Trump's Warning Hangs Over Iran Amid Stalemate About Talks, Strait

Summary

The Morning Meeting – May 7, 2026

Episode: "Trump's Warning Hangs Over Iran Amid Stalemate About Talks, Strait"

Hosts: Mark Halperin, Larry O'Connor, Kevin
Podcast: 2WAY
Theme: A behind-the-scenes look at the day’s top stories, focusing on escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, Middle East negotiations, and American political dynamics.

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Episode Overview

This installment of The Morning Meeting centers on ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations, the political and economic leverage being applied (especially around the critical Strait blockades), and the pressures faced by the Trump administration as regional and international actors shape the course of possible conflict—or détente. The hosts, Mark, Larry, and Kevin, bring their signature banter and sharp political insight, weaving together analysis of news cycle priorities, inside tidbits from Washington, and broader commentary on American political life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Daybook Rundown and Setting the Scene

• Mark walks through the day's White House agenda and other major governmental activities.
• Notable White House meetings include hosting the President of Brazil, who is critical of the U.S. approach to Iran (01:29).
• Secretary Rubio is at the Vatican meeting the Pope, prompting some playful banter about Catholics and political perceptions (05:06).

2. Iran Stalemate—Sanctions, Blockade, and the Nuclear Deal

• The heart of the episode examines the precarious U.S.-Iran standoff, the strategic blockade, and the prospects (and pitfalls) of a new nuclear settlement.
• Sanctions and the Nuclear Program (09:16):
  • Mark underlines the two pillars of any potential deal: sanctions relief (and unfreezing assets) and verifiable cessation of Iran’s nuclear program.
  • Mark: "Iran could run out of storage space in about 25 to 30 days. Coincidentally, the exact length of what's supposed to be the negotiating period if the blockade is not lifted." (11:08)
• The Sticking Point: Acknowledgement of Nuclear Weapons (09:36):
  • Kevin: "For 48 years this has been the driving force of this regime and they're not going to give it up."
  • Larry argues that results matter more than rhetoric, suggesting the U.S. should accept a face-saving move by Iran: "If Iran says, listen, this was always a peaceful program...I'm fine with that. I don't care. I don't need to stand up and humiliate them." (13:51)
• Reluctance to Strike a Deal Too Soon (12:48):
  • Mark questions if the U.S. should hold out longer to press economic advantage.
  • Kevin proposes increased escorts for non-Iranian tankers, ramping up pressure.

3. Geopolitical & Domestic Repercussions

• Gulf State Distrust (15:09):
  • Mark references the Gulf states' shock at the U.S. de-escalating after a critical Iranian attack, believing U.S. priorities may jeopardize regional security.
  • "The President's...lust for summitry, his desire to get a deal, is going to make a bad deal." (16:24)
• Political Dynamics:
  • Larry is confident Trump won’t accept a bad deal but acknowledges even friendly partners like Israel and the Gulf states remain skeptical (17:57).

4. Israel, European, and Chinese Roles

• Israel has been “incredibly quiet”—seen as preparing contingencies rather than making headlines (18:47).
• France sends an aircraft carrier to the region in a show of readiness; Europe’s stance remains cautious (19:22).
• China’s diplomatic influence on Iran is acknowledged as a key, unknown factor (13:13).

5. Political Ads & U.S. Elections

• The panel dissects the messaging and impact of new Senate campaign ads from Susan Collins and Graham Platner in Maine:
  • Collins’ ad (27:06) is praised for its positive messaging, emphasizing her record and local ties.
  • Platner’s ad is called “nuclear”—aggressive and aimed at motivating national donors, not Mainers (28:25).
  • "That ad was not even for Mainers. That was to raise money outside of Maine for all the activists who just want Democrats to win." – Larry (29:49)
• Discussion follows about the dynamics and polling in the race and the effect of nationalized political rhetoric (30:02).

6. The “2028 Spouse Primary”

• A playful quiz on political spouses underscores how much the political class is already looking ahead to 2028.
• Mark and Kevin debate the importance of having dynamic spouses on the trail, referencing Michelle Obama and the “first partner” of California (39:25).
  • "It's always good to have a strong partner that can be out there raising money and doing events." – Kevin (40:22)

7. Media, Information, and Public Perception

• The group expresses skepticism toward mainstream reporting on administration motives and Middle East dynamics, especially when stories seem sourced to “surprised” Gulf partners (51:07).
  • "Sometimes these governments...have to say it to appease their neighbors and people internally...it might not have a whole lot of weight..." – Larry (51:32)
• Mark notes practical consequences: hesitancy among ship insurers creates further instability (49:00).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On U.S. negotiating with Iran:

  "At some point, the Rubicon has to be crossed and the Iranians have to say we have a nuclear weapons program and we're giving it up...Is it possible the Iranians will say that or is that going to be the sticking point?" – Mark (09:16)

• On Gulf states' reactions:

  "...when the Iranians, in response to the project, hit a critically important energy facility in UAE, the president's public and private posture was...we're going to look the other way because we got to get the deal." – Mark (16:24)

• On election trust:

  "One of the most dangerous aspects of the way we run our democracy, the democratic process to choose our representatives in this country, is that for the last 20+ years, the losing side...doesn't think that they lost fair and square." – Larry (43:12)

• On American political incentives:

  "We've got to change the incentive structure, right...the more egregious, outrageous you are, that's the incentive structure for views, clicks, money." – Kevin (59:34)

• On the role of spouses in 2028:

  "Does running for president these days involve the two for one thing Clinton said?...Is that an important element of a campaign?" – Mark (39:13)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• White House schedule rundown: 01:29–05:06
• Iran sanctions, blockade, and negotiation sticking points: 09:16–14:22
• Gulf states and Project Freedom fallout: 15:09–16:24
• Israel’s quiet stance and French involvement: 18:46–19:38
• Senate race ads (Collins and Platner): 26:11–29:49
• Political spouse quiz and discussion: 35:44–41:24
• Audience Q&A on election integrity and NBC’s reporting: 42:36–51:59
• Reflections on American political figures: 54:29–57:00
• Final audience segment on political toxicity: 57:56–61:28

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Tone & Style

The tone is sharp, witty, sometimes irreverent—reflecting Mark’s “insider” style and the co-hosts’ partisan but respectful banter. The conversation is dense with timely analysis and asides, with an open-door feeling where the audience jumps in and pushes the conversation.

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Conclusion

This episode provides a textured, real-time portrait of the U.S.-Iran diplomatic crisis: uncertainty over the endurance of sanctions, confusion over Gulf state reactions, and anxiety about the administration’s quest for a deal—juxtaposed with the backdrop of domestic politics, campaign season maneuvering, and the deepening impact of media narratives. The hosts aim to inform and challenge, serving up real debate and a touch of levity for the day ahead.

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For full analysis and real candid takes on the Middle East crisis, campaign machinations, and the “spouse effect” for 2028, this Morning Meeting episode is essential listening for political aficionados and news junkies alike.

Transcript

[A]

Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. Because behind every headline is a bottom line. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. And when you see the money side, you understand what others miss. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe [e-mail] foreign.

[B]

Yeah, welcome in everybody. You know, Paul Begala taught me this. The first time you steal a joke from somebody friend of yours, you say as Larry o' Connor often says, da, da, da. And then the second time you use it in public, you say, as a friend of mine always says, da, da, da, da. And then the third time you use it, you just steal it. That's, that's the rule. That's how it goes.

[C]

Well, did I miss the first time and the second time there, Mark? Because I just heard you use it the one time on national television last night and I got nothing.

[B]

Yeah, well, again it was, it was Joki. Homage. The three of us were on News Nation last night with Leland and I as homage to Larry out of deference, respect. See, that's what gratitude. I stole one of his lines and then it had comical implications which we won't repeat here because it's embarrassing for a friend of ours. But in any event, Larry, that's what it was.

[D]

This is the host of the show Leland Bitter.

