tv The Chris Wallace Show CNN November 18, 2023 7:00am-8:01am PST
7:00 am
the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network.
7:01 am
good morning. and welcome. it's saturday, which means we get to hear some smart peel break down the week's big stories in a big way. today we're asking, has donald trump's plans for a second term become clearer? would his return to power be dangerous for the country? then, following president biden's summit this week with china's president xi, how close is too close when it comes to u.s./china relations? and a new twist on the yearly debate, that pits neighbor against neighbor. when to start decorating for christmas. our group is here, and ready to go. so sit back, grab your coffee, and let's talk about it. first, our saturday starter.
7:02 am
donald trump isn't known for holding back. and when it comes to his plans for a second term, we're learning more every day. it's likely to be tougher than his first go-around. more radical. some even say more authoritarian. >> we pledge to you that we will root out the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country. >> donald trump, warning his political opponents he's coming for them. all part of a second term plan that's becoming clearer by the day. the "washington post" "washinghe would use the justice department to retaliate against critics and members of the biden administration. >> they have done something that allows the next party, i mean if somebody, if i happen to be president, and i see somebody who is doing well, and beating me very badly, i'll say go down and indict them. >> trump is also spelling out his plan for the boarder. >> we will begin the largest
7:03 am
domestic deportation operation in american history. >> according to "the new york times," trump wants to round up millions of undocumented people, including those who have been in the u.s. for decades. to help make all this happen, axios reports the trump team is already screening tens of thousands of so-called foot soldiers who share his ideology. enlisting the conservative heritage foundation. which is asking applicants to fill out a questionnaire. all in an effort to replace some 50,000 federal workers. >> with you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. >> reporter: around the coffee table this morning, podcaster, kara swisher, editor of the dispatch, and los angeles times columnist jonah gold berng. "new york times" journalist and podcast host lulu garcia-navarro, and reihan salam, president of the manhattan institute and
7:04 am
contributing editor of "the national review." kara, would a second trump term be dangerous? >> yes, i think what he is saying is dangerous, in terms of vermin and others and pretty obvious and doing the revenge tour right now, the things he is going to do. and sort of trying to making a list and taking names and it feels the end of "godfather 2" and it feels like i'm going to take everybody out. i don't know if he can do it. but it certainly is unusual for a presidential candidate to use terms like vermin and others, and others not to be completely horrified by that term, which is so loaded. >> reihan, more than the rettic, i think it is the reports, it is isn't just reporting, because trump is saying this outloud, when he talks about weaponizing the justice department and when he talks about mass deportation. are we overreacting of reports of what a second trump term would be? >> it is worth noting that the trump campaign has said, if it is not coming out of the president's mouth and coming from a group outside of the campaign, it is speculative and
7:05 am
theoretical. the final challenge for the former president is that the more authoritarian he seem, the less unhinged, the less likely he is to win the next election and he needs to convince folks he will bring back 2019 back again and be disciplined and in demand, and if that doesn't happen and if you have one who is making authoritarian noises, it will be more likely he will lose and that is the needle he needs to thread. >> you talk about authoritarian, there is talk about invoking the insurrection act and imposing it in a way that the president could use the federal military for domestic law enforcement. if he were to be re-elected, and this word of authoritarian is i think completely apt, what do you think that says about the country's willingness to accept an authoritarian president. >> i think that worries me personally the most. i truly worry about democracy in this country, where you see a huge portion of americans
7:06 am
listening to this and saying, gee, let's go for trump 2.0. let's do this again. when you say 2019 and those were the hey days of the trump administration and it all was so wonderful, i mean i don't know that many people do remember it that way. they remember an administration filled with chaos, they remember an administration that seemed incredibly volatile. and i think definitely, at this point, it is a problem. >> it is all the more striking then, that trump is polling as well as he is. and i will also say that the biden administration is setting up some pretty dangerous precedents, for example, you know, you have the biden administration coercing social media companies into basically cooperating, to censor and throttle messages. >> so not true. >> you might think that. >> i don't think. that i'm actually pretty good -- >> there are a lot of americans, including a lot of democrats and independents who believe the biden administration is pushing to hard and that a future trump administration could use that -- >> look, karra, kara.
