pennsylvania. i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. all eyes are on pennsylvania in the midterm elections. with the senate tied at 50/50 and senator pat toomey retiring at the end of his current term, the commonwealth may well determine control of the entire legislative body. tens of millions are already being spent here, but the race has been far from substantive. presumably there are major policy differences between the democratic nominee john fetterman and the republican dr. mehmet oz on economy, crime, reproductive rights, but we really don't know because instead the rhus thus far is more defined by car heart hoodies, residences and the nomenclature of vegetables. this week, a video first released by dr. oz in april suddenly went viral. it features oz in the aisle of a grocery store that he misidentified, but that wasn't his unforced campaign error. instead, it was the way he labeled what he was buying.

fetterman pounced responding via twitter in pennsylvania it's called a veggie tray. a minor story on a slow august day, you wonder? hardly. $500,000 from the flap. enough to buy him plenty more television ads showcasing his gym shorts and at thes and hoodies. the projects of a persona that republicans equate to that of a professional wrestler. coverage of crude tate gate to dwell on whether oz is really living in pennsylvania. fetterman as included snooki of jersey shore fame and little steven from the e street band tying dr. oz to the garden state of new jersey. this week, the social media mud slinging escalated after a daily beast report that oz owns ten houses, not the two he had previously claimed. fetterman tweeted this, i have never spoke on the a p.a. resident who doesn't know how many house that is a have, let alone be off by eight. now, oz struck back saying he

bought them with his own money. a diss of fetterman long relied on financial assistance from his family. you lived off your parents until you were almost 50. get off the couch, john. fetterman's recent mail solicitation ironically attacks oz's wealth right on the envelope gop rich dude alert. but new york post columnist reporter for the entire 13 years fetterman was the part time mayor of braddic, pennsylvania, making $150 a month, his parents paid him a supplemental salary, $54,000 in 2015, until he was sworn in as lieutenant governor in 2019 at the age of 49. thursday in the ultimate 2022 media move, fetterman's campaign launched a tiktok account to help spread his videos further again going after oz's carpet bagging. you'll remember that in may three months ago fetterman

suffered a major stroke. we hope that he's healthy. but we really don't know that either. where he has spoken publicly only for ten minutes and sat for just two interviews. selena reported during his 11 minute speech fetterman 53 stumbled over his words, often repeating them as his voice wavered. >> tell me one thing, tell me who wins -- who wins erie? they win pennsylvania. and that is the next president. >> and why would fetterman feel compelled to be more public or to debate? when according to a recent survey from the gop firm public opinion strategies for pittsburgh works together, he holds an 18-point lead over dr. oz. yes, it's all entertaining, but pennsylvania is a microcosm for the state of our elections. like this is how we pick our leaders in 2022. especially in the nine states with closed primaries where there's little need to appeal to

moderates in the nomination process. remember, fetterman defeated a field that included lam, a former federal prosecutor, marine, two-term member of congress twice shown his general election promise by defeated trump-backed candidates in the state's heartland. and oz narrowly defeated dave mccormick, a west point graduate served in a presidential administration and ran one of the largest hedge funds in fact world. you can say what you want about the political views of lam and mccormick, but both boasted records of real accomplishment. fetterman is the state's lieutenant governor which means the state's senate. oz has never held any elective office. he won his gop primary with president trump's blessing despite more republicans holding a negative view of him on primary election day. it's all so sad. we're a state that has sent the

likes of republicans hue scott, john hines and articlen specter to washington. scott was a republican minority leader, champion of civil rights urged nixon to resign after watergate. hines bucked his party to support making martin luther king jr. day a holiday. specter was a noted former prosecutor, rose to the senate judiciary committee. he was one of the senate's ten best senators, according to time. we also sent democrat harris waford to the senate. he was a friend of jfk, rfk and marched from selma to montgomery with mlk. at that rate we're not about to fill any of those shoes. and the stakes couldn't be higher. we're arguably at our most critical cross roads since the civil war and yet this is how we are selecting our leaders. you might think a series of debates would showcase the substantive differences between the two pennsylvania candidates, but thus far the campaigns have