[B]

Exactly. Exposing Leland. Yeah.

[D]

Anyway, happy to always expose Leland. He's wonderful, but he needs some better cultural references. For sure.

[B]

He does, he does. And he's a guest on Next up today. Welcome in everybody. This is the morning meeting. Larry, Kevin and I are going to run through the daybook, the news of the day. Larry and Kevin don't know this, but I have a quiz for them that is going to be delightful because I think they'll fail. And that'll be delightful because we'll learn a life lesson from that.

[D]

And then again, setting expectations low is great. I wish the administration, you guys would do that with Iran.

[B]

You guys might ace it. But Paul and I have been working on it all morning like Keebler elves. We got up at the crack of dawn, we made some fudge sticks and we did this quiz after all of that, but only after all of that opportunity for you all to ask questions, make comments. Really a thrill of a lifetime to talk to Kevin and or Larry. So please, if you're here on the two way platform, want to get in the conversation, raise your hand. We haven't. We haven't. We haven't excelled. Team. This week on New People asking questions. We love the community members who raise their hands regularly. That's great. But we'd love some new people. So if you've never raised your hand and you're here on the platform, today could be the day. Really your lucky day. Season 7 Episode 2 if you're watching on X or on YouTube, please, please, please, by all means, note smack in the chat. And I had one other. One other. I like the housekeeping phrase. I love the call housekeeping, but I don't remember what it is. But perhaps I'll think of it as I go through the day book. Here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, the President is at the White House today presiding over peace. Executive time at 8:00am Good morning, Mr. President. He's hosting the the President of Brazil today. And the President of Brazil has been critical of the war in Iran. So the. The. The greeting is closed press, but the bilateral meeting starts at 11:15. Open press. And as we all know, these sometimes evolve or devolve depending on your perspective, into press conferences. So we'll see how that goes. At 11, 11:15 they have a close press. Or sorry, 11:15 is when they have the bilateral meeting. 11:45, bilateral lunch is closed press. I wonder if it'll be one of those Brazilian barbecue things where it's all you can eat. You know, where you get skewers of different stuff. Yeah.

[D]

Or whatever.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

With those giant chu casaria or something.

[B]

Don't eat the carbs there, ladies and gentlemen. Just.

[C]

That's how they get you.

[B]

That's how they get you. Eat too much rice. Eat the proteins. I wonder what they're having. But probably not that. Policy meeting. Close press at 3. Signs executive orders. Close press at 4. Policy meeting at 5. Right during two way tonight a policy meeting. Trying to screw with me again. And then a policy meeting at 6. Hard day for the President. Did anyone know he had a pre taped interview yesterday? Who does that? Do we know who that was with?

[C]

I haven't seen it come out.

[B]

Haven't seen it come out. Might be embargoed. I don't know what the Vice President's doing today, but we'll be talking about him anyway. Secretary of Energy, right, is joining a bunch of tech leaders at something called the Special competitive studies project AI plus Expo in Washington D.C. i bet the swag bag for that is junkie. I bet it's better. Exactly. I bet it's a tote bag you throw right away.

[C]

Yes, Personal privilege. My noon show at Town hall that streams live every day at noon. We will be Live on location at that very AI Expo. Are you.

[D]

Where is it? Where is it?

[B]

Where is it?

[C]

It's at the convention center downtown.

[B]

Why are you doing that, Larry?

[C]

Because we're good friends with the, the

[B]

organizers and I want you to text

[C]

me because it's a sponsorship.

[B]

Yeah, text me later and, and confirm for me that the tote bag is junkie. That's my prediction.

[C]

I will. You know what? I will, I will. I will tag you on my tweeted picture.

[B]

Okay, good. Thank you. Secretary Rubio is at the Vatican. He's meeting with the Pope. As we say in the news business at this hour, here are some photos of the Pontiff, the Holy See, His Excellency, and the Pope himself. Just kidding. Meeting with Marco Rubio.

[D]

You better be careful with two Catholics as your co host now. I understand.

[B]

Yeah. And by the way, Catholics can laugh at themselves.

[C]

You say greatly Yesterday in the YouTube comments for your smack on Marco Rubio. You got, you gotta watch it there. Rubio's got a lot of fans out there.

[B]

My, my monologue on next up is about Marco Rubio. So for those of you who have an unnuanced view of my views of Marco Rubio, please, please join me for that. Mike Johnson and the Secretary of hud, Scott Turner are participating in the National Day of Prayer event. That happened at 8am so it's ongoing. Susie Wiles, a rare public event for the White House Chief of Staff. She's receiving the the Barbara K. Olsen Women of Woman of Valor Award from the Independent Women's forum tonight at 6:30.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Two legal matters. One during this hour. Kelly versus Heg. Seth. That's not Megan Kelly. That's not R. Kelly. That's not. Who's another Grace Kelly? Grace Kelly. It's, it's, it's Senator Kelly of Arizona. Say again? Huh? Do you have another Kelly?

[C]

Someone's got an open mic on the.

[B]

Okay. It's Kelly versus Heath in the D.C. circuit testing whether the Pentagon can punish retired officers like Mark Kelly for protected political speech. I remember when that story about that video, which I thought was ridiculous, that they made a big deal of it. And I know there are people on here who disagree with me, but that was like the biggest story in the world for like 20 minutes. And it's coming back today in the oral argument. It's actually from a legal perspective, it's an interesting case. And also the Southern Poverty Law center is being arraigned today at 1pm in Alabama. What happened with the jobless claims and productivity numbers? Did somebody Send me those. Who's got those? Just chime right in. They were fine. They were fine. Okay. All right. They were fine.

[D]

All right. That's the technical term. That's a technical economic term.

[B]

Exactly. They're fine.

[D]

All right.

[B]

Peace, Iran, a lot of discussion about whether pieces at hand or this is just another Trump. Barack, Ravi. Conspiracy to pump up the markets. Because the markets are pumped up, ladies and gentlemen, and oil's come down a little bit. Where does it stand in theory today or tomorrow, Iran will respond to the latest offer. Lots of mixed signals, though, about whether peace really is close at hand or not. Here's my perspective. Eventually, if there's ever going to be a deal, the big, the big pillars of the deal, besides opening the strait. One pillar is sanctions relief and unfreezing of assets that the Iranians really want, and the other pillar is the nuclear part. And the president's under a lot of pressure and if you believe his public comments, he's living up to that to say they can't have a nuclear program. No messing around like, like, it can't be just kind of like, you know, casual. It's got to be real, verified, everything else. Okay, the president has, has. Has said this is significant. Notice to The Middle East, 103, please. In a phone call with PBS yesterday, the president acknowledged that sanctions relief will be part of the deal. Here's what he said. He said, well, if we make this deal, we'll be lightening up on Iran with sanctions, etc. So we won't have to worry about this. So that the president has said this now, it's no surprise, but he said it. What hasn't been said is what Iran will do. And David Ignatius this morning on Morning Joe said that the U. S. Officials are now calling the moderates. I didn't do air quotes in with my fingers, but I tried to with my voice. The moderates in the IRGC to find ones who will say, yeah, you guys gonna have to give up your nuclear program. They don't even acknowledge they have the nuclear program. To me, guys, it's not about what's, what's on Steve Witkoff's phone. It's not about what the Pakistanis say. At some point, the Rubicon has to be crossed and the Iranians have to say we have a nuclear weapons program and we're giving it up. And now we're negotiating over. Over the modalities of that. So, Kevin, is my analysis correct? And if so, is it possible the Iranians will say that or is that the Big is that going to be the sticking point? Because they can never actually say it.

