Pod Save America - “Give Ruth a break.” (LIVE from Houston)

Episode Date: March 9, 2018

Trump accepts Kim Jong Un’s invite to a Madman vs Madman summit, Mueller has a new witness, and Democrats look to turn Texas blue. Former Houston Texan Arian Foster joins Jon, Jon, Tommy, Dan, and Brittany Packnett on stage live in Houston, Texas.

🎵 🎵 Hello Houston! Houston! We have a great show for you tonight. Former running back for the Houston Texans, Arian Foster is here. John, we don't even know who you are. I was about to say, I'm John Favreau.

Hi, I'm Brittany Packnett. I'm John Lovett. I'm Tommy Besort. I'm Dan Lovett. I'm Tommy Besort. I'm Dan Pfeiffer. Emotionally, John, I don't feel comfortable beginning until my name has been applauded. I know, I know, I know. You can't talk without the applause. Guys, we have some breaking news. What is it?

Guys, we have some breaking news. What is it? North Korea's Kim Jong-un has invited our very own Donald Trump to meet for negotiations over its nuclear program. Trump has reportedly accepted the invitation and agreed to meet Mr. Kim by May. Tommy, should Oslo get the Peace Prize ready? Well, it might be more deserved than the one we got, if we're being honest

at this point. It's hard to know what this means immediately. I emailed a bunch of smart folks I used to work with. The initial response is they don't think it's great because clearly this was driven by the desire to get a photo op and break some news rather than a concerted strategy.

It seems like some of our allies were not consulted, if not brief. It doesn't look like there was a considered process through the deputies committee or the National Security Council to figure out what we want or what our agenda is and what we hope to get out of it, given that literally today, the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said we're a long ways away from negotiations. So his own team was surprised. The North Koreans, like, look, I think that the United States should be open to talks. I don't think there's anything weak about having conversations with people we don't agree with. Like Barack Obama said this. He firmly believed it then. I believe it now. But the challenge is if the North Koreans use this to elevate Kim Jong-un on the national stage, if they use it to buy time to divide us from our allies or continue to create more nuclear weapons and proliferate. So,

you know, the devil is in the details here, and Donald Trump is not a detailed guy. That's the one thing we know. To say the least, you love it? Yeah, I just wanted to ask you about this, just because, like, obviously we believe in talking to people we disagree with, but there's a reason in the past you save this meeting for later in the process, right? Like, usually it's to get you, a meeting with the President of the United States is a very big deal, and that's something you offer when you're close to the end, when there's one thing to get, not when no one knows what the fuck is happening. There's been no progress. proliferation and talk about exactly what both sides want. The North Koreans have said they will

not test more nuclear weapons. They will not continue to launch ICBMs or long-range missiles during this process. So that's a good thing. They didn't say we won't continue to produce more nuclear weapons. So there's a whole lot of, and all of this is coming through a readout from the South Koreans of a meeting that we weren't a part of. So it feels like there's a lot of and all all of this is coming through a readout from the south koreans of a meeting that we weren't a part of so it feels like the there's a lot of room for error here yeah did the north koreans pledge to not call donald trump old and dumb because that's what got us in this mess to begin with i don't know that they did the the white house did say um trump has a a strong reputation as a deal maker does that make you feel better britney about this negotiation um he makes deals that's his reputation what deals does he make that's

the question for me uh he also i know through the statement from the white house thanked him for his kind words. His nice words, I think, was the phrase. So I don't know exactly what kind of deal he's planning on making. Usually the deals he makes aren't very good for me or, you know, most of us. So I'm a little worried about it, to say the least. A little skeptical about the deals. I don't know.

I, for one, am very excited to say at the Trump Pyongyang, I think it's going to be a lovely property. A golf course and a pool. Yeah, and a whites-only class. That's tough. I mean, it does raise an issue, though, that he is particularly susceptible to flattery. Yeah. Right? So I feel like that may influence the negotiation somewhat if kim jong-un

is uh smart about it yeah like when when foreign leaders would come to the white house the uh they would send around a classified psychological profile of sort of who they are where the background is donald trump's is the shortest in the history of the world right it's like stroke his ego trump wants to be the guy that delivered a deal in peace with North Korea. And Kim Jong-un knows that all he has to do is dangle the prospect of a nice New York Times editorial and he'll get them there. So God knows what we're going to give up in this process. I think it could go two ways here, because I think it's very possible if this meeting were to happen, Trump would come out and the press would be like, did he agree to get rid of his

weapons? And Trump's like, no, he actually made a pretty good case for keeping them. That's awesome. He's been getting a very bad rap. I don't understand why. He's a very nice guy. He said nice things about it. He likes me. He builds things.

He's building a beautiful golf course. Eric is in charge now. He's going to join Mar-a-Lago. He told Jared he'd put some money into Fifth Avenue. Trump is literally easier to manipulate than a sock puppet. This is not that hard. Oh my god.

Okay, well, we'll stay tuned for these negotiations. Stay tuned. Sometime in the spring, we'll see what happens there. So, aside from the North Korean news, there have been quite a few newsy headlines since we did the pod on Monday. I'm starting to think that Donald Trump

is not the upstanding businessman we once thought he was. Here's a quick summary of what we learned in the last 48 hours. Robert Mueller has a brand new cooperating witness who has testified before the grand jury. His name is George Nader. Yeah, no, clap for him. Cooperating witness! Love the grand jury.

People come out on their evening to applaud the minutia of an ongoing grand jury in Washington, D.C. So he's an advisor to the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates. He has ties to Donald Trump, and he's helping Mueller find out whether money was funneled from the UAE to the Trump campaign, which of course would be extremely illegal. Nader is also testifying

about a secret meeting that took place two weeks before Trump's inauguration on a tropical island known as the Seychelles that was attended by Nader, war mercenary Trump donor Eric Prince, and a Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin. The Washington Post reported Nader has testified to the grand jury that the meeting was an effort to establish a back channel of communication between the incoming Trump administration and the Kremlin. P.S. The president is also now engaged in a legal battle with a porn star he had an affair with who his lawyer paid $130,000 to silence before election day, but we will set that aside for later. I want to start with Tommy and Dan.

