Morning Joe - Israel-Hamas negotiations continue in Egypt

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

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The fat cats in D.C., which is get out of their beltway bubble, they'd hear from real common sense Americans about how to end this troubling shutdown. Lock them up in a room until they come to an agreement. Don't let them out. I did not see that coming. Right. The government shutdown is entering day seven. More importantly, today to continue to blame each other. Today is bring your child at the school day.

Bring your boring child to work day. Oh, come. The one that tells you all the stories about Pickets Charge and French and Indian War. Thank you, Willie. Bring your boring child. Thank you, Willie. Yeah, well, I mean, you know, you have TV dinner at night and you say, you know, Actually, it was the corn supply that actually changed the outcome of the French Indian War.

Henry Wallace was very much, was very focused on that. Yes, where you were in the, in the, tell us the story about James K. Polk, John. You got one? One term president, more than almost double the size of the country, known as Young Hickory. Young Hickory. See, that's a fun game. Millard Fillmore. You know, one of those that you kind of skip over on the placemat.

Yeah. You hope the applesauce falls on it. Yeah. Skip over on the place, Matt. All right. Okay. Back to the headline. I got it. The war of the road. No, the government shutdown continues. We're going to bring you the latest from Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, President Trump is floating the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act to send National Guard troops into U.S. cities. We'll look at what option state and local officials have to bring. block it. The use of that federal law could come up later this morning when Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee will bring you live coverage of that hearing. Plus, a thrilling finish on Monday night football where a busted play turned into the game winning touchdown. That's incredible. Wow. It felt twice. Pretty good. Let's see that again. Never give up. There's an old Elvis Costello song called I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down. Yeah. And look at this. Trevor Lawrence, Willie, take us through it. Well, it looks like

the center of the right guard steps on his right foot. It falls once. Don't give up. Remember the NFL you have to be touched to be down. If that was college, you would him down. Breaks a couple tackles, makes a move, cuts it inside, dies, breaks the plane. Wow. Less than 30 seconds left. The Jags. I like that guy. And by the way, the Jags, four and one. Yeah. And it really, an NFL where nobody wants to be great. Nobody wants to be great. The bill's lost, the Eagles lost the other day. Watch out for these Jags. They look good.

Well, yeah, down four. They needed a touchdown. This came at the very end. You also have really the story. Well, I mean, the Jags are another four of one team, just like the Colts are four and one. You have quite, the Bucks are four in one. You have a lot of teams who are mediocre last year doing well. The story here, though, is, and I hate

to tell poor Pablo the next time he comes in, he keeps stubbornly picking. You're not here on Monday. Yeah, Willie. The Chiefs is riding the Chiefs, isn't he? But on Monday mornings, you miss. It's magic. Did you ever see War Games with Matthew Broderick?

What a great movie. Yeah, you ever see that? You ever see Space Out of 2001 with Hal? Of course. That's what we bring to the show every morning. We have a computer that picks the top five NFL teams. There it is right there. Yeah, exactly.

And so we go in, we go over to the Mariettee, We have Sinatra live at the Sands Count Basie Orchestra playing in the background. We bring in all of these luminaries from all over the place. Yes, of course, the CD. The eights from my eight-track tape, I wore it out a couple of months ago on the golf course, just putting the side of him. Yeah, so anyway, but he keeps, by the way, Don Rickles' third cousin there.

He's a great guy. It's going on. He's good. Yeah, he's good life. Yeah, good life. But anyway, Pablo keeps speaking. the chiefs picking them they're two and two it's the top best it now they're two and three chiefs are two and three i'm afraid the sun is setting on that dying empire might have to get off that bandwagon

they look mohomes did look like mahomes from what i saw last night elsie scored a touchdown but they're not the dynastic chiefs that there were a couple of years tonight tonight the yankees okay how's it go that's bleak along with joe hold on hold on no no this is this is why the kids came exactly the yankees tonight It's huge. Rodon has to have a... You've got to get to the kid. You've got to get to the kid tomorrow, right? Yes. You got Rodon tonight. Maybe, but boy, they look dreadful. Game four.

Not even in the game, the first two games. So now we're back home. Anything can happen. No more football scores. We don't want those anymore. Yeah, seriously. Didn't like that. Yeah. I will say the story really so far with the Yankees has to be earned charge. Yeah. And if you're looking at what his legacy is going to be, he needs to come. come through. You know, last season, his very good season, everybody just remember him dropping the ball in the fifth inning. This year, people already talking about Saturday striking out bases loaded. He's got to come through. I mean, just for his legacy. Yeah, all-time great Yankee,

no question about it, Hall of Fame or all those things. But there has not been a World Series since he came on, and his statistics are what they are in the playoffs. It's not great. We love the guy. He's a great player but he has not come through in the playoffs maybe it changes we get something's got to give while we're sitting here i'm sorry mika because we have a vanderbilt professor yeah i wasn't here yesterday right congratulate the time yes on a great game in tuscalo lucis saturday that was a really hard-fought game it was a good game we had a couple turnovers that we wish we hadn't had but that's also a product of your defense that was a great well you know it's pavia actually he's a reason you guys won last i say he's a reason a really good top-to-bott of vanderbilt team right yeah

And then Pavia had a great game last year. This year I had a horrible game. Yeah. Kind of should have kept his mouth shot. That's right. Just put your head down, play football. But the thing that struck me was that going into it, all of us were nervous about the game. Yeah.