not agreed on any. why debate when instead you can win on memes. memes about things best suited for a cold soup. so, will democrats defy political gravity and hold to the senate this november? just a few months ago political strategists were predicting a blood bath after president biden struggled to handle a slew of crises and his approval ratings sanked to historic lows, but biden has recently had a string of victories. nevertheless, a politico morning consult poll from this week shows just 42% approve of the job that biden is doing. maybe the polls have not yet caught up with the wins. but while experts are saying republicans still stand to retake the house, they aren't so sure now about the senate. and even the senate's top republican isn't particularly bullish on the gop's chances. >> i think there's probably a greater likelihood the house flips than the senate.

senate races are just different. they're statewide. candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome. >> my next guest's crystal ball says democrats would need to win three or four battleground states. republican would need to just win two to wrestle back control. does he agree that democrats have a shot at holding on to the senate? here with me to discuss is dr. larry, the director of the university of virginia's center for politics. also the editor of sabito's crystal ball. great to have you back. you seem more optimistic than the republicans in the midterms man mitch mcconnell. how come? >> i think democrats right now if the election were today would win a majority in the senate. the reason i think people are pulling down the curtain too quickly is because so much is yet to unfold and so many things can happen between now and november. just look at the last several months. you know, michael, you're right.

in the spring ver cvirtually al the groups that do what my crystal ball group does suggests republicans would probably end up with the majority senate because they only had to flip one seat. that was before they nominated some very weak candidates who by the way are inexperienced. they've never run for anything before. people don't like politicians, but it helps to have been on the ballot for dogcatcher before you run for senate or governor. >> brings to my mind, christine o'donnell, todd akin, richard murdoch. there's a history here where republicans nominate extreme candidates and in a cycle where you expect them to win, you know, what's the expression, they snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. >> both parties have done that from time to time. but you know, what mitch mcconnell said reminded me of something that someone in the senate once said. if mitch mcconnell was allowed to pick the republican nominees

for senate, they would win a majority of the senate every time. now, i don't know if they would win every time. but there's no question mcconnell only has one criterion. who can win? who is going to add that seat to the republican minority or majority? well, donald trump did more picking than mitch mcconnell did this year. and we see the results. >> when you study the numbers for the president, his approval rating and look at history, there would have to be a significant disconnect for democrats to retake the senate. by that, i mean, the president is under water. how much so we don't know. you expect therefore it would be a bad year across the board. can you speak to that? >> sure. and that's one reason why we haven't tilted to either side yet. we don't leave any tossups. we call all the races. but you have to recognize that what's happening is actually

unprecedented. a word that's used too frequently. you have a president who has gained a few points because of his recent legislative victories. he got out of 30s. he's now in the low 40s. that helps. but it's nowhere near where a president has to be to help his party stay in office. so right now you got a disconnect between presidential approval and how well many of the democratic candidates for senate and even house are doing when they're asked separately. but my question, michael, is will those two lines converge by november? will biden go up? if he does, there won't be a problem for democrats. the candidates can win. but if he doesn't go up further than he is right now, he could easily be a weight around their necks. so i think that's a critical factor that people aren't really looking at right now in part because again, unprecedented for the first time in american

history, a former president dominates the headlines day after day after day. if the incumbent president joe biden is in the news at all, he's the second or third story on most days. believe it or not, that's helping democrats and hurting republicans. if they could send trump on a world tour it would probably help. >> final question. you identified four senate battleground states. if i gave dr. larry sabato a crystal ball, one where you really could see into the future, which of those four states do you most want to know the answer to as being indicative of the outcome of the midterms? >> nevada. i think nevada is the state -- >> why? >> well, it's extremely close. even though it cleans democratic normally, that's because of the demographics. the large percentage of latinos, hispanics in nevada. and you have the first latina in the u.s. senate running for

