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The Morning Meeting
What's the Current Forecast for the 2026 Midterm Elections? Is Control of the Senate in Play?
01:06:13
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A
This is it. The world as you know it is over.
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B
Completely done. It's not about to be over.
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A
It's over. Some of the scientists who helped build AI are now sounding the alarm. I was selling AI as a great.
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B
Thing for decades and I was wrong. I was wrong.
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C
There's a longer term existential threat that will arise when we create digital beings that that are more intelligent than ourselves. We have no idea whether we can stay in control.
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A
While others say that AI will usher in unfathomable abundance, I've always believed that it's going to be the most important invention that humanity will ever make.
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B
This really will be a world of abundance.
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A
And among these fears and these fantasies.
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B
We seek the story of our future.
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A
Listen to the last invention on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winners and losers, ladies and gentlemen.
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B
I always like to throw something to him right before starting. I don't know why, it's just amuses.
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A
Me of of the five episodes of the Morning Meeting this week, that's definitely the most bao opening Larry doing some administrative housekeeping work. Thank you for joining the morning meeting on this Friday, February 6, 2026. Larry is here, Melissa's here, you're here. Raise your hand if you want to be in on the conversation. If you don't want to be in on the conversation. Still don't put smack in the chat. It's not an either or. It's not a participate in a civil manner by raising your hand or put smack in the chat. It's in the chat. If you're watching on X or YouTube if you want to put stuff in the chat, maybe horoscopes, your greatest aspirations, whatever. Anyway, we got a bunch of stories to get through. We're going to run through the daybook. What else are we going to do? We're going to have our winners and losers of the week and what to look for this weekend. And just so you know, I've already made it quite clear. No one can say the Super Bowl. No one can say they looking. It can't be one of those. Yeah, made it clear. Check your, check your inboxes. I communicate through Slack. I sent you both Slack messages.
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B
Perhaps.
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A
Anyway, so that's what we're going to do. And we're going to cover some stories. I hope that we haven't talked about much this week. The story of the disappearance of Savannah's mom and the Jeffrey Epstein story. We're going to talk about both those. Lots of you have asked why we haven't talked about them this week, a variety of reasons. And maybe when we do talk about them, we'll talk about why we haven't been talking about them. We'll talk about that. We'll also we've decided at the very last minute to talk about an extremely offensive tweet from the president of the United States or social media posts, I should say, on truth Social. And Larry will decide whether he wants to make up an excuse or just condemn it. Don't tell us yet, Larry. Have some suspense here, some suspenders.
- [03:01]
B
Anyway, I haven't seen it yet, so you'll get a real time.
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A
Okay. Oh, good. And huge international news. The talks in Oman have ended, at least for now, between the United States, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and the Iranians. No readout yet except the notion that they're going to continue to meet. So that's a big story and we'll talk about that. First, let me do a quick word from a sponsor and then we'll get right into it here. And this sponsor is our friends@lean.com giving you 20% off a chance to lose weight a different way this year. Promo code 2wmm@takelean.com no fad diet, no injectables, but an oral supplement generated created by doctors non prescription and allows you to do three central things that are important for losing weight a healthy way, maintain healthy blood sugar, control appetites and cravings and help burn fat by converting it to energy. Lean works differently than an injectable, differently than a raw food diet. It allows you to lose weight with that weight cycling going way down and then back up. That's very unhealthy to do. Most people, of course, need help losing weight. It's not easy for people, for most of us. So give this a try. Many people have found that it works for them. 20% off everything on the site. Take a look at takelean.com promo code 2wmm. Takelean.com promo code 2wMM. Give it a try and enjoy your discount. All right. The Daybook. The president today has one event on his schedule. I, I predict he'll have more. But for now, here's the president's schedule. He's doing signings in private at 3 o', clock, 3 o', clock, signing executive orders. Close president then he's heading this afternoon to Palm Beach. He's been going most weekends back to Palm Beach. He's headed back. The vice president is in Italy and has already had a big day. What's the time difference? Six hours, five hours, whatever it is he's already met with the prime minister of Italy and earlier in the day he took in some more Olympic events. He's there with his family and a close buddy of his. Let's roll that tape. Vice President, I continue to tell you, you see the vice president and Marco Rubio there. He turned the audio down. I'll just tell you again, there are, there are authentic friendships in this administration. And I'm not saying there are haven't been in other administrations, but those two guys are authentic friends. If you think Marco Rubio is going to run a negative campaign to try to beat Mark, his friend, the vice president, I just don't think you're right. Anyway, he's there attending opening ceremonies and a hockey game. The first lady announced earlier today, April 6th. Mark on your calendars, White House Easter Egg Roll. Melissa? Larry, would it be a conflict of interest for me to take my son to the Easter Egg Roll?
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B
I don't know. Would you go to the Easter Egg Roll when a Democrat is in the White House?
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A
I have. And when a Republican's in the White House.
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C
I went when Obama was president and I remember being underwhelmed. But James sure will love it.
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A
Yeah, I like the whole thing. Anyway, that's going to be April 6th. House and Senator out. Continue. You know, they left town without really starting negotiations on the ice thing. We'll, we'll talk about that. And Josh Shapiro at 10:30 this morning announces a significant new investment to expand Pennsylvania's workforce and grow the economy through the Commonwealth's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Maybe we'll have highlights of that on two way tonight. Maybe. All right, let's start with the midterms, okay? And I'm going to do this John McLaughlin style. I don't know if you guys know what that would mean, but here's how John McLaughlin might do this. Hold on, I got to find my list here. Okay, here we go. President Trump and the Republican Party increasingly nervous about the midterms in November. Item. Private polling from Republicans shows weaknesses in key congressional races and Senate races. Item. Republicans now say not just the House, but the Senate is in play for a possible Democratic blue wave sweep in November. Item. Eric Erickson, a sometimes guest host on this program, writes in his substack this morning that Republicans are effectively doomed unless they make serious changes, including stop lying about the economy and ice operations. Item. Grim job numbers in January, the worst in many years. Item. President Trump's two best issues from the 2024 election, the economy and immigration, have turned on him with Democrats on offense in both places. Melissa DeRosa, I asked you mandatory question. If zero is zero chance Democrats have control of the House and Senate both after the midterms, and 10 is mortal lock, what are the odds that Democrats take both the House and the Senate after as we sit here today?
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C
Both, I would say, is six. The House alone, I would say, is ten.
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A
Yeah, Larry? Both three. Both three. Okay, Melissa, what's your path to a Senate majority? They hold all their incumbents, they win. Maine, what are the other four races? Three races they win.
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C
Look, I think that everything is on the table. Everything.
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A
The chuck is Alaska, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa, Texas.
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C
I think Texas is a bit of a stretch, but I think the rest of them are on the table. And it's not necessarily because Democrats have some great proactive message here. It's because every day I feel like Republicans are trying actively with all their might, to lose. And when you look at, and I know special elections, people say, oh, it's a special election. But everything that happened in 2025 and then the elections over the weekend in Texas, the state Senate seat going from plus 17, Trump to plus 14, Democrat, I mean, all of the arrows are pointing to this. Could be caution, could be. It's only February. Yeah, sweep. But I think you've got to consider that everything's on the table.
