The Chris Cuomo Project - Sen. Joe Manchin, January 6 Committee Hearings

Episode Date: July 28, 2022

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) joins Chris for a wide-ranging interview that explores his West Virginia roots, his reputation within the Democratic Party, and whether President Biden has earned a second term. Subscribe and follow The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to the crib, the home of the free agent. So the project is up and holding its own because of free agents like you. I really believe this. I know that you and I, we, right? We can break through the bullshit. We can have real dialogue and leave the hot takes and half-truths to others. So do me a favor.

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I gave it to you. I am getting back on the horse of cable TV, but it's a very different horse, and it's a very different course. One reason is that many of you know me from television, specifically cable television, and you've said you miss me there. Now, many of the folks who watch cable TV,

they may not be watching this right now. You know, digital is new. It's part of a transition for people. So I want to help them find us here. And I also want you guys to give cable a chance, okay? I know the problems, but I also know the solutions. And I get the cable cacophony and that you don't want to, you know, you miss me with that. I get it.

News Nation is going to have a show that will be different. That's why I'm doing it. They are the only legit insurgent network. It's a real company, not just one guy's propaganda profit center or a front for some fringe or party. It isn't that. It has real resources. It's going to allow me to travel the country, travel the world, show you the reality. And the people there are very clear. I'm not carrying water for anybody, no party, no interest other than your interests. That is my bias, okay? You, what helps your common concerns? What will work and why? And then you decide. Let's focus on less distraction,

more traction. Rhymes must be useful. All right. Now, I want to flesh this out theoretically, but also practically by looking at our current circumstances. Okay. Again, I'm not about catchphrases. All right. They're helpful, but they're not enough. ideas, but the focus is going to be not which one of them is worse. How do you fix what matters? How do you make us understand why you believe what you believe? Regular people. That's who this is about. Like you. Open mind, open heart, willing to listen. That's a free agent, okay? So how we're going to do that? The gotcha game, we got to stop it. It sucks. It only serves those in the blood sport of us versus them. That game can't fix anything because it's not about fixing. It's about breaking us apart, forcing us to regard the fringe,

to pick a side motivated by a furious few. That game makes something as obvious as the disgrace of January 6th seem like an open question of right and wrong. Fox apologists are okay saying what they know is a lie because it supports their side. Oh, there were no real weapons. They were just walking around. They were invited in.

It was just one guy in a funny hat. It's pathetic. It's like Jets fans pretending that this lousy team is going to be great. They don't believe it, but they say it because that's what you do when you support the team. But this is no sport, and it can't be a game. January 6th was a dangerous event. People were hurt. It could have been so much worse. And it seems to be the result of planning and bad purpose. There were people close to Trump and in other states pushing fraudulent electors reportedly as an extension of this not wanting to accept the outcome of the election. We have to respect the rules or the rules are meaningless.

Now, absolutely, it is in your interest for what happened and by whom to be rooted out and remedied. There could be crimes, especially on this Fugazi elector front that we're just learning about now. crimes, especially on this Fugazi elector front that we're just learning about now. Less so, I think, around the planning and the practical aspects of what happened on January 6th. I don't see that there's criminality there, at least in what's been offered. My question is, are we really learning enough about what matters? Or is this starting to play like a gotcha game, like the impeachment? Again, not that the issues that were involved in impeachment don't matter, but you knew you were never going to have the outcome. The argument was, well, but this is what we have to do. This is our job. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know that that kind of fomenting of tension, that kind of protracted process, when you know you weren't going to remove the president, was that really in America's interest? Certainly debatable. Certainly debatable.

The outcome was never going to be what was desired. There's no question, as with the Mueller probe, Trump and his cronies were doing bad things. Things they know they should not have been doing. And arguably, that makes them lousy leaders. But getting Trump for treason? Why even go there? They go there because it fuels the fringe aspects of the party. Collusion with Russian operatives. Yes, collusion is behavior. It's not a crime. The crime

is conspiracy, and it's a distinction with a difference, and they were nowhere near it, and it wasn't ever going to be prosecuted. So why tear at the fabric that way? Why not achieve the goal of exposing what it is? And if it's politics, keep it in politics. Fomenting tension, lying to inflame, just to create more outrage, wanting to watch a run on the Capitol, ignoring violent intentions. These are all terrible. But treason? You know, you wind up undercutting your purpose when you exaggerate the desired outcome or consequence. It reminds me of when the right wanted to get Clinton criminally for lying about messing around. Forget about the fake morality that was at play. You know, the politicians just don't get,

Americans, you're not looking for perfect people. You know that we're all flawed. You want a more perfect union. You want people who will lead us with ideas and actions that make us better, or at least who try. But politicians making politics into a policing action with criminal consequences? No thanks. Not with Clinton, not with Trump and his cronies, not with butter emails. Not saying that now, right? The January 6th hearings lose their impact on consensus because of the intended consequences pursued. We all know now what went down and that Trump and Co. acted horribly. Regular people get it. If there are crimes, especially on that elector front, let the Department of Justice figure it out.

Let the local prosecutors figure it out. We don't need politicians to tell our prosecutors what to do. And the media, look, it fans the flames. Why? Criminal reference. Criminal consequences. That's provocative. They are reflecting what the democrats and others are saying but they should be pushing back at as well you know not all flames need to be fed some need to be smothered less distraction more traction on what matters to you regular people i'm not saying democracy doesn't matter our institutions don't have to be protected. Of course they do. But does anyone think that these hearings, that that's what they'll ultimately yield? Gas prices, choking commerce, choking family budgets,

changing how we live, changing how we enjoy our lives. What's the focus? Biden fist bump. Come on. Look, the easy counter for the left is that that Biden fist bump, that was with the same guy, MBS, Mohammed bin Salman, that Trump let get away with murder. Okay. So if you want to play tit for tat, not a great game for the right to play. But even that just shows the problem. Who cares who is worse? The question is, what will you do to make anything better? Who will fix gas prices? Who will even be straight with us about why they're high? Because of Biden. Please. Left nor right can win on this because neither has been reasonable

on the real issue. Why are prices high? Because the companies involved are taking profits now that they can. COVID crushed them. Shareholders demanded more dividends. That meant less money in the company for exploration and drilling. That meant less money in the company for exploration and drilling.

That meant supply was going to be reduced and that they were going to raise prices to squeeze demand to make up for lost revenue and satisfy their shareholders. You know what that's called? Capitalism. There are winners and losers. But what I just said is an explanation, but also an excuse. And it raises a question. Why can't capitalism help you as much as it helps them? The 2008 recession, too big to fail. I covered it. I was on the calls with Paulson from Goldman Sachs, talking TARP and TALF and what had to be done. The winners were the banks, specifically his own, by the way. The homeowners, credit card holders, not so much. Choices have consequences. That's what you were told, not the banks. That's what you were told, not the banks. That's not picking winners and losers. That's winners picking losers.

