Why the Economy Could Cost Republicans the Midterms

- Well, maybe August, ladies and gentlemen,

“but next up is in session next to us convening”

because this is an election year. And, man, there's a lot going on. I'm editor-in-chief of the Live Interactive video, platform two way. My name is Mark Calper, I'm your host here,

and I'm your guide to everything next up, grateful to you for being next to us and for being part of the program. Love our guest today, super interesting folks.

First, someone I've never spoken to,

so you all be seeing me meet her for the first time. She's a doctor, her name is Annie Andrews. She's also the Democratic nominee in South Carolina for the U.S. Senate. Running against, we don't know who, yeah.

She was gonna run against Lindsey Graham. Now, she'll be either running against Congress Menorming, Norman, or the new Senator Graham. But she's a super interesting person. I've heard really great things about how impressive she is.

So Annie Andrews will be here. And then, Katie Pavlich, host of the Katie Pavlich, I was called the Katie Pavlich Show. Host of Katie Pavlich tonight on News Nation, I appear there with her almost every week

and great-tab Katie on. I have a bunch of stuff I want to ask her, including, what she thinks about what AOC has been up to this week with her very public talk of freezing her eggs. And then, Robert Paype is a professor of political science

University of Chicago. He has very strong and distinct feelings about the U.S. and how the conflict with Iran is going in Dr. Paype will run through how difficult it will be for the United States to defeat the drones, the mattress-sized drones of the Iranian.

And eager to speak to them all and eager to you from here from them all. But before our guests get here, my reported my log on the state of the midterms.

And as is almost always the case, the state of the midterms

is about the state of the U.S. economy. Poll after poll will tell you a affordability, prices, inflation, gas. And that is a top priority for voters. And it's often the top priority.

But it's easily the top priority. And this is not a media thing or a democratic thing. Talk to any Republican pollster. I tell you this all the time. As I did this week, and they will tell you,

top of mine for voters is the economy. And they're not given the present very high marks on the economy. So we talked all spring, winter, spring into the early summer about, well, could things still change. We're now at the point with early voting almost upon us

in some states, will the economy get better? It might get moderately better. The data continues to be mixed. Every week, we see some positive data, some negative. It's mixed.

It's not a disaster. I hear from business people all the time, who say, Mark, the economy's doing pretty well. But that's not how voters feel about it. But is it going to get so much better

that there's going to be in September, October,

“just a drum beat of headlines, the economy's surging?”

I don't think that's the case. And part because the administration itself, the Trump folks have said, the Iran conflict needs to end for this to really take off. And I get to tell you, I don't think it's going to be

over by the time voters make up their mind. It could be over in some senses. But it's not going to be over in a way where, again, there's going to be headlines saying, war over gas prices drop.

Our gas prices going to go down. They keep hovering around $4 a gallon. They're not at their all-time high during this administration. But they're higher than they were. I don't, from talking to folks in the administration,

and in the private sector, I don't think gas prices are going to go down appreciably in the next few weeks. They could go down some. But I don't think they go down appreciably. Will there be a change in the inflation day

to this week was mixed? Was it was basically along the lines of where it's been, along the lines of expectations? So if the two initial questions, which we've been asking, will the economy get better in dramatic ways?

No, will there be a wrong conflict

“and in a way that could bring about dramatic improvement?”

No, I don't think either of those things are going to happen based on my conversation with folks. So then the question is, what will voters think? If basically the economy we have now with mixed economic data, is the economy voters

are going to vote on in a referendum on the president? What are they going to think? And the answer to that is, right now, they're not loving it. Truly not read the economy, of course, is an issue that typically favors the Republicans.

Typically over the last decade of Donald Trump's time in national life as a politician, he scored well in the economy.

And it's always a big issue, but as I said, it's

a big issue by far. The president mocks it. He mocks affordability as an issue regularly. And Republicans are frustrated, including the president, that what they did to do in this term to help the economy,

some people say maybe they shouldn't have done it so soon. They pass the big tax cuts on all sorts of things, on tips, tax on social security, taxes on overtime. Lots of Americans have benefited from that. But they don't seem to feel it.

And so, but it'll continue.

The Republicans will continue to say they supported tax cuts. They'll tell Americans how much they benefited from that. And they'll continue to say that the Democrats voted against them. But the question is, is that all they're going to do is, all they're going to do, say, we supported tax cuts.

And they didn't know. They're not going to sit back and rely just on that. As I talked to Republican strategists this week, they know they can't feel, be passive about this.

“Just saying to voters, you should feel better,”

is not good enough. So the question is, what can they do to try to change things? Can they make the economy better? We've seen in the last few days the float of various ideas of how they might try to still pass something

to make people feel better, knowing that they're on conflict is probably not going to be over in any meaningful way. Knowing that the data that came out this week on employment inflation, it's kind of mixed. It's kind of what classical economics call math.

So they can talk about how they think need to be better.

But they've got to find a way to impact public opinion. Because right now, in these key states, and nationally, there's not a lot of positive news for the Republicans on the question of how to voters feel. The president's rating on the economy are bad.

There's a new political poll. I can show you a bunch. There's a new political poll that illustrates the case. That the president is not rated well right now in the economy. And that means his overall job approval

is not going to be good. And that's going to hurt Republicans. Here's a show of everybody, Ace Six. This is to show from political, poll from political.

They ask Republicans whether they're mag or Trump voters, whether they're mag or Trump voters or not mag. What do you think of the job the president's done on the economy, rising cost of living?

Are they amongst his failures? And non-Mag Republicans, 41% of them, say amongst the president's main failure has been to deal with the rising cost of living, even in a quarter of mag, Trump voters say,

yeah, that's been a failure. And then the economy overall, around a quarter, also there, of both categories. And obviously, with independence and Democrats, his numbers are even worse.

So what can they do? Well, one thing that really frustrates Republicans. And again, I showed these soundbites from the president to Republican strategists in battleground states.

And they did not like them. They did not like them. They do not like when the president brags about how great the economy is. They just think that's Joe Biden.

It's like George H. W. Bush. They think it sounds out of touch, but the president persists, ladies and gentlemen. Here he is on Fox about a week ago, talking about how great the economy is.

S. too. We're doing an unbelievable job. Costs are coming way down. I inherited, you know, they talk about costs. I inherited very, very high costs.

And they're all coming down now. The food, the groceries. So we're coming down. We've done a great job.

