's the producers. Mark Zero, must tell over there. I knew. All right, Mr. Mustel. You're no mister.
- [26:23]
Mark
All right, come on.
- [26:25]
Eric Gertler
From the State House to the courthouse, in the emergency room and in the classroom, Americans are losing trust in their leaders. In a 2025 U.S. news and World Report survey, 85% of Americans said government leaders care more about their own power than the people they serve. 73% are disappointed in healthcare leaders. 72% in business and 68% in education. But there are still leaders worth believing in. I'm Eric Gertler, CEO and executive chairman of U.S. news World Report. This is the Best Leaders podcast sponsored by the Noble Reach Foundation. On this show, go deeper into the stories, challenges and lessons of extraordinary leaders across public service, business, healthcare and education. You can find the Best Leaders podcast from U.S. news World Report on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [27:25]
Mark
All right, here we go. Here we go. California. First of all, ladies and gentlemen, we want to show you the California ballot. Paul Wilkie got his ballot. Take a look at this thing. This thing. This is what you face if you're voting in California. You won't believe that the monstrosity. There it is. That's Paul. Is that the whole thing or is that just like one page?
- [27:44]
Larry
Wow.
- [27:44]
Kevin
It's a for governor, I think, right?
- [27:47]
Mark
Yeah, that's the gal for the governor. Ballot 114, I believe. 64 people. So make your choices now.
- [27:53]
Larry
I remember when made things better when
- [27:55]
Mark
they had the recap when they had the recall election and Schwarzenegger won the ballot. Was also pretty long story in the New York Times today about how the rich guy, what's that rich guy's name? Styer. Tens of millions of dollars and and if he's, if he makes the runoff, everybody expects him to spend a lot more story in the Politico about how Matt man, Kevin's candidate is not catching on. The finger pointing's already begun. Don't hear much about Katie Porter, but Sarah down. So guys, just a quick check in because this race is so important. Most people in my life now in California are saying that Stier is going to be the next governor. Kevin true?
- [28:34]
Kevin
I think it could be true. Yeah.
- [28:36]
Mark
Could be true. Is he the most likely in your mind right now?
- [28:39]
Kevin
I think so, yeah.
- [28:40]
Larry
Yeah.
- [28:40]
Mark
Larry, are you going to tell me your friend Steve Hilton's the most likely or Steyer?
- [28:44]
Larry
No, I wouldn't say he's most likely, but I don't know. They still keep circling their wagons around Becerra. Why are you saying Becerra is out of it now?
- [28:51]
Mark
I mean, everybody's kind of ganged up on him, you know.
- [28:55]
Larry
Yeah. But he's still.
- [28:56]
Mark
It's incredible. The story hasn't really been told clearly. It's kind of alluded to. First they came for Katie Porter and they knocked her out. Then they came for Swalwell. They knocked him out. Then. Then they came for Becera and, and the answer to your question, Larry, is indications are he may be, he may be falling. We'll see in the next round.
- [29:14]
Larry
Let's see if there's enough room.
- [29:16]
Kevin
It's also gone quiet. You know, no one's really. I feel like it's gone. Qu. Yeah. You mentioned Katie Porter. I haven't even thought of her in the last couple of days. I think without these debates, if it's
- [29:26]
Larry
Hilton Styer, Styer wins. If it's Hilton Becerra, I think Hilton actually has a chance. I really do.
- [29:31]
Mark
Okay. I think that's right. Okay. Yesterday, South Carolina senators, Republican senators, said they will not redistrict. They seem to be motivated. The fact that the voting had already started and it would have created a big mess to redistrict. The the governor, Henry McMaster, said this. It wasn't really clear what the governor's position is. It's not clear. Either of you think just. Yes. No. Do either of you think James Blair is going to go back at him and get him to try again or. This one's over.
- [30:00]
Kevin
This one's over for now, I think.
- [30:01]
Mark
I think it's for now. What a hedge. This one's over for now.
- [30:04]
Kevin
You mean for 20, not over for 20, 28.
- [30:08]
Larry
So now.
- [30:09]
Mark
So now hear me out on this one, guys. So this means Clyburn will almost certainly be back in Congress. The Democratic Party today is hearing arguments from various states about the calendar, whether South Carolina goes first, second, third or fourth, they'll be in the top four, and they'll be a massive part of the process. And Clyburn, maybe he could have stayed as kingmaker even if he weren't in Congress. But obviously now he is the kingmaker. And there's no comparable figure in Iowa, in Michigan, in New Hampshire, in the state where Las Vegas is. He's singular. He's the singular most important figure. So here's my question. Besides Kamala Harris, of all the Democrats considering running, who is possible as a recipient of Clyburn's endorsement? Who's possibly the recipient? Give me the full list, Kevin.
- [30:58]
Kevin
Well, I think Gavin Newsom is at the top of that list. We talked about this now months ago when he made a whole swing through South Carolina, spent a lot of time with, with Clyburn on the ground, going to not the major places, but kind of rural areas in Clyburn's district. That matters to Clyburn, certainly. So I think he would be at the top of that list for sure. But I think Judge has also realized that he has a huge issue with the black vote and has worked tirelessly. He was just at. At the church down in. In Martin Luther King's church down at Ebenezer with Warnock. But he's been on the ground with Clyburn, too.
