Lovett or Leave It - Iowa, Don't F*ck This Up

Episode Date: February 1, 2020

Republicans conspire to block witnesses and Iowans get ready to caucus like the country depends on it. LIVE from Iowa City, Jon is joined by filmmaker and activist Michael Moore, Iowa state auditor Rob Sand, Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist Lyn Lenz, and Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker.They cover the latest on the trial, the primaries, and their perspective on how campaigns are faring on the ground. And we make time for Super Bowl ads, Brad Pitt's looks "hurting" his Oscar chances, and the difference between hot dish and casserole.

Iowa! So good to see you all. Iowa City! So exciting. Three days. Until the Iowa caucuses. I hope you people know what you're doing. You guys know what you're doing? You can figure this out? A lot riding on it. Look, I don't know if intermittent fasting has reached the Midwest. I'm sorry to bring it up at every show, but I have a reason, okay? Anyway, the point is, you can only eat in a brief window,

a few hours a day. You try to constrict your eating. And I know this isn't how you're supposed to do it. I know it's wrong. My view is during that window, anything goes. The reason I raise this is because while I'm in Iowa, 16 hours a day, I'm still coastal elite, all right? I just am. But for that magnificent window of comestibles, I'm all heartland. of comestibles. I'm all Heartland. I want your butter burgers. I want your cheese curds. I may live in Los Angeles,

but during those magnificent eight hours, I'm like Amy Klobuchar got Mayor Pete pregnant. And he swaddled that baby in a Carhartt jacket and left it at the doorstep of the Indianapolis Speedway. Great to be here at the Hancher Auditorium. It's named after Virgil Melvin Hancher, famous for having the worst name in American history. All right, let's get into it. What a week. All right, let's get into it. What a week.

We begin with a John Bolton bombshell, but not the kind he likes to drop on the Middle East. That is the first one that bugs you? The New York Times reported that John Bolton, former National Security Advisor who was hired by Trump after the decline of silent films meant he could no longer pursue his passion of tying women to train tracks, has written a book claiming President Trump told him directly that Trump was blocking aid to Ukraine until Ukrainian officials helped with political investigations of the Bidens. investigations of the Bidens. Now, according to Trump defenders, this is not true, not a crime if it is true, and if it is true, pretty good. And it is true because it's good, and it's also what Biden did, which is very bad. Something to keep in mind. Bolton won't honor a House subpoena, but he will honor a Senate subpoena. He won't testify unless there is a subpoena,

but he will testify in his book to that which he wouldn't testify in Congress. We have been relying on the scum of the earth to find out what's going on in this administration. Omarosa, Michael Cohen, now John Bolton. Bolton's book, which is called The Room Where It Happened, that's just real, a name he took from a high school history class slam poetry contest

that got out of hand. We are recording this on Thursday night. By the time this comes out on Saturday, we will know if we love Mitt Romney or if everything we said in 2012 was true. And whether we're going to start talking about that dog shit again. We don't want to bring it up, but the roof. How do you know if he's doing okay up there?

Mitt Romney said it's increasingly likely that his colleagues will vote in favor of witnesses. Instead of Bolton's testimony, it's relevant and therefore I'd like to hear it. Things are very dark when the phrase, it's relevant and therefore I'd like to hear it, is soothing. It's like Mormon CBD. it's like mormon cbd john bolton's musk hung in the air in the senate chamber as house managers and trump lawyers answered questions from senators i think it's worth going through a few key moments you probably missed because you can't watch television from sunrise to sunset because of capitalism and or because your mom limits your screen time.

A couple revealing moments. So far, not going so well for President Trump, trying to break out the heavy hitters. Time to open the 1990s time capsule and bring out Alan Dershowitz, which is good because it also means we can let that girl out of there. What are you oohing? What are you oohing?

The reality of our disgusting culture? Anyway, sure, Alan Dershowitz is a scumbag, but he's also a terrible lawyer. Let's roll the clip. And if a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment. What? The idea that anything I do to retain power is in the national interest is historically a dangerous idea. Here's another moment that was pretty revealing. A question from the moderates, Sinema and Manchin, and the gettable gals, Murkowski and Collins. Questions from Senator Sinema and the other senators for counsel for the president.

The Logan Act prohibits any U.S. citizen without the authority of the United States from communicating with any foreign government with the intent to influence that government's not be directed to conduct American foreign policy or national security policy unless they have been specifically and formally designated by the president and the State Department to do so? I just want to make clear that there was no conduct of foreign policy being carried on here by a private person. I assume that the reference would be to Mr. Giuliani, here by a private person. I assume that the reference would be to Mr. Giuliani, the president's private counsel. Ambassador Volker was clear that he understood Mr. Giuliani just to be a source of information for the president. So first of all, I like the lawyer being like, now I presume you're referring to the president's roving international lunatic Rudy Giuliani. Based on the question, I'm going to assume that's the context. So he gets up there and says, no, no, no, no, no. Hey, everybody calm down. No one doing rogue foreign policy. No,

Rudy Giuliani isn't doing national security outside of the State Department. None of that. Don't worry about that. Put that out of your mind. It's fine. It's fine. And then Adam Schiff got up there and he said, I think something interesting may have just happened. Let's roll the clip. In answer to that question, we heard a rather breathtaking admission by the president's lawyer. And it was said in an understated way. And so you might have missed it. But what the president's Council said was that no foreign policy was being conducted by a private party here. That is, Rudy Giuliani was not conducting U.S. foreign policy. That is a remarkable admission because

to the degree that they have attempted to suggest or claim or insinuate that this is a policy difference, that a concern over burden sharing or something, corruption, was a policy issue. They have now acknowledged that the person in charge of this was not conducting policy. I wanted to show that clip because I just genuinely enjoy Adam Schiff leaving chunks of lawyer all over the floor. Trump's defenses being systematically shredded on the floor of the U.S. Senate in a nationally televised impeachment trial is my sexual orientation. I want a WikiFeet, but for that, that was for no one. WikiFeet is a gross website where gross people look for publicly available photos of celebrity feet. I'm really sorry.

