"The latest out of Trump’s DOJ”

Instagram teen accounts default teens into automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see. Explore teen accounts and all of our ongoing work to protect teens online at Instagram.com slash teen accounts. Watch Disclosure Day at Home Now with exclusive bonus features. If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you proved it to you, would that frighten you? While now the truth belongs to 7 billion people in an original event film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Kep starring Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Coleman Domingo. Find Disclosure Day on major digital platforms now with no subscription required, also in theaters. Hi there, everyone. It's 4 o'clock in New York. There are some remaining mysteries when it comes to covering Donald Trump. Things like how and when the war with Iran will end and will America be any safer? Or what is the extent of the crypto grift? Or for that matter, what is the extent of the Trump family's ties to Mideast governments and those government's investment arms? Or this one, what is the actual health? of the president outside of a Ronnie Jackson or White House administered physical. Those are real actual mysteries. But the facts around Russia's 2016 election interference are not one of those mysteries. Robert Mueller examined Russia's attack on our 2016 presidential election. Then at Donald Trump's behest, John Durham rushed in to investigate the investigators and found the investigators and the investigation into Russia and any potential ties to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign was properly and adequately predicated. Then the DOJ Inspector General did the same thing. Mr. Horowitz, he found the same thing. The investigation was properly predicated. For his part, Senator Marco Rubio, who was then the top senator on the Republican side on the Intelligence Committee, didn't even deeper investigation in some aspects and found the very same thing. So color us deeply skeptical of the purpose of Donald Trump's latest political retribution campaign being run out of the Justice Department, the so-called Grand Conspiracy case, as detailed by White House spokes gal Karoline Leavitt. While publicly pretending to engage in a peaceful transfer of power, in private, former President Obama went to great and nefarious lengths to try to so discord among the public and sabotage his successor, President Trump. The new evidence released by the Director of National Intelligence, who is here with me today, confirms that the Obama administration manufactured politicized intelligence, which was later used as the justification for baseless smears against President Trump in an effort to try to delegitimize his victory before he even took the oath of office. It's an amazing chart, and the more you look at it.

More questions you have, more mysteries surround these people. But our colleague, former CIA director and now MS Now National Security analyst, John Brennan, finds himself in the political crosshairs of this probe as we reported here yesterday. There's brand new reporting today from our colleagues, Carol Enig and Lisa Rubin, that reveals that the Justice Department is now pulling back. They are withdrawing the subpoenas that were issued in the investigation into Director Brennan over the weekend. Those subpoenas were for former government officials and some CIA personnel. They were to be questioned before a grand jury in Washington, D.C. But now, with a brand new prosecutor in charge of the case, former Trump lawyer and election denier, Joe DeGeneva, DOJ reportedly wants a little more time to, I don't know what, prepare, workshop their conspiracy theories. We know that the veteran prosecutor who was overseeing this case inside the government, Maria Medetus Long, was ousted from the case after she told her bosses that there was not enough evidence. There were not enough facts to bring any criminal charges against John Brennan. But DOJ needs a story, and so they are saying that it is, quote, routine practice to reassign people. We also know that Joe DeGeneva has had Former director John Brennan in his sights, politically speaking, for a very long time. Here's what he said seven years ago back in 2019, when Trump's Attorney General Bill Barr appointed special counsel John Durham to look into the origins of the Russia probe. James Comey, Brennan, and Clapper have said to themselves, which one of us is going to pay the bar bill? The bar bill is coming due. And Durham's appointment means that the already occurred meetings between the Attorney General, the CIA Director, and the Director of National Intelligence have now focused on a laser that the core of this conspiracy began with John Brennan. and ends with John Brennan in London and D.C. and the Democratic National Committee. This is very serious business. And for the first time, I now believe that some of these guys are going to go to prison. And if that was true, they'd done anything wrong. Trump sent his guys in to look high and low for any evidence that anything Joe DeGeneva said there was true. And if the guys he sent in missed it, there were more guys behind him and more guys behind him, up to it, including Marco Rubio, who's now in such good standing in Maga world. He has like four titles. I think he's at least the Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor. He found nothing. He found nothing on John Brennan.