re-election, katherine cortez masto. but here is the problem. republicans have been draining away hispanic votes in several regions of the country. and that could happen in nevada, too, and make all the difference in the senate race. so we see that one as a total tossup. not that the others aren't close, but you could at least lean the others to one side or the other. but nevada, i don't think you can do that. >> you couldn't make up this cycle. thank you as always. we really appreciate your expertise, dr. sabato. >> thank you, michael. what are your thoughts? hit me up on social media, youtube, facebook. i'll read some responses throughout the course of the program. what do we have? from the world of youtube. this is what trump has brought to us. he lowered all of us to his level. i don't know franklin if i can lay on donald trump's shoulders the way in which this pennsylvania race is being argued. i mean, frankly i blame the

voters in large measure for being so responsive to these sort of tactics. gop rich dude, not with standing the guy was on the dough his family until he was 49 years old. i'm with him in shorts. what else on social media? i don't see a scenario where democrats win. they hate middle america. you lose me with the broad strokes. i'll read on. the more they politicize the fbi and the doj the worse the ass beating will be. i don't see a scenario where democrats win. this should be historically speaking and where inflation has been a momentous year for the gop, right? 26 i think is the average. ask ron brownstein. he tracks this sort of thing. i think 26 is the average the party outside the white house would typically pick up. republicans only need, what, three or four. so, it would look like they'll retake the house. but the thing about the senate is voters in states -- because of all the money that gets

spent, they really do get to know the personalities and make much more individual decisions. and what remains to be seen is whether republicans have nominated candidates, and i agree with larry, it happened on the democratic side of the aisle previously, but this time it's the republicans. is this another christine o'donnell, todd akin cycle where they could have won georgia but they put up herschel walker. they could have won pennsylvania but dr. oz instead was the nominee. you get the point. well, still to come, listen to this, jp morgan ceo raised hackles when he said there was some truth to china's accusation that america has been incompetent and lazy. well, maybe he felt validated reading "the wall street journal" story that was number one most of this past week about gen-z workers are quiet quitting. remaining on the payroll but not exerting much ert. i'm going to talk to one next. but here is what i want to know. go to smerconish.com and answer this week's poll question. are we incompetent and lazy?

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does anybody want to work anymore? this week jp morgan ceo jamie diamond was criticized for agreeing there was some truth to china's accusation that the eyes united states is, quote, incompetent and lazy. there's been a shift that suggests he might be work. i keep hearing stories of small businesses having trouble hiring people who will show up for a second week of work. in other words, they'll be there day one. but the following week, maybe not. and companies that are trying to compel people to get back to the office are getting a lot of resistance. after apple employees were asked to be back to a minimum of three

in-person days, fortune magazine reports 76% of apple's employees were unhappy about it with 56% saying they were, quote, looking to quit. then there's that recent book "streets of gold" from two economic historians whose data show the kmirn of immigrants have a better income trajectory of those parents were born in the united states. the children of immigrants seem to possess a certain grit those born here lack. and then there's a rising get paid to don't work movement, getting millions of hits on tiktok and instagram calling itself quiet quitting. keep the job but don't work very hard at it and focus on getting fulfillment outside of work. a story about quiet quitting has been the number one most-read story all week long at "the wall street journal's" website. the journal also recently reported that some are exploiting remote work to hold

multiple jobs, getting paid to be mediocre at two jobs instead of one. axios labeled this the new anti-work movement, rebellion against rise and grind. a recent gallop survey found employee engagement in the united states is falling across all generations but especially among younger americans. among those born after 1989, 54% call themselves not engaged, meaning they'll show up to do the minimum required but not much else. joining me now is paige west, digital creator who graduated from college in 2020 has been offering advice on quiet quitting on youtube. paige, thanks so much for being here. so you have an engineering degree. you left the corporate consulting world for the gig economy. how come? >> yeah. so i initially left because i wasn't finding fulfillment from my 9 to 5 job and say there was so much opportunity outside of the basic 9 to 5 corporate world i really wanted to get into.