“You know, I think we should be given an eight plus”

on the economy, but eight plus to the economy. I could take that sand by to focus groups and diners across the battleground states and say, do you agree with the president that he deserves an eight plus in the economy?

I don't know that I'd find even the most maggot people say a plus. Similar messaging for us trading to a public and strategist from the president and interview with punchball news, also about a week ago.

Here he is as 12. But our country right now is doing better than it's ever done. You know, when I see polls on the economy, I should have 150% not 100%. Because we have the greatest, this is the golden age

of America, which being built now in this country

has never, ever been built.

And we're really, we are literally in the golden age of America. And I think people are starting. I actually think people are starting. See, 89 days. Again, A plus golden age.

There are some positives in the economy. The statistics show it, talk to corporate leaders. You'll hear it. But the message of saying everything's better than it's ever been that just Republican strategists

will tell you privately, at least. That falls not just on death years. That falls on angry years amongst the voters. So what's the Republican message going to be? Besides the president saying everything's great.

They will point out what's good. The booming stock market that will point to the tax cuts. But as we've seen in the last couple days, as the Democrats associated with the socialist wing of the party, if one, some primaries,

they're going to say Democrats not only oppose the tax cuts, they're going to say, Democrats are socialist and communists. The message is going to try to say, things are getting better, things are good. You cannot let the Democrats have power.

“That's what the Republicans are going to be.”

What are the Democrats saying? We looked this week at some of the soundbites some of the ads out there. And it's pretty clear what the Democrats are going to say. They're going to go hard at Republicans

for supporting the Trump agenda. Let's look at what two of the more key candidates

Now one of the most famous Democratic candidates of the cycle.

“Dr. Elsa had the Michigan candidate for Democrat for Senate.”

Here he is talking about the economy. This is S8, please. That's three. 97 in a gallon, who can afford it? That.

A 30% in a month. Why? Because Donald Trump took us into an illegal unjustifiable warning wrong. Yes, the U.S. is the world's biggest oil producer.

But Mark gets our globe. So if you lose oil here, guess what happens to the price over here? It goes up because at the end of the day, supply and demand are things. Even if Donald Trump does not want to be.

So pay attention. That's going to be a big through line for the Democrats all fall. The war is unpopular. High gas prices, obvious land popular. Democrats are going to hear that over and over.

Another big thing you're going to hear over and over is that the systems corrupt, that big money special interests are corrupt, and that's Trump politics.

“Here's another one of their Democrat Marquis candidates.”

Troy Jackson, candidate in Maine for Senate. His new ad, you'll hear some really populist themes in here. Some profanity to punctuate the Democratic message.

First message, the war is unpopular.

And it's why we have high gas prices. And the second unpopular, the second target will be the special interests that screw the little guy. This is Troy Jackson in Maine, S11. I'm a fifth generation logger from Aligab.

I grew up poor kid in a town full of poor people, doing everything right, and still struggling to get ahead. And it's worse now. People in this country work so damn hard, and still feel so damn bold.

That's no way to live. Susan Collins keep telling us that everything's fine. But we know it's not. We all have eyes, hate checks, and bills. We know we're getting screwed.

You deserve better. I'm Troy Jackson. I'm running for Senate, and I approve this message. They didn't mention Trump in that ad, but he talks about

the little guy getting screwed, and things being bad,

and not saying the economy's a plus. Now, here to House candidates, who are in marquee races, and that amongst the targeted races, just as the Michigan and Maine Senate races are key, Bob Brooks retired firefighter.

He's running against one of the most targeted Republican House incumbents in the country in Pennsylvania. And he made a video, which will show you, Bob Brooks is one of the star candidates of the Democrats for driving an economic message that's populist,

that's anti-Trump, and that ties Republicans who support Donald Trump to the negative economic conditions. Listen closely, 'cause this guy's considered one of the true stars of all the Democratic candidates to try to win back a Republican seat

and take control of that. This is Bob Brooks going hard against his Republican incumbent House opponent, S13, please. Not once, not twice, not three times, not four times, but five times.

That's how many times my opponent, Ryan McKenzie, voted to support this reckless illegal war in Irene.

“Remember that when you see sky high prices at the pump.”

When McKenzie ran for Congress, he talked all the time about ending wars and lowering prices. So what the hell happened? Typical career politician, he became Trump's lab dog.

That's what happened. The guy forgot about us. He forgot about working people here in the Lee High Valley. I'm clear where I stand. No more forever wars.

Let's get gas prices down and stop sending your taxpayer dollars to the Middle East. I'll fight every day as your congressman to look out for working class folks right here at home. All right, so this little poetic jujitsu, right?

Donald Trump used to say that forever wars were taking money away from Americans. Now he's saying, for Republicans, they're rubber stamping, Trump's war, the wars leading to higher prices, working class folks are getting screwed.

That is a blue collar guy, just like Troy Jackson. These are not fancy people. These are blue collar candidates saying, you're being screwed because of Trump's war. Now, that's on gas prices of the war.

And you'll hear that over and over. The war is still unpopular. And as I said earlier, chances are it'll still be going on. The other big issue, you hear this, every pollster, every strategist, is data centers.

And right now, although the Democrats have not done a unified and distinct job of saying where they stand on data centers, some have, some haven't. They know where the Republicans stand. They know they can paint the Republicans

because President Trump has been pretty pro-development. They can paint the Republicans as being for the data centers. And the data centers are top of mind for folks, because they've come to represent, talk to anyone who's done focus group or polls, I'll tell you.

They've come to represent another manifestation of big, special interest getting rich, off of screwing the little guy. Using up their electricity, raising their electricity rates, using up their water, creating destroying jobs,

creating visualized soar, empowering AI in a way

So this guy William Lawrence is another Democratic candidate. He's unlike Brooks who's more of a moderate. This guy is one of the socialist blind Bernie, the under supported candidates. He want to contested primary the other day in Michigan to run against another Republican

incumbent. Here is Will Lawrence's William Lawrence's new ad in Michigan running hard against data centers S10, please. Congressman Tom Barrett wants to turn this field into a data center. This is an existential threat.

He laughed when voting to give big tech billionaires the massive tax breaks to build it, while raising taxes for the rest of us. Nobody's laughing now. Will Lawrence isn't going to let us be bullied

by big corporation. I'm Will Lawrence. I'm running for U.S. Congress to stop these data centers

and put mid Michigan first.