And we were nervous, like, even, you know, in halftime. And we were saying to each other, this, I mean, we always circled the third Saturday in October because it's a Tennessee game. but this Vandy program is going to give us fits every single year. That really speaks to your coach, speaks to the organization, just how great this Vanderbilt team is. They had a bad day because their quarterback had a bad day. The other 21 players playing were really good, top quality. And give credit to your quarterback, Ty Simpson.

That kid is a star. Now, all of a sudden, he looks great. And John and I were saying what you just said, too, which is the idea that we're mad that we lost at Alabama. We're frustrated with it. way we play. That is such a shift from the mentality of the SEC and Vanderbilt. And they've still got, they

lost that game. Alabama's going to go on and have a great season. So Vanderbilt still has a lot in front of them. I mean, not since the University of the South founded. Exactly. South Eastern Conference, shortly before the... Was Swanee ever in the SEC? Swanee's a founding member of the SEC.

Look what they did for. It was shortly before the Missouri Compromise. Yeah, there it is. You know, the last time Vanderbilt beat Alabama and Tuscalis was 1984, I was there. There were about half the stands were empty. I was playing Parcheese on the top row with somebody. It's been a long time.

And now it's a series. Was that the year after Bear? left and things were a little bleak. Yeah, yeah. I think so. Along with Joe, Willie, and me. Are we ever going to get to the news? Yeah, I'd like to. A columnist and associate editor for the Washington Post,

David Ignatius is with us and co-founder and CEO of Axis. Jim Van de Haidai is here. Thank God. Let me tell you, Van de Haid, does not play parcheese during the Green Bay games. He was kind enough. He and Mike Allen, the family, were kind enough

to invite me up there. Vanda High? Locked in. I'll play a part cheesy with you anytime. Fire. The only thing I wanted to say to Vanderbilt was sit down. I mean, he's up every play. Does he wear one of the cheese hats?

No, he does not. He's, you know, he's a corporate titan now from Oshkosh. So when he goes there, he has to, you know, but once that game starts, come on, he is locked in. Okay. It's exciting. Yes, we love it. Are you guys going to win?

How good are the best? Packers this year. The 2-2-1, kind of, I'm a little confused right now because it looks so great the first two weeks. I feel good about the Packers. I think you guys are right. I think the Chiefs kind of stink this year. The Ravens, who we thought would be great, really stink this year. And the Eagles might be the worst, most boring four-in-one team in the history of football. So it's one open. And I've got to say, the Cubs, by the way, the Cubs are a, they're not a good team. The Cubs are a very good team. And the Brewers right now, simply looking like their best team in baseball. I don't know if you know this or not. Sometimes we talk a little too much

about teams on the east coast in the eastern time zone and don't talk about central time zone. The Milwaukee Brewers best record in baseball all year. They do everything right. And man, they have a commanding lead in that series against the Cubs. It's really amazing. It's a great story. We've talked about it before. I just think like a bunch of no-name players. They're phenomenal. They don't have the payroll of you, big shots, and they keep on winning. All right. We'll do sports again in sports, but good conversation. We want to get to the news now, and we have a lot to get to this morning. First, today marks, if you can believe, a two years since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel. Well, over a thousand Israeli civilians were killed and dozens were taken hostage. The attack was the catalyst, which sparked Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which has led to the deaths of of tens of thousands in the territory and also set the stage for separate confrontations with other actors in the Middle East, including Iran and the Lebanon-based group, Hezbollah.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza are expected to continue today in Cairo. Negotiations are being mediated by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt. On social media, President Trump said talks were proceeding rapidly in that yesterday's meetings involved clarifying what he called final details. And you know, Mika, as I said yesterday, what we're hearing, what I'm hearing from the White House, Netanyahu seems boxed in, boxed in by Donald Trump, boxed in by Americans, and increasingly by his own people. And there's a poll that came out last, yesterday, that showed that. Going to get to that. Meanwhile, a new poll finds that two-thirds of Israelis say the time has come to end the war in Gaza. The latest poll,