- [31:38]
Mark
But are you saying Clyburn might endorse him as well, Mike?
- [31:41]
Kevin
I'm saying. I'm saying they're higher on the list. There is no Joe Biden right now with that relationship with Clyburn.
- [31:48]
Mark
Give me the complete list. Just take off the names. Who are people Clyburn might endorse? Harris.
- [31:54]
Kevin
Harris, Buddha, Judge Newsom, as I said. Anybody with Pritzker. Pritzker. Rahm Emanuel was here not too long ago, too. I don't know if they actually linked up. I don't know what their relationship is actually going back to the Obama years as well. Obviously, they served together in Congress. What about Shapiro, when Rodham was a member from Illinois.
- [32:12]
Mark
What about Shapiro? Could he endorse Shapiro?
- [32:15]
Kevin
Sure. Yeah. And again, I don't know their relationship either.
- [32:18]
Mark
And Bashir? He could endorse Bashir, couldn't he?
- [32:21]
Kevin
Potentially.
- [32:22]
Mark
All right, so, Larry, basically, Kevin thinks everyone's in the sweepstakes. Do you. Do you narrow it down or you agree with Kevin?
- [32:27]
Larry
I would narrow it down. In fact, if South Carolina came through and districted Clyburn out, I was going to sort of backhand and say Buttigieg was the winner of the week because it gives him an. It means South Carolina is kind of off the map now. When is it going to have the prominence since it will. Listen, Buddha Judge needs it more than anyone else. He is the one who would benefit the most from a James Clyburn, you know, blessing, which means he's got more at stake. And it means that he's probably willing to give up more to get it. Pritzker, I think, probably arrogantly thinks that he doesn't need it. Yeah. And I think it's g. I think it's Newsome.
- [33:03]
Mark
Yeah.
- [33:06]
Kevin
I think Jon Ossifi.
- [33:08]
Mark
Yeah.
- [33:08]
Kevin
John also puts up a good margin. Either of you think, coming from Georgia, I think that could be interesting, too.
- [33:13]
Mark
Either of you think Clyburn would endorse Bernie or aoc?
- [33:16]
Larry
No.
- [33:17]
Mark
No. Okay, so we eliminate them. I'll tell you, ladies and gentlemen, until they set the calendar, it's hard to know exactly how this will play out. But. But the Clyburn endorsement is as important as literally any other factor in determining who the nominee is. And Kevin and Larry think that. That the Clyburn primaries.
- [33:33]
Kevin
And you point out he's singular in that there is no one in Nevada, there is no one in New Hampshire that has that kind of power and
- [33:39]
Mark
that kind of oversized influence except for Billy Shaheen. That's just a joke for Matthew Bartlett. No one else. Okay, Iran, once again I say even though they keep talking about a deal, do not be full, ladies and gentlemen. If they announce a deal, don't say, okay, this thing's done. Let's start gaming out the, the post war implications. A deal could fall apart and really it's hard to know where things stand. I still think it's going to be a challenge for the Iranians to sign even a preliminary deal that says in black and white they're giving up their nuclear material. So Larry, just what's, what's your personal headline in the, in the o' Connor Gazette about where the talks stand now?
- [34:19]
Larry
The waiting game continues. And I think that the President is being incredibly patient, which is not his strongest suit nor fits into his character based on everything that we know of him. And he is being convinced that he can wait this out and he needs to continue to wait it out because ultimately he's got the upper hand here. And that's why it's been frustrating to watch.
- [34:43]
Mark
Kevin.
- [34:44]
Larry
That's where we are.
- [34:45]
Mark
Kevin, the markets are now saying, the experts are now saying that if the war ended today, if the strait opened today, it would be weeks or months before there was normal commerce through there because they still need to deal with insurance, etc. We all said he needs to solve this problem with lower gas prices soon and the war isn't ending today. So is it, is it fair to say now that the President's going to have to go into the midterms with high gas prices and a perception that he caused them? Is that big?
- [35:13]
Kevin
I think that's the case. And you know, in your monologue for next step too, not just the straight transiting, but also, you know, it's going to take months to get out the nuclear element too. Right. And if that's the singular driver of this, then that's a months long process too, almost, maybe even a year long process to get whatever remains from what's been buried deep underground. So that is, and the Iranians are sticking by that as the starting point. They want the sanctions relief right now, President saying nukes first. That is just a chasm that is a bridge too far for all this. And I think we're still going to be locked in the current scenario likely months from now.