7:07 am
>> absolutely not what happened. >> they may have said one or two things they probably shouldn't have said. but they absolutely were not trying to censure the companies. >> i'm glad to hear you say that. >> so regardless of the debate about social media interference in the biden administration, i take ryan's point, that the biden administration has set up some bad precedents. i don't like all of the executive orders and student loans and all of these things. they are bad. it has been a problem with the presidency for a long time. where i'm looking at with reihan, if it doesn't come out of the mouth of the president, it is speculation and so forth. there is an enormous effort for the groups to live up to the ideal that personnel is policy and all of the safeguard, one of the reasons why the first administration is chaotic, and used to say trump is not hitler, at least hitler could have repealed obama care, was that you had people surrounding trump, trying to stop him from doing all sorts of crazy stuff, now the fundamental requirement, you set up these, so they all have to share his ideology. the ideology is essentially a cult of personality.
7:08 am
and you have all of these lawyers who are not federal society lawyers but fifth rate due fusses who spend their time on twitter trying to show off about how they love the use and abuse of power -- >> i have to say because the federalist society basically ran, staffed, a lot of the first term, and certainly was tremendously instrumental in the three supreme court choices, and now we're hearing the federalist society is a bunch of wusses. >> and people like bill barr, who was a federalist society guy and almost all of the other guys in the justice department, he wants to criminally prosecute them. so this idea that i'm much more concerned about a second administration, partly because i think trump has kind of gone off his feed mentally in a lot of ways but second of all, he wants to surround himself entirely with yes man and all of the safeguards and all of the circuit breakers that kept him from going off the rails and led to a lot of the good policy stuff that i would agree with you some of, that will be gone and it will be purely his --
7:09 am
>> i know we're not going to get pushback from this side. what do you have to say? >> when you're looking at the executive branch, it really is reasonable and legitimate to say that you want the executive branch to be unified under the authority of the president. there are some agencies that have a mod couple of independence. but there are a lot of other instance, and you can see it with the state department revolt against the biden administration policies. it is reasonable to say that the president should be able to staff his administration with folks who are broadly like-minded. i think that's entirely -- >> i have spent a lot of time overseas, and many volatile countries all over the world, and the united states has always been the envy of many of these countries, because it has a civil service, it is actually nonpartisan. that they do the job, and they staff all of these agencies, and they serve administrations, whether they're republican or democratic, the very idea that you are going to gut this, that somehow you're going to staff it with loyalists and people who are probably incompetent, really, i think, cracks the very foundation of this country.
7:10 am
>> the problem is that you have a civil service, you have elements of it, at least, with people that have very strong ideological perspectives who have been particularly difficult for conservatives -- >> and throw one more log on this fire, reihan, and that is, i said let's not talk about rhetoric, let's talk about programs. now let's talk about the rhetoric, because in the last few days, president trump talked about his opposition on the left, he used the word vermin and here is what he had to say about people coming into this country illegally, from mental institutions, and prisons, and other countries. take a look. >> nobody has ever seen anything like we're witnessing right now. it is a very sad thing for our country. it's poisoning the blood of our country. >> this week, president biden said, talk about vermin, quote, language you heard in nazi germany in the '30s. reihan is, that an overstatement on the part of joe biden. >> there is a very straightforward step that
7:11 am
president biden can take. he can actually take these issues away by taking some of the decisive action on -- >> come on. >> he's tried to in fits and starts and getting pushback from those in congress. >> are you troubled by the fact that president trump used the word vermin to describe his opposition. >> he asked you specifically. are you troubled by the word vermin. and blood. this is -- i've never liked to use nazi symbolism easily and carelessly. >> i think it is really careless to characterize nazi language. >> careless. >> verm en is -- >> we can debate whether it is or not. something that falls short of nazi-like and still being really bad and the way donald trump talks about the whole of government and talks about retribution, if it was coming out of the mouth of a democrat, most of the people defending him would be hard on him. the people who freaked out when hillary clinton used the word deplorable are now saying, well, what's the big deal about vermin. one standard for politicians. >> i think that it is totally
7:12 am
objectionable and it will be counter-productive for him politically, right? and as far as the trump campaign is concerned, that's something that they need to focus on. fortunately, i am not the trump campaign. right? it is their business. how they're going to figure that out. but i certainly think -- >> i bet a lot of people would be very happy to have you on the campaign. >> you're one of the people i would like to have in there. >> all right. now that you're all settled in, here is what is coming up. biden and xi try to rekindle the u.s./china relationship. should we treat china as a frenemy or a foe? later, more parents opting out of any vaccines for their kids.