Very different. With COVID, you guys got checks, a lot of you. Legitimate argument, did you get them for too long based on what we're now seeing with inflation? Biden and the Democrats gave you a lot of money for a lot longer than a lot of economists said was necessary. But what about the right? Well, now they're saying that that was a mistake. They signed on to a certain degree then. And do your homework. Trump was all for more checks as well. He wanted to do exactly what Biden did. Look it up. Inflation also has another major cause. Remember that big fat tax cut a few years back? Broke the bank. Why? The right didn't pay for it. They didn't cut spending because also

They didn't cut spending because also they cut taxes when the economy was robust. You don't usually do that. You usually ride that wave so you can pay off some debt. They didn't do that. So much for fiscal conservatism. Why? Because that's not what it's about. It was about pleasing Trump and Trump wanted to please everybody because that's how they would retain power, spend more, no cuts, big tax breaks that went overwhelmingly to the rich and the business

community. Why did the right swallow it? That's the game. They got their tax cut, and they got their judges, and that's what they wanted. Why isn't this being said? Because the two parties are locked in a war of attrition. Which is worse? There is no percentage in compromise because the voters don't reward it. Think about it. When's the last time that somebody said to you, vote for me, I worked with the other side

to get something done? Biden killed the economy and spiked gas. It is happening on his watch. He should be doing way more to argue for what the problem is and how he can make it right. Guy's not out there enough, and he's not out there in the right way. And he is fueling these suggestions that he's not out there because he can't be, because something's wrong with him. I have no reason to believe that, but I'll tell you what, I have every reason to believe that he's feeding that perception and he and his people better figure it out. Better figure it out. What are the ideas to fix? Lawmakers are all over social media talking trash.

Who's telling you how they can do better? Nope, that's not what they're saying. They're boasting about who they can do dirty. That's what they're doing. Why? Because that's what gets rewarded. That's the clickbait. They talk about the fist bump, but they forget about the Khashoggi murder. They talk about the fist bump, but they forget about the Khashoggi murder. You see what I'm saying? Why don't they talk about what the Saudis, what OPEC can do in terms of changing our gas prices? You know why? Because it ain't that much. And it doesn't fuel you, pun intended, the way the division does.

You see all these blue and gold armbands for Ukraine. Who really stands with Ukraine? Our lawmakers are watching Russia mount a comeback. That's what this is. They're treating it as more of a budget issue than an existential one. Well, we've given so much. We've given enough. Pick a number. Google our budget, okay? Take the highest number for Ukraine aid that's out there, 70 billion, whatever it is. Look at how it stacks up to other spending. Look at how it stacks up to other crises in other countries where we support. This is Russia.

They are a threat to what we value every bit as much or more than Islamist extremism was or is. So where are the better ideas? Where's the urgency for gas, for growth, for peace? The next iteration of Americans, and that's what is Ukraine. People fighting for democracy and the values that we have here. Who's got the answers? The alternative for Ukraine isn't some benevolent monarchy. They are dying and we are watching, assuming you even get to see what's happening. I want to go back.

It's another reason I'm teaming up with NewsNation. I don't care if the war is popular in the ratings. This show has to be as much about popular as it is about purposeful. And the purpose is to make you aware, to harness that you care, and to assume that you will dare to test power so that it serves your interests.

Remember, the game is about taking the other side down. Voters vote based on that. So the media echoes it. We play the game. Instead of common concerns, we magnify discrete cultural issues. The left, the left will kill all the babies with abortion. Abortion for all, forever. The right will kill everyone with guns.

Guns in the hands of everyone. Everyone with an axe to grind. This is exaggerated. This is hyperbole. It's histrionics. It's playing to fear. And it keeps us from doing a damn thing to make any of these situations better. It's just to keep you in the game.

Focused on an enemy, target of opposition, instead of feeling our way toward understanding and reasonable outcomes. That's no game for a free agent, and that's why I'm doing this project. You know the expression, change the game. Don't let the game change you. We need more parties because that'll give you more choices. We need ranked choice voting because that'll give you more choices and it will allow regular folks to compete with a super motivated and furious fringe. And we need purple states to apportion electors. Big ambitions, hard, will take time and a lot more will than may exist right now.

So let's start with what we can do right here. Getting leaders to address what matters. Here we can talk longer and deeper. I want you to be able to understand the thinking behind the talking. So today we have Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat, West Virginia. Changed man, thorn in the side of his party, killing the Biden agenda. That's what you hear.

Or is he the one who hasn't changed? And if he hasn't changed? And if he hasn't changed, what has changed? What are his reasons for his positions? Very little attention spent on that. By the way, other than just dismissing him as a coal baron, which is an extreme exaggeration, what do we know about where he comes from and what matters to him?

Spoiler alert, the senator is about to say something about what he supports in the upcoming election, not the midterms, the presidential one. What he says will rankle the ranks of the left. But it matters. Let's find out. Support for the Chris Cuomo Project comes from Sundays. Now, we got a problem in the Cuomo house. Sundays. Now, we got a problem in the Cuomo house. We got three dogs who now like Sundays better than the other food that I was giving them. Sundays is healthy dog food, easy to store, okay? Very tasty, very nutritious because Sundays is fresh dog food made from a short list of human-grade ingredients. No, not humans. Human-grade. Sundaes was co-founded by Dr. Tori Waxman, practicing vet tests and formulates every version of each recipe.

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Plus, price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan. Senator, I want people to know how long I have been watching you lead in West Virginia. Was it too hectic at the time, or do you remember when we met at the site of that mine catastrophe in West Virginia when you were governor? I remember exactly the first time I met you, and that was at Sago 2006. I was at the bowl game in Georgia, and we were playing University of Georgia,

and they called me that morning saying we had a terrific accident. So I said, I'll come back. And I just knew I had to be there because I had gone through that before with my own family and my own uncle and my own town in Farmington in 1968. So I understood what people were going through, the agony and just waiting and not knowing and trying to find out what was going on. So when I got there, we had the national press, as you know, was was accumulating there and they were coming from everywhere. And the only thing I remember, Chris, I had so many people coming at me differently because I wanted to make sure that we kept people apprised of what was going on. And I thought it was important because I remember sitting there

for two and three days with my aunt, Jenny, who was the wife of my Uncle John, which was my mother. And she was there, too. And that was her younger brother, Uncle John. And he was killed in that explosion in 1968. And we didn't know anything. So I said, we're not going to do that. I want to make sure that every two hours people are getting an update of what's going on. So we started that. Well, with that, then we were accessed to the press too. So the press knew there's that type of accessibility. You understand they just, they gathered and very aggressive. And I'm thinking these people don't know families. They don't know what these families are going through. They just want a soundbite. And I'm not saying that,

you know, you and I built a relationship over that many years since 2006, but you came in understanding this. There's real family tragedy here. There's family agony. And it wasn't your job to report that just to be comforting, I think, in trying to report the facts. I appreciate it. I saw that immediately in you, and I appreciated that. And fast forward, that's why I'm doing this today, because I know who you are. Well, I appreciate that. I also know that even though you have that nice American name, Manchin, I look at your hair, I look at your nose, and I know you're one of mine. I know there's Italian blood in there.