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A
I'll just say when people say it's too early. If we only analyze the midterms like the last week, we'd be out of business. So we'll talk about it. I left that in North Carolina. Obviously. North Carolina is a big prime Democrat. Send it, pick up opportunity, too. Larry, did you read Erik Erickson's substack this morning?
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B
I did, I did.
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A
I usually read Eric. I like Erickson. So is Eric too dramatic on this one, or is he right on the money?
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B
I've known Eric a long time, I think going back over 15 years. We're friends. I respect him. I do think it's fair to say that he has not always been on the money in judging President Trump's political abilities, acumen, sweet spots, and his base. Yeah, and the Trump base is miscalculated on Trump's.
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A
Let me phrase it this way. If the President called you and said, larry, I'm hearing a lot of negative stuff. People are really worried about the House now, a blue wave. Cheer me up, Larry. What? Cheer me up.
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B
Oh, Mr. President, you shouldn't have called me to cheer you up. Here's the fact of the matter. In any normal year, you're gonna lose the House because There's always a swing. Two years after the dominant party wins the White House and you already had a narrow majority, you only had one or two seats. The only thing that will save Republicans majority in the House is if the Supreme Court can in a timely way come in and strike down the Voting Rights Act. And there can be redistricting in dominant red states so we can have parity with the dominant blue states in this country. If that doesn't happen, you're gonna lose the House. So if you're calling for good news.
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C
Yeah, finer point on Larry's history lesson, just to double down on it. So since 1946, the house in the White House has lost seats in the House in the midterm. In 18 of 20 midterm elections, on average to the tune of 25 seats. That number grows to 37 seats if the president has an approval rating under 50. So I mean, we're up against history. But on top of that, the things I just said from 2025 and we've seen in special elections since, this is like sound the alarm time. So even if Eric Erickson is maybe overstating it at this point or people think he might be too much of an alarmist, I think it's better to be an alarmist than to later say maybe we should have gotten our shit together sooner. Sorry, my life.
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B
So the, the only thing that I would. The only thing I would counter message there is, unlike past years, what we have seen in the last 20 years and even more so in the last 12 years is the redistricting process has become so exact and so computer model driven that I don't think we're ever going to see that kind of swing of 30, 40, 50 seats the way we've seen in the past. I really don't. I just think that they're designed in such a way to have a much more narrow sort of majority minority swing.
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A
But yes, history is working against them, I will say. And again, Eric is very good on this point. Democrats, for much the Biden administration, most pointedly about President Biden's cognitive decline, were in denial about saying the truth. They didn't want to say the truth because anything you say to the truth, you'll be accused by the left of aiding and abetting Donald Trump's comeback. So they denied Joe Biden had cognitive decline. They denied the border was open. They denied that most Americans didn't think trans athletes should play in women's sports. You now what Eric Sworney against is absolutely true. If you're a Republican and you Go to a briefing with a private poll and you tell House Republicans, we're not just going to lose the majority, we're going to be wiped out. Or you go to a Senate briefing with a private poll and you say, we've got polling data that shows we could actually lose the majority. You should be heralded as a truth teller, trying to say, so we need to make some changes. But instead, what happens, particularly on Twitter or on cable tv, is if you say, hey, this is a dire situation, you get attacked. And that deters some people from speaking the truth. And I think Eric's main message, Eric's main message was, oh, maybe go on Twitter. For instance, when I do a monologue on NextUp that says just this, that the Republican Party, if this trend continues, it's not just going to be historical norm. You lose seats, it's going to be a wipeout. I get attacks, I get attacked. We always knew, we always, we always knew you were a Democrat plus 25 in the House and losing the Senate would be a wipeout.
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B
You really think +25 is a possibility right now in the House?
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A
Well, it depends on who the Democrats nominate in some of these races. And just you wait, James Blair is going to make mischief the way Democrats did. He'll be criticized for it. Even though Democrats were lauded for cleverness, they're going to try to get a bunch of liberals nominated in some of these races and that will make the difference. We'll have to see what happens with the Voting Rights Act. But I'm telling you, it could be 40. It could be 40. And I'm not predicting 40. And I'm not rooting for 40. I not a Democrat, ladies and gentlemen. I'm just telling you, if you saw the private briefings that Democrats are getting, Republicans are getting now about where things stand. Larry, there are people in plus seven Trump districts who are down in private polling now. Okay, they just are.
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B
I get that. I also know that it's been a tough news cycle for them. But I also think that when you say we gotta change the messaging, I think we've seen that in the last 15 days, haven't we? Haven't we seen with Tom Homan getting into Minneapolis. And the polls continue to support, in my opinion, the overarching policy, if not the, the tactics being used right now with ice.
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A
And they might, they might.
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C
The polls do not support the tactics being used with ice.
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A
They don't support that specifically.
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B
Just, I just specifically say the policy, not the tactics.
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C
Well, but I thought you said.
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A
No, but, but they, but, but, but, but on, but on immigration, Larry, the most, I continue to say I'm not the only one making this point. There are polls that say, ask, are the president's immigration policies making you safer? Less safe, Less safe. Making America less safe. That's, that's as lethal. He's shut down the border and people are still saying overall, his immigration policies are making America less safe. That's lethal.
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C
And one, one other thing on the. I agree, Tom Homan. They're trying to de. Escalate. That's all right.
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B
That's the thing. The message, the change of messaging has already begun and let's wait to see the fruits of that.
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C
Totally. And honestly, I think that if there are no other high profile issues and if they get this thing under control, they can end up flipping the whole thing back on Democrats again if the Democrats insist on a shutdown. But people don't feel like it's as urgent a matter. So, like that is a totally live wire and we'll see where it goes. But it feels like every day there's no message discipline out of the White House in terms of what they should be talking about, which is the economy. And number two, like every day they're trying to put out fires they themselves create.
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A
Stop.
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C
Situation.
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A
Okay, stop, stop right on that point. We'll get to Epstein in a second. Stop right on that point. No one should predict that Donald Trump will hurt his party by saying and doing something off message and outrageous because he's done it for 10 years now and he's won two out of three. But here's a particularly offensive thing that he's done today. I think he did this in the middle of the night that people are talking about. Certainly not about the economy. This is about the Obamas. This was on Donald Trump's True Social account. Here you go, ladies and gentlemen. I'll describe it for those of you listening to the podcast. Roll that. Go ahead, Larry. Be ready to react.
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B
I am ready.
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A
Okay. I'm told we have this. Do we have this? I was told we did. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I misunderstood. I've now built it up so much. Maybe they're just delaying to create this suspense of just how tension is incredible. How offensive. Guys, do we have this or not? Talk another 30 seconds. I'll get it for you. Talk another 30 seconds. Okay, let's go ahead.