I wasn't really involved in the details of the Obama transition or our national security policy like you guys were, but do you remember us setting up back-channel communications with foreign adversaries through meetings on top of tropical islands with mercenaries and oligarchs? Is that standard operating procedure before you get to the White House? I took my meetings in two places, Pete's Coffee and Archipelago's 300 Miles into the Indian Ocean.

It's a Standard operating procedure. It is very weird that the Trump administration took a series of meetings with Ambassador Kislyak, Russia's former ambassador to the U.S., and then a series of banks and financiers and the Crown Prince of the UAE

where they, according to news reports, talked about the need to set up a secret back channel and then lo and behold, Eric Prince, the head of Blackwater, a horrific mercenary war for hire group, ends up at this Seychelles meeting. It's all very fishy. Well, so hold on, I'm the location. You know, two people have to meet

and it's like, well, where are you? I'm on the east side. Where are you? I'm on the west side. Do you mind coming here? I have a busy day. Well, actually, I are you? I'm on the east side. Where are you? I'm on the west side. Do you mind coming here? I have a busy day. Well, actually, I do mind. I'm busy too. It's not your meeting.

It's our meeting. I'm not coming to your office. Let's meet a thousand miles off the southern tip of Africa. I think the context here is important because Trump was not president yet, and you are not supposed to start conducting foreign policy when you're not president. There's actually a law against it. But this is not just like they sped the calendar up. They're like, we just can't wait.

We're so excited to just be diplomats that we're just going to jump the gun it's two things one this is a country that had just attacked the united states by meddling in our election and at the exact moment trump was sending betsy devos's brother-in-law to meet with a russian oligarch it's like trump's guy and Putin's guy meeting together, was the exact moment that the Obama administration was working on additional sanctions for Russia for intervening in an election and possibly tipping in Trump's favor. So

this is one of those situations where there was a lot of smoke here. It really could not be, you can't find a sketchier person really than Eric Prince, and so the whole thing is... Can't you you though i don't know i think it's like it is hard to keep track yeah there are lots of them including maybe the guy sitting in the white house but go ahead yeah that's good that's true the getting the jump

on diplomacy piece of this raises a question of their motive. It was certainly not the interest of the country. No one goes and takes a meeting. It was two weeks before inauguration. All they had to do was wait two weeks if they really wanted to talk to the Russians. And also, there's been no issue or policy or international question on which this administration has shown any true sense of urgency or passion

for the good it will do for the American people. That's just not, I don't think it comes up in their meetings. I think that bullet keeps falling off the bottom of the agenda. Right. I mean, they're stated, what they told various investigators, what they were trying to get them, the Russians to do was to act more responsibly in Syria and sort of help reduce Iranian influence. Those are Obama administration priorities and policies.

There's no reason you'd have to hide that. Yeah. And why are these, these aren't the people to have that conversation. Hey, Blackwater guy and other creepy oligarch, you're the two perfect people. Get you guys in a room. We're pretty sure these are the two guys

to figure out Syria. What are we talking about? There's no, we can't, I'm sorry. you guys in a room. We're pretty sure these are the two guys to figure out Syria. What are we talking about? There's no, we can't, I'm sorry. It's just that we dance around it, but the only explanation is the most nefarious one. He's like, we're going to have this meeting in a place

that is a setting for multiple James Bond movies. Yes. I think while they were meeting, someone went off a jet ski into a cabana there's like a lot of reporters who joke around and they're like you know these these trump people they're too stupid to collude with russia it was like no no this was pretty stupid this meeting was pretty stupid like i don't think some of the most important political crimes in american history have been committed by the stupid.

What do you think broke into the Watergate? Geniuses? You got a couple of Mensa guys to put on hats and gloves and break in? It was not the case. I'm done. So, yeah. So, Brittany, all these polls show that, like, most voters don't care that much about the Russia investigation.

They care about health care, jobs, what's going on in their communities. But it does seem now like this has moved beyond being about Russia and that this is about the president involved in a whole series of potential crimes and about him feeling like, through possible obstruction of justice, that he is above the law. Is it more important in this way now to people, do you think? I think it's critically important. Before I answer that, though, two things. One, greetings from Wakanda. Two, happy International Women's Day.

And I'd especially like to say Happy International Women's Day to all of the ladies sitting up here with me. Thank you. That is a fair point. However, I would remind you that I do have a feminine vibe. You do. You do.

It's true. I enjoy it, actually. Enjoy it. But this is the point, right? And we shouldn't be surprised by the fact that he believes he's above the law and doesn't feel like he has to follow any rules because in truth he has lived a life where the rules have not often applied to him like he was grabbing kitty cats and got a primetime television show for it he still hasn't released his taxes and

we know he's been lying about the fact that he gave charitable charitable contributions that he never did so this is exactly what happens when privilege gets on steroids. This is the result. So we shouldn't be surprised. But it is the thing that we have to keep talking about. Yeah, and it is about more than just this one Russia thing. It is about this, like, you know, entrenched corruption in the entire administration, right? It's entrenched corruption in the entire administration.