And I approve this message. That Will Lawrence ad, that's another template. You're going to see that over and over again from Democrat saying the other party favors big, special interests and a Donald Trump style capacity

for data centers to be built. Gas prices in the war, big data centers, big AI. You'll hear it over and over and over on the other side. Republicans would like the present to talk less about how well things are going.

And more about how Republicans have better ideas, they pass the tax cuts and the block socialism. That's the matchup from talking to strategists and both sides.

“That's what we're going to see in race after race.”

And the examples we just showed you are pretty illustrative of how Democrats are going to message this. And right now, they're feeling pretty good. And the public polls and the private polls

are causing them to feel really good.

There are a lot of races out there. Republicans will probably win in the end. We'll see when they start spending their money advantage, how they might even things up. But right now in Republican states,

light Kansas, like Texas, you're seeing polling data in public and private, the demonstrates just how bitter people feel about the war, about the gas prices, about the economy in general, and about corporate special interests that they believe are screwing the little guy.

We'll keep following it. But that's my reporting based on what's going on right now with the midterms every day getting closer. Let me know what you think, which side has the better messaging on the economy for this midterm?

Let me know your thoughts in any email. You can send it to [email protected]. Again, send me an email. Tell me what you think of both parties messaging

“on the economy and this crucial midterm.”

Next up at Devilmakedevilmakemermedia.com. All right, take a quick break when we come back. The doctors in the House, Dr. Annie Andrews, the Democrats candidate for Senate and Saddam Carelina. Dr. Andrews is next up.

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Our next up in joining me now, Dr. Annie Andrew, she is the Democratic nominee for Senate in Seth Carolina, she's a pediatrician and a parent. She ran for Congress in 2022 and is now attempting to pull off what would be a major upset.

A state that hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate in quite some time, a state that is a solid red state, but somebody who's putting yourself forward

“to talk about the ideas that are important to her”

and Dr. Annie Andrews joins us. Dr. Thank you for being here. - Well, thank you so much for having me, Mark. - I've read your accounts of why you decide to leave medicine to do this.

What did you learn as being a practicing doctor about what screwed up that requires the government to intervene? - Yeah, I mean, that's exactly why I got off the sidelines. I built my whole life around my goal

of becoming a physician. And I decided to be a doctor when I was four years old, but after practicing and working in a children's hospital for 15 years, I really started to very clearly understand

and their families.

And I experienced things like taking care of patients

when they were discharged from the hospital, their families were struggling to even put food on the table. I would diagnose children with chronic diseases like asthma and diabetes and while I was explaining

the treatment plan to the families, they would have to pause and say, well, how much is that inhaler going to cost, or how much is that insulin going to cost? Countless children and the throws of mental health crises,

whose families couldn't find mental health resources in their communities. Every single night in every children's hospital in this country, there are kids who have to spend the night in their hospital room alone,

because their parents have to leave their child's bedside so they can go work their church job just to make ends meet. And then also the children I've cared for with bullet holes in them.

So all of these in my view are policy failures and as I started to advocate for better policies for kids and families in South Carolina, I very quickly understood that the real path to analyzing change in my state and beyond

was through politics by electing people who inherently care my concern for kids and families in South Carolina.

- I have about a million questions I want to talk to you about.

So I'm gonna do my best to pick through this and focus on the more on policy than on politics. And I want people to understand you are a democratic nominee for Senate. Again, it's in a red state.

Explain what issues that make you a Democrat, what are the issues that are core to you that define yourself as a Democrat?

“- Yeah, I believe that healthcare is a human right.”

I believe we need to put community interest over corporate interest. I believe we need to get dark money and corporate money out of politics. I believe every child deserves access

to a high quality free public education, regardless of the zip code into which they were born. I believe we need to shift our healthcare system from the profit motivated system. We currently operate under a real patient centered system.

And I believe we need to do everything we can to strengthen the middle class to help out working families and to reduce the growing income and wealth and equality that we have here in America that is really disinvenging those patients

and their families that I've cared for for my entire career. - All right, I wanna pick up on some of those. I wish I could talk about them all. You say on your website that you will stand up to anyone

in any party who puts power over people. Some other Democrats running this year, including Dr. Alsaid and Michigan,

have been equally critical sometimes more critical

of the Democratic party. Have the Democrats been equally guilty, more guilty of allowing us big money to special interest to determine policy than the Republicans or the Republicans' words in your view.

- I mean, the Democrats are certainly guilty, probably on a similar scale than Republicans. You know, from every problem I talk about, when you really drill down, the root of the problem is the money interest,

the corporate interest. You know, it's the reason we don't negotiate as a country to lower the cost of prescription drugs because that would upset the pharmaceutical industry and the pharmaceutical lobby,

which funds so many of our candidates, which why for me, it is such a clear distinction. I don't take corporate PAC money. I never have, and I never will, and when I'm elected, I'll fight for South Carolinian.

So I would say both parties are equally to blame for the role of money in politics. - Yeah, why do you think politicians do that?

“- I think money corrupts and power corrupts”

and the longer you stay in power, the more appealing it is to please the special interest who have the power to help you get re-elected. I think it's human nature, especially for career politicians, who don't have something to fall back on

if they were to lose their next election. I think the US House and Senate were built to, for true representatives from their communities to take time out of their profession, to go up and bring their expertise

to the lawmaking process, to serve for a handful of terms and then to go back to their day job. But in America today, so many of the people who work in Washington DC are career politicians. They have nothing to fall back on.

And so all they care about is what they can do to shore up their chances of winning their next election. And that includes keeping special interest groups who fund their campaigns happy. And so you would say any Democrat who takes corporate

special interest money is guilty of that. - I would say that there are at risk of being guilty of that without really knowing what impacts their decision-making process. It does concern me that there are conflicting interests when it comes to taking votes and who's lining their pockets.

“But I think it's on an individual basis,”

but for me, the easiest thing to do is just say, "No, thank you to the corporate money." - Is the Affordable Care Act working and if not, what ways is it falling short? - I believe it was a step in the right direction.

