← Next Up with Mark Halperin
Next Up with Mark Halperin
New Details on Biden Decline Cover Up, Final Mamdani NYC Election Forecast, Plus: Ro Khanna 2028?
01:14:50
Mark opens today’s episode with a new reported monologue on one of the most consequential stories of this century: how senior Biden officials attempted to cover up the president’s cognitive decline—and how the Dominant Media was complicit in that effort. Drawing on newly released testimony from top administration officials, he examines how threats, denial, and silence shaped coverage before the 2024 election, and why the lack of accountability continues to plague both political and media institutions, deepening the public’s distrust. Then, Representative Ro Khanna joins to discuss how to restore faith in the American Dream. The Silicon Valley Democrat weighs in on the economy, the shutdown’s impact, and how the Left can reconnect with working-class voters. Plus, is Khanna 2028 on the horizon? Finally, Mark speaks with New York Post journalists Rikki Schlott and Lydia Moynihan, along with Alex Seitz-Wald, Deputy Editor of the MidCoast Villager in Maine. They analyze shifting voter...
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- [00:00]
Mark Halperin
With my job, I can't drink during the week. Weekends are a different story.
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Interviewer/Reporter
Ugh. After eight hours of this, I have earned my wine. You know what I'm saying?
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Mark Halperin
My family is a lot. It takes me four beers just to.
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Alex Seitzwald
Hang out with them.
- [00:15]
Mark Halperin
Binge drinking isn't all college kids doing keg stands. Oregonians in their 30s and 40s binge drink at close to the same rates as younger people, raising our risk for long term health problems. More@rethinkthedrink.com an OHA initiative.
- [00:30]
Ro Khanna
Hey everyone, it's me, Andy Cohen. Buckle up because I have a podcast called Daddy Diaries where I take my listeners on an as it happened, recount of life as a daddy to two kids, dozens of housewives and the occasional fella.
- [00:42]
Mark Halperin
Listen to the Daddy Diaries to hear.
- [00:45]
Ro Khanna
About my high highs and low lows of parenting, housewives, drama and so much more. Daddy Diaries available wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [00:55]
Mark Halperin
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. Mark Halperin here. All the nexters from all across the globe convening together here in one happy place on a Thursday. Thank you for being here. I'm Mark Halpern, editor in chief of the interactive video platform 2way, and your host here to everything. Next up, my exclusive reporting, analysis, great conversations, the news stories that matter most of all. With us today, Ro Khanna, Democratic congressman from California, someone who's pondering running for president and has been at the center of a lot of the most important hot issues, the Epstein files and Israel and all sorts of things. So Congressman Khanna will be back with us today here on our 50th episode, bit of an anniversary and then a great panel of reporters to talk about elections coming up presently and soon, my two friends from the New York Post, who I'll be doing election night coverage with on two way, Ricky Schlott, columnist and reporter at the New York Post, and Lydia Moynihan, also of the Post, a columnist and reporter there. And then to talk about the incredible story of the Senate race in Maine. Alex Seitzwald will be here. He left national media to be the deputy editor of something called the Midcoast Villager up in Maine. And he's been covering the heck out of this Platner story. And so he'll be here in just a moment. The three of them will be. And we'll talk politics. That'll be fun. But first, next up is my reported monologue. That'll be coming up right after this. Stay with us. Don't go away. Everything's coming. Next up, I want to tell you all about something called the Vapor Technology Association. It's an organization that was started about a dec ago to protect the rights of Americans who choose alternatives to smoking. And it's about the small businesses who have made a living using this technology. They support science based policies and the rights of adults to make healthier choices. Did you know that many family owned vape shops and manufacturers across the country are now under attack thanks to what are outdated Biden era regulations that threaten to wipe out an entire industry. The Vapor Technology association, also called vta, says businesses are being destroyed and people are losing their jobs. But the VTA says President Trump now has a clear opportunity to change all this and to protect Americans right to make their own choices to defend small businesses and restore a free and fair marketplace. So right now head over to VaporTechnology.org to learn more about the organization and why they are leading the charge to support American innovation in this area. And if their mission appeals to you, consider becoming a member when you're on the website. Again, that's VaporTechnology.org and tell them you heard about all this on NextUp. All right. So now my reported monologue. And and I got to tell you, I we've talked about these issues before, the question of the press's role and the Biden White House's role in the the issues of Joe Biden's cognitive decline. And I really don't want this to be my beat. I'm not interested in this being a thing I talk about in a regular basis. But the story's back. And because I see people not talking about it in the right way, important for history, important for America, important for the Democratic Party, important for the integrity of my business. Once again, we need to review where we are in this story and talk about it. And what's kind of put it front and center is a new report out earlier in the week by Republicans from the House Oversight Committee investigating Joe Biden. And the question of particularly they're focused on the use of the auto pen and whether that was legit or not. But underlying that, again, is this question of Joe Biden's cognitive decline. And people talk about it as a cover up. It was not a cover up. It was an attempted cover up. But the Democrats and the media, my colleagues in the dominant media, they could no more cover up Joe Biden's cognitive decline than the Trump administration could cover up, say, well, whether Scott Bessant often wears glasses or whether Marco Rubio has really good hair. These are things that are in plain sight we can all see these things, just as we could see Joe Biden's cognitive decline. But the Democrats in the Biden White House tried to stop the media from and other Democrats from talking about his cognitive decline. So it was an attemptive cover up, but it didn't work. And for some reason, it took that debate with Donald Trump for this to happen. But running up the debate, the Democrats, the White House again, we're reviewing the facts here to take us up to present day. They tried to keep people from talking about Biden's cognitive decline so he could stay as president, so he could run for election. And they used two basic methods. Okay? One was threats. If a reporter talked about Biden's cognitive decline on television, wrote about it, they would threaten them. They would say, don't you dare do that. And the reporters all knew they were being threatened. And you will find almost no reporter who was honest enough to break the off the record that the White House imposed in these cases to say, I'm being threatened. They're saying that I can't report the truth. I can't report what we all see with our own eyes. And then the other method they used, of course, was just lies, just lies to say on a regular basis. They would say, Biden runs us ragged. He's so much better, so much stronger than us. It's a guy who's the peak of his game. And so these were the two methods they used. And the methods were used constantly to try to keep people from reporting the story. It's a really, really unfortunate thing. Okay? Really unfortunate. And how did this work in practice? It worked in practice. They were able to minimize how much this stuff was out there and reported. Democrats outside the White House face the same pressure. They face the same pressure all the time through the same techniques, threats and lies. Okay? And there were few exceptions in the media. Alex Thompson was an exception. He wrote about these things in real time. I was an exception. I talked about these things all the time. And on the Democratic side, who was an exception, Dean Phillips, Democratic Congressman from Minnesota, tried to get someone to run against Joe Biden to say, we need to run against him because he's not going to win reelection, because the country sees not just that he's old, but that he suffered cognitive decline. And Dean Phillips was basically run out of the Democratic Party for being one of the few exceptions to do it. What did the media do? The media stayed silent about the threats, as I said, and they basically accepted the lies. They accepted when someone from Biden world would go on TV and say, oh, Biden's awesome. Biden's runs this ragged, he's totally sharp, he's on point. They would just say these were not just, they just not only accepted them, they'd say these, these are pull up Republican hit jobs. These are deep fakes or cheap fakes. There's nothing to see here. I've said before, biggest, biggest media scandal in American history. Well, before the debate, all this was so obvious. So you want to talk about original sin, the title of Jay Tapper's book with Alex Thompson. The original sin, they say in the book was Biden's decision to run for election. No, the original sins were the things I just described. Biden aides lying and intimidating both the media and the press and almost every Democrat outside the White House and almost every reporter accepting the threats and accepting the lies. Then after the debate, now more conversation. After the election, more conversation. And now the public release of the testimony that the House committee has made public of many people who worked around Biden and who were part of the attempt to cover it up. But even now, even now, even though they've been testifying under oath, those who didn't take plead the Fifth Amendment, the lying continues, the lack of accountability continues, and the sinning, if you will, continues. They continue to try to recreate history. The Biden aides, some of them at least, continue to lie in public, even under oath. But now we have some shocking admissions and we're going to, we're going to play some of those for you. These are not getting coverage, these shocking admissions. And they should be for history, for accountability of both the Democrats and of the media. Other Democrats continue to avoid, to do their best to avoid accountability. And they say, well, I didn't see Biden's acuity decline when I spent private time with him. People say the Democrats say, again, the press should not accept that answer. And the question shouldn't be, did you see it privately? The question should be, we all saw it. How could you not have done anything about it? It doesn't matter what they saw privately, okay? And the dominant media continues to pretend like none of this happened, in part because the media doesn't want to acknowledge its own capacity to be involved in trying to cover it up to hurt Donald Trump. They don't want to acknowledge what a horrible job they did. It's letting themselves be intimidated. But they also don't want to hold Biden Democrats accountable. The whole thing is just so embarrassing to me. It's so embarrassing that we have all this media, we have all these outlets and yet all of this is barely being covered. Okay, so we're going to review some of the statements that have been made both in before the committee and then in public. And, and it should shock your conscience that this kind of thing could happen. There's plenty to cover of Donald Trump and Donald Trump does plenty of things that are wrong and immoral and he lies and cover up. There's. I'm not saying that the Democrats are the only people with dirty hands, but this was the biggest story in the.