So not just a single person, but practically everyone that he hires, which means that there is no moral authority or moral code in this place, right? So it feels like we're having a conversation with people who swear that the sky is green and you cannot convince them otherwise. Yeah. Speaking of moral codes and moral authority, Dan, on the Stormy Daniels issue... Don't do it! codes and moral authority. Dan, on the Stormy Daniels issue... Don't do it! It's International Women's Day, John! Well, so no, here's the interesting thing about that. I was like, we don't need to be talking about this. This seems like a sideshow. But it now seems like the President of the United States may have broken the law

here, too, or could potentially have broken the law. Is that right? What do you think? That's right. This has been bubbling out there in the news for a long time. We really haven't talked about it that much because there is so much other horrible things happening right now. And one side note on this is, it should be alarming for those of us, for those

in the media in the Republican Party who hope that expect Trump to negotiate a global peace deal with North Korea when he fumbled a deal paying hush money to Stormy Daniels. Where he just like, he just gets up from the table in Geneva and forgets to sign the deal. Here he signs it, Dennis Dennison. But I think like where this becomes problematic is they, I mean, they've lied about it michael cohen has lied about it and they there are potential potential financial crimes here in terms of money laundering because

michael cohen told everyone first he said it wasn't true then when he finally had to admit to it because it was part of a campaign finance investigation that he said he did out of the goodness of his own heart and now you have contemporaries witnesses saying he was mad he hadn't gotten reimbursed yet. So the question is... Reimbursed from Donald Trump. Yeah. He didn't get reimbursed for the hush money. Another honorable subcontractor jilted.

I just want to fulfill the contract. So there are potential financial crimes here for money laundering. There are potential questions around campaign finance. Is this an illegal contribution to the campaign from donald trump that exceeds the limits if it was not from if it was michael cohen's money then it exceeds the limits of what michael cohen could spend as an individual to help elect donald trump and if it was donald trump's money it should have been reported on the campaign finance form and so and why should it have been reported because it's the argument is that don Donald Trump paid this money to help his campaign

because her talking about this would have hurt his campaign. Yes, that's exactly right. He was spending money to, if you spend money to help elect someone, it has to be A, within limits that's set by law, and B, disclosed. And this was neither. And so this is going to get looked at. The unfortunate part is the people we look at is the FEC, which is a toothless entity.

But this could become the part of a New York State investigation because it happened in New York State. And so this is something to watch just as we do the law. Get in line, investigators. Get in line. Hi, I'm here to ask Stormy Daniels a question. You wait your turn. We're talking about the Seychelles over here.

We've got Seychelles, then the kidnapping in Pennsylvania, then Manafort's Black Ledger, and then if there's time, we'll get to you today. Bring a book. That is basically where we are. Can I make one point about this, though? Yeah, please. Fundamentally,

it is actually quite difficult to legally pay hush money during the course of a campaign. It just is. It's not something one should do. And it's certainly not something one should do when in the middle of a national presidential race. Because if he had paid it out of his own pocket, it's concealing from the campaign. If he pays it from the campaign, it's sort of a misuse of funds. Sort of.

If he launders it, there's all kinds of other implications. So, in a lot of ways he was damned if he did, damned if he didn't. Somebody keep in mind. The irony here, though, is if a porn star had come out and said, I had an affair with Donald Trump, would anyone have been

surprised? Would that have moved a lot of votes? I am a little bit skeptical. If he would have said fake news, we would have moved on. I mean, it might have changed the meta-media narrative, but it's such a funny thing to catch him given all the horrific things he did and were disclosed, some of them on an audio tape.

Tim Miller made a good point. I was just going to bring this up. That's the argument a lot of people say. I'm like, who would care? This is already baked into the baseline of Donald Trump. But Tim Miller made the point that the exact moment this was happening was when Hillary was having the worst stretch of the campaign. Right. With, after the Comey letter and everything else.

And if the story had switched to Stormy Daniels on television telling the story, it might have let some of the pressure off Hillary Clinton. So you never, these things, there's no way to run the counterfactual. But this could have been impactful. We just don't know. I don't mean to dismiss it in terms of political implications, but to create this much legal risk seems crazy to me, given the stakes involved. I also just think this is about how we discuss women in society. We're willing to pay far more attention when there's a woman involved in a scandal than when it's actually a conversation about women's dignity.

And that has happened time and time again. That's exactly where we are well i was going to bring up uh tim miller's point that um the so this was a consensual relationship with uh stormy daniels and donald trump uh reportedly but the location where this happened was apparently the same exact location that one of the women who came forward and said that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her, where she said the assault took place as well. So again, it brings up the fact that there are how many women that came forward in the campaign that said he sexually assaulted her. And yeah, maybe this one was consensual, but there's still a whole bunch of other women who came forward,

and we just don't talk about that at all, you know? Okay, so scandals aside, the true work of governing continues and today donald trump announced new tariffs basically like taxes on all imported steel and aluminum though he said he might spare countries like canada mexico and australia just sort of picked him out do i have a microphone um he made this decision after a rigorous policy process. That's the funniest thing you said on the show. It involved talking to two people. His billionaire commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross,

and some guy named Peter Navarro that he hired after Jared Kushner Googled China. That is actually a true story. He said, I need a China expert. Jared went on Amazon, found a book that this guy wrote, and said, hire him. That's also a lesson. You never know where your next opportunity is going to be.

America's an amazing place. One day you're just some guy who wrote a book that nobody read. The next day you're sitting across from the president. Only in America. Upending global trade policy. Just, you know. There's a lot I've been talking about the process, how we got here. What are the potential consequences for people in America,

businesses in America, from this decision? Tommy? Sure. One, the price of steel could go up in the variety of goods that we use, so cans, aluminum, things like beer cans, right? But then more significantly is probably the cost of constructing large buildings, and that could sort of trickle down into, you know, reducing jobs or people hired to work on these jobs.

