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- [00:00]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
This show is sponsored by Progressive Insurance. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to progressive.com, answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back progress. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12 month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary.
- [00:41]
John Karl
Breaking news overnight, the war in Iran takes a dark turn with the first US Combat deaths in four months. This week starts right now. Major escalation. Stunning video circulating online appears to show the strikes that killed two American service members in Jordan, with another still missing. And as the conflict escalates in the Middle east, concern about rising energy prices here at home. When will it end? How will Trump retaliate? His energy secretary joins us live. The 2020 election obsession. If there can be no trust, there can be no greatness. Even some republic Republicans are saying it's time for Trump to move on.
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Bill Maher
We have 109 days until the midterm elections.
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John Karl
And I don't understand talking about what
- [01:39]
Bill Maher
happened six years ago.
- [01:40]
John Karl
We should be talking about what matters to the people around the kitchen table. We'll talk to Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. And a comedy star wins a big honor. It seems like it's like the Nobel Prize for comedy.
- [01:56]
Bill Maher
There's not many for this particular brand of show business. So I was very grateful.
- [02:02]
John Karl
We'll go inside Bill Maher's podcast studio to talk to him about his relationship with President Trump and the state of American politics. Could you see yourself voting for J.D.
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Aaron Katersky
mince?
- [02:14]
Bill Maher
Yes. If this is the Democratic side, yes.
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Aaron Katersky
From ABC News, it's THIS week Here now, Jonathan Karl.
- [02:27]
John Karl
Good morning. Welcome to THIS week. We want to get right to that sad news out of the Middle East. The first American combat deaths since the opening days of the war more than four months ago. Two US Service members were killed at a base in Jordan. Another one is missing and several more were injured. Overnight, US Forces responded with another round of airstrikes on Iran. So let's get right to senior White House correspondent Rachel Scott. Rachel, what are you learning this morning?
- [02:56]
Rachel Scott
Yeah, John. Well, this is the first time that US Soldiers have been killed in this conflict since that agreement between the US And Iran fell apart weeks ago. We're learning this morning that those two U.S. service members were killed after Iran bombarded a military base in Jordan where US Forces had been stationed. And as you mentioned, one remains missing at this hour. This video circulating from the base. On the day of that attack, four other service members were injured and taken to hospitals in Jordan. They have since been discharged. So far, 16American troops have died in this war with Iran. Four troops have been wounded so far. The president just weeks ago was optimistic about an end to the war, but the US Struck Iran once again overnight. And he said just a few days ago, Iran wanted to make a deal. But it is clear these diplomatic talks have severely stalled. And now, 140 days into this war, there's no end in sight.
- [03:47]
John Karl
The video of that attack is alarming. How is the president reacting?
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Rachel Scott
Well, President Trump called the deaths a shame. He called it very sad. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the loss of US Soldiers only stiffens resolved. But the question now for the president is how much does this change the strategy ahead, especially after he promised his conflict would be brief. He campaigned on keeping America out of foreign wars. But does this lead now to a much wider conflict?
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John Karl
John, our thanks to Rachel. Energy Secretary Chris Wright joins us now. Secretary Wright, thank you for being here. We saw US Forces struck Iran for the eighth night in a row last night. Is the president planning any further retaliation for the killing of those two US Service members?
- [04:33]
Energy Secretary Chris Wright
Yeah. Look, the president's mission is essential for peace in the Middle east and peace in the world, and that is to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons and to degrade their ability to terrorize their neighbors and the world and global commerce. So, yes, this mission will go on until the mission is done.
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John Karl
But I'm asking you, does he plan retaliation for the killing of those US Service members?
- [04:59]
Energy Secretary Chris Wright
It's tragic to lose American lives, but this is a mission that will save countless lives going forward. His focus is on degrading the Iranian ability to terrorize the world, to hold world commerce hostage, as they are doing right now, and to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. That is unchanged.
- [05:19]
John Karl
You were on this show back in March, and I want to play something of what you said about how long this war would last.
- [05:27]
Energy Secretary Chris Wright
I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks. Could be sooner than that.
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John Karl
So you said it would certainly come to an end within a few weeks. We are now nearly five months into this war. How does it end? When does it end?
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright
Well, the plan we needed four to six weeks for military actions. They went for five and a half weeks. We did a pause to try to get an agreement with the Iranian people to allow oil to flow without them attacking it. They've proven unwilling to do that and we've pivoted. Now what we're doing is assuring that oil and gas and other products can flow through the Strait of Hormuz with or without Iranian cooperation. And we've continued to degrade their offensive military capabilities. The President is always looking for the diplomatic off ramp. President Trump wants to end it with a peaceful agreement with Iran, but it takes two parties to do that. If they're ready to do that, that's the way it'll end. If not, we will continue to assure flow of traffic through the strait without Iran's cooperation.
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John Karl
But we're not seeing flow now, right? I mean, hasn't flow of traffic through this trade of Hormuz effectively stopped over the past few days?
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright
Oh, absolutely not. Absolutely not. I get the data on that every day. The seven day trailing average right now is just under 7 million barrels a day flowing through the waterway and just under 7 million barrels a day additional flow through the bypass pipelines. So we're at a little under 14 million barrels a day from the Arabian Gulf region. That's two thirds of pre conflict traffic. Dramatically up from where we were back in March when I was last on your show. Not 100% yet, but 2/3 of flow right now.