[D]

I mean, I think that's going to be the continued sticking point. They say it's for peaceful, you know, operations. The fact that the foreign minister on multiple western television shows has declared that and they have literally destroyed their country over their nuclear program. Right, right. We've talked about that. If they just give that up, they could join the community of nations that the president talks about all the time. But they are so dead set on this bomb that I do think it's the Rubicon that won't be crossed. Now there are some indications from our side this is not communicated from them but or the Pakistanis that the nuclear question can be addressed in this 30 day session. That's something new in terms of the reporting. We also don't know how hard the Chinese are laying on the regime in Tehran either following that foreign minister's trip to Beijing, meeting with his counterpart there. But again, I think it's really a non starter. For 48 years this has been the driving force of this regime and they're not going to give it up.

[B]

Larry, is it your understanding that if this 30 day negotiating period occurs that the strait will be fully open or not?

[C]

No, I, I think, well, I mean it'll be open insofar as our blockade will continue and if ships go through a round, we'll suffer consequences if they try or, or we're sort of it'll stay exactly where we are right now. Isn't that your understanding?

[B]

I don't, I don't know. But, but it sounds to me like both sides want the strait to be open.

[C]

Yes, and that, but that, but that is also one of the main pressure points that we have on Iran that brought them here in the first place.

[B]

Well, well it is and here's the New York Times story that ran yesterday but hasn't gotten enough attention. It's a very one of the few reporters in the western media who has great sources in Iran. This is from The New York Times 104 and she leans heavily into the notion that the Iran economy and the Iran oil infrastructure is really at risk. Not tomorrow, not, not the next day, but within a month or two. Here's what she writes. The sea blockade. This is a quote that she gets from an Iranian expert on Iranian oil who's on the energy committee of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, which is a, by the way, their annual dinner is fantastic. Have the hummus. The sea blockade is much more serious threat than even war and the current stalemate must be broken because the export of our oil and energy and fate of our refineries is now at risk. The bottom line is that Iran could run out of storage space in about 25 to 30 days. Coincidentally, ladies and gentlemen, the exact length of what's supposed to be the negotiating period if the blockade is not lifted, according to a guy who does oil analysis. Other experts have given different estimates. We've discussed this before. The estimates continue to be widely disparate. But here's a guy in Tehran saying, this is a lot of trouble. The time story is great. It talks about how they can get imports and exports through various other means, not passing through the blockaded strait, but they can't get oil in or oil out any other way. So what's confusing to me, guys, is, is if, if, if the economic pressure is working, we know the president's under political pressure domestically, but shouldn't, shouldn't he just ride this out for another 30 days rather than make a deal with the Iranians to give them sanctions relief?

[D]

Not only should we continue this pressure campaign, but let's restart the escorting of non Iranian cargo ships and tankers and challenge them to either attack our forces which will respond heavily or allow the jet fuel to go through and from other non Iranian countries to give our relief economically.

[C]

Yeah, listen, it depends on what they're on the brink of or what they think they're on the brink of. And if, you know, showing some sign of progress on our side and saying, okay, in the spirit of negotiations, we'll do this if it brings results. But listen, the Chinese meeting was important, especially considering the summit is coming up in China. You know how all the parties on that summit in Beijing would love to have some resolution as part of the tipping point of those, as the President

[D]

would, too, Larry, I would say, yeah, for that meeting.

[C]

And can I circle back real fast this idea that Iran has to acknowledge that they had Iran weapons?

[D]

Get.

[C]

Listen, I think the results are more important than the rhetoric. All right, If Iran says, listen, this was always a peaceful program, but clearly everybody seems to be upset about it, so we'll go ahead and hand it all over. We weren't really going to do anything with it anyway, and now we can get back to normal. I'm fine with that. I don't care. I don't need to stand up and humiliate them.

[B]

I understand. I understand what you're saying. And there's a lot of talk now about saving face. There's a story in Politico that says the President has to stop insulting the Iranians if he wants a deal. I agree with you, Larry. They don't need to admit to everything. But even just saying we're turning this stuff over.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Is a huge step. And again, I'm just very skeptical of it.

[D]

And also too, Mark, to your point, also look at the reporting out of North Korea right now. North Korea is on a different playing field because they actually have nuclear weapons and are going hyperdrive in terms of the amount of missile capabilities they'll have in the next couple of years and the number of warheads. And now North Korea is in a different negotiating position. And the Iranians see that the power of that potentially in terms of their ability to negotiate future deals.

[B]

So we always try to look forward here, but sometimes you need to look back to look forward because the question of the US's alliances in the Gulf are really important as they try to strike a deal because Israel might not like the deal. The Saudis may not. The deal.

[D]

The Emirates certainly.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, uae, Right. So still a mystery which even at the time didn't get enough attention, but it's now faded into obscurity. Why did the president. Three after Mark, three hours after Marco Rubio said how vitally important and morally righteous it was to do this project of getting ships through and rescuing these crews. Why did the President drop it? He said he dropped it at the request of the Pakistanis. NBC reported that he dropped it at the request perhaps of the Saudis who claim to have been surprised. Extraordinary tweet. I can't read you the whole thing even though I had planned to.125. Here's the NBC story that says that Project Freedom surprised the Gulf states. Here's. Here's a tweet from 125. Eamon Dean. It's an extraordinary tweet. If you got access to the Twitter machine on X, go read the whole thing. What he says happened and you can scroll through it. Paul, as I talk it through. What he says happened is the Gulf states were told in advance. NBC has it wrong. They weren't. They weren't surprised by it. Here's what surprised them. What surprised them was when the Iranians, in response to the project, hit a critically important energy facility in uae. The president's public and private posture was. And we're going to look the other way because we got to get the deal. And it's what it says here is the shock came from the American reaction afterwards. You had attacks against Emirati. Go back Emirati infrastructure. Go back one, please. Or forward Sorry. Forward, forward, forward, you. Attacks against Emirati infrastructure. They targeted this incredibly important facility. Multiple waves involving drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and Washington's response was basically, meh, minor incident, incident. Let's not escalate. Minor incident. For the Gulf states, this was madness. What Riyadh, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi suddenly realized was that Trump's obsession with preserving the deal had reached the point where Gulf energy infrastructure was now considered acceptable collateral damage in the pursuit of his precious negotiations. Hugh Hewitt, Dan Senor, and other people who are very supportive of Mark Thiessen, very supportive of more force being used to continue to pressure the Iranians also are concerned that the President's, as Bob Novak would say, his lust for summitry, his desire to get a deal, in part because of the political pressure from the midterms, is going to make a bad deal. And this suggests that the Gulf states are worried about that, too, and they have to live in the neighborhood. If the President makes what they consider to be a bad deal, the United States withdraws, they get distracted by something else. The Gulf states in Israel are a little concerned. So, Larry, is the president, you think, possibly going to make a bad deal?

[C]

No, I don't think his history shows it'll make a bad deal. But it's good to have this pressure from all the various interests. And I tend to lean more on the side of not just looking away when Iran obviously violates the ceasefire and harms our allies and vital partners in this entire endeavor. But the important thing is when concerns were voiced here domestically as well as from those partners, they reversed. Right. He is adjusting and modifying and trying to test the boundaries on both sides of this, you know, somewhat fragile coalition. And I don't think it's in him to make a bad deal when the stakes are this high. And he keeps saying, and Secretary of State Rubio keeps saying the same thing, the bottom line, biggest red line, has to do with that nuclear program. And. And it's good to put the pressure on to make sure that that is what the prize that he keeps his eyes on.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I am shocked, though, that we. Is it me or has Israel been incredibly quiet?

[B]

Incredibly, incredibly quiet.

[D]

But certainly.

[B]

But it hasn't been anything, as I have. As I. Yes, as I've reported, a few others have. They've spent the time using intelligence gathering to have a list of targets ready. So if the President says, let's start the war again, it's like, well, this guy lives at 88 Elm street and this guy lives at 15 Broadway, and. And they're going to kill a bunch of the new leaders and, and infrastructure. So they've been busy, but quiet because they got to not offend the President.

[C]

Kevin.

[D]

Mark, Mark. What, Mark, what's your read? One other thing that we haven't really talked about is the French sending their only aircraft carrier to the region. Obviously with the focus on the straits. What do you make of that? And are the Europeans in factor at all?