But the real challenge is not necessarily the sort of trickle down into, you know, reducing jobs or people hired to work on these jobs. But the real challenge is not necessarily the sort of narrow action of what it means to slap a steel tariff on and suddenly things cost more for Americans. It's if the Europeans retaliate and then Trump retaliates again. It could create a back and forth in a trade war that ends up really hurting consumers, not just in the United States, but globally, because our president fundamentally doesn't really understand how the economy or trade works. He thinks that they owe us money if there's a trade imbalance, but that's just not the case. So this guy, Peter Navarro, that John was talking about, Mr. Amazon Opportunity, who wrote the book, he has views that are so far out of the mainstream that if you found 100 economists he would be the

only one that really has uh nativist views in the way trump does and but he's the guy who matches the thing trump has believed for like 30 years so trump was excited to hear from him and decided to follow his path we the the process matters it matters that nobody weighed in it matters the consequences weren't thought out. It matters that it's not very tactical or strategic because we do need a conversation about whether our trade relationships are working well for the United States.

Millions and millions of Americans do not feel as though these kinds of deals are worth it. They opened the door for Donald Trump. Donald Trump's position on trade and immigration were ways of bucking both parties, a consensus in both parties that didn't feel fair to millions and millions of Americans, in particular places like Ohio, where Sherrod Brown, not a fan of Donald Trump, has been sort of tepidly in favor of what Donald Trump is doing. So what's sad about this, what sucks about this, is Donald Trump is going after something

where smart Democrats could have a real agenda about how to make trade something that doesn't always feel like a losing issue. But instead, we get this ham-fisted version, and everyone's left sort of defending the established order because the only alternative is this kind of chaotic nonsense. That's the wild thing to me, is that a win here is actually if we get to the point where nothing can happen uh where there's no change which reminds me of being a child probably for obvious reasons

and uh i remember when i would walk into a store before i would go in there my mother would always look at me and she would say when we go in there don't touch anything and I just kind of wish that somebody's black mother would have talked to Donald Trump before the inauguration it might have been helpful before we got to this well that is evident in how everyone in the White House and all the republics republicans in congress are trying to like put this all back in the box now so like it started off you know tariffs on everyone across the world and then after a couple days of like pleading with him they got a new exempt mexico and canada and australia and then they got him to say okay everyone can apply for an exemption now and now some people are like will this actually go into effect or not? Because they're all trying to rein him in.

But one of the people who didn't like this was chief economic advisor, former Goldman Sachs president, Gary Cohn. And this was the last straw for Gary Cohn. Year in the White House with everything we've just seen. This was Gary Cohn's limit right here. Cohn was supposed to be one of those people who stopped Trump from doing crazy shit.

Those people are a farce, right? That's not a real thing. So, guys, the 2018 midterm election officially began on Tuesday with a primary right here in the state of Texas. Here's the good news. Democratic turnout nearly doubled from the last midterm primary in 2014. And in the three Republican-held congressional districts that Clinton won in 2016, Democrats outvoted Republicans in one and nearly matched Republican turnout in the other two, including the seventh district right here in Houston. Here's the tougher news. Republicans still cast half a million more votes than Democrats.

So you guys have your work cut out for you here. So first question, Dan. Where does Beto O'Rourke, who won his primary... Where does Beto find those half a million votes between now and November? Well, Texas has... It's important to know... There's a couple things about Texas generally,

which is Texas was the state with the greatest improvement from 2012 to 2016 in the Democratic column of any state in the country. So it is moving, it's getting bluer faster. Now I would say to you people in Texas, hurry up, we need you. But there are huge swaths of Democrats who do not turn out here and Democrats who are unregistered. And so a lot of the work that's been done since the day of the 2016 election here in Texas has been about registering people. We have to do so much more of that and then turn those people out.

Because if Democrats can register those people and turn them out, they can win statewide. The numbers are here for that. The cities are getting larger. The state is getting more diverse. It's getting younger in a lot of ways. And if those voters turn out, those are voters who could make Beto a senator, who could make this a blue state in a presidential election sooner rather than later.

And if that were to happen, if you have California, New York, and Texas, that can be game, set, match for a long time. So hurry up, people. Yes. Texas, you have been like Lucy with the football. We're turning blue. We're turning blue. Just watch.

Let's see it. It's time. Enough. Put up or shut up. Blue. I want to talk for just a second about our friends at the DCCC. Yeah. That's a greatCC. Yeah. So. That's a great sign.

Nice. That tells you. What is this? Liberal Houston showed up to boo the DCCC. Great job. It's a bunch of straight shooters, I think. Love it. So they intervened in the congressional race here in Houston.

They publicized a bunch of misleading opposition research against Laura Moser, which is something extremely unusual. It did not work. Fair. And so now Laura is in the runoff with Lizzie Fletcher. What do we think they were thinking? What was the DCCC doing here? They weren't.

I mean, it's so, I mean, first, the general, like the DCCC and the DSCC, they play an important role in training candidates, recruiting candidates in places where there are winnable races where no Democrat has stepped up on their own. But the key thing here is, and this should be

the lesson of 2016, is let the people decide. Do not put your thumb, like, even if you believe that another candidate is better. Right. And even if that is your internal analysis based on your expertise, one, you're probably wrong. But two, if you're coming out and saying it

is having the exact opposite effect of what you want, and it's just,'s all it alarms me for because taking the house is like what is standing between us in serious disaster and if the people in charge of it are so out of touch with where the the base the people who who were at the women's march you're gonna be marching at the march for lives next set two saturdays from now people who stood in airports if they don't get where those people are right now, then we're going to have trouble. So I hope they learn the lesson, I guess.