- [10:20]
Interviewer/Reporter
World.
- [10:22]
Mark Halperin
Not that long ago, one year, a little over a year ago. And now all these revelations are coming out, which had they come out at the time, I hope would have been treated as big stories. But people in the media are just pretending it's not happening. The Democrats continue to just try to turn their heads and hope nobody talks about it. It is embarrassing. It's all more of the same. So two senior people in the Biden administration who clearly observed the president's cognitive decline because they have eyes and ears, are on book tours. And because they're on book tours, they're in very high profile ways being asked to account for what it is that they saw and what they didn't see and what they did about it. So here's first, Kamala Harris, former vice president. She's basically taking the position in her book we should have been pressed harder. It was wrong to not press the Bidens harder to decide whether he was up, up for the job, but doesn't want to acknowledge that she ever saw cognitive decline. And implicit in all this is they say, well, he wasn't up maybe for running for reelection, but he could still be president, as if running for re election is a harder job than being president. Anyway, here's Kamala Harris being pressed by a very good reporter from Australian TV about what she saw. And watch. To this reporter's credit, when Kamala Harris offers up a diversionary word salad, the reporter comes right back at her. Here's S4, please.
- [11:43]
Interviewer/Reporter
Wasn't Joe Biden then, to put it on him, wasn't his refusal to recognize his own frailties the reason that you faced a nearly impossible task? I ran against Donald Trump for president and Donald Trump ran on a platform that was in large part, I believe, misrepresenting his intentions to the American people. I do believe that there are a fair number of people that voted for Donald Trump who believed him when he told them that his first priority on day one is going to be to bring down prices. And he didn't. And you combine that misrepresentation of intention with also what was at play in terms of massive amounts of mis and disinformation, forgive me. And a calendar in terms of the clock. I want to interrupt you because that is a world class pivot, but it is not the question that I asked you, which is about Joe Biden's failure to recognize his own frailties and what that did to you. The question is about Joe Biden. Are you still reluctant to criticize the former President? In what regard, please? Well, just in terms of that question.
- [12:59]
Mark Halperin
So you went on.
- [13:00]
Interviewer/Reporter
That's exactly what you like to ask. Be more specific, if you don't mind. Was it Joe Biden's decision, his failure to recognize his own frailties in that position, that put you in a position that made it almost impossible to win that race? He was not frail as President of the United States, but he had frailties. We all saw the debate. I do believe that Joe Biden had the capacity to be President of the United States. And I have never doubted that he had the capacity to be President of the United States. If you want to talk about whether he had the ability to endure what a race for President of the United States would require in that political environment in 2024, as I've said in the book, I had concerns. I'm just wondering, is there a reason why you won't go to that prolonged frailty question? We saw the debate. We saw the difficulty he had marshalling his thoughts. I have answered that. Believe I think it's just hard watching the debate to see how there could not be a problem long term with someone who can't marshal their thoughts. I'm not saying his acuity wasn't present. I also mentioned that in the book and I also mentioned the context in which that debate occurred. And you'll probably remember how I talked about that in terms of what his travel schedule had been, that what he had been enduring in terms of the timing of that debate. I talk about it extensively in the book. I'm not shying away from that. That's why I wrote it in the book, because I do know it's a question people had.
- [14:31]
Mark Halperin
All right, so I give the reporter credit for a lot of that. But again, centering this conversation around the debate is just a historical. It's not serving the public interest because this was all visible before the debate. So she gets off the hook and again she says, I never had any doubt that he was up to the job. Again, and I've said this before, he had good days There were days when he could do the job. I'll repeat, he was not as far gone as Republicans claim, but he was not as with it as the Democrats claim it to claim they never saw anything. It's not about what did Kamala Harris see in private. It's about watching C Span. Now, Karine Jean Pierre is on her book tour. It's not going as well as the Harris book tour. She's not selling as many books and she's dealing with a lot of really tough interviews. She did one with the New Yorker that everybody's talking about where she just over and over repeated nonsense. She went so far in the New York interview to claim the subtitle of the book is about the Trump administration rather than the Biden administration. The whole thing is bonkers. But here's a typically evasive answer from her about what she saw about Joe Biden's cognitive decline, if anything. S3, please.
- [15:36]
Interviewer/Reporter
Did I see someone or engage with someone that was not all there, right? That was not paying attention or listening or engaging with me? I saw someone who was sharp, understood history, understood policy, and would, I would get called it. And I said this on this morning.
- [15:56]
Mark Halperin
I would call, get called in into.
- [15:57]
Interviewer/Reporter
The Oval Office and I'd be like, oh, no.
- [15:59]
Mark Halperin
Because I knew whatever he asked me.
- [16:02]
Interviewer/Reporter
I had to be prepared for an answer.
- [16:06]
Mark Halperin
I mean, again, did she have interactions with Joe Biden where he was okay, sure. But did she watch him do all these things we watched in public before the debate? She did. So those are kind of par for the course. Those are reminiscent of what we saw during the campaign. Now, two people who testified before the House committee where they released their, their depositions under oath. One is this guy, Ian Sams. You probably saw him on MSNBC and other places a thousand times. He was like kind of the main spokesperson to fight back against the independent counsel investigation and, and as called on along with the press secretary as much as anybody else on camera to say nothing to see here, Joe Biden was fine. Okay? Now when he gets before the committee, they start talking about, well, how much contact did you have with Joe Biden to be able to represent to the whole country on behalf of the government that Joe Biden was fine. Listen, listen to this embarrassing exchange with Ian Sams before the House committee. S1, please.
- [17:04]
Ian Sams
How often would you say that you interacted with the President in person? I interacted with him pretty infrequently. So weekly, monthly? What are we talking about? Very infrequent. I think I met with the president a handful of times during my tenure in the White House. I want to introduce Exhibit 2 as it's being passed around. It's a tweet from Alex Thompson at Axios. Summarizing, pulled a couple quotes of interview, you did it on msnbc. And one of the quotes says, when I deal with him, he is sharp, him being President Biden, and he is asking tough questions. Do you recall this? I gotta say, that doesn't look anything like the President that I know. When I deal with him, he's sharp, he's asking tough questions. That's the President Biden that so many of us experience every single day. So this statement, the basis for this statement was your interactions somewhere between one and five times? Yes.
- [18:05]
Mark Halperin
Okay.
- [18:07]
Ian Sams
Do you think that's a bit misleading? I. I think it was pretty direct and honest and said that when I do deal with him, he's, you know, sharp and he was asking incisive questions during my meetings with them, but dealt with him five times in 24 months. That's not exactly a large scope of knowledge on how he interacts with staff. You don't think it's missing some context? I don't. Do you think that statement suggests that you deal with him more than he did? I don't think so. I mean, I spoke about my own interactions with him. That's the President Biden that we experience every day. But to the best of your recollection, four meetings, two were in person.