And as we said already, the Durham probe, which went in to investigate the Russia probe, ended without any significant indictments. It yielded one conviction of an FBI lawyer who pleaded guilty and served no jail time. And again, neither Mueller nor Marco Rubio's Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian meddling, found any wrongdoing, certainly not any criminal wrongdoing. in the predication or the origins of the Russia investigation. But for Team Trump, those facts are irrelevant. They are secondary to the political urgency, which is to fabricate this grand conspiracy. Why now? I don't know. Maybe because Trump's at 35 percent. Maybe because it's the Wall Street Journal reports. He's scared and bored by the war in Iran. It certainly animates and unites parts of the really fringy right-wing media and many of Donald Trump's allies who are central to holding what's left of the MAGA movement together. Here's just some of what they were saying last year before Trump's political swan dive of the recent few months. My thing is all roads lead to Russiagate, right? That's where it all started. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and John Brennan and James Clapper. They're in very hot water because of what they did, launching the Russia collusion hoax raiding Donald Trump's house and so on and so forth. It turns out that they've hoaxed themselves directly into... Also, real legal trouble. John Bolton and McCabe and Brennan and James Comey and Clapper, all you guys are going to spend many, many, many years in a federal prison. This is where we start today, the former director of the CIA, MS now National Security Intelligence analyst, John Brennan. Director Brennan, I feel embarrassed. This is ground we have covered so thoroughly on the show, with and without you. But just quickly, because it is a new revelation about what is left inside the Justice Department that the federal prosecutor in the Miami, in the South Florida office. left after she reported up her chain of command that there was not any factual evidence to justify a criminal investigation or prosecution of you. She is now out of the department. Just from the outside looking in, what are we to glean from that about this Department of Justice? Well, Nicole, I think it just underscores the points you made in your lead, which is that this has been an odyssey over the past 10 years where Russian interference in 2016 election has been reviewed. The various actions that were taken by senior officials at that time have been scrutinized over and over and over again. And it's clear that this administration and Trump administration wants to continue to try.

to assert that there was some wrongdoing. And I am quite proud of what we did to uncover and expose Russian interference in that 2016 election, just the way the Russians have attempted to interfere in a lot of elections, not just here in the United States, but abroad. And throughout my career, I worked closely with a lot of individuals in the Department of Justice who had the highest integrity and were really dedicated public servants. try to make sure that the department's name was actually reflected in their actions, the Department of Justice. And speaking to a number of people who have served in the Department of Justice over the years, they're shocked, they're appalled, they're dismayed, they're worried, they're very troubled by what they see happening. And so... I am glad that there are individuals, prosecutors, those who are working every day and U.S. attorney offices throughout the country who take their oath of office seriously and are going to continue to pursue the facts and will not fabricate any type of charges just because their political overseers direct them to do so. And so it's hard for me to understand what's going on right now in the Department of Justice. You know, I leave it to others who are there. But again, I continue to have trust and confidence that the overwhelming number of U.S. attorneys and those who are working in these offices are going to fulfill their obligations with integrity and with the oath of office in their minds in terms of making sure that they're doing what is right and not what is might be politically expedient. Thank you. I want to remind our viewers who Joe DeGeneva is, because only people like me who covered every news cycle with all of these characters for years and years still remembers him. But this is from The Daily Beast, and this is from Fox News's internal documents. This is what Fox News was saying internally about him, about Joe DeGeneva, who now has this effort to make a case against you. This is from February 6th, 2020. Fox News' own research team warned colleagues not to trust some of the network's top commentators' claims about Ukraine. An internal Fox News research briefing book obtained by The Daily Beast accused frequent Fox News guest Rudy Giuliani of amplifying disinformation. as part of an effort to oust former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, blast Fox News guest Victoria Tenzing and Joe DeGeneva, both ardent Trump boosters for, quote, spreading disinformation. Last year's document urges Fox employees to consider DeGeneva and Tenzing's failures to note during their Fox appearances that they were employed by Ukrainian oligarch Dimitri Firtash.