Tommy? One of the dangers, one of the many dangers of the Trump era is that the news is so ugly and his brand of politics is so divisive that people get even more cynical than they already were. And we had Barack Obama trying to push this boulder up the hill for eight years, and as someone as inspiring as him couldn't convince a whole lot of people that one, all politicians aren't the same and two, that their vote matters. And that is one of the most dangerous things in our democracy is the people who check out and stop caring. And so when the

DCCC sort of ham handedly intervenes like this, I think it exacerbates those problems and tensions. But the good news is they did what they did. It didn't work. I think they're chastened. And the solution to preventing this in the future is literally in this room. If all of you people go home tonight and call or email 10 friends and say, we got to get out to vote. Doesn't matter who it's for, but let's go register some voters. Let's talk to you about issues and stuff we care about and things maybe we heard tonight and discussed. It will make a huge difference. So like restoring that, restoring that agency and that sense of purpose and meaning in politics is important. And the other cool thing that you guys have is, is Beto O'Rourke running statewide, who's someone who's like, gives a shit about

politics for the right reasons and is running an election that's, you know, the way it's meant to be run, not on TV, but meeting with people. So there's nothing wrong, you know, that can't be solved with what's right about Texas and this electorate and this campaign. Add that there are undocumented folks who contribute $703 million to this state every single year,

who pay their taxes, who are being turned away at the polls, and people of color who are documented and are afraid of police interaction or police brutality, so they don't show up to the polls. So recognize that if you are not showing up and you're not getting 10 friends who don't have to fear those same things to come with you, then you're actually letting down even more people. Yeah. And I would just say, too, like, it's like what you were saying, Tommy.

There's just a lot of people right now. The energy's there. They don't like Trump. They believe in the Democratic Party's values. But they say to themselves, like, I don't know what my vote is going to do. I don't know what difference it's going to make. And I think one thing to tell people is we have seen, we saw in 2017 in Virginia, in that race, it was literally down to one vote made the difference in the House of Delegates.

And that meant that Ralph Northam was able to expand, is now able to expand Medicaid in that state because that came down to like one vote. And now there's going to be hundreds of thousands of people. One person, Fred Smith. And now there's going to be hundreds of thousands of people in Virginia who could potentially are covered by Medicaid. And it's the same thing in 2018, especially in the Senate. Like we could be like one senator away from controlling the United States Senate. And if we control the United States Senate,

that means no Supreme Court justices from Donald Trump. That means no judges from Donald Trump. That means no legislation from Donald Trump. So it's like, I do think part of this is letting people know that I know you've been cynical about politics, I know it seems hopeless, but your vote could actually make a difference. It could change everything.

Your vote could make sure that Ruth Bader Ginsburg can unclench and pour a glass of whiskey. She could take a day off at the gym. She can hang up that lacy collar, yeah. She deserves it. Yes. Vote and give Ruth Bader Ginsburg

a break. That is our slogan. Give Ruth Bader Ginsburg a cheat day. Give Ruth a break. Give Ruth a break. Give Ruth a break. Give Ruth a break. All right. That's a t-shirt. And now?

And now for a game we call OK Stop. There we go. Here's how it works. We'll roll a clip and the panel can say, OK Stop at any moment when they have an opinion of some sort. One million years ago, the god of human ambition laid a single egg in a swamp somewhere between Dallas and Wall Street.

Fifty years ago, it hatched, and a man named Raphael Edward Cruz was born. You don't like him? Wait, wait. This is a Ted Cruz podcast. We endorse Ted Cruz. You guys are going to hate it when he comes out in a minute.

Just get ready. Anyway, Cruz is running for re-election here in Texas. Oh, my. You guys realize they didn't like Ted Cruz? The Love Grand Juries hate Ted Cruz. Cooperating witnesses. So Ted Cruz stopped by CNN to talk about his campaign. Let's roll the clip.

The Cruz campaign already getting into the swing of things. They have a new ad mocking O'Rourke for his name. Take a listen. I remember reading stories Liberal Harvard wanted to fit in Soo for his name. Beto is obviously a nickname. Why? One, you didn't like that dirty pool when you were running for president, and the president called you Lion Ted. You didn't like that kind of tactic. And, you know, look, your name is Raphael.

You go by Ted. Your middle name is Edward. That's an anglicized version of it. He went the other way and has a more ethnic version of his name. Why go after it? You're both doing the same thing. Listen, you're absolutely right. Okay, stop. His voice sucks.

We shouldn't have just glossed over the wonderful song. No, I know. Let's go back to the song. I don't know why we didn't stop it after the song. I wanted everyone to hear it. I wanted to hear it too. So the song is a problem. Obviously, it's climbing the charts.

It's catchy. You're singing it in the shower. You don't even realize what the words are about, right? It's like when you're all of a sudden saying lady humps, and you're like, what am I saying? You know what I mean? All of a sudden you're singing this, you're like, is this? It's like when you're traveling,

and all of a sudden you realize you've been like really rocking out to a Christian station. You know? And I'm Jewish, and it's like all of a sudden I'm like, he died for us, you know? And I'm like and it's like all of a sudden i'm like he died for uh you know and i'm like oh i got tricks anyway this is one of those songs because it's so good it tricks you you can just imagine though at the cruise campaign when they all sat around and they came up with they're like let's call him liberal robert we got him we got him let's put it in a song yeah good job file edward cruz i am the son of my

father rafael cruz an immigrant from cuba who came to texas with nothing okay stop former canadian citizen but it's just so like you're right my father did come to the u.s with nothing i'm sorry the question was about your weird song. And that's what I'm saying. I live the American dream. Dollars in his underwear, couldn't speak English, washed dishes, making 50 cents an hour. And my dad's journey of an immigrant coming to Texas seeking freedom,

that's the American story. Okay, stop. That is the American story. Okay, stop. That is the American story, but you are doing everything impossible to prevent the other people from living that American story. It is... All you ever need to know about

Ted Cruz is that when he was in college, he was in a poker game. He lost too much money, so instead of paying the bets, he turned everyone in the poker game into the RA. That's who we are. You know, in terms of the jingle, some of it is just to have a sense of humor.

You actually missed the central... There's one thing people say about Ted Cruz. That he's got a sense of humor. No one is funnier than Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz bought a joke book in 1996 and everything changed. I find Ted Cruz's politics very funny.