[B]

I mean, I think they're prepared to start leading, helping ships get through once there's no danger. But I saw that too. I don't know. I don't know if it represents more than that or not. I really don't know.

[C]

It's a direct result of President Trump's glowing tweet about how beautiful Brigitte Macron is.

[B]

We, may we.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

Again, raise your hand, Helen of Troy.

[D]

We have about 8,000 ships.

[B]

We have launched one ship. We have about eight topics to get through. And Kevin and Larry are going to be extremely brief. This isn't cable news. They're not going to give cable news.

[D]

Like I just, I'm ready to get to this quiz.

[B]

I want, that's the thing is I want to make sure we get to the quiz. But so we'll get to short answers. Let me just get a quick sponsor in and then we'll go back to talking about news. Cozyearth.com 20% off everything on the site. I got a great email yesterday from one of you saying you, you, you were skeptical of the jogger set, but, but you bought it and, and you love it. And this person says they're going to give jogger sets as gifts now going forward. The jogger sets are great, breathable, viscous from bamboo, relaxed fit, tapered finish. It's just a super comfortable thing to wear around the house or out and about. Go right nowadays dot com. Buy yourself a jogger set. Buy one for your family. I'm going to buy one for my son and have him sleep in it like pajamas. That's my goal. Don't tell him, don't tell him he doesn't watch the show. He always says to me, dad, I'm just not invested in two way. Also the clothes.

[D]

Come on, James. Come on, James.

[C]

She says, do you watch Larry's stuff? And my wife always says, oh, I get the Larry O' Connor show 24 7. And I don't think she means that in a good way.

[B]

No. Yeah, but she has VIP access. Anyway, go to cozyearth.com if you want to buy some of the sleep stuff. As always, it comes with 100 night free sleep trial, risk free 10 year warranty. You know the rest. Spring is here. Comfort matters. Go to cozyearth.com use the promo code MORNING for 20% off everything on the site and the bubble cuddle blanket of course I forgot to mention but you should buy that.

[E]

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[C]

When you get momentum, you step on the gas.

[B]

That's how you get separation from everybody else.

[D]

I was at Harvard Law School as blah blah blah.

[B]

I looked up, let me tell you something, there's kids in my neighborhood putting in sheetrock that are smarter than you. AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff.

[D]

It is never going to disrupt physical

[B]

blue collar trade skill. And the guy just looked at me and he said it's bloody impossible. So I asked him this question. I said it's impossible.

[E]

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

[B]

All right guys, I'm going to skip around here. Here's a clip from the LA mayoral debate yesterday. Just everybody in my life is obsessed with Spencer Pratt and guys, I'm going to show you the clip. And spoiler alert on the back half, tell me if you think he can actually win. Here's Spencer Pratt at last night's mayoral debate. 111, please.

[F]

Downtown is so unsafe now that they have to serve the food. All the employees have to eat inside. They they can't risk going out. That's why all these beautiful restaurants are closing, because it's so unsafe. So before we require city workers to go back into any buildings, we need to enforce the laws on the street. Councilman Rahman is talking about safety. Yet when animal rescue activists Rebecca Corey came in and said the dogs are being tortured and abused on the streets of Dun, she walked out of the hearing. She doesn't care about safety. She doesn't care about anything she's talking about. At least Mayor Bass pretends to care.

[B]

They're eating the dogs. They're eating the cats. Here's yet another AI video on behalf of Spencer Pratt. We'll play a little bit of this. Won't play the whole thing. 112 and as Kevin said when we previewed it in the pregame show. Cass Elliott rolling over.

[D]

Sweet mama Cass. Yeah.

[B]

Here we go. 112.

[A]

Please.

[B]

Assume we would could longer.

[F]

We're finally away.

[G]

Finally away.

[F]

California Freedom. Freedom gets closer every day. Steal it from us for years.

[D]

All right.

[B]

Again. As I said on two way tonight last night. The. The Pratt campaign.

[D]

Get your cell phone. Get your cell phone down and turn it around for the flash. That's how you do it. The PR God.

[B]

The Pratt campaign and its allies are just. They're just. They're. They're pioneers in using AI to make just incredible ads.

[D]

I mean them and the Iranians.

[B]

They're so great. Exactly. They. They should do Lego.

[C]

Kevin.

[B]

Just. Yes. No. Can Pratt win?

[D]

No.

[B]

No. Larry.

[C]

Yes. A political novice Republican business owner who was fed up with LA named Dick Reardon won the mayor's race. In my lifetime. It can happen again.

[D]

I know Rick Caruso. Spencer Pratt is no Rick Caruso.

[B]

I break. I break the tie. He can win.

[D]

Well.

[B]

I didn't. I didn't think so. But now I do. All right. Susan Collins yesterday revealed she's got a medical condition that she's had for a while in a interview with Phil Hirschkorn. My friend. 113 it. It causes her to shake a little bit. It's a benign essential tremor. She says it has absolutely no impact on her ability to do the job. Coincidentally. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Both Mr. Plattner and Senator Collins have released their opening ads of the general election. One is positive and one is negative. Let's start with the incumbent. This is Susan Collins talking about her support for the Eastport Breakwater. 116 the Eastport Breakwater was originally built

[H]

in 1962 with a lifespan of 20 years. Well at the end of those 20 years it was supposed to be replaced. But it never was. Back In December of 2014 we received a phone call at 2:17 in the morning notifying us that the Breakwater had tragically collapsed. There was thankfully no serious injuries. When the Breakwater collapsed it brought a halt to most of our economics and brought a tremendous amount of uncertainty to our future. But prior to sunrise we received a phone call from Senator Susan Collins who assured us that she would be there to help see it rebuilt. Just having that assurance meant so much to this community. Senator Collins helped lead the delegation in making sure that we got the federal funding that would be needed the new Breakwater wasn't simply replaced, it was upgraded. And it continues to be a central focal point of what makes esport great. The Breakwater has long been a part of esports past and with the help of Susan Collins, it'll always be a part of our future as well. Susan, thank you.

[A]

I'm Susan Collins and I've approved this message.

[B]

First of all, give that guy an Emmy. I mean that guy carries the whole piece and it's a very man accent, that accent. If you were a lobster fisherman, you'd have needed subtitles. It's a very good ad, very positive. Talks about, but it, but it does, it does say she's staking at all. She's not claiming to be an outsider. She's saying she's walked the halls of power. She uses her seniority and influence for Maine.

[C]

Very different. It wasn't about, I will say about who she impacts.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

So number one, it's a 60 second ad.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Which you're not going to see on television that much. Probably social, digital.

[B]

Probably. Probably. This is the only place that anybody's going to.

[D]

And EG makes a good point in the, in the chat that it takes a while to get to Susan Collins. So if you're watching online and you're, you're, you have the chance to Skip through after five seconds, which a lot of AD units do for 60 seconds.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

You're not getting that mess.

[B]

There's probably, they'll probably do a 30 version as well, I would think.

[D]

Yeah, I would.

[B]

I'll tell you this, when you're handicapping this race, ladies and gentlemen, Susan Collins always has great ads and her super PAC ad makers are going to be great too. So she'll have a lot of money, but it will not.

[D]

They're all going to make a lot of money.

[B]

They will make a lot of money. Here's the new platinum ad. Less positive, but also on message for him. Less than 1. 115, please.

[I]

Susan Collins charade is over. We don't care that you pretend to be remorseful at the start of a new forever war that you chose to let happen. We don't care that you are concerned while we go broke as you sell us out to the President and to the Epstein class who are engineering the greatest redistribution of wealth from the working class to the ruling class in this nation's history. Symbolic opposition doesn't reopen hospitals. Weak condemnations don't bring back Roe v. Wade and selling out the same working class voters who've delivered mandate for change after mandate for change is not forgivable. A performative politics that enables the destruction of our way of life is disqualified. As a United States senator. I am running because it is time for change. I'm Graham Platner and I approve of this message.

