Why Did the Gala Shooter Get So Close to Trump at "The Hinckley Hilton”?

Summary

The Morning Meeting — April 27, 2026

Episode: "Why Did the Gala Shooter Get So Close to Trump at 'The Hinckley Hilton'?"

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Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, host Mark Halperin and his co-hosts Hogan and Kevin offer a candid, behind-the-scenes view of the aftermath of the attempted shooting at the Washington black-tie gala popularly known as the “Hinckley Hilton.” The team examines how the shooter came alarmingly close to former President Trump, dissecting glaring security failures, discussing the consequences for political and media dynamics, and pivoting to related hot topics: U.S.-Iran negotiations, the upcoming British royal visit, Democratic ad strategies, and the day’s political news cycle.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Security Catastrophe at the Hilton (09:14–24:19)

Shocking Gaps in Protection

• Multiple hosts recount their experience at the gala, describing egregious security lapses. Entry for hotel guests was nearly unrestricted—no ID or ticket checks, minimal magnetometer presence, and hotel rooms far too accessible.
• Mark Halperin on insufficient security:

  "If it were five guys with AK-47s and a bomb, they could have killed everybody... It is shocking to me the level of lack of security in this building where Ronald Reagan was shot with all those senior people there." (13:04–14:18)

• Kevin’s eyewitness account:

  "The escape route for the cabinet, right in the line of succession, passed right by me moments after the shooting... They did not know if this was a coordinated thing... Are we part of the threat?" (20:23–21:15)

• Hogan:

  "No mags... I went down the escalator, did the red carpet... and then we left. That’s where you go down the escalator again. I saw no mags there either. And I was going, hold on a second. Now it doesn’t feel right to me." (15:02–16:25)

Secret Service and Planning Failures

• Hosts distinguish between the valiant response of agents and the abysmal event planning by organizers and the White House.
• Criticism is leveled at reliance on paper tickets and the ease of using hotel keys—no modern security protocols (QR codes, real ID checks).
• Memorable quote:

  "It’s hard to get to a Cincinnati Reds game than it is that dinner." (21:48–22:14)

Reflections and Silver Linings

• All agree the nation avoided tragedy purely by luck and that the incident underscores urgent need for reforms.
• Hogan notes:

  "The blessing... was we learned the lax holes in this security without having to have a massive tragedy." (23:46–24:19)

• Examples of bipartisan humanity and real fear, e.g., House Speaker's wife being ushered out, Melania Trump's visible alarm during the shooting.

2. Political and Media Fallout

• Short-lived Unity:
  • Hosts are skeptical that the incident will foster lasting reconciliation between Trump, Democrats, and the media.
  • Mark:

    "It won't be a week. It won't be a day… It's already over." (12:04–12:08)

• Media Bias Not Discussed:
  • Mark chooses not to dwell on hypothetical media coverage had an attempt been made on Barack Obama, noting the obvious double standards.

3. U.S.–Iran Crisis & Geopolitics (25:30–33:10)

• Update:
  • Iranian foreign minister is in Moscow; U.S. is considering Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait while deferring nuclear talks.
  • Hosts debate wisdom of accepting a "two-tier" deal.
  • Expert clip – David Ignatius (27:06):

    "This two-tier plan from Iran is a clever way to bypass... their real problem. This is a sign that they're getting pretty desperate. They want to reopen the strait as much for themselves as to help the U.S."

• Economics and Leverage:
  • U.S. blockade is putting immense pressure on Iran, whose currency is collapsing and oil storage is at crisis point.
  • Kevin:

    "The maximum pressure that this blockade… might be doing the Lord’s work there to actually get something from them." (29:48)

  • Both expect Iran to “bleed the clock,” hoping U.S. political pressure will lead Trump to capitulate, but think economic pain will outweigh that tactic.

4. Upcoming British State Visit (35:22–41:09)

• High Hopes for Personal Diplomacy:
  • Discussion centers on the king’s visit to Washington, potential restoration of the “special relationship,” and what each side may want.
  • Kevin:

    "President loves personal relationships. That’s how he gets things done... a lot is going to happen behind the scenes, monarch to President." (36:53–37:12)

  • Hogan shares a behind-the-scenes story:

    "King Charles—then Prince—leans in and says, 'Even on CNN?' He had clearly read the briefing material, that Trump was no fan." (39:11–39:46)

• UK–US Tensions:
  • Falklands stance and Ukraine aid are hot topics. King is rumored to press U.S. for more Ukraine support.

5. Democratic Ad Strategy Experimentation (44:13–47:44)

• Tailoring Ads for Niche Audiences:
  • Review of an unconventional Priorities USA attack ad targeting sports/gaming fans to reach disengaged voters.
  • Reaction is mixed; the panel finds the ad innovative in concept but “vague” and potentially ineffective due to jargon and lack of clarity.
  • Hogan:

    "They're just a little cringy compared to where Republicans are—the right had to build that whole industry from the ground up." (47:09–47:21)

6. Listener Q&A: Real People’s Concerns (51:34–58:00)

• Disconnect with Everyday Americans
  • Listener Rick (Southern Illinois):

    "The last thing I think any American wants to hear about is how fast the president and the administration in the press corps are going to effort to put back on another White House correspondence dinner... Like, does anyone think they're like, at the level of tone deaf?" (54:48–55:10)

  • Hosts’ Rebuttal:
    • They agree with his frustration about Beltway insularity, but defend the value of these events for fostering rare bipartisan unity—at least in concept.
    • Kevin:

      "You’re not wrong… there's very few events where genuine comedy is allowed in the city… There's something to be said for remembering each other's humanity." (55:18–56:30)

    • Hogan:

      "I do think the dinner itself is largely a self-aggrandizing, self-righteous moment for the media... But there is something about Donald Trump saying as he did after Butler standing up and yelling fight, fight, fight, wanting people to know he's okay." (56:30–57:52)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Mark Halperin on security:

  "No one has explained how weak it was. There have been some tweets by some of my colleagues… but I'm telling you this thing was completely unsecured… you could have checked into that hotel with five rooms and built an arsenal." (13:04–14:18)

• Kevin on moments of crisis:

  "There were genuine moments of humanity in that room. Steve Scalise… grabbing Jared Moskowitz… at that moment it was, how do we secure a colleague… regardless of all that?" (24:19–25:06)

• Hogan on security learning:

  "The blessing... was we learned the lax holes in this security without having to have a massive tragedy." (23:46–24:19)

• On Democrats’ new ad style:

  "It could be an effective strategy… But it could be an effective strategy. That's obviously one of the key pickups that we need if we're ever going to get to four..." (Kevin, 45:00–45:44)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Security at the Hilton & Shooting Debrief: 09:14–24:19
• Media & Political Unity Post-Shooting: 11:21–12:08
• Iran Negotiations & Oil Blockade: 25:30–33:10
  • David Ignatius Clip: 27:06
• Royal Visit & UK–US Relations: 35:22–41:09
  • Story about King Charles & briefing books: 39:11–39:46
• Dem Ad Experiments: 44:13–47:44
• Caller Rick—Tone Deaf Beltway Events: 54:48–58:00

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Overall Tone & Observations

The tone is frank, unsparing, and occasionally irreverent, textured by industry insider anecdotes and moment-to-moment reactions to breaking news. The discussion of security is especially urgent and critical, emphasizing just how close the country came to disaster and warning against complacency as the cycle of news and politics resumes. While the podcast attempts to bridge the D.C. bubble and everyday listeners, the crew remains rooted in the media-political insider world—something their call-in segment thoughtfully problematizes.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

• If you want the real state of security at America’s highest-profile political events—warts and all—this is required listening/reading.
• Learn how the attempted shooting didn’t just reveal a lone-wolf threat, but systemic holes in protection that could have led to mass tragedy.
• Hear direct criticism from prominent anchors, correspondents, and producers—not just from outsiders or after-action committees.
• Get a succinct, forward-looking scan of the national and international issues the U.S. faces, from Iran’s desperate economic gambit to the calculations behind every fundraising ad buy.
• And—crucially—hear ordinary listeners push back on D.C. priorities and elicit rare candor from the Beltway crowd.