- [35:53]
Mark
Yeah, I think you're right. It's very, it's a very rough situation. I really, I really don't see how the President and Iran are going to reach a deal because Iran wants money up front. Iran doesn't want to say anything specific about nuclear and Iran wants to make money off the strait. And the President can't agree to any of those things. Can't agree. He can't, he cannot do a deal. People say, oh, he'll do the best possible deal and put lipstick on a pig. He cannot do a deal. Well, that, that's ambiguous. On nuclear, he cannot do, no, he
- [36:23]
Larry
can't do that deal. What I'm just saying is I don't think it'd say, well, this will be the status quo for months. There is an end game here. If Iran can't pump their oil, if Iran can't get their oil onto, into tankers, if Iran can't keep those wells going, yeah, they're, they're done. So something's got to get the White
- [36:38]
Mark
House, the White House has been saying that for weeks. And the deal that the President's currently considering would take that pressure right off.
- [36:44]
Larry
Right.
- [36:45]
Mark
It would take that one and $100
- [36:46]
Kevin
billion in sanction relief.
- [36:48]
Mark
Yeah, I don't, I just, I don't
- [36:50]
Larry
think that's, that's a real so. But, but something's got to give. It will give. It's not going to be like this six months from now. I disagree.
- [36:57]
Mark
Larry. If you were White House communications director, what would you want the message out of the Cabinet meeting to be? What's the Trump sound bite you would want? What topic and what would the message be?
- [37:07]
Larry
We're resolved on our policy in Iran. This has already been a military success and now we're just waiting to resolve the economic issues involved with reaching a current deal. And yet at the same time, we're continuing to do everything that we can to lower the costs for Americans here at home, including items A, B, C and D and list those items.
- [37:27]
Mark
Yeah. Kevin, Cabinet meeting starts at 11. Will it be the dominant news story of the day or non event?
- [37:34]
Kevin
I think maybe some news will be there. It's, you know, it's, you know, Tulsi Gabbard's last as DNI before she steps back in June. So it'll be interesting to see what the President says about her and that relationship and we'll see if there's any other breaking news that they, of course, they were going to meet in Camp David and moved it back to the White House based on weather issues, but we'll see if any news comes out of it, really.
- [37:57]
Mark
All right. 11 o' clock this morning. Full coverage on two way tonight at five this evening. All right. The president had his dental and medical exam yesterday. Some indications they're framing it as as prophylactic, preventative rather than dealing with any current malady of the president's. PBS NewsHour Trump's fourth medical checkup renews public scrutiny of his health. Not really. PBS NewsHour because the White House put out no statement, the White House did not make the doctors available and the dentists available for a briefing. And because of the war and other stuff, I don't know, there's no White House briefing today. Perhaps the president will be asked about it at the Cabinet meeting, but no offense to the president's capacity to brief on his own health, but I doubt that will shed any light on the data that came out of an exam of our nearly 80 year old president. Kevin, is this story dead? Am I the only one who's trying to keep alive the notion that there should be some oversight of the president's health, or will my colleagues in the White House press corps press this until they get an answer?
- [38:57]
Kevin
No, I don't, I don't think it's dead. Again. And there's not the numbers where we saw with Joe Biden, right, with concerns about his health, but those numbers are increasing in terms of Americans perception of the president and his health. And that's something certainly the White House I think is looking at the other interesting thing and I saw coverage, I forget who said it, but you know, the White House has an incredible medical facility right, where, you know, they can do so much of the testing there and we would never know about it. And they've done that for multiple presidents going back to the, you know, the start of the republic. So the fact that that he has had to even bringing in dentists and things like that, the fact that he has had to go to Walter Reed at this cadence I think is interesting in terms of what what is at Walter Reed that's not at the White House in terms of diagnostic tests, things like that, and not some clarity around that. And again, this is a guy who defended Joe Biden for four years, so doesn't have a lot of ground to stand on in terms of health and transparency with presidents. But again, I think that is an interesting factor.
- [39:59]
Mark
Larry, if you had an exclusive interview with the president's doctor and dentist, what kind of questions would you ask?
- [40:05]
Larry
Oh, gosh, honestly, I hadn't really given it much thought, Mark, to tell you the truth and listen, I share with you, I think it is an utmost importance, especially when a president is 80, that we should be updated in a credible way on his health. Yet at the same time, we have a long history in this country of it not happening. I mean, we have the media purposely, and you may think it was a great thing or not purposely hid from the American people the fact that FDR had polio and never showed him in a wheelchair. I mean that, that's amazing if you think about it less than 100 years later. People weren't talking about John F. Kennedy's back problems. People weren't talking about the rumors that Bill Clinton had issues. I mean that this is just a thing that's always, I'll know that he's
- [40:45]
Kevin
only called that Democratic president. There's been some concerns about Republican presidents and their health too.
- [40:51]
Larry
I. Mr. O'.
- [40:53]
Kevin
Connor.
- [40:53]
Larry
And what's, what's, what's galling is when there is a legitimate question about the president's health. Like for instance, when Robert Herr, a U.S. attorney, didn't bring charges against Joe Biden because he thought he would get sympathy from a jury for being old and befuddled. Suddenly if you started asking questions, you were shouted down. And yesterday we had a guy on CNN diagnosing Donald Trump from watching a video of him. So we gotta find a happy medium here somewhere.
- [41:19]
Mark
Mark, I don't know.
- [41:20]
Larry
What questions would you ask?