You know, I've been practicing medicine for 20 years so that includes years before the passage of the Affordable Care Act before young people could stay on their parents insurance until the age of 26 before new moms could get breast pumps paid for

by their insurance companies before we required better coverage for routine primary and preventative care.

but over these 20 years I've worked in our healthcare system,

I have continued to see increased amount of red tape, increased administrative burden. Doctors spend far less time at the bedside because they're on the phone with insurance companies. They're dealing with case managers who are trying

to piece together this broken social safety net we have in this country. So it was a step in the right direction,

“but to make it stronger, I believe the next thing we need to do”

is offer a public option. - Yeah, so a public option, how does that differ from the options that are available under the Obamacare? - You know, so I have a plan from the ACA, from the healthcare exchange,

which is through a private insurance company. If we had a public option as someone who doesn't have employer-based health insurance right now, I could purchase a healthcare plan from the federal government and that would eliminate the profit motivation,

that would eliminate any shareholders being involved

in what I'm paying for my healthcare and what money actually goes to the provision of healthcare. And I believe if we start offering a public option, which I think is the next pragmatic step to shift our healthcare system from the one we have

to the one we need to have. More and more Americans year over year will choose that public option and they'll recognize that it actually is a better deal for them. It will force our private insurance companies

to offer more competitive benefit packages at lower premium rates. And then over time, it will reduce the influence, our private insurance companies have on the health insurance marketplace as a whole.

And only then can we have a very serious bipartisan productive conversation about how to truly build a healthcare system that meets the needs of all Americans. - This is a complicated question. And so I'm not expecting perfection on your answer.

How many Americans would avail themselves if there were a public option available? How many Americans would do it? What would it cost them every year? And what kind of benefits would you like to see

in a public option in terms of copays, premiums, vision, mental health? How would you lay out the public option broadly? - Yeah, so I think let's start with what benefits would be offered.

“Absolutely the key to making Americans healthier,”

the key to reducing the overall cost of healthcare in America is a bigger focus on preventative care. You know, preventing disease is a lot less expensive than treating disease. So to do that, we need to boost our primary care workforce

across this country and a public option must cover routine preventative maintenance visits, cancer screenings, like colonoscopies and mammograms and pap smears. All of those things must be covered in addition to comprehensive mental health care coverage.

Because one of the things they teach you in medical school is the brain is actually attached to the rest of the body and mental health is health.

And so those are critical parts of reducing the overall cost

of healthcare in this country in ways to make Americans healthier again by providing them access to routine preventative health care. You know, as far as how many Americans would choose this plan, I think the answer is some number higher

than what it would have been 18 or 24 months ago before we witnessed this really unprecedented coordinated assault on America's healthcare system, where we've seen the AC attack subsidies, expiring now we're seeing these Medicare party,

subsidies, expiring, and it's forcing Americans. And I know this because I've been talking to voters in South Carolina for over a year, it's forcing Americans to really critically think about our broken healthcare system and why it is so difficult to navigate our health insurance

companies, why it is difficult to access care. And we saw a lot of Republicans talking about the role of private insurance companies and why when we were having the AC attack subsidy conversations or talking about why is all this money going

to private insurance companies. And I think that caused a lot of Americans, not just Democrats, but independence and Republicans to really start to question the system we have in place right now. So I think more Americans will choose it

and as more Americans choose it and like it, more and more and year over year will do the same. - Is your vision of a public option that there are premiums deductibles in co-pays? - I think we need to simplify that system.

I mean, when I got my AC a plan this year, I took a screenshot of what my deal was because it's ridiculous. I pay the premium and then until I meet my deductible, I pay for all of my healthcare.

But then when I meet my deductible, I still have to pay for co-insurance. I often have to pay for part of the cost of my prescription drugs.

“It's just overly complicated and that's why so much of the money”

that's funneled into America's healthcare system doesn't actually go to the provision of healthcare. It goes to navigating the bureaucracy of this overly complicated system we've created. So I think it needs to be simpler.

Yes, absolutely, monthly premiums, but then it should simplify after that. - Simplify, but also, would your goal be to lower the out-of-pocket expenses? Premiums, deductibles, co-pays?

Would your be gold for people to pay less than they pay now, for instance, if they have an affordable care act, private option? - Yes, absolutely. - America should be paying less for healthcare.

And the way to do that is to remove some of the money that is going into the healthcare system and going straight to insurance company shareholder's pockets.

and that minority and majority leader say to you, Dr. we want you to write a new gun safety laws for America. If you could unilaterally write federal, gun safety laws in art currently on the books, what would you include in that?

- Well, thank you for asking me this question.

“I think it's important to first say that like gun violence”

prevention advocates all across this country and pediatrician's all across this country.

I support the Second Amendment and law-abiding citizens

right to own firearms, but what I know we need is what the evidence tells us we need to reduce the burden of this public health crisis in America. Gun violence remains the leading cause of death for children in my state of South Carolina

and all across this country. And the evidence shows us that in states that have expanded background checks, federal secure storage laws, red flag laws, we have lower incidents of firearm injuries and deaths.

So my plan at the federal level would be to start with number one universal background checks and the good news about that is most Americans agree with what I just said. We need universal background checks

so that we have fewer guns falling into the wrong hands and we have accountability in the system. And beyond that, we need a federal secure storage law so that fewer young children gain access to unsecured loaded firearms,

picking them up unintentionally shooting themselves. I have cared for children with bullet holes in their faces because they found a loaded weapon on their family's coffee table. We also need federal red flag laws

so that we can remove after due process. Temporarily guns from the homes of folks who are deemed to be at an imminent danger of harming themselves or someone else. We also need increased funding for gun violence prevention

research and increased funding for cost effective, hospital and community-based violence intervention programs. And all of those solutions are evidence-based and have been shown to reduce the incidence of firearm injuries and deaths in this country.

- Tell me in your most optimistic and positive way, what you like about Secretary Kennedy's Mahah movement. What's good about it? - I love the focus on reducing the burden of chronic disease and children.

That is the main goal of every pediatrician I know where we disagree is in what the root causes are and how we go about doing that. And I will tell you to reduce the incidence of chronic and acute disease and children.

The first two things we shouldn't do are gut the Medicaid program, which is the largest insurer for children in this country and dismantle the routine childhood immunizations schedule, which is basically a medical miracle

that is drastically reduced the incidence of preventable infectious disease in this country. And so, I agree with his goals as stated, I completely disagree with the steps this administration has taken to achieve those goals.

- All right, I'm gonna try to run through a bunch of topics quickly with you if you can. - What's the proper way to think about the United States relationship with China? Are they our ally or enemy or combatant or rival?