- [18:56]
Interviewer/Reporter
Two.
- [18:56]
Ian Sams
That were the two that I described to you that I at the very onset in the Oval. One was a zoom where he was at Camp David and I was a participant in the meeting. The phone call, I think there was another meeting, but I. Or another engagement, but I can't remember off the top of my head what it was. I'm sorry. No, it's okay. I'm just trying to get an understanding. So the immunity decision was virtual. Within a Camp David, there's a phone call regarding Hunter Biden's testimony. Yes. An in person meeting regarding Hunter Biden's testimony and one other in person meeting about special counsel. Hers. Special counsel. So two in person meetings? Sure.
- [19:35]
Mark Halperin
At least.
- [19:36]
Ian Sams
At least that, yes.
- [19:39]
Mark Halperin
Good reputation, nice guy. Supposed to be a smart guy. To come out on television after the debate to spin for the President to tell people, don't believe what you see and to say, this is the President we deal with every day, we see every day. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. And. And it's getting next to no coverage. There's been next to no coverage in the Mainstream media, the dominant media, about a guy who went on television as the main spokesperson to say Joe Biden is fine, nothing to see here. And now he says met with him twice. One zoom, one phone call. Okay, now that's a big story. Here's a bigger story. The guy who was White House chief of staff Biden had two chiefs of staff, Ron Klain and then Jeff Zients. Jeff Zients testified also and Jeff Science never said anything in public about concerns about Joe Biden allowed the administration and people like Ian Sams and Green Jean Pierre to go out and say nothing to see here. It's all fine. He can be. He can be the candidate. He can be president. What was Jeff Zients saying behind the scenes? Here's one of the few places to write this up. Alex Thompson in Axios wrote this up. Here's what. Here's his characterization of what Jeff Zients said. I'll read it to you. Former Biden chief of staff Jeff Zients told the panel. This is the House committee that he. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Tony Blink, Anthony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and VA Secretary Dennis McDonough all expressed concern about Biden continuing his reelection campaign. After the debate, Zients told lawmakers that within a few days of debate, Biden was aware of my view that he thought it was prudent to consider getting out of the race. This is a huge story. Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan. He couldn't find people closer to Joe Biden and yet they expressed doubt and that's a big deal to tell Joe Biden the job you want, the job you've wanted your whole life, you shouldn't have it anymore. That's an unbelievable story. Here's Zients in his halting way. Here's Zients talking to the committee explaining some of this, that they saw a change in their point of view. S4, please.
- [21:40]
Ian Sams
Who on the cabinet was expressing concerns about the president's ability to win re election? I recall Gina Raimondo. I recall. But this is for sort of a different reason. I'm very close to Denis McDonough.
- [22:06]
Mark Halperin
So.
- [22:06]
Ian Sams
I'm certain I talked to Dennis. I don't remember Dennis having a firm view. Did you notice a change with. Did you notice any change with Mr. Sullivan regarding these conversations after the debate President Biden had with President Trump? Let me articulate my own position first, which is I believed after the debate that it made most sense for the president to exit the race. My recollection I Don't want to speak for Mr. Sullivan. My recollection is he shared that view. Did Secretary Blinken ever express concern to you about the President's re election? Yes. I don't know where Secretary Blinken netted out in his advice to the president, if he gave his advice to the president. But he definitely, as someone who had worked for years with the president was concerned. Do you remember any other senator saying.
- [23:14]
Ro Khanna
They believed that it was time for.
- [23:16]
Ian Sams
President Biden to drop out of prison to you personally? Many, many senators were skeptical and he believed he should get out? I think there was a level of concern to begin with in terms of age and could he overcome the perception of his age. And then I think there was a belief post debate that that was not overcomeable.
- [23:46]
Ricky Schlott
Is it fair to say that following.
- [23:48]
Ian Sams
The debate you were concerned with his ability to win re election following that debate performance that was 100% what was behind my recommendation.
- [24:02]
Mark Halperin
All right, so again, massive story for history, massive story for the Democratic Party. Just to review. Ian Sams, White House spokesman says the president they saw every day had no problems and he barely saw the president, barely saw him. And then the White House chief of staff, a laundry list of senior people who had doubts to the point to saying Biden shouldn't be the nominee. That's an incredible story and you would think this would be covered. There's a lot of news going on in the world. The New York Post is covering it, I'm covering it. But I want to say we're up to the minute here. How much is this being covered by other places in the so called dominant media? So for this I'm going to need my upphone buy Unplugged, our partners here to do a secure search here. UPphoto is a great product. It allows you to do searches for anything you need answered while knowing that your personal information, it's going to stay personal and private with no data mining, no hidden trackers. This is a great new product that frees you from giving away your privacy just because you want to do a search. So I'm going to do a search now. I'm going to search Jeff Zients and, and do a new search and just see. So here we go. Jeff Zients search and now I look at news. Okay, so here we go. Here's a New York Post story that talks about it. Here is a story in the Washington examiner that talks about it. Axios talks about it. Politico has a story. But listen to the lead of the Politico story. Politico says House investigation concludes House GOP concludes investigation into Biden's alleged mental decline the House's GOP's much ballyhooed investigation into former President Joe Biden's alleged cognitive decline has largely ended with a thud. Largely ended with a thud. And now I look at the full search results. I don't see anything from the New York Times. I don't see anything from the Washington Post. I don't see anything from NBC or ABC or cbs. This is a massive story. It's a massive story and they're not covering it. Okay, I did this search again with secure search using my phone by Unplugged. I recommend this private this phone to you. I've been using it. It frees you up. It frees up your mind to recognize that you're taking back your digital Privacy. Go to unplug.commark right now get 25 off your phone case with a purchase of this great new phone and you can learn more about it and order your up phone today. Again, go to unplugged.com buy your phone today unplugged.com mark to get your discount to get your buffed on the phone case, unplug.com mark so what did we learn here? We learned that all the original things that we're doing, Democrats lying, Biden, Democrats lying, other Democrats staying silent or trying to avoid the truth. And most of all, from my point of view, because it's my profession, people in the media continuing to ignore massive stories. The White House chief of staff, the national security advisor, the secretary of state, the commerce secretary and others all saw that there was a problem, that Joe Biden shouldn't be the nominee. They were worried about him losing the election. They should have been worried also about how he was going to continue on as president under the state he was in. This is one of the biggest stories of my career and much of the dominant media is completely silent about it. It's an outrage and it's inexplicable. They're compounding the original sin by hoping it all goes away. It will not. All right, send me an email. Let me know what you think about today's report. Next up, halperingmail.com you can always find us on X on Instagram and tick tock the full program as well as clips at Next up, Halperin. And of course on YouTube or as a podcast on your leading podcast platforms. Go on YouTube to YouTube.com Next up, Halperin. Speaking of Next up, next up here, congressman from California, Democrat Ro Khanna. He's next up. You ever notice those creepy ads that pop up on your phone and seem to know exactly where you've been, what you bought, even the people you've been talking about? You've probably asked yourself, is this phone monitoring me? Well, the truth is your smartphone is constantly collecting and leaking data without your knowledge and without your consent. Every day it builds a detailed profile of your life, your location, your habits, your interests, even the people you communicate with. That information is then funneled into an invisible marketplace where it's tracked, analyzed and sold to the highest bidders. It's not just annoying, it's invasive. And it's happening all the time. But the upphone by Unplugged is different. It's designed to protect your privacy from the ground up. No hidden trackers, no data mining. Just a secure, streamlined smartphone experience that puts you back in control. Whether you're texting, browsing or using any app, the UPPhone ensures your personal information stays personal. It's the phone for people who are done being watched. Are you ready to take back your digital privacy? You can visit unplugged.com mark and get 25 off a phone case with a purchase of a phone. Learn more and order your UPPhone today. That's unplugged.com mark because your life should be yours, not theirs. Boaters know that bad weather, like storms, lightning and wind can turn a fun day on the water into a challenge. But what if you had satellite delivered weather data giving you the full picture of what's around you even when you're offshore and out of cell range? With SiriusXM Marine, get up to date weather directly on your boat's display. Features include radar, lightning, marine warnings, wind and wave info and much more. And for offshore anglers, imagine having a guide that tells you where it might be best to cast your line. Fish Mapping does just that. Its eight fishing focused features including fishing recommendations, weed line info, plankton info and sea surface temperature information can help you find fish faster. Plus, you can add SiriusXM Entertainment and and listen to AD free music plus sports talk, comedy news and more while you're on the water. Visit SiriusXM.com Marine to learn more. All right, next up joining me now, Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna of California. He's been here before and we're honored to have him here on our 50th episode of NextUp. Congressman, welcome back.