It advises employees to focus on the pair's nondisclosure of financial motives and representation of Firtash while spreading false and misleading stories. So leaving Earth 1, traveling over to Earth 2, where Fox News is the news source. Over there, they were warning. inside of Fox News and an internal document that, again, I just want to quote it accurately, that Mr. DeGeneva failed to note during their appearances on that network, Fox News, that they were working for Ukrainian oligarch Dmitro Firtas. This is how sort of bottom of the barrel Trump has had to reach to find someone to work on this case. What does that say? Well, I think it shows the continued effort to corrupt the rule of law and the process of justice. And you showed that clip before, Fox News, with Joe DeGeneva, you know, being interviewed there. It's not surprising that the person sitting next to him at the table was Jim Jordan. Jim Jordan, the person who made the criminal referral to the Department of Justice claiming that I had purged myself. I have always tried to speak completely forthrightly on all issues. There's no reason why I would not be telling the truth on any of these issues, you know, over the course of the last 10 years, again, you know, eight-hour interviews by John Durham, speaking to the Senate and Intel committees, both in open and closed hearings, you know, across the board. And so, again, I think the fact that you have a professional prosecutor who is removed from a case reaching out to individuals from years past. Again, I think it just shows that over the past 10 years, there's been, you know, failure after failure to try to identify something that, you know, wrongdoing in this case. But, you know, part of this is to harass. to try to hurt individuals, reputational, professionally, financially, trying to keep the story alive as a way to deflect from other issues and challenges that they face. So again, I'm not surprised by this. I'm very dismayed and disappointed by it. I'm also very troubled that we have people in government who seem to be so mean-spirited. that they try to actually hurt individuals, hurt people, their families, and others. And they claim to be part of the Republican Party. This is not the Republican Party that I worked with in order that you worked with. You know, there are people of integrity who never would have thought the Department of Justice would have fallen as far as it has. And so, again, every day when I wake up, you know, there's something new that I just find just being so surreal and separated from the government and the reality that I worked in for 33 plus years. But again, I take every day as it comes and I'm just glad that there are people who are trying to uncover the fraudulent and corrupt practices that unfortunately are making people's lives, not just mine, you know, so many other people across the board.

you know, talking about the Iran war and what is happening there and, you know, how people are being, you know, lives are being destroyed, you know, just across the board. I think it just, again, reflects a carelessness, you know, in terms of not caring about the impact that these actions are having on other people. And I just find that, you know, sort of so, so appalling. You mentioned the Iran War. I mean, the Wall Street Journal had a devastating portrait and a deeply sourced piece of reporting over the weekend that basically concluded that Donald Trump has been an unsteady steward of the Iran War. I think that's the most generous way to describe that reporting. What do you make of the assessment that our enemies and allies are able to make based on watching Donald Trump in the public arena over these last 45 days and consuming things like that Wall Street Journal report over the weekend? Well, they know that what is coming out of the White House, what is coming out of Donald Trump's mouth, is divorced from reality. And, you know, our adversaries and the Iranians know as well. And again, they're just so shocked. I think everybody is shocked that the President of the United States has engaged in this type of performative actions of, you know, misrepresenting the truth, lying, and being so, I guess, inconsistent and incoherent in terms of our strategic approach on this. And unfortunately, you know, we are really in a mess now. The world is in a mess because of this Iran war. And, you know, I do hope we're going to be able to get out of it sooner rather than later. You know, we have the pause in the military confrontation between Iran and the United States and Israel. But that economic confrontation really now is coming into much darker relief. the leverage that the Iranians have in the Strait of Homoz and that we continue to blockade, you know, the Iranian port. So the Iranians were saying basically, you know, why should we give up our economic leverage, you know, in the strait if the United States is not going to alleviate some of this pressure that they've put on the Iranian economy by blockading any type of flow of goods, you know, in and out of the Iranian ports? So, you know, it. Donald Trump has gotten this country and this world into a situation now where it's really going to be difficult to try to get out of without lasting damage. And even if, you know, the negotiators, and I hope they're going to be able to strike some type of reasonable deal, the effects of this are going to be felt for a long, long time to come. The assessment that voters are making of Donald Trump is incredibly grim. 71% of all Americans do not find him to be stable in his decision making. The war with the Pope did not help that. 64% of all Americans do not approve of how he's conducting.

