7/11/24: Pelosi Shanks Biden, Obama Moves With Clooney Drop Out Call, NY In Play As Biden Polls Collapse, KJP Caught In Another Parkinson's Lie, Trump Teases Shock VP
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Good morning, everybody. Happy Thursday. We have an amazing show for everybody today. What do we have, Crystal? Indeed we do. It is do or die day for Biden. He's got his big boy press conference this evening, which, by the way, we're going to be giving you a reaction to. So make sure to stay tuned after the press conference. We will be bringing you whatever the hell happens. So that's going on. Meanwhile, we wanted to bring you up to speed with everything that's been happening here in Washington. Yesterday, Pelosi basically knifed Biden on his favorite morning program. That would be Morning Joe. Uh,

Obama may be behind the scenes moving against Biden. We're reading the tea leaves on that big, buzzy George Clooney op-ed calling for Biden to drop out and providing some new insights into Biden's decline. Polls continuing to look very dire. Apparently, New York, now a battleground state. Great job, guys.

Way to go. So sounding the alarms there. Also looking at the fact that there's going to be a huge impact down ballot if Biden remains at the top of the ticket. And voters, Democratic Party voters, very much want him to move on. So we'll look at all of that. Meanwhile, Karine Jean-Pierre caught once again in another lie. And this one, again, specifically with regards to Biden's health as Parkinson's concerns mount.

And Trump is getting closer to his VP pick. He made some comments to Brian Kilmeade yesterday. So we're taking a look at that, giving our best, you know, again, reading the tea leaves of whatever we can discern there. Although his calculus may be changing moment by moment, too, as this landscape shifts. We'll get into that. I think it's very important. And part of the reason why I think he has been waiting so long

This event really did change things, I believe. As Crystal said, we are going to be doing coverage of the Biden quote unquote big boy press conference. It is scheduled to start at 530 p.m. Eastern. Biden has never showed up to anything on his life, even whenever he was cogent and with it. So just bear with us. We will see. Getting close to his bedtime, though. I don't know. It's outside of the 10 to 4 zone. We'll see, Crystal. If he shows up at like 7, I'll be happy.

because knowing him, you just never know. I mean, you know, the White House press court has been telling me they're almost starting one and a half, two hours late just because Karine Jean-Pierre allegedly tied up in meetings, aka just sitting in a briefing room going through all of the answers and coaching and things like that. So we'll see. Maybe they can shoot him up with something and time the dosage right and unlike they were last time. But yep, you can support us, breakingpoints.com. We really appreciate it.

We'll email the link out to all of our premium subscribers, etc. Now, as Crystal said, yesterday was actually a landmark day and today as well here in Washington, where multiple Democratic leaders, elites and others are now signaling that they are trying to open a space where Joe Biden could drop out.

Nancy Pelosi in particular made headlines all across America yesterday in this interview with Morning Joe where she appeared to say that Biden needs to, quote, make his decision even though he's already allegedly made a decision and also laying out a potential timeline of kicking him out of the race. Let's take a listen.

happen so madam speaker you just went through the president's record but let me ask you about the current moment does he have your support to be the head of the democrats again as long as the president had the president it's up to the president to decide if he is going to run we're all encouraging him uh to to make that decision uh because time is running short uh the uh

I think overwhelming support of the of the caucus. It's not for me to say I'm not the head of the caucus anymore, but he's beloved. He is respected and people want him to make that decision. He has. He has said he has made the decision. He has said firmly this week he is going to run. Do you want him to run?

I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that's the way it is. Whatever he decides, we go with. I think it's really important, and I would hope everyone would join in, to let him deal with this NATO conference. This is a very big deal. Over 30 heads of state are here. He is the

the host of it, and that means not just hosting, it means orchestrating the discussion and setting the agenda. And he's doing so magnificently. And I've said to everyone, let's just hold off. Whatever you're thinking,

Either tell somebody privately, but you don't have to put that out on the table. So Crystal, there's a lot that we can say about that. Number one, as many have pointed out, they keep saying he needs to make his decision. He said he's making decision. He sent you a letter. He said, I made my decision. I'm running. There's no more.

But that NATO comment, so just for, we've been talking about this all week, traffic is hell here in Washington. There is a NATO summit. All of the NATO leaders are here in town. So she says very clearly, look, let's get past the whole NATO thing and then we can make our decision. And it's like, but he's allegedly made his decision. So what are you saying? It's like, well, it would not be a bad time to drop out.

I don't know. I have trouble dealing with this because she immediately walked it back. She said, as far as Biden should run again, she said Biden could still win the election. In general, there's so much behind the scenes. You were reading the tea leaves. It's almost like criminology where we try and read what Kremlin officials would not say as a way of saying like, oh, that's what they're secretly saying. So what did you make of this?

This woman, whatever you think of her, she understands the DC game. Yeah. She's very strategic and she was very specific with her wording there. And, um, you know, credit to Ryan who immediately when he heard those comments, he's like, it sounds like she's saying, wait until the 30 foreign leaders are out of town. And then we put the knife in. Right. That's what it sounds like. And it doesn't just sound like that to me and Ryan and others who are, you know, on the outside looking in, apparently that is the, uh,

That is the message that congressional Democrats heard as well. That basically like, listen,

Hold your fire, but once these people are out of town, then it could be open season. And so there is somewhat of an expectation already after those comments, after I think the George Clooney op-ed, which we're gonna talk about was also very influential for whatever that means about the state of our country. But you already had more leaders coming out yesterday. So clearly the aggressive attempts early in the week to shut everybody up,

and say, move it along, this is what's happening, stop resisting, clearly those attempts failed. And you know, the other thing that people point out is Pelosi's language there is very sort of like mob boss-esque. It's like,

Yeah, he's made his decision. Well, he hasn't really made the right decision. So he's gotta make the right decision here. We're waiting for him to make a decision when he's already tried to make it as clear as possible that his decision has been made. So very, very noteworthy. There's also some reporting now this morning from Politico, which is like the insider of insider publications, that she does want him to go. And that she has been saying that to other Democrats.

Even though, obviously, she's not the head of the caucus technically anymore, no one should be fooled about the fact that this is probably the most powerful Democrat in the city still outside of the President of the United States. Perhaps even more powerful than the President of the United States in a sense because her claim to power has always been her relationship with donors.

No one controls the purse strings the way that Nancy Pelosi does. That's why she has been so influential for over a decade now in this caucus. And part of the other reporting we have out also is that donations have all but dried up.

The donor class wants him gone. I have a lot of questions about Pelosi may be pulling some of those strings behind the scenes to say, listen, do not give to him. We need to push him out. You can use your checkbook to help make that happen. So a lot that is really fascinating there. Prior to her comments and prior to the Clooney op-ed, I was starting to think like this is that he's done it. He sort of quashed the opposition. He scared people into silence. He's running out the clock.

like his strategy appears to be successful. Yesterday felt like a real turning point that made this once again, a super, super live question where maybe now the odds are in the other direction. - That's a good point. I would say yesterday I was at 95%, today I'm like 75. So I still think he's gonna stay. I think he's an arrogant narcissist, although the knives are beginning to come out.

Whether these people will have the courage to actually do what it takes to stab him, we will see. Now, some of the tea leaves that we can read, not even tea leaves. I mean, this is out in the open. Let's put this up there, for example, on the screen. Here you got Congressman Richie Torres, who completely flipped on a dime and today has released the statement. He says, regardless of where one stands on the question of Biden's political

future. The intra-party mixed messaging strikes me as deeply destructive. So this is the old statement. Yeah, sorry. This was the original statement that was like, everybody just shut up. This is bad for us. That's right. So this was the original one. It was like, this is bad. It's deeply self-destructive. Now go to the next one, because the next one is where it's important. Literally the day after, he says, in determining how to proceed, there must be a serious reckoning with the down-ballot effect of

of whomever we nominate. What matters is not how we feel, but what the numbers tell us. An unsentimental analysis of the cold, hard numbers, which have no personal feelings or political loyalties, should inform what we decide and whom we nominate. If we're going to choose a particular path, we should be clear-eyed about its consequences. Blindness is not bliss amid the terrifying threat of a Trump presidency. And you know, one of the things I was reading into this, and I'm sure you did as well, is what do we know about Richie Torres? You know, in

particularly in context of this Israel conflict. Well, no, but he's a donor mouthpiece. Yes. So what's been happening is people are panicking behind the scenes, the donors, the people, the elites. And he is getting significant upward pressure the same way that Pelosi is by some of these Hollywood financial and other elites in the Democratic Party. Reid Hoffman, right? You know, we don't really know where he stands, I believe. But

We do know where Reid Hoffman stands because Dimitri Melhorn, who, by the way, counterpoints in the debate with Dimitri. Dimitri's his donor advisor and Dimitri has been the most aggressive Biden defender on the donor side. But he's kind of alone on an island in terms of the donor class sentiment. That's why I was confused because I know Dimitri said it. I know Reid has put out like some tepid statement, but I also had understood that there was like infighting within the Democratic donor world like around Reid Hoffman.

And so I don't know, and I do also think that these things are moving quickly. All we could say is when you see the donor mouthpieces like Richie and then begin to change things up, and then let's pair it here next, let's put this up there on the screen, Senator Chuck Schumer, quote, privately signaling to donors he would open to a Democratic presidential ticket that isn't led by Joe Biden. I think we see that the coup is coming from below in terms of the donor class and the elected politicians

are stuck between a rock and a hard place where they need to publicly signal support for Biden, but they also, they're not stupid. These are selfish narcissists. Because as Richie said, look at the polls, and we are going to do a whole segment today. It's craziness. It is absolute savagery for the Democrats across the table. We are looking at a Trump 350, 380 electoral vote possibility now. That's a whole other

other ballgame from where we were, even in a race where Trump was likely to win by, let's say, one or two points in the popular vote. Now it's like, well, we could be looking at Obama margins, 5%, 6%. Well, the other thing that Chuck Schumer and Richie Torres have in common, both from New York. Yeah, good point. And there are polls coming out in New York. We're going to cover them in the polls segment of the show that have New York as a battleground state, that have swing districts in New York that Biden is getting absolutely destroyed in.

Things look bad in a state that should be deep blue, that there should be zero uncertainty about. In fact, you had the Lieutenant Governor of New York also come out and say Joe Biden should get off the ticket. There's something else that's very significant about Richie Torres, though, which is that part of the Biden strategy has been to lock in the Congressional Black Caucus and try to racialize the case in favor of him staying, which is really bizarre because the person you're most immediately blocking is a black woman in Kamala Harris.