And I don't know why I'm directing it at you, because you were so nice and so polite, but you weren't laughing, but not in a mean way, just in a, I hope something else comes soon. What were you doing? You were listening and learning. I'm sorry about that, too. Also, Senator Elizabeth Warren couldn't be in Iowa to campaign, so she decided to ask questions so sharp you could feel the pointy edge in Cedar Rapids. First, there was this question which Trump lawyers struggled to answer.

If Ukrainian President Zelensky called President Trump and offered dirt on President Trump's political rivals in exchange for President Trump handing over hundreds of millions in military aid, that would clearly be bribery and an impeachable offense. So why would it be more acceptable and somehow not impeachable for the reverse? That is, for President Trump to propose this same corrupt bargain. A hypothetical that is contrary to what the facts were here, to try to suggest that maybe there's some element of bribery, that's all beside the point. We have specific facts.

We have evidence that has been presented in the record. We have a specific article of impeachment. It doesn't say bribery. It doesn't say extortion. And there's no way to get that into this case at this point. That question was good. It was a really hard question. It was one of those questions where you hear it

and you're like, yeah. Why is it better that the crime started with our guy? Shouldn't that be worse? If the crime started with their guy, it'd be obvious. But the crime started with our guy. That's not better. Moments ago, Elizabeth Warren submitted this question. At a time when large majorities of Americans have lost faith in government,

does the fact that the chief justice is presiding over an impeachment trial in which Republican senators have thus far refused to allow witnesses or evidence contribute to the loss of legitimacy of the chief Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution. Mr. Chief Justice. Nice legacy you got there. It would be a crying shame if something would have happened to it.

Say a brick goes through the window of your legacy. Say a couple trucks carry your legacy. Don't make it to the depot. I'd hate to see that, Mr. Chief Justice, which is why between us, I'm hoping to see some witnesses. Anyway, let's see how Adam Schiff responded to that. I would not say that it contributes to a loss of confidence in the Chief Justice. I think the Chief Justice has presided admirably. I think right matters.

I think a fair trial matters. And I think that the country deserves a fair trial. If they don't get that fair trial, it will just further a cynicism that is corrosive to this institution and to our democracy. Adam Schiff, man. Just crushing it. But while he's in the fight in D.C., another fight taking place right here in Iowa.

Transition. We are one weekend away from the Iowa caucus, and I am happy to announce that if I could caucus on Monday, personally, and I'm only speaking for myself here, I caucus for everybody getting along. While Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Amy Klobuchar are stuck in Washington for the impeachment hearings, Joe Biden, Andrew Yang, and Pete Buttigieg are on the ground hustling in the homestretch. Amy is surging in some late Iowa polls, which is definitely a good idea if the polls

know what's good for them. Andrew Yang is currently on a 17-day bus tour around Iowa. 17 days on a bus seems like a lot of work that could probably be automated. And Bernie and Biden are trading frontrunner status in every major poll this past week. They are neck and neck, which is a little gross because both of their necks are pretty loose at this point. Earlier this week, Mayor Pete was asked at a town hall about the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and responded by saying there are millions of people mourning because they were inspired by what he did on the field and what he meant off the field. And then someone said, did you see that gaffe? And I said, what gaffe? Did you see what he said? I said, what's wrong with it? It's

not a field, it's a court. I was like, oh, give us a fucking shit. And then Mayor Pete was asked if he'd ever attended an NBA game, and he said, I have not had the pleasure. No, you don't laugh at him. Shame on all of you. Yes, Mayor Pete did say that like Mitt Romney sampling a Totino's pizza roll. But why

is it a Gaff if you misspeak about drag racing, but not if you misspeak about drag race? Y'all want your politicians to be authentic, but better know the fucking straight guy sports. Authentic, but you like what I fucking like. And if you don't, you study up. Watch that Super Bowl between the 49ers and the Kansas City team with a name that, are we kidding ourselves here? We're still doing this?

Anyway, on this issue of not knowing very much about basketball, I'm with Mayor Pete. No, no, no. Stop it. Every time, every time I say the name Mayor Pete, stop it. I like Mayor Pete. I like them all. As I said, the Iowa caucus is just days away, and because some of the candidates couldn't be here, I thought I'd help all the candidates out with a final push. So Elisa

and Travis are going to surprise me with a candidate name on the screen, and then as fast as I can, I'm going to give the best pitch in three words I can think of for why you should caucus for that person on Monday. Alright, here we go. Tom Steyer, Bernie's best friend. Bernie Sanders,

yeah, good, okay. Michael Bloomberg, angry rich dad, but this one loves you. Andrew Yang, let's get wild. Elizabeth Warren, because of course. Stop it. Neutral. Neutral. I'm neutral. Amy Klobuchar, duck, a binder of sensible ideas.

Mayor Pete, we wants it. Tulsi a binder of sensible ideas. Mayor Pete. We wants it. Tulsi Gabbard. Shh, lawsuit. Joe Biden. We can get him there. All right, all right. Let's start the show.

When we come back, Michael Moore is here. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. He's an Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker and

best-selling progressive author. Please welcome Michael Moore. Thanks for doing this. How you doing? I'm doing great. I got the hat. You got the hat. You got the hat. Hawkeyes.

The Big Ten sisterhood and brotherhood. There's actually 15 teams, but we're not going to talk sports. Hawkeyes. It's that easy. It's that easy. It's good to have you here. Thank you for having me. I just remember seeing

Fahrenheit 9-11s all those years ago. I think you excited a lot of people about politics for a very long time. I feel honored that you're here. Well, that's very kind of you to say that. Thank you. Thank you. Now it's time for OK Stop. We'll roll a clip and we can say OK Stop at any point to comment. Sean Hannity, the American Malala.