[B]

I missed, I missed the line where he says Mainers and myself respect the service of Susan Collins. Like that thing is just nuclear. Guys handicap the race right now. Who's the favorite and why? Larry?

[C]

Susan Collins, because she knows how to win there and, and her ad, like I said, was from Main. I, I honestly thought that they were using like some sort of AI distortion on that guy's voice. That's terrifying. You want to live with that guy?

[B]

Sounds like Hulk Hogan. Kevin, who's the favorite?

[C]

And real fast, that ad was not even for Mainers. That was to raise money outside of Maine for all the activists who just want Democrats to win. He's going to make money on that ad, but I don't think he gets votes in Maine.

[D]

Yeah, Kevin, I'm a favorite. I'm with Larry in that last point. That again, I think Maine, we talked about this, has the oldest electorate. I don't know how that, you know, convinces older white Mainers to turn the page on Susan Collins necessarily. I think it's a national play. But I do think Grant Platner, the polling suggests he's got an eight point lead in the, in the latest poll that I've seen now that it's a general election matchup. And I think, I think he's the odds on favorite.

[B]

I can't break the tie on.

[D]

Despite all of his baggage. Despite all.

[B]

Can't break the tie. My head, my head says that she's going to win and my gut says she's going to win. But I want to see how Platner performs when.

[C]

More baggage. More baggage.

[B]

Yeah, I know there's going to be more. I want to see, I want to see the debates. I think the debates will be widely watched in Maine and be a big differentiator.

[D]

But I mean, think of that split screen though, right? Just in terms of I still. She's 70 something and he's 40, I guess.

[B]

Yeah, I know. Change versus more of the same. The country's in an angry mood. Mainers want change. But man, new Susan now he's turned it up.

[D]

Move over, Selena now.

[B]

Yeah, turned it up to 11. Exactly. Okay, I'm skipping around. Got to do the quiz, but let's do this, this new route, this another day with Rubio, Secretary Rubio at the Vatican with a new York Times story suggesting that Vice President Vance's political prospects are dicey. Another day of comparing the two men. Here's the New York Times headline. Why can't I find this on my list? 119. New York Times had sent a reporter to Iowa for the Vice President's events there. And the reporter talked to a bunch of the people who met with the Vice President. He had at least three private meetings with Iowa kingmakers, Republican kingmakers, the kind of thing you do if you're thinking of running for president. One of them was Bob Vander Platz, the guy who's been around forever as a conservative activist in the state, who forever he's been.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

His endorsements widely. Widely sought. He said, quote, the midterms in General are about 20, 28, especially as it relates to Vice President Vance, because if the midterms go well, we keep the House, we keep the Senate, we keep legislatures. That is going to bode very well for J.D. of course, the flip side of that is Vanderplatt seems to be suggesting if the midterms don't go well, then it could be a problem. Here's a video built around one of Rubio's answers from the briefing that's already gotten a lot of attention. People posted the exchange online. He was asked about America, and Team Rubio made their own video out of it. They took the audio and they laid in pictures. Those of you watching on YouTube or X or here on 2way. Note the images in the video. You see a lot of Donald Trump. You see a lot of Marco Rubio. You don't see very much any J.D. vance. Here's the Rubio video that's blowing up on social number 118. Please.

[D]

I gotta ask you, what is your

[J]

hope for America at a time such as this? My hope for America. My hope for America is what it's always been. I think it's the hope I hope we all share. We want it to continue to be the place where anyone from anywhere can achieve anything, where you're not limited by the circumstances of your birthday, by the color of your skin, by your ethnicity. But frankly, it's a place where you are able to overcome challenges and achieve your full potential. I think that should be the goal of every country in the world. But I think in the US we're not perfect. Our history is not one of perfection, but it's still better than anybody else's history. Ours is a story of perpetual improvement. Each generation has left the next generation of Americans freer, more prosperous, safer. And that is our goal as well. And as we come upon this 250 year anniversary, I think we have a lot to learn and be proud of in our history. It is one of perpetual and continuous improvement and where each generation has done its part to bring us closer to fulfilling the vision that the founders of this country had upon its founding.

[B]

All right, guys, we could talk about this for an hour and I will be talking about it on Next up later. But Kevin, what is Marco Rubio up to? Is he. Is he just doing that video because his team was taking advantage of an answer that was widely lauded, or does that show he really wants to be, you know, keep the buzz going?

[D]

I think it's his team around him. I think he's more effective when he has this kind of conversation going on. And I think as we talked about, and I hate to say that, but, but the president loves this kind of back and forth between the two of them. And again, you know, the vice president went to Iowa. I didn't see much of any coverage, no stories coming out of it. Obviously he was just doing the routine kind of stuffing for candidates out there. But Marco is getting all the oxygen and I'm looking forward to listening to your next up monologue about whether it's justified or not.

[C]

Larry, don't make me choose between the mark. I think they're both, they're both great and they both have. I think that that video, it's very interesting to see that it came from the State Department.

[B]

You know, this is my tax dollars at work.

[D]

They love these hype. They love these hype. You know, Rick Rollins puts out hype videos with thematic music at the Department of Agriculture and stuff like that.

[C]

Pardon, pardon me for being happy that we've got, you know, divisions in our United States government that actually hype up how great America is and actually celebrate how great this country is with messages like that.

[D]

I just wish they didn't. I wish they did that with Voice of America, too. It was noteworthy that overseas too.

[C]

Oh, you don't need that anymore. The Internet delivers that.

[B]

It is.

[C]

It is noteworthy that I saw Sebastian Gorka in all of that B roll footage more than I saw J.D. vance. Yes, it was. I didn't notice it the first time I saw it until you pointed out that there's no veins in those.

[B]

Yeah, someone pointed it out to me. I can't take credit for having noticed it.

[D]

I will say I, I make Alex, my husband, choose between Larry and I every day. And he always picks Larry in terms of his wisdom. So you can choose between two. Two important people.

[B]

Understandably so. All right, guys, here's the quiz. Brace yourselves. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a visual quiz. Please raise your hand if you want it in the conversation. We'll be to. To you probably right after the quiz. All right, guys. 208. Paul, tell me who this is. Tell me who this. This woman is. Here's a picture. 208. Tell me who this is. Who's that? Guys, any idea?

[C]

I. I'm sorry, I don't.

[B]

Don't guess if you don't know. Kevin, have an idea. Okay, who's this two? 207. Who's this lady? 207. Any. Any idea who that is?

[C]

I do not know.

[B]

Okay, who's this? 206. Any idea who that is?

[D]

Okay, looks like a younger Maggie Hassan.

[B]

Okay, good guess, but wrong. Who's this? 203, please. Who's that?

[C]

Well, that's an elected official of some sort.

[D]

Isn't. That's the. Is that Maggie from New Hampshire?

[B]

It's not. It's not. All right, ladies and gentlemen, let's, let's.

[D]

No, no, no. That's the. That's the first lady of. Of Pennsylvania. Right?

[B]

That is the first lady of Pennsylvania.

[D]

Okay, my screen is small when I see it.

[B]

First lady of Pennsylvania. So let's go back with. Well, well, let's give you some hints. 202. Who's. Who's this? Who's this? Who's that?

[D]

Oh, that's the former second gentleman.

[B]

That is Doug. Doug am off. And 204. Who's this?

[C]

That's Pete Buddha judge's husband. Isn't it?

[B]

Chaston? Who's this?

[D]

I see a theme here. Those are. Okay, I think one of them.

[B]

Okay, we'll go back, know what's going on here. Who's this? 205.

[C]

Is that J.B. pritzker's wife?

[B]

No, that's.

[D]

It's a young Bernie Sanders.

[C]

Oh, you're right.

[D]

That's. That's an older photo. That's a while ago.

