The Scott Adams School - 05/04/26 The Home Team Trump. Spirit Airlines and an important announcement

Summary

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Real Coffee with Scott Adams

Episode: The Scott Adams School - 05/04/26

Main Theme: The "Home Team Trump," Chaos in Transportation, and an Important Announcement

Date: May 4, 2026

Host: Scott Adams

Co-hosts: Erica, Marcella, Owen

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the Scott Adams team gathers on May 4th (“May the Fourth be with you!”) to dissect current events through Scott Adams' signature “persuasion filter.” The crew highlights bizarre happenings in air travel, animal news, and the latest polling and developments in the Iran conflict and oil market, with a particular focus on how perception and narrative shape public opinion. The show is rich with banter and sarcasm, keeping the tone conversational and lively, while examining how information is being processed by the public “as if we’re all watching two movies on one screen.” An important announcement is teased for later in the episode.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Show Start and Technical Glitches

• The episode opens with technical confusion about duplicate livestreams on Locals and Rumble, leading to playful banter about whether double the streams means double the ratings.
  • Memorable moment: “Does this give us double the ratings?” (A, 00:42)

2. Simultaneous Sip Tradition

• The team shares their customary “simultaneous sip,” poking fun at the visual effects with the hearts on screen.
  • Scott Adams: “Remember, we’re all watching two movies on one screen, so don’t be surprised if what you see is different from what other people see.” (D, 01:49)
• Marcella laughs at the confusion:
  • Marcella: “It’s just because I was like, what hearts?” (C, 02:26)

3. Animal News and RFK Jr. Sighting

• “Penguin Dog” Viral Video: Erica is delighted by a viral clip of a dog imitating a penguin’s walk.
  • Erica: “He even does the hips. I love that. Dogs are the best.” (A, 03:48)
• RFK Jr. Rescuing a Starling at Dulles Airport, sparking light-hearted suspicion:
  • B: “Let the conspiracy theories begin about what he did with the bird after.” (B, 04:31)
  • Erica: “He’s studying it, Owen. He’s studying it.” (A, 04:36)

4. United Airlines Incident – Chaos on the Jersey Turnpike

• A Delivery Truck Hit by Plane Landing Gear: Dramatic footage is described of a United Airlines 767 approaching Newark Airport, where its landing gear strikes a bakery truck on the turnpike.

  • Erica: “Can you imagine this?... Here comes the landing gear at the window. Minor injuries… the plane landed safely.” (A, 05:06-06:24)

• NTSB will investigate, and conflicting reports emerge about what exactly the plane hit (light pole, truck, or both).

  • Marcella: “There’s a Schrodinger issue, whether the airplane actually hit the delivery truck or whether it got close, but it hit the light pole, which then hit the delivery truck. So there was confusion.” (C, 07:19)

• Local Perspective: Erica explains the geography—how unusual it is for planes to fly that low over the turnpike, likening it to “St. Martin” (the Caribbean airport with famously low landings).

  • Erica: “Never in my life… have I seen planes that low… So this is weird to me.” (A, 08:03-09:17)

• Takeaway: The crew frames this as another instance of “Dilbert Filter” incompetence in transportation, setting up a later discussion of Spirit Airlines.

5. Polling on the War with Iran

• Poll Results: Owen presents new polling about public perception of the war with Iran.

  • 26% think the U.S. is not winning, 74% think the U.S. is.
  • Among political groups: 69% GOP, 19% Democrats, 22% independents think we're on the right track.
  • Owen: “74% think we are winning the war with Iran.” (B, 11:07)

• Deeper Breakdown:

  • 80% approve Trump’s ceasefire; 57% approve the Strait of Hormuz blockade.

• Discussion:

  • Erica: “It is hard to know what winning looks like too, though.” (A, 11:56)

• Owen elaborates on current strategies:

  • U.S. aims to economically “starve” Iran by stopping oil sales.
  • Iran has offered a “60-day ceasefire,” but Trump is skeptical.