Foreign policy matters to say nothing of the actual decision to go to war with Iran. What is the impact on the military and the national security agencies? How much strain are they under when you've got 71% of the American people, which obviously includes a whole bunch of Donald Trump 15 months ago, who do not think he's a stable actor? Well, I think there's great wonderment as far as what's going to be next turn of the wheel and what type of actions are going to be engaged in. I'd like to think that a lot of professional civil servants, public servants, members of the military are continuing to keep their head down and do their job consistent with what their legal authorities are. But given the concerns about Donald Trump's mercurial behavior and the complete lack of sort of strategic approach to these very complicated issues. really gives a lot of folks pause. So whether you're talking about Department of Justice, you're talking about the intelligence community or the FBI, and given that there is a real lack, I think, of leadership in some of these organizations, you know, the morale has to be affected negatively across the board. But again, you know, it's all coming from the top. And when you have leaders that sort of revel in, you know, corruption and in disinformation, It really is difficult, not just for American citizens and public servants, but also those individuals in Europe and Asia and other places to have any type of confidence that the United States knows what it's doing and that it's going to be a force for good in the world, which undercuts this country's role, its reputation, and what people have relied on this country for so long, for so many years, we are now in a much different era, unfortunately. Dr. John Brennan, thank you for being here on the big stories of the day and up to and including the stories that involve you. We appreciate you. Thanks, Nicole. After the break, we'll turn to our reporter who's been covering all these threads for us on what we were just discussing with Director Brennan, those subpoenas that have now been withdrawn. That's Carol Enix Byline, and she'll join us to talk about that, along with Andrew Weissman. Also ahead for us, Democrats today in Virginia are trying to fight fire with fire after Republicans spent the last year trying to avoid accountability from voters in the midterm election. We'll now see what they say when they get to head to. had to vote tonight on that question. We'll look at the fight ahead. And later in the show, another rat leaving a sinking ship, a longtime loyalist of Donald Trump's now says that he and the American people have been betrayed, betrayed and lied to by Donald Trump. He's now saying sorry for his role in misleading in the public for so long. Should we believe him? We'll get to all those stories and much, much more when Deadline White House continues after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.

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Thanks, Nicole. Last night, you know, as you probably remember, because you are following this almost second by second the way I am, on, I think it was Sunday night or Monday morning, there were reports that, whoa, check it out. The Trump DOJ has issued subpoenas to people in the probe of... MSNBC analyst and former CIA Director John Brennan and looking into possible criminal charges and summoning witnesses to a grand jury. Well, it felt important to report today to our viewers that last night, sources were contacting me with really good information that those subpoenas were just as quickly as they were issued. withdrawn. At first, I thought, what in the world's going on? But as time, you know, more conversations, more source information came forward, it became clear that there was a little bit of disorder and chaos in this investigation that has been so controversial. Controversial because career prosecutors have concluded there's not evidence to bring charges against John Brennan for false statements or perjury involving his testimony before Congress or interviews with Congress. And also controversial because it's an investigation that is a top priority of President Trump's. This is a probe into a probe, right? A probe to try to basically charge people that Trump feels are responsible for humiliating him. for investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. That concluded that Vladimir Putin tried to get Trump elected and by association essentially helped Donald Trump get into the White House. Trump has told people privately and publicly he's infuriated about this stain on his. popularity, his ability to get into the White House the first time, and he wants the people who are responsible for this investigation to face criminal prosecution. Andrew Weissman, Maria Medita's long is the latest prosecutor. to look at the facts and surmise that there is zero evidence. There are no facts that support Trump's delusion. I mean, I wish I was tall and I'm not and I never can be. And if I had John Durham and Bill Barr and Robert Mueller and Marco Rubio look at whether or not I was tall and I'll conclude that I wasn't tall, I wouldn't say that they said I wasn't tall because they hate me. Marco loves him so much. He's now defending. all sorts of questionable conduct around the world. The facts do not support Trump's delusions. And the fact that Joe DeGeneva is the guy that they've gotten to on the merry-go-round of who will make his conspiracy delusions come true, seems to answer that question for everybody. What is going on?

So what is going on is that we do not have a Department of Justice or an executive branch that is operating based on facts and law. One of the things, you know, listening to your first segment with John and this segment, the one thing that so far there is just no evidence of is any facts, facts that show that John Brennan made even a misstatement, let alone. a deliberately false statement. You can put labels and epithets and say, oh, he should be behind bars and all of those kinds of claims. But that's not the way the law works. The law is something that is based on facts and law, unless you're in the Trump 2.0 Justice Department. And I chalk this up to what we saw with the grand jury subpoenas. to Jerome Powell that were quashed by a federal judge, the attempt to indict six members of Congress for doing the unthinkable, which was asserting their First Amendment rights to state accurately what the law is. And yet the DC U.S. Attorney's Office under this administration tried to indict six members of Congress for doing just that. So it isn't surprising. that you are seeing this. It is heartbreaking for John personally to have to go through this when we should be revering and respecting his service to this country. But it is yet another exhibit of what we're seeing from a retributive Department of Justice that so far is completely devoid of facts to support any allegation that he has done something wrong. And that's why you were seeing people be removed. And it is completely false for somebody from the Department of Justice to say this is business as usual and normal to have that happen. It is only normal in this administration. Carolyn, what happens next? Well, apparently what's going to happen next? And again, you know, at 24 hours, things seesawed a lot. But I apologize. Before I answer your question about what's next, I want to emphasize something about the nature of this probe. Andrew is so right when he talks about kind of the broken record of the Department of Justice, all of these moments in which in this administration, the department has sought to charge people when career prosecutors say, you don't have the beef, you don't have the facts. It's happened over and over again. And in this instance, what this reversal suggests is that everybody is rushing to try at the top layers of the Justice Department, including Joseph de Genova. as trying to rush to please Trump and show progress and show forward momentum. But the irony is that by removing that career prosecutor, they don't have an experienced hand on deck to actually do this work, to be prepared to ask these questions, and to...