[B]

Yeah. Okay, now, so let's review. 208. Who's this? That is Dr. Alicia Kramer. Do you know who that is? Dr. Alicia Kramer, aka Mrs. John. Oof. Who's this?

[D]

There you go. Okay.

[B]

Who's this? 207.

[D]

I think that's the first lady of Kentucky.

[B]

Yeah, her name is. Her name is Britney.

[D]

And people, they had a spread, I think, in Vogue or something.

[B]

Women named Brittany always have their name spelled wrong, right? There's a million ways to say spell Britney. This is one. I'VE never seen B R I T A I N Y Britney Bashir and 206. This is, this is Amy Rule Rom's wife. Okay, now I I say all this because here is a POLITICO story 129 POLITICO has a story today pointing out that the first partner of California, another spouse of a potential presidential candidate. Those are the eight for 28 spouses on my latest rankings. It says it's 2028 looms. Jennifer Siebel Newsom faces increased conservative attacks and pouncing. Well, you're not pouncing, although probably Politico would say pouncing. It's, it's, it's here's the question. Does, does if you if the running for president these days involve the two for one thing that Clinton said, do you need your spouse out there aggressive or you don't need that? Is that an important element of a campaign? And, and if it's somebody like Jennifer Siebel Newsom is a potentially a negative because it brings so much attacks. Kevin, what's your perspective on 2028 spouses?

[D]

Yeah, I think we like to see spouses certainly out there campaigning. Some have been more effective than others. And it's clear the first partner of California, you know, in her role, has taken on a lot more public positions, spoken out on a lot of different things. We've talked about it here on the morning meeting. You know, Lori Shapiro, for example, you know, has been kind of more under the radar as a first lady colleague in Harrisburg. But the right spouses can be the right assets. Certainly on the campaign trail, again, we saw that with Michelle Obama, and then she got tagged with, you know, some of those issues in terms of her speeches and stuff like that. But she was still a hugely important surrogate, as was Doug Amhoff. You know, the current first ladies a little bit more behind the scenes, doesn't travel as much more. The kids do take on that role. But it's, you know, it's always good to have a strong partner that can be out there raising money and doing events.

[B]

Larry, could you pick Mrs. Rubio out of a lineup?

[C]

I think I could, yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I've seen her recently.

[D]

The right context.

[B]

And Usha Vance, of course, is a huge ass.

[D]

Of course.

[C]

Of course. Yeah. And listen, they can be huge asset spouses, but we've just seen a man win the presidency in 16 and in 2020 with his wife or, excuse me, 24 Freudian slip with his wife, sort of taking a back seat, at least at campaigns. She did a couple of things here and there and at the convention. But Melania Trump is not known for her campaigning and being a part of campaigning. She's known for being a very classy and very good first lady.

[D]

But Kevin, that's where the kids and that's where the kids come in. That's right, Kevin.

[C]

It's an important point though. They deliberately made the first lad of California the first partner. What does partner mean? She, she positions herself and her husband has positioned her to be a partner in everything that her husband does, policy wise, politics wise. So forgive conservatives as Politico is now demonizing us for, you know, noticing the stuff that she said. And she said a lot of stuff.

[B]

Yeah, you can't have it both ways. She has, she did an interview on Morning Joe a couple weeks ago, maybe months ago at this point. She was excellent. I was really impressed with how, how much of a great communicator she was. But she definitely double edged, which could

[D]

be the reason why Republic, you know, conservative commentators want to take her out now and define her early if she is that if she is effective.

[B]

Markets are open. Stocks are up. Very still very optimistic. There's going to be an Iran deal because they don't watch his show closely enough. They're also corporate earnings, all the things we've talked about. NASDAQ 11th record close S&P 500 on track for its 15th record close this year. Oils dropped to now to $90 per barrel. What was up to 110 at one point, right?

[C]

No, it got up to 126.

[B]

126. So it's down to 90. Gas is up.

[D]

Put that on an ad right there.

[B]

Gas on the other hand, up 26 cents this week. It's average. National average is 456. You know what state has the cheapest gas, gentlemen?

[C]

Oklahoma.

[B]

Oklahoma. All right. With that, let's go to your questions. As always, we'll bring you in. Raise your hand if you want to get in unmute. Tell us where you are and what's on your mind. For Kevin and for Larry. Mary, you're first. Thank you for being part of two Way.

[G]

Hi, Mary.

[D]

Hey, Mary. Good morning.

[A]

One of the things that I'm interested in and I'd love to hear your comments about is something that to my knowledge I haven't heard you all discuss so far. As you're probably aware, Dan Bishop is in charge of the grand jury investigating Fulton county election from 2020 and he issued some major subpoenas recently to get to people who were involved in the management and administration of the election. Any thoughts or comments about that?

[B]

Great question. Larry has a little shrine in his home about this topic. So, Larry, you first.

[C]

We can go that far. But I do think that on both the Republican side and the Democrat side, one of the most dangerous aspects of the way we run our democracy, the democratic process to choose our representatives in this country, is that for the last 20 plus years, the losing side, especially in a presidential election, doesn't think that they lost fair and square. And the more that happens, the more debilitating it is. And we need to put policies in place to lock that down so that those question marks can't be there. And anybody who looks at what happened in Fulton county and certain parts of Pennsylvania and certain parts of Arizona in the 2020 election and still pretend that there were no question marks and everything was absolutely kosher, you're just ignoring the

[B]

reality of the case.

[C]

Whether that's enough to overturn the election, whether judges need to come in and rewrite the history books, that's another question. But we deserve to know what happened, and we need to know going forward that we have processes in place where nothing can happen again so we can walk away from an election and say, well, we lost, but at least we lost fair and square.

[B]

Aloha, Kevin.

[D]

I will just say, to Larry's point, in the state of Georgia, there were three recounts, including a hand recount, including Fulton County. So we know what happened in that election. This is obviously about 2020. This isn't about 2024. It's been politically motivated on both sides. There's no shirking that with Fani Willis and now the retribution from the Trump administration. I think there was another ruling about the ballots just yesterday, Mary, that you're probably referencing, too, in terms of who can hold them and for what period of time. But I am with Larry in terms of the overall message. I think he's quoting Joe Biden. You can't only love this country when you win. And we got to make sure that people's faith in the electoral process, while also speaking as a Democrat, but is now standing up for states rights. It's inherent on the states to run these elections. And it's never a good thing when you see the federal government going in, whether it be a Democrat administration or a Republican administration.

[C]

But, Mary, I hope Kevin would agree with me that 25 years ago, the biggest punchline in this country when it came to elections was the state of Florida. I mean, hanging chads and all of the craziness that went on there with that recount in 2000 and Governor Jeb Bush, he said, this ain't gonna happen in our state again. They have locked it down. Florida is the model that every state should follow right now.

[D]

And oh, by the way, and they're reporting too. I think they also now are quick.

[C]

It is a bigger and more diverse state than I think 47 other states in this country. And yet we get the results before midnight. That should be, that is the gold standard and it frankly should be the law.

[B]

Mary, thank you for the great question. Are you, are you, are you a regular viewer of this show?

[A]

I am. When I'm not out playing golf Today it's raining.

[B]

Yeah. How are Larry and Kevin doing? You disappointed in their pick? Happy. Jury's out. What do you.

[A]

Oh, no, I enjoy, I enjoy them. I thought it was very interesting when you had a change of staffing, shall we say late last year. But I think it's, it's improving and I'm enjoying it now.

[D]

Mary, as permanent co host, what do you think of Mark's stewardship of the program?

[A]

Well, I don't want to suck up to Mark, but I don't know if he ever sleeps.

[D]

I wonder that too.

[A]

I think you do a good job and I emailed you the other day, Mark, I think you asked incredible questions and I don't think that that's an easy skill to develop.

[B]

I'm grateful to you. I just read the teleprompter, but that's a skill in and of itself. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being part of two way out.

[D]

See you out on the links, Mary.