The title of the song, which is, If You're Gonna Run in Texas, You Can't Run as a Liberal Man. And the whole point of the song is... That's a catchy title, by the way. Okay, stop. Pretty good. That is the funniest thing that Chris Cuomo has ever way. Okay, stop. Pretty good.

That is the funniest thing that Chris Cuomo has ever said. Ever. Ever. That is pretty good. We had some fun with it. No Zodiac Killer, no. Yeah, I just... The moment before you die,

someone like Ted Cruz will be standing over you saying, let's have some fun with it. The thing about Ted Cruz is Ted Cruz is a living embodiment of the Saturday Night Live spoof of Ted Cruz. Yeah. He's just... I forgot how awful it is to watch him. Sorry, guys. That was really torturous.

It was tough. Tough, okay, stop. Okay, when we come back, we'll have our interview with Arian Foster. Our guest tonight is the host of the Now What podcast, but you might also know him as a former NFL player who spent almost his entire career playing for a little team called the Houston Texans. Apparently we like the Houston Texans.

Please welcome to the stage, Arian Foster. Arian, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Now you, NFL star, and now you're a podcast host. This is not exactly our path, but... So tell us about your podcast. What made you want to get into podcasting? What are you trying to accomplish with it? Right. I appreciate you having me, by the way, man.

This is insane. Oh, my God. You've played in a bigger crowd than this. Right. I appreciate you having me, by the way, man. This is insane. Oh, my God. You've played in a bigger crowd than this. Yeah. Not for a podcast. But yeah. So I started to play. It was really my buddy's idea. He's like, you know, you have a lot to say. I got it. You should start a podcast. And I was like, no. And then, because I had never even put on a podcast before. And I started to just kind of research it. And I was like, oh, this is something I enjoy doing anyway.

It's just, it's talking. I think it's the way we move forward as human beings is dialogue and conversation. And it was just one of those things where I wanted to kind of explore myself via other people and it has been a tremendous gift what are you hoping people will really get from the podcast platform that they can't get from you otherwise uh just an insight it's not really about me more so than it is uh you know current events or ideas or uh science i i like to like touch on on topics that i'm ignorant to. And so I like to dig into people, whatever their expertise is, and

learn something from them. So it's more for me than it is for other people, but I feel like if you can humble yourself and listen to a conversation and come with an open mind to possibly learn something, it is for you and it's for me because I've learned so much already. I've

had an epiphany mid-podcast before. It's amazing. You have, both as an athlete and an ex-athlete, you've been very outspoken. But that has not necessarily been, it's been more the exception than the rule until recently. And not just since Donald Trump was elected, but in the last, you know, four or five years or more, athletes have become more outspoken on social issues, political issues. What do you think has led to that change? I think Facebook actually. No, I have, I did a, I did a comedy show and part of my bit was, was that it's like, everybody wants to blame Obama or Trump, but I blame Facebook, but it's because the political divide in this country, it's no longer hidden. It's kind of you have to kind of wear your views on your sleeve, whereas before it was kind of you went to work and maybe the person next to you believed what you did.

But you guys had a common goal and you moved on with your life. But now if you happen to follow that person on any social media outlet, you happen to know that he doesn't think Black Lives Matter, you know? And so it kind of creates this divide where you have to address certain issues. But I think now, I don't want to say you have to pick a side, but you have to know what the overall political dialogue in the country is, whereas before it wasn't as prevalent. Do you, I mean, you come in a long tradition of sports figures that are also activists, right? Tommy Smith, John Carlos, Muhammad Ali, Colin Kaepernick, those folks have not actually been welcomed for their opinions, right? They've received a lot of punishment for it. How are you thinking about major league sports and how much further they need to go

and actually embracing this diversity of opinions well I think I think different leagues have different standards so like in the NFL in my opinion they're so reactionary rather than proactive just like a perfect example is when when Ray Rice one of my one of my good buddies he was in trouble with that whole, you know, he hit his wife in the elevator. And I don't condone domestic violence at all, but that was a perfect opportunity to open up a dialogue because it's not an NFL problem. It's a public problem.

Domestic violence is a huge issue in this country. So rather than opening up that dialogue and having real conversations about it, they kind of hit it and just shunned him. And they continue to do those kind of things. You just want to shut them up, just be quiet. But it's a perfect opportunity to be honest and have some humility about the situation and quit trying to pretend like everybody is Captain America and we all have problems. So let's address these problems and just move forward.

It feels like the, like you were saying, the NFL is reactive. The NBA seems to have had more success in having an open dialogue with their players about these issues. There have not been the standoffs between the players and the owners of the players in the league. Why do you think the NFL and the NBA are different in this? And what could the NFL do better to handle some of these situations? better to handle some of these situations? I think the main issue why the NFL and the NBA are different is how the players are viewed in the eyes of that organization. So in the NBA, they're viewed more as a partnership.

And granted, that might have to do with the visibility of the players. But they grant them a little more respect than they do NFL players. In the NFL, you feel more like a worker than you do a partner. And that's big for any entrepreneur. If anybody has a business, I always tell entrepreneurs that are starting out, you always want people to feel like they're working with you, not for you. And that wedge in the NFL is what causes that rift. There is no open dialogue. I was talking to, I had Mav Carter, who is LeBron James' business manager. He was on my podcast, and I was talking to him

about this very thing. He has an open door. Granted, he's LeBron James, but most NBA players have open door to the commissioner. Well, we do as well, but there's really no substance that you can have a conversation where you can move the needle on something. I think that's where it has to happen, where if you really want to address these issues and not be a reactionary, you're going to have to have these conversations with these players.