- [41:21]
Mark
Well, first of all, I would defer my questions to the two way medical correspondent because no political, no political reporter, government reporter should be questioning these people. These should be. There should be a briefing that's organized and two hours long with the dentist, dentists and the doctors and medical correspondents from news organizations like Dr. Lawrence K. Altman of the New York Times should go. I'd say show me the statistics. Show me what the data, what data did you get from the exams? What are the president's current issues? Here are the past issues that you all have revealed. What's the update on those? These are the kinds of basic questions that the country should know the answer.
- [41:57]
Larry
Do politicians have a right to privacy? Is it just presidents that need to reveal all of this stuff? Or any politician who holds elected office?
- [42:03]
Mark
Presidents and vice presidents, no one else.
- [42:07]
Kevin
Interesting. You know, during the Biden administration, Kevin o', Connor, you know, do a Navy captain was the president's physician. The fact that we don't, you know, and not that he was a household name, but, you know, I couldn't tell you the name of the president's Physician right now.
- [42:22]
Mark
Yeah.
- [42:22]
Kevin
And. And we have not heard from that
- [42:24]
Mark
individual, let alone interesting, let alone his dentist.
- [42:28]
Kevin
Yeah, yeah.
- [42:29]
Mark
I just want to know what's going on with the back of his hands. That's pretty much the extent of my interest. All right, ladies and gentlemen, one more topic, and then to your questions, if you're here on the platform, please raise your hand. If you'd like to be in the conversation, please. No smack in the chat. You know that famous New Yorker cover that shows how obsessed people in New York are with New York? And I grew up in the news business, starting in New York City. I was always amazed at how anything that happened in New York, you know, some lady wants to breastfeed at the Starbucks, and it's a big story because it's in Manhattan. If some lady wanted to breastfeed at the Des Moines Starbucks, no one would cover it. These. These discrepancies have always bothered me. However, in this case, the New York Knickerbockers are a massive story. And I give you Oklahoma City and San Antonio, two cities that have only one professional sports team in the Big Four. At least they're basketball crazy for their teams. There's a massive story. And the Knicks are a massive story in New York. So massive, ladies and gentlemen, that one of the biggest sports fans in all of Gotham City happens to be the President of the United States, according to the New York Times, may well go to an NBA Finals game. Here's the headline. Trump may appear at NBA Finals in New York. There it is. And he's good friends with the owner, Mr. Dolan. Larry, if he goes to the game, is he gonna sit in a box? Where's he going to sit?
- [43:46]
Larry
He has to sit in box.
- [43:47]
Mark
How about. How about courtside with Chalamet? Chalamet.
- [43:51]
Larry
Spike Lee, I think. Yeah, he's got to be in a box for security purposes, I would think. Although I guess he doesn't. He sits ringside for the ufc.
- [43:58]
Mark
Exactly. I think. I think he does. Courtside with Chalamet. Kevin. Dan Pfeiffer says if the President went to the Knicks game, he'd be booed. Definitely. Would he definitely be booed?
- [44:08]
Kevin
You know, I don't know. I mean, he's been booed some places. He's been cheered others.
- [44:12]
Mark
But it's party time, and it's party time in the garden. We're all united. We're one big happy Gotham City.
- [44:16]
Deirdre
Yeah.
- [44:16]
Kevin
And he's a New Yorker, even though he claims Florida now. I don't know, but my question is, what Would he pay for those tickets? Does he get them, you know, for, for free or 30 $500 for the nosebleeds that I saw?
- [44:27]
Mark
He knows the. Here's one other seating idea. Guys, who's been going to a couple Knicks games of late? Mayor Monda me, the president's close friend. Is he get booed if he's buddies? What if he sits with Mondavi? Then he doesn't get booed, does he? Or they both get.
- [44:41]
Kevin
I mean, that would be. That would be great.
- [44:42]
Larry
Wouldn't that be great if you can get a ticket? You're part of the elite 1%. And I was told that that's who supports Trump. So I'm sure he'll be cheered our taxes down.
- [44:51]
Mark
Here's. Here's what I want courtside. I want. I want Tracy Morgan, Ben Stiller, Spike Lee. The President. No, that's Lakers Mondami, but he's Chalamet. And then what's her name? Kardashian.
- [45:07]
Larry
That's what I want to tell you something. If any of those liberal Hollywood elites that you just named, and each and every one of them absolute hypocrites, if they had any integrity when they find out Trump is not going, they should give up their tickets, not show up, hand them to, you know, some homeless person on the street. There's plenty of them right outside Madison Square Garden and let them come and use their seats. If they had any ounce of integrity, in fact, they should give them to me. Give your tickets to me.
- [45:33]
Mark
Exactly.
- [45:34]
Larry
And the rest of us here at two way.
- [45:36]
Mark
Last time I pled for tickets on the program, I got them. So if anybody's got an extra nick ticket for game three, I'll make myself available. Thank you for your attention to that matter. I meant to show you Polymarket from our partners at Polymarket. We're talking about Iran. And it done slipped my mind. 116, please. Will there be a permanent peace deal by June 30th? Polymarket wagers say 51% chance there's a deal by June 30th.