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Transcript

[A]

Some follow the noise.

[B]

Bloomberg follows the money. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings, there's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe [e-mail]. Okay.

[A]

No.

[B]

Good morning. Good morning. I don't know, Hogan. We'll lead with what we lead with. Good morning everybody. We're should lead with Iran because that's really a bigger story than the dinner. But we're going to lead with the dinner because people are talking about the dinner and everybody on in the news business is leading with the dinner. So Kevin is here, Hogan is here. Gentlemen, welcome. How are your evenings? As they asked Mrs. Lincoln, other than that, Hogan, how was your evening?

[A]

It was a good evening.

[B]

Yeah. I saw Hogan with his date walking up Connecticut Avenue, but I didn't want to bother them so I left him alone because I don't like to talk to celebrities. Kevin, how was your evening?

[C]

There were a lot of light bulbs flashing on Hogan and his beautiful girlfriend on the red carpet. That's when I saw him moments before, before this all went down.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And Kevin, you have a big day today.

[C]

I do that. The King and the Queen reception this afternoon at the Ambassador's residence and I think he's going to see the President and the first lady for tea along with the queen. So it's going to be a great day here in Washington and it's a beautiful. Already 56 degrees. It's going to be beautiful.

[B]

Yes. Wonderful day to be outside in that garden where Kevin and I were on Friday night.

[C]

I didn't see spending many a tail.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

With our spouses. Our, our, our beautiful spouses too.

[B]

We had, we had a good time with our beautiful spouses. Anyway, we're going to talk about Iran. We're going to talk about the dinner aftermath. We're always forward looking here and we're going to talk a bit about, about the world visit. There's a new Democratic ad strategy that we're going to talk about as well. There's a new type of ad to try to reach people who aren't interested in politics. Really fascinating. And as always, we'll welcome your input, your questions, your comments, your critiques. If you've seen a picture of Hogan and his tux, you'll probably have much to say about that. Please raise your hand if you're here on the platform and want to be part of the conversation. If you're watching on X or YouTube. No smack in the chat. Just don't put smack in the chat at this.

[C]

Can I also say, can I also say Hogan didn't just look so sharp in that tux. He had a great trench coat on yesterday at the British ambassador's residence as well. So he was looking very sharp the entirety of the weekend.

[A]

Well I appreciate that but also I saw Jaime.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which I'd never met him in person.

[B]

Oh, awesome.

[C]

I didn't realize.

[B]

I, I will say that British ambassadors residence is like a party. It's like a party space. They have parties like every day.

[A]

It's the best embassy by far.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It's. And they throw the best. And again it's very smart for them to bring and it's that, you know, talking about highway Democrats, Republicans, cabinet folks. Yeah. It's really a neutral, neutral ground for everybody.

[B]

Yeah. All right, let's run through the daybook and then we'll get to it. The arraignment is today for the the accused gentleman who Mr. Allen, who we don't know much about yet, what he's going to say, what his condition is, uh, who his attorney is, what additional charges will be brought but federal court. So no cameras in the courtroom but we'll look forward to hearing more about that. The President at the White House today. Eight o' clock. He's in his executive time. Good morning Mr. President. We're no fans of Norah O' Donnell either. Mr. President. Don't worry. Not going to defend. We're not going to defend what she did anyway Nora, we'll talk about that. Executive time. 1:30 has a closed press policy meeting. 4:15 greets the king and the queen. 420 they give a tour of the new Beehive area and then 5:30 policy meeting. He's also meeting with his National Security Council team according to Axios to talk about Iran and their proposal to take the straight off the table and deal with nuclear later, which I think is a crazy one if you're the administration but we'll talk about that. Don't know what the vice president's doing today. Bunch of stuff going on on the Hill today. Closed hearing House intel with Tulsi Gabbard as they try to work through a bunch of issues related to reconciliation, housing, FISA and homeland security. There's a bunch of stuff going on they're gonna have to try to figure out. Also the Virginia Supreme Court 9 o' clock right this hours hearing arguing arguments in the challenge to the recent redistricting referendum. The Supreme Court's hearing ARGU oral arguments in a fourth amendment case and a legal Liability case tomorrow. Monday. So I just give you the week ahead here. The king is speaking to a joint address of Congress. He's going to give a relatively lengthy speech. Some I saw something said 30 minutes, which is three times longer than his mom's speech to a joint session of Congress. Tallahassee, there's a special session tomorrow on the redistricting proposal. Senate banking will consider Kevin Warsh's confirmation to be head of the Fed on Wednesday. Have some services. Here's from Hegseth and Dan Cain. Jay Powell holds what could be his final open market. Well, will be his final as chair. Final federal open market press conference on Wednesday. Friday. Thursday is the deadline for FISA section 702 to expire. My colleagues told me some of you don't like when I tell you who's on the late night shows. It's just information, folks. You don't need to be hostile to information. These shows are not as big in terms of ratings as they used to be, but they're still interesting. So again, if you don't like the late night shows, don't watch them. But don't hate on me for giving you free information. Jimmy Kimmel's guests this week include the great Meryl Streep and Oz Perlman. Who is, who is, who is, who is possessed by demons. That man can do things that no human can do.

[C]

It's worked. Witchcraft. Total witchcraft.

[B]

It's total witchcraft. He guessed Caroline Levitt's baby's name. I want to. I want to. If you do something with them where he's supposed to guess the name, but you do a name that's not a real name, like, guess my son's name. Oh, my son's name's Carburetor. Like, he couldn't guess that, could he? Right.

[A]

Hey, He's a mentalist. You tell me.

[B]

He is a mentalist. He's the best mentalist.

[C]

Interview with Nora.

[A]

He's like, I don't believe you.

[B]

Yeah, I know.

[A]

That's when he was showing, like, the cards. Trump's face is just like whatever he,

[B]

he claims he get. What's the baby's name? Vivian. Is that what it is? I know. He claims, he claims he guessed the name. And it's not. I mean, it's a name. It's not like carburetor, but it's not like a name I would think Caroline would name her baby. The guy's. The guy's possessed by demons. That's my explanation.

[C]

Or he's made a deal with the devil, you know?

[B]

Well, that's what I mean. That's what I mean. Some people say people are in on it. Like Caroline told him the name in advance. Or he called Caroline's husband and said, I don't believe he could build his career off of that. I'm telling you guys, it's Vivian. Vivian. Go, go. Watch the 60 Minutes profile of the guy. I, I, I think the big news out of the dinner is we avoided significant contact with the devil. That's the big news, not the shooting. Anyway, tonight's show, Jimmy Fallon's guests include Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, Anne Hathaway, and Olivia Rodrigo.

[A]

Oh, it's devil worst. Prada too, people.

[B]

Yeah. Think definitely we're proud of.

[A]

Did that, didn't that premiere? Was it last week?

[B]

I don't know.

[C]

Photos. I saw photos.

[B]

Sorry. Opens, Opens Friday. It's, it's just got a lot of advanced release publicity. Sure.

[C]

All I know is that Josh Agabor and George Burns are going to be on my Tonight show with Johnny Carson rerun that I'll, I'll be watching tonight.