>> but were you mailing it in while someone was paying you? and if so, do you feel guilty about that? >> no. so while i was at my 9 to 5 job i was working my 40 hours a woke, still fulfilling my job duties, just taking away that feeling of stress i had after work by feeling like i needed to put in 1,000%, needed to join trainings and do as much as i possibly could to go up the corporate ladder. that wasn't my end goal. >> do you worry that maybe a future employer, the entrepreneurial actives don't pan out and later you need to be in someone's employ, they're look at this chapter and say, wait a minute, paige west, part of that whole quiet quitting trend. we don't want her? >> i wouldn't think so because at the end of the day when i was still in my job, i was still doing what i needed to do. i'm certain if they called back my employer that i had when i was still in the corporate world that they would happily say i still did a great job and everything i've done thus far and any references i could gain

from my time building up my business and doing freelance opportunities would prove that as well. >> okay. so i get what you're saying. hey, i gave them 100%. i was trying to plan my next move and i wanted to make sure i was fulfilled outside the work force. what i'm reading online and i have watched a lot of your videos. i'm suspicious that you're typical, if that's the case. i think a lot of the others, i'll go old school, and say are loafing on somebody else's dime. am i wrong? >> i think that there's two groups in that case. i think some are -- they're not trying to loaf. everyone is trying to do the work that's required of them. i think they're just trying to figure out what that fulfillment looks like outside of work as well as they're not at the point that they're realizing their burnout might not be because they're overworked but because they're misaligned in the job their in. a lot of people will realize that. when i was quiet quitting, it was not for a very long time. i only did it for three months. my plan was to do it for nine. but over time i started

realizing i couldn't stick it out any longer because it wasn't just that i was overworked and burnt out and all the mental health struggles i was dealing with it, it was actually because the job i was in was just not the right one for me. i think many are going to realize that as well. >> do you think this is a real trend or a tale as old as time, we have just now given it a label, quiet quitting? >> i think it's something that's been going on for a long time. i think it's now just something that has a name. so, i think many have been doing it far long time much i heard that on my channel, many commented saying i've done this for years. i did this back in my 20s or 30s or still doing this today. >> okay. final question, i want to know and i hope you'll vote on today's poll question at my website, you heard this setup, jamie dimon says maybe there's something to the chinese when they say that americans are now soft, that we're, quote, lazy and incompetent. are we lazy and incompetent? >> my vote would be no. i think it's more of a story that we are than anything else. >> i'm sorry.

i missed the last part. more of a story, a story line? >> yeah. i think it's more of a story line that we're lazy and incompetent. everyone i have seen in my life, even those partaked in quiet quitting, not doing it because they're lazy and incompetent. they're doing it because they see value in other things in their life besides just going up the corporate ladder. >> thank you so much for being here, paige west. we'll see how the vote turns out today. i hope you really will go and vote. >> i will. thank you. >> thanks. here is some of the social media reaction that has come on while we've been on air, twitter, youtube, facebook, find me. quiet quitting is where self discipline and loyalty go to die. well, she said, hey, in her case i was giving them 100%. i was there. i was doing my responsibilities. i was an excellent employee. but i was allowing exploration of where i'm going next. and my response is to say, i don't know if she's typical. because much of what i've read on the subject and in particular that "wall street journal" piece that is still number one when i read it at 4:30 a.m., suggests

that many are going through the motions on somebody else's dime. well, it's a great poll question this week at smerconish.com. please go to my website and answer this. is jp morgan ceo jamie dimon right in saying there's some truth to china's claim that the u.s. is incompetent and lazy. results at the end of the hour. cannot wait to see how that turns out. up ahead, kobe bryant's widow vanessa testified in federal court yesterday against los angeles county having brought suit because of first responders who circulated grisly photos of the helicopter crash scene that killed her husband and daughter. the sharing of those pictures we can all agree gross and indefensible. here is the harder question, why do people look? formulated with nourishing, prprebiotic oat. itit's clinically proven to moisturize dry skin for 24 hours. aveeno®