- [30:30]
Ro Khanna
Congratulations on the 50th milestone. Honored to be back on.
- [30:34]
Mark Halperin
Thank you. You're involved at so many things we could. We could fill the whole time with just one. But let's start with the shutdown. What are you hearing from your constituents, regardless of their political affiliation, about how much the shutdown is affecting their daily lives?
- [30:47]
Ro Khanna
Oh, they're angry, they're frustrated and they're fearful. The biggest issue is the SNAP benefits that are going to discontinue the day after Halloween. I mean, 16 million kids are not going to get food, and that's affecting even people in my district. People think of Silicon Valley as this wealthy place, and it is for some. But there are a lot of families who are struggling. And I'm hearing all the time both on the SNAP benefits and then I'm hearing from people who aren't getting paid, who are working for the federal government.
- [31:22]
Mark Halperin
What's the solution? If the president called you and said, congressman, I want to work this out, what's the. What's the right solution? We have one party saying it's got to just be a clean continuing resolution to open the government, the other party saying we need to talk about health care and other issues. How would you solve it if the president empowered you to, to come to get whatever parties the table required?
- [31:43]
Ro Khanna
Well, first I would say to the President, I said, Mr. President, why don't we at least get Josh Hawley's bill across the line in the Senate and the House? Josh Hawley is saying let's at least extend SNAP benefits while we are negotiating on the broader issue. And I said that I would vote for that and I hope Speaker Johnson would reopen Congress so that we can vote on a bill to extend SNAP benefits. The other thing I would say is let's pay our troops and let's pay federal workers, the essential federal workers while we're negotiating this. That's what I think would be responsible while we're doing everything. Now, just yesterday I heard about a couple in West Virginia whose premiums they're making about 85 grand. Their premiums go up $48,000 if we don't extend the Affordable Care act tax credits. And I'd say to the president, why do you want that on your watch? Just extend the tax credits. At least give us a vote on extending the tax credits.
- [32:48]
Mark Halperin
When do you think it will end?
- [32:50]
Ro Khanna
I actually think the pressure is really mounting. I mean, we are hearing from federal workers, unions, federal workers. I mean, they're concerned they're not getting paid. People staff in Congress starting November 1st are not going to get paid. The people without SNAP benefits are really getting hurt. So I am hopeful over the next couple weeks that there's going to be some resolution because both the suffering out there and also the air traffic situation, I mean, I was talking to a senior person, a flight attendant, who said that it's actually not safe. It's getting to a point where certain things, everyday reports about possible issues with flight safety are not getting processed. So we all have a responsibility to end this.
- [33:38]
Mark Halperin
I have found this year to be unlike any other. I remember with just the whip of news stories are the biggest stories in the country and then they disappear. You and Congressman Massie have been at the center of the Epstein matter, trying to get more disclosure from the executive branch. Where is that? Where does that stand? What's happened to the pressure as the people who want no more disclosure one by stalling it out and removing public interest in this?
- [34:07]
Ro Khanna
I don't think so, but it remains to be seen. This has been their strategy. They shut down Congress a week early during the summer and the story disappeared. And then it came roaring back when some of the survivors spoke at the, at the Capitol. They've now not had Congress in session. We can debate whether not wanting to swear in Adelita Grijalva and have a vote on the Epstein files is one of those reasons. I think it is. And not simply because of the release of the Epstein files. They know that 50 to 60 Republicans would defect in voting for Massey and my bill. And that could be the first step of Trump becoming lame duck. Just losing so many people in their party. And so they have pushed this out and they've gotten it off the front pages in candor. But I believe when we get back, Adelita Grihalba will be sworn in and this story is going to come back with the same intensity as it was before. So until we have that vote in the House of Representatives, I don't think this story goes away.
- [35:11]
Mark Halperin
You know, you come across as a very nice guy and people like you. I know people like you. I know Republicans like you, Democrats like you. In the last couple weeks, I have heard from a lot of people, some who know you, some who don't, who are very disappointed in you over statements you've made about the Middle East.
- [35:27]
Ro Khanna
Yeah.
- [35:28]
Mark Halperin
And. And it's been quite striking to me the language they've used. Because. Because it's. It's filled with a lot of intensity. So I'll start by asking you this. Do you believe Israel committed genocide in Gaza?
- [35:41]
Ro Khanna
I believe that when I've always said is that I would defer to the UN and the ICJ and there was a UN report that said that Israel did commit genocide in how they defined it. And I believe we should then ultimately defer to the ICJ. But I'll tell you where my whole in 30 seconds where my view is on on this issue. I believe Israel has the right to exist securely as a Jewish democratic state. I call that liberal Zionism in terms of not the Greater Israel, not the occupied territories of the west bank and Gaza. But Israel has a right like so many other countries have countries based on faith, 43 countries. Israel has that right as long as people in Israel are being treated equally. I believe there should be a Palestinian state that is demilitarized, that does not have Hamas and that is a in two states and that has is works with the Arab nations to achieve that status. And that has been my my view. I, you know, and we can. I very strongly disagreed with how Netanyahu.
- [36:51]
Ian Sams
Has conducted the war.
- [36:53]
Mark Halperin
I'm sure if I'm hearing from people, because I'm not like your agent, you must be hearing from people including maybe, maybe some financial contributors, maybe some political supporters. Have you been struck by the intensity of how angry people are at you over this?
- [37:08]
Ro Khanna
I have not been struck. It's a very emotional issue. And I have gotten criticized from both some of the people who have deep identification with Israel and I've gotten criticized for from the left when there was an article saying critic of Netanyahu says he still supports Zionism as I define as Jewish self determination. So it's not an issue that is easy. If it were, the conflict wouldn't be there. But I believe my policies are actually pretty reasonable. In fact, I gave a. What I would urge people to do if they have a question or problem of where I stand is to listen to my Council of Foreign Relations speech and conversation. It's an hour if you have the time and what they will find. Someone from the Bush administration says. I've got one issue with you, Ro. You're presenting this as a new vision, but you're really not offering much new. This was the same framework that George Bush had in terms of a Palestinian state, non Hamas, demilitarized with Israel as a secure state. I do think my position is where the mainstream of the Democratic primary bases. Whether it's the mainstream of the country remains to be seen.
- [38:23]
Mark Halperin
You support Mr. Mamdani, right? Running for mayor of New York City. Okay. He supports arresting Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister comes to the United States. Do you share that position?
- [38:34]
Ro Khanna
I don't. Nor do I. Just because I don't think that Gets us to peace. And I also think that that's not going to be Mamdani's focus. My sense is he's going to be focused on buses and lowering rent and groceries. And he's elected not to be Secretary of state, but to be the mayor of New York.
- [38:56]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. Why do you think he takes positions on issues if he's not trying to be Secretary of state? Would you. Well, let me ask it this way. What would you tell him as the campaign's almost over, but as mayor, what would you tell him about whether he should continue to talk about these kinds of issues as mayor?
- [39:12]
Ro Khanna
Well, I think, look, he has every right to speak about his moral conscience as a prominent voice and a citizen. But I would say that what's gonna ultimately define the success of his mayor tenure is does he deliver on the fundamental promises of reducing rents, reducing food prices, and making New York more affordable? And that would be my. My focus. But I. You know, I. I've been so struck by this debate in the Democratic Party. I. I may be the only person who has campaigned for Abigail Spanberger. Was invited by her to campaign in Pennington Gap in Virginia. Was invited by Mikey Sherrill to campaign in Westfield and Livingston. I'm doing a rally for Mamdani on Saturday in Queens and have campaigned on no 150. And this idea that the Democratic Party can just pick one of these wings is, in my view, not thoughtful. We lost young voters, we lost rural voters, we lost suburban voters. And guess what? If we want to build a majority party, we've got to bring them all back. And I think we've got to be a big tent party that recognizes the different people are bringing different strengths to the coalition.