- [17:01]
B
Before you do it, just a quick reiteration. I don't disagree with any of this, but I think it's also important to note that everyone who's Predicting how horrible it's going to be for Republicans in the midterms are basing it solely on one side of the conversation, which is how bad Republicans are doing right now in the polls. We need to know who the candidates are. We need to know. The Democrats right now are lining up on very unpopular positions. I will agree with Eric Erickson, something he wrote a few days ago, which is Trump would be very well served in a midterm like this to lean on core issues for Republicans, like pro life, like gun rights. Those guys will come out if Trump emphasizes those issues because Democrats are lined up against them. All right, good.
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A
Yeah. Okay. Is this it, Paul? Is this it? Here we go. I don't know. This doesn't look like what I was. What I thought it was, but here we go. Something about Georgia. This isn't the part that's offensive. Don't know what this is. How long do we go till we get to the offensive part? Because I don't need. I've been seeing. I've seen the offensive part, but I don't know what any of this is. Is this. Paul, Is this the right. Is this the right thing? Okay, that's it. Is that just slash up for a second in the midst of all this other stuff?
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C
Yes.
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A
Okay, so it's like, roll it back and maybe freeze frame it. This is some video that the President retweeted. Roll a couple more frames. Okay, There's Michelle Obama and Barack Obama as monkeys, and the president put this on his true social account. Okay, Larry, what do you think of that in terms of morality and message discipline?
- [18:32]
B
Well, let me just say, if the President had tweeted that picture that I'm looking at right now, it's racist and it's offensive. But what I believe happened here.
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A
Okay, hold on.
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B
He didn't tweet that picture. What he did was he tweeted a video that had something to do with smartmatic. I mean, we were just looking at it, saying, wait, what is this? Is this video? Is that right in real time? We were just looking at it, confused. I think he tweeted a video that had something to do with the election voting machines and the Georgia count. And I don't think he knew this.
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A
Thing was sitting there. So you're giving him the benefit. So you're giving him the benefit of the doubt and saying the video he tweeted, he thought he didn't see it. I. Melissa, would you like to give, by the way?
- [19:10]
B
It's a dangerous thing to do because he could very well come back later today and said, yeah, you bet your ass. I knew that it was in there. But, you know, as far as I'm concerned, it looks to me like that is sort of, doesn't it seem like this? It was sort of thrown in there as a non sequitur just to be racist. Melissa, you want, whoever created that video.
- [19:27]
A
You want to give him the benefit of the doubt?
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C
No, I mean, I don't think he really deserves the benefit of the doubt given all of his past comments and that have been racist regarding the Obamas and that Barack Obama was not a US Citizen and he was from Africa and all those other things.
- [19:41]
B
Things.
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C
It was late night. Who knows? But I would expect that if you're the President of the United States and you're retweeting a video, you actually spend the 10 seconds to watch the whole video.
- [19:52]
A
That's definitely, that's definitely not true. All right, we got to move on because we've got a lot to get. We have a lot to get to. Let's talk about the Iran. You did great, Larry. I just, I, I, I confess, I confess I didn't know about the ambiguity. I, I just was told he tweeted that image. So tweet that image. Well, he did tweet. It's not including the image. We'll see. It could be, it could be a coincidence that the kind of image Donald Trump would tweet or put on truth untweets it.
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B
Right?
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A
That's. Yeah. Here's a question for you. Here's a question for you. Oman. Either of you guys been to Oman?
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C
I have not.
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B
Yeah. Okay.
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A
What's the adjectival form of Oman? So, like, if you say, like, the Prime Minister of Australia, it'd be the Australian prime minister.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Right. What would it be for Oman?
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B
Oh, my.
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A
I don't know if you guys follow the Omani foreign minister on Twitter, but here's what he just tweeted moments ago. Very serious talks mediating between Iran and us And Muscat. Is that how you pronounce the capital of Oman, Muscat? Today, Muskat. It was useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress. We aim to reconvene in due course.
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C
We.
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A
With the results to be considered carefully in Tehran and Washington. This comes amidst days of speculation that President Trump might strike. It also comes in the wake. Here's our favorite news breaking reporter from Axios, who's not named. Caputo Barik Ravid, who says additional talks will take place in the coming Days, according to a source familiar with the details. There hasn't been, as far as I know, a US Readout of the talks. Now, you can call this a coincidence or as you can call it what I call it, which is a turtle on a fence post. Shortly before the talks concluded, the New York Times moved to the top of their website a story, ran a story and moved to the top of the website about the Iranian nuclear program. Paul, put that up, please. Here it is. Iran is at work on missile and nuclear sites. Satellite images show Iran appears to have rapidly repaired ballistic missile facilities damaged in the strikes last year, but it has made only limited fixes to major nuclear sites struck by Iran and the U.S. a New York Times analysis of satellite imagery suggests. Do we have more of this? I can't remember. We have more from this story. Anyway. It's kind of weird timing and as we talked about on two Way tonight last night, the president does not want to associate the strikes with. I think we talked about it last night, maybe we didn't. He doesn't want to associate the strikes with the protesters. There's a story in the Wall Street Journal that says there's a second wave of rebellion brewing in Iran as people at funerals and in workplaces, et cetera, denounced the regime. But this New York Times story goes to what the president's saying that any strikes would be about. They'd be about nuclear and missile capabilities, not about supporting unrest, fomenting regime change in Iran. So real brief, because we're waiting for a readout, so we don't know much. Melissa, do you think we're headed towards continued diplomacy until that plays out, or could the president strike over the weekend and in the midst of conversations?
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C
I think that it will continue diplomacy for a few days to see how that plays out. I think that obviously he has reinforced that all military options are on the table, but I think that they're going to continue to keep trying to talking.
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B
Larry, it's interesting that it's the Olympics this weekend and you've got all the international attention on the Olympics in Milan as well as super bowl weekend. I. I don't know. I am struck by that New York Times article. Are you familiar with those bylines, Mark, by the way, on. On the New York Times article?
- [23:34]
A
I am not. I looked to see if it was Bill Broader or David Sanger, and it was neither of them. So, yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure very interested in the.
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B
Origin of that story, but I don't know. I'm still perplexed because we're told that the negotiations are going well. And last I remember, you don't negotiate with terrorists, and these guys are terrorists.
- [23:52]
A
So that story makes me think they're going to strike because the New York Times, I mean, could it be a coincidence that on the eve of the president wanting to justify strikes based on nuclear and missiles that that story breaks?
- [24:04]
B
That's, that's why I think the byline is very important. And I'm not familiar.
- [24:07]
A
I agree with those. I'm not familiar. Michael, look up. Tell us who those reporters are. What do they cover? Samuel Granados and or Leanna Breeden. Let us know what their beats are. All right, we're going to jump around a little bit. We're going to talk about Epstein because we haven't talked about it much this week and there's been a lot in the news. First of all, Comer continues to press to get the Clintons. President Trump continues to seem to suggest the Clinton shouldn't be called to testify. This thing should be over. Although at times he says this is all about the Clintons. And so I heard some analysis today somewhere that said Comer's not doing what the Clintons want, even though the other day someone on this program, I think, said, well, Comer wouldn't be doing it unless the White House wanted it. So obviously Trump wants the story to go away. And if the Clintons are testifying, the story's not going to go away anytime soon. And he doesn't want to set the president that House majority can call a United States president to testify about Epstein because then in January, he could be subpoenaed to testify. Larry, is Comer doing the White House's bidding? Or they haven't asked him to stop, or they've asked him to stop and he's refused. Like Comer seems to be adverse to Donald Trump's wishes. What's up with that?