by the Israel Democracy Institute finds that 66% of Israelis say the time has come to end the war in Gaza up 13 points from one year ago. That's compared to 27 percent. You say that the time has not yet come. The main reason Israelis say the war should end is the endangerment of the hostages, followed by those who say the economic and social damage is too great. Sixty-four percent thing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should take responsibility for the October 7th attack and resign with 45% saying he should do so immediately and 19% saying he should do so after the war. And that is one of the issues here is Netanyahu's leadership. Yes. And Willie, I'll go ahead and say it so John meets him doesn't have to. Abraham Lincoln said with public opinion,

anything's possible without it. Nothing is. Well, right now, Benjamin, Netanyahu does not have two-thirds of the Israeli people on the side. They want the war to end. 64% want him to resign. And so this is, again, this is something that we've been talking about for a very long time, that when the war ends, the people of Israel are going to want Benjamin Netanyahu out. And that's in part. One of the reasons why he doesn't want the war to end, according to the New York Times, Israeli newspapers, You see that story replayed time and time again. Yeah, these numbers are big, and they've been trending that way for some time, and yet Netanyahu has persisted in this campaign, still bombing even as these peace negotiations go on, David Ignatius.

So what are the realistic expectations, the hopes perhaps, of what could come out of Cairo and these talks when you have Hamas on one side of the table, Israel on the other? What's the best case scenario for a resolution here? Well, the hope is that President Trump's peace plan for a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza for disarmament of Hamas, for Hamas to accept that its political and military leadership in Gaza is over will be negotiated, that there'll be amnesty for those in Hamas who want to take it, that Hamas leaders who want to leave Gaza will do. so a series of things which amount to total surrender of Hamas. And not surprisingly, Hamas is resisting that, especially, it seems, the Hamas fighters on the ground in Gaza, the leadership that's outside as signaled that it's ready for this deal, but we're still, I think, some days at a minimum from agreement. The deal would mean that the 20 living hostages and the bodies of the other hostages would

finally come home, that this two-year story that's been so tragic, traumatic in every way for both Israelis and Palestinians, would, if not be over, would move into a different phase. But these negotiations require Hamas to face up to the reality that its moment is over. Its moment is over. And here's the New York Times today talking about the tragic, tragic arc, John Meachman, of this two-year war. I think so much, you know, they say history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. This seems to be rhyming a good deal with the United States after 9-11. We had the world on our side, just like Israel had the world on its side after October 7th. We were seen as overreaching.

Benjamin Netanyahu seen as overreaching. And even in America, among Jewish Americans, the numbers are just striking the condemnation of Benjamin Netanyahu, I think, well over 60%. Well, Netanyahu's leadership of Israel down 32%. But then American Jews are asked if Benjamin Netanyahu has committed crimes against, war crimes against Palestinians. 61% in America, only 29% of Jewish Americans say he has not committed war crimes. And almost four in 10, almost four in 10 Jewish Americans say Netanyahu has committed, his policies have amounted to genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The White House sees these numbers. This is not, it's not like, you know, anti-Semitism. Nobody can

squawk that it's anti-Semitism when these are American Jews that are saying this. The White House sees this. And that's one of the reasons I think the totality of all this is when Netanyahu first started to talk down the peace prospect, the report out of Axis, which we'll talk to Jim Van Tai about in the second, was President Trump screamed in Netanyahu. Why are you always so effing negative? This is, why doesn't we're going to get this done? And it looks like, looks like that may be the case in part because of a weakness now of Netanyahu's own standing in Israel and America. Yeah. If one needed a case study in the intractability, the perils, the combination of both human factors and historical ones, the underlying factors of identity and real estate and justice, you couldn't do a better one.

I mean, this is a more revealing case study in that, I mean, I was just thinking as you were talking, Mika's father was dealing with this 50 years ago. Right. You know, this is a, and I would argue, I remember where David would rank this the last two in his career in terms of the Middle East. But everything, every way you sort of walk up to it is there's nothing straightforward. I would think it's hard.

There's nothing simple about this. And it requires something that we don't have enough of, which is a capacity for those in power to give up that power if they need to, to establish a greater good. And that's something that's very hard to arrive at. Jim Van de Haid, let's talk about that Axios report, Joe mentioned.

You obviously have Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, running these negotiations for the United States in Cairo. But the president himself, clearly, according to your report and others, frustrated with Prime Minister Netanyahu, his intransigence, his unwillingness to sit down and yield anything at the moment. But so how frustrated is Donald Trump with BB Netanyahu today? I think very frustrated. Interesting kind of peek behind the curtain.