- [40:23]
Mark Halperin
All right? I ask you to do something that's often difficult for anybody to speak about yourself in this sense. Why are you someone who more moderate members of the party like Spanberger and Sheryl want to have, but also some of the most progressive members? What is it about you? Is it. Is it your positions? Is it your bio? What makes you in demand across the spectrum for these candidates?
- [40:48]
Ro Khanna
I don't know. I. I don't know. In demand. Maybe too much, but at least they. They.
- [40:52]
Mark Halperin
Well, they invited you to have me. Yeah.
- [40:55]
Ro Khanna
So I. I think. Look, I. I think it's partly my upbringing. I. I grew up in. I was born in Philadelphia. I grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was a. A typical American upbringing of watching Rocky movies and Phillies games and collecting baseball cards. And so there's a part of me recognize. Is a Middle American experience. And yet I was a son of immigrants. And so I connect with Zoran Mandani's biography of his parents leaving Uganda that was a colonized by the British. And I just think it's probably my life experiences that makes it possible to relate. And then it's my temperament. It's both an advantage and a disadvantage. I'm not a, a bomb thrower. I'm not someone who typically is insulting folks on social media and makes me go less viral, it makes me less known. But I try to be friendly. I try to see the best in people, sometimes to my detriment, but.
- [42:02]
Ian Sams
That'S.
- [42:02]
Ro Khanna
True to who I am.
- [42:03]
Mark Halperin
Yeah, Two more Middle east questions, and I want to talk about politics a bit. The president's got this deal in place and there are a lot of variables here. There's been dangers to the agreement already on both sides and they're trying to put in place this international force to keep the peace on the ground. There's still questions about rebuilding Gaza. If the president asks you what are your greatest concerns now about implementing the peace plan?
- [42:32]
Ro Khanna
Well, first of all, I would say, Mr. President, I actually gave you credit for that deal. I didn't. You know, some people in my party think mentioning Trump is like Voldemort or something. You can't say the word. And I have not hesitated where there are times where I've agreed with the President. I've agreed with him on his prescription drug policies. I've agreed with him on his diagnosis of the Halloween Ana industry. And while I don't agree with all of him on all his policies in the Middle East, I do think that what he achieved in getting the release of the hostages and in getting Israel at the time to at least commit to stop bombing and withdraw deserve credit. And I was on, I was perfectly willing to say that my concern will be that the ceasefire doesn't hold. I mean, as you know that Netanyahu just two days ago struck Gaza and Hamas still has not returned some of the dead and that that is a big deal in Jewish culture and for Israel and Hamas has not disarmed. I do think they need to demilitarize and I do think there needs to be alternative governance in Gaza. Now, I don't think that governance should be Donald Trump and Tony Blair. I think it should be Palestinians having a say in who their governance should be. But my concern would be how do we get the ceasefire to stick? And then not that Trump is going to listen to me. My sense to him would be, let's try to get Palestinians and the Arab countries determining the future of that governance, not you and Tony Blair.
- [44:01]
Mark Halperin
One more question on this, on this upset that people have at you over various things you've said about the Middle east, including saying, associating with people who say Israel committed genocide in Gaza. A friend of mine's son serves in the military and he asked me to ask you this. What would you say to that son who was born in the United States, now lives in Israel serving the military, who feels hurt that you're basically accusing him of being involved in a genocide? What would you say to that American Israeli who's hurt by having someone who knows who you are and respects your place in the world? What would you say to that young man?
- [44:38]
Ro Khanna
Well, first of all, I appreciate that he was called up to serve and that he did that and that there's a lot of importance to having defending Israel's right to exist. The attacks against, from Iran, the attacks from Hezbollah and, and of course the horrific October 7th attacks. What I would say is I'm not a legal scholar, but I do believe the United States should defer on this issue to the United nations and the International Court of Justice, that China is rallying a lot of the global south to their side, saying that they're more aligned with, with world opinion on this than we are. And I don't, I don't think the United States being isolated from the world is going to make us the moral leader of the 21st century. Now there are. I, I will defer to where the ICJ ends up on it, but that does not mean that we cannot still have a, a strong relationship within Israel that's committed to a two state solution. It just means that we should recognize that life expectancy in Gaza went from 75 to 40, that too many civilians were killed, that there was destruction there, and that we should aim for a better world.
- [45:59]
Mark Halperin
But, but all those things don't necessarily mean genocide. And genocide is a strong word. Why should we have an allied country that you believe committed genocide?
- [46:08]
Ro Khanna
Well, the definition of genocide is not, as I understand it from the, and I again defend, defer to the ICJ and the UN but it doesn't require just blatant intent to eliminate people. It also is do the actions themselves lead to a significant destruction of a people. And here where you have life expectancy going down and where you have the destruction of property, you know, there's a reason these international scholars, UN and people even in Israel have said that. Now, do I compare it to what happened in Nazism No, I've said that. And do I understand that there are people of goodwill who feel that word is emotionally charged? I do. Do I think it matters ultimately what we call it more than how do we stop the killing and how do we get to a two state solution? I think the latter matters more. And I personally have always said since the beginning that I would defer to the UN and icj. And so when the UN report came out, there was surprise that I deferred to them. And I think that's where the intensity came. But I've been consistent about that over the past, since the beginning of the war.
- [47:27]
Mark Halperin
Did you use the word out of a sense of intellect, morality, politics? Why did you use the word knowing how powerful that was be?
- [47:35]
Ro Khanna
Well, I was hesitant to use the word for a long time because of the emotional connotation around it. But I always believed that the United States should be in compliance with international law and with human rights. And when the UN and ICJ came out with that finding, I thought it was an important finding. By the way, it's not just something that I believe. I was trying to, you know, it's a word by Theo Vaughn had used well before I did. A year when I was on his podcast, I was talking to, just briefly, a Republican and his son. And the Republican who was a supporter of mine looks to me and the son knows Barron Trump. And the son, big Vance fan, big Trump fan. And the father looks at me and he says, ro, you've just gone too pro Palestine. I like some of your economics, but I, I don't like what you're doing on calling for a Palestinian state and recognizing that without Hamas. And the son looks at me, Republican Trump supporter, Vance supporter. He says, actually, that's the only thing I like about you, Ro, that you have this. So there is a generational divide on this, and people would be naive to think that that divide is just on the Democratic side. There are a lot of people in the MAGA base who also have shifted their views on this issue.
- [48:56]
Mark Halperin
Yeah, you're right about that. Your governor, an interview with Bob Costa, cbs said he would consider rather to run for president after the midterms. What'd you think of that answer?
- [49:07]
Ro Khanna
It was honest. I think he was. I mean, I don't think it comes for a surprise whether he runs or not. I mean, he's been wanting to run since at least 2023 and when it was unclear whether President Biden would run. So I think it was honest. What else can he say? And I, I think he's understandably focused, as we all are right now, on Proposition 50 and on making sure we win the midterms.
- [49:31]
Mark Halperin
Would you say your deliberations are similar, that you'll take. You'll think about it more seriously after the midterms?
- [49:37]
Ro Khanna
Yeah, I would say that I absolutely want to be part of the national conversation, that I believe there's an economic pessimism around this country, that I represent A district today, Nvidia, went to $5 trillion. It's got $16 trillion of wealth. People are having mass layoffs partly because of AI, and that I have a concrete roadmap for how people can achieve the American dream in the 21st century, of the way my family has and what it's going to take to revitalize places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, around the country. And I am going to be very aggressive about articulating what that should be, and then we'll see where things lead.