- [46:00]
Larry
That word permanent?
- [46:01]
Mark
Yeah. I want what they're. I want what they're smoking. 51% chance seems a little higher to me. All right, quick word from a sponsor and then to your questions, please raise your hand if you want in on the conversation. If you want to promote something in your life, a new podcast, a new. A new business, whatever it is, consider using Shopify, where 10% of America's E commerce is done. Shopify is an extraordinary suite of services online that Allows you to use AI and templates to do it all. And now the folks at Shopify want the two way community to be using Shopify so badly. $1 a month trial offer for $1 a month you can start your Shopify account. Go to shopify.com mark and build whatever you need to promote whatever it is you're doing with 24. 7 customer support.
- [46:48]
Kevin
It's got it all.
- [46:49]
Mark
As I said, for analytics, marketing, payments, inventory, everything in one easy place. All with 24 hour customer support. Go to shopify.commark to get a special offer of a dollar a month to start your Shopify account. If you want to turn your hopes, your dreams, your vision, your future, your sense of self into cash money. Someone called me on SiriusXM yesterday and said that's not the sound of a cash register. That's like the bill at a check in at a bell at a check in at a hotel. Paul, play that thing again. Does that sound like a cash register?
- [47:29]
Larry
It sounds like a little cash. A teeny one.
- [47:31]
Mark
Like a toy cashier. Yeah. Anyway, go to shopify.com mark and get Shopify for a dollar a month and just give it a try. You will not regret basing your business around something that's so proven, so well liked, dare I say beloved.
- [47:45]
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 and 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.
- [48:20]
Mark
When you get momentum, you step on the gas. That's how you get separation from everybody else.
- [48:25]
James Talarico
I was at Harvard Law School as blah blah blah.
- [48:27]
Mark
I looked up, let me tell you something. There's kids in my neighborhood putting in Sheetrock that are smarter than you.
- [48:31]
Mark (audience member)
AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff.
- [48:33]
Kevin
It is not never going to disrupt
- [48:35]
Mark
physical blue collar trade skill. And the guy just looked at me
- [48:38]
Mark (audience member)
and he said it's bloody impossible.
- [48:40]
Mark
So I asked him this question.
- [48:42]
Eric Gertler
I said it's impossible.
- [48:43]
Matt Ebert
Unless that's Podcast with me, Matt ebert. Watch on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts.
- [48:54]
Mark
All right, here we go. Time for your questions, your comments, your concerns, your free offer of Knicks Tickets for all of us. Kevin would you fly would you fly up to go?
- [49:02]
Kevin
KEVIN yeah. Does the pope in the woods? Of course I would.
- [49:06]
Mark
The pope does indeed. It's a, it's a, it's an overlooked
- [49:09]
Kevin
except the bear is the Catholic is a bear Catholic?
- [49:12]
Mark
Mark, welcome. MARK welcome in. Thank you for being here.
- [49:18]
Mark (audience member)
You get the reference. Thank you, Larry.
- [49:21]
Mark
Great thing.
- [49:22]
Mark (audience member)
Oh, that show would be canceled today. That's about my question. But I want to start out with a trivia question because we are on Thursday doing another trivia night with Nicole and Allen. So Mark, Larry and Kevin, are you ready for the best political trivia question ever?
- [49:36]
Larry
Yes, we could really be ready, Mark.
- [49:38]
Mark
Yeah, sure. Pat Paulson. Pat Paulson.
- [49:41]
Larry
No.
- [49:42]
Mark (audience member)
Who was Eisenhower's vice president's vice president's vice president?
- [49:52]
Mark
Bob Dole.
- [49:53]
Larry
No. Rockefeller.
- [49:55]
Kevin
Larry for the win.
- [49:58]
Mark (audience member)
And quick follow up question. If can you without talking show the Rockefeller meme?
- [50:06]
Larry
Can't.
- [50:06]
Mark
I don't know. I don't even know what's happening right now.
- [50:09]
Larry
I don't know.
- [50:11]
Kevin
Oh dude, what was Rockefeller's wife's name?
- [50:14]
Mark
Happy. Oh, good one.
- [50:15]
Mark (audience member)
I'm not sure.
- [50:16]
Kevin
Happy.
- [50:17]
Mark
Happy.
- [50:18]
Deirdre
Yeah.
- [50:19]
Mark (audience member)
Rockefeller. Well you can figure it out.
- [50:21]
Larry
Rockefeller was Bob Dole was the running mate when he ran for reelection. That's why.
- [50:26]
Mark (audience member)
That's right.
- [50:27]
Mark
Yeah.
- [50:27]
Mark (audience member)
But he was Ford's vice president.
- [50:29]
Larry
That's right.
- [50:30]
Kevin
And what was the name of the dog?
- [50:32]
Mark (audience member)
Oh, you're going, you're going deep cuts here. Kevin what is it with the speech?
- [50:37]
Kevin
Come on, everybody knows this. Oh, Checkers. Checkers.
- [50:41]
Mark (audience member)
Yeah, yeah. Rockefeller.