But put that aside, they're trying to say like, oh, and you see this online all the time too. Oh, it's all these white men like George Clooney who, and Stephen King who want Joe Biden out of the race and Michael Bennett and the like. So the fact that you have Richie Torres, Democrat of color, member of the CBC coming out and saying these things

That's why he's more significant in a sense than the average bear and also because he has made himself so prominent with all of his Israel madness. Good point. Yeah, so I do think you're right though about them speaking for the donors. I think that there's a lot to that. And so just as best as I can understand the overwhelming majority of donors, Joe Biden, he has never been super cozy with the donor class up until, I mean,

It's a little complex because obviously he was a great friend of the credit card industry, the banking industry. So I'm not gonna pretend like he didn't have donor ties, that would be ridiculous. But he was getting reelected for the Senate in a safe seat in Delaware. So he didn't build out the type of extensive donor network where these people are personal friends, the way that a Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have done. Schumer in New York, that's one major fundraising base, the other in California. They're the types that have these personal relationships, long time going back decades.

Joe Biden isn't that guy. And there is something with like, you know, Obama world has always, even before his decline, kind of looked down at him as not being, you know, as sophisticated as they are. And that also filters into the way the donor set has looked at him. So most of them don't have these long term personal friendships with him in the same way that they do with like an Obama also.

And so my impression, based on the reporting and based on talking to Abigail Disney and seeing what's coming out from these groups from people of good sources, is that most of the donor class does want him to go, prefers another candidate at the top of the ticket.

Reid Hoffman and Dimitri Malhorn, like I said, is his donor advisor. They seem to be fairly lonely in that. And as I mentioned before, reporting also says that fundraising has basically is dead, all but dead for the Biden campaign at the moment. And not just big dollar fundraising, but also grassroots fundraising to his claim that it's just a cabal of elites who want him out.

And we'll show you this in the poll section as well. Now, a majority of Democrats, including majority, by the way, of black Democrats want Joe Biden off the top of the ticket. So it is a weird coalition of people when you're talking about, you know, the pod say bros and online lefties and Richie Torres that want the sky out of the race. And it's a weird coalition of people who want to mint Bernie Sanders and AOC backing up Biden and Ilhan Omar for whatever reason.

reasons they've decided to take this position. They've taken this position. So it is a strange non-ideological coalition of people on both sides of this equation that crosses all class, gender, race, every boundary you can possibly think of. Although I will say the olds seem to be more inclined to want to keep Joe Biden on the ticket than the younger part of the party. We'll get to that and I'll piss off some of the boomers in our audience.

Let's also be remiss if we didn't point out as well that sitting senators are actually began to sound the alarm actually on the record. Here we have Senator Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut. Let's take a listen to what he had to say. I am deeply concerned about Joe Biden winning this November because it is an existential threat to the country if Donald Trump wins. So I think that we have to reach a conclusion as soon as possible.

And I think...

Joe Biden, as the Democratic nominee, has my support. So that's what he had to say. But then probably the most significant was this. Let's put this up there on the screen because this isn't just about deep concerns. This is a sitting Democratic senator, the Senator Peter Welch, Democrat from Vermont. Biden should withdraw for the good of the country. We need him to put us first as he has done before. Now, as always, we start with the platitudes. I have great respect for Joe Biden. He's amazing. He's an honor. He's the best president

president ever. He saved our country from a tyrant. He is a man of uncommon decent, uncommon amongst uncommon men, as David Goggins would say. He cares deeply about our democracy. He has been one of the best presidents of our time. But I

I like folks across the country. I'm worried about November's election. The stakes could not be higher. We cannot unsee president Biden's disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night. I understand why Biden wants to run. He saved us from Donald Trump, but for the good of the country, I am calling on president Biden to withdraw from the

the race. So that is the explicit call of withdrawal coming from Peter Welch. We've seen the alarm sounded by Senator Blumenthal, Senator Bennett. These are moderate senators. Patty Murray. Patty Murray. And I think, what do these people all have in common?

they're centrist. And I think, Crystal, what you were talking about a little bit earlier with these progressives is they almost feel in a way they have to overcompensate to defend Biden. Whereas these folks, they're just channeling the donor class and they probably have a little bit more room within the intraparty coalition to speak their mind. I don't know what it gets to, but they have a confidence, which I respect. You know, look, it's not easy to actually come out and be like, hey, you got to go. No, it's not.

But what we also have learned is that these people, Bennett, Welch, and others, what do they all say when you press them a little bit more? I'm speaking on behalf of my colleagues. I'm speaking on behalf of everybody in the caucus. And let's be honest, they're not stupid. They know. They knew about Feinstein. They knew about the others. And this is just getting to a completely untenable point because some of them actually do believe their rhetoric about the stakes. And I think Peter Welch might be one of those folks where he's like, I agree.

actually am really freaked out by Trump. Yeah. We can't handle this. Like you are going down to historic proportions. We've got to make a change. And that's why he felt the need. Yeah. You know, it's interesting with Peter Walsh. I've actually known him for a long time because back in my very early cable news days, when I was a guest on the Dylan Rattigan show, Peter Walsh was a regular guy. He was a congressman from Vermont at that point. And, you know, Dylan always prized. He

Dylan would have Bernie on all the time too before most of the country knew who Bernie Sanders was. And he always prized people who had some integrity and would say things that weren't necessarily the party line. And Peter Welch fit that bill. So it doesn't totally surprise me that he's one of the early people to come out and have a little bit of courage here. And I think you're

- You're right, I think it really is separating out, okay, number one, there's a whole bunch of political incentives at play. Now, Peter Wells, Vermont is a very safe Democratic seat, so I don't think he's particularly concerned about his reelect. I also don't think he's up for reelection for a while. So that's kind of pushed to the side for him. There are the donor considerations, which are pushing in the direction of coming out publicly and saying something.

And there's also just, do I have a shred of integrity? When I sat there for years and said, Republicans are cowards, they're saying behind the scenes that they don't like Donald Trump, but they don't say shit when they get in front of a camera. Am I now gonna be that same thing on the Democratic side? - It's true. - Right? - Right? We're watching blue MAGA behavior.

Absolutely. I mean, the parallels are incredible, honestly, including in Biden's behavior and the way that he's approached this and the way that rather than what Democrats wanted him to do was, okay, prove to us you're okay, right? Like, come out, do some stuff so we can look at you and go, all right, I think he can be all right through the fall. I

I mean, another four years is a whole other question though, but they just are like, all right, let's just see if you could get through the fall. Instead of doing that, he instead is like issuing threats and trying to scare people into submission and saying effectively, like, I'll blow up this whole thing if you all don't just get on board.

I think part of what we're seeing too is that that tactic may have backfired. I think people were really insulted by that. Also some of the language that came out from the Biden campaign originally about like the bedwetting brigade or whatever. I think that was very insulting as well. And these are human beings who have their own egos

and who don't want to just, you know, be sort of have their legitimate concerns pushed aside or be constantly gaslit or bullied or lied to. And so I think that could be playing into this moment as well, where it's possible as the week has worn on and people have really thought about that letter, it has curdled like sour milk. I think you're right. I just think, man, there's so much going on here where,

Today really is a big day. We have the press conference. Yeah. But also today is Thursday. So that means that tomorrow the Congress is all going to be flying back home. So if there's ever anything that's going to happen, it's going to be tonight. And so and by the way, we actually had another congressman who came on CNN this morning around 5.

in the morning. And he says, I'm getting closer and closer to appreciating that as much as I respect Joe Biden, what he's done, what George Clooney said yesterday was really powerful in that he saved democracy in 2020, but he's got to do it again in 2024. And that he basically opens the door to saying, I think what I've heard from the debate is that instead of saying, look, let me show you I can do this, he's kind of just went at us. And I don't think that that helped

him. That letter did not help him amongst colleagues. So admitting there that the forceful Trumpian strategy of, you know, watch me, just watch me. And it's like, dude, it's been two weeks to the day. We've been watching. That hasn't helped you. It's been two weeks to the day, 14 days since his debate performance. His first press conference is today.

14 days to set up a press conference and you've been doing these BS scripted events off of a teleprompter. The only questions you're taking are from freaking donors. And you fed questions to the radio hosts too. Yeah, fed pre-scripted questions, reading off notes. The only reporters you're taking questions from are people who you gave the questions

Yeah. This is madness. And then the call-in to Morning Joe, I mean, that was really the big offense of this week was like, I'm going to do this call-in, I'm going to sound really forceful, which, of course, you're going to have AIDS standing beside you. He admits he's reading off his notes at one point. He's on speakerphone with his AIDS notes. It's still incoherent. Yeah.

like wildly incoherent, but this is the best you're gonna get apparently, puts out that letter, tries to assert, meets with the CBC, starts calling people, trying to wrangle everybody in. By the way, I also saw they're already starting to put in calls to delegates

delegates because they're worried about a delegate coup at the convention as well. There's this, what is it, conscience clause that technically means that they don't have to 100% vote for Joe Biden, even though they're Joe Biden delegates. So they're starting to get worried about that. So it shows you, though, that all of those efforts at the beginning of the week, which again, there were a couple of days there when I was like, I think this

might have worked. People might just be too cowardly and just shut up and he may just grind it out. It's looking a lot more tenuous today. And that's why that press conference, there was one report from, what's his name, Edward Isaac Dovere, that a lot of Democrats are actually hoping that he face plants at the press conference because it will make their decision easier to come out publicly. That's a good segue. So let's go to the next part.

Hi, I'm Katie Lowe's and I'm Guillermo Diaz. And now we're back with another season of our podcast, unpacking the toolbox where Guillermo and I will be rewatching the show to officially unpack season three of scandal. Unpredictable. You don't see it coming. It's a wild, wild ride. The twists and turns in season three mesmerizing, but

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Let's put this up there, please, on the screen. Today, as I said, the Senate Democrats actually have summoned or they tried to get, I think, a meeting with Biden. And all they got were Biden advisors, Mike Donilon, Steve Ruschetti, and then the campaign chair, Jen O'Malley Dillon. That will be at a meeting that will take place sometime today before the press conference. But all eyes are going to be on that press conference. It is right after the NATO summit officially concludes. Now, there's a couple of ways that this can go down.

First and foremost, as I've said, is that the Biden White House has had a very concerted strategy in the past. And all White Houses do this, but they do it to like the 10th degree.

where all questions at the White House are basically pre-screened. Not the questions themselves, but who is gonna ask the question. So the president will have a list. The way it works is that you send your request in to KJP and you're like, hey, I wanna ask a question. And they're like, yeah, well, what do you wanna ask about? And you'll be like, look, you know I'm not gonna tell you that. You know me, we worked together for a couple of years, so call on me or don't. And then basically an hour or so before they let you know. But it's always in a way of I'm doing you a favor.

Now, from the people I've spoken to, previously they were able to play people off of each other. So they go and they select the most friendly reporters in the press corps or the ones who they think are going to soften what will eventually be a tough question. This time, though, it's a big problem.

because the press corps is broken because they have been lied to now in the span of just two weeks. - They're really pissed off. - And they're pissed off because, let's be honest, they look foolish because they've been covering this man for three years. - That's right. - And they were exposed as lies. So this time, their ability to play people off is gonna be much more diminished than it was previously.