[B]

Oh, all right. A quick word from a sponsor, and then, guys, we're gonna dig into the shooting Cozy Earth, our sponsor. Great sponsor. 20 off everything on the site. Paul, do we have new dog pictures? I can't remember. If we do, you'll throw them up right now. You get 20 off everything. Get your Mother's Day gifts right there on Cozy Earth. Make mom feel special with things like their robes or their slippers or their bubble cuddle blankets. The bubble cuddle blankets are gonna sell out. I just, I, I'm like a mentalist. I can tell you they're gonna sell out. So if you're thinking, you know, I'm going to eventually get around to buying a bubble cuddle blanket for my mom for Mother's Day because Mark's doing that for his mom. Don't tell my mom. Do it now. Let Mother's Day be a reminder that your mom, the moms in your life, deserve care, too. Discover how Cozy Earth turns everyday routines into moments of softness and ease. Go to cozyearth.com use the promo code morning. Cozyearth.com promo code morning. 20% off the post purchase survey. Tell them Kevin and Hogan sent you. Type that in. Kevin and Hogan sent me because home starts with mom. What'd you say?

[A]

I said promo code. Hogan at checkout. That's a joke.

[B]

Exactly. No promo code. Morning.

[A]

Morning.

[D]

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[B]

All right, gentlemen, we're forward looking here. We're not gonna. We're not gonna talk about how we experience the shooting, although I have a harrowing tale to tell

[C]

first, which involves. Which involves one of my favorite people at fox.

[B]

Kennedy. Kennedy.

[C]

Yeah, we go way back.

[B]

She's. She's Kennedy.

[C]

She's a riot.

[B]

At my table was Kennedy and Cash Patel. And I've stories to tell. But not now, guys. First of all, will the. Will the president get his way? Will they do the dinner? And if so, how will they do the dinner in the next 30 days? Hogan, will there be a dinner?

[A]

I. I think so.

[B]

You think there will be what? Be at the Elton?

[A]

Oh, I don't know about that.

[B]

It should be at the convention center. Kevin, will there be a dinner, and if so, where will it be?

[C]

I think there could be. It will be. It will look different than, I think Saturday night. The venue will be different. It'll be scaled down, most likely. Again, planning for this, you had people flying in. In addition to some of the celebrities, you had heads of corporations flying in too. Not always easy to do that, especially on a month's notice. So it will likely look different. You won't have the party scene. It might be a more somber kind of event.

[B]

Will the president tell jokes, trashing the media as he was planning to do?

[C]

I think so.

[E]

Yes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes. Okay.

[C]

I mean, that's probably the driving factor, too, is that he had a good lineup of things. You know, maybe.

[B]

Maybe he'll add some Nora jokes. Hey, Hogan, who. Who. Whose guest were you?

[A]

Whose guest was I.

[B]

Who. Who brought you to the dinner?

[A]

I did not go to the dinner. I did three of the pre parties.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

And then my girlfriend. I had dinner planned somewhere off campus, so we left.

[B]

Okay. Okay.

[C]

That's actually the smart way to do it. That's the way it is.

[A]

But I'm wondering.

[C]

Yeah, I don't want to go through

[A]

the whole harrowing experience, as you said, but I will tell you where we were eating. The service was bad, and I got it. I saw on Twitter, Katie Pavlich, someone we all know, had tweeted something like shots fired at the dinner. And I thought, yeah, Trump brought the heat. That was my first thought, was he's jokes are landing. And then I was like. And then 10 minutes went by and I got another set of tweets because, like I said, the service was bad. And I was like, wait, what? And then I realized it was something serious.

[C]

So.

[B]

All right, there's all this debate. You know, the president was very conciliatory Saturday. The Democrats in the media say, screw him, he's divided the country. And, you know, by, by Sunday, he was attacking Nora at least, and, and the media a little bit, but still somewhat conciliatory. Well, anything, leave aside security, which we'll talk about in a second. We will anything change about the president's relationship with Democrats in the media over this? Kevin, Will this lead to any change, like reconciliation or coming together or.

[C]

No, we'll see change for a week, and then it'll go back to its normal, you know, a week. Accusatory nastiness that back and forth. Yeah. Folks with TDS. Yep.

[A]

Wrong.

[B]

Wrong.

[C]

You think it's gonna be 24 hours?

[A]

It won't be a week. It won't be a week. It'll be a day.

[B]

I mean, you could argue it's already over. I mean, he attacked Nora. He didn't have to attack Nora. He could, he could have, he could have just said, well, Nora, it's unfortunate you said that. So, no, it's over. I, I, I'll, I'll, I'll say, hogan, it's not even going to, it's over. It's not even, it's not even going to last today. It's over. So there's that. Now security. I will tell you, the, the, the security was pathetic. And I know that everybody say, oh, the service did such a good job. This guy could have gotten into the ballroom. And if it were five guys with AK47s and a bomb, they could have killed everybody. And, and, and you could say, it's not the service's fault. The White House should have said this. That needs to be designated as a national security event. People could walk within feet of the President, and people could walk within right up to. If you put on a tux, no one would stop you from walking to parties with a lot of celebrities and government officials. This thing. I'm telling you, if you watch media since Saturday, you'll see lots of. The service did such a good job. They stopped the guy from. They did stop the guy. Great. And I'm not denigrating their bravery. I'm not denigrating their professionalism. The planners of this. It's a disgrace what occurred. You could walk into the lobby of the Hilton. You could walk onto the floor above the ballroom. You could walk onto the floor where the ballroom was without anything, with zero security. You could have checked into that hotel with five rooms and built an arsenal. And anyone who thinks that the security was good enough and the mags themselves, they did not check id. The mags themselves were the mag. If you went to an NCAA basketball game or a Penn State football game, that's the level of magging that occurred. And the tickets did not have QR codes on them. I'm telling you folks, you've read some things about how the security was weak. No one has explained how weak it was. There have been some tweets by some of my colleagues who've gone pretty far down the road. But I'm telling you, this thing was completely unsecured. And the fact that it was just one guy who they relatively easily subdued is fantastic. But it is. In the wake of the fact that people have tried to kill this president, the wake of the fact that the Vice president, the president, senior members of the cabinet were there.

[C]

You had, you had seven of the eight folks in the line of succession for the presidency.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Now I think the President Potown was the only one out there.

[B]

That's the denigration of Chuck Grassley is equally disgusting. People saying, well, Grassley would have been president. I'm not sure that's such a bad outcome. I mean, in terms of Chuck Grassley, I wouldn't want anyone to die. In all seriousness, I'm just telling you it is shocking to me the level of the lack of security in this building where Ronald Reagan was shot with all those senior people there. Now it's a very hard thing to secure, thousand person hotel, but the perimeter should have been the entire hotel. And they should have been checking IDs and magging people at the, at the, at the, at the perimeter of the property. Hogan?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So many ways to go here that struck me. And typically what happens is for those listening in this venue, parties start around some 5, most of them at 5:30. Typically I like to get there at 5 just in case there's a long line or whatever. I went at 4 this time because in my mind I thought with all of these people, the perimeter around this facility and the mags are going to have lines down the street, it's going to be pouring down rain, it's going to be brutal. And when I got there, I got close enough to see the venue. The traffic, yes, was stopped way further down the road than it was a block or two down the road than it was when the president wasn't there. But as Mark just alluded to, there were no mags. I went down, I went to the parties up on the first level. I went down the escalator, I did the red carpet. I, I saw my friend Kevin about to do some tv. I talked to some TV folks and then we left. But that's where you go down the escalator again. I saw no mags there either. And I was going, hold on a second. Now it's a little weird now. It doesn't feel right to me. Now, I should say, as Mark said, law enforcement did an outstanding job here. My friend Sean Curran is now the head of the Secret Service. They're definitely making some wholesale changes there. But one last thing I'll point out, it is one of those deals where it's kind of a trite thing to say, but it is true. These people have to be right once. These crazy, evil lunatics have to be right once. Secret Service. Everybody else has to be right 100% of the time, whether it's terrorism or one of these attacks. And I think to myself, in lawyer terms, I had a pastor tell me one time from Columbia, South Carolina, who also was an attorney, said, you know, law books used to take up about this much room on my shelf. Now it's infinite volumes and rows because there are new psychoses, new evils, new ways to cheat people, new ways to kill people that no one thought about. And they had to have laws on the books to change that. The same thing, I think applies here, Mark. They have secured this venue for countless events in the past. The way it was secured this time, I think, is a serious problem. When they had that gut check with Susie Wiles today at the White House, I think they're going to make some serious changes.