6. Oil and Strait of Hormuz Developments

• California’s Oil Situation: Last tanker of Mideast oil arrives in California; speculation about high prices and supply chain. (A, 14:00)

• Project Freedom Announced:

  • Marcella details Project Freedom, a military campaign to escort ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, as announced by Trump and CENTCOM.
  • Marcella: “CENTCOM was saying that the military would help the Strait of the Hormuz be open again... There has been only two ships that...were able to cross the strait without any issue.” (C, 15:01)

• Conflicting Narratives (Two Movies Theme):

  • Iran claims to have attacked a U.S. Navy ship; CENTCOM denies.
  • Marcella: “Iran is doing this mainly for their audience... The U.S. is saying no, we control it. So we’ll see.” (C, 15:01-17:59)

7. California’s Energy Crisis & Political Satire

• Why California Gas is So Expensive:

  • Regulatory isolation, refinery shutdowns, and high taxation blamed.
  • Owen: “They’re like kind of this isolated island... in addition to all the taxes Marcella mentioned. So it's a cascading failure at this point...” (B, 18:02-18:58)

• Mocking Gavin Newsom:

  • Erica plays a clip of Newsom, poking fun at his hand gestures and rhetorical style.
    • Erica: “Maybe your president one day to determine our fading future.” (A, 19:20)
    • Marcella: “He's like, driving the car. I can’t.” (C, 19:43)
    • Erica: “I’m sure it’s some kind of Jedi mind trick he’s putting on us. He’s like, hypnotizing us right now.” (A, 20:01)

• Gas Tax Origins:

  • Marcella clarifies much of California’s gas tax was voter-approved prior to Newsom’s administration.

• Hostility of Government:

  • Owen: “I think California’s government is hostile to its citizens.” (B, 20:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Perception:
  Scott Adams (D, 01:49): “Remember, we’re all watching two movies on one screen, so don’t be surprised if what you see is different from what other people see.”

• On United Incident:
  Erica (A, 05:06): “Can you imagine this? Okay, so let me show you the video. One more time. Here comes the landing gear at the window. Minor injuries. Oh, yeah. We wouldn't have showed that if... the results weren't, like, miraculously okay.”

• On California’s Policies:
  Owen (B, 18:58): “California just is messing up everything. You want to know why California is messing up everything?”

• On Narrative Control:
  Marcella (C, 17:59): “Iran is doing this mainly for their audience… The US is saying no, we control it, so we'll see. And in between everything is we're there so there's prevention in regards to whether there’s going to be attacks... but it looks like it’s just going to be a stalemate, as always is.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–02:00 — Technical start, Simultaneous Sip
• 03:44–04:41 — Animal news (penguin dog & RFK Jr. starling rescue)
• 05:03–09:17 — United Airlines landing gear incident in New Jersey
• 10:31–14:00 — Iran war polling, public sentiment, approval of Trump’s policies
• 14:00–17:59 — Oil prices, Project Freedom, Strait of Hormuz developments
• 18:02–20:47 — California’s oil policies, refinery exodus, mocking Newsom, gas tax discussion

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Overall Tone

Conversational, sarcastic, and highly skeptical of government and media narratives—reminding listeners throughout that “we’re all watching two movies on one screen.” The hosts toggle between anecdote, data, and sharp commentary, with plenty of inside jokes for regular fans.

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Note: The important announcement teased at the outset is not detailed in the provided transcript segment.

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Transcript

[A]

Day. Morning.

[B]

Good morning, everyone.

[A]

The start of a fresh week. And I have to tell you, the locals and whoever got started early, I don't know why I'm showing two local streams up top. That's concerning.

[C]

Yeah, that's true.

[A]

And two rumble streams double the trouble.

[C]

It may the fourth be with you guys.

[A]

Oh. Let's make sure we even show up on the screen for them. Oh. Oh. Phew. Nope. Yes. Yes. Okay, that was. That was sketchy, you guys. We have quadruple going on over here.

[B]

I'm seeing someone saying there are actually two rumble streams, and someone's on both of them.

[A]

Wow. Does this give us double the ratings?

[B]

So, I don't know.

[A]

YouTube came up. All right, everybody's. Whatever platform you're watching on, hit the. Like, the subscribe. Subscribe. The notification bell, the hearts, everything. We'll see how this goes today. So off with a great start, you guys. Listen, it's a. It's a big week. I need coffee. We have a lot going on today for you. And can we all just have a sip, please? Thank you.

[D]

It's time for the simultaneous sip. And all you need is really not much. All you need is a cup or a mug or a glass, a tank or chalice or stein, a canteen, jigger, flask, a vessel of any kind. Fill it with your favorite liquid. I like coffee. And get ready for the unparalleled pleasure. The dopamine hit of the day, the thing that makes everything better. It's a beverage that is spewing hearts. I think if I've got my left and right. Correct. Hearts coming out of my cup.

[C]

Look at that.