- [50:43]
Mark
Yeah. Thank you, Rockefeller.
- [50:44]
Mark (audience member)
So my question is, as you see, my AI Banner F. Trump troop and I put in a Newsome Jeffries and and Schumer is is there an F. Trump coalition or vote that the candidates look at the same way they looked at like the no abortion, you know, vote as just a group of people that has the characteristics of yes, they'll vote whoever's the most against Trump because it seems that's coming out a lot in this election. And I think what was it was Adam Schiff said on Bill Marsh show in the after show about in some of these early elections in between that the vote was more against Trump than for the candidates. So is there an F. Trump vote that the people that these candidates are going after?
- [51:35]
Larry
LARRY Well, I mean, I think it's sort of baked in with the Democrats. It's, it's been the main message for the last 10 years. I don't know how long they can ride that to victory or how often they can Obviously, it didn't work in 24, but it might be enough. But, yeah, I mean, I don't know if there's a distinctive sort of, you know, caucus that's F. Trump. I think that that seems to be pretty prevalent. In fact, you've seen in some of the primary ads, they literally say F Trump in their ads to sort of.
- [52:06]
Mark (audience member)
Katie Porter had her a little white ball.
- [52:07]
Larry
Exactly. So, I mean, I don't know. Honestly, any prominent Democrat right now that's not focusing on Trump as one of the top problems. Becerra out in California said, I think naming the top three problems in California, I think Trump was number two, which is, you know, I just don't think that Trump is a big problem for Californians right now.
- [52:27]
Mark
But.
- [52:27]
Larry
So I think that's already baked in the cake.
- [52:28]
Mark
Yeah, Kevin.
- [52:30]
Kevin
Yeah, I think it's based on. On the race and the candidate itself. Right. Jasmine Crockett, that, that Larry mentioned earlier. Her whole campaign was F Trump, and she lost in the primary to James Alarico, who's more conciliatory in that. But you also have some F. Trump folks that are just so opposed to him that are winning these primaries again. You know, as Marcus said many times and I've said many times, if we keep it a referendum on Trump, then Democrats will have a good night. If it's a choice election, then it could be more problematic. So I think every, every race and candidate is different to your point in terms of what the motivating factors are.
- [53:05]
Mark
Mark, thank you for the trivia, the great question, and the participation in our community. There's a thing this summer you guys may know about. The Great American State Fair. You guys know about that? I do them all.
- [53:16]
Larry
I'm excited about it.
- [53:18]
Mark
So they just announced some of the initial performers. Martina McBride, Vanilla Ice and Millie Vanilli. Both Vanilla Ice and Millie Vanilli. The Commodore, Morris Day and the Time, and Brett Michaels. All right, Kevin, once again, half of
- [53:37]
Larry
them are former contestants on Celebrity.
- [53:41]
Kevin
Is Donald Trump going to present Milli Pinelli with that, that Grammy that was taken from all. Larry, I hope so.
- [53:48]
Larry
The President doesn't lip sync. Now, everybody.
- [53:53]
Mark
The President believes in justice. Maybe he'll make them eligible for the Sledge Fund. Kevin, here we go. What are the Commodore's three biggest hits?
- [54:03]
Kevin
God, did they originally do Cruising? I know that's Smokey, but no, Larry, help him out.
- [54:10]
Larry
Alex would know three times a Lady. I know that's one of them.
- [54:13]
Mark
Correct. Correct. Easy, oh, oh.
- [54:17]
Kevin
And easy like a Sunday morning Brick House.
- [54:19]
Mark
Thank you. Larry, she's a brick house.
- [54:24]
Larry
Yeah, sorry.
- [54:25]
Mark
That's okay. Let's just. Let's just keep calling on people named Mark. Mark, welcome in. Thank you for being here. Unmute. Tell everybody where you are.
- [54:35]
Kevin
Good morning.
- [54:35]
Mark
What's on your mind? That's all right, Larry. It's going on. The highlight.
- [54:39]
Larry
Exactly. I know that you pull these clips though. Yeah.
- [54:43]
Mark
Mark, you having trouble unmuting?
- [54:45]
Kevin
There he is. Go ahead.
- [54:48]
Mark (Sydney caller)
Hi, guys.
- [54:51]
Mark
Sing your favorite Commodore song first. I don't know any. Okay.
- [54:59]
Kevin
Probably best.
- [54:59]
Mark
Just like Kevin.
- [55:02]
Mark (Sydney caller)
Sorry, I'm a Sydney. I'm in Sydney, Australia. Sorry about the thing. It's like midnight here. As I've always said, it's being Trump supporter. Maybe one day I tell you how Trump changed me from someone never care about politics. I don't even know the Prime Minister here, to someone so much involved in American politics. Lots of research, reading, watching. I just want to talk about Iran situation. I believe the problem there is they don't have a powerful leader that can take this big decision without having a fight from the other elements of the regiment.
- [55:45]
Mark
Yes, sir.