Brave, honest, trustworthy, and he's always here to give it to you straight. So when it comes to law and order, truth and justice, he's your guy and he has a lot to say about Trump's crimes. Let's take a look. President Trump is allowed to talk. He's allowed to vent. He's allowed to exchange ideas with his close advisors. That is

not a crime. It's kind of like, well, you tell your friend, I want to rob this jewelry store. I want to rob this grocery store. Okay, stop. What? Michael, listen. When you're blowing off steam with your pals,

did you ever just turn to one of your friends and say, God, I just want to rob this jewelry store. And then say, and here's how I plan to do it. And then plan it for about six to eight months, asking everybody at every fundraiser about it. And then you buy a van, you black out the windows, a couple of bags to put money in, hire a couple people in Joker masks.

You ever do that at Blow Off Steam? No, and I think Sean is trying to telegraph something to us about what he's been planning to do. And he's like, let me just try this out, see how this works on national TV. And if they don't come for me afterwards, I think we can pull this off. It's also, Sean Hannity is now reduced to this argument because now he's not saying Trump didn't say it.

Now he's reduced to saying he said it all, but he didn't mean it, which is a cool place to have gotten him. Venian store, oh, I'm going to punch this guy in the face. I'm going to rip somebody's face off. But you never do it. You weren't seriously plotting the act. That would not be a crime now, would it? We all think about things.

Thoughts flow through our brains constantly, at least if you're a conservative. And when you think about things, that's not a crime in any way. OK, stop. It's a good burn. It's OK. It was a pretty good burn. Yeah. I think it probably would have landed harder if he wasn't right before that admitting to thinking about killing everybody he sees. Right, right. But this is the honesty of telling us how the conservative brain works. You've got to give him points for that. Wow. In the White House, it's certainly not a crime to talk about

policy ideas or to vent. Now, if the president did what they said, it would still be so insignificantly meaningless that it would never rise to the level of quid pro quo Joe and zero experience Hunter. So for you senators, you know, if you're going to validate thought crimes to smear a duly elected president just 280 days before the election when the facts never change. Wow. I also I really like the idea that firing an ambassador and withholding aid is a thought crime. Because that makes Trump Dr. Manhattan. That's the first thing I thought of when he just said that about thought crimes, is that could this be finally the vision that Bob Dylan had when he said in that song,

"'If my thought dreams could be seen, "'they probably put my head inside a guillotine. Is the guillotine coming in November? Is it coming next week in the U.S. Senate? Metaphorically. Metaphorically, of course, because John and I are nonviolent people. Nonviolent people. Nonviolent. Totally nonviolent, of course. I've never punched. So that is the defense that we're seeing from Sean Hannity. But before we let you go, I did want to talk a little bit, because you've been someone that has been ringing the alarm about right-wing propaganda for a very long time.

I do want us to talk about what Trump is doing on offense. And so let's roll. Everybody, it's 30 seconds, and we'll get to the end of it, and it won't hurt any of us, because we're good. Let's watch Donald Trump's Super Bowl ad. America demanded change. Donald Trump wins the presidency. And change is what we got. Under President Trump, America is stronger, safer, and more prosperous than ever before. Best wage growth I think we've seen in almost a decade. Unemployment rate sinking to a 49-year low. Unemployment for African-Americans, it fell to a new low. Unemployment for Hispanics hit an all-time record low. And ladies and gentlemen, the best is yet

to come. I'm Donald J. Trump, and I approve this message. So, so I know you've endorsed Senator Sanders. Yes, but regardless of who the nominee is, do you think Democrats are doing enough right now to build an argument against that economic message for all the people that aren't watching the news every day, aren't plugged into the daily news and the chaos and Trump is just noise, but this message, the economy's good, you don't have to like me, but don't mess with it. Do you think Democrats right now understand what to do to fight back on that? Wow, that's a thick question. Thick. I think Bernie is, but that's because Bernie is really the only one willing to say that our current economic system is unfair, it's unjust, it's not democratic, and capitalism is an evil that has to go. And even here, somewhat tepid applause for that idea. So the other candidates who I actually like a lot, I mean, Elizabeth has been in two of my movies. Mayor Pete's husband grew up down the street

from where I live in Michigan. I have something really good to say, actually, about, I think, all of it. Is Delaney still in this? It doesn't matter. All right. It just genuinely doesn't matter. That's one of the cool things about him.

That is cool, yeah. Probably his name hasn't been mentioned in the state in the entire week And I just mentioned it So sorry about that The hairs on his biceps just stood up Yeah But I think, look I have felt back when we had 27 candidates

That we were in good shape And that in the interest of what you said The unity feeling here in the room tonight Is that we are in good shape. I happen to be for the candidate who has consistently for 57 years fought for his beliefs from the first time he was arrested

at a civil rights demonstration in Chicago in 1963 all the way to now that we're going to need a fighter to bring down Trump. Let me dissuade you and anybody who still believes that there's going to need a fighter to bring down Trump. Let me dissuade you and anybody who still believes that there's going to be a debate or debates this year with Trump. He will not debate the Democratic candidate. There will be no debates. Quit thinking, oh, my candidate will really destroy him on the stage. First of all, I'm one of the few people that did not take Trump for granted back in four years ago ago in 16. I even

said he's going to win and he's going to win Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. I got booed for that when I said it on Bill Maher and I'm like I'm not saying I want this to happen I'm trying to warn you don't take him for granted. He's very popular. That show was loved by an audience between the Hudson River and Interstate 5. You know, this is the 14 seasons on TV. It's not somebody who's hated. And Democrats were so smug, and so we were so in Michigan and Wisconsin begging, please come to our state. And it was so disheartening. We couldn't even get yard signs in Michigan. Bernie did 39 rallies just on his own to support Hillary in that election. I keep hearing this, he didn't do anything for Hillary. And I'm like, what? I think we're all