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John Karl
And that's over the past few days. When's that average? What we saw the numbers from Thursday were simply eight ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. That's far below.
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright
So almost all the public, almost all the public data I've seen is incorrect. There's flow through two routes through the Strait of Hormuz. There's up near the Iranian islands that flow complicit with Iran, but that's not nothing. And then there's flow through the southern route that's protected by American infrastructure. And we count the volume of oil that goes through the ship. Numbers are down more dramatically. But of course, we're flowing larger tankers now to keep the world markets as well supplied as we can. Gasoline prices today are more than a dollar a gallon cheaper than they were four years ago under the Biden administration. And we'll do everything we can to drive them further down in the weeks and months ahead.
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John Karl
And we've seen over the, over the past week the price of oil go up. The price of gas go up. The Iranian IRGC is now saying that if the US Strikes continue, the they will go to what they are calling full scale assault and annihilation and try to smash infrastructure, specifically energy infrastructure in the region. What are they capable of doing? And what are the implications for the price of oil and the price of gas?
- [08:43]
Energy Secretary Chris Wright
Well, clearly, as we've seen, decades of focusing their entire economy on armament has made a very prickly Iran. They've continued to attack their neighbors shamelessly, civilian targets, at least as much as military targets. We don't have any reason to believe they will stop that. But we are continuing to shrink their ability to execute those attacks. And we are doing this in coordination and in partnership with all their neighbor countries that they are assaulting.
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John Karl
Okay, Mr. Schwer, while I've got you here, a different topic. The president made it clear this week that he views election security as a top domestic priority. Yet we saw his budget has cut CISA, the cybersecurity agency, by $700 million. If he's so concerned about possible foreign interference in our elections, why does his budget cut the agency that would be charged with preventing that?
- [09:47]
Energy Secretary Chris Wright
Well, look, there's many cybersecurity agencies across the government. We meet regularly on that topic, and our efforts have done nothing but ramp up. Sure, they've gotten more sophisticated and a different focus of them, but I wouldn't look at the inputs, the money spent. I'd look at the outputs, the quality of United States cybersecurity that's never been higher than where it is right now under President Trump.
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John Karl
Never been higher. And you're including election security in that?
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright
Across the board, we are looking at cybersecurity from threats from adversaries. I've not been involved in the election efforts, so I can't comment on them. But obviously, having trust in American systems of government and keeping our nation secure is top priority for the Trump administration.
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John Karl
One last question before you go. Really simple one. Did Joe Biden win the 2020 presidential election?
- [10:45]
Energy Secretary Chris Wright
He was president for four years, clearly.
- [10:47]
John Karl
So he clearly won the election.
- [10:52]
Energy Secretary Chris Wright
Look, I'm not an election evaluator, but it sure seems to me like he did.
- [10:55]
John Karl
Okay, Secretary Wright, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright
Thank you.
- [11:03]
John Karl
As the war with Iran escalated this week, President Trump chose to address the nation Thursday night in primetime on an entirely different subject. He issued an alarming warning about what he called the, quote, shocking vulnerabilities in our election systems. He zeroed in, in particular, on the one presidential election that he lost, 2020, and he declassified A trove of intelligence documents he claimed, proved that foreign powers, particularly China, had meddled in that election. Much has already been said by intelligence experts and by prominent figures in both parties about how the President made unfounded and reckless alle without evidence, and about how the documents he released revealed little new information about election vulnerabilities. So let me take a moment instead to point out some of what those documents actually did reveal. For one, even as President Trump tried to alarm the country about foreign interference in the way we count our votes, the documents released showed very nearly the opposite. One of them, an intelligence assessment issued while he was president in January of 2020, says America's election system, quote, would be difficult to manipulate on a wide enough scale to alter the election outcome. And while he warned again and again about China, the documents that he himself declassified showed that the only country actually observed attempting to target, access or manipulate election related systems was Russia, a country he referred to only in passing in. In his roughly 25 minute speech. As for China, he told us it had pulled off, in his words, the largest compromise of election data in history, the illicit acquisition of 220 million American voter files, which he called an unprecedented election security nightmare. But buried in the very documents that President Trump released is the fact that that the information was, quote, publicly available for download from commercial websites. It doesn't need to be hacked or stolen. It's data that can be legally bought, the kind that political campaigns purchase all the time. And the Chinese obtained that data in 2022, after the election the President claims was rigged. But the single most significant thing to me in all of these documents that the President declassified Thursday night was an intelligence assessment warning that one of the most damaging things that a foreign power could do is not to hack a voting machine, but to convince Americans that they had done that. As one of the documents Trump declassified warned, adversaries could make wholly fabricated claims that they have compromised all US Voting machines. And those claims could introduce public doubts about the validity of the election and undercut public confidence in the election. Think about that. The intelligence community and the very documents that Trump himself declassified assessed that one of the most damaging things a foreign adversary could do would be to falsely convince the American people that their elections had been rigged. And here's the irony. The person who has attempted to do exactly that over and over again for nearly six years, and most dramatically on Thursday night is Donald Trump, who, against the very evidence that he himself presented, tried to tell millions of Americans that foreign powers had corrupted an election. Specifically, the One election he lost. And I'm joined now by Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. So I want to get to all of that with you. But first, the situation in Iran. We've seen two American service members killed by Iranian missile, presumably. What should the President do to respond to that?