[C]

Kevin, agree completely with what Hogan was saying. And you, you both have been to this dinner many times. The amazing thing is it was the same security posture. We did Fox coverage two years ago, the last year of the Biden administration. The president was there as well. You'll note. It was the heat of the war following October 7th. You had a Palestinian flag flying on the facade of the Hilton, meaning that protesters had checked into the hotel, had enough hotel rooms that they could fly a flag, massive flag, off the side of the. So it gave us all pause because again, you don't just need to get downstairs, you could do a lot of damage from one of the hotel rooms above the event, to say nothing of the fact that we've been at war with Iran for the last seven weeks. And I've read portions of this manifesto from this insane crazed person, as Hogan said, and he says, what if Iran was doing this to us? And to Mark's point, what if they actually stormed it with more individuals? The fact too that I was never mad doing live red carpet coverage. There was a rumor the President, because he likes to do the red carpet and do stand up interviews, would have passed us by again with people. And I think our crew, our TV crew had not gone through security with their camera, camera cases. So you had massive boxes that would have posed a problem right there and that, to say nothing of it. And I have some of the videos from it. The escape route for the cabinet right in the line of succession passed right by me moments after the shooting. And I got footage of them leaving the ballroom.

[B]

Yes. I could give you 100 scenarios, ladies and gentlemen. I'll give you one or two people could have checked in. Five people could have checked in. They could have had cases that looked like TV equipment cases filled with explosives. And they could have come down to the lobby and put those, not the lobby, the level below the lobby where Kevin was, where the guy, where the shooter was. They could have put those cases in, in, Right, right by the mags. Right by the mags. And they could come down with, with, with AK47s. They could have blown it up and then they could have just started shooting everybody on that level and try to shoot their way into the ballroom. And, and I'm telling you, there would have been zero security, no sweep, no IDs, no questioning. They could have walked in as long as they had a key to the, to the hotel. They didn't need a, they didn't need a party invite, they didn't need to wear tux as long as they were guests in the hotel, as this.

[C]

You had hotel guests in the, walking back and forth the lobby, taking pictures of everybody.

[B]

So, and so would that have killed the President? Not necessarily, although it might have. But would that. Would we be having a national day of tragedy that they killed hundreds of people? Hundreds of people, civilians, reporters, government officials by doing this at 7:30? Yes. And there was nothing except for giving them a hotel room, nothing to bar them from doing that.

[C]

I will say that the scariest element of that night, I was about 30ft away from where they took out the Assailant was moments after you had everyone rushing in, agents obviously addressing the situation. And then you had agents directing back at us because they knew that we had not gone through mags. They did not know if this was a coordinated thing. So they're all yelling, show us your hands. Literally, I'm standing with our camera crew at the time with Fox and Fox security. And they don't know if we're part of the threat because this guy just took off running. Is he a distraction for what's going on with the rifle? And something else is happening. So that was the even more harrowing thought. You know, part of the process is when they kind of looked at us saying, are we part of the threat? That that was the kind of the scarier element of all of this. But again, Mark, you make all these excellent points about failures.

[B]

Part of why I'm so animated about this is I watched CNN this morning, and they had a former Secret Service agent on. He's like, it all went great. It was all handled so well. We. We did our job, you know, just great. And it's unfortunate there was this guy, but all great. No, And I don't blame the service, although if I were head of the service, I would have complained. I blame the. The people planning the event. I blame the White House. I blame. I blame everybody who. All you had to do was be there. I was staying there from Friday till the party till the dinner. And. And I mean, it was. I was horrified when I saw paper.

[C]

Paper tickets. To your point, Mark, the folks at the door. The folks at the door had an issue where people were using the same ticket just from a year ago and getting into the ballroom because it was the same exact printing with kind of like a holographic ink on it. No, no numbers on it. I mean, there were table numbers, but, you know, nothing to say that this was, you know, again, not even a QR code. It's hard to get to Cincinnati Reds game. And it is that dinner.

[B]

And they didn't ask. And they didn't ask for id. But again, I'll say all you needed to do to get within 25ft, I think, of the ballroom doors. All you needed was a hotel key. And by the way, if you showed a sleeve from a different Hilton, because the Hilton sleeves are the same, you could add a sleeve from another Hilton and they would have let you into the building.

[A]

Yes, It's.

[B]

It's ridiculous. All right, we've done enough on it. Go ahead. But then we gotta move on.

[A]

I gotta say, too, something. We're not talking about two. Two quick things. One is a lot of the pictures I saw, too. When you saw Melania's face when the shots happened, and she, like, immediately knew something was wrong while the President was just kind of sitting there trying to figure things out. I think about the people in that room who are husbands, who are wives, who are fathers, who are mothers. I guarantee you, the picture I saw the speaker running out and then Ms. Kelly, his wife following with their detail as well. I'm thinking when they got home, I guarantee you those wives looked at their husbands and said, listen, we got to have a serious conversation about your safety and your security and that of our families. Not to mention, if you saw the Melania movie, which I did. She asks repeatedly, the Secret Service, is it safe? Can we do these things? She is asking those questions this morning. I, for one, couldn't believe she was in the briefing room, after which was an incredibly good move by the President. But she came there, too, which I thought she would have never come back out of that building for quite some time. She was there. And. And the silver lining of this mark, the blessing that I saw, was we learned the lax holes in this security without having to have a massive tragedy. Had we seen the killing of a congressperson, of a regular, just an attendee, God forbid, someone we all know and love and work with, any one of those, you know, elected officials, we'd be having a completely different conversation. But because they stop them now, they can make adjustments without having to worry about the fog, the haze of a casualty, or of a mass terrorist event.

[C]

I agree completely with Hogan. I know we need to move on. I just also want to say there were genuine moments of humanity in that room. I read reports of Steve Scalise, the majority Whip, Republican from Louisiana, grabbing Jared Moskowitz, Democrat from Florida, pulling him in with his security detail again. You know, Jared is one of the ones that goes after the administration every single day. Right. But at that moment, it was, how do we secure a colleague in Congress and someone that I care about, regardless of all that? And you saw countless moments of that where folks were protecting one another, I think. And the President spoke to the unity in that room again. That's why I'm hopeful it lasts for more than a week. But we're already back to, you know, Hogan's.

[B]

Hogan's friend, the speaker of the House, is on Fox right now. We're monitoring what he's saying. Cash Patel was on Fox and Friends earlier today, and he said that they are going to make changes It'll be completely different. More mags, better perimeter control, and a sweep of the entire venue. So if you're staying at the Hilton and they redo the dinner, be ready to have them search your underwear drawer. All right, let's look at famously at

[A]

the dnc, you had to go through eight checkpoints.