so upset and hurt because Hillary won. She won by three million votes. And she, can you think about this? She won, the Russians threw everything at her. She beat the Russians. Comey, the head of the FBI. I don't want the head of the FBI against me. He threw everything at her. She won. She still got the most votes no matter what everybody did to her. She lost by two votes per precinct in Michigan. Two. This is why this time around, I will be running, whoever is our nominee, I will be running the campaign. Well, let me ask you this. I'm sorry. Let me ask you this, though. You know, I genuinely, and I feel the same way as you, I can genuinely see the argument for each of the top candidates that are remaining, and I can see myself fighting like hell for each

of them. But I know that, you know that the people that listen to this show, based on just even this audience, I know that they lean more towards Warren and Bernie than they do towards Biden. But Biden may be the nominee. Biden will not be the nominee. Well, no, and again, I know him, and actually he's a really, you obviously have met him,

he's a really... He's a decent and caring person. Yes. No, I believe that's very true. But we are in a different era now. And in the same way where I watched Steve Martin on Colbert last night try to tell the same jokes that we maybe grew up with or we loved him. He was one of the funniest people ever.

But we sat there, my sister and I sat there and we watched and we weren't laughing. We're like, wow, we really are in a different time. If you're still telling the same jokes, if you're still trying to show intimacy with your wife by biting her finger at a rally, it's like we live in a different era. Hey, you know what? You're not inside of that relationship. You don't know what finger biting is for them. That's true. That was my first position. I tried to tell people, no, if you're still married and you're in your 70s

and you have that kind of intimacy, you should hope for that. There are couples with half the years on the clock that would kill for that kind of heat. I agree with that. I see them out here. I see some couples sitting here barely touching hands wishing that. I see them out here. I see some couples sitting here, barely touching hands, wishing that their man would reach out

and just give him a quick bite on the finger. You're right. Your audience, but also the majority of people who will be voting in the Democratic primaries, trend toward what Bernie and Elizabeth stand for. He answered somebody in Dubuque last week who asked him if he was too old, and he says, well, here's one thing you get with an old person running. We don't change.

And it's like, wow, that's true. Yeah, he, so the Bernie you saw in 1963, the Bernie in 1972 who wrote this essay that was published in 72, this is just three years after Stonewall, where he said that we have to stop the discrimination against people who love people of the same gender. There wasn't even a word for it in his essay, because gay rights, three years after Stonewall, that term didn't exist. But he was writing about it. He was alone as a heterosexual in Vermont, writing about this. Then Roe v. Wade, three, four years before that, he's out there saying women, the government should have no control over women's reproductive system. He has been way ahead of the curve on all these things. That's what I'm drawn to. Elizabeth, she's been in my movies because

she's been ahead of these things. I first interviewed her from Sicko in 2006. So this is 14 years ago. And then I had her again in Capitalism, A Love Story, because she was down with this idea that this is one of the great evils of our time. You know, I know people say to me, somebody's just saying backstage, well, you know she was a Republican until she was 47. I said, yeah, but we've got to open our arms

to anybody to come into this. I hate that. That attack is so fucking stupid to me. Right? I'm sorry. I just think it is. So it's hard if you are part of a group, which you are part of, that has had the boot of the people in power on your neck. of the people in power on your neck.

Here's a person that voted for Nixon, voted for Reagan, voted for Bush, which means voting against gay people, voting against a woman's right to choose, voting for war, and then you get enlightened and then you change. You have to be allowing people to change. It shouldn't be a negative against Elizabeth. My thing is it's a positive for me toward Bernie, that since the time he was 19 years old, you can look up the picture of him being arrested in Chicago. He's fighting the police. Clearly, he never showed up to a civil disobedience training where he's supposed to go limp and

be arrested. And he said, leave me alone. Leave me alone. That's how he talked when he was 19. It's just what you do when you go to cats in New York. You just got to get, it's just a deli thing. Are we doing what we need to do to have this fight, but come together in the end to make sure that whoever that nominee is, we all work like hell to put them in the White House, even if it isn't the person

we believed in the most? When we have this fight... I'm talking about the primary. We have to have the primary. Are you saying we shouldn't have the primary? No, no. I want the fight. Let's fight it out. Let's fight it out. The primary. We have to have the primaries. Are you saying we shouldn't have the primaries? No, no. I want the fight. Let's fight it out. Let's fight it out. With respect. With respect. Dignity, decency. Dignity, decency. Love toward each other.

Love toward each other. Sense of humility and common purpose built around the differences that we know are great and important, but nonetheless pale in comparison to the differences with Trump. So your question then is can we survive this fight? Can we survive the primaries and come out on the other side as a full united force against the evil that we are facing?

Yes. Evil rises in the East, Michael. Yes. I'll say what I said four years ago. Do not take him for granted. He's smarter than every one of us here in this room, and that's a hard pill. Sorry. You know how smart he is? He figured out that the best way to get into the White House was to lose. If I told you I'm going to run for office in two years,

but here's my plan. I'm going to lose. I'm going to have less people vote for me, plan. I'm going to lose. I'm going to have less people vote for me, and I'm going to win. The fact that he is even there is on us. The percentage of people in this country that agree with us, it's crazy. We are the American majority. The majority of Americans believe climate change is real. The majority of Americans believe that women should be paid the same as men. Go down the whole damn list. The vast majority of Americans agree with us. How could we lose this? We are pros at losing this. And we cannot let that happen this time. And it's not just a matter of all of us. And I think, if I can speak for all of us, we're all going to go in there in November, not just ourselves, not with our little gloomy faces. Oh, my candidate didn't win. We're all going to go in there in November, not just ourselves, not with our little gloomy faces. Oh, my candidate didn't win. We're all going to go in there and we're going to fucking take that

thing and mark it and vote for the D in November. Michael Moore, everybody. We come back. We'll have our panel. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It and there's more on the way. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back! She's a columnist at the Cedar Rapids Gazette and the former managing editor of The Rumpus. Please welcome Liz Lentz. Hi!