[D]

Oh, cool illusion, huh? And get ready for the simultaneous sip. It happens. Now, I realize if you're watching this on YouTube later, where we upload it or on podcast, what I said about the cup full of hearts makes no sense in your world. But remember, we're all watching two movies on one screen, so don't be surprised if what you see is different from what other people see.

[A]

Marcella, why are you laughing?

[C]

It's just because I was like, what hearts? And I was like, oh, it must have been during that time. And then he talked about it.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

Now on replay. You wouldn't know. YouTube also has hearts, too.

[A]

Yeah, and X. But I think he. That was like Periscope. So when you tap the screen, the hearts would come out, and where his mug was positioned look like they were coming out of his mug. So he was like, oo. Fun feature. So, good morning. It is May 4, 2026. You are at the Scott Adams School. I am Erica, and I am joined by Marcella and Owen. And we have. We have a week planned for you guys, but we got to get through today first, so we're really happy to see everybody. Lots of stuff. All right, so, you guys, there was a lot of news over the weekend. I have to say we're gonna save some of it for tomorrow because there was just too much. So we had to pick which ones we wanted to go with first. But I want to thank Dawn. Dawn, you sent us a cute animal clip to scratch my itch. And I love this dog trying to walk like a penguin. So just let me start with that. Oh, my God. He's walking just like them, Copying their waddle.

[C]

I can't handle it. That's the funniest thing I've ever seen.

[A]

He even does the hips. I love that. Dogs are the best. Okay, so. Oh, and you guys, one more thing in animal news. Actually, two. One more thing in animal news. Rfkj. In perfect fashion. I. First I was like, is he pointing a gun at the camera? And then I'm like, no, it's a freaking starling bir at Dulles Airport. So he rescued a starling. Of course. Like, he just cannot help but always have an animal somewhere on him or strapped to his car or wherever. But here he is rescuing a starling at Dulles Airport. So shout out to RFKJ way.

[B]

Let the conspiracy theories begin about what he did with the bird after.

[A]

He's studying it, Owen. He's studying it.

[C]

He rescued it with his bare hands.

[A]

Yep. Nothing shady is gonna happen from there. So I'm almost done with my clips, you guys. Okay, so this is serious, and this could have been really, really, really messed up. So I'm gonna show you a still frame first. Okay, now, see the circle there?

[C]

It's a beautiful day on the road.

[A]

That. That nice man right there is delivering baked goods for a bakery. And what you see out his window is the landing gear of a United flight coming into Newark Airport going right over the turnpike. Yes, the landing gear that's about to hit the box trailer behind his cab. Can you imagine this? Okay, so let me show you the video. One more time. Here comes the landing gear at the window. Minor injuries. Oh, yeah. We wouldn't have showed that if. If the results weren't, like, miraculously. Okay, so he had minor injuries. The plane landed safely. Everybody was okay. But that was. Nick Sorter posted that one. So that was United airlines, a Boeing 767 hitting a delivery Truck on the turnpike coming into Newark and the flight and the driver, that everybody was safe and survived, but that is insanity.

[B]

What's going on in New Jersey, Erica?

[A]

Okay, you guys, New Jersey, like we need to have New Jersey week, because apparently, I was going to say our country, because this state feels like its own country sometimes is out of control. So I don't know what's going on in New Jersey. I don't know if the drones sprayed us with something, but it is a mess over here. Did you have an update on that story, Marcella?

[C]

Yeah, the, the update is that the NTSB investigators are going to be there arriving today in Newark to investigate it. There should be a report within 30 days. They wanted talk to the pilots. They want to figure out what happened. And it happened to be Flight 169 that hit the, the guy. And it also hit.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So there's a Schrodinger issue, whether the airplane actually hit the delivery truck or whether it got closed, but it hit the light pole, which then hit the delivery truck. So there was confusing.

[A]

It hit something.

[C]

It definitely got hit by something.

[A]

And when you are going down the turnpike, the Jersey Turnpike, that's my airport. I mean, the plane, I don't feel like they come in that low. What?

[C]

Let me just say this. Yeah, it's coming from Venice, Italy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What is that supposed to mean?

[A]

Yeah, I don't know.

[C]

There's a lot of wine in Venice, Italy. I'm not sure.

[A]

Yeah, but they had time to sober up with that flight, so. Oh, my God. No, but they, you know, I, I never see the planes that, that low. But lately we've seen some clips that people have posted where, where they are coming in oddly low. Maybe they're playing a game of chicken, these pilots, but it's pretty crazy.