actually make an assessment about whether a grand jury subpoena is appropriate for witnesses in this instance. Let's just set aside whether or not there should be an investigation at all. But I think what's next, Nicole, is that FBI agents with some you know, actual serious gravitas in doing this kind of work are going to ask a lot of questions of these witnesses in voluntary interviews. They're mostly intelligence officials, CIA, both former and current. And those interviews, I think the FBI hopes they will be able to establish and show that there, again, is no evidence of a potential crime here. And there will probably will be an effort to present. before the grand jury and seek charges against John Brennan. And if past is prologue, I think a DC grand jury and possibly the chief judge of this DC court may come back at the Department of Justice and say, where are your facts? We do not see them. An extraordinary, extraordinary news cycle, if you will. Carolynic, thank you for all your reporting on it. Andrew Weissman, thank you for joining us to talk about it. When we come back, Democrats say they're doing it to stay alive, and the redistricting effort underway today in Virginia has the backing of Barack Obama, former President Barack Obama. This Donald Trump and the Republicans fear their era of gerrymandering warfare may soon be coming to an end. We'll look at all that next.

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Walmart shoppers, meet the debit card design with you in mind. The Walmart Money Card offers up to $75 cash back on purchases at Walmart each year, early direct deposit, overdraft protection, and so much more. When Walmart is your everyday store, you need a card to match. That's the Walmart Money Card. Open your account today. The Walmart Money Card is issued by green dot bank, member FDIC. Fees, terms, and conditions apply. Visit Walmartmoneycard.com to learn more. Voters in Virginia will weigh in today on this unprecedented moment, this unprecedented nationwide realignment of state congressional maps. It could have major implications for the November midterm elections, and it could impact who controls Congress. It's a fight that Donald Trump started with his MAGA Republicans and with an assist from GOP governors and state legislators. They demanded changes to the congressional maps in states like... Texas and Ohio and Missouri. That move backfired spectacularly with Democrats fighting back in states like California that essentially with their new map erase the gains that MAGA Republicans made in response to Trump's request. So now in Virginia, Democrats with the public support from former President Barack Obama are looking to end the fight. Virginia, we are counting on you. Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to raid the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years. But you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st. Help put our elections back on a level playing field and let voters decide not politicians. This is the responsible thing to do. Help us chart a better path forward, Virginia. Vote yes by April 21st. I'm going to bring into our coverage, former senior advisor to President Biden and Vice President Harris, former mayor of New Orleans. Mitch Landry's back. And with me at the table, New York Times opinion writer, political analyst Margey, is back with us as well. Mitch, what do you think of this, of this fight and the way voters have processed it in places like California so far? Well, I think that the Democrats have demonstrated, if you want to fight, we're up for it. I mean, they picked this fight. They started it in Texas. I think they're shocked that we fought back so hard and that we're actually winning. And I think Virginia is... really just another exclamation point in that. This is a good lesson for Democrats that you can't bring a knife to a gunfight. And I think we've demonstrated that time and time again. Just to remind everybody, Trump started this in Texas, then North Carolina, then Missouri, then in Florida, and then California and Virginia, we just not only said no, but hell no. And we're going to put an explanation point on it tonight. And I think it's going to make people feel really good. On top of that, in the last 296 elections that we've had in the last year and now, we've won 260 of them. So we got a good thing gone when we push back hard.