- [25:22]
B
Yeah, I'm unclear on that. It wasn't I who said that on this program. So it would have been either the aforementioned Eric Erickson or Hogan Gidley. Right. I know.
- [25:31]
A
Might have been a Democrat who said it. I don't know.
- [25:34]
B
I really don't know. I mean, I think that Chairman Comer believes that this serves as a good counterbalance to a lot of the narrative that's coming out about Epstein right now that's just focusing on just one narrow subset of names, President Trump's in particular. So I think he thinks his heart is in this place where, oh, this will serve as a distraction. But, yes, it doesn't help by continuing to elevate the story. I wouldn't think it does. I would doubt the White House loves the fact that the Clinton involvement elevates the story to a higher level than it would.
- [26:08]
A
But then why would Comer do it?
- [26:10]
B
Don't know.
- [26:10]
A
Okay.
- [26:12]
B
I wish I could tell you.
- [26:13]
A
Okay, Melissa.
- [26:16]
C
Well, that's the question, right? Is this choreographed or not? And Trump said obviously what he said in defense of Bill Clinton. But then on the same sentence, he also said in the same breath, he also said, well, they've done it to me, too. They prosecuted me. And obviously that's different than going before Congress. But he was talking about the slew of indictments against him when the Democrats were after him in between his two terms. So it's hard to believe that the Republicans on the Hill would do this without the blessing.
- [26:41]
A
It does seem that way. Does seem that way. Okay.
- [26:44]
C
I also understand why, like, there's everything is so short sighted, assuming the Democrats take the House in seven seconds.
- [26:51]
A
Right.
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C
It's just.
- [26:53]
A
And of course, I'll point out that we have no idea what's going on with the criminal referral made to the U.S. attorney of the Southern District that's supposed to investigate Bill Clinton and Larry Summers and other Democrats that things disappeared. One of the reporters on the New York Times story, Michael says, is the Paris bureau covers France and Europe, political stuff. And the other is a visual correspondent on the international desk.
- [27:18]
C
So I couldn't suggest it was a White House plant.
- [27:20]
A
Well, it might. Sometimes they'll launder it, Right? Sometimes that's what they'll do. The White House will give it to their people, and then they'll say, well, let's write it out of Europe so it doesn't look like it came from the White House. That would be what a sophisticated news operation would do.
- [27:32]
B
All right, what's visual correspondent?
- [27:38]
A
Now, the Times. The Times is beef set up. They'll take like, the satellite imagery and they'll figure out how to analyze it. Like, they're experts at looking at satellite imagery and then. And then displaying it in a visually appealing way. They kind of, you know, make. Make the visuals good. They create graphics and they do analysis of the graphics. Okay. Another thing about it, another thing about Epstein. Okay, There, there were. The only thing that was supposed to be redacted in these documents is victims, accusers, survivors, their information. Everything else was supposed to be unredacted. Now, if it involves a criminal investigation, supposed to, you know, there's some ambiguity there in this case. This was an Extraordinary piece of legislation to reveal stuff that would, under normal stances, never be revealed. And there's lots we could talk about in that context about why are personal things in there that really have nothing, no bearing on getting to the truth. But there are a lot of redactions in there of the names of men involved with Jeffrey Epstein. Not just their email addresses, but their names. So, again, this narrow question, Melissa, why would some names be redacted and others not? Not.
- [28:48]
C
I have a feeling that Pam Bondi is going to be answering that question when Democrats are in charge of Congress in nine months or maybe.
- [28:54]
A
Or maybe sooner.
- [28:55]
C
No, it's. This is. And this is the problem, because for them to go after the Clintons and to try to move the ball away from Trump, they're going to open up. Well, now we have to answer all these other things, and nobody, if that former president and his wife, who is Secretary of State, who didn't even know Epstein, are not off limits. No one is off limits. So now Lucy has got some splaining to do, and they're going to have to explain why every single redaction was done. And I don't think they're going to have good answers.
- [29:22]
A
Okay, here is what the White House says about that Obama thing we just showed. This is a tweet from a White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, and it's a quote attributed to Caroline Levitt. I'm gonna. I'm gonna read it and assume it's legit. This is from an Internet meme video depicting President Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that. That actually matters to the American public.
- [29:52]
C
Sorry, can you repeat that?
- [29:54]
A
I. It seems like she's saying. I know it's weird, because that's not the video we saw. Well, it's.
- [30:00]
B
What it might be is. And this is the thing. It's sort of like a. It's a. It's a retweet bait for people who don't look. They see something. Oh, I like that. I'll read. And then it ends up with something offensive.
- [30:10]
A
Well, okay, so now I'm looking, right. I'm looking now at the original video. The original video is. Did he. It's a little confusing, and I don't know how much time we should spend on this. I'm looking at a video now that shows Hillary Clinton and AOC all. It's different.
- [30:23]
B
They're all different animals.
- [30:24]
A
But is that the video the president retweeted or did you retreat, Georgia?
- [30:28]
B
No, what I think what happened here is a few frames of that video, which is a much longer video.
- [30:33]
A
But. But he got spliced. But he retreated. He retreated the splice. It's a little confusing because Caroline's statement is applying to this Trump Lion King video. You see what I'm saying?
- [30:43]
B
Well, because somebody might have showed her the screenshot and said he tweeted this and he said, oh, she's like, oh, I've seen that.
- [30:48]
A
It's a Lion King. All right, go back. All right, we're going to go back to Epstein because we're not going to be able to sort this out again. I should have brought an example because.
- [30:54]
B
We'Re going to be able.
- [30:54]
A
I should have. I should, I should have brought. I should have brought an example. But I'm just saying there's like emails where there's a man's name redacted but for no apparent reason. All right, well.
- [31:07]
B
But no, absolutely right about that.
- [31:10]
A
Okay.
- [31:11]
B
By the way, this is for everyone who wants bipartisanship. There will be bipartisan scrutiny of this and there should be.
- [31:16]
A
Right. Okay. Let's talk about one more Epstein thing. CBS News, to their credit, pre. Barry Weiss, they have been more all over the question of what happened in and around Jeffrey Epstein cell the night he died. The night he died.
- [31:31]
C
Yeah.