Hi. What's up? Just a couple days to caucus. Few more days to watch the candidates pretend they know about ethanol. Pretend that they like to stand on Bale's straw. Which is a shame, because Beto really did. He was the Iowa Assistant Attorney General

and the current Iowa State Auditor. Please welcome Tommy's doppelganger, Rob Sand. Go Hawks! It's pandering. I mean, I am a Hawkeye, so... Doesn't John look great, you guys? Oh my God. I will not.

I will not be pandered to much longer. All right. He's a native of Cedar Rapids and currently serves on the Board of Supervisors for Linn County. Please welcome Stacy Walker. How are you? Good. How are you? Thanks for being here.

Go Hawks. Every time. Fine. Go Hawks. Go footballs. Balls of feet. Guys, I'm divorced. I don't give a shit. Thank you. Thank you. All right. We're going to go through some things together. That's what we call a caucus. All right. Stacey, I'll start with you. That's right. Stacey, how does this caucus feel different this year than it has in previous years?

Is there anything about it that feels different than four years ago or eight years ago to you? What do you think? Yeah, there's a shit ton of people running. So there's a lot of energy because there's so many different camps vying for the attention of Iowans. And this is a serious time. I mean, you hear politicians tell you every election cycle, this is the most dangerous president, certainly in my lifetime, and probably in the modern era, the caucuses take on a whole new sense of seriousness. So in those ways, I think this is unprecedented. Every four years, there's a ton of attention that comes to Iowa. Do you think it's been good for Iowa politics that this happens in this sort of

acute moment of incredible attention. Does it distract from local politics at all, or do you think it's been good for it? What do you think? Well, on February 4th, when everybody's in New Hampshire, we're going to have to deal with the fact that our governor, Kim Reynolds, wants to put tracking devices in our uteruses. Currently, you might have missed this because John Delaney's sleeping on your front porch right now Michael Bennett's like can I mow your yard you're like buddy it's snowing but yes I think in a way

it does distract from some of the things that are happening here in our state we just had a bill that some lawmakers introduced to try and take away trans rights in the state. And you all called and you got that bill stuck in a committee where it needs to die. And that was great. But, you know, our state lawmakers want to now amend our constitution to say that abortion is not protected. And, you know, we've got work to do here. So, yes, there is a sense that every four years people have to come and, like, deep throat some corn dogs and bow to the gods of, like, corn and soy and switchgrass. To answer the question, there's a lot going on in our state. So where people have to come

and talk about rural plans and all that kind of stuff, we miss some of the problems that we have in the state. Like, guys, we don't have clean water. Right? Yeah, we need to work on that. So February 4th, we'll start, right?

Yeah, all right. Rob, has anyone surprised you in how they've campaigned in Iowa in ways that people may be listening at home that don't know because they're not on the ground? What campaign has been unusually impressive or doing things in Iowa that you didn't expect? We heard it here tonight. There is a true freneticism with the Warren campaign.

That's undeniable. It's like a statement of fact, right? So I don't think that's my observation. That's just like the whole state of Iowa being like, damn, look at them. They're going hard. We like that Hermione Granger energy, I think. Stacey, one other piece of this is second choices matter, right?

People are going to go into their caucus, and if their candidate doesn't hit 15%, they might have to move somewhere else. How do you see that playing out right now between, say, people that like Sanders and Warren, people that like Amy Klobuchar and Mayor Pete? How is the second choice part of this playing out to your mind? Well, let me just say another statement of fact. I think

Sanders supporters are fanatics, and they're not moving, and I also think Sanders is going to be viable in most precincts across the state. I do think that I agree with Rob when he talked about Warren's organizing game. They're everywhere. It's a strong campaign. In addition to that, though, I think Senator Warren is probably most people's second choice. So I think she may be underperforming right now in some of the polling, and I think she might surprise people on caucus night. What do you think, Liz? Well, I mean, we got some polling, right? 45% of Iowans, you're undecided.

And 60% of people in that Monmouth poll were saying that you could change your mind at any moment. So it's really volatile. I mean, if you think about it, truly undecided is winning this election. And yeah, I mean, maybe not y'all, right? But like undecided out there, when you talk to your friends and your family, people are very worried. They're very nervous. And they're just undecided. And in my mind, undecided is, you know, like a white guy who's like well i like things what do you like i like that thing too whatever we need to do to beat donald trump and

he's afraid right um and he should be white men should be afraid um right just in general it has nothing to do with the caucuses just a general warning um Issuing threats, I like it. We're coming for you. Is that, can I be impeached for that? You can be impeached. Apparently not. Thanks, Alan Dershowitz. It's the only time he's ever been thanked by a woman.

I'm of two minds on the Iowa caucus, all right? I'm on two minds of a lot of things. I'm a nuanced thinker the Iowa caucus. All right? I'm on two minds of a lot of things. I'm a nuanced thinker. Don't laugh at that. On the one hand, I do think it's incredible how seriously Iowa takes this. And I do think there's incredible value to there being a place people come and meet these politicians and put them through their paces and make them sit in fucking diners and talk to normal people and see if they can hang and like see if they break right like because like really really disciplined ambitious people they can they can fake it for a while but you keep them in iowa

for a year and a half through the fucking winter they crack they crack like eggs and i think that's good i do i genuinely think that's good i didn't look i don't think this is the best way to do a job interview for a job for nuclear weapons but but grand scheme of things, they crack. They crack and we see what's inside. And you get that stuff out of them, the yolks. However, at the same time, this is a white state. This is a state that doesn't look like the Democratic coalition in a lot of ways. You're not white, but a lot of people here are. That is correct. Yep. I just was realizing for people at home. Where do you fall on this question about Iowa going first, the value of this intimate way of doing politics and the challenge of it not being a place as diverse as the Democratic coalition. So here is the million-dollar question. Let me first say this. I think the Iowa

Democratic Party has had a near-impossible job at organizing the Iowa caucuses, particularly this caucus with so many people running. I think there's like 1,600 some precincts that they're concerned about, and I think they've done a wonderful job even responding to some of the very valid criticisms that I think have been leveled at the Iowa caucuses, including that they're not as accessible as they should be for mothers, for people with disabilities, for people who work the evening shifts. I think they've tried to make some reasonable accommodations. Now, with that said, to your point, another statement of fact, Iowa is white as shit. It's a very, very white state. You don't have to tell me that. I've lived in this white state for most of my life.