- [15:16]
Senator Mark Warner
Well, first of all, I join with all Americans and condolences to these soldiers. Remember, as we think about this five month war, this is a war of choice. As a member of the Gang of Eight, there was no imminent threat from Iran against America. So Donald Trump chose to go to war. It took him two weeks to lay out what he thought his goals were going to be. Let's go through those. Regime change. How are we doing there? We got a worse crowd than before. Getting the enriched uranium? Well, it's still there. Matter of fact, it would take a minimum of 15,000 troops on the ground for a week to try to take these canisters, which are quite volatile, out of their bunkers. Getting rid of Iran's missile and drone capability. Obviously, we've not been successful there. And the thing, John, that makes me completely crazy is Iran has both missiles and they also have lots and lots of $50,000 drones that are very effective. We are using missiles that cost $2.5 million to shoot down those drones. Those drones, President Zelensky, the only country that has devised a technique of counter Iranian drones at $5,000. They've done it so effectively, they offered us all of that technology for free. And the Trump White House basically said to the Ukrainians, thanks, but no thanks. So we are behind on that as well. And then finally, on the Strait of Hormuz, I don't know what gas station the Secretary's going to, but before the war, average price of gasoline in Virginia was $2.81. It is now back to $4. Diesel's at $5. You know, I see no path in the short term how this strait is going to be settled. This war of choice has been a disaster. It has been a disaster militarily, it has been a disaster in terms of how we're viewed around the world. It has been a disaster to our friends and the allies who question whether we will keep our promises. I'm anxious if it takes a classic Donald Trump move, declare victory tomorrow and be done. But the continuation of this war at this pace will be a continuing disaster.
- [17:28]
John Karl
But you have a situation where the Iranians are firing missiles at ships going through the strait. They're attacking US Bases in the region. I mean, the United States could walk away. The President could declare victory and leave. But the Iranian. How do you stop what the Iranians are doing? Well, I mean, how do you end it?
- [17:45]
Senator Mark Warner
In a normal process, you would have had a diplomacy negotiated by diplomats who actually knew what they were doing. There was a reason. It took years with people with great expertise to negotiate what now suddenly looks pretty damn good. What was called the jcpoa, that allowed us to have years, that was under Obama, years to get there. The Iranians give them credit. They know about enriched uranium. They know about nuclear. They have send great negotiators, but we're not going to. I do not believe anyone thinks that we're going to bomb Iran into submission. And I sure as heck do not believe that short of troops on the ground, that there's any meaningful path to get out that enriched uranium.
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John Karl
Do you agree with your colleague, Senator Ed Markey, who is calling for cutting off all funding to the war? Would that be a mistake? I mean, we have troops in the region.
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Senator Mark Warner
We have troops in the region. I would say this. The Defense Department will ask for additional funds and we are running down some of our supplies. My response to that is there is $89 billion of money that DOD is sitting on that has not been allocated to specific programs. There are shortages in the region. DOD use that money first to replenish our supplies. And if the President wants to continue this war, come to Congress, make his case to the American people and to Congress rather than continue what I think now is frankly an illegal action because he never went through that process.
- [19:17]
John Karl
Let me turn to the election comment. The comments the President made about the election security. First of all, you're on the. You're the vice chair of the Intel Committee. Was there anything new in what he released?
- [19:28]
Senator Mark Warner
I've been chair or vice chair for the last decade. There's probably no issue. I've been more obsessed about going all the way back to the Russia campaign. Russia is very good at influencing our elections. They have been far and away the most prominent player, usually on behalf of Trump. Iran has been very active as well, usually against Trump. North Korea has been active. China's got the capabilities, but they've been less about which candidate and more like, can we just make Americans lose confidence?
- [19:59]
John Karl
And the 220 million voter files. Is there any concern there?
- [20:02]
Senator Mark Warner
I mean, well, listen, I'm much more concerned about the fact that the Chinese hacked into the OPM data a number of years back and have got personal information about government on the federal government. I'm more concerned about the fact they packed into many insurance companies and have got personal information about all of us. They have incredible data capabilities. And again, the secretary, respectfully, our cybersecurity activity is sisy. It works with the private sector. He's cut it like mad. We have another part of election security and remarkably, John, a lot of this election security apparatus was set up, done under President Trump's first term. They did a good job. Yeah, there was something called the Elections Assistance Commission. It is, nobody knows about it, but it works with local registrars, state registrars, making sure we vet voting machines. Recently, Trump fired all the senior leadership, made the Republican quit, fired the Democrats. You know, this guy is not looking for a secure election because if we have a free and fair election, he and his allies are going to get beat historically this fall.
- [21:05]
John Karl
Now, I understand that you and I think every other Democrat opposed this so called Save America act, and there's a lot of reasons that you've put forward. But let me ask you very narrowly on the issue of photo id, requiring photo ID to register, to vote, to vote. Is this something that Democrats should get behind?
- [21:25]
Senator Mark Warner
We have very.