What do you think? You know, I think in a perfect world and an ideal democracy, you would have independent districting commissions, and you would make sure that every single voter in every district got equal representation, no matter what they look like, whether they live in an urban or rural community. But that's not the world that we live in. Right. And I also think in some ways this is a reminder to the Republican Party and the Democrats, too, that... you know, what you do when you are in control can have consequences when you are not in control. And so it's been a little over a decade now that voters have been paying much closer attention to state elections, in particular Democratic voters. And so, you know, they saw once Donald Trump came on the scene in 2016. you know, why don't we have control over the statehouse in a state like New York or Michigan? And so now that you have more Democrats in control of these redistricting commissions, this is what's going to happen. And so if the Republicans are going to aggressively gerrymander, which they did for decades, this is the democratic response. And so I think, unfortunately, it's something that is probably necessary. And that's what former President Obama is saying. to keep things competitive, particularly in this environment when the Republicans right now are wreaking havoc in Washington. There should be more competition. More competition is always good for democracy. Yeah. I mean, Mitch, I think what's interesting is at least around California, and we know how the voters feel because that's in the past. We won't get ahead of how Virginians feel because it's happening today, and they're still voting right now as we come on the air. But California voters changed their mind, right? This was before them. at a different moment, but tomorrow's point, these are not normal times. And the same electorate that wasn't thrilled about this idea voted overwhelmingly for a new map to, as former President Obama said, as Governor Gavin Newsom said, fight fire with fire. Well, a couple things. First of all, I was in the state legislature for 16 years, and I went through two very significant redistricting fights. And as a general rule, Mara is right. You want to have fair districts. You want to have districts where voters have access to the polls. That's clearly the way it should be in a normal world. But I think most voters in America are really smart. And they know that President Trump has used and abused his power. in massive, massive way since he's been the president. They want to put a stop to it. And unfortunately, Donald Trump himself has said the only way that he's going to stop is if you stop him. And so in order to really save democracy, so the opportunity to rebalance the scales in a fair way, this is just what you have to do, or they will just kill you. And you just can't let that happen in this moment. And I think most voters and many independent voters, and you see some Republicans are saying, look, you know, do what you have to do to stop it. Let's use the midterms to just really stop Trump's abuse of power. And then we'll figure out going forward how to rebalance the scale so everything is okay towards the future. But this is absolutely necessary now if the Democrats don't want to commit political death.

Yeah. What's amazing is that Trump, your right, has said all that out loud. I mean, Trump has essentially conceded the midterm elections if the vote is free and fair. So that he's been very clear that the only way that he will stop is if you stop him. That's what he said. And just inviting people to do it. Now, he's not changing. He's just saying, this is who I am, this is what I am. I'm going to create chaos. I'm going to engage in corruption. I'm going to raise you costs. And you can kind of go to hell. You know, do what you need to do. And so we're going to do what we need to do. And I think that the Democrats are doing a good job of it right now. Yeah. All right. No one's going anywhere. There's much more head. We're going to look at how what was just talking about, Trump's historic unpopularity, is giving really everybody else, but especially Democrats, this opportunity to expand the map ahead of the midterms. We'll have that story next. As Donald Trump's presidency is viewed as toxic and unpopular by more and more Americans, Democrats have become increasingly bullish about their prospects in November's midterm elections, expanding their map into deep red house districts. According to reporting in the Washington Post, strategists in both parties say Donald Trump's unpopularity makes districts he won handily in 24. look competitive in 26. Many of them, many of the seats that are open are held by incumbents not used to running difficult campaigns. Post reports among the chief targets include hard right scandal-ridden Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee and Congressman Cory Mills of Florida. We're back with Mitch and Mara. Your thought, I mean, to me, When you see a 24-point swing in a ruby red district, there's something beyond politics going on. There's almost like apprentice-style appetite for firing these people. Well, yeah, I think there's a lot of anger in the country right now toward politicians in general of both parties. You know, there are some heated Democratic primaries, too. So there's a lot of anger toward incumbents at the moment and a sense that day-to-day life is really hard for Americans. I think one of the questions for the Democrats in particular is going to be, where do you train your firepower? And there's still a limited amount of money. So, for example, the Democrats have been eyeing, I know, Elise Stefanik. old seat up in the north country, as we call it, in a state, New York. I still think that's kind of a reach. So I don't know if that's kind of the right place to look, but there are seats from Virginia to Texas to Michigan that are probably ripe. And it's just going to be a question of who gets those funds. And you hope that that's done in some way, not just looking at the district, but looking at the quality of candidates, because I think for voters, there's a real hunger right now. on both sides of the aisle for candidates who can speak to the concerns of everyday Americans, not just ones who are popular with leadership. Yeah. Mitch, how do you see the moment in the map?