How much Mancini is there in the mansion name? How much on both sides? Well, my mother, my father is full Italian, and my grandparents came from San Giovanni Fiore in Italy, which is down in the boot, Calabria. And I've been there, and it's a beautiful little town up in the mountains from Reggio Calabria. But anyway, so we're very proud of our tradition and heritage we have there. My mother is full Czechoslovakian. She's Slovak. And her parents came from Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. So I'm all 100% European, Middle Eastern European.

So, yes, I'm proud of my heritage there. Mancina, I believe, the best. I've gone back there and met with a lot of, and they look just like us, so they've got to be our relatives. They sure claim me as one, but M-A-N-C-I-N-A is the most accurate. The problem that we have is my grandfather, Papa Joe, he came here in 1900. He was a baby, but he was adopted. He was given to another lady, Mary Mancina, who lost a child in childbirth, and she was able to provide with breast milk, and she took my grandfather in, and that's how. So we really don't know, but we know we're from

Italy. That's what we do know it was very common uh for somebody to adopt a child that way make them uh their own and i want people to know this because you know this is trying to do things uh differently here you know same perspective on fairness and getting players on here more than pundits but i want people to understand the men and women who come before them and understand their roots and understand their blood and understand how I know them. And it's important for people to know, I've been with a lot of leaders in disasters. Some comport themselves well, some don't. However, what I remember about that and what has stayed with me about you was that story went wrong. There was false word, as you'll remember,

that everybody had been located. And the media ran with it. One outlet specifically, Fox. And I was clued into the right way to do the process by a fellow ABC correspondent named John Donovan, who is a brilliant journalist. And I came to you and your guys. You had just come back. You were exhausted.

And you were coming in for another round. And I said to you, they are reporting that the people have been found. And you said, who? And I said, they're on live TV right now. And you said, and you just pushed past me, pushed past the crowd. You went over there. And the families were hearing that that wasn't true.

And they were incensed. And I understood it. And even thinking about it now, I shudder because I can't believe how I'd feel if somebody had gotten it wrong even thinking about it now i shudder because i can't believe how i'd feel if somebody had gotten it wrong like that about my loved one and they listened to you and you went in there and you said to them this is not coming from us this is not true and then shortly thereafter you came and said that we do have word and everyone has been lost well you calmed them and they believed you yeah here was the problem what happened that's at the sago mine disaster when we

first met and i'm sorry like after the second day or so and we'd all been up we never i mean no one ever left none of i don't think you all did either we didn't and i stayed there with the families and so you get to know the families and everything, and they're just all their hopes and their prayers. They're praying and praying and praying. When we call clear air, you get back to a point in the mind where you're clear air, and then from then on you get some danger because the readings are so high and the gaseous and all that, so it's dangerous. I know enough about it.

When I kept seeing the readings of the air quality, I knew it was almost impossible to survive. And unless because if they had their oxygen mask, it only lasts for so long. And then they're taught to go back to the face of the mine, barricade themselves in, and a little bit of oxygen they'll have until they're rescued might be coming off the coal seam, to be honest with you. So they were all doing what they could, but we didn't know that. We had no idea at all, but we knew that the probability

that there were 13 people still missing. Then all of a sudden we found the man trap, which is what carries them in and out. They sit on this man trap, takes them back to the face of the mountain. We didn't know if they even survived the explosion. And then when we saw, they found the man trap and we saw footprints. We said, oh my God, we know they're alive.

They survived the initial explosion. OK. And so we knew that because the rescuers were going in, but they didn't know which way they went. So that goes on for another day. And I'm known as getting worse and worse and worse. And all of a sudden, when you told me another and I think you told me on this, Chris, that they're saying that they were found alive, I said, in my mind, I said, it's impossible. It's impossible.

And I'm thinking, well, everyone start reporting it. So if you'll see a picture of me getting in a car, I said, miracles can happen. Do believe in miracles. Miracles can happen. And I knew it would have to be an unbelievable miracle if this was true. So then I go to the command center where they were getting the news from down in the mine. What happened is someone was in that command.

There's too many people were there watching and listening and everything. And they found Randall McCoy. They found all of them, 13 of them. And they said, he's alive. He's alive. The rest were dead. And it came out, by the time it came out to the clear air and the clear air transferred the information up to the command post outside where we were and people around, someone heard that. They called down to the church, the kitchen where everybody was gathered in that church and said, they're alive. They're alive. That's how it started.

And it grew like wildfire. Well, when I came up there and they says, I said, are you guys sure about this? This doesn't make sense. And all of a sudden, then they says, oh, my God, there's a mistake. There's only one alive. I said, well, we've got a hand. This is unbelievable. These people for the last two hours have believed that we found all of their family members and loved ones alive.

And I'm thinking, oh, my goodness. Now it was about 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning by the time I went out by myself because there was nobody by that time. I said, it's got to be done. Someone's got to face it. So I went out there. And I mean to tell you, when I went to the church first before I went, so I went in the church and told the families. Well, you can imagine the blood-curdling screams. I think you all heard that and how bad it was.

And I had one young man, John's first name. He came to attack me when I was speaking, and the officers had to subdue him. And I'll never forget this. And then I had to go out after that. And I explained to them, but then I went out and I'll never forget this. And then I had to go out after that, and I explained to them, but then I went out and I said, let me tell you, there's a horrible, horrible miscommunication, and it's an accident.

It's a horrible accident. It basically, the misinformation, the amount of agony that it did to these families and how they went through it and took it was unbelievable. You can't go to emotional high after two days thinking your loved one and your husband, your brother, your son is found alive and in two hours go back down to confirming they're gone. And I didn't know how to handle that either, but I knew one thing. The only way you can handle it is by the truth.