[C]

So you're, you, you have the, you're the local reporter there, you know. So is the, is the turnpike where this happened very close to the landing area of Newark?

[A]

Well, the turnpike runs parallel to the airport, so the airport's here and the turnpike runs like this. And the Runway runs like this also. So they are parallel. But I guess they obviously have a Runway going the other way, too. But it is close. But never in my life, I mean, I've been going by that airport my entire life do I have I seen planes that low, like St. Martin landing on that island on St. Martin where they like come right over the beach. It's not like that. It's not like you're thinking, oh, let's go drive down the Turnpike and hope a plane almost hits us. So this is weird to me. So we'll see what's happening.

[B]

You know, looks like there was a Jeep that was also hit by the light pole.

[A]

Oh, yes. Well, it. Yes, the driver did have minor injuries, you guys, but the fact that they were minor injuries. I think he was cut with the glass and thank God he's okay and that everybody's okay. So, you know, that was just interesting.

[C]

So I know your. Your take was the Dilbert filter take, Erica, that it was the incompetence, right?

[A]

Well, perhaps maybe I am wonder I did post on X like, what the heck is happening? You know what? I feel like everything's the Dilbert filter right now at all times because I feel like everything's backwards. Oh, tomorrow, you guys, we're also going to talk about Spirit airlines, because how can we not? But there's a lot going on with transportation is what I just want to say. And it's incompetence, but anyway, so I'm going to move on from that story. Owen, I'm gonna let you kick us off with a story. And you guys, we also have an important update for you today and an announcement coming up. So our news segment's gonna be a little bit abbreviated and then we're gonna get into that in a bit. Okay. So, Owen, take us away.

[B]

Yeah, well, there was a poll about whether or not we're winning the war in Iran. So I, I wanted to ask the. The audience if you could, you know, if you knew the answer. The percentage about what percentage of people don't think that we're winning the war with Iran?

[C]

I wonder.

[A]

I gotta think about that. What percentage don't think we're winning the war in Iran? Oh. Oh.

[C]

We have the smartest audience in the world, you guys.

[A]

How'd you all.

[D]

Pretty close.

[B]

It's actually 26%. 26% think we're not winning the war with Iran. 74% think we are winning.

[A]

That's amazing.

[B]

So apparently there it is. You know, I think 69% of the GOP say we're on the right track with it, and 19% Democrats, 22% of independents. So a lot of differences of opinion there in terms of overall whether we're on track as a country.

[A]

Wait, oh, and who said. Who was the lowest one?

[B]

The Democrats.

[A]

Oh, duh.

[B]

Okay, yeah, 19% of Democrats think we're on the right track.

[A]

Okay. And 22% of independents. Yeah, okay.

[B]

Which, you know, I'd like that to be higher, but I guess we'll See what happens, especially after the Iran war fades into the distance, which I'm hoping it will, but, you know, keeps going, so we'll see.

[A]

It is hard to know what winning looks like too, though.

[B]

Yeah. So the same 74%. I mean, it might be a different 74%, but I'm guessing it's the same support stopping Iran's nukes and they back Israel over Hamas. So it seems like there's, you know, people are lining up on both sides that. And 80% approved the Trump cease fire and 50, 57% approved the Hormuz blockade, so.

[A]

Mm. All right. I mean, so we're in a ceasefire right now, correct?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, I think, you know, there's again, these sort of two movies on one screen, always with. With what's going on with war. I think for the. I haven't heard much about actual strikes happening or things like that. I think I did see a story about some kind of cargo ship being attacked by a small craft or something like that. So there may be a few violations here and there, but nothing big. I think there is some kind of deal that Iran put in front of the US to say, here's what we want to end this. And I think Trump's reaction at the time, I think he may have been asked about it by the press or something because his response was, we got this thing. It sounded like he was basically saying he hadn't seen it yet and he was already concluding. He's like, I doubt it's going to be acceptable. So, like, he's basically saying, I'm not really optimistic, but he'll review it. And I think Iran is asking for like a 60 day ceasefire and, you know, may or may not happen. So, you know, we'll see where it goes from here. I think from what I've heard recently out of Scott Besant and Trump and others, I think the current strategy is still to kind of starve them out economically by just not letting them sell their oil and ship their oil. So then they have to figure out where to store it and they're running out of places to store it. So I think by losing hundreds of millions of dollars every day and, you know, not being able to store their oil, hopefully the strategy, the hope, I think, with the strategy is that they would just have to make a deal because they couldn't afford not to right now.