I think three of the last four weekends, President Trump has talked to Barack Ravid at Axios specifically about this topic. And in each one of those conversations, he's pushing really hard for a deal, making it very clear he's getting frustrated with Netanyahu, that he's tired of feeling like he's kind of getting played and that he wants. resolved. And if there's a deal, it really is going to be because the president has had it with BB and that he's not going to enable him anymore. He's the one person I think that BB has to listen to. So as you want to think about these dynamics, there's really two people to follow. I would read what David Ignatius writes about this because he comes at it with sourcing from so many different areas. And then Barack Ravid, who's actually talking to the president, talking to folks in Israel, and then talking to the people who are involved in the peace deal.

One of the reasons that the president is so adamant about getting this done, and I think expresses some confidence in getting it done, is that you have Jared Kushner and you have Tony Blair, you have others who've been pushing for a much more global deal in the Middle East, and he feels like he's quite invested in that. And so it's still a long shot. There's so many pieces that have to come together. There's a million reasons Hamas wouldn't want to do this deal or return the hostages and give up the power that it has.

But I think as long as the president's putting that pressure on Bibi, it gives you. you the best possible chance that you can finally end this. And you know, David Ignatius, speaking of Jared Kushner, Jared is an example of actually of how actually experience pays off, right? You have a White House that has a bunch of people who are in cabinet agencies that seem ill-equipped because of a lack of experience in those positions. You had Kushner flying around the Middle East for the first four years, putting together the Abraham Accords dealing with all these people.

He knows them as well as anybody in the United States. He's been doing it again with Steve Whitkoff. They have been flying around. And, you know, even UN week after the guitar attack, and people thought the deal was dead. My reporting is that's when they all sat in a room with the Qatari leadership during UN week and said, come on. Now is the time to do a deal. And because they knew the party so well, they were able to say when the Qatari said Netanyahu is not going to do anything, they reportedly said, we'll take care of Netanyahu, you take care of Hamas. And let's not negotiate.

Let's write down 20 or so points that they're going to have to agree to. And it's worked. And again, to me, that's a lesson again in experience. in being there and not just coming off of a talk show and running the Department of Defense, not just coming off of some crank, you know, section of the anti-vax movement and running HHS. And I'm dead serious. You have somebody who has experience who knows people. This is why George H.W. Bush was such, you know, so extraordinary in bringing the Cold War to an end.

because he had been doing it for decades with the people whose relationships mattered in making that happen the way it did. And so now here's Kushner, who's been around doing this with the Abraham Accords, and now here's part two of it. I mean, it seems to me a very clear message should make it into the Oval Office. Yeah, experience matters. So you're right, Joe, in that Jared Kushner does have contracts across the Middle East. He jumped into business with Saudi money after Trump, the first administration ended. Some say he's too close. But he does understand the issues.

He has the contacts. I remember two years ago, in the immediate aftermath of October 7, traveling to Israel, And hearing Israelis say, and you could see it in their body language and everything they did, a sense that the country was so shaken and traumatized by what had happened, that as one senior official put it to me, we can't find ourselves out of this on our own. We need American help. And they finally got it in a very firm, insistent push from Donald Trump,

backed by the expertise of Jared Kushner. This peace plan came together really because, Kushner with Trump's backing took all the elements that Arab countries, Israel, all the players had been working on sometimes for more than a year and pushed them together and demanded that they be acted on. Suddenly this became a 20-point peace plan, Donald Trump's peace plan, but it was something that was pulled together, really, as you say, over a weekend. The question now, I think, is, you know, in this conflict, you can.

you can get people right to the edge of peace. I've seen that over and over again. But getting them in that last distance, getting Hamas to actually accept that it will be disarmed in Gaza, that is, as I said earlier, that its moment has ended. There's a lot still to be done. It's easier to say that than make it happen. But you're right.

In this case, the U.S. had both some expertise on Krishna's part and President Trump's increasingly intense commitment to make it happen and his anger at Netanyahu who was resisting. Yeah. Closing the deal is next impossible. I mean, it happens so rarely. We saw it happen 26 years ago in Ireland, Northern Ireland. It just doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen that much.

Here, though, a unique situation where, as David said, the Israeli said, we can't find ourselves out of this alone. We need the Americans here playing a role. And Arab leaders have been telling me for a couple of years, yeah, we'll be glad to help. We'll be glad to help. But Trump and the Americans have to be there. We're not going to do it unless they're there. It's so opposite of what we've heard about, you know, from so many Arab leaders through the years, which is, you guys stay away.

You worry about you. We'll worry about us. Now, it seems both sides, and this intractable 3,000-year conflict are saying, all right, We'll be in if the Americans are in. I think David's exactly right. Someone has to give something. At the last moment, that's what a compromise is. It's not a compromise if you want to do it.

And, you know, I was saying about Reinhold Niebuhr. You know, the sad duty of politics is to establish justice in a sinful world. And politics is... Who was they quoting yesterday? Who was I quoting yesterday to you? Niebuhr. Neber. In fact, they called him a halftime of the Vanderbilt game, right?