And I said it was a horrible mistake, and I had people coming at me all different ways thinking we misled them. That was the night I went out and told everybody what had happened on the radio, and that's like on television 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. Well, we had a national reporter. I don't need to name names, but a national reporter from a big network came that morning, and they wanted to interview, and I said, fine. Well, guess who they had on the interview with me? It was the same guy that tried to attack me the night before. So we're standing there there and this person who was

interviewing me wanted to see a fight on, emotional fight on live TV. And John was there beside me. We're standing there and he starts attacking me verbally. And he kept saying, you lied, you misled. I looked at him, I said, John, I want you to know my heart is broken as yours. You lost your father. And I can only imagine if I lost my father. And I said, but I watched. We had 20, 30 different rescuers in that mine trying to save your father. They went beyond the call to do. They're risking their lives to save your father. And I want you to know that people would have given their life to bring your dad out alive. I can assure you. And I saw it. And John, all I can do is ask you and hope that God heals your heart, that you can look at people that basically were sacrificing and willing to do

whatever to save your father, even though that was not accomplished. And I would hope that the good Lord will heal your heart in days to come. And guess what? We became good friends after that, he and I. And he just, it's the way we do it in West Virginia. It took him about a month or so and then he came around and we sat down and talked a good bit and became good friends. And he understood. They're just emotions.

So I saw all that and I saw the press feeding off of this horrific information that was tearing people apart. And the only thing I can say, my friend, you didn't do that. And I appreciate it. Never forgot it. Well, listen, the appreciation flows from me to you, then governor, now U.S. senator. And I wanted people to be reminded of this one, because first of all, Senator, we're old and we lived through something that a lot of people watching this, especially in this new digital world, they didn't live it and they're probably not aware of it. But I hope it informs why you stubbornly hold on to the idea that opposites can attract and that you can work. Because the bad rap on you is Joe Manchin doesn't get it. This guy's got these Republican friends.

He doesn't understand that the game has changed. You are in a binary battle, zero sum. And you have to get on your team, forget about the Republicans, forget about working with them, and win or your party will lose. And you don't get that. What is your response? It's about my country, not my party. And this is what they don't get that. What is your response? It's about my country, not my party.

And this is what they don't understand. I never looked at it from the political standpoint. I've told people, I say this all the time, Chris, I said, the American people are not as divided as they want you to believe. In Washington, we want to say that the country is divided and we might as well just pick a side. There's only one side. It's the American side. It's not the Republican- side, but it's the politics, the absolutely toxic politics of

Washington. It's making people choose sides. We're pushing them to the representative corners. What team or what tribe do you belong to? And that's not me. It's never been me. It's not going to be me. I'm not going to submit to that because I can tell you the democracy we have and the freedoms we have became because of the type of government represented form of democracy. And we've always been able to come together until most recently here. And I think it's worth fighting for to get back to some similarity of a representative form of democracy that works for the betterment of the country and the people in this country and not for our party. If it's all about me promoting the Democrat Party and condemning the Republican Party, then you can pick anybody to do that. You can pick people that just basically will hunker down and says, I'm hard left or I'm hard this or I'm hard right. I gave a speech to

a commencement speech right after the COVID and I gave it him, and I didn't know what I was going to say. How do you speak to a group of people that have never gone through this, probably don't even remember in history? 1918 was the last time we had anything epidemic like that. My great-grandfather died during the 1918 epidemic influenza, working in the coal mines in West Virginia. So I did all that, and I said, I got up to the podium. I just I came here to apologize. I'm apologizing because my generation has not been able to process all the

information we're receiving from five different social platforms, from cable news and all the different news coming at us. We weren't raised this way. So our minds don't think that way. way. So our minds don't think that way. My news came down pretty much down the pike being raised, ABC, CBS, and NBC. And today you all have to navigate, this is this young graduating crowd, you're navigating a flood of information. And I'm depending on you to do a much better job than we've done. So if you have a grandma that you think all she does is watch MSNBC and she's so far to the left and he's clear over on the right. And you said, I can't rationalize a reason with them. It's because we, they're going to their comfort zones. And I've always said before, you're entitled to your own opinion.

You're just not entitled to create your own facts to support your opinion. But right now you can find somebody to support your crazy facts, supporting your crazy opinion. But right now you can find somebody to support your crazy facts, supporting your crazy opinion. So why do you believe that it can ever go back to any kind of middle ground? What indication do you have? COVID didn't do it. Guns that you're wrestling with right now. You know, we have people who say, look at the kids.

Look at the kids in Texas. What do you owe them? And people look at those images. They are poignant and painful, and they have two opposite conclusions. I and let all the good guys have guns and these will stop. And then you have another group look at it and say, no, get rid of as many guns as possible and change who can get them. And these things will stop. Where do those two ever meet? Well, you know, the Second Amendment, the constitutional amendment, the Second Amendment's right to bear arms is because we needed a militia back when we didn't have a standing military. But with that being said, it's still the Second Amendment, the Constitution, and I will protect that as I will protect all of our amendments in the Constitution. But we have people that basically want to take the gloves off, whatever it is you want to have. And I think there's common sense and that we can come to.

We've been doing a lot of things in a bipartisan way. You just don't get much play for it, Chris. We did a major. First of all, coming out of the COVID, we did about three point four trillion dollars of assistance to the American public and did it totally in a bipartisan, almost unanimous on most of them. totally in a bipartisan, almost unanimous on most of them. Not until we got to the ARP, you know, the American Rescue Plan in March of 2020, did it become political. After the 2013 and Sandy Hook, how I got involved is people start talking about banning this and banning that and everything else. And I said, but wait a minute. I says, I come from a gun culture. I'm a law abiding gun owner. And you're looking at me as because I own a gun. I'm a criminal. I'm not. I'm not going to do something wrong.

I says, I was taught gun culture. We call it gun sense. I've got gun sense. But I was taught never sell my gun to a stranger. I'm not going to basically loan my gun to a family member or someone I know is irresponsible. I said, give me that. Give me that at least a credit for that. And I said, but I said, you've got loopholes. You got loopholes at gun shows where people can go and rent a table and sell it and they don't have to have a background check. Well, that person doesn't understand gun culture because they're selling it for a price and a profit. If you care less, who in the heck's on the other side? We were taught not to do that.

Shut that down. And also on the Internet, you can sell a gun. If I sell a gun on the Internet from one state to the other, intrastate, then I have to send it to an FFL dealer, firearm dealer. They do a background check. But I can sell the gun back and forth in the state of West Virginia all day long on the Internet, not know who the state of West Virginia all day long on the internet, not know who the other person.