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why do we rubber neck? why is it that we can't look away from a crash whether it's literal or metaphorical, even more so when celebrities are involved? the question keeps arising in recent weeks and months whether the fiery tragic car crash death of actress anne heche or now the court battle of kobe bryant's widow of the helicopter crash that killed her husband and daughter gianna in january of 2020. friday vanessa bryant was the final plaintiff's witness in the federal lawsuit that she and christopher chester, whose wife and daughter were also among the nine killed in the crash, filed against los angeles county. they're seeking damages alleging that cell phone photos of human remains that first responders took and disseminated, photos which bryant and chester have never seen were taken as souvenirs. the claim is for negligence and invasion of privacy. included in testimony were accusations of one deputy using

the photos of the victims to, quote, try to impress a woman at a bar. bragging about how he had been at the crash site. and the photos being shared with firefighters at a gala event at the universal city hilton hotel. the county contends legitimate reasons for first responders to take and receive the photos, including to help determine the size of the crash site and decide what resources were needed. it claims that all images were deleted upon orders of superior officers. they no longer exist in any form and were never intended to enter the public domain or appear on the internet. but as "the la times" reports, an expert witness who testified last week for bryant and chester said the behavior of the deputies and jordan were examples of macabre long standing practice in law enforcement of taking and sharing gruesome photos especially when celebrities are involved. pretty horrible stuff, right? but why do people want to see such images? joining me now is kolton skriber in, ph.d. from the university of

chicago in behavioral psychology. he wrote this piece in psychology today "what is morbid curiosity?" now writing a book on this subject. okay, doctor, why do we look? >> well, i think people are always trying to learn about the world around them. and one of the most important things we can learn about are potential accidents that could befall us or potential dangers or threats in our environment. so when we see something dangerous or threatening or if we see an accident, for example, a car on the side of the road that's been in a car wreck, our instinct is to turn and look and gather information about that. >> do we want to see pain? >> i don't think most people want to see pain. in fact, many people their first instinct would be to empathize with the victims. so when you're driving down the freeway and you see a car wreck on the side of the road, you're not looking to see if someone is in pain or if you are, you are typically looking to help them.

but i think that rather what we're looking for is sort of the consequences of dangerous actions. the consequences of driving dangerously or another person driving dangerously. i think in the example of the helicopter crash, most people have no idea what happens if you're in a helicopter crash. and so it's a really new kind of information for people to absorb. >> i imagine there's nothing new about this. it's just living in a connected world means that someone with the touch of a send key can disseminate information much more easily than would have been the case before the rise of the internet. >> right. yeah. i think for most of human history we sort of had to experience something firsthand or maybe hear it in a story. but now it's very easy to basically see any kind of accident or injury or any kind of threat you would like online, like you said, with the click of a button. >> is there any unique to humans when we're talking about, as you describe it, morbid curiosity?

>> well, certainly there's behaviors in other animals that look like morbid curiosity. so chimps for example might investigate a dead chimp if they come across it. they don't ignore it. they some ways behavior in similar behaviors as humans. what's unique about humans we can create fictional worlds and tell stories. this is the core of horror movies and true crime and many thriller and action movies is this idea of a central threat of villain or monster. that's what's unique about humans. >> i guess what i'm asking in a broad sense, if there's something wrong with us? of course i condemn anyone who would have taken for an illicit purpose and disseminated the photographs that bring this to the news today the kobe bryant helicopter crash. but i'm more fixated, as you can tell, on okay, the people who want to take a peek. i'm not holier than thou.

is there something wrong with us if we are rubbernecking? >> certainly not. certainly not. at least in my research i found that what i called morbid curiosity is really normal human behavior. and it's pretty distributed across the population. some people have a lot of it. some people have a little bit of it. but most people have some of it, right? and so, you know, feeling the urge to sort of slow down and look or feeling the urge to click the link to see the photo doesn't indicate any kind of psychopathology or any kind of -- there's nothing wrong with someone for doing that. it's human nature, i think. >> thank you, dr. scrivner, appreciate your time. >> thank you. checking in on social media reaction. tweets and youtube and facebook comments. what do we have? because we are always in many different ways trying to come to terms with our own mortality --