7:17 am
the panel says yea or nay to this much talked about billionaire photo shoot. any time the leaders of the world's two biggest super powers come together it's a big deal this. week, president biden hosted a summit with chinese president xi, they talked for four hours about everything from fentanyl to taiwan, to climate change. it seemed to be relatively friendly, especially given how frosty u.s./china relations have become over the last year. but afterwards, cnn's mj lee asked biden if he still thinks
7:18 am
xi is a dictator. >> well, look, he is, i mean he is a dictator in the sense that he is a guy who runs a country that is country that is a form of government different than ours. >> china called it an irresponsible political maneuver. >> lulu, after their summit, president xi at a big dinner saying that china is ready to be a partner and a friend of the united states. basically said even the president's talk about a competitor was too harsh. are you reassured? >> no. you would be surprised to hear. i think xi was trying to play good cop, globally, trying to show that somehow the united states is the aggressor in this relationship. i think it is very important at the moment that the two super powers talk. i think it was a good meeting. i'm glad to see that the rhetoric has changed. but i think the substance
7:19 am
hasn't. i think china at the moment is in a very precarious situation economically, and i think it remains to be seen if they're going to try and use this moment to either, you know, draw closer to the united states, or cause trouble in the south china sea. >> reihan, i think we all agree that the biggest immediate flashpoint between the u.s. and china is taiwan, and one of the few deliverables from this summit is that they have agreed to resume military to military communications, which had ended after the u.s. shot down that spy balloon. does that give you any sense that they're past the immediate flashpoint of taiwan? >> my big fear is that xi jinping is going on the vladimir putin training, that is vladimir putin, in 2014, and actually before that, he tried to harden the russian economy, he tried to insulate it, in various ways, knowing that he was going to face extreme intense economic sanctions.
7:20 am
right now the chinese are building war-time emergency hospitals, in the taiwan strait, across the taiwan strait and taking marginal land that is not really well suited to agriculture and moving it into agriculture to build up rain grain supplies. he is expecting hard core economic sanctions because i believe he is planning something really big and dangerous and awful. and i think that president biden is, i think he is doing his best, but he hasn't been sufficiently focused on this threat, and it's a big problem for the country and the world. >> china is our enemy. there are major rival, that's it. economically, technologically, absolutely, reliance on them for technology is quite heavy. we have to start developing this stuff in this country. but you have to talk to them. you have to talk to them. if they're your rival and have some sort of a relationship. but i have no question he has desires on taiwan. and that will be disastrous for us, from lots of perspectives,
7:21 am
all of the chips are made there, and so you have to worry about that. it's fine to talk to him, he did a good job. the smiling xi, with the t-shirts and stuff like that, fine -- >> let me pick up with you on this question, because it is your strongest point, which is that the technological competition between the u.s. and china, i want to put up a poll on the screen, a pew study out this week found in 2020, 3% of americans regularly got their news from tiktok. >> correct. >> now, that's up to 14% of u.s. adults. what is the danger? if people in this country let their guard down? >> it sounds like china. and you know, we don't allow media ownership in this country but that's media ownership from somewhere else. we don't allow foreign media ownership with everybody we see, we notice that -- they essentially are the media arm in our country, it is where people are getting their news, and so that's, they've come in, in a
7:22 am