Shut that down. Shut commercial sales down where there's no knowledge of who the person on the other end except for a monetary transaction. Do you think that there is any space for an agreement on a type of weapon that should be more difficult to get. Now, I'm being very careful with my words because you and I know how sensitive, and look, I know three quarters of my audience

is going to say, what do you care about the sensitivity of some gun nut? It's not a gun nut. It's somebody who is afraid that this is a slippery slope that is going to begin and end with them losing their weapons. And they'll say,

there's no such thing as an assault rifle. They will say, many, many rifles and handguns are semi-automatic. And that an AR-15, which we keep hearing about, is just very popular, but it is not dissimilar from many other types of weapons. So it's a slippery slope. Do you believe that you can isolate the AR-15 as a type of weapon that has big magazine capacity and, you know, obviously one pull, one fire capability and get it where it is more difficult to have them? I don't think there's support for that. I really don't. I think that basically...

Should there be? Well, I'm thinking, you know, I've said this before way back in 2013, and I've never found a need for one. My family members have them. I've got family members that have them because they want them. And I'm not concerned about them because I know they're responsible people. But they enjoy going out to target ranges and shooting and things of that sort. I enjoy going skeet shooting and target shooting, and I enjoy going hunting.

So I understand. But with that, the type of bullets, some of the bullets that I'm saying, that I'm understanding have been used, is basically just lethal war weapons. I mean, they're just for total destruction. I don't see, I mean, I would have to understand more about that or the desire for that, but I can tell you those are some other things we should be looking at. I'm understanding also the day R-15 is easy to, you know, kind of conform into more of a fully automatic, if you will.

So some of those things we've been, you know, the bunt stock has been outlawed. And but, you know, there's just an awful lot of things are being done. It's the gun culture. It's just the gun culture. These are young males. Most of them are young males. Trouble. And we've had people come to us and say, well, they're watching all these violent videos

all the time. They're on a video games. They're teaching them. I mean, how would a person, 18 years of age, get hands on $6,000, I guess, to go buy these types of weapons and the armor that goes with them? How would they know? Where do they get that information? That's on, you know, again, that's going to be free.

Well, but listen, there is a bigger problem here. Access to weapons matters. You know it. I don't need to lecture you about anything, let alone about this. Dealing with who has the weapon also matters. You know, you want a concealed permit or a carry permit in New York, they're going to make phone calls on a list of people that you give them who know you. I don't know why that isn't the test for everything.

Now, I understand that my buddies will say, you're only making it hard for me and not the bad guy. We're not talking about somebody coming into your house. That's a boogeyman. A bad guy is going to get a gun out of the back of a car in the middle of the ghetto, and they're going to come to my house, and they're going to use it. I get that fear. It just happens very, very infrequently. So do school shootings. But I get the boogeyman effect. If we want to focus on who is using the weapon, it's really code for mental health. And I know you know, and we've discussed this, the mentally ill are more likely to be victims of violent crime than perpetrators. But the number one gun crime in this country is and always has been suicide. And we see with young males, especially when they turn age where they can get weapons,

they start killing themselves that way. And we definitely have a problem with identifying people who are getting weapons for the wrong reasons. Is there something in the pending legislation that will address that in a meaningful way? I think so, because basically we're going an awful lot of mental, you know, this bill that we've been talking about negotiating is going to be close to 15 billion with a B, 15 billion dollar cost to it. Most of it's for schools addressing mental illness and being able to identify it and treat it. And a lot of it in the school settings, having mental hygienes and things of this sort, people that we have access to in our school system,

everything we possibly can get a young person who we know that basically their mode of operandum has changed completely, their social pages have changed, their friends have changed. The youth, we've got to train our youth to identify better and be able to inform someone that has the ability, not to bring the heat down, but to bring basically the quality of a person who has the ability, the experience, and the professionalism to treat the mental illness that a young person can identify. Something's changed with my friend, Jimmymy okay he's he's a different person today can someone please check and there has to be a mechanism where somebody can alert the right people that at some point can uh result in jimmy for our purposes yeah

not getting access to a weapon correct correct at that at that time. That's when the flag comes up and you're of intervention. And if Jimmy would try to go buy that gun as soon as he turns 18, then they have a three to 10 day process they're going through to do the background checks on Jimmy. When I say background. And you think you can get that done? I really do. I believe that we know one thing. The two things, and I kept emphasizing, we've got to make sure whatever we do in this piece of legislation would have been able to prevent, not hypothetically, but would have.

And we know the age requirement, and we know if we could have gotten this Jimmy help before. I'm using that hypothetical name. But if we had this person that we could have gotten help and identified that person. And I think that person, and then it would have been able to intervene before they made this horrific crime. Now the hard part, and I know that that sounds funny, like this is also hard. The hardest part is you have access to the weapon, you have the person who wants access to the weapon, and then you have the hardest part, which is the motivation. Yes, we have the most weapons, but I have to believe after all these

years covering so many different indications of our violence, we are an unusually violent culture in as much as when somebody wants to hurt themselves, there is a tendency in our culture to do it by way of killing others. And we never really talk about it. We certainly haven't addressed it in any meaningful way. Do you believe that that is an important part of this and maybe something that's changed? Do you think that we've always been so violent and it's just about access to weapons? Or do you think there's something we have to address about our culture and the hate and the willingness to hurt? Well, it's the venomous speech that you're hearing from elected officials who are supposed to be your leaders of society or basically your leaders of your political society, if you will.

And when you have former President Donald Trump, you know, preaching as he does that it's OK, that's my enemy there. Let's take him out and this and that and everything else they talk about. People are thinking now that's the norm. And you have other politicians thinking, well, that's worked for so-and-so. It ought to work for me. And they're speaking and spewing the same type of rhetoric that's been just so divisive.

And then you say, well, we ought to go to our respective corners and just go to your corners and fight it out. And basically, if that's the case, then it's going to get worse, not better. You know, i'm in the political process here i've been for a long time and i got into it not thinking that one side was right or one side was always wrong but i never thought i had to attack my my adversary or my opponent in order to make myself look good i i, you're saying, well, that's gone. That day's

changed. It'll never get back. We better try to get it back. I mean, if you want to keep the country that we have, Chris, you're going to have to come back to the middle. We're going to have to find out how we can govern. It can't be the other person's fault. No different than here. You watch a candidate who runs for office. They get defeated. They blame everybody. Everybody's fault. They stole it from me. They robbed me.

They took this. They said this. It was wrong and fair. I got defeated in 1996. I ran for governor the first time. My son was standing there and everybody was distraught. I knew we were going to lose

after about the first precinct start coming in where we should have won bigger than we did in some precincts. Then I knew we were going to lose after about the first precinct start coming in where we should have won bigger than we did in some precincts. Then I knew we were in trouble. So I've been around long enough. I looked at my son. I said, honey, let me tell you something. We're going to lose tonight.