I think Mark's exactly right. You know, when Donald Trump ran for office, he said that he was going to get out of expensive wars and he was going to reduce people's costs. I think this is a quote. It's pretty close. I'm going to cut your gas prices in half by December. And of course, he's done the exact opposite. And if anything is clearer to people who have ears that will hear is the people of America, white, black, blue, green, left, right, are saying my primary focus. is on the fact that I can't make my rent. I can't pay my mortgage. I can't pay my car note. I'm having a hard time, you know, helping my kids. That's what they want everybody focused on. And as a consequence, they are very, very angry at Republicans and Democrats. But to be clear, if you look at the president's numbers or the Republican's numbers, they are dropping like aggressively like Iraq. So when you go into midterm elections, if you're on our side, you actually tend to do better. And as I demonstrated just a minute ago, and I think my numbers are. close to being right. Two hundred and ninety or so elections, we won two hundred and sixty. And then in Marjorie Taylor Greene district, which is a ruby, ruby, ruby red district, we close the 37% gap by 25 points. That is, that is really just kind of not a good place you want to be if you're on the Republican side of the aisle. But the point that Meyer made is really the most important one. People are looking for a candidate that's authentic that speaks to them about the place where they live and speaks to them in a way. that makes them understand that they really are feeling their problems and then have a solution for them. And they're going to lean towards Democrats. It doesn't mean that they're necessarily going to vote Democrat, but we're in the much better side of this as we speak. And finally, because Donald Trump will not change. He's basically telling everybody to go to help. And I think the public has the tendency to say, well, you know, okay, well, thank you. But I don't think so. Maybe you should. Yeah, I mean, and his response to all of this, I mean, Trump, for whatever you think of him, can read a poll. He's obsessed with polls. He sued pollsters. His response is to keep unfolding his plans for his ballroom with the pictures of the stairs to nowhere and whatnot. Bombs and ballrooms are not going to get it. No, I don't think so. Mitch, Mara, thank you so much to be continued. Thank you for joining me today. After the break, does post pick for Chairman of the Federal Reserve have what it takes to lead the independent agency to fill the shoes of Jerome Powell? I'll show you how his hearing went.

Did Donald Trump lose in 2020? Man, I'm suggesting you in 2020, the Fed made a huge inflation problem, and you certified the election. So let me ask you another question. In our meeting, you said you would be independent because you're, quote, a tough guy. Those were your words, tough guy. And you will be able to stand up to President Trump. So let's try it again. Name one aspect of President Trump's economic agenda. with which you disagree. Well, Senator, the Federal Reserve in recent years has wandered outside of its remit, wandered into other areas. I'm asking for something you disagree with Donald Trump. It's a yes or no question. Who won in 2020? Kevin Warsh, Donald Trump's nominee to serve as Fed chair. On Capitol Hill today, refused to answer it. Senator Elizabeth Warren asking the question, again, about whether or not Trump lost in 2020. Bill Barr was able to answer the question. Kevin Warsh was not. If it gives you any sense of his actual commitment to independence at the Federal Reserve, you are not alone. He could not give Senator Warren a serious answer on the single thing he disagreed with Donald Trump. on that despite the Republican majority, his confirmation actually isn't a done deal. Republican Senator Thom Tillis told our Capitol Hill reporter Michael Snell that he still plans to block Kevin Warsh's nomination as long as Trump's Justice Department continues its criminal investigation of the current Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Barring a yes from Thom Tillis, Kevin Warsh's nomination may not make it out of committee. So we'll stand top of this story. After the break, breaking news, Donald Trump extending the C-Sfire with Iran. We'll bring it the latest after a very short break. There's only one nose and pick. Hello, I'm Ozempic. Because this ad is 30 seconds, I can't get into everything I'm FDA-approved to do, so I'm just going to play my jingle again. But first, ask your doctor about which FDA-approved uses of me, the Ozempic, may be right for you. Call 1833 Ozemp or visit Ozempic.com to view the medication guide and learn more about Ozempic. Somagliteite injection, two milligrams. Only Novo Nordisk makes FDA-approved Ozempic. Now here's that jingle again. There's only one Ozempic.