- [55:47]
Mark (Sydney caller)
So I believe they only like since this regime came to power in 79. I believe they were only forced to take one major decision in 88 when they were forced to accept the ceasefire and the war against Iraq. And because the supreme leader there was very powerful. Khomeini, the first supreme leader. So everybody trusted his God, untrusted him. So they are missing that person now.
- [56:15]
Mark
Yeah, Mark, you're right. Some might say they made a big decision to do the Obama deal as well. Here's a tweet I want to show you. This is 123. This is a tweet meant to be funny, but as Homer Simpson would say, it's funny. It's funny because it's true. This guy tweets all the time funny things about the war because that's what people do. He says Iran deal nearly finalized. Last sticking points are Iran's insistence on. On destroying west, killing all infidels and imposing Islam on the world. Fingers crossed. Kevin, what do you make of Mark's point? That part of why it's hard for them to make a decision is not just because they're radical religious fanatics who want to destroy Israel and the United States, but because they really just don't have a strong enough leader to. To. To make it.
- [56:58]
Kevin
I think that's actually absolutely right. And that's something that. That the Trump administration is complaining about in terms of who is on the other side of these negotiations. The fact that in some of the more recent conversations in Islamabad, you had 60 or so negotiators show up. Right. And they're debating within themselves because there is no singular uniting figure. We haven't heard from the new, really, ayatollah in terms of just some statements about their nuclear capabilities and things like that. But you don't have that unifying figure that has been critical in terms of making some of these decisions in the past. I think you're absolutely right, Mark. Larry.
- [57:35]
Larry
And I think it's right to point out that they want the west destroyed. There's a reason why they call us the Great Satan and Israel the Great Satan, and that they want to kill us. And basically, the decision that every president up until now, the last seven has had is, do you do something about it? Do you try to stop them? And if so, what does the end game look like? And, well, that's what we're in the middle of right now. Or do you ignore it, try to isolate them, try to make them the world pariah, hope that nobody does business with them? And when they get money and they rear their head and they fund terrorism and they kill our allies, you just express outrage, bring in more sanctions, and then just wait it out until the next giant atrocity. And this president decided enough is enough. And now we're in the middle of that process, and it's still up in the air what the end game looks like.
- [58:20]
Mark (Sydney caller)
And could I just say one thing?
- [58:22]
Larry
Yeah.
- [58:22]
Mark
Yes, sir.
- [58:23]
Kevin
Yeah.
- [58:24]
Mark (Sydney caller)
Just, we did fight this country for eight years. So I know, like, they have the third generation of their ircg. You can't imagine how extreme are they. If you remember when they decided to open the district, I mean, like, a little while ago, and it was reclosed within 12 hours because of that part of the regime is very, very extreme. And because, again, they are missing that, you know, like a unifying figure. It's going to be very, very hard to bring, bring, you know, like, all the parties together. But hopefully Trump can do it because he proved always, you know, like, he can do, you know, the unbelievable thing. So. So let's hope, you know, fingers crossed.
- [59:02]
Larry
Fingers crossed.
- [59:03]
Mark
Yeah. I. I keep seeing reports out of the Middle East. I don't know if they're accurate about what Iran says is in the deal. And I keep skimming these bullet points, and I never see the word nuclear. Mark, thank you. I'm gonna head over to Sirius xm. Kevin will give you the phone number, and Larry will, amongst other things, tell you who Megan McCain's guest is today on her program. Grateful to you all for being part of the team.
- [59:24]
Kevin
It's one of Larry's favorites.
- [59:26]
Mark
It is. And great for Deirdre, Larry. Will Spencer and Hilton, will they campaign together?
- [59:32]
Larry
I think they probably will if they both make it into the final ballot.
- [59:36]
Mark
Why? Would be kind of interesting. Anyway, see Everybody over at SiriusXM. See see at 5 o' clock tonight. See see at 9 tomorrow. Gentlemen, thank you for everything.
- [59:43]
Larry
Thank you. Thanks, Markman. Thank you for the Commodore's quiz.
- [59:48]
Kevin
So serious with it.
- [59:49]
Larry
Who was the lead singer of the comment and then he spun off and started.
- [59:55]
Kevin
Lionel Richie. Lionel Richie. Wasn't he. There you go.
- [59:58]
Mark
Come on.
- [59:59]
Larry
Alex is feeding you all of these. He told you it was the producer.
- [60:02]
Kevin
No, he's not here. But he just texted me saying I can't believe you didn't know the Commodore. So, you know, the moment we both. I'm gonna get a lot of grief. I'm gonna get a lot of grief.
- [60:12]
Larry
Probably one of our best moments ever coming up.
- [60:14]
Kevin
And I also, I, you know, the fact that I want to get a producer's reference to earlier in the show is a little disappointing on the both of you.
- [60:22]
Larry
You never know. Honestly, I, I still consider that a rather obscure musical.
- [60:26]
Kevin
It's Springtime for Steve Hilton.
- [60:28]
Larry
It is interesting though that you went immediately to the original film from the 60s instead of the Broadway adaptation with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick which I
- [60:37]
Kevin
saw in New York early on, came through Chicago first. That's where the, the previews were and then it made its way to New York.