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John Karl
80 some percent of Americans, 71% of Democrats say they favor this.
- [21:31]
Senator Mark Warner
You know what, in Virginia we have voter ID and photo id. I gotta show my.
- [21:36]
John Karl
That's actually not the case. I mean, I'm a Virginia voter. You don't need to show a photo id. In Virginia there are a wide range of things you can show for id. And if you don't show one of those, you can sign an affidavit saying sign an affidavit. So it's not required.
- [21:50]
Senator Mark Warner
Those become ballots that if you want to contest later can be contested. But you are have, you do have a variety of documents. But we have voter ID of one form or another.
- [22:04]
John Karl
Should that be a national standard? You have to show an id.
- [22:10]
Senator Mark Warner
The irony here will be the case. If you can show any photo that is government stamped would be fine. Certain states will say we're going to let you show your NRA gun license, but you can't show your student ID. If you're going to have a set of IDs, let's have it across the board as long as it comes from some official point. But this is not about voter id. The SAVE act is about voter disenfranchisement. The SAVE act is going to take anybody that changed their name when they got married. They don't get to vote unless they can go back and find.
- [22:45]
John Karl
And if you don't have an id, if you don't have your passport.
- [22:48]
Senator Mark Warner
But John, just stay on this for a minute. Lisa Murkowski, a host of Republicans don't want the SAVE act because they know it's anti voter. The folks who have mail in voting. Utah's as Republican a state as anyone. They've done mail in voting for decades. Donald Trump wants to decrease voter participation and undermine confidence in our system.
- [23:09]
John Karl
We're out of time. Before you go though, you're going to vote for Jay Clayton to be the Director of National Intelligence.
- [23:14]
Senator Mark Warner
I've known Jay for a long time. I like him. But after his performance before my committee, his inability to answer the question about who won the 2020 election, or commenting on Gabbard's the previous DNI's effort to interfere in the Fulton county elections,
- [23:34]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
I
- [23:34]
Senator Mark Warner
am not going to vote for him
- [23:36]
John Karl
now if he doesn't get confirmed. Bill Pulte remains the head of the
- [23:40]
Senator Mark Warner
that is a rock and a hard place. But I think Jay Clayton will get confirmed and God willing, I hope the guy that becomes DNI is the guy that I've known and liked and worked with.
- [23:51]
John Karl
All right, Mark Warner, thank you very much for being here. Up next, President Trump's teleprompter operator was caught allegedly cashing in on his speeches back in March, but he wasn't taken off the job until ABC News broke the story this week. More on that when we get back.
- [24:11]
Quince Sponsor Announcer
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- [25:07]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
Quints.com thisweek this show is sponsored by Progressive Insurance. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to progressive.com, answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates national average 12 month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary.
- [25:49]
John Karl
Now to the latest on alleged conflicts of interest in the Trump White House. As the president's Truth social platform is looking to sell early access to his social media posts and his teleprompter operator allegedly cashes in on his inside knowledge of the president's speeches, here's our chief investigative correspondent, Aaron Katersky.
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Aaron Katersky
A President's words can move markets, and the president is now moving to monetize his words. His financial disclosure released earlier this month showed President Trump, America's dealmaker in chief, has already made more than $2 billion since returning to office.
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John Karl
You know why I'm profiting? Because the stock market's going up. Everybody's profiting.
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Aaron Katersky
This week, he found a path to another potential White House windfall. His social company said it will begin selling instant access to posts from top accounts on Truth Social, where Trump regularly announces policy moves, military actions, personnel choices and other consequential decisions.
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John Karl
This is the president saying, give me a cut and I'll give you the opportunity to make money off my statements, just as I make money off my own statements.
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Aaron Katersky
The president's financial advisers have traded stock on his behalf, investing in companies whose share prices are impacted by those social media posts.
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John Karl
I don't get involved in my personal we have funds that run my money.
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Aaron Katersky
During his first year back in the White House, Trump's annual financial report showed his money managers made more than 21,000 securities trades, growing his accounts to more than $850 million with stakes in 1600 companies, some of them directly involved in deals tied to his administration. In this post, he praised Elon Musk and reassured the public that Musk's companies would continue getting large scale subsidies from the government. At the time, no one knew his investment advisors one day prior purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Tesla stock. And when Trump posted about the very big and exciting news that computer chip maker Nvidia would build AI supercomputers in the US he did not disclose his advisors had purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars of Nvidia stock days before. The White House has repeatedly denied financial wrongdoing and says the president only acts in the best interests of the American public. This week, in a story first reported by ABC News, it was someone working for Trump allegedly trying to profit from the presidency.
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Senator Mark Warner
I have a guy, Gabe, he's excellent.
- [28:13]
John Karl
I've had some real bad ones, but
- [28:14]
Aaron Katersky
I have Gabe as Trump's teleprompter operator since 2016, Gabriel Perez was the man who knew what Trump would say before he said it, sources told ABC News. He used his inside knowledge to bet on the contents of Trump's speeches, winning tens of thousands of dollars on the prediction market.
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John Karl
Kalshee My fellow Americans, our nation is back.
- [28:36]
Aaron Katersky
Peres was there for the State of the Union.
- [28:38]
John Karl
You know, religion's back now hotter than ever before.