different way, and it is the reason that's grown, it is because it is getting bigger, it has gotten bigger, facebook has gone down considerably, instagram has gone up a little bit, oddly enough linked in is going up for news. and any company that is china owned, you have to word, has this ability to manipulate propaganda. we have to prove it but it is an obvious thing. >> one thing to prove it, and type in the search on tiktok about the uyghurs and what do you get? >> what do you get? >> very little. >> you get something about jews for sure, they are on a big anti-semitic kick in the social media and pushing a lot of this stuff. i've been saying for years now, we have one of the only points of consensus in american politics is hawkishness on china. so the real choice is smart hawkishness versus dumb hawkishness, and i think biden did the right thing here. i get the argument why he shouldn't have called xi a dictator. this is off xi and they're
7:23 am
trying to make amends but xi is a dictator. and the win with getting this military to military communications thing isn't quite the win people think it is, because apparently in the past when we had crises with china, where we had this system, the chinese just didn't pick up the phone, right? so like, yeah, now the phone will ring but they still won't answer. and i think at the end of the day, if china had the military b outon, and the economy of bhutan, we would say who gives a rat's derriere about china. but they are also a big -- >> they are in huge trouble. >> they are in huge trouble. >> the one thing we have to acknowledge this isn't the china of two years ago, ten years ago, they are the china of today and they are struggling here. >> what we're talking about here is considerable economic problems. >> right. >> the xi economic plan isn't working. the growth in the double digits is reeling. >> and you're seeing just a complete stifling of economic
7:24 am
activity. i mean they are really, really in a difficult situation. >> the big win at this meeting is to be able to talk to all of the executives. >> may i say one thing? our economy is dependent on that. just in "the wall street journal," estee lauder, the reason sales are down and the stock is down because chinese sales are down. tesla. apple. so much exposure there. it will affect us.
7:27 am
and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network.
7:28 am
7:29 am
capitalism in china, economic reform will lead to political reform. it didn't. >> no, it looked like it was going that way for a little bit, and certainly it had -- it does not look that way at all. bun of the important things to remember is one of the reasons why they're clamping down politically, in part because xi is clamping down on, trying to turn it basically into a spartan country where he wants it to be a militaristic country, and shut down on independent freedom internally. >> at least he is talking about sending pandas back to san diego. so that would be good. up next, from flying elbows, to punches, just another day in congress? >> you want to do it now? >> it is no wonder they can't do much done. we unpack the chaos right after this.
7:30 am
this weekend, members of congress are back home for the thanksgiving recess. before they left washington, t passed a temporary funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. while some are celebrating the move, critics point to the real reason it happened. congress can't seem to agree on anything. >> the bill is passed. >> with that, congress did what it always does these days. kick the can down the road. >> it gives us until january and february to get the job done. >> come the new year, lawmakers will almost certainly be just as divided over spending, and facing another government shutdown. >> you want to do it now? >> i would love to do it right now. >> this week was not encouraging a senator challenged a witness to a fistfight. >> stand your butt up then. >> you stand your butt up. >> stop it. >> stop it. >> no, no, sit down. >> while over in the house, one member accused another of elbowing him. >> it was a clean shot to the kidneys and i turned back and
7:31 am
there was kevin. >> when it came to helping our allies in real battles, congress failed to provide more military aid to ukraine or israel. as the new house speaker put it -- >> this place is a pressure cooker. >> reihan, why can't congress get anything done, past a real long-term budget to the end of the fiscal year, as opposed to to a two-month cr, aid to our allies, let alone deal with the real issues that confront the country, like entitlements, why can't congress get anything done? >> the congress is way too centralized right now. ever since newt gingrich you had the committee system that is basically hollowed out. you basically have this dynamic where it's totally zero sum. one party believes that if they just hold out and ensure that the party in power doesn't get any wins, then they can win the next time around. and i think that what you need is a more decentralized congress. you need the committee system to start working. and you need a little give.