[B]

I hope, I hope the rain clears. He can get back out and play.

[C]

Hey, speaking of reading the teleprompter, Kevin, did Joe Biden really say that or did someone write it for him to say it? Come on now, be honest.

[B]

Came out of his mouth, dude.

[D]

Yeah, it came out of his mouth a number of times. He loves it. That's a go to line. He loves that line.

[B]

All right, Cal, still kind of, kind of upset. It wasn't hi mind Eric, but nonetheless has shown up. Cal, welcome and thank you for being here.

[G]

Morning, everyone. Mark, I take a two way last night that you said that the biggest story in America is AI or in the world is AI. Yeah, but I think the real biggest story is the fact that the South Carolinians are ingratiating themselves throughout all facets of global life. And Kevin is a great example. Now he's a co host, everyone.

[B]

Not since the Civil War had South Carolinian been so on the march, Cal, it's on.

[G]

It's not a hundred year plan.

[C]

I woke up this morning and I've got a palmetto tree planted, planted in my front yard. I don't know what the hell is going on.

[D]

Yeah, I'm not gonna say the south will rise again because that's, that's never a good thing. But South Carolina is on the rise

[B]

and, and Kevin has convinced me that if the choice is between Nobu Sushi and Nobu Sushi and Piggly Wiggly Sushi. Go with the Piggly Wiggly. Better every time.

[C]

This is true, Mark.

[G]

Let's say it's local made, but with what we don't know.

[B]

Right, Exactly.

[G]

Anyway, and this is a serious question for all three of you. The reports coming out of NBC about the Saudis and the UAE closing the airspace.

[C]

Right.

[G]

I just find that is so out of character for the Saudis especially almost to sandbag the US like that. Almost like in a semi backhanded public way. Yeah, right. Usually they don't, they don't, they don't kiss and tell, if that makes sense about things. So

[B]

have you been here for the whole show, Cal, or did you miss part?

[G]

I came in, I came in late.

[B]

Okay, so, so, so there's another, some other reporting that says the NBC reporting is a little off. And what, what the Saudis are upset about is not the, the, the project. What they're upset about was the US turning the other cheek when the Iranians attacked. And so that's why they, that's why they were.

[G]

And I've read that report as well. That guy, I can't remember, it's like Irish or something like that. Yeah, I don't understand that either because, I mean, the US at no point has not tried to stop any kind of missile or any kind of, of attack throughout this entire conflict. Or they've done their best effort. Right.

[B]

To do it. But they did, they did, they did turn the other cheek. The Saudis are right. They turned the other cheek and they say it's because the President wants to deal so badly. But as we said earlier, these folks have to live there after this war ends. And the Saudis, as you know, have long been extremely distrustful of Iran. Very, very threatened by Iran. And so I can understand why they spoke out. They didn't speak out as much like they're not French. They didn't, you know, they didn't. They're not the Germans in the United States being humiliated. But you're right, they did more than they would normally do. But, but I make sense to me. And it's the same with the, there's a reply tweet to the tweet we showed earlier. It's the same with the insurers. You know, if the president's. One of the president's goals for since the start of this, since they shut down the strait, is to get the insurers to insure these ships so the crews can, can be confident that they can move. And, and it's the same with the insurers. If the insurers aren't confident that the president's not going to defend the ships because he's trying to make a deal, they're not going to insure the ships and the captains aren't going to feel confident either that they can move. So it's counterproductive. And this is the vice. The President said, Kevin, anything you want to add?

[D]

There's also a huge issue, too, not just in terms of the insurance, but there's all kinds of new reporting, too. You've got 2,000 ships stranded there with the crews, right. And we talk all the time about airline crews timing out. But you know, there's a huge X factor too, with the, the actual, you

[G]

know, there's ports in, in the, in the Gulf states that could pull in if they needed food, right?

[D]

I mean, sure, they're not out there. You know, they're mostly in port, you know, going back and forth.

[B]

I, for one, I, for one, I'm, for one, I'm concerned about scurvy. Larry,

[C]

I would say we've reached the point now where if I see a headline from NBC News and it makes President Trump look bad and it's an exclusive, I'm already gonna assume that it's wrong, frankly. I'm at that point and I'm sorry, that's just where I am right now. So I'm not surprised that they may have gotten.

[D]

I feel, I feel the same way about town hall reporting about me, Larry. When I see a town hall article, how dare you.

[C]

Personal, you don't work for NBC News.

[D]

Kevin.

[C]

Town hall would never. But also, one other thing. Just, just as you're hearing all of these things and sources say Saudi said this, and sources say this said that, sometimes these governments and I think Saudi Arabia has a pretty good track record here. Mark, would correct me if I'm wrong. Sometimes they'll say stuff out there because they gotta say it to appease their neighbors and people internally. Saudi Arabia, and it might not have a whole lot of weight in terms of when the rubber Hits the road.

[D]

And they've also had. They've also had the most effective series of ambassadors here in Washington, D.C. going back to Bandar, Bush, and now the.

[G]

But they also got Princess Scratch to go with them. They got.

[B]

They play a sophisticated game, and 9, 11, set them back a little bit, to say the least, but they play a sophisticated game.

[G]

But I guess. I guess my counterpoint would be is the. The. The Iranians struck all their sensitive targets when it was. The whole war was kinetic, as they say these days. Right. And. And we did our level best then and still couldn't stop every strike coming in.

[D]

Right.

[G]

My question is, is because all of a sudden we did one and we just didn't go, oh, that's so awful. We need to strike Iran back now.

[C]

That's an exception.

[G]

I just.

[B]

That didn't. Yeah, I hear you, Cal. I mean, again, the President's done two things, which, until somebody can claim otherwise on the face of it, suggests he does want to deal so badly that he'll. He'll bend. One is, three hours after Marco Rubio said this is a moral imperative, the President canceled the project of. Of. Of helping ships guide ships through the Strait. And two, he looked the other way when the Iranians violated the ceasefire. Those are. You know, those are two pretty interesting and important data points as far as I'm concerned.

[C]

And. And to conservatives credit, and my. My colleagues, we let them know right away. It's like all of us are saying, well, if this isn't violating a ceasefire, what is? Can I just. Real fast. And you guys will know better than I do. You're. You're more plugged in. In D.C. the fact that the Israelis have been so quiet during this ceasefire and this sort of. I almost get the feeling like we are on the verge of military strike and part of what Israel is doing, right, is getting the. The Golden Dome, you know, ramped up because they were starting to run out of protections.

[B]

Right.

[C]

And maybe they're just.

[D]

They're interceptors.

[C]

Part of this is reloading their Interceptors and.

[B]

And as I said earlier, and finding targets for.

[C]

And finding strike.

[B]

Brennan, welcome in. Thank you for being here.

[G]

Thank you for calling me. I have two things. Just first, quickly, any word on your

[B]

father looking to answer my question? My dad?

[G]

Yes.

[B]

He's on vacation.

[G]

Okay.

[B]

Thank you for that. But when he's back, we'll get him

[C]

on vacation from retirement. I love that.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. He's traveling.

[G]

And then my second one is for the new co hosts. I'm wondering who your favorite American Political figure is history. I've asked this before, but wanted to

[D]

know your two guys answers.

[B]

Wow, it can't be Larry Bird just making that clear.

[D]

Well, I'm happy to go first because I said the same thing everywhere. It's Harry Truman Brennan, you know, just in terms of character, personality, just he knocks it out of the park. And one of the great thrills of my life was a year ago going with his grandson to visit their, their home and independence, their library. It's just a wonderful, wonderful place. If you haven't been to the, the Harry Truman Library, he's just, he's just the greatest that ever was.

[B]

How old is, how old is Harry Truman's grandson?

[D]

Clifton is in his 60s, I think, lives in, lives in Illinois. Great guy. And he's played and he played his grandfather. No, no, we, I came and spoke to at the library at an event and he's played his grandfather in a play really written for Clifton and did a marvelous job and looks like, and sounds like his grandfather. He was just, you know, the salt of the earth kind of guy.