And what did I say? This is Niebuhr-esque. I knew exactly what you meant. Say no more. I didn't even have... So we talking shorthand. Say no more. You know, I'm what I was saying.

It's nebore-esque. But go ahead. The tragedy of history is it's default. Yes. You know, right? Yes. It's happy conclusions. You know, order is the exception, not the rule.

And what we're all called to do, is to work for that order. And this question is the single most intractable geopolitical issue of the last, what, certainly. Certainly since 1948. Yeah. Certainly since the reestablishment of Israel is a stand. And it's just, it's really, really hard.

All right. The Washington Post, David Ignatius, thank you very much for being here this morning. and still a hat. By the way, that's a very good W imitation. It's hard. It's hard. Yeah. All right. As we enter day seven of the government shutdown, we'll tell you where things stand this morning on Capitol Hill. And the surprise Republican who's supporting part of the Democrats' demands, plus the latest on the president's push to deploy the National Guard to police American cities, as Trump considers in voting the Insurrection Act, if court

block his plans and a reminder the morning joe podcast available each weekday featuring our full conversations and analysis you can listen wherever you get your podcast you're watching morning joe we'll be right back Low throw, Freddie Freeman, with the scoop, and the ball game is over. Oh, my goodness. Freddy's always there, man, but they escaped the Dodgers. It was a ninth inning rally by the Phillies. That scoop at first base by Freddie Freeman saved the game.

L.A. holds on for a 4-3 win, pushing the Phillies now to the brink of elimination. The best of five series shifts to Los Angeles for game three tomorrow night with the Dodgers up to nothing. now the co-host of our fourth hour staff writer at the Atlantic, Jonathan Lemire, and MSMBC contributor, our good friend, Mike Barnacle. Lemire, the playoffs. My Yankees are getting outscored like 10-0 every game, 13-7. Yeah. You got the Phillies on the brink of elimination, the Cubs in the brink of elimination. The only competitive series at this point is the Brewers and, excuse me, the Mariners and the Tigers.

Yeah, the heart breaks for the Yankees to be sure. I feel it. But that series, let's be clear. How did you get through this one? It's been a real challenge. It was a real challenge. Is that why you were texting me? It's now 12 to nothing?

Something like that. Yeah. It's not over till it's a rooting. Like, I don't root against you guys when you're not playing up. Of course you don't. I just get on with my love outside. The weather's able to fill up with my children. You know, you know what?

You have 27 reeds, okay? Yeah, it's been a while, though. We root against. To be sure. But series, look, series, series, not over. I mean, yes, I know. But they come home. I'm not saying that yet.

No, no, no, wait a minute. I'm not saying that yet. Wait, who thinks it's over? You think it's over? Well, yes. I mean, first of all, they get through tonight, then you've got, tomorrow, you've got the Blue Jays that are having to cobble together a bullpen start.

I will say at the end of their season, their pitching staff, they were lost. They didn't know what to do other than their number ones. I'm dead serious, other than the number one starter. I could very easily see this one going to five, and then the Yankees are going to have to do something they've not been able to do this year, and that is play well. in Toronto against Toronto's best pitcher. The baseball gods have decreed. It's over.

But if the Yankees can swing tonight, you guys have Walter Johnson going tomorrow in the form of Cam's Litter. So, I mean, it's not there. That's a reference. Get to the, get to the young guy tomorrow. Yeah. Well, I'm serious.

They win tonight. And it does remind me 2004, where Malar said, you don't want us to win game four because we have here, game five. game six. If you guys win tonight, then game, I mean, and Rodon is at a great year.

He's been great. Then suddenly you've got this young Walter Johnson. And then it's, you know, all the pressures on Toronto going back home and it's, it's tied up going into the final game. In a hole, I definitely don't think it's over. Ron Schlittler and then. Who knows? Anything happens in an elimination. I will say we were, Mike and I were just talking about this before coming on. The Phillies, you know, they're in it every year. So good. And they're so great every year. And yet

in the playoffs they have just started I mean the Dodgers might just be inevitable they're just so good yeah last night in the ninth that that reveals their issues of the bullpen like that's that's the concern but they just they just find ways to win the Phillies top three in the order one two three have done zero

for this team if they bounce back the Phillies will bounce back but one two three and and what about let's talk about the Brewers again here's a team that again Yelich plays for the Brewers that's all I can tell you I just know it's a team that does everything right Willie. They are an extraordinary

team, and they are beating a really good Chicago Cubs team right now and making it look easy. Yeah, the Cubs were great this year. It's just that they were playing a division with the Brewers who are the best team in baseball and they're showing it now. Sometimes it takes until October for this kind of

showcase for a team like this and the country wakes up and sees just how good they are. Somebody did write to me say, you think the reason that you guys say the Brewers have flown under the radar is because all you talk about is the Yankees and the rest? That's fair. That's fair.