7:32 am
you need factions within both the republican and democratic parties to be willing to cobble together deals on discrete areas. within the purview of the different committees. >> what? >> you need regular order. and that would be a much, much healthier system for the country. >> lulu, why is congress broken? >> republicans. one word for that right now. this is not a problem of congress being broken. this is a problem of the republican party being broken. >> so you don't see a zero sum dynamic? >> let me finish. you have a small faction within the republican party that is holding that party hostage. they are holding the entire congressional system hostage. i mean let's just see what they've done in the past few months. 31 times, instead of trying to resolve real problems in this country, they have actually tried to zero out the salaries of members of the biden administration. and instead of actually trying to address things, like immigration reform, things like actually passing funding for israel and ukraine. i mean this is a congress that
7:33 am
is obsessed with trying to get partisan vengeance, trying to score points, and it is not really that interested in trying to resolve the problems of this country. >> i actually think you're both right. i agree entirely with reihan op this, structurally, institutionally, congress is broken, everyone pines for the way nancy pelosi ran things, the way nancy pelosi ran things is bad for america and bad for congress, bringing down legislation like tablets to the mass, no regular order, none of the stuff that absorbs political debate in this country. >> the infrastructure bill though. >> well, look, all you care about is consequentialism and results-oriented stuff that is passed down by basically a leadership that just presents a fait accompli to members who have no power whatsoever, that's so great, i think it is a terrible way to run congress and one of the reasons why the country is so polarized.
7:34 am
you're absolutely right, the congress is a clown show. it is a hot mess. and partly a product of the political dysfunction that comes when you only have like a four-seat majority, and it is impossible to get anything done, you basically have the republican party being two different parties right now, and one is a performing party of largely jackassery and others terrified of primaried by legislatively, and it is creates gridlock. >> it is on twitter and wherever it is and you see it all the time and they are individual performers rather than a team. and one great quote, i don't remember, a republic representative who said they have never been on a successful team. the sum of the people. and that's absolutely true. >> there is no institutional pem ry how to legislate. >> it takes two to tango though and one of the issues is, for example, there was an opportunity for members at the problem solvers caucus to drastically change the way congress does business by saying we will have patrick mchenry in there as speaker and empower this person and we're going to do something a little bit different, try regular order for
7:35 am
a change. the problem is that those democrats and the problem solvers caucus were terrified of primary challenges. they felt that they could not survive in the party if they made that move. and that is why we have this -- >> you talk about this, what you're basically saying, is there should be bipartisan compromise. that's exactly the reason that kevin mccarthy is no longer the speaker, because he, to raise the debt ceiling, and to pass a temporary spending bill, he had to get help from democrats, and the republican caucus kicked him out. >> that's why i say speaker mike johnson is someone who could make a difference here. he is someone who is new to the job. he is someone who is a fresh face. but he is also someone who has rock solid conservative credentials while saying he wants to get back to regular -- >> wait, wait. so what they did, the way they were able to pass this temporary spending bill in january and into february is with more democrats than republicans supporting it. this bipartisan compromise, that left one conservative member
7:36 am
7:40 am
he has been in there for 20 minutes shall the republicans let him get away with it. if he goes to the democrats again to pass legislation in january, do you think the republican caucus will allow that? >> no. i think it is the same clown car, different driver, that's what it feels like to me, and it will be very difficult. and you know, these fistfights,
7:41 am
i know it is all joking around, like this is you hit him in the kidney or this guy is doing -- >> i got to say it, didn't look so joke-y to me. >> it is so ridiculous. it is such a dude thing. it was so ridiculous. >> if i said that it was such a girl thing -- >> you're not going to -- there is no aoc getting up and taking her wedding ring off and going after people. >> she is not married. >> any case, it is not happening. >> but you know, it is just indicative, everyone just says whatever is on their mind. and at any one point. because we live in this sort of instant impulse culture now, and it has infected congress in a really bad way. so maybe they're talking behind the scenes, i don't know, but the performance in congress is certainly questionable. >> there is another problem, and that is this desire to tie everything together. so everybody agrees, we need to give aid to israel, but the white house said, well, no, if
7:42 am
you're giving aid to israel, we want it for ukraine, because otherwise we won't get it for ukraine, and the republicans say, well, if you're going to do that, we want some big concession on border enforcement, and we end up with nothing. >> right. and part of the problem is, and again, it is a problem with both sides, people want things that can go on cable news and complain about, rather than actually get things done and do legislation. and in congress, that does not work. >> i will say one thing, about the big bills that get things done, for example the infrastructure law from the last congress, it was a terrible piece of legislation because it did not evoke the regular order and wasn't properly scrutinized. it was a big bang style thing with a bunch of christmas tree ornaments and was not thinking carefully how we can spend taxpayer dollars wisely. and i hate that. >> all right. duly noted. coming up, the billionaire picture some say they can't unsee. it's yea or nay. that's next.