- [31:31]
A
We're no longer saying I never have died. I've never had said the S word. They've been all over it. They've done video analysis, they've done diagrams. Here's the latest CBS News story on this question of who entered Jeffrey Epstein's cell area the night of his death. Newly released Department of Justice documents show that investigators reviewing surveillance footage from the night of Jeffrey Epstein's death observed an orange colored shape moving up a staircase toward the isolated lot here where his cell was located at approximately 10:39pm the entry and observation log of the video from the Metropolitan Correction center appears to suggest something previously unreported by authorities. A flash of orange looks to be going up the L tier stairs could possibly be an inmate escorted up to that tier. Now, we don't know when he died. We know that, that, that anyone who believes the. The explanation of how he was allowed to commit, commit suicide. Because. And I've made this point before, but no one else makes it, so I'm making it again. The guards. The official explanation is the guards were busy. They were sleeping, they were shopping, they were on their phones so they weren't paying attention to his cell. And what I Say is, can you name a time in the history of the world when someone was interrupted in the process of committing suicide? Have you ever heard of that happening? Melissa, have you ever heard. It's a narrative saying someone was trying to commit suicide and somebody walked in and stopped them. Have you ever heard that happen?
- [33:07]
B
No, Larry.
- [33:08]
A
Yes.
- [33:09]
B
Now.
- [33:09]
A
Yes, you have, Melissa.
- [33:11]
C
Larry's not saying if somebody was hanging themselves and someone else walked in, or somebody would overdosed on drugs and someone walked in and called 91 and was able to intercept it.
- [33:22]
A
Drug, drugs, drugs is a little different. Hanging, gunshot. Have you ever. Have you ever heard.
- [33:26]
C
No, obviously, that's.
- [33:28]
A
Well, not obviously. How about. Okay, how about. How about the way he actually died? Hanging? Have you ever heard a story of someone coming in, someone's trying to hang themselves, and someone comes in. My point is, Epstein couldn't possibly have thought he would get away with it because he doesn't know that they're sleeping and watching and watching videos. See what I'm saying? It just doesn't make any. It doesn't make any sense.
- [33:48]
C
Your point, which is, if someone's hanging themselves, you would hear something. So even if you're on your phone.
- [33:56]
A
Correct.
- [33:57]
C
Staring at him through the cell, you would hear something that would prompt you to go check on the person. And of course, you could interrupt it.
- [34:03]
A
Yeah, I could set the Internet on fire by saying, at this point, I think what I've always thought, which is the guy was killed. I mean, it just doesn't make any sense. And again, cbs, this is like the third story they've done that exposes that the narrative given by the attorney general, by the head of the FBI, by prison officials, it just filled with holes. And Epstein's family says he was not suicidal. There's reports he tried to kill himself previously. No one I know who knows Jeffrey Epstein thinks he would kill himself. No one.
- [34:33]
C
Totally out of step with his personality. And haven't there been reports that he was potentially entertaining, doing some sort of a deal?
- [34:41]
A
Yeah, yes, yes. Larry, Larry, Larry, if you were the editor of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, would you put in stories about his death? Would you put his death was ruled as suicide. Would you just say he died, or would you say he died by suicide if you were the editor?
- [34:56]
B
I think the style. I edit town hall right now, and I believe our style point is alleged suicide or reported suicide. That's how we're doing it, right?
- [35:04]
A
I say. I say rule to suicide under suspicious circumstances. That's what I would do if I'm guest editing town hall.
- [35:10]
B
You remember in the 2016 election when there was all the scrutiny over Hillary Clinton's email server and her personal use of emails and she rigs a bill.
- [35:19]
A
Rings a bell.
- [35:20]
B
Famous press conference where she was asked about whether she scrubbed the hard drive and she said what? With a cloth? Do you remember what she was wearing in that press conference? It was a orange suit, head to toe. She was dressed in.
- [35:32]
A
Larry, stop it.
- [35:33]
B
Larry, stop it. I'm just saying, I'm not saying, I'm just asking questions over here, Mark.
- [35:37]
C
Internet wide conspiracy theory.
- [35:39]
B
I'm just saying there was, there was an orange figure there right outside the cell.
- [35:44]
A
Yeah, okay. Yeah, Larry, Larry.
- [35:49]
C
An assassin dressed as.
- [35:51]
A
Yeah, well, no, they could, they could have. Someone hired the inmate to go kill him.
- [35:56]
C
Yeah, sure.
- [35:57]
A
Yeah.
- [35:57]
B
All right. Someone dressed as an inmate.
- [35:59]
A
All right. Or someone dressed as an inmate with their famous orange outfit. All right, let me do a quick, quick word. Quick, quick word from a sponsor. And then, and then one more topic then to your question. So please raise your hand if you want to get in on the conversation. Cozy Earth bamboo pajama set available to you now. Two for the price of one. The offer expires soon. When does it expire? A couple days, I think. Go right now to cozyearth.com use the promo code 2WMMogo. Buy one, get one. 2 WM BOGO. You can get the pajama set and you can keep one and give one away. You can keep them both. Give them both away.
- [36:37]
C
1.
- [36:37]
A
Whatever you want to do. This is a classic from Cozy Earth. If you haven't tried any Cozy Earth products is a good time to start. Once you buy this, it'll be like a gateway drug. I need to warn you, you'll be buying the bubble cuddle blanket, the pants, the towels, everything else. But this is a good way to start. Perfect to gift, perfect to keep. Bring a little indulgence into everyday life. That's the thing about the Cozy Earth products. You'll feel luxurious and you'll think this thing should cost 20 times more than I'm paying for it. And particularly now. We can get two for the price of one on the sleepwear. It's available only through February 8th. That's two more days, ladies and gentlemen. Don't miss this opportunity. Cozy Earth.com promo code two WMM BOGO. Okay, two more topics and then we're going to get to everybody's questions. And the first is. Oh, then we got to do winners and losers. I'm skipping a bunch of Stuff. The first is naming. The president reportedly said to Chuck Schumer, I'll give you money to build the tunnel between Jersey and New York if you name. If you support naming Penn Station and Dulles Airport after me. It's. It's arguably the most Trump story ever. Here it is from cnn, reported by many. Trump promises Schumer funding for New York tunnel project if Penn Station and Dulles Airport are renamed after him. Larry, is this a good deal for Chuck Schumer? Should he take it?
- [37:50]
B
Yeah, Schumer should take it. And it's great for everyone who lives in that area. I mean, what are you really giving away other than putting a name on a train station? It's great.
- [37:57]
A
Well, and an airport.
- [37:58]
B
And it's about time we had more things named after Republican, I guess Lincoln Tunnel is a Republican, but I still have on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and that makes me want to take a shower every time I'm finished.
- [38:08]
A
RFK Bridge is now basically named after a Republican. Boom. Melissa. Melissa, what do you think? Good trade for Schumer. Should he take it?
- [38:15]
C
Schumer is absolutely not going to do that.
- [38:18]
A
But should.
- [38:18]
C
He shouldn't take it. It's absurd. And also, until Penn Station is done and actually something you want to walk through, I don't know why anyone would want their name on it.
- [38:28]
A
Yeah, there's a very good Dunkin Donuts there. I would just. If I were Trump, I would just want the Dunk. I just want my name on that Dunkin Donuts.
- [38:34]
C
I just want to say, as someone who's actually done infrastructure projects, they take a very long time, and I don't think that this is going to be completed within Trump's second term. And so I think it's all a little premature. And if I have my money on it, Penn Station is going to continue to be a dump until, you know, my nieces are.