That's very true. Under the radar, no more, though. The brewers are great. So, Mike, here's a lineup. Who do you like? I like the Brewers. All the way? Going all the way?

Yeah, I think they're the best team in baseball. They're managed by one of the best managers in baseball. You talk about a guy who doesn't get much publicity, much notice. I mean, he was Craig Counsel's bench coach for several years. He was Craig Counsel's manager, coach at Notre Dame. Yeah. And now he took Craig Counsel's job. Is that what the baseball got said?

That's what they've decreed it. They have decreed it. So let's talk NFL really quickly, an incredible ending, John Lemire last night, in Jacksonville, where a couple of stumbles lead to Cincinnati, I mean, lead to Kansas City Chiefs, Pablo's, Kansas City Chiefs, who he still is riding out, scrawling in his Mel Gibson-type conspiracy theory way, is the best team of the NFL. They're two and three. Yeah, my concerns are very raised about Pablo.

I know. He needs to. We thought they were by this week, and then it turns out they played money. And they lost in a tough fashion. Look, I mean, they've earned the benefit of the doubt the chiefs. I'm not going to bury them just yet. But they do seem off. Yeah. You know, Mahomes throws the bad pick six. You know, they give up the wild Trevor Lawrence run there at the end. That's a huge, that's also probably the biggest win for the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise in many years since their playoff run with Blake Bortles. Yeah, I've got to say also, Willie, just a story that we are, you know, we all, got on the set and going, what in the world? Mark Sanchez.

Okay. The pictures that are coming out of what he did to that poor man. What's going on? I mean, it's, wow. The more you hear, the worst it gets. The headliners, Mark Sanchez stabbed in Indianapolis. You go, that's terrible what happened. He was a victim of a crime.

And then these details come out of what he did, allegedly, to this truck driver who was working a night shift trying to, you know, clean out grease from hotels. And everyone you hear from, everybody talks that it's completely out of character for who Mark Sanchez is. So I don't know what happened. But my gosh, it's truly, truly awful what he's alleged to have done. Yeah, well, Fox Sports Analyst and former NFL quarterback, as we were saying, Mark Sanchez is now facing a felony charge following a violent altercation with a 69-year-old truck driver over the weekend in Indianapolis. Prosecutors say the upgraded charge of battery resulting in serious. This bodily injury was added after learning more about the extent of the injuries suffered by the driver.

Police say an argument over parking escalated into a physical fight, which led to Sanchez being stabbed multiple times. The video obtained by the New York Post appears to show Sanchez walking away from the scene with a bloodied shirt. In a statement on his behalf, Sanchez's brother Nick wrote in part, This has been a deeply distressing time for everyone involved, adding Mark remains under medical care for the serious injuries he sustained and is focused on his recovery as the legal process continues. And we're not, we are not showing a picture of the truck driver. We saw it in the New York Post. He's just brutalized. The truck driver has filed a separate lawsuit against Sanchez and Fox Sports, allegedly. he sustained permanent injuries.

Okay, we've got a lot more news to get to as well, including the continuation of the government shutdown, the president saying he's talked to Democrats, Democrats saying no, he hasn't, we'll figure out what's happening, and also the impact on the FAA causing massive delays. We'll be right back. 42 past the hour, welcome back.

Federal Aviation Administration officials say, staffing shortages are causing widespread delays at airports across the country, according to Flight Aware. More than 4,000 flights were delayed yesterday with the heaviest impacts in Denver, Newark, and Las Vegas. In California, the Hollywood Burbank Airport's control tower went unmanned for several hours, forcing others. Is that bad?

What? Is that bad? Nobody just showed up. forcing other facilities to handle traffic remotely? I mean, it's one thing if you're down like two servers at Dunkin' Donuts. It's another thing if nobody shows up at a control tower in Los Angeles. One of the busy things is Dunkin' Donuts. All right, Dunkin' Donuts, exactly.

The FAA said outgoing flights there were delayed by more than two hours on average. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned the ongoing government shutdown is adding immense stress to it is already a high-pressure job for controllers. He also mentioned there has been a slight uptick in controllers calling out sick. As for the shutdown, the Senate yesterday rejected both Democratic and Republican funding bills for a fifth time. The House remains out of session after Speaker Mike Johnson canceled votes, saying the chamber has done its job in passing. No, no, no, no.

He doesn't want these. He doesn't want Republicans around. He does not want House members around, Willie. Why? Well, there are a couple reasons. If the House members are around, we've heard about the Epstein thing. They'll have enough votes to release the Epstein file. Swear in the Democrat.