Oh, yeah, you probably notice it all the time. Yes, I do. I do. I do. for most of my life. Oh, yeah, you probably notice it all the time. Yeah, yes, I do. I do. I do. And this state is not reflective of the Democratic Party.

It's certainly not reflective of the rest of the country. And so I think we're grappling with that. And I think, thanks to a lot of brave voices, it's hard to call out these truths. And Liz was one of the few people to do it and caught the ire of both the Republicans and the Democrats in this state. It's what I do. Julian Castro really made a statement on that issue as well. time for the party, not just the Iowa Democratic Party, but the national party committees to

reevaluate how we do this primary slash caucus process to be more reflective of a diverse America and a diverse party. You guys agree with that out there? I think Iowa wants to change. Iowans really want to change. We want to be more inclusive. We want our caucuses to be better. Everybody's concerned about it. You talk to precinct captains who are setting up these ad hoc daycares for mothers, you know, making sure the buildings are ADA compliant, trying to make sure they're accessible. But the problem is New Hampshire's got their boot on our fucking neck.

We can't change in the way that we need to change. So like Stacey said, it's not just Iowa's problem, it's America's problem. And Iowa wants to change. We want to do this better for the rest of America, but it's messed up all across the board, and we have to start talking about that, but we just are so crippled by the party at large and those maple syrup licking lobster roll eating motherfuckers in New Hampshire. Yeah. Can I make the pitch for the caucus? If we want to talk about how we make things better, we talk about the good and the bad, right? There's always a pro, there's always a con to everything.

We have as a state, the party has worked to make an early state process. Not in Iowa, because we are fact-check. I'm auditing you? That's true. Super white. Our state. Super white. Saying audit, fact-check, super white was also super white. Our state. Super white. Saying audit, fact check, super white was also super white.

So we've worked in this process, right? South Carolina and Nevada are both now early states in part because we want to make sure that early states are more reflective of racial diversity in the country, right? And I think that's important. It is important. There is no one state out there that we can look at and we can say, well, that's clearly the one that should go first, right? And I think that's important. It is important. There is no one state out there that we can look at and we can say, well, that's clearly the one that should go first, right?

We can have conversations about this, but listen, here's the thing about, so was it California? Don't bring that shit in here. Was that the, if the suggestion was California, here's the problem with California. The only people that are going to be competitive

in California are people who raise the absolute most money. In Iowa, you have a small state where you can go around and talk to all the Democrats without having a lot of money. In addition, we have cheap media markets. You can air TV ads at a cost that's much lower and reach all the

Iowans in a way you never could if you had California going first. We prefer low-cost media. Cheap's a little. Oh, cheap is on brand. Cheap is on brand for me. But can we be real here? In order to do well running for president anymore, you've got to raise a shit ton of money.

You've got to raise a shit ton. The people who are doing well in Iowa right now have all raised a shit ton of money. And I don't know if it's a chicken or an egg thing. But not Michael Bloomberg. I mean, you still have to come you can't just sit and hide behind your stacks and stacks of money

it's kind of what he's doing and he's creeping up in the polls because he's a fucking billionaire and he's buying his way into this conversation so my point is and you had very good points Rob thank you Jesse

you loved your points my point is running and you had very good points, Rob. Thank you, Jesse. Yes, you had very good points. You loved your points. My point is running for president anymore is a billion dollar exercise, and that's gross, and that also needs to change. Amen. Amen. You know what? That was a great point. You guys want

to play a game? Yeah. Let's play a game. We come back. We're going to play a game? Yeah. Let's play a game. We come back. We're going to play a game about Vote Save America. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back.

Iowa. Home to meat on a stick, cows made of butter, and U.S. Senators in your living room pretending to enjoy your son Devin's old karate photos. It's also home to the Iowa Cau stick, cows made of butter, and U.S. senators in your living room pretending to enjoy your son Devin's old karate photos. It's also home to the Iowa caucus, which is of course the one time every four years Iowans go to the library. I'm sorry. I boomy. Boomy. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. The point is, it's time for an Iowa caucus rebrand. Brought to you by the Political Whiz Kids at votesaveamerica.com.

We are going to showcase a new way to pick a candidate right now, and it's called the masked candidate. Would anyone out there like to play the game? Hi, what's your name? My name is Emily. Emily? Yes. And are you from Iowa?

I live on the east side of Iowa City. Wow, great. We have just launched a brand new and improved VoteSaveAmerica.com for 2020, which will help you vote, know the deadlines for how to register in your state, how to sign up to volunteer, where you can donate so your money will make the most difference. It'll help you create a plan for where to vote, and it'll help you learn about the candidates and share information about the candidates. It's a one-stop shop, and everybody should go to votesaveamerica.com and sign up. Over the next 10 months,

it will help you figure out how to make the most of your time, your money, and your vote, okay? And there's a candidate section where every 2020 Democratic candidate filled out a Q&A that we sent. So each panelist will represent a masked candidate. I will ask them a question, and they will each answer

as their candidate from that Q&A. After you hear two questions, you'll have to pick which of the three you'd most like to vote for. We will reveal who you have chosen, and then you are committed to caucus for that person. Alright, Emily. Question one.