- [60:44]
Larry
Gary beach, who won the Tony Award as the. As the gay flamboyant director who then plays Adolf Hitler on Don't give away the ending. Gary beach was the original lumiere in the Broadway production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast that I had in my theater for a couple of years. Great guy.
- [61:02]
Kevin
There you go.
- [61:03]
Larry
That's all I got for you. Well, I had to make it about me in my theater.
- [61:06]
Kevin
I just had to bring it back. Citizen Meredith commiserate about that. It's always gotta be. It always comes back to hilarious.
- [61:15]
Larry
Citizen McCabe live today at 11:30. That's a special time if you're keeping score at home. But it's a special time because she'll be speaking to the next governor of California. Maybe it's a long shot. Steve Hilton today. Make sure you put the captions on because he's a foreigner. He speaks with a funny accent, but you can make out most of the. The things he says. Steve Hilton today at 11:30 with our friend and colleague, the Maggie Mack.
- [61:43]
Kevin
Gonna be a great, great show. I mentioned, I mentioned Mark's two Way from yesterday in his Iran monologue.
- [61:52]
Larry
His next up.
- [61:53]
Kevin
His next up, Sorry. His next up. And he had a great conversation with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. So be sure to check that out as well. And then you want to preview two way tonight, Larry?
- [62:02]
Larry
I do. 5:00pm Republican strategist, strategist Justin Safy.
- [62:07]
Kevin
See?
- [62:09]
Larry
Well, now, this is interesting. It says safi, and then it says rhymes with leafy, which does not rhyme with leafy. So they spelled it out. All right, so it's either Safi or sifi.
- [62:19]
Kevin
I saw that. I saw that coming up. And that's why.
- [62:21]
Larry
Is that why you threw it to me? I see.
- [62:23]
Kevin
I kicked it to you.
- [62:24]
Larry
I mean, all right. And Democrat strategist, third way, Jim Kessler.
- [62:30]
Mark
That's.
- [62:30]
Kevin
Jim's a great guy. That would be a great conversation. Of course, they'll have a lot to talk about coming out of the Cabinet meeting that kicks off in just an hour or so.
- [62:38]
Larry
So, Kevin, if you're advising James Talarico, it is interesting that that video that he put out where he said, you know, the most corrupt politician in American history is my opponent, Ken Paxton, which kind of undermines the messaging they're telling us about Trump. I thought Trump was the most corrupt politician. So there you go. But clearly that's what they're going to run with. And you heard Deidre say, you know, yeah, we know, we know. Is that, is that the only chance they've got is to just basically money Ken Paxton up even more and hope that people don't show up or. What advice would you give Mr. Tallaric?
- [63:11]
Kevin
Yeah, I mean, I think he's, you know, he's, he's turning the needle a bit, talking about the cost of living. He catches all that in this guy as a politician that has done nothing to lower your costs, to fight for you to take on fraud because he's a fraudster, then he talks about passing 60 bipartisan bills. So I think, you know what Deirdre was saying, you know, if everyone knows that Ken Paxton is an adulterer and a fraud and a crook because of the amount of money that John Cornyn spent driving home that message to Texas Republicans. But it's got to, it's got to go beyond that, right? That he's been a failed ag, that his own team, you know, turned him into the FBI, that I think is a more compelling narrative than just he's A crook and an adulterer. You know, in terms of. Interesting winning that race. Yeah.
- [63:59]
Larry
But. But Deidre is so right about, you know, the Texas voters know. But, you know, his big challenge four years ago in the primary was George P. Bush, remember Bush's son. He challenged him in the primary, and it got.
- [64:11]
Kevin
He absolutely trounced him. Right. I mean, George P. Was like rail, railroad or land commissioner or something like that, and then ran for ag, I
- [64:18]
Larry
think it was AG Secretary, Land management or something like that, which is a very powerful position.
- [64:22]
Kevin
Yeah. They're all statewide. Yeah. Or utilities.
- [64:25]
Larry
But he even. He had a website called Ken the crook.com four years ago that, like, detailed all of this stuff about. So it's not like Texas voters, you know, haven't been confronted with this in the past.
- [64:37]
Kevin
Yeah.
- [64:37]
Larry
I. That's why I've been with Paxton's. Paxton's Chances. So we shall see. We shall see. You are absolutely correct. We shall see.
- [64:46]
Kevin
I'm keeping fun, but we'll have it all here, especially with all the fun with the midterms.
- [64:51]
Larry
I take my jacket and tie off. By the way, I hope I did not offend anybody, but I saw you
- [64:55]
Kevin
doing that, and I wanted to remind everyone it still is a family show, but if we can juice our number,
- [65:00]
Larry
stick around for a few minutes.
- [65:01]
Kevin
Hey, now. Hey, now. Hey, now.
- [65:04]
Mark
It's Leave it for.
- [65:05]
Kevin
Leave it for Haley and Friday show when we can get. Get a little wild and crazy.
- [65:10]
Larry
Thanks, everybody.
- [65:11]
Kevin
We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you tomorrow morning.
- [65:13]
Mark
Bye.