- [50:19]
Mark Halperin
There's all the mechanical elements about fundraising and who else is running and whether it's right for your family. But historically, there's also this notion of, is it your time? Is it someone's time? Is this the year, the cycle, to run for president? Barack Obama ran against all odds in 2008 because he was convinced that it was his time. Do you have a feeling like that that you would match the moment, potentially at least, that you're the right best person, not just to win the nomination, not just to win the general election, but to lead the country?
- [50:52]
Ro Khanna
If the question is, how do we turn around economic pessimism in this country, how do we turn around a sense of division and anger and kind of a lack of confidence? When my parents came to America, John F. Kennedy had said, we were going to go to the moon. We were humming, we were moving. And if the question is, who can bring back that kind of vitality and economic hope and try to bring this country together, I believe I have the best understanding of what is required for an economic renewal and what is required to achieve the American dream in the 21st century and how we can bring that confidence back. Is that going to be the question of the 28 election? That I don't know. I mean, maybe the question is, I hope it's not that we get into some war in Venezuela or that, you know, China takes Taiwan or. I mean, who knows what the question of the 28 election is, but if the question is people have lost faith in the American dream and who's going to be best able to renew it, I do think that I have a Unique moment where I could lead.
- [51:59]
Mark Halperin
You're not even 50, right? You're about to be 50 next year.
- [52:03]
Ro Khanna
Yeah, you're reminding me.
- [52:04]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. Okay, so. So, I mean, you could run in four years, you know, four years later, eight years later, 12 years later, 16 years later. What would make this the moment for you? The notion that Europe uniquely understand the American economy. Is that the thing that would make it your moment?
- [52:21]
Ro Khanna
AI revolution, a digital revolution. All the wealth keeps piling up in my district and places keep being hollowed out that Donald Trump talked about. I agree with his critique. I mean, you go to western Pennsylvania, go to Warren, Ohio, go to Milwaukee, go to the south. I mean, textile left, steel left, industry left. I just don't think the tariffs alone build an economy. That's not how we're building wealth in a modern economy. And I believe that. I have actually a vision of what it's going to take in an AI revolution to create high paying jobs for Americans to become rich. I joked with someone, Mark, I said it's an interesting thing that we see race first in this country because they see me as Indian American before they see me as Californian. And that may not be all that bad.
- [53:03]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. Congressman Rocon of California, who finds himself magically at the center of every big debate, it seems. Congressman, thank you. Great to have you back on.
- [53:12]
Ro Khanna
Thank you.
- [53:14]
Mark Halperin
All right, that's Ro Khanna. Coming up next. Up here, Ricky Schlott, columnist and reporter for the New York Post, her colleague from the Post, Lydia Moynihan, and Alex Stiteswald, deputy editor of Maine's Mid Coast Villager. We're going to talk Maine and New York City politics. And that's next up. If you're 64 years of age or older, this is important. The Department of Justice recently sued three major Medicare brokers for claiming they were unbiased while allegedly pushing people who into plans that got them the biggest kickbacks. It's true. So many insurance agents, they just can't be trusted. But you can't necessarily rely on government resources either. That's why I want to bring your attention to something called Chapter. Chapter was started by people who went through this exact thing personally after their own parents were pushed into the wrong Medicare plan by an agent who was more focused on commissions than on care. Chapter has a very simple mission. To give every American the honest, straightforward Medicare advice that they need and that they deserve. And here's what makes Chapter different. They're the only Medicare advisor that compares every plan nationwide, not just a handful of that allows their clients to save an average of $1,100 a year, there's really no reason not to make the call. It's quick, it's easy, and they can review your options in under 20 minutes. If you're already in the correct plan for you, they'll let you know that. But if there's a better plan out there, they will help you make the switch. This could be the most important call you make this year. Dial £250 and say chapter Medicare to get peace of mind. Again, £250 and say chapter Medicare. He's Kenny Maine, the funny guy from espn. Formerly, he's Cooper Manning, the more intelligent and handsome of the Manning brothers. And he's Brian Baumgartner. But to me, he'll always be Kevin from the office. Yeah, you and everybody else together. We're the hosts of the new comedy golf podcast, we need a fourth from Smartless Media and SiriusXM. It's like a cold beer after a round. You hear the strangest and most bizarre golf stories from our friends, athletes, celebrities and comedians. It's all about how much we love golf and how much we hate golf. New episodes are out every week. Listen now and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Could just be anywhere, just on a couch. Doesn't matter. Netcredit is here to say yes because.
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To review and approval. Learn more@netcredit.com partners NetCredit credit to the people. All right, next up, we've got elections this coming Tuesday, including here in Gotham City, where the mayor campaign has attracted much focus. And we're already thinking about the midterms. And there's an extraordinary thing going on in Maine with this guy who's named Graham Platner, who's running for Senate there. So to talk about what's coming up next, right away, and then next up down the road, three great journalists. Ricky Schleich, columnist and reporter for the New York Post, her Post colleague Lydia Moynihan, and Alex Seitzwald of the deputy editor of something called the Mid Coast Villager, which we will talk about. Welcome in all of you. Thank you for being here.
- [56:34]
Ricky Schlott
Thank you.
- [56:34]
Alex Seitzwald
Thanks for having me.
- [56:36]
Mark Halperin
Great to be here. So, Alex, I want to start having a little journalism talk and our colleagues here will join in and be interested. I hope you worked in national media, NBC News, Mississippi, other national places, and you Packed it all in, like, green acres to move the countryside to help start something called the Mid Coast Villager. So explain what that organization is, what you cover, how it works. Yeah.
- [57:01]
Alex Seitzwald
So I spent 15 years in D.C. the last 10 of which were at NBC, MSNBC, covering national politics, presidential campaigns all over the country, Senate races. About three years ago, I kind of quietly moved up here to help take care of my mom, who's lived in Maine for about 20 years and was. Was getting sick and I was working remotely, you know, loved that job. They treated me wonderfully. But I wanted to do something different. I wanted to. We all agree that there's a crisis in local news. We all agree that there are too many reporters in New York and D.C. and not enough in the rest of the country. And I met with the folks who were putting together this newspaper, the Midcoast Villager. It's actually a roll up of four historic newspapers, Legacy goes back to the 1800s that covered this area. They had been failing for a long time, like so many other local newspapers. Pulled them all together and the question was, do you shut them down or you take a big swing and try to do something new? And Reid Brower, our owner, who's a local guy, decided to take a big swing. And this is the Midcoast Villager. We are. It's biased, but it's a phenomenal local paper. It's thick. We have two big sections every week. We have big supplements like this one is on leading women in the communities. We're doing really good, top notch, quality reporting. There's so many amazing stories to tell here in Maine. And we're not just a print paper because, of course, you can't do that. We're doing all the online things also. But we also just opened a cafe, which is right downstairs from where I'm sitting right now, with the idea to have a physical embodiment of the paper and a community hub to build community. So my colleague right now is hosting a discussion about a story he did with the murder of this woman, Sunny Betts, who heard murder got a lot of attention. She was a paddleboarder this summer. This was the guy who broke basically every piece of news that the world got about that story. And he's talking to folks about how that came together. Tomorrow morning, I'll be down there doing just basically office hours. Anybody can come in and chat with us, suggest stories, complain about something. And the idea is just to be accountable, transparent, present in the community. We live here. We are. Kids go to the schools here when there's an ice storm and the power goes out. Our power goes out. And we really hope that through that we can rebuild trust in news and build a viable, sustainable product that people really want to have in their lives.
- [59:33]
Mark Halperin
And so to put the paper as papers used to be more at the center of how people think about their community, where there's reliable information and having a physical place people can gather. It's very innovative. Is a paper commercially successful?
- [59:46]
Alex Seitzwald
We're getting there where all the trends are moving in the right direction. But no, we are not. We haven't broken even yet. I think I'm allowed to say that. And we still have quite a bit of work to do. We did, you know, in bringing this new paper and bringing people like me on and a couple other colleagues because this is a kind of place that attracts a weird, freakish amount of, you know, national talent and really quality people. So costs have gone up, but subscriptions are up like 40%. Newsstand sales are up a huge amount. We just had a nice story in the New York Times. We're going to be featured on CBS Sunday Morning soon. And we just brought on a director of development to go after grants and philanthropic stuff. We are a for profit company. We want to be, we want to make a profit. We hope to get there soon. But you know, with two thirds or more of advertising spending going to Google and Facebook, that there is just not as much money out there. With subscriptions down, there's just not as much money out there. So we hope to supplement that with philanthropic funding for specific beats, specific issues that we want to cover.