Masked candidates, if elected, what is the first executive action you'll take? Liz, kick us off. I will immediately rejoin the Paris Agreement. The U.S. has to be an international leader on climate, and that starts with rejoining the agreement and raising our ambitions to achieve a 100% clean energy economy. Rob?

Reverse the Trump administration's family separation policies at the U.S.-Mexico border and redirect all resources on the border to treat refugees and asylum seekers with compassion and dignity, consistent with the law. Stacey? You know, it's hard to say. There are so many Trump executive orders that I'd want to overturn. just say there are so many Trump executive orders that I'd want to overturn. The first would probably be to end one of his immigration or travel or environmental orders, but I'd sign a flurry of them in my first day. Next question. Masked candidates. When you're not discussing all the

reasons you'll be a great president, what TV show are you insisting all of your friends watch immediately if they still want to be friends with you? Liz. I hear that The Circle is great and that I need to join Team Shubham. I don't watch The Circle. I'm sorry. Rob. The Crown. But I'm not ready to lose any friends

over it. Stacy. My family and I watch This Is Us together when we can. Aww. Emily. Who is your candidate? Is it Liz, is it Rob, or is it Stacey? I just, I really love The Crown, and I know you do too. Rob is your candidate?

Well, guess what? You're caucusing for Deval Patrick. Stacey was Andrew Yang and Liz was Michael Bloomberg. With my stacks of money. Liz, you won the game. Would anyone else out there like to play another round

of the Masked Candidate? Hi, what's your name? Ben. Ben. Where are you from, Ben? Davenport, Iowa. Davenport, Iowa. Our panel will be playing three brand new candidates. Are you ready? Ready. Masked candidates, why are you running for

president in six words? Turn the page. Move America forward. A country that works for everyone. America forward? A country that works for everyone. Break the corporate stranglehold. Solve the climate crisis. Next question. Masked candidates. What job would you do if you weren't a politician? If I weren't doing this, I could see myself being a long-haul truck driver. You get to travel across America, meet people, and you have a lot of time to listen to podcasts. He's taking a selfie. Sir, I am reading. We are playing a very serious game right now. Ben, do not take pictures of Travis.

Iowans take the caucuses very seriously. Come on, Ben. Do we need to read the... Ben, this is democracy. Come on, Ben. Do we need to read the... Ben, this is democracy. Come on, Ben, from Davenport, Iowa. It's at stake. Rob, you're up. I've known what I wanted to do since I was in second grade.

I wanted to be a public school teacher. And it was the University of Houston that cost just $50 a semester in tuition that gave me my chance. I graduated and became a special needs teacher. Stop it. This isn't The Price is Right. You're not supposed to help. I have lived my dream. Stacey? Teacher.

Alright, Ben. Who is your candidate? I gotta go with Rob, too. It's Elizabeth Warren. Liz was playing the role of Pete Buttigieg. And Stacey was Tom Steyer. If you want to read the rest of these candidate interviews, and they're pretty wild,

head over to votesaveamerica.com where you can check your registration, find out about local deadlines, and get all the information you need to defeat Trump and help win up and down the ballot in 2020. Guys, give it up for our incredible panel. Liz Lenz, Rob Sands, Stacey Walker. Thank you guys so much for being here. When we come back, the Red Wheel. Don't go anywhere. Love it or leave it, there's more on the way. And we're back.

Now it's time for the rant wheel. You know how it works. We're going to spin the wheel wherever it lands. I'm going to talk about the topic. This week on the wheel, we have the end of BoJack Horseman, collective grieving, Brad Pitt, Super Bowl ads, Heartland values, no more Watchmen,

American dirt, and analogies. Let's spin The Wheel. It has landed on Brad Pitt. I've made this point before, and I'll make it again, which is only this. There are people who say that, people like Pete Buttigieg, who say things like heartland values, like people in the coast, the coastal elite,

like we're soft, you know, we're spongy. Not Brad Pitt. Man's 55 years old. He's maintained, as I've said before, a visible six-pack for four decades. So I admire the acting chops and other chops of Brad Pitt. From Thelma and Louise to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, that shirt comes off and I'll buy a ticket. However, I opened my New York Times app and I discover an article.

Now, of course, the picture associated with the article has Brad Pitt as Michelangelo's David. So I'm on edge. And there's an article by a New York Times critic that says, have we undervalued Brad Pitt as an actor

because he's so handsome? Fuck that. Do you need everything, Brad? Guys, I know we've got a lot of problems as a country, but it's time to face up. We haven't given Brad Pitt an actor, and it's because he's too fucking handsome. No. Rejected.

No one's saying Paul Giamatti's overvalued. You get to look like Brad Pitt? Yeah, you may have to work a little harder to get the Oscar. Damn fucking right. You don't get everything. This is what I say to Ronan all the time. I don't care that you think you're funny on Twitter. I'm funny on Twitter.

That's my thing. You are on... These handsome people think that everything belongs to them. And of course, of course they think that. They're right. Let's spin it again. It has landed on Super Bowl ads. I will say only this.

It used to be you had to watch the Super Bowl to see the ads. And now they put them all out in the weeks before. And so there's no had to watch the Super Bowl to see the ads. And now they put them all out in the weeks before. And so there's no fun in watching the Super Bowl. I don't want to watch the game. Alright? I didn't spend 16 years I didn't spend 16 years 18 years in the closet

and two years with one foot in and out of the closet and then two years outside of the closet being like, this is what it's like out here? To watch football for football. They killed Mr. Peanut. All right, we're going to get a little dark for a second. So they had a whole plan, which is they were going to kill Mr. Peanut, all right, like a week before the Super Bowl, get those sweet, sweet, sweet likes and tweets and news articles and aggregators saying things like, Mr. Peanut's dead.