But the White House is still setting this up as some sort of set piece event. They're calling it the, quote, big boy press conference. Quite literally. Let's take a listen. After that, the president will hold a press conference. I guess a big boy press conference is what we're calling it. And take some questions from y'all. Yes. Big boy press conference. They repeated that twice in the briefing room. Yeah. Karine Jean-Pierre also called it a big boy press conference.

Here's the thing. It's so humiliating. If it's going to be a real press conference the way that they should be, so I'll give an example. So back in the day, under Trump, under actually going all the way back to President Eisenhower, there was no pre-screening process. It was just people would come in and

there would be a room of 200 people and he would just sit up there and be like, you, let's go. And they would go for two hours. I'm talking about a real back and forth. The tight control stuff, whenever they have something that they want, don't wanna talk about, they're gonna encourage the president not to do that. I think, but they're gonna struggle with the optics. So my prediction is they're gonna do maybe four or five. Biden is gonna ramble and he'll try and draw the time out as long as possible. So you can say, look, he just took one hour's worth of questions. Like, okay, maybe take 20 minutes to answer.

five questions. That's not possible. My hope is that the press corps is so broken, so humiliated that they're going to shout him down the way that they shouted down Karine Jean-Pierre and be like, did you or did you not have a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease? Did you or did you not, you know, actual, or do you have true confidence you can do the job as Commander

in chief? Are you fully with it? What have conversations with your family been like this? What about pressure from the donor class, hammering him on his ability to do the job? I would hope that that is going to happen. I don't have 100% confidence, but I do believe that so many of them have been humiliated. And watching Chuck Todd and others turn on him, have you seen this recently? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Chuck Todd is like, well, three years ago, a Democratic senator told me there's no way he can be president again. I'm like, bro, why didn't you tell us that? That seems pretty relevant, don't you think? It was actually with a secretary, cabinet secretary, he said. That's right, I apologize. That's even worse. Right, and it

It is, I mean, it is really something to now see all of these anecdotes coming out. It's like, oh, now you tell us, right? Two minutes ago, you were saying that these videos of him were cheap fakes and that we were all, you know, right wing ops for even mentioning his age. And I just, I keep thinking too about, you know, we did those word clouds for how people feel what the first word is that comes to their mind on Trump and Biden. And Trump, it was, there were a bunch of different things. Criminal was the number one, but he was, there were a bunch of different things. We

With Joe Biden, whether you were a Democrat, especially if you were an independent or a Republican, the number one thing was old. And the other thing that I've been thinking about, too, is like, listen, Nancy Pelosi doesn't have it as much on the ball as she used to. But actually, when I'm listening to Bernie Sanders, I'm like, this is exactly the same guy. It really isn't just age. Like age is obviously a contributing factor. Anyone who has aging parents, grandparents, whatever, you've seen this.

But there are other things going on with Joe Biden. We'll talk more about that in the health block, but it's not just about the number. There has been a marked decline even over just the past few months. If you go back, I heard someone talking about even if you just go back and watch, remember the dark Brandon speech with the red background and whatever?

I mean, it wasn't great, but it was a hell of a lot better than what he could do today. Certainly, if you go back to the 2020 campaign and this was at a time when we already were saying, hey, this guy sometimes is really on to lunch and having trouble finishing a thought. Even then you look and it is just a dramatic change.

You had a member of Congress who leaked, didn't say this publicly, but leaked anonymously that they do like an issues conference. They did this in February. And typically it's kind of freewheeling with the president involved with the caucuses behind closed doors, not a public event. And they said it was prescripted. Rather than people just being able to ask what they wanna ask, you had people reading prescripted questions off of note cards and

they have noticed the way he's been more and more tightly controlled. So as you mentioned, you've got the Senate Dems who are meeting with Donilon and Reschetti. These are two longtime Biden aides. I'm talking decades long. And these are the

men who in all likelihood are probably running the country right now. And they are the ones who have come up with this strategy to just dig in and bully and hold on for dear life because they like running the country. They like having this power. And if Joe Biden isn't in, neither are they.

this is their guy. And so they are in a lot of ways, just as important, certainly as powerful as the president of the United States right now, even though not a single voter, probably very few know who they are and certainly no one voted for them to be in those positions. - Absolutely, so look everybody, as we said, we will provide coverage later today. We'll see how the press conference goes. Very, very hotly anticipated.

And this is it. This is actually, this is probably the biggest moment of his life, right? I mean, this is arguably bigger than the debate because of the debate. I wouldn't say it was the total nail in the coffin, but I guess we got halfway there. I mean, it's up to him. His fate is completely in his hands. And the knives are out for him now. He's not going to get any kind of grace. I mean, going to the debate, the media would have given him some grace if there were a few bobbles, but it was so bad that it was undeniable. I mean-

I, to make a prediction, I just don't think he has it in him to get through this performance the way he would need to. Yeah. To alleviate concerns. Because at this point, it's not enough to bumble through the way that he has in the past. He has to actually impress, right? And even then, to be honest with you, I think the snowball has already started. But-

The Morning Joe appearance, with his notes, with his aides, on a call-in so he doesn't have to worry about his face and the way he looks and all of those things. Even then, he's totally incoherent. The sentences make no sense. They start and they end in this totally different place or they just sort of trail off into nothingness.

I think that's the best he's got at this point. So it would not surprise me if today could be, could be the actual nail in the coffin. There is no evidence that he can field questions with any confidence. We know this from Morning Joe. We know this from the fact that he's denied the Super Bowl interviews two years in a row, that he's done less press conferences than any president in modern American history. The only reason he appears cogent and coherent off the teleprompters because it's freaking scripted. Right. Are you using the teleprompter?

Trump are in donor meetings for six minute comments. He falls apart under the debate with Trump. Now this time around too, like I said, the press is not gonna cut you any slack. If you start going off in a tangent, they're gonna be like, what was that Mr. President? Can you not answer a question Mr. President? So under that type of pressure and scrutiny, he's gonna get, what do old people do? They get ornery, they're gonna lose his train of thought.

He's going to get frustrated. He's going to get mad. He's going to face real pressure for, you know, really the first time, I think, under this press corps. And look, I think it goes one of two ways. But I think you're right in that I actually don't have confidence that he has the ability left in him at all to deliver the strength. And I mean, if he does, it may be one of the great coups of his life. But even if he does, what you and I both know, can this man serve justice?

four and a half more years in office? That's so obvious. No. So obvious. Yeah. Can he do this tomorrow, let alone four freaking years from now, 86 years old? And like you said too, look, it's not just about age, but what is the thing about age? It's about risk. It's at the risk of this type of stuff going on. It goes from one in, you know, one in a hundred thousand to like one in what, 50 or something. And perhaps with the stress and all the, you know, all the factors, it's lifestyle,

and everything that he just happens to be like, you know, the perfect patient for something like this to happen to. I mean, I also think the Parkinson's concerns are very legitimate. Very legitimate. And as I've said before, if you had the same set of facts with Donald Trump

The symptoms, experts coming out and saying, look, it looks like this guy has Parkinson's. The visits from the Parkinson's experts, the cover up in the lies from the White House, the fact that they won't answer a question straight, all of those. And that his personal physician is like, you know, a family friend and obviously is going to just say whatever he needs to say that the family wants him to say. You put all those things together and I think people should have a lot of questions about what is going on there. So we will see what happens tonight. It's going to be interesting, guys. It'll be fun.

Hi, I'm Katie Lowes. And I'm Guillermo Diaz. And now we're back with another season of our podcast, Unpacking the Toolbox, where Guillermo and I will be rewatching the show. To officially unpack season three of Scandal. Unpredictable. You don't see it coming. It's a wild, wild ride. The twists and turns in season three. Mesmerizing. But also,

And yes, Katie and I's famous teeth-pulling scene that kicks off a romance. And it was peak TV. This is new scandal.

content for your eyes, for your ears, for your hearts, for your minds. Well, suit up, gladiators. Grab your big old glass of wine and prepare yourselves for even more behind the scenes. Listen to Unpacking the Toolbox on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Meet the real woman behind the tabloid headlines in a personal podcast that delves into the life of the notorious Tori Spelling as she takes us through the ups and downs of her sometimes glamorous, sometimes chaotic life and marriage. I don't think he knew how big it would be, how big the life I was given and live is.

I think he was like, oh, yeah, things come and go. But with me, it never came and went. Is she Donna Martin or a down-and-out divorcee? Is she living in Beverly Hills or a trailer park? In a town where the lines are blurred, Tori is finally going to clear the air in the podcast Misspelling. When a woman has nothing to lose, she has everything to gain. I just filed for divorce. Whoa. I said the words.

That I've said like in my head for like 16 years. Wild. Listen to Miss Spelling on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Cheaters and Backstabbers. I'm Shadi Diaz. And I'm Kate Robards. And we are New York City stand-up comedians and best friends. And we love a good cheating and backstabbing story.

So this is a series where our guests reveal their most shocking cheating stories. Join us as we learn how to avoid getting our hearts broken or our backs slashed. Listen to Cheaters and Backstabbers on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

All right, let's move on to the other. This was also almost as consequential potentially as Nancy Pelosi. George Clooney publishing an op-ed in The New York Times saying Biden should go. And of note, the reason we label this block Obama is because Clooney is a very close Obama friend.

And we just learned this morning actually called Obama before putting out this op-ed. Reportedly, Obama did not encourage him but also didn't discourage him.

especially noteworthy given some of the lines in the piece. Let's put the first one up on the screen here. Here's the headline, George Clooney, I love Joe Biden, but we need a new nominee. Put this poll quote up on the screen. He says, is it fair to point these things out? It has to be. This is about age, nothing more, but also nothing that can be reversed. We are

are not going to win in November with this president, very unequivocal. On top of that, we won't win the House and we're going to lose the Senate. This isn't only my opinion. This is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor who I've spoken with in private.

every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly. You also have to suspect that it was probably the assessment of the former president that he spoke to as well before publishing this piece. And you can

rest assured that he read to Obama exactly what he was going to say. Okay, here's the other piece that is incredibly consequential. He says the one battle that Joe Biden cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It's devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe big effing deal Biden of 2020, 2010 rather. He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020.

He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate. And Sagar, others have come out now and said and agreed with that assessment that at that, you know, star studded Hollywood fundraiser that Jimmy Kimmel hosted and Obama was there and George Clooney was there and Julia Roberts and all these other people that he looked and sounded exactly as he looked and sounded at the debate. In other words,

That was not a quote unquote bad night as the Biden people want to spin it. It is typical of his condition at this point. I'm furious about this for a variety of reasons, because if you saw it, dude, you raised $30 million for it and you didn't say anything until after the debate. It's like, okay, I guess, you know, thanks for coming out now. But I'm actually more furious at the White House because what lectures did we receive? Those are cheap fakes. And we're going to show you the video of Obama leaving him off the stage. How

How dare you suggest that he's not with it? And now we have the central organizer of the fundraiser saying, guys, he's gone. He's gone. I put up B3 while Sagar is speaking here, the B3 that shows Obama leading him off the stage. Look at this.