- [28:41]
Aaron Katersky
The National Prayer Breakfast.
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John Karl
The USA is the economic engine on
- [28:45]
Aaron Katersky
the planet and the World Economic Forum for those speeches and more, the sources said. Paris took advantage of his unique insight into Trump's remarks on Kalshee's mentions market, where users bet on whether certain words and phrases will be uttered. Over a three month period beginning last December, sources said Perez traded on more than a dozen of the president's speeches and won more than $100,000, sometimes backing out of bets mid speech if Trump skipped certain words.
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John Karl
You know when you go up here you take a big chance, especially me because I go off teleprompter about 80% of the time.
- [29:17]
Aaron Katersky
Kalshee said its own surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is responsible for regulating prediction markets. What's at stake in this room?
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John Karl
The integrity of our markets?
- [29:31]
Aaron Katersky
Kalshi prohibits users from trading on confidential information obtained at work, as the company told us back in May when we visited the room where it investigates suspicious trades.
- [29:41]
John Karl
So if you have information by virtue of your job or your employment, something that you have a legal duty surrounding and you have an obligation not to take that, misappropriate it for yourself, sources said.
- [29:51]
Aaron Katersky
Perez made its last trade in March. Later that same month, the White House issued an internal memo warning staff not to use non public information to place bets on prediction markets.
- [30:02]
Sarah Isgur
There are very strict ethical guidelines here at the White House that explicitly state not to do this, sources said.
- [30:08]
Aaron Katersky
Perez is in talks now with the CFTC to settle the allegations, which could force him to give back the profits from his bets. The White House said President Trump put Perez on indefinite leave for taking advantage of his position.
- [30:20]
Sarah Isgur
He believes it's deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.
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John Karl
While the White House called the teleprompter operator's alleged actions a disgrace, he was caught back in March and continued to work operating the president's teleprompter until this week. Only put on leave after ABC News broke the story. Coming up, two Republicans who could derail Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general. The roundtable is next. The roundtable is all here. Former DNC chair Donna Brazile, notice political columnist Dana Milbank, SCOTUS blog editor Sarah Isger, and National Review editor Ramesh Panuru. So, Ramesh, President Trump sure seemed like he wanted to end the war with Iran, but the Iranians weren't going to go along with it.
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Ramesh Ponnuru
This administration started this war with a strategy of wishful thinking, and it has turned out to be harder to get out of a war than to get into one. Part of the problem is the bad faith of the Iranian negotiators. But another problem is the gap between the administration's claims that it won the war and the reality that it didn't. And it's hard to bridge that gap in order to bridge the gap between Iran and the US at the same time.
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John Karl
Yeah, it wasn't long ago, I think it was about a month ago, that J.D. vance, the vice president, was talking about how Iran had turned over a new leaf. I think was the phrase, I want to play something that he said this week to Joe Rogan as part of a three hour interview. Take a listen to this. You have seen this very discreet, extremely well funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal. There are some people within their system we know beyond a shadow of a doubt who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely. Now, here's the thing. He wasn't talking about the Iranians. He was talking about the Israelis. So, Sarah, the vice president making the case that it was the Israelis that were trying to tank his peace talks. Was it the Israelis or was it the Iranians? What?
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Sarah Isgur
This is JD Vance's 2028 campaign finding itself between Iraq and a hard place where J.D. vance is supposed to be the isolationist, no more wars candidate. He is the vice president for a president who now quite clearly started a war of choice and can't get out of it. And so JD Vance is going to have to come up with what his message is going to be, I mean, as soon as, after the midterms, Donald Trump is now going to be sort of shuffled off to the side as we look at 2028 and who those nominees are going to be. JD Vance is in a rough spot, Donna.
- [33:05]
Donna Brazile
The political stakes could not be higher. Look, we just lost two more American service members, one missing, and hopefully that service member could be found and alive. This has cost the American people over $1,300 since the war started. The MOU is less than 30 days old. The administration still has no strategy, no plan. And when they signed the documents, there were so many holes in it. We knew that the Iranians would figure out a way to violate whatever they put in writing. The strait was never fully reopened. And you have an administration that now their only strategy is just to keep bombing the hell out of Iran. When will it end? We don't know. What's the strategy? We don't know.
- [33:50]
Dana Milbank
The Vance remarks were particularly important, I think, because, I mean, I think what we're seeing right now is the crackup of the 80 year US Israel alliance there. We saw it on the left this week. Half of the Democratic Party in the House voted to cut off military aid to Israel. You had 40 Democratic senators earlier on a similar piece of legislation. But we're also seeing it, you know, the MAGA coalition, the young evangelical Christians no longer supportive of Israel. So Bibi Netanyahu, AIPAC made this big beta that this coalition went right and it seems to have disappeared. Israel has elections October 27. If Bibi's returned, I think that's a. I think that's pretty much the end.
- [34:36]
Ramesh Ponnuru
What's going on in each party is linked in this way. The Republicans can distance themselves from Israel because the Democrats are sprinting away from Israel. So if you're a pro Israel voter and you don't like what Vice President Vance is saying, what's your alternative? A Democratic Party that is moving further and further away.