How would you characterize it?

“- I think the word rival is an appropriate word to use.”

I think, you know, they keep us on our toes as far as keeping up with technological innovation economic innovation, but this is why we need to return as a country to our place of moral authority on the international stage.

This is why we need serious people in all levels of this administration so that we can be taken seriously on the international stage and that we can play chest-not-checkers when it comes to international relations

with powerful countries like China.

- Of current US senators, who's your role model in Y? - Senator Mark Kelly, he's a fellow scientist who has served this country admirably and he keeps his head down and he gets the work done. And you, I believe he's a pragmatic problem-solver,

which is what I describe myself as. - Since President Reagan, who's the best American president in Y? Barack Obama, he was elected during my, you know, formative years in my twenties when I was learning how to be a pediatrician when I was witnessing

the impacts of broken policies on my patients. He filled me with a sense of hope about what's possible in this country. He was a unifying president in my view. And he was forward-focused.

“And I think that's what so many Americans are hungry for.”

- You've raised a decent amount of money, but you're not close to my friend Jamie Harrison, who when he ran for the same seat, raised $132 million. How did Jamie Harrison raise $132 million?

- You know, he's a hardworking candidate. He became the Democratic candidate of the cycle.

And, you know, you just never know how these races are gonna break.

And, you know, I respect the way he ran his race. I'm proud to have his support in this race, but the fact of the matter is we don't need $130 million to win a Senate seat in South Carolina. We need a candidate like me who's inspiring

a grassroots movement all across the state who is raising enough money to compete on television against whoever my Republican opponent becomes. But at some point, you know, these races aren't just about who has more money in the bank.

It's about who's inspiring people to get out and vote and to critically think about which candidate actually aligns with their values. - What are you great at at being a parent? - Oh, bedtime.

I have a, and no BS rule in my house at bedtime.

There's no one more extra story, one more glass of water. If it's bedtime, we need a business and the kids go to sleep. - What's your kids biggest complaint about you? That I'm working too much and I travel too much.

- Yeah, the primary is in a couple of weeks. The runoff to decide if it's gonna be Senator Graham or Congressman Norman, who do you think you'll face and who would you rather face?

“- You know, I think every 20 minutes over the past two days”

I've changed my mind about who I think will win this election as I watch how the endorsements are lining up behind the two candidates. To me, it really doesn't matter who I face. I feel confident in my ability to defeat either Ralph Norman

or darling Graham for two different reasons. Darling is brand new to politics

and while I've never served in office,

I have run a campaign for Congress before and I'm over a year into this campaign for the U.S. Senate. Darling was very underwhelming on the debate stage and in all the interviews I've seen, she comes across as incredibly timid.

It timid and she has pledged her legions to Donald Trump and even Republicans in South Carolina are ready for something different than that. And for Ralph Norman, you know, he's 73. He'd been here 80 years old at the end of this Senate term.

He is an extreme right-wing Republican who called for Marshall Law back in the days of the Joe Biden Transition. He wielded Brandish to gun while he was talking to gun violence, prevention advocates, he isn't rich to himself while in office.

And people are ready for a change election, a generational shift in leadership and political outsiders. And I fit all of those molds. And so I feel confident about whoever my opponent will be. - All right, quick word association.

Unless they tell me we have to stop. One word answers. I'm holding you to one word, Doctor. - Like real specific, Hillary Clinton. - Trailblazer.

- Hassan Piker. - Concerning. - Doctor L. Sayod, your fellow doctor. - Um, winner. - Marco Rubio.

- Potential. - Scott Besson. - Disappointing. - Lindsey Graham. - Public servant.

- Chuck Schumer. - Old. - Okay, Michelle Obama. - Inspiring. - Taylor Swift.

- Brilliant. - Brilliant. That's a good answer. Those are excellent answers. Doctor, I'm very grateful to you for making time.

Everybody who I've talked to, as I mentioned, says how fierce you are. That's a word that comes up over and again. Is that a word? Is that a description that you wear proudly?

You think it's accurate? - I think it's absolutely accurate. And it's a direct result of my role as a mother. I was not this person 15 years ago before I became a mother,

but my children made me fearless in my pursuit of what I believe the world should be for them and all kids in this country. So yes, I would wear that description as a badge of honor.

- All right, and closing. Explain why you will be the Democrat

“who breaks the long runs and center hallings, I believe,”

of South Carolina not having a Democratic center. What is it about you or this moment that makes you believe you will break the losing streak of your party in your state? - I'm not a career politician.

I'm a pediatrician in a public school mom who wants to go to Washington DC to solve problems. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I'm not afraid of a fight.

I will always tell you the truth.

And people are looking for a change candidate in this election cycle. And that's exactly what I'm offering the voters of South Carolina. We're tired of hyperpartisan politics.

And I'm offering something different. And I will deliver on the promises I'm making on the campaign trail. - Ladies and gentlemen, the secret of running in the South as a Democrat is if you can up the contribution of the vote

from the African American community and maintain huge support there. It's quite possible for a Democrat to win statewide and Dr. Andrews and her team know that full well. So while the race is about more than just

the black vote in her state. Keep an eye on the early polls when we see who her opponent is. Dr. I'm so grateful to you. I know you're going to be super busy between now and November,

but I hope we can have you back

“because I want to talk about AI and foreign policy”

and more medical stuff if you have time. - Yeah, I would love that. Thank you. - Okay, very grateful to you. - All right, bye. - Dr. Andrews, ladies and gentlemen,

she's talking to raise 120 million but she's gonna raise enough. All right, take a quick break. Next up, Katie Pavlich will be here. Host of Katie Pavlich tonight.

Katie's next up. - So there's a question that runs through everything we cover here, everything we do. And it's who's actually looking at for you and who's looking at just for themselves.

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People who check tell me the same thing. They wish they'd made the call sooner. (upbeat music) All right, next up, enjoy me now, Katie Pavlich, host the Katie Pavlich of Katie Pavlich tonight on News Nation.

There's 10 PM Eastern Time every week night. And on the weekend, she just writes scripts and edits video. Katie, welcome. Thank you for being here.

Thank you, what was it, Robin manual, who said, you know, it's another day and a seven day work week?

- Exactly, never actually.

- Yes, thank you. - Good to see you. - People think in our TV show, a life of luxury, you sit around and show up five minutes before air finish and leave and I hear it's more complicated.