- [60:50]
Mark Halperin
Lydia covers business and she's interested in the business of our business. So either either your thoughts on this as a model for journalism to survive or question for Alex.
- [60:59]
Lydia Moynihan
Yeah, I guess I'm curious because there is so much handwriting about how we're losing local news. What support, if any, do you think you are getting maybe from national publications or advertisers or should you be getting from those folks?
- [61:15]
Alex Seitzwald
Well, I don't know about should because we want to be a. We want to, you know, eat what we kill. We want to be nothing against a nonprofit organization. I think that's a great model, but I do worry that it gets you into kind of vegetables mentality of like, you know, we're doing stuff that is important, which is great, but we want to do stuff that people want to consume, that people want to pay money for, want to be associated with and very community, local based. So we don't go after any national advertisers. You Know, maybe one day we do have. Because Maine and Mid Coast Maine is a kind of place that people like to vacation or retire in. We do have a pretty large following online from beyond our region. And so I could see national advertisers there. As far as publications, I think it's great that folks like the Times or CBS are lifting up these examples of innovative local news outlets. I was just at a conference in Salt Lake City put on by Press Forward, which is this big new umbrella organization that's helping a lot of innovative local news outlets. And it was so inspiring to meet these people across the country doing really interesting things. Very few of which, by the way, look like a physical newspaper. You know, this is like, there's social media first. People are doing direct mail, people are doing text messaging. It's just like, I think we've hit this nadir in local news where there's now a willingness to experiment and to try new things and not be stuck in the old ways. So I'm fairly optimistic about that. But we definitely have a long way to go as an industry to climb out of the hole that we're in.
- [62:54]
Mark Halperin
Ricky, what do you think of this as a business model?
- [62:57]
Ricky Schlott
Yeah, one thing I'm curious about, I mean, I'm familiar with having some of my pieces end up in print, some of my pieces end up on web, some of them being in both. And I wonder, do you anticipate that there's a kind of different incentive that might arise with your print paper and the local stories that you might want to distribute to people immediately around you and potentially a different direction that the Internet and that broader audience might eventually kind of pull you towards? And is that potentially in the modern era, like a conflict of interest for local papers?
- [63:30]
Alex Seitzwald
It's a great question, and it's one that we think about a lot because we are a place, a region that attracts so much from away interests, as we're talking about, which is the main term for people who are not from Maine. It's a. It's a place that is very insular, proud of it, and I think it's actually kind of great. It's what keeps Maine special. So we do think about different audiences. Like, our print audience is local, it's older, it's people who have subscribed to our predecessor papers for a long time and as well as like newer, younger people who maybe were never interested in newspaper, maybe never would have subscribed to a newspaper. But like, what we're doing, our web audience is broader and even, like, if you look at Instagram and Facebook. It's completely different. Audiences like Instagram. It's more affluent. It's, for us, it's more affluent, it's more female, it's younger, it's more national. Facebook is more local, more male, more conservative. It's like, so, like on Facebook, crime stories perform really well. On Instagram, it's like a tour of a beautiful house that performs very well. So I do think, like, down the road we could get to a place where we can better monetize that national audience because we want their dollars. Right? Like, we want your national dollars, please. But ultimately, we are serving the community, and that is the product that we care about most and that matters most. But if we can bring money from away to support local journalism here, that's huge. Another example that we just did, we just had our first writing retreat. The owner of our newspaper, who owns the cafe, also owns a little hotel that's right next door. So we brought in a national writer, a bestselling author to run this writing retreat. It's sold out in like a week. And that's, there's lots of amazing authors here. But we intentionally wanted to bring somebody from away who would bring clientele from away. So we're not just squeezing our community, our advertisers, our businesses for more money to support this.
- [65:33]
Mark Halperin
Alex, we're all cheering for Midcoast Villager to be a huge success. It's a great opportunity to prove that journalism can be a great business. So grateful to you and you've lucked out because now you've, you've gone from covering national politics to having one of the biggest national political stories in the country. First Beat, Graham Plattner emerges from nowhere, dances. He's running for president for Senate from Maine, and now he's facing competition from the Janet Mills, Governor, Maine. But huge story, raises tons of money, gets endorsed by all these national figures. And it looks like this could be kind of another Fetterman, a kind of Trump like figure in touch with the working, working class. And then Beat two, someone dumps opposition research on the guy's head. All this stuff he wrote on Reddit, his tattoo, alleged Nazi. Nazi, Nazi tattoo. And, and that's B2 is it looks like, all right, the guy's dead. The guy's a flash in the pan. B3, you covered. It has a town hall with 700 people. 700 people in Maine is a big political crowd. So tell me what, tell me what Beat four is going to be.
- [66:33]
Alex Seitzwald
Well, I, I, I don't know. I can tell you that it's not over. That's what I know for now, that the rumors of Grant Platner's demise are greatly exaggerated. I'm not saying he's going to win, but I'm saying he's not going anywhere anytime soon. I mean, every day on my day to work, I clock, on my drive to work, I clock the yard signs and I make sure they're still up from the day before because there are a ton of Grand Platner yard signs around here. They're still up. I went to this town hall on Monday to kind of do a damage assessment, as you said, 700 people, they were on their feet. They're cheering, they're applauding. I talked to a lot of them. They think it's kind of blown over. They're not too worried about this stuff. He's still raising money. He's still attracting a lot of attention. He just did an interview with this kind of speaking the media business. A creator who goes by Black Girl in Maine. She's based in Portland. Maine is the widest state in the country. And I know a lot of people who have been kind of waiting to see his interview with her and what she would do. And she comes out of it saying, I think the national media is not telling you the whole story here. I don't think he's a racist, anti Semite guy. So it's been the biggest disconnect that I've had since being here of what I'm reading online and seeing on cable news and what I'm seeing with my own eyes and hearing with my own ears on the ground. This guy has a ton of juice. His campaign is not over. People relate to him. They feel like, yes, he made mistakes, but they've made mistakes. They're willing to move past it. And it speaks to the weakness of Janet Mills. I mean, if she was a stronger candidate, I don't think there would be as much appetite for an opponent.
- [68:16]
Mark Halperin
It's a great establishment versus populist story. Lydia, if this guy were running in New York, can you imagine what the Post would be doing with all of this? What's your view of whether this guy is a great story, obviously, but what's your view about whether he's going to make it and be the nominee?
- [68:31]
Lydia Moynihan
I'm just so fascinated by this story that a week ago there was a K file report in CNN that basically revealed he knew exactly what he was doing and he's been lying about it. That was based on Reddit posts that had him basically talking about sort of pro Nazi rhetoric. And at the time, I mean, the thinking was, oh, surely Bernie Sanders will disavow him. Surely all of these national endorsements that he's gotten will fall by the wayside because this is such a watershed moment for Democrats. All we've heard from them is Elon Musk is a Nazi, Trump is a Nazi. They've made these claims about the right, and then one of their own literally has a Nazi tattoo. And that was a conversation last week and now it seems like nothing to see here.
- [69:17]
Ricky Schlott
Move along.
- [69:18]
Lydia Moynihan
It's fine. And clearly, clearly Democrats are fine with it. And I just, I don't understand that. And I guess my question for, for Alex is, you know, why do you think that the Democrats nationally haven't disavowed him? Why do you think they're just sitting by the sidelines, right? This should be a moment question and say, no, we condemn Nazi. Is that, why aren't they doing that?