- [34:54]
John Karl
I mean, you have Mamdani this week suggesting that he may in fact try to arrest Bibi Netanyahu when he shows up in New York for the UN General assembly in September. And J.D. vance saying that Epstein, he believes, had connections to senior levels of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence.
- [35:12]
Sarah Isgur
And not surprising that we're seeing anti Semitism rise as well, not just here in the US but globally. These are trends that we are seeing in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis that again, are not Trump specific. They are international and that is populism on the rise, anger, political violence and Anti Semitism being a big part of that as well.
- [35:32]
John Karl
I want to turn to another big thing that happened this week. That was the Todd Blanche confirmation hearing. He was asked a very simple question by a friendly senator and seemed to have a bit of a Freudian slip. Take a listen.
- [35:45]
Senator Mark Warner
Are you and President Trump friends?
- [35:48]
John Karl
I'm his lawyer. Was his lawyer and now I'm the deputy Attorney general.
- [35:54]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
How did he do?
- [35:56]
Dana Milbank
I think he was right the first time. He didn't do well. But does it matter at all? He is almost certainly going to be confirmed. We saw Thom Tillis already heading in that direction. John Cornyn certainly if past his prologue will cave on this as well.
- [36:15]
John Karl
Unclear. Sarah, you have an insight into this. Is Cornyn going to vote against him?
- [36:20]
Sarah Isgur
I think he probably will. What's funny is this vote doesn't matter. But that cuts both ways, right? He is the acting Attorney General and will remain so whether he is confirmed or not.
- [36:29]
John Karl
You mean the overall confirmation vote. If he doesn't get confirmed, he remains
- [36:32]
Sarah Isgur
acting as a general, still acting attorney General. And so on the one hand, John Cornyn voting no would be a big shot over the bow to Donald Trump, but it wouldn't change the facts on the ground at the Department of Justice. Voting yes wouldn't send a message to Donald Trump, but it also won't change the facts on the ground for the Department of Justice. In the end, I think John Cornyn will decide that this is better than what the alternative could be and probably vote yes.
- [36:57]
John Karl
And Tillis made him sit down with meet with Epstein victims. That didn't seem to go very well.
- [37:04]
Donna Brazile
No.
- [37:05]
Ramesh Ponnuru
But it seems to me that Senator Tillis was trying to create a test that the nominee could easily pass, which is just have the meeting in the first place.
- [37:15]
Donna Brazile
I think we should look at his records. I mean we should look at the way he has conducted himself over the last few months being the president. You know, go to guy for weaponization, for going after the President perceived enemies for the $1.8 billion anti weaponization fund, the IRS settlement. There's so many things to litigate when it comes to Ty Blanche. I hope the Senate reject this nomination.
- [37:41]
Bill Maher
All right.
- [37:41]
John Karl
I promised you I was going to show you what the Blue Angels commander said about that flyover that was praised by Secretary Hegseth. Take a listen.
- [37:51]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
The pilot found himself unfortunately in a
- [37:52]
Aaron Katersky
situation that we would deem unsafe over the beach. We never intend to fly over the crowd that low.
- [38:01]
John Karl
He said it was unsafe so that they would never do it again.
- [38:05]
Donna Brazile
It was below the standards that they have. Look, my uncle.
- [38:08]
John Karl
But this was praised by the Defense Secretary. So who's right, Donna? The commander of the Blue Angels or the Defense Secretary?
- [38:17]
Donna Brazile
Look, I love my Uncle Johnny. He's a second generation Tuskegee airman. And whenever I think about the military, especially Air Force, I consult him because he knows. He said, this is A F A 18 Super Hornet. It flew lower than the team standard demonstration, you know, profile. So congratulations on the 80th anniversary to the Blue Angels. But the. So this was a.
- [38:40]
Dana Milbank
No.
- [38:41]
Donna Brazile
No.
- [38:41]
Dana Milbank
Well, Pete Hegses wants to make sure everybody gets tested for testosterone. But it seems to me the problem may be that he has too much testosterone going on right now. And as you know, a little bit too much of that can, I don't
- [38:55]
John Karl
know, as you personally know, it can
- [38:58]
Dana Milbank
make you extra aggressive and it can blur your vision just a little bit. It wasn't just him. Hung cow. Naval secretary said, no reprimand, no firings, no problem. So it does seem to be this sort of chest thumping part of the military that we're seeing here.
- [39:15]
John Karl
By the way, before we were you surprised either one of you about the teleprompter operator?
- [39:22]
Sarah Isgur
So I actually think, you know, in that piece by Erin Katerski, we should separate this into two different buckets. Trump's stock trades and Trump's team stock trades are grift and would be the biggest news story in America 20 years ago. The teleprompter thing actually seems more like a story about the potential for these betting markets to have a temptation power over public officials across the board. Across the board. I think this could have happened in any administration. And it's something again, we shouldn't look at as a Trump corruption problem. We should look at it as a what are we doing about betting corruption?
- [39:55]
Ramesh Ponnuru
You're the teleprompter operator. This White House, and you're looking at the president enriching himself. You're looking at the president's family enriching himself. I think it would be hard to tell yourself it would be ethically wrong for me to exploit my power and make some money off it. Everybody else around me is.
- [40:11]
John Karl
Does it make you wonder how many other federal employees are thinking the same thing? No.