[C]

Correct.

[A]

Identification, correct. Even get in.

[B]

Correct. Correct. Convention, correct. The Iranians foreign minister is in Russia meeting with Putin. The Iranians, according to Axios and others, are reporting that the Iranians say, hey, let's do a deal on the straight and talk nuclear later if that deal is being ostensibly being considered by the United States, but seems like that's giving up a fair amount of leverage. However, let's say this is the deal. Let's say this is the deal, Hogan, the straits open. In other words, Iran let's, it's just back to pre war, everybody passes through. So it's not just remove the blockade. Iran agrees to no more, you know, monkey business, no more charging people. I doubt they do that, but if they would do that and then it's okay. Now let's negotiate over the other stuff. And is that a good deal for the United States or not?

[A]

You know, it's going to be hard to walk back the conversation the right has been pretty staunch in having regarding the nuclear program has to end. And so if that's kind of, look, if we can control, we can control the strait easier than we can control their nuclear aspirations. So I think the hard nut to crack is making sure that they don't have that potential in the future or that you stop it completely rather than the straight.

[B]

Yeah. Kevin, here's David Ignatius ON Morning Joe. 113, please.

[F]

This two tier plan from Iran is a clever way to bypass what is their real problem, which is that they're not yet ready to offer the kind of concessions that the Trump administration would accept as justifying its war. This also tells me that the Iranians are hurting. We forget that although the talks are suspended, the US and there's a ceasefire, nominally the US is continuing to blockade the strait. It's meant to be a chokehold on the Iranian economy and choke out the regime. And there has been a question of how long they can last. And this to me is a sign that they're getting pretty desperate. They want to reopen the strait as much for themselves as to help the

[B]

U.S. kevin, the president yesterday told Fox that within days he seemed to be saying the Iranians would have problems with their oil wells. And then I read a story today that Says it could be a month before they have a problem with the oil wells. Is removing the blockade a mistake because it's putting the most pressure on Iran, or would it be worth it to open up the straits so the world economy wouldn't face the same problems with fertilizer and oil and everything else?

[C]

Yeah, I'm of two minds on this. And again, it's tough to get an actual report from the ground in terms of the timeline of where things stand. Obviously their currency is collapsing. Obviously the maximum pressure campaign that the administration launched earlier was already having a huge effect on them before this war started. Something that both administrations have been focusing on in terms of Biden and Trump. I will say, too, part of the Iranian calculation in all of this, though, is balancing that with also just delaying. These guys are not serious. They lie. Their main course of action in every negotiation going back over the years has been to delay and distract. But they could be reaching a tipping point on the oil front because again, you have to shut down these valves because if you don't have anywhere to put this oil, that sets back their program in a large degree. There was reports of them trying to resuscitate a tanker from the 60s to store oil because of that capacity issue. And again, once you shut down those, those valves, it's really difficult to reopen them in a timely fashion. Tough, really, to get an idea as to actually what's happening on the ground. But I think the maximum pressure that this blockade, as long as we can with the ceasefire in place, might be doing the Lord's work there to actually get something from them.

[B]

So what do you guys expect to happen this week? Do you expect there to be face to face negotiations? Do you expect the, the. What developments do you think will happen this week?

[A]

I think there'll be more conversations about conversations. They may, they may set another timeline in large part because of what I mentioned last week on the show. The only currency.

[C]

We can't. Hey, Hogan. We can't mention last week's stuff. I get in trouble when I do that. So we gotta look forward.

[B]

Forward. Look forward, looking. Hogan. All right.

[A]

I don't wanna, I don't want to say this in the chat. I only said this 50 times.

[B]

I've taken the, I've taken the rear view mirror off of the morning meeting jalopy.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Just forward.

[A]

Just so looking forward. I'm gonna say something I haven't said before this week, and that is this. The currency that Iran has, it's not military, it's not oil anymore. It's time.

[C]

Exactly. Right.

[A]

Allows them to try and sow seeds of discord here in this country to try and turn people against the president. As you know, they don't think in elections because they don't have them. They have no worry about that whatsoever. They have shut down the Internet in their country so their people can't see what's going on and get accurate information either. So I think they are trying to do that, you know, Princeton ball five corner situation where they don't have to make a play, they just have to try and bleed the clock to try and turn public sentiment. I don't think it's going to work because as those two things move in parallel tracks, I think the 477 to 500 million dollars a day they are losing. Billion. 17. What? Billion. 18 billion a month. I think that's going to go right past it, and then they're going to be in serious trouble. They're already hurting David Ignatius finally saying something the rest of us already know. They're in serious trouble. I just think what their tactic is going to be is to delay so they can try and regroup and get some more.

[B]

But does, But. But doesn't delay. Doesn't delay hurt them? Because. Because as long as they're not being able to sell oil and pump oil, doesn't that hurt them?

[A]

Yes, but I'm saying what they're counting on is that everyone can turn Donald Trump's opinion and then he pulls back

[C]

and allows him to operate the pressure on him.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

The economic pressure, the polling. Because again, he's responsible to voters. The Iranians don't have voters.

[B]

Yes, right. All right.

[C]

I will say it is interesting to Hogan's point, to see how hard the Pakistanis are working, and I think you'll see a lot of that pressure campaign. I think the Iranian foreign minister is still in Islamabad before they have actually direct negotiations with us. So I think you're seeing the Pakistanis saying, you put. Putting. Doing our work for us and saying, this is unacceptable. This is unacceptable. If you really want this to restart again, this is what you've got to come to the table with.

[B]

Well, Kushner Will. Cushwick. That we call him. Kushwick.

[C]

Kushwick. Yeah, Cushwick.

[B]

Will Kushwick be on a plane this week, yes or no? Hogan?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

To Islamabad, you say? Yes, Kevin? Sure.

[C]

I think this weekend they like to do these weekends. Yeah, Summits for some reason. So by Friday, I think they're on the. Yeah, on a plane.

[B]

All right.

[C]

But again, part of this is I, I think the administration has to say we're not dealing with nuclear after the fact. Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

This is, it's all of it. The main operation of why we went in for the first time.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And Hogan made this point. I don't, I don't think a lot of the conservative folks are gonna, if, if nuclear isn't part of this right from the get go, which was the main reason why we did this, why we took out their sights early, that this is not something we're going to push down the, the field again.

[B]

I agree, I agree. A couple things we're not going to talk today unless you were asked questions about it. Community. We're not going to talk about the liberal media bias. If someone tried to kill Barack Obama, we all know what the coverage would be like. We all. If they had a manifesto that said if they were a Trump donor and, and they, and they were on social media, we all know what it would be like. It's, it's too obvious a topic to discuss. If you want to talk about it, raise your hand. And the other thing is, I don't read the chat. I glance at it. I've seen Jimmy Kimmel program, I believe, three times in my life. This should be a fact based platform, folks. I'm not a huge Jimmy Kimmel fan. As I said, I think I've seen it three times in my life. But it's, it's a show that's on television and they book interesting guests. Thank you for your attention to this matter. All right, let's deal with these quick. Kevin.

[C]

To say nothing of an assassination attempt on Barack Obama. This is Donald Trump's third.

[B]

Exactly, exactly.

[C]

The guy with the.

[B]

Exactly. Although, although. We still don't know the motives of the first two guys. It's a little weird, but we know the motives of this guy.

[C]

Yeah. And we're going to. Hopefully.

[B]

We don't. We don't know the motives, Hogan. We really don't.

[A]

No, no, hold on, hold on. I get there's a manifesto. What I'm asking is you're telling me someone's trying to kill the present and you just don't know. You're saying we don't know specifically why.