[C]

Larry, by the way, Kevin, just so you know why often everyone says, oh, Larry and Kevin agree with each other, that my dad, a Reagan Republican would have answered the exact same way.

[D]

Harry Truman, again, you, that generation, especially the World War II generation. Yeah, everyone, you know, Alex's grandfather, my grandfather Harry Truman saved their lives. They were deployed in the Pacific.

[B]

Right. You know what I say to get a rise out of people all the time? I say Truman's our most overrated president. Larry, I just say to get a rise out of people. Larry, who's your favorite American figure?

[C]

As a Republican, obviously I'm pretty proud of the fact that we get to have Lincoln Reagan fundraiser dinners right now at the GOP all across the country. And both of them were giants. And Reagan I am, I believe the things I believe politically in many respects because of Ronald Reagan's presidency had a huge impression on me. But that said, I'll throw a curveball at you. I think Calvin Coolidge is way underrated. And the more you read about Calvin Coolidge, the more impressive he is, especially with where he was in our, in our history at the brink of the 20th century, right at the beginning of the 20th century. And I wish we had followed Calvin Coolidge's lead a little bit more.

[B]

Kelly put in the chat. Alexander Hamilton, if, if she means Lynn Manuel Miranda, I agree with her.

[C]

Yeah, exactly.

[D]

Sometimes I wish Larry would channel his inner silent cow a little bit more on the show.

[B]

But you know, I should I really should. So, Larry, I'm still confused. What's your actual answer?

[C]

Reagan.

[B]

Reagan. Okay. Cycle through a lot, I know through a lot of possibilities.

[C]

It's hard to nail down. What's your answer, Mark?

[B]

Well, obviously Rosa Parks just.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

I don't know. You know what? You know why I'm not going to answer, Larry? It's because I believe Brendan's asked me on the show before and I gave an answer. I got no idea what I said and I know if I get it wrong, there'll be some, some viral video. Halperin. So inconsistent. Two weeks ago he said Rosa Parks and then today he said Benjamin Franklin. Probably Benjamin Franklin.

[D]

Brennan says you said Elvis. You said Elvis.

[B]

Costello. Presley. That's right, I did say Elvis. Now I remember. And that's my answer and I'm sticking to it. And I'm going to write a post it note on the computer to make sure when Brennan asks next time, I say, well, of course, as I always say, John, can you be really brief? If you can be really brief. All right, here we go. John, back to South Carolina because they're on, they're on Arch. They're on the right.

[D]

Come on, South Carolina, yes.

[K]

So real quick, a two way member articulated this beautifully about what's happening to our country. We're destroying ourselves with the political rhetoric. A couple Fridays ago, a host of 28 on a Friday night said, hey, Donald Trump to you Maga, Republicans are like a deity, like a God. And I would disagree with that. But what I would say is that a God of political power, other words, where our false God is political power, it's become too important to us. So as a Republican, we're likely to lose in November. I'm going to be okay, there's going to be another election. But what are your thoughts on what's happening inside? Are politicians, congressmen, people that, you know, do they see the destruction they're causing by destroying each other the way that they are, the way they're behaving the toxic, toxic toxicity of our politicians.

[B]

Great question, Larry.

[C]

John, I feel like they only learn when they lose. If they, they'll keep doing it if they continue to get rewarded for it. And sadly they, they need that wake up call, that splash of cold water in their face. But, but, you know, you, thank you for bringing it up to a bigger picture because as far as I'm concerned, the most important story in the country right now transcends politics. The fact that statistics show that more young people, especially young men, are moving back to their Faith and embracing their faith. We had a record number of Catholics baptized this Easter season. To me, that's sort of going to be a larger story arc in this nation right now. That's going to be more important in the long run than who's going to win the midterms.

[D]

Kevin? John, it's an excellent question, excellent point. I agree with Larry. We've got to change the incentive structure, right. And you see it not just in politicians but in commentators. Right. The more egregious, outrageous you are. That's the incentive structure for views, clicks, money. And you now have so many folks running for office that view politics through that lens and not through the lens of boring eight hour markups in committees, which is what Congress was 90% of their time should be spent doing. And I think the more that we can have conversations like this where you see D's and R's engaging back and forth respectfully, the better. And I think hopefully the pendulum will swing back because again, we've got huge geopolitical threats in terms of Russia and China and they delight when we're weak at home and attacking one another.

[B]

Yeah, I gotta jump over to thank you. One second. Series XM to roll into the second hour of the morning meeting. Larry and Kevin will fill you all in on that. I'll see you next up later with my Marco Rubio salute. I'm like Tony at CBS and I'll see you at 5 o', clock, guys. Thank you. I'll see you soon.

[C]

Thanks Mark. See you.

[D]

Thanks, Mark. And we'll see you tomorrow. For winners and losers especially, I'll tag

[C]

up on what Kevin said there because he's right. I should have made a point of that. The only way we change it is to force the culture and politicians to respect another way. And one of the ways to do that is to share this show with everybody. However you're watching us, whatever platform you're on, let them know that a different kind of political conversation is going on here every day at 9am and we can start demonstrating to politicians as well as people in the media that there is a third way to go about doing what we're doing. And I think that it's succeeding. The more we succeed here with the morning meeting, I do, I truly do believe that it will change and make an impact on how politics is discussed in this country.

[D]

Amen. Amen to that for sure.

[C]

Boy, that sounded sanctimonious, didn't it?

[D]

I love it. I love it when you get on that little soapbox. I sound like we're in agreement.

[B]

It's the Blue Ties.

[D]

I love it. I'm gonna send you some more Blue Ties.

[C]

New episode of NextUp drops today. My friend Mark's gonna be joined by News Nation chief Washington anchor and host of On Balance with Leland Vittert. Leland Vittert. We had a good time with him last night.

[D]

We had a great time.

[C]

Our debut on network television there as a team. So if you missed it, check out the video. Also, former assistant secretary of Department of homeland security Trisha McLaughlin, of course a member of the morning meeting team and his reported monologue taking a look at Vance vs Rubio. This is such a false construct. They're not at odds with each other. They're, they're friends. They, they flew to Europe together. Everyone calm down.

[D]

We love it. We love this split screen for sure. And fueling that, of course, the group chat is live at 4pm again and the Joe, Nina, Robbie and Steve holding down the fort there. So join in on that conversation at 4 o' clock and they will answer questions of course, as always from the two way community and then we've obviously immediately following that have two way tonight with Mark and then you and I will be back here bright and early tomorrow morning. We always love to hear from the community too on the winners and losers front. So tweet at us, message us, email us your thoughts too. And oftentimes we, we take take you up on it.

[C]

Speaking of the group chat and our team again, I just want to, you know, because people are getting to know us now a little bit more than just, you know, what we reveal during the show. And I just want to say, and this is, I recognize what I'm about to open myself up to.

[D]

Kevin Hit the record button, team. This is it. Let's see.

[C]

Grab the clip. Robbie Suave from the group chat. Meredith and I used to play Dungeons and Dragons once a month with Robbie Suave. It was a an ongoing Dungeons and Dragons campaign populated by right of center commentators and political operatives.

[D]

I think I found my loser for the week. Now knowing that Robbie was a hobbies, there's certainly worse hobbies out there for sure. Everyone join Mark obviously on Sirius right now for the next hour. The chat is open for Professor Kenny and friends for the official after show and that kicks off at 11 and then back with Larry at noon from

[C]

from the AI Expo in downtown D.C. there at the Town hall channel. Larry and and we'll see you tomorrow with Winners and Losers and probably a cultural pop culture commentary from Hayley Voda.

[D]

Haley, get ready and let's figure out that mute button a little faster this time, okay? We're going to send a production team down there.

[C]

Have a very peaceful and safe Thursday, everybody.

[D]

Thanks, everybody.