He's like stuck, you know, in Joe Rogan's words, frozen up like Windows 95, locked up like the blue screen of death. And Obama's like, here we go, Joe. Now, again, I don't want to be unkind, but how many of us haven't?

old person in our lives who we've had to do something similar to. And I think that's also why I trust the American people more than the press corps and everybody else who can fool themselves is because we're all like, hey, I've seen it before. It's sad. But, you know, this guy's the freaking president. And

And that behavior, I recognize it. I recognize it just like anybody else. You're not gonna deny my eyes and ears for what I can see very clearly before you. But the hilarious part is the response from the Biden campaign now. Yeah. Where they're basically saying, they're calling George Clooney like Sleepy George. Yeah, yeah.

So their insinuation is that actually Biden has much more vigor and vitality than George Clooney, which to the point you've been making about how the press corps is not buying this bullshit anymore. Just take a listen to Jake Tapper's reaction. This is B2 guys, go ahead and run it. In response to those comments from George Clooney, Jake, a campaign official who attended that Los Angeles fundraiser tells me that George Clooney left three hours before the president. So clearly the gloves are off, Jake.

But what does that mean that George Clooney left? What's the point? The point of that is to suggest that Biden's stamina is better than Clooney's and Clooney didn't have eyes on the entire event. That's the response to the Clooney op-ed.

You're like, sleepy George only showed up for three or three hours early and took a picture. It's like, uh. He had better things to do. First of all, yeah. Probably had a boring ass event. Second, he had a conversation with you that we know that there's a picture of it quite literally of you guys talking. I will say one of the other mega donors at the event was like, actually, he was totally with it. You know, whenever I was, it's like, yeah, all right. Sure. Sure. I,

I don't know. I mean, what we do know is that this is an Obama concerted effort because we have multiple other people connected to Barack Obama. Yeah. Who are also now saying the same thing. Yeah. So from the beginning. OK, so you'll recall immediately after the debate, Obama comes out and says, like, oh, we can all have a bad night. We haven't heard a word from that man since since that.

And there has always been this sort of schism between the Biden people and the Obama people in the sense that Biden's got a chip on his shoulder about being condescended to by the Obama intellectuals. So there's some history there that's worth noting. But Clooney,

Very closely, Obama tied. We get confirmation this morning that he ran this by Obama before. And also remember, Obama is the reason that Biden is the president anyway, because he's the one who helped to orchestrate behind the scenes. Pete and all these people dropping out so that Biden could ultimately defeat Obama.

Bernie Sanders. So he continues to be an incredibly consequential, obviously very popular figure within the Democratic Party. So George Clooney is a close associate. David Axelrod, close friend, longtime strategist, has been out for a while immediately after the debate is basically saying we got to do something else. And then famously at this point, the Pod Save Bros, who are all Obama guys, are

and still very connected in that world, have been some of the most aggressive online pushers for we gotta do something else. Both Jon Favreau, who is a Pod Save Bro, and David Axelrod joined CNN to make this case recently. Let's take a listen to that. No, I think what's hurting Joe Biden right now is not only the debate performance, but the response to the debate performance in that he has been unable to articulate

a coherent and compelling argument against Donald Trump, who I believe represents an existential threat to our democracy. And the debate did not, voters had concerns about Joe Biden's age and fitness for the job long before the debate. An overwhelming majority of voters did, and the debate amplified those concerns.

in a way that was very visceral for voters to see. And so it's like, it really doesn't matter what I think, but I hope that the Biden campaign and that President Biden will just like, look at the, listen to the voters, right? And the overwhelming majority of whom do not like Donald Trump,

do not think Donald Trump is honest, but have had concerns for a couple years now that Joe Biden is not fit for another four years because of his age. The president tried to close down this discussion at the beginning of the week

with his letter to the House. And what she's saying delicately and respectfully is, no, really, the discussion isn't over. And we still need to have this discussion because she's hearing from members all over the country. They all poll. They all talk to their constituents. And they're worried not just about the existential threat of Donald Trump becoming president again, but also the effect that it's going to have on all of their races.

Yeah, so Axelrod talking there about Nancy Pelosi and why she made the comments she made of being like, he needs to make this decision even though he's already claimed to make this decision. So them moving on, Biden, very noteworthy, again, close Obama associates. And then this morning, our producers flagged this, we actually haven't listened to this yet, so we'll listen to it live. But apparently on Morning Joe,

They are getting word from Democrats behind the scenes that they believe Barack Obama is quietly working to orchestrate all of this. Let's take a listen to this. Let's say one thing that we do have to underline here just so so viewers can can follow what's going on behind the scenes is is the Biden campaign and.

And many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this. Well, I think there's some good reason to believe that that is exactly, in fact, what is happening. Yeah, I mean, I think it's obvious. But this is where, again, I don't want to give credit.

where if you're going to take him out, take him out. If he publicly came out or even behind the scenes, he went on the record, like with donors, and he's like, it's over. I'm stepping in. Biden is done. He's toast. Even if he claimed that he wanted to stick in, the existential fallout would be disastrous. And also, there would be a rallying cry by all,

all of the Democratic senators who are behind the scenes. Because who's the figure in the Democratic Party who is more beloved than anybody else? Barack Obama. And also, I think Obama has not only a special responsibility because he served with Biden, but he also critically, Biden can't attack him as being like, if Whitmer said this, what's he gonna say? She just wants my job. Or Gavin Newsom. He's like, look, I can't even serve this job. I'm telling you, you gotta go. And he makes that call or at least comes out publicly.

That takes actual courage and he's not displaying that. With Pelosi, Schumer and the rest of them, they're always leaving themselves out. They're like little weasels. And with that, I can't respect that because what they're waiting for is to have a true emperor has no clothes moment to step in. That doesn't take courage. And also, if you claim to love somebody, you don't want that to happen. Let's preempt that. Like you said, with this press conference, this could be a freaking disaster. I mean, why would you allow somebody to watch?

- Yeah, I think there's a sense of almost like we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. And so they're trying to leave him space to recognize the writing on the wall that you're gonna get if you manage to hang on to power, which is looking increasingly doubtful, you are going to get destroyed in November. You're going to be remembered horribly. Like anyone who might have had a nice thought about you and still buys into, oh, he's such a decent man, blah, blah, blah, which is obviously a bunch of nonsense,

You guys all know that. But anyway, anyone who still buys that, that's going to be dead. Your legacy is going to be toast. This is the only thing you're going to be remembered for. Like, they want him to come to that realization on his own and be able to step down without it looking like Barack Obama was like, you have to step down. Mm-hmm.

That's what they're hoping for is that he can do this the easy way. Do I think the hard way is on the table? Yeah, I kind of do, especially with the amount of the donor class that has moved against him. Do I think it's possible that they go so far as mounting a like, you know, DNC convention delegate coup? Yeah, I think that's possible. Do I even think

it could be on the table, the whole 25th Amendment situation. Yeah, I think that is theoretically possible. I pray for that possibility more than any other because that's actually what I'm the worst worried about right now. Right, because this man is incapacitated today. Yeah, like today. It's a crisis now. Right, and has had, I think, dire consequences in terms of our foreign policy, which is the area he clearly still has the most

command over. I mean, this is why he's been so feckless and so evil with regards to Israel's war in Gaza. I mean, I think it's very clear that that's how we've ended up in this just horrific, unconscionable, devastating situation. So this man has the nuclear codes today, and we are highly doubtful that he can string two sentences together at a press conference this evening because it's past 4 p.m. That's the reality. Look,

I mean, here in Washington, Zelensky is right here, right now, giving speeches, begging for permission to strike Russian air bases inside of Russia. He wants to use our long-range weapons to strike a military base inside Russia. Now, can you imagine a similar situation? China providing Mexico to hit Ellis Air Force Base or something like that? Get out of here. We're going to a full-on war. Yeah, that's right. And he might do it.

Yeah, that's right. We're riding on his mind, right? That's right. I mean, this is terrifying. It is terrifying. It's absolutely terrifying. To go back to the point you were making about if you're a true friend of Joe Biden, it's so true. Yes. What true friend would hang him out to dry at that debate when these aides clearly, judging by how much they have

have scripted his events and rain him and make sure he's not in the public eye whatsoever. They know what's going on and they still put him out there on the debate stage. They know what's going on and they're still putting him out there to be humiliated potentially at this press conference, the big boy press conference today. Like you were doing your great friend who you love so dearly, blah, blah, blah, greatest president of all time, et cetera, et cetera. You are doing him absolutely

Absolutely no favors. There is actually a parallel with Israel because people have been saying this as well. Like Joe Biden, by being such a great friend to Israel, has done them no favors either because this conduct of the war has been a disaster for that country. Like sometimes being a good friend, if you really love the person, means telling them some hard truths. And especially at a time when he is really probably too addled to make great decisions or really understand the landscape himself. And instead, he's in this bubble.

The Rashadis and Donnellans of the world are keeping any negative information from him. He doesn't want to hear it. He reportedly gets irate at anyone who brings him any bad news. So he's surrounded with this very small circle of yes men and with his apparently villainous wife.

And that's how he has really dug in. So will all these Obama moves, will they ultimately amount to anything? We shall see. But I will say that the fact that they were not able to turn off the spigot when they tried so hard early in the week,

That is probably the most significant development. And I don't know that there's anything he could do in this press conference that will quiet the concerns at this point, because once you see it, you can't unsee it. Right. Once you are in the headspace of like, OK, this man has significantly declined, like this is a problem, then all the data points you had about,

about his debate performance, about the way the fundraisers are scripted, about how inaccessible he is, how he does no interviews, he does no press conferences, he didn't do the Super Bowl interviews. Suddenly all of those things add up to a very clear conclusion. And once you've come to that conclusion, I don't think there's any like, there's no unseeing it, there's no walking back from it at this point. Yeah.

Hi, I'm Katie Lowes. And I'm Guillermo Diaz. And now we're back with another season of our podcast, Unpacking the Toolbox, where Guillermo and I will be rewatching the show. To officially unpack season three of Scandal. Unpredictable. You don't see it coming. It's a wild, wild ride. The twists and turns in season three. Mesmerizing. But also,

Also, we get to hang out with all of our old Scandal friends like Bellamy Young, Scott Foley, Tony Goldwyn, Debbie Allen, Kerry Washington. So many people. Even more shocking assassinations from Papa and Mama Pope. And yes, Katie and I's famous teeth pulling scene that kicks off a romance. And it was peak TV. This is new Scandal content.

content for your eyes, for your ears, for your hearts, for your minds. Well, suit up gladiators, grab your big old glass of wine and prepare yourselves for even more behind the scenes. Listen to unpacking the toolbox on the I heart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Meet the real woman behind the tabloid headlines in a personal podcast that delves into the life of the notorious Tori Spelling as she takes us through the ups and downs of her sometimes glamorous, sometimes chaotic life and marriage. I don't think he knew how big it would be, how big the life I was given and live is.