And we've won a lot of elections. It's easy to win. It's easy to be a good winner. You better show some class tonight. It wasn't anybody's fault. It's my fault. My name was the only name on the ballot. Nobody else's name was on it. I didn't communicate well. My message wasn't clear and concise. I did a poor job of delivering it. So it was my fault. Nobody else's. And I accepted that responsibility. that responsibility. And you know what? Then the people that worked against me to defeat me that time came back and supported me the next time. So I don't know what to tell you.

I just tell you who I am and what I want to do. And I'm not going to succumb to basically out there throwing more daggers at people who are supposedly on the other side. I like to think we're all on the same side. I'm on the side of America. I don't care where you put me. Well, you've got trouble in your own party. I mean, I hear you about not wanting to always make it about the Republicans

and that they're the bad ones because you're a Democrat. But you have problems in your own party. You know, you got Bernie Sanders who, you know, you will say a million times, you know, he's a friend of mine. I respect him. I like him. He accuses you of being a saboteur. Yeah. And that you are the reason that the Democrats weren't able to pass things filibuster set aside, which, you know, is as every but as much of a problem, the progress within your party's agenda as you might be. every bit as much of a problem, the progress within your party's agenda as you might be. But what do you say to that criticism that you're a saboteur?

You know that you are stopping the Democrats from doing what they were elected to do. The president wants you to do it and you still don't. You're not a Democrat. I'm an American. I'm not a Washington Democrat. I'll be the first to admit. And you know something? Neither is Bernie. He's a confirmed

socialist. Proud of it. And I know who he is. And I respect that. I don't agree with him. And he knows who I am. I'm a very centrist. I tell people I'm fiscally responsible and socially compassionate. But I'm more of a conservative. I said, I haven't changed, Bernie. You know, you might have changed, but I haven't changed. I'm not asking you to change. Why do you expect me to change? You know, it's called a democracy. You would think that we have 60 United States Democratic senators right now. We're 50-50. We're in the longest time in history that we've ever had a completely divided Senate. The longest. And the bottom line is you've got to work together. But they just think that, you know, no process. What's

the purpose for the committee? The purpose for the committee is to get buy-in from both sides. The purpose for a markup is to basically have eyes on it for the public to see what we're trying to do. Anything that we do outside of that or in reconciliation, there's very little interaction at all. The Chris Cuomo Project is supported by Cozy Earth. Why? Because I like their sheets. That's why. A lot of people don't get a good night's sleep for a lot of reasons. One of the ones that you can control is bedding. One out of three of us report being sleep deprived. Okay, well, what is it? Well, it stresses all kinds of things. But the wrong sheets can make you hot, can make you cold.

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and they will determine if appropriate. Restrictions apply. You see the website. You'll get details and important safety information. You're going to need a subscription. It's required. Plus, price is going to vary based on product and subscription plan. A few tough questions. A few tough questions. A few tough questions. One, is it frustrating that you get a lot of blame when it arguably should be Schumer? If President Biden is upset at a Democrat senator, why isn't it Chuck Schumer? He's the leader. He's the one who's supposed to come to the president and say, this is what I can or cannot get done. It seems like Biden keeps getting confused by bad information from his own. Why doesn't Schumer get more scrutiny? Why is it always you well i can't answer that i mean that's i don't know what the conversations between

him and the president or i know what my conversations with him has been i know what my conversation with the president has been but you said why is the president you know they're confusing or he's getting confusing input how could someone bring the president united states to the to this to the house right caucus twice and walk away with nothing. Yeah. How did that happen? Well, that's Pelosi. That's Pelosi.

No, no, but I'm saying how would his chief and his staff misread that if they were going to bring the president up, the president of the United States, of the party, of the Democratic Party, into the Democrat caucus to try to pass a bill that we haven't done anything with 30 years bipartisan infrastructure and walked away two times without getting a vote on it or confirmative well the staff only knows what they're being told um on the congress side and i'm not saying they couldn't be doing a better job for the president but they make him look like a dope uh that's what fuels all you do. Well, you don't do that.

Yeah, that's just not what I mean. Joe doesn't have it anymore, you know, stuff from his political opponents, is that, you know, Pelosi on one side, how does she control her own? And Schumer on the other side, how does he control his own? Yes, he doesn't have the margin that Pelosi does, even though she doesn't have great numbers either. Chris, let me say something here. They don't control me.

I don't work for them. I work for the people of West Virginia. Robert Burr was famously saying, the president's not my boss. Chuck Schumer's not my boss. Mitch McConnell's not the boss. It's the people you represent. And if I can't go home and explain it, I can't vote for it. I've been very clear.

I've never changed. And now all of a sudden they think, oh, you've got to jump in line. 48 or 49 want to go one way, and you're not. I can't explain this in West Virginia. It doesn't make sense. And that's the bottom line. They just, you know, right now I told them last year, take a pause. On the Build Back Better, that bill never came off of $6 trillion.

It's always been a big bill. They just kept cutting the amount of time they were going to pay for things. But they wanted basically the people to get addicted to where they have to pay for it from debt financing. I knew the games were being played. I wasn't going to do it. Has inflation changed the game in terms of the fiscal mindset i mean inflation is absolutely in part at a minimum because of all the money you guys put in the economy do they get that well the bottom line

i would hope but if nobody wants to take blame for it everybody misread it when i was telling everyone take a pause remember that when i said just take a pause i think we everyone, take a pause. Remember that when I said, just take a pause? I think we need to take a pause now. We already had three and a half trillion dollars in the market. We knew that there was a lot out there still going out, hadn't even been distributed. And we knew that basically we had a vaccine that worked. People were pent up. They've been locked in, sequestered in, cloistered in their homes for a year. They want to go back out and spend and enjoy their life again.

There's going to be much more demand coming than what the supply would have been. We had all that. And they tell me, and I kept saying, you should be concerned about three things can happen. Why we should take the pause. Inflation. We know it's coming. We just don't know how bad it's coming and how long it'll be. But we know it's coming. That's a reason for a pause in itself.

Next of all, the COVID. Dr. Fauci told us it's not one and done. It has iterations. It comes up back and it's been doing that. We knew that to be concerned about. And we had geopolitical unrest warnings back then. None of us ever thought we'd see a land war in Europe, but we knew with China and Taiwan, we knew with Ukraine and Russia, there was warning signs everywhere for us. Those three things, either one of those three things justified a pause before you threw caution to the wind and threw another $3 trillion or $2 trillion or whatever they were talking about. and through another $3 trillion or $2 trillion or whatever they were talking about.