- [40:18]
Donna Brazile
As a former federal employee, this is opening up a new chapter on corruption. It never ends. I mean, the insider trading, you know, the. I'm going to appear with the Tesla guy tomorrow, but today, you know, I'll get a couple of trades.
- [40:32]
Dana Milbank
But you can picture the guy's thought process as Ramesh was saying, President made $2 billion last year.
- [40:38]
Energy Secretary Chris Wright
I just want 100,000.
- [40:39]
Donna Brazile
What's wrong? Some change, huh? While the American people are suffering.
- [40:45]
John Karl
Unbelievable. All right, we've got to take a quick break. Up next, a candid conversation with Bill Maher about his dinner with Trump and who he thinks should win the midterms.
- [40:59]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home in auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. This show is sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Insurance isn't one size fits all. That's why drivers have enjoyed Progressive's name your price Tool for years. Now, with the name youe Price Tool, you tell them what you want to pay and they'll show you options that fit your budget. So whether you're picking out your first policy or just looking for something that works better for you and your family, they make it easy to see your options. Visit progressive.com to find a rate that works for you with the name your price tool. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law.
- [41:50]
John Karl
Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher has shown a willingness to call out hypocrisy on both sides of the aisle. He was recently awarded the nation's highest honor for comedy, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center. I talked with Maher this week at his home in Los Angeles. Well, congratulations on winning the Mark Twain Award.
- [42:10]
Bill Maher
Thank you.
- [42:11]
John Karl
It seems like it's like the Nobel Prize for comedy.
- [42:13]
Bill Maher
There aren't a lot of awards for comedy and it's pretty overlooked, like in movies. But for what I do, it's, yes, the award, I think to get. And again, there's not many for this particular brand of show business. So I was very grateful.
- [42:34]
John Karl
Now, the White House reaction to the news that you were getting this award was really something. I mean, I want to read it.
- [42:41]
Dana Milbank
Exactly.
- [42:42]
John Karl
Caroline Levitt, the press secretary. This is fake news. Bill Maher is not getting this award. Steve Chung, the comms director, literally fake news. What was going on with that?
- [42:53]
Bill Maher
I don't know, but it was lovely to see him at the awards.
- [42:56]
John Karl
I mean, it's not the first time, actually.
- [42:57]
Bill Maher
There were a lot of Trump people, you know, people of the administration. Pam Bondi came, you know, and I'm glad. But it was not a conservative crowd. It was a mixed crowd, and they both liked me. So to me, that was like, there, Boom. That's what I've been doing.
- [43:19]
John Karl
But what do you think was going on? Because he. Control. He's the chairman of the Kennedy Center. It was the board that chose you.
- [43:26]
Bill Maher
He was just mad at me because I went to his house for dinner with no guarantee that I would leave a guarantee. It was never in the cards, but I was ever gonna come over to his side. But, you know, it was set up as. Rather than just screaming at each other all these insults. You know, the first thing I did that you saw on the special, the page that he signed with the 56 different things he's called me. I love stuff like that. You know, it's better to just talk and go through this, but, you know, I mean, those people, they really have no argument for not doing it.
- [44:00]
John Karl
Maher faced backlash after he Talked about that March 2025 dinner at the White House on his HBO show.
- [44:08]
Bill Maher
So meet up in person. Maybe it'll be different. Spoiler alert. It was. I reported honestly that, no, it wasn't a terrible experience at all from a guy who has done some terrible things.
- [44:19]
John Karl
And. And he. And you kept on doing what you do on your show. You didn't change. You didn't become. You didn't become manic.
- [44:28]
Bill Maher
Thank you for noticing, John, because that's what the haters pretend didn't happen.
- [44:34]
Energy Secretary Chris Wright
I mean, it did.
- [44:35]
John Karl
And then he starts. I think that some of his attacks on you after the dinner are harsher than the ones that were before the dinner.
- [44:41]
Bill Maher
Yes, because now he feels betrayed, which is silly because there was never a deal. It was only set up as instead of shouting at each other, talk to
- [44:51]
John Karl
each other in Mars Club Random podcast studio. He has a frame list of all of the ways Trump has insulted him, a list that he had the president sign.
- [45:02]
Bill Maher
Just the idea. This many different ways off the top of his head over years.
- [45:07]
John Karl
And that list of 56 or whatever is insults. It would have to be longer now.
- [45:11]
Dana Milbank
Exactly.
- [45:12]
Bill Maher
There's an addendum. It's available for 9.99 billmar.com it's on my website.
- [45:18]
John Karl
Maher recently had Vice President J.D. vance as a guest on Real Time.
- [45:22]
Bill Maher
Here's my deal breaker for your side. Okay, okay. Under Trump, you guys have two outcomes. An election can be either we win or they cheated. This stuff that's going on now, as I said to the Vice President, this has to stop.
- [45:37]
John Karl
Yeah, yeah. You were specifically talking about this, like the SORA loser syndrome. It's the election is only I won or you cheated. Which Is perfectly summarizes the way Trump is.
- [45:49]
Bill Maher
Exactly. There's only two outcomes.
- [45:51]
John Karl
I won, you cheated and you pushed J.D. vance on this. He did not.