[A]

Not to throw you off, Owen, but I did see that, or, or Marcella, if you know that the last tanker of Mideast oil just rolled into California, does that mean something for California now do we know?

[C]

I don't know. I, I don't think there's an issue with, I mean it's just overpriced, not raised. The, the over well price went, went, went higher on WTI the oil. But I would have to discuss the new update on Iran because there's new updates for the straight of Hormuz, which is why that went up. But in regards to California, the main reason is Gavin Newsome and the Democrats. I mean the taxation on it. But I, I don't know, it's just going to cost more expense. But we have Texas, we have other places to get the, the oil from because it's going to be more expensive.

[A]

Did you want to give us that update?

[C]

Oh yes, I do. President so there's, there's Project Freedom now. It's another band name. I love how they play their, their drums. Project Freedom. So Project Freedom. President Trump posted yesterday about Project Freedom CENTCOM posted yesterday about Project Freedom would be starting today on May 4th. And the basically it's they had differences of opinion. CENTCOM and President Trump. President Trump was talking about any Strait of Hormuz. Project Freedom is regarding the Strait of Hormuz and being able to get ships that are stranded there out of the Strait of Hormuz and being able to guide them with our help. But centcom, the way they put out their story was a little more expansive where they CENTCOM was saying that they would, that the, that the military would help the Strait of the Hormuz be open again. So basically guiding all ships from there. There has been only two ships that have CENTCOM this morning about six in the morning just put out another post saying that two ships were able to cross the strait without any issue. This has caused the due to the fact that there's all this issue. Iran is saying that having naval ships in the Strait of her Humus is basically tantamount to basically violating the ceasefire. So they want to attack. They also claim Iran also claimed that they attacked U.S. navy vessel, but the Cent Comp then rejected that and said no, no ships were struck. Again, like Oan was saying, two movies on one screen. Iran is doing this mainly for their audience saying oh, we attacked a navy ship. We're oh, oh we're in control of the straight of our moose like we control it. That's how they talk. Right. And, and the US Is saying no, we control it so we'll see. And in between everything is we're there so there's prevention in regards to whether there's going to be attacks between Iran and the US but it looks like it's just going to be a, you know, stalemate, as always is. But they were. It basically doesn't. Doesn't sound good for the oil prices at this time, but we'll see.

[A]

Okay, did you want to add on to that, Owen, or is that the choice?

[B]

Well, I would just say that I think the California situation is partly due to their policies about refining oil. And, you know, they're against pipelines, and so they don't have any pipelines to get their oil domestically. So they're like kind of this isolated island where they have to refine their oil a different way because they have all these regulations about what the mixture needs to look like, and that makes it a lot more expensive in addition to all the taxes Marcella mentioned. So it's a cascading failure at this point that they were kind of dependent on all this stuff that they've outsourced in terms of where their oil comes from. They import a lot more oil than other states do, and they have these special refineries. And a lot of the refiners are actually leaving California because they just say, we can't. We're not going to do this anymore. And so they've lost something like 18% of their refining capacity over the last year or so. And so I think they're just going downhill in terms of their energy, that they are going to have really expensive gas and a lot more expensive than the rest of the country.

[A]

California just is messing up everything. You want to know why California is messing up everything? And only because. Only because it was like you said Beetlejuice, you said Newsom, so you brought up his name, Marcella. And I'm just going to show you the. This is, this is your governor, California and maybe your president one day determine our fading future.

[B]

That fundamental notion of agency I think is important more broadly, and I think that goes to some of the issues on the right. Determine our fading future. Fundamental notion of agency, I think is important.

[C]

God, imagine I have hand motions, too, but maybe I need.

[A]

They make sense.

[C]

My hand motions.

[A]

Like, I can't with him.

[C]

It's a California hand motion thing.

[A]

He's like, driving the car. I can't. Okay. So anyway, it's. I'm sure it's some kind of like, Jedi mind trick. I mean, putting on us. He's like, hypnotizing us right now.

[C]

In his defense, the reason California have. Has this gas tax and additional gas tank over the gas tax is because of the California voter because we had. We have in the law that any taxes must be passed by propositions through California voting. And so, yeah, they voted for it. So it was. It was like before Newsom. But I think he also did some so.

[B]

So Newsom is blaming the voters?

[C]

No, I'm not saying he's blaming the voters. I'm just clarifying that Californians voted for this.

[B]

I mean, I'll just say what I've said many times before. I think California's government is hostile to its citizens.