That's all I had said. And they told me, oh, we have 17 Nobel laureates who said it'll be transitory. I said, you've got 17 people that you've paid to tell you what you want to hear. That's not accurate. Nobody wants to see the sign. So I could say that, oh, okay, you must be right. I didn't think I was wrong. And I called him, and they all said, oh, he's crazy.

He's doing this and that. He's just an obstructionist. I've heard it all. I've had everything thrown at me for a year. But the bottom line is this country is much, much bigger and better and deserving of our total commitment from being elected officials, especially as a U.S. Senator, than what a political party has ever been or should ever be. The January 6th hearings, what do you think the net effect of them was? It's horrific.

It's horrific. And let me tell you this. This is one time I will defend. The Democrats wanted the Republicans to do a bipartisan committee. And I talked to Nancy Pelosi and to Chuck Schumer because at that one, you know, you do these things. Who's ever the majority gets staffing and this and that and everything. Nancy basically agreed to everything the Republicans wanted. and everything. Nancy basically agreed to everything the Republicans wanted. Chuck backed off of everything that he had said to let it'll be equal and it'll be done fairly. And the Republicans would not. They walked away from it. This is one thing I do know. So this hearing is extremely important for the people of America to know what went on and how it happened. I was there

when that attack happened. Trust me, they did not come as a visit. They were not friendly visitors coming to see how we ran Congress. They were coming to change how we ran our government. But you know what people say. They say, okay, Senator, you're right. Just like when those BLM people attacked in the Pacific Northwest and were burning down places and doing all their things. They're bad people who are ideological extremists who come and they do bad things. These two things are equivalent. It doesn't change how I feel about you Democrats. I still support Republicans. The poll data with everything that came out in those hearings, as clear as it is, and all those, the money that was raised and the pardons, they still say the Democrats are a bigger threat. I'm sticking with my party. What does that tell you? What tells you that we, the Democrat

party, have a problem when you see it for your own eyes and you've heard it from their mouths, what they intended to do and what they were trying to do and what was going on. And here they are, people are still saying, well, even that I know what went on, I saw it with my eyes, I heard it with my own ears. I still think that's better than what the Democrats are giving me. Don't you think maybe we should be looking at who we are and changing a little bit, being the leaders? The country wants leadership. It doesn't want accusations. It wants finger pointing and verbal attacks back and forth. Come on. Someone has to be the grown-up in the room, and we have to say, listen, this country is bigger and better than all of us could ever be,

and it's because of people that have sacrificed before us, generations before. It's our turn to stand to the plate now. Are we going to save it or not? You talked about what went on in different parts of the country and Black Lives Matter and this and that and everything. There was never an attack on our own government and our own capital. I don't condone any of these.

I condone that you have a right to gather, you have a right to protest, to do whatever you think needs to be done to draw attention to the changes you want done. Violence cannot be accepted in any way, shape, or form by anybody anywhere in this country. So that has to be squelched. And on the other hand, their intention was, Chris, to come here to overthrow this government, basically to sabotage this government. We were there, and there's not a Democrat or Republican who did not know that happened that day. It's a congressperson or a senator, I can assure you. They might deny it, but they know exactly what was happening.

So why isn't the conclusion that this type of blind obeisance to party as tribe, the only fix has to be a big fix, which means one of two things. One, you have to get rid of the filibuster so that you can get things through and let the people decide who gets the power. things through and let the people decide who gets the power or or you have to blow up the two-party system and you have to have more parties you do not belong in the same party with bernie sanders or aoc or about 40 percent of your membership in the elected office do you think the time has come that two parties are not enough? The time has come probably what you're saying and how you have depicted it is probably accurate. Getting rid of the filibuster is the worst thing in the world that could be done.

I can assure you of that. You have no checks and balance on the executive branch of government, no matter who it is. So you wanna talk about having three equal branches of government, legislative, executive and judicial, that won't happen. Like we've had the last two administrations, we had all Republicans with the president and Congress. And then now we have the same with the Democrat. And I guarantee you with a strong president, there's no checks and balances. with a strong president, there's no checks and balances. And I was there when 35, I think it was 30 or 35 Democrat senators back in 2018 or 2019 basically signed a letter and sent it to McConnell.

Please not get rid of the filibuster. We will lose democracy as we know it. They were absolutely correct. But within a year and a half, they changed. I didn't change. I still believe it's the wrong thing. Now, the party system, I believe the people are probably hungry for an independent American, independent party. I don't know. But they're not happy with the two they have right now. And they're being forced to pick sides and go to their respective corners. Because it works for the two teams, Joe. The reason it stays this way is it works for you guys.

I get that you're a renegade in your ranks, but the only people who benefit from vote for me, the other guys worse, are the people in the game right now. You're absolutely correct. And I don't know that a third party is enough. I don't know that a third party is right. I don't think it's enough because the two can box out the third. I think if you had at least four, you would have to have coalitions. You'd have to have deals being made to keep your majority of seats. And we don't have to change the Constitution.

You don't have to change and become a parliament. You know, that's a scary word for people. Everything could stay the same structurally. But if we stay as two parties, Joe, how does anything get better? How does anything get better the way it is right now? You'd have to change the electoral count probably, Chris, on that, how you elect your president, I would assume,

if you had three or four or more. But the bottom line is people are absolutely craving for bringing this country back together. If you want to say bring the country back together again, that's exactly what's going to happen or what they want happening. And you're probably correct. They don't think that either party right now because they're so entrenched into their respective corners that they'll never be able to come together. I don't want to, I mean, I don't want to accept that, but I see the reality every day. And there's people that are just denying the facts

as they see them, the facts as they know them and still deny them because they're believing that if they deny, if they deny what they know to be factual, then they're succumbing to, well, that other side might not be all that wrong. Guess what? side's not the enemy when you go home and people say to you what do i do in this next election do i vote for biden again do you believe the president has earned a second term i believe that basically the people will make a decision state by state. The people in my state will not support a national democratic figure right now that I can see. I asked you, what do you say to them? Well, what I say to them is pick the person. I know Joe Biden to be a good person.