I think he was like, oh, yeah, things come and go. But with me, it never came and went. Is she Donna Martin or a down-and-out divorcee? Is she living in Beverly Hills or a trailer park? In a town where the lines are blurred, Tori is finally going to clear the air in the podcast Misspelling. When a woman has nothing to lose, she has everything to gain. I just filed for divorce. Whoa. I said the words.

That I've said like in my head for like 16 years. Wild. Listen to Miss Spelling on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Cheaters and Backstabbers. I'm Shadi Diaz. And I'm Kate Robards. And we are New York City stand-up comedians and best friends. And we love a good cheating and backstabbing story.

So this is a series where our guests reveal their most shocking cheating stories. Join us as we learn how to avoid getting our hearts broken or our backs slashed. Listen to Cheaters and Backstabbers on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

I think you're right. All right, let's get to the polls. Let's talk about where we are with the polls. Since so much of the discussion in D.C. is focused more on Biden's electoral chances, which is understandable, but also important are his actual abilities to govern. But since so much is focused on his electoral chances, let's take a look at the very latest of what the polls have to say about his political position. This dropped like a stone yesterday. You have all of these districts

that are being moved by Cook Political Report, which assesses all the races and says how likely they are to go Republican or go Democrat. You have five different races in five states that have now moved to worse ratings for Democrats because of Joe Biden. So this is all to do with the Senate. Arizona has moved from toss-up to lean R. Georgia, toss-up to lean R. Minnesota, likely D to lean D. New Hampshire, likely D to lean D. Nevada, toss-up to lean R.

Let's put the next one up on the screen. This is really consequential. New York is apparently now a battleground state for Joe Biden.

This is astonishing. No one should even be thinking, I mean, New York is like the definition of a safe state for Democrats. So the fact that the polls are narrowing in New York, at this point, most of the polling has been internal. But you have labor leaders there and swing district Democrats who are saying that their internal polling is looking like a disaster. And not that Trump would win it, but

The fact that it's even a question mark at this point is incredibly astonishing. Part of why this is so important, Sagar, too, is one of the questions in terms of the political calculus for all of these cowards in Washington is what does Joe Biden at the top of the ticket mean for me personally and my reelect?

And the down ballot numbers are starting to look extremely dire for those who think that like, oh, people will just split ticket vote. And maybe they'll vote for Trump for president, but then they'll vote for Tammy Baldwin for Senate.

That just doesn't really happen to a large extent in modern politics at this point. Harry Enten took a look at this for CNN. Let's take a listen. But the fact of the matter is you look at the national polling, the generic congressional ballot choice for USF. Look at this.

CNN poll, plus two Republican. Wall Street Journal poll, plus three Republican. Monmouth University poll, plus three Republican. Yeah, Joe Biden may be in slightly worse shape in these particular polls, but the fact is when Biden's down four or five, six points in these polls, you can only run so far ahead of Joe Biden at this particular point, at least in the race for the House. It does seem like Republicans are going to win.

are ahead because Donald Trump is so far ahead. What's the Senate landscape? Yeah, what's the Senate landscape? I mean, take a look here. GOP needs just a gain of one for control if Trump wins. And their path is extremely clear because their best chance for a pickup opportunity is in West Virginia. That's a very likely GOP win with Joe Manchin retiring. And the best Dem pickup chance, perhaps to reverse that so the GOP doesn't gain a net gain of at least one, is Texas.

but that's still a likely GOP win. So the fact is, if Donald Trump wins this election, the race for the Senate, for all intents and purposes in my mind, is over. Let's go back since 2000. Same party won presidency in Congress. Yes, five times. No was just one time in 2012, the House that year.

but the house popular vote that year actually went democratic even though republicans maintain control the house so the fact is five out of six times that's not good math and let's just take a look at the senate here senate presidential races in 2016 and 2020 states that voted the same way in both 68 states that voted for a different party just one that was maine back in 2020 the fact is

Straight ticket voting is the way of the land these days. The idea that Democrats down ballot could somehow outrun Joe Biden to such a great extent to win control in the House or maintain control in the Senate, that seems to me to be an unlikely proposition.

Very, very unlikely. You never know, but very unlikely. It's just how modern politics is. There are certain examples that we can point to. Pennsylvania, right, where we had a pretty big split between people who voted for Dr. Oz, but who didn't vote for Doug Mastriano, and then didn't vote for Governor Josh Shapiro. It's what contributed to his wide margin. But

In general, it doesn't really happen, especially at an aggregate level. And at the same time, that was in a race where the split ticket was in statewide election, not national. In general, after 2010, the federalization of American politics has made it so that that whole idea of the blue dog Democrat basically just doesn't exist anymore. It's gone.

I mean, there's like maybe one or two people in a couple of these swings. The number of so-called swingy representatives in Congress is an all-time low for U.S. history. So if I were them, I just don't buy it. And we see a lot of this in the polling data. We see Carrie Lake now coming, you know, neck and neck with Ruben Gallego. She was down by 14 points now. She's tied with Ruben Gallego. I mean, if I'm Tammy Baldwin, I'm freaking out right now. So just because my net approach

approval rating is higher than Biden, who cares? Huge portions of this population just come in and put straight R. Ever since they added that to the ballot, it's basically game over. Nevada, New Hampshire, all of these places, this is a real problem for them. Yeah, I mean, I think it's problematic.

probably likely the Democrats will outrun Joe Biden if he's still the nominee by some. Right. But we're seeing polls right now that have Tammy Baldwin outrunning him by 12 points. I don't believe that. That's just not going to happen. And, you know, the way this works is if the top of the ticket –

performs extraordinarily well, like Barack Obama in 2008, he had these giant coattails. All of these Democratic congressional races that people didn't think were in play, where you had candidates who didn't raise a lot of money and weren't really known and Democrats weren't focused on them at all, they wake up and they're, oh my God, I won, right? So all these seats that people didn't think were possible, Democrats won.

When you have a president who dramatically underperforms, it's exactly the opposite. There's a reverse coattail effect where you pull down people who may not have even thought that they were potentially vulnerable.

however it plays out, however much Democrats are able to outrun him, every one of them is looking at this and saying, this is a problem for me. Every single member of the House is up. You've got a third of the Senate that's up. The Senate is probably gone for Democrats anyway, because as he lays down, they got to win Texas. They got to beat Ted Cruz this time, which I think is fairly unlikely, unless maybe they do put George Clooney and Michelle Obama at the top of the ticket or something. But the Senate is probably looking pretty grim for them. But the House

they feel like they've got a real shot at. The margin is already extremely narrow. I think if you had a good presidential nominee at the top of the ticket, they've got a better than even shot at picking it up. But not with this guy, not happening with this guy. You also have increasing recognition among the party faithful that Biden should go. We can put this latest up on the screen. There's an interesting age divide here, though. Among all Democrats, it's plus eight. This is a YouGov poll from July 3rd to 6th.

So it's a little bit dated, but this is, you know, in the immediate aftermath of the debate. Should he step aside? All Democrats plus eight. Democrats 65 and older, though, the question is minus 35. So the younger you are, the more likely you are to say, like, get this guy out of here. That also tracks with his approval rating is much lower the younger you are.

among Democrats versus the older you are. But I also saw a new poll this morning. This is a new ABC Ipsos poll that just came out. And this is of all voters, 85% of voters say that Biden is too old for a second term. 85%.

How do you overcome that? And then you've got in this poll, 62% of Democrats saying Biden should step aside. So that would seem to indicate that Democratic base voters are moving against him really rapidly. And to all his claims that, oh, well, black voters still back me up and they're still, we need to listen to black voters, which you see all the time on Twitter. Okay, well, let's listen to black voters. 67% say they'd be fine with Harris taking over from Biden. And we've long, even before the debate, we had a majority of black voters who said that they would like a different

nominee than Joe Biden. So but that headline, 85 percent of voters say Biden's too old for a second term. You think you're going to be able to overcome that? There's no way. There is no way. It's only going to go higher, Crystal. That's what that's what I think. I mean, and you're referencing that poll. I mean, when we look at it, including more than the seven and the 10 independents. So the swing voters, the limited amount that are up for grabs, they want Biden to go. I can't not spare, though, our boomer friends when you look at that, because the numbers that just shows you

you know where the constituency for all this still hangs on. You've still got some minus 35% spread of the boomers who want him to stay in the race. I mean, 61% say he definitely should not drop out. What are these people doing? I mean, if anyone, they're the most familiar with age, but I think, look,

Here is my hope, and this is the only way I can try and spin what's happening here as a positive for the country. A devastating Biden loss due to age and or getting forced out may actually be what forces us to be saved from the gerontocracy. Because what it means is that it is the final electoral signal to the Mitch McConnells, the Chuck Schumers, the Pelosi and others to be like, it's over. It is over, if you will. All

All of this has got to end. People will actually pay a price for staying in much longer than they should have. And what these people should recognize is that you're doing, you know, if you want to keep the gerontocracy or old folks in power, is that from now till time immemorial, the questions around age are going to be, what, 20, 50 times more than they ever were before? I mean, in the Reagan and McCain years, everyone was like, well, it was...

a sensitive question now, it's going to be like, no, straight up, like show me your health records, everything that you've got if you're over the age of 70. On the other hand, Donald Trump is going to be surfing into his 80s. No, I agree, but that's part of what I'm saying. I don't know that it'll be such a lesson learned since you'll still have an

octogenarian president in the office. Right, but my thing is, is that after that, are we really going to re-nominate somebody who's 78 years old? I don't think so. I think that, you know, 2028, we're shaping up for it, no matter what happens, you know, whoever wins or whatever. I think we're shaping up for maybe a couple 50-year-olds. And if Biden loses, think too about the rage of the Democratic base is going to be such that they will reward the Dean Phillips election

and others. And they're going to be like, look, anyone who's spoken out against this, and one of the most potent things that primary challengers will have to be like, it's time to go. You're too old. And that will resonate at a deep level. Maybe I'm wish-tasting, but I'm really going to. It's actually ironic because that's how Joe Biden initially won his presidency. That's true. 1972. Yeah. I can't remember the name of the dude he was running against, but he'd been there forever. And he was

was like in his 60s. And he was like, he's too old. Well, let me draw a parallel, though, because that's a very important time. The last time that the Democratic base took out their anger on the Democratic elites was the 1972 election. They were called the Watergate babies and all in that time period. And it was the rage of the base against the party elites who led them into Vietnam and co-signed

all of LBJ Hubert Humphrey's actions. Those elites were actually elected in the 1930s and 1940s and are the equivalent of the gerontocracy that we had today. Those congressmen and senators and others who came in, many of them actually continue to serve today, which is wild. But my point is just that there are revolutions that happen at this time. And every once in a while, the base and others wake up. They're like, we got to get these people out of here.