- It's a little more complicated and luckily have an amazing team. So as you know, with the air production, it takes a lot of effort and time. You just like any other job.

So it's fun though. The challenge is good. - Yeah, grateful to you for coming. - How would you describe your feelings about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's public sharing

of our decision to have our eggs removed? We do describe your feelings about it as simple or complicated and why?

- I don't know, I'll let people decide

if they're so complicated but I do think it's we're in this weird time in the world where everything has to be turned into a social media moment. I hope for her that she would have people around her who are actually supportive, who know her,

who can listen to her reasoning behind why she wanted to do this and give her love and guidance about such a big decision and what that means for her future. There's a lot of women who end up doing this. It's a very private personal decision

that she has made public. I don't know her so I can't say whether it was part of some cynical reason to put her personal life on hold to run for president, but that's also a very real career-minded decision

that a lot of people women make, whether it's running for president or incliming the corporate ladder. I think that a lot of women in their late 30s who have not found a husband who they feel comfortable

“having children with, it's feel like this is the best way”

for them to kind of solidify their personal future and hopes of having children one day when they're ready. I hate to comment on it 'cause it's such a personal thing, but she did make it very public by showing herself in injecting herself,

which is very serious. So it's up to her to explain whether it's part of a broader political play for her future, but women make this decision every single day for their own reasons.

- Yeah, I want to highlight one of the things she said and see if you credited or not and you can take it away from her and just say in general, we all both of us have and I'm pretty much everyone we know as friends who struggle when pregnancy

and particularly if they're ambitious and working, wonder whether they might be waiting too long, wonder the impact it would be on their careers, and maybe they don't have a partner with whom they want to have a child at the time.

So she said one of the reasons she was doing it was to kind of make it less mysterious, maybe take it out of the shadows so that people who face these choices can know that they're not doing it alone.

- In my experience with friends who've gone through this, there's some value to that. There's some value to normalizing it. To have the conversation in the open rather than what happens to a lot of women and men,

they go to the doctor that furtive conversations that don't share with everybody. Is that a rationale that you credit as something that's useful for her to tell? - Yeah, I mean, I think that you know,

look, AOC, although we are very different in terms of our politics, we are of similar age of the same generation. And there are a lot of millennial women who have been working on their careers,

who have decided that that was going to be their priority. They do not feel or believe that the dating pool or the pool for marriage has been one that is sufficient. I've been seeing a lot of the push back on her being cheated and make the right choices

and selfish for her to have not had children earlier in her life.

“And I think everybody's situation is different and complicated.”

And if she feels like she can be someone as a woman who's in a career who can make this easier for other women, then great. Now, I don't think she's telling the whole story

You know, IVF is not an overwhelmingly successful process. It's one of hope that is given to a lot of women and families across the globe.

But the reality is that women go undergo this procedure.

It is actually more unlikely than likely than likely to be successful. So I don't think she's really telling the whole story when she's trying to be helpful to women about what this actually means for you.

The reality is that it is difficult for women to manage their career and a family. It is difficult for women to be focused on their marriage and dating priorities and their 20s and early 30s.

“When that's the time, if you want to make it in your career,”

you really have to be working all the time. If that's what your ambitions are. These things are difficult to balance. I would argue there's not a lot of balance. It's like what are the other most of the time

unless you were very wealthy and have other options to pay for the convenience of what you would not be able to do, otherwise. So I think if she's going to do this,

she should tell the whole story about what IVF means

and what the statistics are on the success rate. It is not a guarantee for women who may want children to push it down the road when you're older. Is it a potential option? Yes, but it's not as easy as just raising your eggs

and then some day deciding that you're going to turn the mental children to the leaders that work that way. Well said, one more topic better than I want to move on. I try to stay super open-minded when it comes to potential presidential candidates.

Can they win the United States? Smart, can they win the nomination? Can they win a general election?

“Because I think people become too pragmatic.”

When I do my eight for 28 of Democrat presidential nominees, people say, oh, that's ridiculous. The Jewish American can't be nominated or Gavin Newsom can't be nominated.

And I was going back to someone who has to be nominated.

You can't say nobody can win. And then in terms of the general election, there's been a view of her and I've been a sympathetic to this. You says she's too young. She her performance at the Munich Security Conference

just was too frivolous and cautionary. I'm just going to ask you about some states. Knowing, not knowing what kind of campaign she'd run, where the country will be, or who the Republicans nominate,

could she win Pennsylvania's electoral votes in your view in 2028? I don't think so. You don't think so. Could you win Michigan's? Not all things so.

Regardless of whether there's a Trump recession, regardless of whether it could cruise as to nominate. You don't think she could win either of those. I mean, look, anybody could theoretically win anybody can't. This is America, right?

So in the conditions for a campaign, literally, our determined at the time of what is going on. Of course, you have the historical precedent of the way that people have run campaigns. There's a formula that you can plug in and try to make it work.

But what is happening at the time in the economy and foreign policy, something that could happen tomorrow that changes how people feel about the kind of leadership that they want. But generally speaking, I don't see someone like AOC

with her background going into a place like Michigan and being able to talk to union voters. I mean, if Kamala Harris couldn't do it, I don't think that AOC can really do it either. In terms of her presentation, she doesn't come off to me

as more serious than a Kamala Harris.

“And I think also people do want some principal ideology,”

whatever it may be. I reported the speech is going on, Sunday shows now, and getting away from woe could say, well, what do you believe and because this is what catapulted you to your position right now in the first place?

And it's fine to change your mind. So long as there is a real reason why, not just saying it was crazy, we all got wrapped up and COVID and then moving on. I think she'd have to explain a lot of that

and explaining all of that would take too much time. - I'm looking forward to our next interview with an interviewer, her answer to unpack that a little bit more which she meant by woke one being crazy. I'm super curious when people ask me questions about it.

I say, there's not enough data from that one interview to understand what she meant. Speaking of COVID, I reported this morning, I think I broke the story, the story, the Dr. Fauci plans to speak in New York City

in a couple weeks at a public event to talk about COVID, and AIDS, and other issues. How do you feel about that of him, of him speaking in public after refusing to speak to Congress? - Wow, Dr. Fauci going to an event to enrich himself

and to a crowd that will give him nothing but praise and accolades after he made a lot of really terrible decisions that impacted the country, not the least of which was saying. One thing publicly, while privately downplay, the severity of the virus, keeping schools closed,

not disclosing that he had some questions about whether if the COVID shot would cause miscarriages, women, well, then they came out publicly and demanded that pregnant women be mandated to take the vaccine.