OK, now from the leadership is going to depend. I think that the policy or lack of an energy policy is very, very detrimental to our country. I'm disagreeing on that with them. I'm fighting on that. I think that the inflation that we have right now, there's blame for everybody, but basically blame that we didn't see it coming and didn't intervene quicker. Or the Fed, you can talk about all that. So I'm not going to tell you who's going to be running. I don't know if Joe Biden runs again and he's the he's the

Democrat nominee, depending on who the Republican nominee is. You know, we just have to wait and see. I'm not predicting anything or how I would support or not support or get involved or not. But I can tell you this, whoever the elected president is, Democrat, Republican, independent. Every one of us should pray they succeed. And I'm going to do everything I can to make that person successful. Now, who I help get there or how I get involved will be a different story. But that story matters. Oh, look, already, Senator, I don't think I have ever heard a sitting senator that is a member of a party not automatically say, oh, yeah, the sitting president is in my party. I'm for them.

Well, I don't know what to tell you on that. I'm just I'm always for the right person when they're running. I've always tried to be pick the on that. I'm just I'm always for the right person when they're running. I've always tried to be pick the person that's running. Joe Biden is a good person with a good heart, wants to do the right thing. And I've always believed that some people around him. Sometimes I disagree with and I disagree with a lot of the advice he's getting. And we talk back and forth. We have a very respectful, candid conversation. OK, so let's just wait and see what happens. I'm not going

to predict what's going to happen. Is there any chance that you decide to run for president? You know, I've never looked at it from that standpoint, from this, how do you, how do you approach this? I think you just did it on the types of party and the party system that we have and how it's, it's unless it changes completely, I want to be in a position where I can help my country. And there's a lot of us who like to retire and go home and enjoy the family. And I think the families have sacrificed more than we've sacrificed. But the bottom line is, is do you walk away when you can maybe contribute and help heal and bring people together? My goal is to continue to fight like the

Dickens for a more perfect union. Senator, ordinarily, I would thank you right now and I would move on because I want to see you again on the platform that I'm working for. But as you could tell, I'm in my house and I don't have anywhere to go. So I'm going to ask you again, is there any chance that you run for president? I understand you've got to think about it and you'd have to figure it out and you've got to talk to your family and you've been married since you were 20. And I don't know how that good woman, Gail, has stayed with you through all of this nuttiness. But are you open? We might have to have another pod session here to go into that more.

All right. might have to have another pod session here to go into that more. All right. I'll give you, look, just because I'm just getting going here and I can't alienate everybody, but I do want it to be clear that you leave it as an open question and you leave Biden as an open question, and that will tell people everything they need to know about you. I appreciate you coming on and being part of the project. Well, thank you, Chris. It's always good to be with you. And like I say again, pray for our president, pray for our country, and God surely has blessed us. And I pray for you and pray for me because I need it. We both do.

All right. God bless, Joe. Thank you very much, Senator. The best to you and your family. Good luck. Tell the family we said hi. Thank you. to you and your family. Good luck. Tell the family we said hi. Thank you.

So what do you think of Joe Manchin now, Senator of West Virginia? Comment, let me know. You can do it there at YouTube, wherever you're listening to the podcast. You could do it at chriscuomo.com and of course on social media. I'll be looking at the comments and so will the team because I want to make sure that we're capturing what you want to hear, how you want to hear it, because the goal is to help. Now, we spoke a lot about Uvalde, Texas and the tragedy there because it had happened when we were speaking recently. There's been more violence since. In fact, the Democrats wound up fact, the Democrats wound up passing a bill, which will become law. Now, Joe Manchin said he was in favor of restricting assault rifles, assault weapons. It's tricky. The vocabulary winds up mattering. I know a lot of people on the left and in the center are like, that's a wasted conversation. It matters in the politics of it. But that didn't make it into the bill is that joe manchin's fault roe v wade also happened he says send me roe v wade i'll codify it

is that what they did did they send him roe v wade or was there more the answer is there was more so do you blame joe manchin now i'm not a jo Joe Manchin apologist I know some of you will take that easy out but that's just not how it is yes I've known him a long time yes I respect his legacy of service no I do not think that his positions are just about him lining his pockets with coal money I think he has fundamental philosophical differences and let me tell you you know you can say oh oh, well, you went easy on Joe Manchin. Joe Manchin just said that he will not commit to supporting a president of his party in the upcoming election. You see a lot of people do that with Trump. You see a lot of people do

that ever. Okay. I promise you he was not anxious to say that. But I'm trying to get you, your leaders, to speak to you in a way where you can make your own decisions based on the real insights that they have to offer you. So that's what I did. Now, to what matters, okay? I want you to comment, but I need you to be in line with us here

in order to do that. You have to follow or subscribe, okay, to the project at Apple Podcasts. Here's how you do it. Apple and Spotify, you follow. Apple and Spotify, follow, okay? In either app, you go to the search bar and type in Chris Cuomo Project. I got that right? I got that right. Tap on the show, and in Apple Podcasts, hit the plus sign. Apple Podcasts, plus sign. That's the follow button,

and you'll get all our upcoming episodes for free. I'm not trying to take your money, okay? Spotify, same thing. Just hit the button that says follow. Now, YouTube, very important. Type in the Chris Cuomo Project. Okay. The longer I'm back in and on TV and here, there are going to be more and more articles. So you can't just type in my name. You'll get flooded out. Chris Cuomo Project. Look for the yellow logo. Okay. That's the show. Hit the red project. Look for the yellow logo. Okay. That's the show. Hit the red subscribe button. That's what you do there. Okay. Once you're already a subscriber there, if you click on the bell, that's how you get notifications the moment that a new episode drops. We're also available on all

the other podcast apps as well. And finding us works the same way. All right. So I think that's it. I think I covered everything and it's time to say, uh, you got to do the phone number and you get to do the merch. Handsome. Greg, gorgeous. Greg Ott is correct. Uh, yes. Free agent. I'm pushing the merch. You find he loves it. He got to correct me. I like the handsome. You go to chriscuomo.com. You'll see where you can get the merch. Why am I pushing the merch? I want to get a nice big kitty of money that we can then come up with ideas of what charities to give it to, what causes.

That's what I want to do. So I want to get a lot of money in there. And the guys are like, oh, you got to wear the free agent merch. I don't usually wear stuff with my name on it. Free agent isn't. I am absolutely a free agent. I always have been. I believe in it so deeply. But this is about you waving your own flag as a free agent and asking people, are you free? They'll all say yes, but do they mean it? Once you start talking to them about where they're coming from in politics

and culture and otherwise. So that's why I want you to get the merch. Now am I good? No, you forgot the phone number. That was the first thing I said. The phone number, it is important. I wanted to say, no, you're wrong, I'm leaving. But it is important because you can record a question for me

and I'm going to start answering them on the next episode. What's the number? 516. 516. 412. 412. 6363. 63070-7.

All right. So there it is. And we'll put it up on the screen as well. I have to tell you, I'm blown away by the response to the project and the appetite for more insight to help us be free agents. I'll see you next time.