[B]

Well, we don't know that they're, we don't know that they're. We don't know that they're left wing. They might, they might have killed him because he was not Maga enough. We don't know. It's weird. We don't know, but we don't know. We know about this guy. It seems pretty clear on this guy, despite what Barack Obama said. Okay, we're gonna do these next three quick. And then to your questions, please raise your hand. The President loves the king. I don't know. The King's a left wing radical. I don't know why the president loves him so much, but he loves the king. And there's all this mood music of, well, this visit's gonna smooth over the tensions between and restore the special relationship. Kevin, how much of the special relationship will be restored? Politico says it's his mission impossible. How much of the special relationship will be restored by the king's visit?

[C]

I think it's going to be great in terms of restoring, I think, you know, the president has had some choice words about Keir Starmer. But to your point, Mark, the president loved. The president loved the Queen. You know, Hogan in the first term was there for all that. He's a big fan of the royal family. The king is, has been incredibly gracious, obviously to the President and the first lady, to say nothing of the Queen. So I think this is going to be a great thing. It's a high honor. I think this was the, you know, when, when Keir was first, Keir Summer was first in the Oval Office, presented another letter of invitation. We go, go back, you know, a year ago, second time, first time in history that the President has been invited back, I think to a state visit over there. And now we're returning the favor. Obviously the second time in history that the monarch has addressed a joint session of Congress. You pointed out the queen did it in 1991. The king will do it tomorrow. Obviously, the king is a huge environmentalist, a great conservationist, believes strongly in that, you know, and I think it's going to be an excellent, excellent visit. The timing is incredibly important, especially recognizing 250. They're going to do a lot of commemoration around that. Going to the 911 site in New York on Wednesday. So it's pitch perfect on the embassy front and the planning front with this team in terms of what it's going to signify to the American people. So I'm really excited about these next couple of days.

[B]

All right. Before Hogan jumps in, I agree with everything you said, but how does that improve the relationships? Is the President going to cut them a slack on NATO?

[C]

Yeah, potentially. The President loves personal relationships. That's how he gets things done. Right. And, and it means a lot. I think a lot of what's going to happen behind the scenes is just monarch to President. On a lot of this stuff. And I, And I do think it'll have a great effect on the President because, again, he values personal diplomacy a great deal.

[B]

Hogan, if you were staffing the King, what would you tell him his asks should be?

[A]

If I was staffing the king?

[B]

Yeah, the king says. The king says, I think I could get something from this chap. Hogan, what should I ask for?

[A]

Oh, no, I'm not going down that road, because I don't think you could ask for the. Ask anything of the president that the President would probably agree with, because in this particular instance, it was a great tweet thread that Brit Hume had posted from somebody just kind of ripping the relationship. I don't think it's as in disrepair as everyone says. I think Kevin is right. When you get Donald Trump in these rooms with people, he is quite charming, he is funny, he is affable. And the Queen had an interesting little relationship and love for Donald Trump, too. And while you hear reports over in England that they hate him for being bawdy and uncouth and all these things, when they get with him, okay, they get it. But I do think the President's gonna have some asks of the King too, to the extent that he can actually help turn some public sentiment in England to help us out on a whole host of. Of front. You know, I. You mentioned he's an environmentalist. We were all at the British Embassy at some point over the weekend, and somebody from that. From the embassy was telling me how they're really concerned about the grass because they didn't want the grass to be worn down when he gets there because he's a horticulturist and he loves plants and grass. And I thought to myself, yeah, but you guys have Wimbledon, right On day one of Wimbledon. Everything's lush and green. By the end, it's a dirt patch. He understands, surely if there's traffic and they're like, yeah, yeah, that's fair, but. But I do think the King ultimately does a lot of research on these types of meetings. This has been his life. He prepares for these conversations. So he reads his briefing book, if you will, something as Mark and Kevin, no, Kamala Harris refused to do. So he knows all of the ins and outs of this, so much so that a story I've never told on two way before.

[B]

Dramatic pause Dramatic in a portico with

[A]

the President, myself, then the prince, now the King, us three. And Donald Trump asks me how his trip was playing. And I said, it's doing great. Everybody loves. It's the best trip ever. People in the press are saying it's great. And King Charles then Prince leans in and says, even on cnn, he had clearly read the briefing material, that Trump was no fan. And so when he said that Trump was like, even cnn, like, he chimed in, he knew what he was doing. So he's going to come armed, ready to have conversations and maybe make some asks of the president. I don't know that they have the footing to get anything. So we'll see what happens.

[C]

I will say, and Hogan's absolutely right in terms of the king doing his homework and preparations. I think you're also seeing a more active monarch in terms of world events. The queen obviously was, you know, obviously the head of the Commonwealth, very diplomatic on all this stuff. But it's widely reported that the king regularly is in touch with President Zelensky of Ukraine, getting regular updates on the battlefield from there. I do think that a potential ask mark to your question might be around Ukraine. Right. And the king can say, I've been, you know, I've been speaking directly with Zelinsky. Here's what I'm hearing, here's what I'm seeing. It's so important that we, you know, save Europe. You're this, you could, you could, you guys do the mark rut, you know, Donald Trump, you only you can save Europe kind of ask. And I think that potentially is something tangible that the king can push for.

[B]

Hogan, you say you never told that story in two way. Have you told that story publicly anywhere?

[A]

I told it on two way last week and you said, don't look back. So I didn't want to reference it from last week.

[B]

You told the story about CNN last week?

[A]

I did. I believe so.

[B]

I don't think so.

[A]

Fact check producers, because I think you even said, I think I've told you this offline before. You told me, don't tell those. Save this for a memoir. Don't tell those stories.

[B]

I'm old and forgetful.

[C]

This is what happens when you, when you host three, four hours of live coverage. You forget,

[A]

I've got an epic Maureen Dow meet cute that Mark has heard years ago that I'm holding for myself.

[B]

Yeah, all right. That is a good story. All right, we got to go quick here. Fed over the weekend till Senator Tillis said he'd vote to confirm now the investigation's been dropped. Caroline would tell me, stop saying it's dropped. It's been shifted, but whatever. But we're still waiting to see what the chairman says. Will the chairman give up his Fed seat, allowing the president to replace Powell on the Fed, not his chair. After he's replaced his chair. Kevin, will Chairman Powell depart when his chairmanship ends in a few weeks?

[C]

Yeah, I think John Ellis had some good insights about that today. We always talk about how great his morning reporting is. There's indications that the Chairman Powell is tired, wants to move on back to the private sector and things like that. But you're right that he, I don't believe it's actually happened before in the history of the Fed where, just once where a chairman has stayed on after his term. It's obviously allowed to do that. It would deny the President one more seat before 2028 and really shaping the Fed. So I, maybe he does it for a short term to allow for this really to be dismissed, this whole process to be dismissed, because it might not be cleared up by then with Warsh taking over. But I don't suspect he stays on until the, until 2028.

[B]

Hogan,

[A]

you, you, I know, I know your love for this Fed conversation.

[C]

It's important. We got a lot of investors watching. We got a lot of financial folks.

[B]

We move markets here. Hogan.

[C]

We do. I understand.

[A]

I, I have seen Larry Kudlow talk and I've seen the markets go down and then. Exactly talking and they go right back up. I've seen that.

[B]

Talk him up. Hogan, is he leaving or not? Just answer you. Yeah. You think so? Okay, I do, too.

[A]

I think he's kind of all right. I think he's done with it.