I think it's despicable. And I think it goes to show the question about whether this pardon that President Biden gave him,

really covers him in terms of speaking in front of Congress,

but the fifth, because he has that pardon. So it just shows then there's another indictment of his contempt for the majority of Americans who really just wants to answer is about what happens so that it doesn't hurt to get itself to death.

- You are not listed as the moderator of that event,

“if you were, what kinds of things would you ask him?”

- Simple questions. Why were you saying one thing in private? Well, publicly, you were telling a very, you know, afraid and fearful American public, something very different. Why is it that you felt that you could go live your life

dining with members of the media? Well, you were telling Americans to cancel Thanksgiving with their loved ones. Well, would you say Dr. Fauci to someone who did what you said they should do?

We went and got the vaccine, got the booster, and there was still kept out of the nursing home to go see their grandparents when they were dying and were told through a window that their loved one had passed away.

Well, would you say to women who were told they had to give birth alone because they weren't allowed to have their husbands and the ICU, despite having natural immunity or the vaccine, as if that needed to be a prerequisite

for visiting your wife giving birth in the hospital. So just based on questions about the decisions he made and whether he has any grant regrets, I don't think that someone of his ego size has regrets. But it would just be nice to hear some logic

and explanation behind why he was saying one thing publicly and one thing privately, because he was a government employee, the highest paid one in the government, and people trusted him and that trust was broken, and maybe how he thinks that the trust in the public health system,

which is essential, by the way, and it's completely broken,

can be rebuilt if he's not going to explain himself. - Are you friendly with people you cover?

“Do you socialize with them go to their homes for dinner?”

Is that something you do? - Not really, no, not really. - Yeah, what do you think of the portrait in his diary of interacting in social settings, friendly settings with people who cover him

and then going on their shows and being interviewed by them? - I think it would depend on the questions. The questions during the interview were objective or hard-hitting or of substance. I think it would be a different story.

I don't think it's necessarily wrong to be friendly with folks or to sit down and break bread and have a better understanding of who someone is because I think it gives you insight into why they may be making the decisions that they do

or what their background is. Maybe something more interesting about them in the way they approach very big problems. But this idea that Anthony Fauci in particular was going to dinner with reporters, high-profile reporters.

While he was telling Americans that they were not allowed to have dinner with their loved ones, it's the double standard that is the problem for me there. - Yeah, understood. Talk to earlier about the economy

and the complaints that I hear and I would imagine you here too from Republicans and Congress, those who are on the ballot, that the president in particular in the White House in general talks about vaccines,

talks about other issues without a massive focus on the economy. Is that, to what extent in your mind, is that a fair critique of the president in this midterm year?

- Well, this is a White House and a president

who has always believed in just him handling all things

at once. They're firing on all cylinders constantly. So for them to be focused on just one or two things, even if it were being more beneficial to the political consultants is just not their style.

I mean, the president himself is constantly undermining his own successes by doing something huge and then true socializing something completely different in the next 30 minutes. And it's like he doesn't spend any time sitting

on any of his successes. It's just the nature of the beast and how this White House operates.

“So I think Republicans who are on the campaign trail,”

they're the ones who have to decide what they're going to be doing. I mean, the president can only pull them along for so much of this. He's in DC, he is going to be traveling on the country doing a little more campaigning.

But he's focused on his agenda and getting as much done before the midterms is possible. And I would say it's not up to him for Republican candidates in these districts across the country to prove to those voters

that they should be voting for them. I mean, he's done these endorsements who's been relatively, most likely successful in those. But I think Republicans have relied on the Trump brand

for a long time, understandably. But they've really got to learn how to pull their own weight. These districts can't be, these campaigns. Besides the passage of the bill with any contained amongst other things,

tax cuts for a large number of Americans on tax on tips, tax on overtime, tax on social security, et cetera. What are the other major accomplishments on the economy for the president?

Well, it's almost like they did that bill too early, right?

It would have been, I think, the timing

would have been better for them to do it this year and they thought that a lot of it would kick in this time around. So I guess that the timing for them would have been better. In terms of the economy, they argue that inflation is cooled, which is true in some aspects of the data

and other places that is not up. They argue that the president's energy agenda has made it easier for Americans to afford things like natural gas and gas at the gas pump right now is higher because of the war, but overall, the gas prices are still lower

than they were under Joe Biden's tenure. They talk about the stock market, which is not something that affects every American, but there's a lot of Americans across the country that have 401k plans and retirement funds,

the president has touted that. They touted many factoring coming back to America. If you look at the job's numbers, which weren't great for a week ago, many factoring is the most in terms of the numbers

in that job's report. So they are touting, look, right now, there may not be the overnight success with the economy that you want to see, but we are on-shoring jobs to have long-term stability

for the communities that have been hollowed out by sending jobs overseas. - So those are a few of them. There's more, but those are-- - Yeah, on balance of the tariffs

been good or bad for the American economy. - Hard to tell. - Okay. - I think with the litigation and this Supreme Court is striking them down,

that it's made it difficult to determine whether they would have been as successful as the president says, but I do think that they have helped with the overall strategy of on-shoring companies here, especially in the tech sector.

Watch Katie every weekday, 10 o'clock eastern time on the aforementioned news nation. Again, 10 o'clock eastern time,

“what's your favorite social media platform to post on?”

- Okay. - I like Instagram for fun and expert politics. - Yeah. - So, actually, I want more professional things go there. - Katie, great to see you.

I'll see you soon on your programming and look forward to having you back here. Thank you. - Thanks, Mark. I was great to see you.

Thank you, Child. - Thank you. - All right, make sure you subscribe to Next Up's Instagram page. Not as good as Katie's, but it's still pretty good. You get bonus content there and best moments from the show.

Follow us on Instagram at Next Up, Halpern.

And always, programs available as a podcast listen to us

on the go on wherever you get your podcast and make sure you got the downloads toggled on. So each episode flows to you without much human effort. Always right here on Next Up. All right, and Next Up here,

we're gonna talk to Professor Robert Ape, a man with a lot of thoughts about what's going on in Iran and the President's chances of success. Professor Pape is next up. Everybody's talking about weight loss injections

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Robert Pay Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He specializes in international security issues there. Professor is, I'd say singular in talking about the Iran conflict.