Yeah, it would be good at because he wants to do a job. But I'm starting to think more and more that, you know, he doesn't want them around because he has such a small majority. They're going to say, listen, there are a lot of Republicans that are in districts where their people are going to. start feeling the pain. Marjorie Taylor Green. We're going to show a quote from her. She's up in Dalton, Georgia. I know Dalton, Georgia, very well. Spent all my summers up in Dalton, Georgia. Let me tell you cut Medicaid funding in Dalton, Georgia.

You cut Medicaid funding, you know, in between the Dalton, Chattanooga, sort of, you know, Walker County, Catusa County, Sea Rock City, Ruby Falls, all of those things. You're going to have a lot of rural hospitals hurting. You're going to have a lot of nursing homes hurting. You're going to have a lot of young Georgians' kids not getting the type of care they need to get. Like, that's why Mike Johnson doesn't want Republicans in town because their constituents are getting hurt. And you look at all of the people in districts that Harris won. And, you know, Republicans have a lot of reasons to actually vote with Democrats here.

and bring back some of these cuts. And talk about an interesting bellwether, Marjorie Taylor Green, saying to Republicans, guys, this isn't good for us. We want to expand those Medicaid benefits. My constituents, like the Affordable Care Act, it allows them to have health care. You're taking that away from them. This is bad, says Marjorie Taylor Green. That district is a really interesting microcosm of what's happened in the country,

because when I was growing up right across the Tennessee state line, it was a secure Democratic seat. Oh, solid Democrat. Absolutely. And then in 1992, a guy named Pat Buchanan does extremely well up there in the primaries against Bush 41. Right. And now it's this, you know, deep red district. But with this, you know, they need government. Well, I mean, it's like my district. It's in northwest Florida. It was a Democratic district from reconstruction up until 1994. But man, you know, when I campaigned, I didn't go to the Republican meetings first. I went to the Ross Pro United We Stand meetings first and nailed down my base there.

Then I nailed down the, as I called the wine and cheese Republicans. And then I had that's what a lot of these districts are. They are conservative, but they are populist. and the people in those districts need their parents need Medicaid funding. Their children need Medicaid funding. And more important than that, even if they're not on Medicaid, the health care facilities they go to are overwhelmingly dependent on Medicaid. So they're having to shut down parts of their hospitals.

They're having to fire staff. They're having to get rid of pediatricians. They're having to get rid of the people who take care of their parents in the later years of their life. This is bad news for Republicans. A trillion dollars slashed from health care funding to give trillion dollars in tax cuts to Elon Musk and, you know, the richest people in the world. Yeah, it's so easy to just take the Beltway perspective and who's up, who's down politically. And it's important to remember the real people who are being involved by this, where they live in blue districts or red districts or swing districts. And you're absolutely right. We know

how underwater the so-called one big beautiful bill is. Right now, you know, there's a lot of messaging wars in terms of the shutdown, but at the end of the day, Republicans do control all three branches of government. Odds are they're going to take a lot of the blame, Mike. And, you know, and I also think it's not a helpful look when the House Speaker keeps Republicans away. They can't do their job. First of all, I think it's going to be more of a storyline that there's a district in Arizona that does not have representation in Congress right now. You know, just constituent services. They do not have a Congresswoman because Mike Johnson won't seat her. because of all this and because of the Epstein matter.

And, you know, just want to keep Republicans at home, that's going to make people think, wait, they're abandoning me. You know, the sub-lead in this story, if you've had newspapers still, we still have a few news say this, but the sub-lead would be what you just said. They need government. Republicans need government as well as Democrats, especially Republicans, as Joe just explained, who depend on Medicaid, who depend on traveling and get covered by the ACA and are worried about their premiums going up and things that they're not Republicans or

Democrats when it comes to health care. And the fact that it's been avoided linking the two partially is the result of Johnson decided not to have Republicans hanging around Washington because they would be forced to talk about their constituents when asked. So Jim Van de Haid, you're there in Washington watching how this all plays out. The Marjorie Taylor Green element is fascinating, calling for an extension of those Obamacare subsidies. How do you see this fever breaking, if you see it breaking? Donald Trump expressed yesterday, you know, he changes from day to day, but some willingness to negotiate a little bit. Where is the room for negotiation here? I mean, it has to be around those subsidies, right?

And Republicans don't want to do it. And I think Democrats feel they probably do want to do a deal, but the leadership is under so much pressure because the base just feels like they're weak and inept, and that this is their one chance to actually. make a stand against the president. So I think this could drag on a little bit longer than people realize. And I think one of the ticking time bombs of American politics right now is healthcare. You're only seeing a glimpse of it right now because you have these Medicaid cuts that are going to kick in that obviously affects people who are either in a bad place in life or not making that much money. You have these Obamacare subsidies that are the price of your

premiums about to go up. And then anybody who's getting employer-based health care, There's already been reports out there. I was just talking to one of the biggest insurers. The average premium is going to go up 18% just because people need more care. I'm in the middle of budgeting at Axios. Ours is going up way more than 18%. So then when you're an employer, you have to think about, okay, do we eat all of that? Or do you have to pass it on to your employees?