So I want to switch gears a little bit because you've really been a model for a lot of people, I think, in living your life out loud and not having any shame to your game. So I got to ask you a real question. All right, shoot. You are an atheist. I am. In Texas. Yeah. Oh, wow.

Well, hello. You might have some friends. How does that work? I stay indoors a lot. No, it's definitely an odd dynamic. It probably wasn't the best state to do it in. But it's just one of those things where it was a long journey getting to this point so it was never for any kind of public recognition so it was more the public uh i guess coming out i guess it would be the term was more for people who feel um kind of trapped in their situation that then they need some kind of somebody to look to and say it's okay to feel how you feel it's okay to think how you think and i'm not one of those picketing atheists to uh assert that there is no god i i'm i'm more so on my quest and my journey and i

question everything and i i try to bring as much logic and reason to my line of thinking as possible which i think this entire country can use more of so going back to football for a second that's a hard question to follow the great transition thank you um the you know given the nfl's challenges with concussions and cte what would the nfl be like in 15 20 Do you think it'll still be around? Will it be a fundamentally different game? How do you see the sport changing? This is another, not to keep plugging my podcast,

but this is another conversation that came up. That's why I asked. Now what podcast? You'll find out in a second. We have no problem with podcast plugging. For sure, for sure. But I talk about it often, especially with athletes that are currently playing and former athletes.

It's something that I am a little worrisome about more so than other cats that play. So I'm more inclined to say that maybe 60, 70 years down the road, the interest in the NFL is going to dwindle. And I say that because as the science becomes more and more clear, it's not good for your brain. And that is the only vehicle we have for reality that we know of. I just want to say you are an incredibly brave person. You are an atheist living in Texas who knows that football is bad for your brain.

Yeah. Yeah. It's like, it's courage exemplified. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I mean, I didn't always think like this. Yeah, yeah. It's like his courage exemplified. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I mean, I didn't always think like this. That's one of – I'm proud of that, though.

You know, like it was a journey to get to this point. When I was 20 years old, I thought I knew everything. And now I'm 30, and I know I don't know anything. And so that humility is keeping me going. But as far as the NFL and the CT stuff, I'm unsure of the future. And I think as the science gets more and more clear, because they're still kind of ducking those studies, but as the science gets more and more clear, they're going to have to put more regulations on the rules of the game. And those regulations are why we fell in love with football in the first place. It's violent. We love violence here in the first place it's violent we love violence here in America and

it's the most violent sport and as it gets less and less violent you're gonna have less and less people watching well I would you talk a lot about science and I know that Neil deGrasse Tyson is your homeboy so besides him who is your homeboy. That's my guy. That's my guy. So besides him, who is your favorite person that you've had on the pod? Okay, so we only 19 episodes in and we're growing though. We're growing.

Because all these people are going to start listening. For sure. Subscribe, download, rate. That's important for some reason. So my very first episode was my mother, right? So I sat here and had my mother on my very first episode. So that was definitely one of my favorites, but aside from her, cause I got to plug my mother. It's literally our day.

For sure. It's in national. It's in national women's day for sure. We only get one. Right. I think it was, he was a, and I'm going to butcher the title, but I think he's a special ops sniper.

His name was Nicholas Irving. And it was, I write a Nicholas Irving fan. Nicholas Irving's sister, everything. No, he's just a really sharp cat. And we dove way deeper than I anticipated, and we talked about his PTSD. We talked about how he felt about protesting the NFL. We talked about anything that you could think of.

It just went way deeper than I thought it was going to go, and to me is that is the reason why i got into podcasting was to talk to people like that to bring me into a world that i'm completely ignorant about all right before we let you go so you tell us who your favorite podcast guest you've had is if who is the one person who is the the goat who would be the person you would want to have on your podcast that is an interesting question so at the end of every podcast we actually do this we we ask the guests to um lobby for us to get jim carrey on the podcast um so so at the so i think after like a year we're gonna put together like a clip and hopefully it goes viral like people just telling the funniest one was i just had snoop dogg on my podcast and he had the funniest one ever and i

ain't gonna it's not funny if I do it, but the way he did it was hilarious. But yeah, we asked everybody to get Jim Carrey on. Jim Carrey is kind of posterized as crazy or a nut, but I think he's on to something, and I just want to dig into his brain.

And so he's my guy, man, so one day. All right. Everyone, subscribe to Arian's podcast, and please thank him for joining us tonight. Now for a game. Sports. We all love them. But over the past few years,

many conservative commentators have gotten very angry about sports. Sad but true. Ever since Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem, Fox News has dedicated lots of coverage to criticizing these protests and telling these athletes to be grateful and to stick to sports. So even though our guest tonight did have the wrong answer for who he'd like to have on his podcast, a softball he let go by.

Wrong sport. I don't care. A football he let go by. A fumble. Yeah. Thank you. We thought we'd highlight some of the worst moments in a game we call Shut Up and Dribble. So you each have cards.

Would somebody out there like to play the game? Hi, what's your name? My name's Leslie. Leslie. Yes. And are you from Houston? I live in Houston, but I'm actually from Austin, Texas, and I'm very glad you guys came here,

because I was worried that you would dip out on us and only go to Austin. So thank you. I feel like we just learned something about a chip you have on your shoulder. That's fine. Leslie, are you ready to play the game? I'm very ready.

Are you guys ready? Yeah. All right, question number one. Over the course of the last two years, Fox and Friends has denounced Colin Kaepernick so often, it's almost like they're using yelling about black athletes as a kind of palate cleanser between segments. After Hurricane Maria ravaged

Puerto Rico, who did Fox and Friends turn to for storm recovery information? Was it A? Meteorologist Rain Sprinkle and Gale Winters. Was it B? Meteorologist Autumn Sprinkle and Gail Winters. Was it B? Meteorologist Autumn Storm and Dusty St. Cloud. Was it C? Meteorologist

Sleet Snowington and Barry Metric Pressure. I feel like we ran out. And what was it D? Kurt Schilling, a Major League Baseball player who was fired from ESPN for bigoted comments and who has not yet been told by Fox to shut up and pitch. A tough one for Leslie to kick it off.