do you think that's what it is, dean? i'm interested in exploring the morbid curiosity that many of us have. i don't want to be misunderstood on this. i'm following that trial in california and i realize the defense is yet to present its case. if it went down the way that the plaintiffs maintain it went down, it's disgusting and inexcusable. and i wonder how prevalent it is? i wonder just how many who are put in that position of public trust to be a first responder like wise are sharing with a buddy some morbid curiosity. that's disgusting. still to come, this week came a $650 million judgment against pharmacy chains walmart, cvs and walgreen's for their role in fostering america's deadly opioid crisis. they're they're just part of this huge infrastructure finally be held accountable. have you voted yet at smerconish.com on today's poll question? when you get there, register for the daily newsletter. here is the question, is jp

morgan's ceo jamie dimon right in saying there's some truth to china's claim that the u.s. is incompetent and lazy? are we? formulated with nourishing, prebiotic oat. it's clinically proven to moisturize dry skin for 24 hours. aveeno®

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how widespread is the blame for america's opioid epidemic that has led to so much addiction and death? in 2021 an estimated 107,000 americans died of opioid overdoses, that's up nearly from 92,000 from the year before. and now courts are making the drug industry pay to the tune of millions, billions of dollars actually. this week an ohio judge ruled that farm city chains walmart, cvs and walgreen's must pay combined $650 million for damaged related to opioid crises. the complaint alleges the pharmacies, quote, abused their position of special trust and responsibility and that they fostered a black market for prescription opioids. this follows other recent rulings against pharmaceutical manufacturers and the nation's

big three opioid distributors. if you thought like i did that the problem simply began and ended with big pharma companies like purdue, a new book exposes the whole infrastructure. an american cartel, inside the battle to bring down the opioid industry, pulitzer prize winning washington post reporters scott and sary kick off with this flowchart of all the opioid supply chain, not just the pharmacies, manufacturers and distributors but also trade associations, lobbyists and doctors and frankly could have put congress in there two. joining me is coauthor four pulitzer prize winner, criminal criminal justice issues for the washington post. so why did purdue pharma get all the attention when there are so many responsible for the opioid crisis? >> good morning, michael. that's a great question. and our book really exposes and reveals exactly what you said that the entire opioid industry

supply chain was behind the worst drug epidemic in american history. you mentioned at the beginning of this segment the $650 million settlement -- judgment. it was a landmark judgment that came against these pharmacies, three of the nation's largest, after a first of its kind trial against the pharmacies last year. and i think as you pointed out, i think people were surprised by this. why pharmacies? we all heard about purdue pharma, but in fact what the drug enforcement administration told us is that the entire supply chain the drug makers, the drug distributors, the pharmacies and, in fact, the doctors were all behind this situation that where they were flooding the country with prescription pain pills, 100 billion pain pills. and what's really stunning is this judgment that came down didn't come down in a vacuum. what's happened is that 4,000

cities, towns, counties, native american nations have risen out and they have sued 24 drug companies. these companies we mentioned. but some people don't know about. cardinal health and the pharmacies to try to bring accountability to this problem that has taken the lives of 600,000 americans. >> there's a vignette in the book, i think the agent's name is ruth carter, but you'll know. it's a dea agent who goes down to florida just to see what's going on. if you remember what i'm talking about, tell that story quickly. >> yes. ruth carter went to see what was happening in florida. she saw the cvs stores with people lined up around the block to get prescription pain pills. and in the parking lot, it was like an open air drug market. people snorting the pills, crushing the pills, oxycontin, koe done, she went in and talked

to the pharmacist and said what's going on here? can't you see these are drug users? these are drug abusers? the pharmacist said to ruth carter, don't worry because at 2:00 p.m. we shut off the supply to these people and we save the rest for our legitimate pain patients. and what this vignette shows, michael, is that the pharmacists and actually everybody involved in these companies, knew exactly what was going on. this was the height of opioid epidemic. they knew that these dangerous, addictive painkillers were being diverted to the black market and being abused. >> i might misstate it, but i also remember seeing the stories and you explain this in west virginia over a six-year time period, i think there were, what, 600 pills prescribed for every resident of the state? >> yes. it's incredible in this recent case that you brought up, the $650 million judgment, it was only involving two counties in ohio. in one of those counties,