So that is my prayer for what the result is. There have been some other, I mean, it is interesting right now because part of what is so fascinating are these just like weird coalitions of people who are on either side of this equation. And I do think that could potentially shake something loose. The other thing that's been hysterical to me is like the super Biden defenders. Now they hate the media. Yes. Yes. They think the media is being so unfair to Joe Biden, which is hilarious for a variety of reasons. But I,

It also makes me kind of hopeful, like, oh, well, maybe they'll stop being so sycophantic and just trust whatever the media tells them about anything all the time is my hope for a silver lining out of this. But, I mean, my real take is just it's chaos right now. How this is going to shake out, it's going to have massive lasting repercussions on American politics. There's no doubt about that. What those are going to be, pfft.

I couldn't say. I don't know. It'll depend. Does he get out? Does he not get out? Does he win? Does he lose? How bad is it? Who replaced? All this stuff is still very much a live question, which is what makes it such an incredibly fascinating time to live through. Absolutely. We got one more here for you, which is pretty interesting. So

One of the Joe Biden talking points has been that it's just this cabal of elites who wants him to step aside. Now, we just ran through the polling that shows you, of course, that's preposterous. It's also preposterous because the idea that Joe Biden has been some man of the people is hilarious, especially because part of how he's convinced himself that he is this super special political figure and he's the only one that could beat Trump and he was underestimated before, blah, blah, blah,

was by dint of his primary victory over Bernie Sanders in 2020. Now, we all know how that went down. It had very little to do with Joe Biden and his acumen. In fact, the fact that the former vice president had to be rescued by Obama and an actual elite cabal behind the scenes was pretty extraordinary. But that was never something that like an ordinary establishment Democrat would do.

would admit is the way all of that went down. But now you had Representative Adam Smith went on, I believe multiple programs to remind people what that primary was actually about and how that actually went down. And it's pretty amazing to see a regular run of the mill rank and file establishment Democrat admit what that process was actually all about. Let's take a listen. - And I've said this over and over again.

Joe Biden was not picked in 2020 because he was the only person who could beat Trump. He was picked because he was the only person that could beat Bernie Sanders, rightly or wrongly. And by the way, for the Sanders fans out there, I'm not judging. But that conclusion was made. OK. Oh, my gosh. Coming out of Nevada, Bernie Sanders is going to be the nominee and people just like they are now.

Back then said, yeah, I don't think that's gonna work. So they were looking for an alternative. And tip of the hat to Joe Biden, he had the record, eight great years as vice president. Wasn't about he could be Trump, it was about he could be Bernie Sanders. And so all of these elites that he's now pretending to be so against, meanwhile, he's calling them and doing his donor fundraising pitch and trying to smooth the ladders.

all of them moved against Bernie, moved in favor of Joe Biden. And that's how he ends up being the nominee. Funny that he can admit that now. Yeah, it is funny. I mean, listen, all truth comes out on time. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, a lot of us knew it at the time, covered it as such. We're called conspiracy theorists, et cetera. But it is funny. You know, it certainly does reveal everything. We will see what happens here with Joe Biden. But I mean, that 85 percent one, I

I can't really get that out of my head because that's just, that's it. 85% saying you're too old to serve another term. You can't get 85% of Americans to agree on anything. Like literally anything. For this, I can't think of a more unifying position now for the American people. Yeah, truly. It is extraordinary. And that's not some elite take. That is the will of the people as it is. There you go.

Hi, I'm Katie Lowe's and I'm Guillermo Diaz. And now we're back with another season of our podcast, unpacking the toolbox where Guillermo and I will be rewatching the show to officially unpack season three of scandal. Unpredictable. You don't see it coming. It's a wild, wild ride. The twists and turns in season three mesmerizing, but

Also, we get to hang out with all of our old scandal friends like Bellamy Young, Scott Foley, Tony Goldwyn, Debbie Allen, Kerry Washington. So many people. Even more shocking assassinations from Papa and Mama Pope. And yes, Katie and I's famous teeth-pulling scene that kicks off a romance.

And it was Peak TV. This is new scandal content for your eyes, for your ears, for your hearts, for your minds. Well, suit up, gladiators. Grab your big old glass of wine and prepare yourselves for even more behind the scenes. Listen to Unpacking the Toolbox on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Meet the real woman behind the tabloid headlines in a personal podcast that delves into the life of the notorious Tori Spelling as she takes us through the ups and downs of her sometimes glamorous, sometimes chaotic life and marriage. I don't think he knew how big it would be, how big the life I was given and live is.

I think he was like, oh, yeah, things come and go. But with me, it never came and went. Is she Donna Martin or a down-and-out divorcee? Is she living in Beverly Hills or a trailer park? In a town where the lines are blurred, Tori is finally going to clear the air in the podcast Misspelling. When a woman has nothing to lose, she has everything to gain. I just filed for divorce. Whoa. I said the words. Yeah.

that I've said like in my head for like 16 years. Wild. Listen to Misspelling on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Angie Martinez. Check out my podcast where I talk to some of the biggest athletes, musicians, actors in the world. We go beyond the headlines and the soundbites to have real conversations about real life, death, love, and everything in between. This life right here, just finding myself, just relaxation, just not feeling stressed, just not feeling pressed. This is what I'm most proud of. I'm proud of Mary because I've been through hell and some horrible things.

That feeling that I had of inadequacy is gone. You're going to die being you. So you got to constantly work on who you are to make sure that the stars align correctly.

Life ain't easy and it's getting harder and harder. So if you have a story to tell, if you've come through some trials, you need to share it because you're going to inspire someone. You're going to give somebody the motivation to not give up, to not quit. Listen to Angie Martinez IRL on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

All right, let's take a look at the very latest lies to come out of the White House. So we have been covering these questions about Joe Biden and potential Parkinson's concerns. You've had multiple experts now come out and say he appears to be exhibiting classic symptoms of Parkinson's. Then we find out there was a Parkinson's specialist who

who visited the White House eight separate times just in the past number of months. The White House really stonewalled when they were asked about that, which just raised furloughs.

further questions. And now you have Karine Jean-Pierre caught in yet another lie, specifically with regard to this Parkinson's expert who had visited the White House. We can put this up on the screen from the AP. President Joe Biden saw neurologists at the White House, that's that Parkinson's specialist, for the January 17th exam, press secretary says.

That is directly contrary to what she had said before. So he saw that expert at the White House on January 17th for a neurological exam, they're now saying, the results of which were later reported as part of his annual physical more than a month later. This is the latest line from the White House. That confirmation came, they write, after the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, inactivity.

accurately said during the daily briefing with reporters that the January 17th meeting was not related to care for the president in response to a question from the AP. So the AP asked her straight out,

Was this January 17th meeting, which we knew was there were four people in the room. One of them was the Parkinson's expert. One of them was Joe Biden's personal physician. And then there was one who remained a mystery. Was this about Joe Biden? She said unequivocally, no.

Now she has had to come back once again. This is the second time just in the past couple of days has had to come back and clean that up and admit that this meeting was actually with Joe Biden. So just to recall how all of this went down at the initial press briefing, she just stonewalled at the question and claimed these preposterous like security and privacy concerns, even though his name, the specialist name was in the public visitor's logs. It was already public, but she saw privacy concerns, security concerns, etc.,

The next time she out and out says, no, this meeting was not about Joe Biden, let's listen to her initial comments. It's not something that the president is dealing with. Well, I can tell you this, just going back to Parkinson's for a little bit, so to give you some answers here, has the president been treated for Parkinson's? No. Is he being treated for Parkinson's? No, he's not. Is he taking medication for Parkinson's?

for Parkinson's? No. So those are the things that I can give you full-blown answers on, but I'm not gonna confirm a specialist, any specialist that comes to the White House out of privacy. - You've noted that there are thousands within the Walter Reed system who may be treated by a specialist who visits here at the White House, but this neurologist had a meeting with the president's physician, with his doctor,

You're refusing to say if he was here to evaluate the president or if he was consulting on the president's health. So what then was that meeting about? And I will say that Dr. O'Connor leads the medical unit. He's literally, he's literally, he leads the medical unit. No, because we will not confirm or speak to names that you're providing to me. It is out of security reason, it is out of protecting someone's privacy.

Security and privacy. And she very strongly suggests that it wasn't about Biden because she said, well, he heads the White House Medical Union. So it could be about anything. Then she comes back. This time is when she tells the outright lie that that meeting had nothing to do with the president's health. Let's take a listen to how that went. Yeah.

And you can correct me if I'm wrong, but it didn't seem to explicitly describe the nature of Dr. Kinnard's meeting with Dr. O'Connor. So can you say whether that one meeting was related to care for the president himself? I can say that it was not.

Can I just ask why that information that was released last night just wasn't said at the briefing yesterday? Well, no. Actually, a lot of what is in the letter was said at the briefing, to be very, very clear. I said many of the things that were laid out in the letter was actually repeated right here behind this lectern at this podium yesterday.

It was-- - I said that. - Hold on, I said many of the things, many of the things, and we got clarification obviously from Dr. O'Connor, but it was in line with what I said when I said only three, right? I said only three visits that this particular doctor had. I said a neurologist. What I was not able to confirm is the name, and the reason why is because we do not share

private information, that is something that we respect. And we wanted to make sure that we protected our consultants here that work with the White House Medical Unit, their security as well. - Gaslighting here, just on every level is incredible. So that's where she tells the direct lie, this had nothing to do with the president, then they have to come back and say, well, it actually was about the president, they did meet with the president. But also when she's like, all this information was in the press briefing. - No, it wasn't. - No, it was not, lady. And still with this privacy and security concerns,

If you were trying to put to bed the idea that the president could have Parkinson's, which I think is very much a live and ongoing question, you're repeatedly getting caught in multiple lies by the press corps is not gonna help your case. I was gonna say, I've covered politics long enough to know this. When you get caught lying three times in one week, there's smoke there, okay? Fire, it's not only present, it is raging and it is everywhere.

wear. So I want to know. I mean, there are four people in that meeting. Three of them had been confirmed. Now we know that the fourth person is the president of the United States. Why was he meeting with the president of the United States? They claim is for a routine physical. Well, then why wasn't he present at the 2021 and the 2022 routine physical? Why did you bring him in in 2023, which just happens to coincide with this even more rapid deterioration on the public stage? You don't need

to be a genius to figure all of this stuff out and to also know about the way that a coverup is happening. You know, I've been telling you a little bit about this, but everybody I'm asking who is an actual doctor is very freaked out by the setup right now under Biden. And if this were Trump, you would hear a lot more about this. This doctor is a family friend.

who tried to go into business with the president's brother. So first of all, I don't give a damn word that you were saying. Second, and I don't want to piss too many doctors off, he's a DO. Only 11%, I think, of board-certified physicians are DOs, like doctor of osteopathic medicine or whatever. All I'm saying is I was raised enough around Indian MDs to be a little sus. Whenever you hear a DO and a family friend, you're like...

like, hmm, what's going on here? What kind of doc is this guy? Look, again, he is board certified, so I'm not calling the credentials. I'm only saying there's variance within the industry. I'll put it kindly that way.