[B]

Lastly, there are two simultaneous things going on. One is everybody in political communications trying to figure out how to reach people where they are. You know, advertise on the Gym channel and Roku and all of that, and digital. And at the same time, the Democrats are trying to figure out how to reach working class voters, young people, non white men, the voters who Donald Trump won in surprisingly large numbers to some in 2024. And so there are all sorts of efforts and experimentation. Priorities USA has been one of the leading Democrats for a while, the leading Democratic super pac. And they're very smart people there. And they're trying to figure out how to, how to advertise, not just putting, like in the olden days, if you were being really innovative, you'd put your normal political spots on the digital places. You know, don't advertise on the local news. You advertise on Monday Night Football or on Duck Dynasty. But now there's a new trend. Make ads that are customized for gamers or sports fans or, or people who like to wager. This is an ad from Priorities USA attacking a Republican. And we're going to show it and then guys are going to comment. But I find it confusing. I'll just tell you. But maybe, maybe it's because I don't know enough about the idiom and, and the, and the concept of the, the style. Anyway, here's an ad from Priorities usa. Take a look, take a look at

[G]

some lines for Senator John Hustead and cook up a parlay. First line is dark money spending on the Houston campaigns. Set at $999,999. And we'll be taking the over and the over hits at $1 million from FirstEnergy before they were bailed out by House Bill 6, which Husted fought to pass, costing Ohio families over $600 a year on electric bills. Next is First Energy bribes paid. Line set at $59 million. And we will once again be hammering the over and the over hits at $60 million. So every over hits, unfortunately.

[B]

So that's an ad running against the incumbent senator. He was appointed to the job, replaced Vice President Vance for. He's the Ohio senator. He's running against Sherrod Brown. Kevin, is that an effective ad to run, like for young men on sports and gaming type things?

[C]

Yeah, I think he could be. You know, Priorities, you know, is unique. And Republicans have their same super PACs, too. They're in a space where they can experiment a lot more than traditional campaigns. Right. In terms of messaging tactics reaching these folks. So it's a guy in a gaming chair. It's probably, again, directed, to your point, Mark, to, you know, white guys that know how to do, you know, that are DraftKings, you know, aficionados, and messaging them to in a way that they understand and relating to them. It doesn't work for me because I didn't know, to your point, understand half the things that he was saying in terms of the overrunners and things like that. But it could be an effective strategy. That's obviously one of the key pickups that we need if we're ever going to get to four, which is, you know, in question. I mean, that's one of the three that we need. Yeah. That is dedicated.

[B]

Yeah. Hogan, the spot didn't even say John Huston's a senator from Ohio. Like, that's. To me, how would anybody even know what that ads about?

[A]

One of the silver linings for me in this whole upcoming midterm election has a lot to do with the fact that still among seniors, Donald Trump remains quite popular. And he is the one, you know, they'll be thinking about when they vote and seniors vote. This is obviously not targeted to seniors, but to younger folks. And I think it's 4 to 6 million people in America do gamble. So chances are there are quite a few people who see that and understand it. I, like Kevin, don't understand it, so sure. But like you just said, it was convoluted because there was no clear information about the race. It was convoluted because he was using over under numbers to talk about gambling as it related to political donations, et cetera. I don't know that people in the gaming industry, I don't know how they feel about politics. I don't know how much they care about politics. I don't know that moves anybody or anything. And the last thing I will say is it seems as though these types of tactics have worked so well for people on the right, whether they be through memes or whether we get to podcasting and getting voters out that way. Because in large part we as Republicans had to build that whole industry for from the ground up because we had no mediums, the media was dominated by the left, so we had to come up with something. So our growing pains happened a decade ago and now we're hitting those marks where we couldn't hit them before because we didn't know what we were doing. And now Democrats are trying to come along and say we too can talk to podcasters. We too, they're just a little cringy compared to where Republicans are on the issue because we had to build it.

[B]

Well said. I like the idea. I think the idea is smart to advertise and more in the idiom of of other non regular voters. But I did not understand the execution.

[C]

Mark, I will say, because I make ads for a living, this is probably one initial ad putting out Houston and then you'll have a series of. And then by the time the 4th AD, it's gonna be Houston versus Sherrod Brown, you know, that's just one hit to get people's attention.

[B]

Yeah, A b. Test the hell out of it and eventually they'll come up with something better than that. But yeah, but again, I just seem a little vague to me. Word from sponsors into your questions. Please raise your hands. If you never raised your hand, join us Shopify. One of our sponsors wants to help you launch something new. We launched a new podcast, a website, a business. Shopify will give you $1 a month free trial offer. To start your own Shopify account, go to shopify.com mark $1 a month trial offer. Whether you're starting a podcast, a business, any idea you believe in, you're always going to ask yourself, how do I make sure everybody knows about this thing? Not yet, Kevin. Okay, taking the leap into starting something new is is good, but. But half the battle is making sure you get the word out. 10% of all E commerce in the US uses Shopify. Millions of businesses around the world, around the country, everything's on there. Analytics, AI powered tools for inventory, payments, marketing. So if you want to do this, want to start something new, use their 24 hour customer support. If you want to turn the what ifs in your life into Cha Ching, make some money with Shopify and save some Money with Shopify. $1 a month trial offer today at shopify.shopify.com Mark I started with one shop.

[H]

No college degree, no big investors. It was just a willingness to work. Over time, that one shop turned into a multi billion dollar business called Crash Champions. All the lessons I learned along the way came from the grind. And that's what my show Pod Crash is all about. We have real conversations with people who've built things the hard way. We talk to founders, athletes and blue collar leaders who kept going when things got tough. You'll hear stories of grit, leadership and growth. Plus real world lessons you can take back to your team and your life tomorrow.

[B]

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

[A]

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

[F]

AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff. It is never going to disrupt physical

[B]

blue collar trade skill.

[A]

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.

[H]

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

[B]

All right, one more new sponsor for us Perfectly Snug guys. How'd you sleep last night?

[A]

Not perfectly.

[B]

Not perfect.

[C]

I could use some help. I can use some help.

[B]

Was it either too hot or too cold where you were constantly? Yeah. All right. Well guys, perfectlysnug.com? 15 off. This is a product that Oprah, the Oprah. I'm not doing a fake Oprah. Oprah named Perfectly Snug her best of the best mattress topper. So that got my attention when we heard from the folks at Perfectly Snug. And I'M getting ready to put mine on my bed. This thing is if your biggest sleep problem is the hot, cold cycle back and forth, you want the perfectly controlled temperature. Perfectly snug. Topper. I got mine. It's literally in the next room. It can stabilize your body temperature all night. It'd be a game changer for a lot of people. It adjusts your body temperature while you sleep. It's like a human body thermostat. Put it on the bed, it's nice looking. When it's cold, it makes you warm. When it's warm and makes you cold, you can actually sleep through the night. Give it a try. I'm going to shortly. When Oprah calls something best the best sets the bar high, 15% off, risk free. You can use it for 30 days and if you don't like it, 30 days, send it back. Perfectly Snug.com, perfectly snug.com, promo code mark. Thank you for your attention to this matter, Dave. Welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind for Hogan and for Kevin. And thank you for being part of two ways.

[C]

Hey, Dave. Good morning, everyone. I'm from South Carolina. Right now.

[B]

Yes, sir. What's on your mind? Good to see you, sir.

[C]

Oh, so really what I wanted to ask about was with the king coming, how strategic do you think the release was last week of some of these threats around changing our stance on the Falkland Islands to neutrality? That really seemed to light a fire under the UK Everybody really didn't like that very much.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. And that's one of many steps, David, you suggest that have occurred over the last few weeks related to the U.K. hogan, would that be coordinated with the visit or coincidence or how would that work?