- [38:51]
B
The Moynihan Terminal is fantastic.
- [38:56]
A
You know, Melissa. Yeah. Okay.
- [39:00]
C
Guardia.
- [39:00]
A
Okay, okay. Serious up, because we talk a bit about Savannah. Oh, okay.
- [39:05]
C
Is the best.
- [39:06]
A
Hold on. We're talking about Savannah. Get the smiles off your faces. We haven't talked about it all week. I've known Savannah for decades, and I met her mom a few times. And so I, you know, I feel connected to this and upset about it, as many people do. A lot of questions about whether whether law enforcement, the local law enforcement is doing a good job. They're not. You don't need to raise it as a debate. They're not doing a job in all sorts of ways. But they're overwhelmed. Right. So here's my question and if there's anything else you want to say about it, you can. It seems to me like the FBI is now basically taken over the case. What. Who should be stepping in and fixing the lack of, of public confidence? Should, should the state, should the governor be calling the sheriff? Should the FBI just take it over? Like this is just a, it's just a, it's just not, it's not just a public facing thing. This guy's, this guy could botch the investigation. So what should happen? What should happen here? Just let it play out or should somebody be stepping in?
- [40:03]
B
My friend Katie Pavlich is actually from that area and she said Pima county is just famously inept slash corrupt. It is remarkable how the governor of Arizona has been missing in action and totally you would think that she would have taken. Completely agree the spear on it. So yeah, this is what the FBI is, is designed for in these cases to be able to come in and bring in professional and high level investigative and, and, and police, you know, skills, law enforcement skills to it. So this is a good thing. But the governor is missing. The governor should be doing more.
- [40:36]
A
Melissa, you, you're an expert, you're, you're an expert on intergovernmental relations and things like this. What should anything happen here? Should someone stop that guy from briefing the way he's briefing or. It doesn't matter.
- [40:47]
C
Yeah, they should absolutely sideline him from briefing. I guess the governor could get involved. I don't really know what role she should play. I think the FBI should sideline the locals, come in, do regular briefings and clean this up as best they can and give people confidence that this is being handled the right way. I mean, honestly, I don't know what the governor necessarily does other than like politicize it or get her own image in the press. But I think the job for the FBI and they should take it over.
- [41:15]
A
Yeah. Okay, here we go. Winners and losers of the week. What to look for? We're short on time. So Larry Brisk, your winner please.
- [41:23]
B
Winner of the week. Is anybody on the fat shot? I love that we call it the fat shot now. Trump RX rolled out.
- [41:30]
A
Oh yeah. Because of the numbers. Yeah.
- [41:33]
B
Look at what Trump RX has done for just the fat shot. And my father in law texted me last night. He was very excited that he's getting better prices on all of his drugs. The Trump RX thing is a, seems to be a real success story if it gets enough attention and people start focusing on it.
- [41:46]
A
But there you go.
- [41:47]
B
There's your fat shot numbers.
- [41:49]
A
Yeah. I'm surprised they didn't promote it more than they did. I mean, they did some, but. Melissa, winner of the week, Hakeem Jeffries. Tell us why.
- [41:58]
B
Really?
- [41:59]
C
Because I think that the results last weekend in the elections continue to reinforce that he is on a glide path to becoming speaker. And I think that it's been a continued bungling this entire week from the Republicans on everything from Epstein to the economy and everything in between that just continues to strengthen the belief that he is going to absolutely be speaker in a few months.
- [42:21]
A
Okay. Steve Witkoff, I believe there's unprecedented in American diplomatic history negotiating on consecutive days the Gaza peace accord. Next phase, Russia, Ukraine, and today in Oman with Iran. He hadn't solved them all yet, but just an extraordinary achievement for someone who was not, you know, a professional diplomat to do those things on behalf of the United States. Larry, Loser of the week.
- [42:49]
B
Loser of the week is the former nominee for president and former vice president, United States Kamala Harris, who got everyone excited about her big announcement. And it was the biggest dud. And even people on the left, even Democrats, were making fun of this yesterday with her headquarters announcement.
- [43:06]
A
Six. Headquarters, headquarters six, seven, six, seven. Yeah. Melissa, loser of the week.
- [43:15]
C
Anyone on the Epstein list? I mean, the continued fallout. Brad Karp, I saw, just lost his chairmanship at Paul Weiss. I think Kathleen Remmler is probably on the way out. I think that the blast radius on that one continues to reverberate. So anyone on the Epstein list?
- [43:30]
A
Yeah, my loser of the week is the people of New York City. I don't care if we have a socialist mayor as much as I care that we have an inept mayor. There are still giant piles of dirty snow and garbage all over this city, and this weekend is going to be frigidly cold. And again, if he wants to open supermarkets, if he wants to make the buses free, he got elected on that. But he didn't get elected to not do the basics of what the city requires. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
- [43:58]
C
Glad you missed that Mark.
- [43:59]
A
Yeah, yeah. All right, Larry. Larry, what to look for this weekend?
- [44:03]
B
Two words, my friend. Curling and luge. Every four years, I become an absolute obsessed fanatic on sports that I would never give any crap about the rest of the time. But in the Winter Olympics, I actually prefer the Winter Olympics to the Summer Olympics. It's going to be fantastic.
- [44:18]
C
Yeah, Melissa, I'm breaking your rule. Patriots are going to win and Bad Bunny. And to see what happens with the Bad Bunny halftime show?
- [44:27]
B
No, everyone's going to turn over and watch Kid Rock on Turning Points halftime show. Bad Bunny.
- [44:34]
A
I'm going to be watching what happens with Iran and Russia and how NBC, how NBC is going to deal with their interview that they taped on Wednesday with the President and try to show a five, a five day old interview at the Super Bowl. I don't know. I don't know why I wasn't live. But anyway. All right, to your questions, as always, please raise your hand if you want to get in on the conversation. Let welcome anyone to raise their hand. Regardless of whether you've raised your hand before, regardless of whether you agree with anything was said today or not, tell us where you are and what's on your mind. We'll start with Karen. Karen, thank you for being part of Two Way. Welcome. Unmute floor is yours, Karen.
- [45:15]
D
Okay. I had a feeling you were going to call me because it's been a while since I've been on. Totally going to bring the show down right now, like the mood.
- [45:24]
A
So, Karen, Karen, remind everybody where you live, what great granite State you live in.
- [45:29]
D
I'm in New Hampshire.
- [45:30]
A
Yeah. Where in New Hampshire?
- [45:32]
D
Southern New Hampshire. I will say I'm in Bedford, New Hampshire.
- [45:35]
A
Yeah. Okay. Bedford. I love the Bedford Village Inn. One of my favorite places in New Hampshire.
- [45:39]
D
Yes.
- [45:39]
A
Yeah.
- [45:40]
D
So bring it.
- [45:41]
A
Bring us down, Karen. Go ahead.