So what do we know, too, here about this doc? He's not some career Navy admiral or any of these other people who's been relatively impartial. He's got a lot riding here. He's got his own career on the line. Why? He has every incentive in the world. And that's the other thing about cover-ups. As we all know about the corrupt medical industry, you don't just outright say, oh, he has Parkinson's and we've got to cover up Parkinson's.

If he never diagnosed Parkinson's, he never had Parkinson's. That's what I think we're all watching right now behind the scenes. But this is what I hope that the press corps really gets him on. Because if we can get Biden on the record about Parkinson's and it's later revealed that he lied about it, that's it. We can impeach him for that. I mean, that's it. You have to go. That's a 25th Amendment or an actual impeachable offense at that point. Because it has to do with your actual fitness for the office.

Yeah, well, the other lie that she recently was caught in was about whether Biden had had a medical exam after the debate. And she said no, unequivocally no. And then Biden himself, I think in the Stephanopoulos interview was like, yeah, I had a checkup. And so she had to come back then and say, well, actually, he had a verbal check in, which I wasn't thinking of as a medical exam. So it's not a lie. And of course, the press corps was like, this is like, you're just lying to us. That was what triggered actually,

Ed O'Keefe in that extraordinary exchange that we showed you where he was so angry and not just him, Kelly O'Donnell and a bunch of other of the front row prestigious press people were so enraged and really going at Korean Jean-Pierre was because they had just been lied to about this Biden medical exam. So that's why the fact you had that lie, now you have this lie that she's having to admit to and cop to.

So the knives are gonna be out for Biden at this press conference because as you said, Sagar, not only have they been lied to, so they do not have, they have given this White House so much benefit of the doubt. It is preposterous the amount of cover they have provided to this White House over the number of years, going along with the cheap fake stuff, all of that, that's gone, okay? They feel lied to and they feel humiliated because they know that they got played on all of this and have been played on all of this for years.

So that's part of what increases the risk for Biden at the big boy press conference today is because they've taken the gloves off. You're not gonna get the kid handling that he would have gotten two weeks ago before the debate. That's not happening.

Because they know they have been lied to. They've had to admit directly from the White House that they have lied to people multiple times in a single week. So that's also part of why this is so consequential, but also more to the point.

There are some very serious questions here about what's actually going on with the president's health. And, you know, I'm not a doctor. I can only, you know, see what other experts are saying. Look at the symptoms on, you know, online and look at Biden's performance. But the fact that there's been such a significant decline just in the most recent period tracks with there being something going on other than just old age, because, as I said before, you know,

Bernie's still with it. Pelosi is still probably behind the scenes, ready to cut the cord on him and wielding power and saying the things she wants to say. Maxine Waters came out and was like, I'm older than he is and I'm still good. And she is still fiery. Whatever you think of her, she is still firing with it. Trump is old as hell too. And he still seems, I mean, he's a little incoherent, but he's always been a little incoherent. His energy levels are certainly there.

It's not just age. So some sort of diagnosis does make sense in that context that there's something specific happening with Joe Biden. And then you see the White House lying and spinning and getting caught over and over. It does not help put those questions to bed. No, zero. I am very concerned about the state of the president today. Like national security, 25th Amendment level concern today. Yeah. Considering dragging this out.

is madness. And here we have a genuine scandal with his health where he won't even consent to a cognitive test. - That's right. - Remember? - That's right. - He keeps saying, "I take one every day." - If you're good, do the neurological exam from an independent expert, not your buddy.

A panel of experts. Yes. And then release the results. Televise it. Televise the whole thing. Release the results to the public. Right. Then, okay, maybe we can talk. But that's the one thing he's been very clear and cogent on is his absolute refusal to have a neurological examination so that people could have some sort of sense of what's going on. In his head, he's like, that would be weakness. That would be admitting that there's something there. And it's like, no, dude.

When 85% of people think that you're too old, like you have to prove it to them that you actually can run. Oh, listen, we all know if he could do it, he would do it. Yeah, right. If he could have done the two-hour press conference right after and taken a bunch of questions from the press and all of those things, he would have done it. He would have taken the Super Bowl interview. If he could prove, his line was always, you know, if you think I'm too old, just watch me. Okay, we've been watching. And you haven't been giving anyone any comfort whatsoever, quite the contrary. So if he could...

do what needed to be done to put the doubters to bed, he would do it. The fact that he doesn't and won't tells you everything you really need to know. Yes, that's right. Hi, I'm Katie Lowe's and I'm Guillermo Diaz. And now we're back with another season of our podcast, unpacking the toolbox where Guillermo and I will be rewatching the show to officially unpack season three of scandal. Unpredictable. You don't see it coming. It's a wild, wild ride. The twists and turns in season three mesmerizing, but also

Also, we get to hang out with all of our old Scandal friends like Bellamy Young, Scott Foley, Tony Goldwyn, Debbie Allen, Kerry Washington. So many people. Even more shocking assassinations from Papa and Mama Pope. And yes, Katie and I's famous teeth pulling scene that kicks off a romance. And it was peak TV. This is new Scandal KCBQ.

content for your eyes, for your ears, for your hearts, for your minds. Well, suit up gladiators, grab your big old glass of wine and prepare yourselves for even more behind the scenes. Listen to unpacking the toolbox on the I heart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Meet the real woman behind the tabloid headlines in a personal podcast that delves into the life of the notorious Tori Spelling as she takes us through the ups and downs of her sometimes glamorous, sometimes chaotic life and marriage. I don't think he knew how big it would be, how big the life I was given and live is.

I think he was like, oh, yeah, things come and go. But with me, it never came and went. Is she Donna Martin or a down-and-out divorcee? Is she living in Beverly Hills or a trailer park? In a town where the lines are blurred, Tori is finally going to clear the air in the podcast Misspelling. When a woman has nothing to lose, she has everything to gain. I just filed for divorce. Whoa, I said the words.

that I've said like in my head for like 16 years. Wild. Listen to Miss Spelling on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Cheaters and Backstabbers. I'm Shadi Diaz. And I'm Kate Robards. And we are New York City stand-up comedians and best friends. And we love a good cheating and backstabbing story. Welcome.

So this is a series where our guests reveal their most shocking cheating stories. Join us as we learn how to avoid getting our hearts broken or our backs slashed. Listen to Cheaters and Backstabbers on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

All right, let's shift gears a little bit to Donald Trump. We're still on Veep Watch here with what is going to happen with Donald Trump's vice presidential pick. Allegedly, there were a couple of people who had made the shortlist. Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio, and J.D. Vance. Trump appeared on Brian Kilmeade's show to ask,

And Brian Kilmeade asked him about each of these. And he actually kind of laid some of the things about each one and why they might be good. So let's take a listen. On your vice president candidate, word is that you won't pick J.D. Vance because of his facial hair. Is that is that true?

No, I've never heard that one. Number two, Doug Burgum, the thing that hurts. He looks like a young Abraham Lincoln. Right, he's a handsome man. Doug Burgum on abortion in North Dakota, he signed something legislation handed him. Does that hurt him?

Well, it's a little bit of an issue. It's a pretty strong ban. You know, I think Doug is great, but it is a strong, he's taken a very strong stance or the state has. I don't know if it's Doug, but the state has. It's so it's an issue. And lastly, Marco Rubio and being from Florida, would that stop you from picking him?

No, but it does make it more complicated. You know, you do that and it makes it more complicated. There are people that don't have that complication. Now it's fairly easily fixed, but you have to do something with delegates or there has to be a resignation, you know, et cetera, et cetera. So it's not like picking some people where it's very easy, where there is none of that. Florida, meaning two people can't be running on the same ticket. You actually can, but they take delegates.

And taking delegates is a very risky thing to do, right? See you in Milwaukee, Mr. President. Thanks so much for the quality time for our audience. And thanks so much for the insight. Do you think you'll make your pick tomorrow, Vice President?

No, not tomorrow. I'll make it close to the convention. I would love to do it. You know, it used to be picked during the convention, Brian, and it made the convention, frankly, more interesting. The pick used to be during the convention. That's what I'd like to do. But, you know, with modern technology, if you can believe it, it's like everything else.

And like voting used to be better with all paper ballots. I mean, modern technologies is a lot of things and it makes it easier if you pick before the convention. But Mr. President, thanks. I'd love to be the old fashioned way and do it during the convention. OK, so let's go through some of the things that he said about what he say. He started off with J.D. Vance and facial hair. This is a stupid article that came out in the bulwark. I don't even know why.

Brian Kilmeade is talking about that one. The second one is Doug Burgum. I actually think that was the most consequential thing that he said. And then the third about Rubio, he's talking about the residency requirement. But to actually go through some of like the pluses and the minuses, one of the things we were talking about before the show is I would not put it past Trump to actually pick somebody out of those three. Now that the race has so fundamentally changed,

In a world where New York and Virginia, Colorado, New Hampshire are on the ballot, I would pick Glenn Youngkin. Like I would pick a hyper-moderate, you know, blue state, red governor and run him who's friendly to the donors because now I'm going for broke. I'm going for 380 electoral votes. I'm not going for a narrow victory.

against Joe Biden. I just think in this blowout scenario, things could change. And I do think his mind probably has shifted as a result of what has happened here. Now, again, I don't know what each of these three, whether this three is even the final list. The campaign manager, Chris Lasavita, continues to poo-poo any discussion of like, this is the final list or that's not even true. So

There's a lot of spinning going on. And the thing is, too, with Trump, I mean, he didn't make the Pence call until very, very late in the game. So I actually believe him when I say it's going to be right up before the convention. I really do. Yeah. He's – Youngkin has been pretty popular in Virginia. I think tactically Youngkin makes a lot of sense for him because I do think he could potentially put Virginia in play. Mm-hmm.