7:43 am
it's always a challenge to discuss what subjects to talk about and what to avoid when your family sitting down for thanksgiving dinner. this week especially, consider this something of a public service, once again, i asked the group here yea or nay. it is beginning to look a lot like christmas earlier than ever. halloween decorations traded for christmas decorations as soon as november 1st. stores like costco full christmas displays in august. in britain, this one is already racing up the charts. ♪ i don't want a lot for christmas ♪ there is just one thing i need ♪ >> the whole gang started singing it. particularly lulu. a good voice. yea or nay to christmas creep. >> nay. i love christmas and thanksgiving, and thanksgiving means it is time to shine. >> this is it. >> more on christmas.
7:44 am
>> a war on christmas. >> i love it. >> i love it. >> i love it. >> so excited. >> all right. well, wait a minute. let me get this right. 80% of people say they feel christmas fatigue by the time we actually get to december 25th. 75% say they're sick and tired by the end of christmas. lulu, when should we get into the christmas mood? >> summer. i start watching the hallmark channel and the christmas spectacular, in summer, i like snow, i like ho ho ho, i don't think we need to limit it, it is a spirit. >> all right. next, when it comes to ringing up those holiday gifts, you may soon have fewer options. cnn reports stories like walmart and costco are rethinking their self checkout stations. this comes after a british supermarket chain says it is firing its checkout machines and bringing back real cashiers. kar ax, as our techie, i bet you love self check outs. >> i don't. it is badly done. i don't like it.
7:45 am
you're constantly having somebody come over and swipe it. they don't work well. and they're continuing pushing toward the palm checkout at amazon, they want you to put your palm over, it as if i'm going to give amazon my palm information. it doesn't work. it doesn't work and cashiers are better. people are better. >> reihan, yea or nay with self checkout. >> a big yea for self checkout in principle but the big tragedy, the big story behind it, a lot of stores are abandoning self checkout because of shoplifting, shrink a and a huge p problem in n big g citie around thehe country. . >> why d do you likeke self chcheckout?
7:49 am
7:50 am
decorum. >> we're wrong. >> finally, it's the photo shoot social media can't stop talking about. jeff bezos and his fiance lauren sanchez, photographed by any liebowitz for vogue magazine, the pictures were mocked online, isn't everything, with one person saying they would like to unsee the photos. kara, yea or nay for bezos and sanchez posing for vogue. >> this is an unfortunate photo, i would say. i think i like a lot of these photos and these performance photos but i think they took it seriously. you see a lot of any liebowitz pictures, and arnold schwarzenegger on a horse was a joke. and it was a little cringy. >> lulu, as our resident romantic, what did you think of lauren and jeff saying we love each other and frankly we look pretty great doing it. >> i mean this is the thing that i was astonished by. these are people who are r real
7:54 am
in order for small businesses to thrive, they need to be smart, efficient, savvy. making the most of every opportunity. that's why comcast business is introducing the small business bonus. for a limited time you can get up to a $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. yep, $1000. so switch to business internet from the company with the largest fastest reliable network and that powers more businesses than anyone else. learn how you can get $1000 back for your business today. comcast business. powering possibilities.