If you do pass it on to your employees, they're having to pay more out-of-pocket, ultimately, for health care. So this is a huge problem. And part of it is just the nature of having this. like partially private, partially public, a health care system that we have that's growing insanely expensive and insanely inefficient. And I think this is just a taste of it. And I think for Republicans, especially if you're in a tight district, and you're someone like Marjorie Taylor Green, who there's a strain of MAGA that is kind of purist in its MAGA feelings,

which is, hey, we got elected by helping people who were in the working class and helping people who were kind of forgotten by the Republican Party. And now that we're in power, it seems like we're forgetting them again. So they're really trying to hold their feet to the fire. And I think this comes through with Medicaid cuts, especially in places where that's really propping up the Medicare, the medical system. And that's the thing. Again, it's not just if Marjorie Taylor Green's constituents are on Medicaid or not. It's not just if a Republican in upstate New York's constituents are all on Medicaid. The hospitals are overwhelmingly dependent on that funding, and that funding's been slashed. So you have hospital, I know this works.

You have hospital administrators calling you up going, hey, can you come into my office? I need to show you what we're going to have to close down if these cuts go through. And suddenly you see that your constituents aren't, you're going to get substandard health care because there are some people that are, you know, trying to make this point. What's the money being used for? Yeah, and the money's being used, of course, here. This is what Bill Clinton did to us in 95 and 96. The money's being used for tax cuts for the rich.

And yeah, there's not a stronger argument I can think of in American politics than they're slashing your children and your parents' health care to pay for tax cuts for the rich, for Elon Musk and for the richest billionaires in Silicon Valley. I just want to circle back really quickly because we've been talking about this some, but I don't think people are paying attention to it enough. Yes, of course, we're talking about public health care. We're talking about Medicaid and Medicare. But what you touched on, I want to touch on again,

private health care insurance is exploding. Not only is it exploding, people are feeling it. There's a real crisis out there. You know, we always talked about how in Canada, Oh, we don't want, we don't want nationalized health care because it takes six months to get the doctor or the procedure you want. That's now happening in some cases with private health care, where they'll deny the deny, deny, they'll finally approve, and then they'll come back with a denial letter. And you just keep going around in circles to try to get to see the doctor you want to go see. private health care insurance, the exploding cost of it, along with Medicaid, Medicare,

these other issues, those are going to combine for a toxic mix on the campaign trail in the coming months and years, aren't they? And again, it goes back to what you were talking about, experience and competence, right? We have this bloated, way too expensive health care system that is really one of the most bureaucratic, almost unexplainable systems and feels unfixable. Well, the only way you fix it is actually having people who have authentic expertise who take this and try to figure out like how to him and get here. And who do we have? We have RFK Jr. who's declaring a war on vaccines. That's who we have, Jim. I'm sorry, go ahead. But instead of having an expert that can sort

through this to drive down prices, we have RFK Jr. there at HHS. Right. And like aspirationally, There's many components of the Maha movement that make a ton of sense. People should live healthier. They should be thinking about what's in their food. But you also have a very sick population. Just look at the numbers. It is what it is. And I've experienced it.

My wife has had a lot of different health issues. And we have all of the benefits. We have Blue Cross Blue Shield. We know doctors. We can do whatever we want. And it's still a terrible system. It's still a terribly inefficient system. So that poor person who's on Medicaid, who only has one hospital to go to,

that's not just like, oh, it's a political topic. It's their damn life. It's whether or not they can get the medicine that they need, whether they can get the treatment that they need. If they can't get to the hospital, it's not close enough. They might not go at all. They don't go. They die. And that's why competence matters and thinking about these topics and the complexity of it matters.

And so this, whatever, this is another political fireworks show. It'll be resolved like every other shutdown has in the past. But I think the reality of the health care system is really coming into full focus. And it comes into full focus when you don't get something you need. what you need cost a hell of a lot more than you can afford. Well, even after this is resolved, healthcare is going to remain a massive growing crisis. Axiast co-founder and CEO, Jim Vanda High. Thank you very much. We'll be watching the latest episode of The Axiast show, which came out this morning in

which Jim sits down with New York Times, best-selling author, and motivational speaker, Mel Robbins. We have a motivational speaker. John Meetsam here. Motivate us. I like Mel Robbins. Let them. What a motivational story of you this morning? When you have Reinhold Niebuhr and James K. Pohl. Coming up.