Um, I also think that he is, uh, donor class loves him, right? Trump's raising a lot of money from wall street and whoever, uh, Yunkin is kind of, he's sort of undefined nationally. So that's a good thing, uh, as well in terms of shaping, he's not going to overshadow Trump that much is for sure. He doesn't have a super, you know, charismatic profile, any of that. And, um, uh,

He has been somewhat of a moderate governor in Virginia. So I think tactically that makes a lot of sense. Is he gonna reach outside of the ones that have been leaked to the press or the finalists? I have no idea. I do still stand by, I think Trump will make what he at least perceives to be a tactical play, which is why I've always been

I just have never understood the case for JD Vance because Ohio is a red state. You're not bringing anything into play there. He's not from a demographic group. Like he's a white dude, you know? So if you believe the identity politics play of like, we're going to have a Latino and then Latinos are going to vote for us, which I think is nonsense, but a lot of people believe, um, he doesn't make sense from that perspective. I saw someone floating like, Oh, well he's young. So maybe young people have over a bunch. Uh, I can't even believe that they would think it's just so silly. So, um,

Trump, this is very consequential election. It really matters that he's able to pull it across the finish line. The landscape has suddenly gotten much less certain. They are hoping and praying to God that Joe Biden is still at the top of the- - Quite literally. - 'Cause they know they will be able to wallop him come November.

If it's a question mark who's at the top of the ticket, I mean, I think you could get someone in here that would be a lot more difficult for him to deal with. I think there could be a scenario where you have a candidate who feels like a new fresh face and that people who were so disgusted, which this is another unifying sentiment, so it's such disgust.

These are the two choices that we're left with once again. I think you could really have a bump for that person if you made the right strategic choice. So he's in this sort of difficult position because he's having to pick a vice presidential candidate without really knowing what the landscape is.

So that makes it even more important that you have a very tactical choice, because on the one hand, he could be looking at the, you know, the historic landslide where he wins Virginia. On the other hand, he could be looking at a much more formidable candidate than he's facing now, in which place, you know, being able, having a vice president that more people feel comfortable with and that puts states in play that otherwise might not be in play becomes more consequential. So I genuinely don't know. I have a,

I just have a gut feeling that he's throwing us a little bit off the trail with the people that have been leaked to the press. Because, you know, he's a showman. He is. He loves a surprise. That's what he just said. He wants it to come out of nowhere. He wants people to not be thinking. But I agree with you, the Doug Burgum comments, that I think is probably real. Yeah, I think that's real too. That he feels like the abortion thing with Doug Burgum, that kind of ruled out Kristi Noem. I think he probably does feel like that's a genuine issue for him. He talks a little bit about that with Rubio, although he does tease it a little bit. So let's take a listen to that.

When will you make an announcement? Maybe tonight. And if he's not chosen, will he be, will he play a role in your administration? Well, he certainly will. And he's a fantastic guy. And he's a friend of mine. And he is one of the top people. And let's see how we do over the next week, but probably over the next week or so, maybe even at the convention.

Well, Marco, come a long way. She said maybe even at the convention. I'm taking a look at that. Let's put this one up there, please, on the screen. And these are the predicted odds in the betting markets. This is all just based on public reporting. So you've got J.D. Vance, Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Glenn Young in there, Tulsi, I don't know where the hell that's coming from, Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott. I would put Tim Scott way higher up on that list. Yeah, I don't know. I'm feeling Glenn. Look, all of these, I think, are possibilities. A lot of it will come down

to exactly the hole that he's trying to fill here. And like I said, the case for Vance that people are making to him is basically, look, this guy will run your administration. You can do whatever you want to do. The only reason I'm skeptical of that is Trump doesn't really care about governance. Right.

The other problem for J.D. is that there is a lot of donors hate him, especially over Ukraine. Let's put this up there on the screen from the Daily Beast. Trump donors on the brink of civil war over J.D. Vance for VP. And people like Rupert Murdoch and others are adamantly opposed, whereas Marco Rubio and Doug Burgum are both – Rubio is beloved by the donor class.

He's a tea party OG, Paul Singer and the rest of them adore him. Burgum is both filthy rich in his own right and is genuinely friends with all of these donors. So that's to his benefit. JD doesn't have the same like donor base per se of the people who like him. He hates the wall. I was at a speech last night that he gave, he was going after the wall street journal editorial board, you know, so like there's a lot of those financial people. Um,

who really hate him. Isn't he himself a financial person, though? No, he's a venture capitalist. There's a big difference, right, between Wall Street and VC. I'm just saying. I mean, it's definitely part of the financial industry. Okay, but he's not out there advocating for corporate tax cuts. There's a pretty big difference between the Wall Street Journal editorial board, who's like, oh, actually, the corporate tax rate should be zero. Yeah.

Right? Sure. One of the reasons they hate him the most is because he praised Lena Kahn at a convention and said she was the best member of the Biden administration. I mean, as you know, that's unforgivable for a lot of these folks. So anyways, Wall Street people don't like him. Wall Street Journal people don't like him. The Wall Street Journal's editor

The owner doesn't like him. And the Ukraine thing is a problem for a lot of the neocons. I could see it. What do you think about it? We were talking about this before. I think you view this a little different than me. But I feel like it's also a problem that there's all these clips of him on CNN saying negative things about Trump. Is that a problem? And I know Trump really values loyalty, and J.D. has gone out of his way to sort of display his loyalty in recent years. But...

someone who could really totally change on a dime like that, how much can you really put stock in their long-term loyalty? - You could put it two ways. It could be, well, I've got a lot on this guy because he's somebody who, he's somebody who, like he previously criticized me, so now

You know, I have that over him as a way to question his loyalty or whatever, keep him in line. You could also put it the way that he said, I don't know. Look, I mean, the Trump family, the Trump Jr. and all those people, Trump Jr. wants Trump to pick J.D. Vance. Even today, he's tweeting out his clips. He keeps talking about he's the only America first candidate. So if he's forgiven him, I don't know. It's one of those with Trump where,

look, Rubio ran against him, right? Rubio said he was unacceptable and he's on the list. Burgum was on our show running against him. So like, you know, now all three of these folks. What do you think about the Rubio? I'm just skeptical of that one because Rubio's also botched some really big moments. Yeah, Rubio's bad. Yeah, I mean,

Just in terms of Trump thinking about the showman aspect and does he really, you know, does he really show up when he needs to show up? Obviously, he had that infamous, horrible State of the Union response. He was embarrassed by Trump and by Chris Christie during the Republican primary debates back in 2016. I mean, in a sense, that's ancient history. But I do think that those impressions linger of like, oh, this is someone that when the chips are down, they don't really show up. Yeah, that's right. I would actually, that's probably Rubio's biggest problem.

Yeah. I mean, the other thing is Trump, this would be a case for both J.D. and Burgum, is that both of them are at least good enough on television who are defending him. At least with, Burgum was not good on our show, but he's been done well enough on CNN and elsewhere going after Joe Biden, etc. So that could be the role. I really don't know what Trump wants in a VP. Because last time around, it was, I just need these evangelicals and to solidify that.

This time, the dynamics are different. I mean, basically, the evangelicals are all weeping and crying because they slightly softened the pro-life language in the GOP, in the RNC platform. And Trump is basically like, eat shit. Get over it. And he knows that they will. And by the way, he's right. He should tell them that.

So, but this time it's like, what is the constituency? Like I said, are we going for the swing state voters? If we are, I'm going for Youngkin. Do we think that we're just going to win no matter what? And so I'm going to think about governance. I would pick J.D. Do I have money problems? Now I'm picking Doug Burgum. I mean, I could make the case for all four. I really don't know where his mind is right now. The J.D. governance thing, again, just doesn't make sense because you can, he can be your chief of staff. He can run your, you know, whatever is like the critical agency for you. You don't have to have him on the ticket. That's true.

So I just the electoral case for unless you're just looking for someone who can be like a bulldog for you on cable news But again, he'll do that whether he's on the ticket or not So, I don't know but I I also can't claim to understand the mindset and I think it's possible Trump hasn't even fully decided because the landscape is so much in flux right now that he's having to recalibrate he may be running a totally different race than

than what he thought he was gonna be running two weeks ago. - He would be a fool not to, because now it is not about Trump. It's not even really, it's about inflation, but it's not really about inflation. This is about, this man is gonna die like tomorrow. You need to elect me to save us from this urgent crisis.

Now Trump will benefit from the same phenomenon that Biden did, where people are not voting for Biden. They're voting against Trump. Right. Same thing. So now you've got millions. If Biden's the nominee, though. That's right. If Biden's the nominee.

I don't know. Yeah, but even with Kamala, I mean, you could prosecute the case of like, what did she know and when did she know it? I think he knows how to run against Kamala. I mean, she's just, she's been in the public eye enough. They've thought enough about her. I'm sure they have oppo on her. But she also will get to pick, you know, if it's Kamala, she'll get to pick a vice presidential, you know, an Andy Beshear or whoever, uh,

to round out that ticket as well. So it makes the selection more difficult for him because he doesn't know who he's up against. He doesn't know. He doesn't have any special insight. He's reading, looking at all the things that we're looking at and trying to make his best guess as well. Earlier this week on Sean Hannity's show, he said, I think Biden's got too much ego to drop out. I think it may be him. Things have shifted since then. So is his assessment different today? We don't know.

He's playing the same game in a lot of ways that we are and having to pick a vice presidential ticket without knowing whether you're going to be going against this historically weak candidate or someone who may be more formidable, which does make those tactical concerns much more paramount because you've got to make a choice that is going to play, whether it's against Biden or Kamala or question mark candidate that's out there. What I would do if I were him is I would wait until the very, very last possible moment.

I would have three candidates and I would wait. And if I were him, maybe I would even vote until the convention because we'll probably know by that point whether Biden is going to be in the race. I think we're going to have a good sense. We'll have a much better sense. By the end of day tomorrow, honestly, where things are headed. So if Biden is dropping, then okay, now we're changing things up a little bit. If Biden is staying, okay, now we're, you know,

Like I said, we're going for broke. We're going for 380 electoral votes. So I think that things could change still rapidly. And, you know, even if you read history, a lot of these VP picks, they come together at the last minute. The Sarah Palin thing, it wasn't final until like six days, four days before. Yeah. Something like that. So you never know. Things can change a lot. And they also typically are not that consequential. Yeah. Palin ended up being consequential.

Biden in the arc of history ends up being consequential, but not so much in terms of Barack Obama. I'm trying to remember the Tim Kaine one. I don't remember much about it. Yeah, I guess people didn't really care that much. Yeah, they didn't care. Mike Pence was huge. Yeah, he was just sort of like an amorphous dad on the ticket. Mike Pence was important, so it's not like it's...

doesn't matter whatsoever. But in any case, we'll see where it goes. All right, everybody, we'll see. As we said, we'll have coverage later today. So stay tuned for that. Thank you to all of our premium subscribers. We really appreciate it. And we'll see you all next week.

Hi, I'm Katie Lowes. And I'm Guillermo Diaz. And we're the hosts of Unpacking the Toolbox, the Scandal Rewatch podcast where we're talking about all the best moments of the show. Mesmerizing. But also, we get to hang out with all of our old Scandal friends like Bellamy Young, Scott Foley, Tony Goldwyn, Debbie Allen, Kerry Washington. Well, suit up, gladiators. Grab your big old glass of wine and prepare yourselves for an even more behind-the-scenes Scandal.

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