I'm going to go with D. You got it. Question number two. Last month, Laura Ingraham did a whole segment scolding LeBron James for talking about politics, telling him to shut up and dribble, and even using the phrase, must they run their mouths like that? What did she say a few years back

when Ted Nugent, a musician who talks about politics, threatened sexual assault on camera against a female CBS News producer? Was it A? I am shocked and disgusted that someone who claims to be a conservative would use such hateful rhetoric toward a female journalist. producer. Was it A? I am shocked and disgusted that someone who claims to be a conservative would use such hateful rhetoric toward a female journalist.

It is wrong. Was it B? I denounced Ted Nugent today just as strongly as I denounced him when he said Obama could suck his machine gun, which is something Ted Nugent actually said. Was it C? I can't do this anymore.

I just can't. Am I playing a role? Or is the role playing me at this point? Am I a person, this graceless, broken, shouting person who put her talent and charm into this greedy propaganda machine? Am I too strong to care, or too weak to change? Doesn't even matter. Or was it D?

Winning. In response to Ted Nugent. So I want to give Brittany props for that excellent performance. I wish it was C. I want to believe in her head it was C. I don't know. I mean, it wasn't actually D because she's not hip enough to say winning. Leslie? I'm going to to say winning. Leslie?

I'm going to need an answer. B? No, it was D, Leslie. Wait, she actually said winning on air. She said winning. Maybe it was the Charlie Sheen moment. Winning. And by the way, is two and a half men hip? Wait, also, do any of you guys actually know what International Women's Day is about?

So here's the problem. On the one hand, I want to shut you down for thinking you could ask a question. On the other hand, I can't because of the question. I thought a lot about this question, John Lovett. I know you're sass. I'm not going to ask you a dumb question. Well, why don't you tell us? I will fully admit that I Googled this earlier today because I did not know.

You Googled it? I did. You come today because I did not know you googled it? I did I'm not going to show up and act like an asshole because you know how to google things I looked it up because in my office they had an international women's day coffee break and we were all like what is this it's on social media does anyone know

so we looked it up it's part of in the turn of the 20th century it's a women's labor movement it's a UN supported national holiday that was originally brought about in the turn of the 20th century, it's a women's labor movement that is now supported. It's a UN-supported national holiday that was originally brought about in the turn of the 20th century. It started in Russia in the women's labor movement. And it's basically about the fact that originally women weren't allowed to have jobs and work and do things. And then when they started doing those things, they weren't getting paid the same, which guess what? They're still not. They're still not.

But no, that's where it originally comes from. It's a labor movement for women to have access to jobs and employment and to be treated fairly in those things across the entire world, and it's supported by the UN. Thank you, Leslie. Hey, John. By the way, Leslie, A, thank you for sharing that. Yeah, I didn't note it.

I don't think we should encourage it, but in this case. Sometimes you've got to go rogue, Leslie. She just stuck it in the middle there, but it's fine. But I also want to let you know that since you know how to Google things, you are officially qualified to be the head of HR for the Trump White House. Thank you. I would gladly turn down that position. Okay, Leslie.

Sorry for interrupting you, John. It was for a good cause. Question three, Leslie. Yes, Leslie. Sorry for interrupting you, John. It was for a good cause. Question three, Leslie. Yes, sir. In 2016, Jesse Waters went to a football game with his polo tucked in and his collar popped and interviewed football fans about how Kaepernick should stick to

sports. During that segment, what did he call a game between the 49ers and the St. Louis Rams, two outspoken teams? Was it A? The World Cup of Woke. Was it B? The Stanley Cuck.

Was it C? The Black Lives Matter Bowl. Or was it D? The Malcolm X games. Did you guys give Arian all of the right answers? Is that your way of It's D. Wrong, Leslie.

Am I wrong again? Sorry, Leslie. I was so rooting for you, but it was the Black Lives Matter bowl, believe it or not. He actually said that. He actually said that. This is clearly teaching me that I'm rooting for you, but it was the Black Lives Matter bowl, believe it or not. He actually said that. He actually said that. I must not, yeah, this is clearly teaching me that I'm not as aware of how fucked up people are. One thing we know for sure is that Leslie's on a journey.

And I cannot wait to see where it goes. Question number four. Final question. You're doing okay. Conservative media criticized Arian Foster for kneeling during the national anthem, stating that he and his fellow protesters used, quote, the uniforms of their team to insult those

who wear the uniform of their country. Which of the following people were not criticized for tarnishing their uniform? Was it A? Tom Brady, NFL quarterback and UGG spokesman who endorsed Donald Trump in 2017 and brought me considerable joy throughout my life as a Patriots fan. Oh, weird. Weird how that's cool to you. Was it B?

Bobby Knight, basketball coach and Trump supporter, who famously threw chairs at a referee in the middle of a game, which is somehow way less offensive than quietly kneeling in protest. Was it C? Papa John, who wears the uniform of Papa John's and attacked the NFL for the protests. Or was it D? It's almost as if this isn't about sticking to sports,

but an instinctively racist worldview that dismisses black concerns and views any discomfort or debate created by black athletes as an overstepping of their lower status that no wealth or success in any field can erase. Boom. So the answer is D. Incorrect. It was all of the above. Leslie. Yes, sir.

You won the game. Thank you so much for playing. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you. About International Women's Day. We appreciate it. Guys, give it up for Leslie. Good job, Leslie.

And give it up for Arian Foster. Houston, you've been wonderful. Thank you again to Arian Foster. Thank you, Brittany Packnett. Thank you, guys. Go vote! Bye, guys. Thank you. Bye.