7:55 am
arm core, a lot of buff arms from these pictures. >> this picture doesn't quite show it, but bezos has a gun show going on. >> he's got a gun show. >> coming up, proof shoe pay close attention to our gang's predictions. >> plus alarming numbers every parent should know about. it's under the radar. next.
7:56 am
"under the radar" this. week, more and more parents are opting not to get their children vaccinated. we're not talking about covid vaccines here. new data from the cdc shows exemptions that allow kids to forgo state-required vaccines for measles, polio and chicken pox are at an all time high. for years the united states had a 95% vaccination rate for kindergarteners and recent years it has dropped and sits at 39%. that may not seem like much, but doctors say even a small increase in unvaccinated kids in school leaves the country vulnerable to outbreaks of dangerous diseases. in ten states, exemptions were above 5%, which the cdc says is the red line for greater risk of an outbreak. this all comes amid a rise in anti anti-vaccine and anti-science sentiment. a recent survey finds one in four americans, 27%, don't
7:57 am
really trust scientists. that has doubled from before the covid pandemic when only 13% failed to trust scientists. when we come back, hit me with your best shot on what is news before it is in the news. and we have proof that the gang's predictions sometimes come true. that's next. every week, we end the story can asking the gang here for their best shots, their special takes and predictions what is going to happen in the news, and yes, we're keeping tabs, whether their shot is a hit or a miss. so it's time for our first best shot replay. take a listen to what jonah said last week. >> we're going to see a lot of stories about the flocking of big donors to nikki haley next week. and an intensification of talk about tim scott dropping out soon. >> why, first of all, the move
7:58 am
to nikki haley? >> because i think that her performance in the debate was geared for attracting a lot of big donor money. there is a lot of big donor money that says tim scott can't win and chris christie can't win and they don't want to give it to ron desantis and ron desantis is not going to drop out, and tim scott, he's just not been able to figure out an explanation for why he's running for president. >> so jonah, when tim scott dropped out last sunday, the day after you made your prediction, his top staff reportedly did not know he was going to do that. a lot of them were surprised. low did jonah goldberg know? >> i drop benjamins on shoe shine guys all around the country. i have snitches and informants everywhere. i can't reveal my sources. >> you knew this was going to happen? >> i had a sixth sense about it. yes. it's a gift. it's just a gift. >> all right, so jonah has one on the scoreboard and takes an early lead.
7:59 am
i don't want anybody to be bitter. >> does he get a prize? >> no, it is the beginning of the season, not the end. and now time for your takes and predictions this week. hit me with your best shot. joe na, we will play the hot hand. what's your best shot for this week? >> since we all know past performance is predictive of future results, i will win this one. i think we will see, maybe not in the next week, a real flight toward some celebrity, probably someone like matt mcconaughey, getting into politics or talking about politics because there is such a hunger in this country because nobody wants anybody who is actually running. do you think he will run for president? >> i think he will show a lot of length. >> kara, best shot? >> not that one. i think there is maybe some real repercussions to elon musk continued promotion of anti-semitic tropes on x. obviously, ibm pulled out for reasons. apple just did. and the ceo has her hands full
8:00 am
and is trying very desperately saying we don't believe in these anti-semitic tropes. and yet, you know, i'm like the calls coming from inside the building kind of thing. that's what it feels like. so i think there may be some repercussions here. he's done it a lot. so who knows. >> reihan, best shot? >> so when you're looking at the democratic party, who is the number two in the party after president biden? is it gavin newsom? kamala harris? gretchen kwhitmer, the real answer is jb pritzker, the governor of illinois, not because of his magnetism and charisma but he is standing up to give hundreds of millions of dollars to re-elect president biden and gearing up for his own presidential campaign come 2028, and possibly if something happens to the president, in 2024. >> you think of all of the people out there, and i think that the governors are the ones, you would put him at the head of the line as a possible plan b for 2024, ahead of newsom and whitmer? >> nobody else has done more for pu
103 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on