- [45:42]
D
All right, so the reason I don't come on all the time is like, it has to be an issue that really, like, I can't keep in anymore. And that's like, what happened last time I came on. So, like, my heart is racing. So all week, like, I do watch Two Way Tonight and all that, and I watch kind of like all these YouTube fun shows and everyone keeps talking about JD Vance and his change in tone. And I'm a huge JD Vance fan. But what I heard all week was like, why is he doing this? Like, why is it like this? What do you think happened even, like on this show? Like, why do you think he's all of a sudden doing this?
- [46:20]
A
Why? Why?
- [46:21]
B
Why?
- [46:21]
D
And like, in this way, I'm going to bring the tone down is like, when he was running, the President was targeted twice and then they got elected and then he watched his best friend be shot and bleed out in front of the world and pick up his family. In our world, with social media, everybody has moved on, which they do. But when you're there, you're not moving on. And you cannot go through what JD Went through and not be a Completely different person the day before Charlie was murdered to the day after he was Charlie murdered. If you were that close to him, where he helped build your career and was that influential and you were texting every day and you guys built this whole thing together.
- [47:15]
A
Yeah.
- [47:16]
D
Not only was he assassinated, he watched it and then had to deal with the world and his wife. And I don't think it's coincidence that part of the tone is religion first, because I feel that whether I agree with his statements or his tone, I feel that he has a little bit like, you know, that term when they say I have no Fs left to give. Like, I kind of feel that's where he is and that it's valid.
- [47:40]
A
Yeah, Karen, it's. Yeah, it's. Karen, it's. It's a. It's a really great point because I haven't seen them mentioned very often.
- [47:47]
D
You didn't mention Mark.
- [47:48]
A
I was surprised as you, as you, as you have, as you said, he was very close to Charlie and it obviously affected him quite a bit. We've seen him in public quite a bit since Charlie was killed. And you're right that certainly he should be extended the presumption of grace of how hard this is in terms of personally on him. I don't know that I would necessarily say in a linear way that that's led to the change, because I think it started before, honestly. But Larry and then Melissa, please respond to Karen's great point.
- [48:19]
D
Can I say one more thing? I think the hard, like there's a little bit more of a hardness to his tone. I think that's where it's from.
- [48:25]
A
Yeah, understood.
- [48:27]
B
And I think it. And I. Karen, thank you. Absolutely brilliant. And I had an opportunity to speak to this, I think, the other day, and I didn't. And I will now make this part of sort of what I say about the Vice President whenever this comes up. But I think also Mark is right. Part of this did start before that. I think it was part of it. A lot of it had to do with Vice President Vance, I don't think was fully aware of exactly how vicious critics of the administration were going to be. And, you know, you had Jen Psaki, the former White House spokesperson, suggesting that his wife doesn't love him, that his wife is trapped in a abusive relationship and is trying desperately to get out the things that have been said about them, about their children. You sort of conceptualize it, but then when you're in the middle of it and you're receiving it, it can change a person. And Yeah, I think that that tends to harden somebody. The problem here though is I want him to have a very bright political future, I think capable of doing it. So he needs to be able to appeal and be that J.D. vance that we saw a couple of years ago because politics is politics and not everyone's going to say, well give him a break because he lost his best friend and all these things are going on. He's got to figure out a way to make that part of who he is. But at the same time be warmer and open up a bit.
- [49:41]
A
Karen, be brief so Melissa can respond to you.
- [49:43]
D
I know, I'm not saying to give him a break. I'm just trying to give the explanation.
- [49:47]
A
Yeah.
- [49:48]
D
And I do think the last thing I'll say is that he also must have thoughts that if they didn't win, Charlie would most likely still be alive.
- [49:57]
A
Yeah, I, I'd love to ask the vice president the question and maybe I will. How has it affected you?
- [50:04]
D
You know, it can't not change you as a person.
- [50:07]
A
Yeah. Melissa.
- [50:08]
B
Yeah.
- [50:09]
C
No, I think that, look, anyone who's ever served in high level positions and has been the target of an unrelenting press, it takes its toll. And so you know, the emotion, the human element of what you're talk, very real. And I think, you know, the fact that his, they speculated about his marriage falling apart and she's not wearing her ring and I'm not sure he was prepared for the amount of microscopic scrutiny that you live under. Which frankly is the reason a lot of really good smart people don't run for office anymore or decide preemptively to resign. And unfortunately that's sort of where we're headed is that we end up with the drags because the people who are good don't want anything to do with it. So I think everyone should be extended a little bit of grace. But politics is a blood sport and you, if you're in at the highest levels, you know, the fastballs come hard and fast to your head all day long and you either step up to it or step aside.
- [51:01]
B
Yeah, I. Karen, I've not to sort of. Because you've brought us. You're right, you brought a somber tone here. But Melissa, I've agreed with you a lot today. We are not getting the dregs. We've got the Shamwow guy running for Congress right now. All right, so true.
- [51:14]
A
Larry. That's the only story. Larry, I will say the risk, at the risk of oversharing, I'll be brief. When I was in fifth grade My best friend was killed under really tragic circumstances by his father and stayed with me till this day. It really, it really is unsettling when something like that happens. So I can Karen, I can see your point pretty vividly now and been insufficiently sensitive to it. Doesn't necessarily mean it's the explanation, but all that that guy deals with and has to deal constantly with concerns not just about Erica and the kids, but also just about the fragility of life and the threat that people in public life face. Karen, thank you. Very grateful to you. Let me get in Sponsor and then back to your questions. Please raise your hand if you want to be in on the conversation. Lighten the mood by saying one of our sponsors wants to give you free money with no catch whatsoever. Download the Upside app, link it up with your payment system. You still get every benefit you get using your credit card at gas stations, restaurants and supermarkets, but you just get more cash back. Little formula that gets you more cash back. They've given a billion dollars back to people who use the app. A million dollars every week. There's a hundred thousand merchants around the country that use it. The app tells you where they are. I bet you unless you live in rural Alaska, there are places right in your neighborhood that you already go to to buy gas, shop for food and go to restaurants. They'll just give you more cash back. And if you use the promo code Mark when you download the Upside app, you'll get 25 cents in addition on your first gas first every gallon 25 cents per gallon on your first tank of gas. So this is there's no fee for the app. There's no fee to use the app. There's not a membership. This is not accruing points. It's just additional cash back. Download the Upside app today. Use the promo code.
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C
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- [53:32]
A
Experian One more thing tell you about is a relatively new sponsor here factor. Go to FactorMeals.com 2way50off this is a Subscription service that delivers fresh meals to your home. Never frozen. Heat them up, microwave or oven a couple minutes. They're fully prepared, they're healthy. You can select what kind of meals you want the dietitian designed. They'll give you choices about things. They'll show you what's coming up. And you don't have to do much cleaning up, no prep. You just heat them and eat them right now. Factor will offer you a chance to try this out again. No refined sugars, no artificial sweeteners, no refined seed oils. And they rotate. There's about 100 different meals that rotate through. So choose your meals, choose your goals. Always fresh, never frozen. Head to factor meals.com two way 50 off. Use the code two way 50 off and you get 50% off your first Factor box and free breakfast for one year. It's only valid if you don't already use Factor. Make healthier eating easy with factor again, go look at the meals. They're great tasting, but even on paper, they'll make your mouth water. Factor meals.com two way 50 off. Number 50. Two way 50 off is the promo code to get 50% off. All right, here we go. Charles, welcome in. Thank you for being part of two way on mute. Tell folks who don't know where you are and what's on your mind for Melissa and for Larry.