Then they put that out there, and then their plan was Super Bowl comes. They're going to show that ad again in the pregame. And then during the Super Bowl, they're going to have a funeral for Mr. Peanut. And I think, as we all think, introduce Ms. Peanut. But here's my twist. I think they were going to have a new peanut meal that was a half shell, like a convertible. That was my theory.

That's what I was bringing to it. That was my idea. Here's the problem. Halfway in their plan, there was a horrific and tragic death that made it completely unacceptable to air a funeral for a peanut during the fucking Super Bowl. Completely unacceptable. And all I'm saying is maybe if everybody didn't get so fucking antsy

pre-releasing their Super Bowl ads and we could have an old-fashioned time of watching the Super Bowl ads for the first time together, they wouldn't be in that mess of scrambling to figure out what to do with the fact that they killed Mr. Peanut two weeks ago and now they can't replace their mascot. These Planters Peanuts people are going to be without a mascot until they sort this out. What a stupid rant. Let's spin it again.

I'm not stopping. I'm having fun. I only get to do one show in Iowa during this caucus. It has landed on Heartland Values. For one time I want to hear presidential candidates say something like, I grew up in LA where people know how to be an American. We need a president with Heartland Val values. What do you have? What do you... Can you tell me one fucking value you have here that I don't have in West Hollywood? Name one val...

Ma'am, I'm really... I'm gonna... You seem like a wonderful person. What is one value? Like, literally. I'm, like, not even... I'm not even asking rhetorically. What is a val...

What? Casserole is not a... That's not a value. That's not a value. And by the way, by the way, we have casserole in... You know what we call it? We call it lasagna.

We call it kugel. That's not casserole. It's got noodles. It's got raisins. It's got cheese. It's a casserole. Lasagna is not a casserole. What is the casserole-ness of casserole that lasagna lacks? Let's talk about it. Leftovers? You don't think we have tater tots in Los Angeles? What are you, full of shit?

And by the way, you're like Trump's fucking lawyers. We're talking about tater tots. I asked a question about values. I don't, let's say you do have the tater tots and we don't have tater tots. So fucking what? A tater tot is not a moral precept. It's a bit of potato in a new fun shape. That's once in a while, an alternative to fries, but nine times out of ten, you still wish it were fries. Be honest. Be honest about tots. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for giving me a progressive snap. Let's end on a high note.

So stupid. Look, I want to end where I began. We are here in Iowa in the homestretch. Nobody knows how this primary will end except for that oracle who lied to Cory Booker. Whenever she's like impish and she's like, she has her own little schemes and she knows what's going to happen,

but she lied to his fucking face. Bernie, Biden, Warren, the club, Yang. God damn it. Bernie, Biden, Warren, the clubs, Yang. God damn it. Not enough time to get out your fucking phones. Look, primaries are tense because there's a fight with people that you view as being on your team.

But it's worth now, before the votes are cast, here in Iowa, to remember the stakes, not between these candidates, but between all of us and the lies and ads and misinformation and propaganda coming for us when we together face Donald Trump. The differences are real in this primary. We are having a big, difficult conversation about ideology, about personality, about electability, because we care, because it's important, and because, as Michael Moore pointed out, we were all thrown off kilter by the fact that Hillary Clinton won more votes and didn't become president. We all felt a bit unmoored by what happened in 2016, and so we're all coming

together in what is ultimately the most important primary in our lives at a time when we don't feel like we know the rules or even how to choose who's best. And so I think what that means is, as tense as it is, as frustrating as it is, is to remember that we're all doing this together and no one is sure and to approach it with a degree of humility and to approach it with a degree of generosity towards those who support candidates that you don't. We're in a debate about Medicare for all versus a public option. That's an incredibly important debate.

But if Donald Trump wins, 20 million people could lose health care. We're in the middle of an important debate about how far left we should go at a party. At the same time, whoever we nominate will face a president who would nominate Supreme Court justices, which would mean we would lose the court for a generation. So let's fight it out. Let's fight hard. Let's fight to convince each other for Bernie or Warren or Biden or the mayor I can't name because they'll play the song. I think one of the hardest parts about the last three years is not knowing when the rules apply and when the rules don't. So let's fight it out. Let's fight hard. But let's remember that what this is, which is a group of people who collectively love this country and are trying to choose the best champion for the

most important general election of our lives, and none of us has the answers. None of us knows the right way to go. We're all just doing our best to figure it out together, to listen to each other and argue with each other and debate with each other, and remember that even when the politics brings out the worst in people, that remember that the worst moment of the worst supporter of a candidate who is being passionate and competitive in the heat of a primary does not represent that candidate to remember that for all the bad we see in our opponents representatives remember the good we see in our own side and know that they see our side in the exact same way that most of us are going to vote for someone who's not going to win and when that, we need to take a day or two to feel sad and then get to work.

That's why Crooked is relaunching Vote Save America. That's why we want everybody to sign up because we want everybody to remember that if we can all just come together at the end of this primary and make sure that we do everything we can to defeat Donald Trump, we can keep having this big fucking fight that we're going to have forever, but we can do it with some fucking power and with a Democrat in the White House. So if it's Warren or Bernie, we're going to knock on doors. If it's Amy, we're going to knock on doors

until our hands bleed because she'll be watching. If it's Biden, we're going to call up our friends Corn Pop and Chain Chomp, and we're going to knock like hell. So go out there on Monday, caucus for your candidate, and then when the dust settles, let's fight like hell to elect our president. Thank you to Liz Lenz, Rob Sands, Stacey Walker, Iowa City, University of Iowa, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, every volunteer for every campaign here in the state. There are 275 days till the election. Let's get to work.

Love It or Leave It is a product of Crooked Media. It is written and produced by me, John Lovett, Elisa Gutierrez, Lee Eisenberg, our head writer and Michael Bloomberg speechwriter, Travis Helwig, and writers Jocelyn Kaufman, Alicia Carroll, and Peter Miller. Thank you.