[A]

You know, again, you would like to think this is some type of coordinated thing to have these conversation starters, maybe to get them to the table to talk about it. I don't know that it was a forethought, I will say, though, or a strategic, let's say, line by line, here's what we're going to do. Check this box checks. Check this box before it gets here. I will say, though, it's not lost on the president of the United States that Europe, England have largely been absent in times that we need them when they always come to us. And as Kevin said, he's probably going to ask about Ukraine and Donald Trump should say, yep, the war we've been funding that you've not helped with at all, basically, I think there is an element Of I want to put a litany of things out there that he understands we are footing the bill for our American taxpayers. And unless you're going to help us, I don't know that we need to do that anymore. I think that's a smart move by him. I don't think it was like a here's plan one, here's plan two, and let's see if we can bring him to the table. I think he just did it because that's what he feels. And every time he sees the Kings name as they were prepping for the trip, he's like, you know what? I think I'm going to say something about this today. So I don't know, coordinated as. As you're thinking, Dave.

[B]

Thank you, Hogan. Kevin.

[C]

I'll, I'll only say I agree with Hogan. I, I don't think there. It was some strategic master, you know, calculation here on behalf of. Of the, the bilateral relationship here.

[B]

Okay, uh, Dave, thank you. Rick. Go ahead and unmute. Rick, if you would, welcome in. Thank you for being part of Two ways. Tell everybody where you are and what's on your mind. For Kevin and for Hogan.

[A]

Hey, thanks.

[C]

Good morning.

[E]

Hey, thanks, guys. First time joining.

[B]

Love, love the show.

[E]

Been a. Been a long time listener. Thank you.

[B]

Grateful to you. Thank you for joining.

[C]

Rick, where are you. Where are you calling from? Where are you joining us from?

[E]

I'm actually in southern illinois, but basically St. Louis, Missouri area.

[C]

Just.

[E]

Just from the arch.

[B]

That's right.

[C]

Awesome.

[B]

So I'm.

[E]

I was motivated to join for the first time this morning just because, for one, the, the events over the weekend were quite frustrating, compelling, but I just wonder if anybody else feels kind of like I do, where the last thing I think any American wants to hear about is how fast the president and the administration in the press corps are going to effort to put back on another White House correspondence dinner. Like most Americans, I, I go to the store to buy three sirloins. It's a hundred dollars. Like, does anyone think they're like, at the level of tone deaf? Like, I get it. It was a, it was a very big deal. It's a very inside the Beltway thing.

[B]

I get it.

[E]

It's a very big night for people in D.C. but like, for the president to come out after that event and be like, you know, the, the focus beyond how fast we can put this event back together for the American people and we won't let them change our way of life. Nobody cares. Like, we're trying to put food on the table. I Don't care about your black tie gala. Like, it just, it's like the most tone deaf thing I've ever heard of.

[B]

Rick, you speak for tens of millions. I appreciate you saying that. And, and I'll, I've got something to say in response, but Kevin and then Hogan will respond first.

[C]

Thank you. Yeah, you know, Mark's right. You speak for, for tens of millions of folks out there when they see, you know, the, the footage and they see the disconnect. Right. In terms of what Washington is doing inside the bubble, everyone dressed up to the nines gala dinner compared to what folks are struggling with at home, certainly. And I think that's, you know, that's not relegated to President Trump. This is a dinner that's been going on for 105 years. And this, you are not wrong in thinking this now, as people thought 20 years ago. And the coziness supposedly between the press and the administration in that market had a really good monologue last week about the, I think the importance of it in that there's very few events where genuine comedy is allowed in the city, especially in really tense moments. And there's something to be said for remembering each other's humanity and our shared patriotism. And I think it's on display in rooms like that certainly when these events happen. But I think you're not wrong in those estimations too. And you're not wrong in saying what a lot of folks think when they see this.

[A]

Rick, you're not wrong. There are some pieces of it that should be good for the country. As Kevin just said. And as Donald Trump said afterwards, the unifying faith force of trying to get Republicans and Democrats into a room is always good. I do think the dinner itself is largely a self aggrandizing, self righteous moment for the media to pat each other on the back and see how great they are. Even though a lot of their reports, as you know, with Russia, collusion and other things they won awards for, only to find out all of it was based on lies and not true. People don't like that type of thing. I get. But there is something about Donald Trump saying as he did after Butler standing up and yelling fight, fight, fight, wanting the people to know he's okay going into the briefing room after this, warning people to know he's okay, to assure the American people business as usual. And I do think Donald Trump is absolutely being honest when he's telling you in the room. It feels different because you've got people who are mouthing off all the time online, mouthing off in their little basements and their private rooms and on their anchored sets and from their reported locations and, and not saying it to him but in the room. Theoretically it's supposed to be a time where the comedians come in and roast both sides and they kind of make fun of each other. It has not been that for too long. It's just a chance to bash Republicans. So I get, I get all of what you're saying but I do think there is an op the dinner does offer an opportunity that it rarely rises to the occasion to meet.

[B]

Rick, my colleague said it perfectly. We all agree with you. You're absolutely right. But the rescheduling is only a focus that the American people should care about because, because the president's right that we can't let somebody disrupt a tradition like that that involves the president and the media. So but you're absolutely right and I hope we didn't suggest the real people would care. We give a lick about whether I get my lobster. I'm allergic to lobster. Rick, thank you. Grateful to you really. Thank you. Coming on.

[C]

Thanks for joining us for the first time too.

[B]

Very grateful. Caroline Levitt just announced she's going to breathe today at 1 o'.

[C]

Clock.

[B]

So so that'll be full of information and she was supposed to be her last briefing last week so we get one more before she goes on her brief maternity leave and and I'll cover have full coverage on two way tonight. Tonight noon today right before Caroline's briefing. Megan McCain welcomes the host the daily wires the Isabelle Brown Show. Kevin, you know who the host of the Isabel Brown show is?

[C]

I'm thinking it's Isabel Brown.

[B]

It's her name's actually Elizabeth Brown show. Her middle name's Brown. Just kidding. Elizabeth Brown. You know the joke at the Jungle Cruise at Disney Disneyland where they say that's Schweitzer Falls named after the great humanitarian Albert Falls. That's always one of my favorite jokes. Anyway, Isabel Brown joins Megan. As I said I'll be here five o' clock tonight for two way tonight and we'll also continue our pop up simulcast with our friends at monitoring the situation so you can watch us there as well as on the two way platform and this show will be back in 23 hours. Either of you guys on tomorrow I

[C]

won't be because we've got the state arrival for the King and the queen on the South House doing it.

[B]

Yeah. Lori, who's on tomorrow? Maybe we don't know.

[C]

Well this we'll, we'll tease it Sorry, it's Jaime and tbd.

[B]

I'm on tbd. You guys like tbd? He's pretty good, maybe very smart. All right, well, somebody will be here tomorrow. It won't just be me and Jaime. I can assure you that. Lori always comes through. Thank you all for being part of

[C]

the two way special plug though. Special plug. I'm going to be joining the after after show tomorrow evening after the evening show. So tomorrow night at 6:00'?

[B]

Clock? Yeah. Awesome. Okay, after show after shows after both shows. Details are in the chat here on the two way platform and I'll be rolling over right now. The reason you hear a little urgency in my voice as I'm headed over to Sirius XM for the second hour of the morning meeting. If you want to join me there, please do on SiriusXM111, the Megan Kelly channel. And again, I'll see you at 5. Thanks to Kevin and Hogan and all of you for being part of the two way community. Even those of you who malign me by telling me how much I like late night comedy shows. Have a great day, everybody. See you in a bit.

[C]

We'll see you on Serious Mark.