- [55:04]
B
You're good.
- [55:04]
A
Go ahead, Charles. Charles, can you hear us?
- [55:18]
B
Good morning.
- [55:19]
A
Yes, sir.
- [55:19]
B
Everyone is doing well.
- [55:21]
A
Yes, sir.
- [55:22]
B
I would just like to comment regarding the. My not unmuted.
- [55:30]
A
You're unmuted. We hear you fine.
- [55:31]
B
Go ahead, Charles.
- [55:33]
A
Go ahead.
- [55:35]
B
He's now muted. All right.
- [55:36]
A
Now muted, Charles, let's try one more time to unmute. Can you unmute again, Charles? I don't have to move on from you, but I will if you can't. Yeah. All right, Charles, you work on that. See if you can unmute. Let's bring in Brennan. Welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind. Apparently, it's Charles Brennan. Stand by, Charles, go ahead. No, Charles, we can hear you.
- [56:03]
B
I've unmuted.
- [56:05]
A
Charles. We hear you. Go ahead.
- [56:07]
B
I'm sorry.
- [56:08]
A
All right. All right, Charles. We're going to get some. Some help for you and figure it out for next episode, I think. Brandon, unmute.
- [56:15]
B
You are unmuted.
- [56:15]
A
Go ahead, Brandon. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind. For Melissa and Barry calling in from.
- [56:21]
B
The great state of Rhode island. And I just wanted to ask about.
- [56:28]
A
The dynamic between Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. I guess just that what's the difference between Steve going in solo and them going in as a tandem? Yeah, it's a great question, which I am amazed no one has written about. And I'm currently writing a column for the Daily Mail about that very topic. But I'll go last. There you go, Larry. Thoughts on the Witkoff Kushner arrangement?
- [56:53]
B
It's the kind of question I would ask Mark Halperin. My instinct, from observing how they are when they present a deal after the fact, Jared's obvious business connections and his vision on what next steps will be in terms of financial investment and rallying international support for the financial aftermath of of whatever mess they're trying to fix up has been incredibly invaluable. He is connected worldwide and he can speak the language and come in. And obviously, being the president's son in law, he brings some weight and gravitas to the table. It's an amazing one, two punch.
- [57:33]
A
If you've not read Melissa's excellent book, Melissa, what's the name of your book?
- [57:37]
C
What's Left Unsaid?
- [57:38]
A
What's Left Unsaid, in which Melissa writes about her time as the top aide to the governor of New York, including during COVID and her interactions with Jared Kushner. So, Melissa, you know Jared well. Thoughts on Brennan's excellent question about how those two seem to be getting along and operating in tandem.
- [57:56]
C
You know, it's funny because I know Steve, too, and a lot of my friends and I joke around about the fact that it's like, how do you get, you know, peace in the Middle East? Send in two real estate guys from New York to close the deal. Yeah, but I think that anytime you're negotiating something really complicated like this, it's good to have a good cop and a bad cop. And while I'm not privy to, obviously, what's going on behind closed doors, I could see Jared playing more of the good cop and Steve playing more of the bad cop or more of the, like, tight lipped sort of cop. And so it makes sense to me that there are two of them. They both have 100% confidence from the President, and as I said, like, their whole business and life is closing deals. And they are both very personally invested and financially invested in the outcome of what happened long after Trump is out of office. So I think it's actually a pretty good buddy comedy that will get written about afterwards, but they seem to be a good pairing.
- [58:48]
A
What do you know, Witkoff?
- [58:50]
B
From.
- [58:52]
C
After I left office I did some work for him.
- [58:54]
A
Oh, okay. Well, I'll probably quote you now in my piece. Maybe. I don't know if I want to quote the two Jews from New York thing, but you didn't say Jews, you said.
- [59:02]
C
No, I said real estate guys.
- [59:04]
A
I heard it. I heard it as Jews. Wow.
- [59:07]
B
And again, is there no follow up to Melissa? That was incredibly cryptic. I did some work for him. You're not going to press her on that.
- [59:14]
C
Just some consulting work, but also private business.
- [59:20]
B
You cooked him dinner. What?
- [59:23]
C
This is also a New York. The ultimate New York story, right? Like, these guys were longtime donors of the Cuomos. Everyone knows everyone in New York, and so we've all sort of been in the same circle for a long time.
- [59:36]
A
Part of why I'm writing the column is I just find it ridiculous again what this guy did this week with Jared. But, you know, people hadn't heard of this guy outside New York three years ago. He had no experience whatsoever. Denigrated by the Council on Foreign Relations crowd, the Obama, Biden, foreign policy people. And he's got. Yeah, I mean, it just. It's an incredible thing that he's doing. And again, history has not. Well, is not yet written about how this will go, but he's had an historic week and he's at the table and he's doing this stuff. He's had several hit jobs written about him in the press, quoting anonymous people from the administration being super critical of him. But he has the full support of the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State. It's quite a story. Yes.
- [60:20]
B
Mark, you know this culture that you're talking about better than probably any journalist working today. You grew up in it, literally in your home. If they are successful with these extraordinary efforts, will it change the way foreign policy and diplomacy is done? Or the second they have the opportunity? The old blob will come right back.
- [60:40]
A
I mean, the blob will come back and hasn't really been fully, you know, displaced. It'll depend on the next president. It'll depend on if the next president has confidence in people outside established channels. You know, people who are members of the Council on Foreign Relations believe they have monopoly on how to do this stuff. And what Jared proved in the first term and Witkoff's proving now. And look, Henry Kissinger didn't have a lot of experience when he started. You don't need to be a member of the Council on Foreign Relations or you don't need to have gone to the Kennedy School to know how to close a deal. As Melissa said. So we'll see how he does. But he did bring peace to the Middle East. That's like as Donald Trump would say, that's not something you see every day. Have you heard of it? Peace in the Middle east. All right, tonight, two way tonight, 5:00pm Eastern time, our last program of the week. I think we'll have some news. I make that prediction relatively regularly. There's, there's a Benghazi suspect. There's a press conference going on right now. Is this live? Yeah. Larry's friend, Melissa's friend, Judge Jeanine is having a press conference with Pam Bondi and Cash Patel announcing the arrest of a Benghazi suspect. Is this a suspect in the, in the, in the Benghazi attacks from, from yesteryear? Is that what this is about? Yeah, it seems, yeah, it seems like it is. The 20. They've arrested someone in the 2012 Benghazi attacks. That's quite something. Anyway, I will see at 5pm Eastern time. I'm very grateful to Melissa and Larry and everyone who guest hosted this week and hope you'll both come back soon and hope everybody has a good weekend. But spend your waning work moments with me at 5 Eastern Time tonight. Have a great day, everybody.