- [45:56]
Bill Maher
That's what I love about those Republicans. The first thing I said to him was, it's so odd, isn't it, that I didn't vote for you and yet you guys come to the show and take your beating like a man. The Democrats don't come and yet they got my vote. It's just odd, isn't it?
- [46:11]
John Karl
Yeah. Why is that? So what is that all about? I mean by you get some Democrats.
- [46:14]
Bill Maher
Democrats are cowardly. Yeah, they're cowardly. Their party is being taken over now by, you know, every day I hear about a new, very radical. I feel very good about like 10 whenever years ago. Like I did lose fans because, you know, I wasn't going to go along with some of this crazy stuff on the left too. I didn't change really on what I thought about the right, but just I can't sit and just not notice stuff which people seem to want to do because it's all about my team or your team. But yeah, there's some crazy stuff, you know, when we're cheering for the intifada. I gotta cut, I'm out.
- [46:54]
John Karl
Well, I don't know if you saw Jay Clayton is nominated to be the head Director of National Intelligence. Had a hearing, just had a hearing and he was asked who won the 2020 election. Did Joe Biden win the 2020 election? And he cannot answer. Now Jay Clayton is a very serious guy with serious credentials. Serious lawyer, former prosecutor. And he can't say who won the 2020 election either.
- [47:21]
Bill Maher
Could Vice President Vance on my show.
- [47:23]
John Karl
On your show?
- [47:23]
Bill Maher
Yeah. They can't because they know he's watching. They know where their bread is buttered, what's important to J.D. vance, who by the way, we had a good time. I had a good time with him too. You know, these are people, I always say it, you know, everybody's a monster till you talk to them. You can disagree with them a lot but you know, he has to do that. Trump is watching and there's a kind of a winking thing with those kind of guys, you know, it's like, you know he's crazy. I know he's crazy. I know you're saying this because you have to. Cuz he's watching, you know. I know. And let's just not like pretend this is the end of the world because this is just what the world is now. Let's move on to something Substantive.
- [48:03]
John Karl
But it is a problem if you have an entire political party, an entire political movement that doesn't recognize the legitimacy of elections.
- [48:11]
Bill Maher
Of course, it's been my big issue from the beginning, before he was elected.
- [48:16]
John Karl
Even the first time you told J.D. vance, you're open, your vote is up for grabs.
- [48:21]
Bill Maher
Yes, my vote is in play because it can't be Trump running. So I'm not living in communist America. I mean, I know the talking point is that, well, it's not communism, it's socialism. Okay. I've read the quotes from the DSA platform from their own mouths. Don't tell me I'm not seeing what I am seeing. And dsa, again, they say things like, you know, takeover of key industries, government. That's communism. You know, there is a definition, by the way.
- [48:54]
John Karl
Trump's doing that too.
- [48:55]
Bill Maher
Of course. Yes.
- [48:57]
John Karl
And to a degree that we haven't seen any other president do without a Republican dream.
- [49:02]
Bill Maher
No, that's crazy, too.
- [49:03]
John Karl
He's got a piece of intel, right? A piece of the AI companies.
- [49:06]
Bill Maher
He treats everything like it's a real estate deal or, I don't know, he's an agent or something. He always wants 10 or 15%.
- [49:13]
John Karl
So you want to see Democrats win in the mid-20s.
- [49:15]
Bill Maher
Absolutely. And they will, because it will still be a referendum on Trump. So I think the Democrats will do very well in the midterms. 2028 is a different story because by then this wing of the party, this new wing with all the energy and it's not just a few people anymore. I read every day I read about a new person in some Colorado and Wisconsin, somebody who is saying some variation of not defund the police, abolish the police, no prisons, no police. Like, what world did they think we could possibly live in under these conditions? There's just a level of nutty that I'm so glad that whenever it was, I was like, no, I'm not going along because this is where it ends.
- [49:59]
John Karl
Could you see yourself voting for J.D. vance?
- [50:01]
Bill Maher
Yes. If this is the Democratic side, yes.
- [50:06]
John Karl
Now, you have interviewed several of the possible Democratic candidates for 2028. How do you assess?
- [50:13]
Bill Maher
Who do you like, ruin future guests by telling you that, John? How ridiculous. They're all great,
- [50:22]
John Karl
especially the ones you haven't talked to yet. See, they gotta come on the show.
- [50:26]
Bill Maher
I hope we can have an eight person presidency this time because I can't pick between this crop of geniuses. No, there's some very talented people. And my problem is, like I told you, a lot of people on the left won't come. Everybody on the right comes.
- [50:44]
John Karl
All right. Our thanks to Bill Maher. This year's Mark Twain Prize ceremony starts streaming on Netflix on Tuesday. We'll be right back.
- [50:51]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home in auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. This show is sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Insurance isn't one size fits all. That's why drivers have enjoyed Progressive's name your price tool for years now. With the name your price tool, you tell them what you want to pay and they'll show you options that fit your budget. So whether you're picking out your first policy or just looking for something that works better for you and your family, they make it easy to see your options. Visit progressive.com to find a rate that works for you with the name your price tool. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and Coverage Match limited by Stan
- [51:42]
John Karl
that's all for today. Thank you for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out World News tonight and have a great day.
- [52:00]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home in auto policies. Try it at progressive. Com, Progressive Casualty Insurance company And affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.