lawyers for the plaintiffs, the towns, in this place the two counties, lawyers found and said in the trial that 61 million pain pills flowed into one county between 2012, 2016. that's like 265 pain pills for every man, woman, child in one county. >> scary stuff. and you lay it all out in that flowchart. it's really remarkable for people to take a look at and appreciate it. there it is. i never heard of malin crot. sari. of course i heard of purdue. more of this stuff was put out by malincrot than purdue. i have ten second. speak to that. >> exactly michael. st. louis-based company. the largest manufacturer of generic oxycodone. for every one pill of purdue,

malin cot made 30, 30 times what purdue made. the drug enforcement administration called malin crot the drug maker the kingpin of the american cartel. >> sari, thank you so much. i read the book and learned a lot. i appreciate your being here. >> thank you for having me, michael. >> checking in on social media, what do we got? from the world of twitter. any one who took the word of a pharmaceutical company sales rep that an opioid is not addictive and prescribed to the unsuspecting patients is nothing less than a dope dealer. we all knew narcotics are addictive in school. i'm not sure who you're directing that to, consumer or physician. because here is what i learned from the book that scott and sari wrote. there's a lot of blame to go around. and frankly, there's a congressional role here that was deserving of the microscope that they put them under. lots of people were in the loop and knew the deal and just didn't act. still to come, more of your

best and worst tweets, youtube, facebook comments and i'm looking forward to this. i just said to katherine, my producer, i have no idea how this is going to turn out. the poll question at smerconish.com right now is this, is jp morgan's ceo jamie dimon right in saying there's truth that the u.s. is both incompetent and lazy. results in a moment. go vote. neutrogena® hydro boost lightweight. fragrance-e-free. 48 hour hydration. for that healthy skikin glow. neutrogena®. for people with skinin.

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large out-of-state corporations have set their sights on california. they've written prop 27, to allow online sports betting. they tell us it will fund programs for the homeless. but read prop 27's fine print. 90% of profits go to out-of-state corporations, leaving almost nothing for the homeless. no real jobs are created here. but the promise between our state and our sovereign tribes would be broken forever. these out-of-state corporations

don't care about california. but we do. stand with us. all right. let's see how you voted at smerconish.com. is j.p. morgan jamie diamond

right saying there is truth the u.s. is incompetent and lazy? hit me with it. decisive. 63% agree with more than 21,000 -- i think the reason that i'm surprised by that margin is that you have to both agree with jamie diamond from j.p. morgan and with the chinese and come to the conclusion that, you know, americans are incompetent and laclazy. wow. 63% would not have anticipated that. here is social media reaction. smerconish, i fedderman as a loafer framed by family. i think salina's reporting in the new york post establishes he was getting paid up until age 49, he was getting paid 54 or $55,000 a year by his family. i'm not saying it wasn't working but here is what i'm saying. because this came to my house this week. i'm saying if you're going to -- i'm not carrying water for

fedderman or oz. is this the best we can do? holy crap. back to your point, the point i made if you say in a solicitation, you know, ut oh, gop rich dude alert, i'm running against the gop rich dude, i don't know, i think it's incriminating, incriminating is the wrong word. i think it weighs against your case you're not a rich dude if your parents wrote you a $55,000 check, right? so that, you know, you didn't have to work and earn that kind of a living. that was my point. did i eat up all my time? yeah, dammit. okay. i get carried away. what can i tell you? keep voting and regular ister fe newsletter. see you soon. d your doubt. ♪ heat makes i it last. so you'll neverr sit this one out. icy hot pro with 2 max-strength p pain relievers. and it's natural.

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good morning and welcome to your weekend. it's saturday, august 20th, we're grateful to be part of it. i'm boris sanchez. >> so glad to be with you. i'm amara walker in the cnn newsroom. this morning the white house is defending its response to the spread of the monkeypox virus across the u.s. >> there are more than 14,000 monkeypox cases in the united states and in the last three weeks alone, the number of amon monkeypox cases in the u.s. tripled. th