- [69:44]
Alex Seitzwald
Yeah, well, I mean, some of them are. And it's a, it's a divide right now. It's really split. And I mean, you have some national people who are still defending him, like Bernie Sanders, Martin Heinrich, the senator from New Mexico who was a early supporter and donated to him. But, and you know, there's like, there's a, you can the New York Times column yesterday really taking him to task, a Guardian column. There's plenty of opposition there, but there's also plenty of support. And I think that's because he is so he's speaking to something that the Democratic Party nationally is lacking so much and is so bad at, has gotten so bad at, which is talking to working people coming across as real, authentic, relatable. I mean, here's a guy who, you know, he didn't go to college, he didn't finish college. He started college but didn't finish for combat tours. He's an oyster farmer. He looks the part, he sounds the part. He has an amazing message. I mean, I was blown away when I got a call to talk to him. I didn't really think much of a harbor master of a town of 1200 running against Susan Collins. And then I got off the phone with him and was like, oh, this guy is going to be a thing. I don't know if he's going to be the nominee, but he's going to be a thing. So it's so sorely lacking. And I think you're seeing the, I think we're post peak identity politics, post peak woke. And so you're seeing a Split among Democrats of people who still want to cling to those kind of, you know, cancel politics and everything.
- [71:16]
Mark Halperin
Right.
- [71:16]
Lydia Moynihan
It's not like he made a mean comment about or dressed up as Pocahontas 20 years ago. I mean, he literally has a Nazi tattoo.
- [71:26]
Mark Halperin
Well, he's. He has covered it over, but it's incredible. I agree with you. We're gonna. We're gonna keep cover. I wanna switch the mayor's race, though, here in New York. Ricky, a bunch of polls out. Early voting's underway. What's your sense now about where Mondami and Cuomo, the only two, could win this race, potentially? Where does, where does the race stand?
- [71:42]
Ricky Schlott
Overall, I think there were some early, slightly cautiously optimistic indications for Cuomo relative to where he was standing. Um, there was one poll from Suffolk University that showed that he had closed the gap by half with Mamdani. So it went from 20% to now a lead of 10% according to this one poll, where Mamdani was at 44% and Cuomo was at 34% and Curtis Liwa was at 11%, which makes you wonder what Slee was doing if he dropped out. I think that Cuomo would be a lot closer to mom Donnie, and that kind of caused the poly market markets to dip finally, for the first time in quite a while. Mom Donnie made it down into the 80s, but he's headed back up into the 90s once again. There were a couple other good indications for the Cuomo team, which included the fact that older voters are showing up to vote early, which is a pretty big contrast from what we saw in the primary election, where it was predominantly younger voters, both in the early voting and the regular voting as well. So now we see that the largest demographic is the oldest age bracket of voters at the moment, and there is a good deal of 25 to 35 year olds, but they're still being outnumbered by the older voters who tend to lean more towards Cuomo. But that said, I think things still do not look too great for him. And Mamdani is definitely still well in the lead, in my opinion.
- [73:10]
Mark Halperin
Lydia, if we think about election night and Madame wins, which is. Which is the most likely outcome, do you think the city is going to be, like, convulsed with division, or do you think it's just people aren't going to pay attention? There's so many people we talked to on two way and elsewhere who feel so passionately that he should not be mayor. Is this going to be a night of triumph or night of division? If he Wins.
- [73:29]
Lydia Moynihan
I think it's going to be a night of division. Look, I mean, he's more and more, even in the last few weeks, we found out about really problematic things that he said that his father have said, talking about basically the IDF is somehow on the involved with the nypd. And so I think knowing what we know about him, I think it's going to be really shocking to think that this man can control or run as mayor. Not just any city, but the largest, most important city I believe, in America. So I think nationally this is going to get eyes. I think nationally it's going to be obviously a talking point for Republicans. Like, look how far the left has gone. Look how they've embraced socialism, look how they've embraced essentially globalizing the antifa. That's going to be the talking point from Republicans. I think actually here in the city. I think there will be a lot of shock, but I think very quickly that shock is going to turn to support for elite Stefanik in the governor's race. And that's been obviously we're not talking about as much because that's next year and the mayoral election is next week. But if you look at the polling, it's really surprising to see according to some polls, Elise Stefanik and Kathy Hochul are almost neck and neck. And so that's going to be the huge focus. And frankly, the governor has the power of the purse. They have a lot more control than the mayor. And so that might be a chain reaction, which again, I think the governor is more impactful in that regard.
- [74:57]
Mark Halperin
So as far as interest, if Mondame wins, people are going to be talking about it. One last question for all of you about the media. I'm getting deja vu all over again. As the New York political theorist Yogi Berra would say about the New York Times coverage of Mondami, it's exactly like it was for Obama in 2008. The post has been aggressive. You guys have been aggressive columnists and news side holding him accountable. Not just oppo research, but writing about his past. Every day I wait for the New York Times to write one story scrutinizing the guy. And every day it's like, he's charming. He's got this cute, adorable coalition. He's. It's so interesting, really. What is going on in a newsroom where the New York Times literally does not hold the guy who's about to become mayor in all likelihood accountable? Lydia, you start like, what do you think's going on in a newsroom like that? Are they not talking about it.
- [75:46]
Lydia Moynihan
At the same time, they're coming up with pieces about, oh, well, Cuomo 45 years ago, lived in a rent control apartment, continuing at Cuomo, which is like, wait, you're going after something that happened almost half a century ago and you're not.
- [75:58]
Mark Halperin
And Cuomos last year, what it Cuomo's playing the part like Hillary Clinton played in 2008. The Times would constantly write pieces about Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, never about Obama. I just, I don't understand. Alex, you've been in newsrooms. Why would the New York Times not think part of their job would be to hold accountable the front runner?
- [76:16]
Alex Seitzwald
Well, I think they, they should. Obviously, part of this is the record, though, that you're talking about. You know, I covered Hillary Clinton in 2016. And it's in this day and age when you have access to everything online, it's kind of a liability to have a long record in politics like that because everything can get dredged up from your past. And so like a mom, Donnie, or a Graham Platner or somebody who comes in with a pretty fresh face and, you know, a thin resume for Graham Platner, an incredibly thin resume.
- [76:54]
Mark Halperin
It's.
- [76:55]
Alex Seitzwald
I don't know that it's good for democracy or the right way to work things, but it weirdly becomes a political asset.
- [76:59]
Mark Halperin
Yeah. All right, we got to go. Unfortunately, Alex, again, thank you and we wish you the best of luck. And this Tuesday night, Ricky and Lydia and I will team up again as we did for post debate coverage, for coverage of election night on newyorkpost.com and two way.com two way TV rather join us and our colleagues for full coverage this Tuesday night live of New York, Virginia, New Jersey, and everything else going on. So look forward to teaming up with you two again and grateful to you for being here.
- [77:29]
Lydia Moynihan
Thanks, Mark.
- [77:31]
Mark Halperin
All right, thank you all. That's it for today's program. We'll be back on Tuesday on election day with a brand new episode. Make sure you subscribe and download wherever you can get your podcast to. Next up and be with us on YouTube and everywhere else the show is. So you always know what's coming. Next up.
- [77:50]
Alex Seitzwald
If you could hear love.
- [77:52]
Mark Halperin
What would it sound like? Son, can we talk about your drinking? Yeah, Dad, I think we should. Helping those closest to you think about their excessive drinking. Maybe that's what love sounds like. More@rethink the drink.com an OHA initiative.
- [78:19]
Interviewer/Reporter
Hey, everyone, it's Nicki and Bri and we're here to let you know that we have a podcast, the Nicki and Bri Show. Yes. And we've got new episodes every Monday and Thursday. We're serving up real deal conversations that go beyond the cameras. Think Motherhood Confessions, Sisterhood Vibes, Boss Business Energy and TV Life Tea.
- [78:41]
Lydia Moynihan
Need a laugh?
- [78:42]
Interviewer/Reporter
We got you craving inspo. We got inspiration and affirmations on deck. Want a little cry or a big? Heck yes. That's our jam. Whether we're breaking down pop culture, sharing parenting wins or fails, unpacking personal growth, or just riffing on everyday chaos, nothing is off limits. Plus, we welcome incredible guests, play our favorite games, and do what only sisters can keep it 100 while raising a glass together. So pop a bottle, hit play, and come hang with us. Listen to the Nicki and Bri Show. Wherever you get your podcast.