He may not agree with him on everything. If you read his stuff on sub-stack or hear him, speak on forums like this. But he is a deep thinker about these issues.

“And I have found, I think this is objectively so.”

I know it is. He's been more right by a lot than wrong. And he does have a theory of the case about what's going on in Iran that I recommend everybody listen to.

There are some things good that have come out of this conflict without a doubt. The Iran's military capabilities have been degraded. The Iranians are noticed that there's the US and Israel are going to do what they need to,

to try to keep them from having a nuclear program. But I don't think you can deny that what's occurring now, I'll use the word as a quagmire. And the Professor has anticipated many of the things that have happened.

I'm always pleased to talk to you.

I know, I'll say, so you don't have to. The Professor does not root against American success to the contrary. He wants American to succeed. He's not pro-Iranian.

What he is is pro-facts and pro-close observation of what's going on on the ground in the air and what he typically will present to you is something troubling if you'd like

So Professor, with that throw-clary introduction, I'd love for you to explain to folks both where we are now and where you think we're headed and why. - Thanks, Mark, for having me. Mark, we are in some serious trouble

and we are heading toward even more trouble. And what I want to focus on today is the core issue.

“I believe it's the $64,000 issue underneath the diplomacy”

and also the midterms, which is does the United States have a military option that can open the straight of where it moves substantially before the midterms. That is, not over six months, not over a year, but literally between now and the midterms

that are only 84 days away. - Tell me what is the dynamic, or what are the dynamics going on now that could lead you to that conclusion? - The core issue that we need to address is scale. At this point, Mark, everybody knows the geography.

Everybody is up around, they know poor mood. What I want to focus on is scale, which is the hardest thing to get across and the most challenging element of the military mission we confront.

To begin, I'd like to call up the first slide.

I've got a few slides here, folks. Slide one, I want to show you the drone, the Shi'ad 136, and this is the villain.

“This is the key weapon that Iran is using”

to shut down the straight of where mode. I want you to notice several things about the Shi'ad 136. Number one, notice it's range at first, 500 miles to 1200 miles.

Notice that its size is about the size of a king size mattress. It's heavier, but it's about the size of a king size mattress, and can be carried by several people relatively easily. Also, notice how cheap it is, you can make them actually less than $35,000.

And finally, there are thousands of these drones already

in Iran, they're making more each week, and you only need a small number of those thousands to shut down the straight. To truly open the straight mark, you probably've got to get the number of Shi'ad drones

under 200 from the thousands that they have, and more they could build why. Because with 200, they would have plenty for multiple swarms of drones to attack ships over a period of weeks.

Just tell folks, what's the capability? Do they attack ships by flying into them? Do they have missiles on them?

“Or do they have warheads on them that are about 50 to 80 pounds?”

That is enough to cause the fires, to cause the damage to the ships themselves, not quite enough to sink the ships. So these are the main weapon. They also, Iran also has sea skimming crews.

Missiles, they can sink the ships. They also have ballistic missiles. So I'm only focusing on the one element, but it is the main element, because these drones have been the main threat,

driving the ships away, driving up insurance rates. - Right, and even if the president wants to claim the straight is open, it's just not true. If the United States wants to blockade an escort, which is the announced policy,

these drones make both of those missions significantly more difficult, and present a challenge in the asymmetrical warfare between our superior military and the Iranians' ability to use this category of drones,

of which they have well more than 200, to effectively shut down the straight, because the insurance companies won't ensure the captains and owners of the ships, the crews are not going to go through in great numbers.

Okay, so the drones are a problem. Show us something else that you say represents.

- So if we go to the second slide,

you'll see the first issue of scale is the size of the drone launch zone in Iran. And I'm only using the lower range of the drone range, the 500 mile range. - So the map we're looking at shows,

the area over which Iran could use their drones to attack. - And that shows you horror moves is the midpoint,

and that then extends 500 miles deep.

“Those drones, those thousands of drones mark,”

could be anywhere in that 500 by 500 mile area, which is one and a half times the size of California, and we've gotta find the last 200. - Yeah, and that launch zone extends, did they launch them from Sierra,

they only launch from land? These are all, they so far have only launched from land, so they would have a capability to launch them from sea mark, but that would make it easier for us, 'cause we could see the cigarette boats coming out,

and we'd have a much better chance of hitting them. They are likely going to continue launching from land. - Right, so a lot of drones that are very dangerous, they can effectively shut down the street,

and they're scattered over an area twice the size of California, making our military superiority not effective in eliminating this threat. Okay, next slide.

“- The next slide is the third dimension of the problem.”

So far we've only covered the two dimensions, but that drone launch zone I just showed you

is in mountains mark, and that means there's the third dimension

that drones, because they're so light, and they can be moved so easily. They don't have to be launched from trucks. They could be launched anywhere in those mountains. They could be stored in the basement or underground

in the mountains. They could be stored in crevices. There are caves in those mountains. These could be anywhere in think of mountains mark as a skyscraper.

A skyscraper where the drone you're looking for, the size of a king size mattress could be in the basement garage. It could be on the first floor, the 12th floor, or the 77th floor, and still functional. That means we have to cover the entire skyscraper,

and the Zargos Mountains are 10 times the height of the Empire State Building, and you can fit over a million and a half Empire State Buildings in the size of that drone launch zone. And Mark, I know you live in New York City.

Imagine searching all of Manhattan

“for the final 200 King size mattresses you need to destroy.”

Except there are 11,000 Manhattan's in the drone launch zone. 11,000 Manhattan's with the room for structure. You have to find the final 200 drones. And this is why, even if we are fantastically successful in military terms, even if we are 70% successful,

the problem is we need to be well above 95, 98% successful.

And that's just too much to ask. This is why, between now and the midterms, the possibility of opening the straits, truly opening the straits is virtually zero, I would say zero. Why Iran is playing that hand to the hilt,

and why even opening the strait after the midterms, this is a street of six months problem minimum. And maybe can't be done. Yeah, this is just one area of Professor Papes analysis. It will explain to you just how daunting the American military

and geopolitical diplomatic economic operation is. Didn't even get into use of drones to strike outside the strait into other targets in the region for America's allies, including American bases in the region. And this is one of just many things.

The Iranians are so sophisticated. They study the United States, they study our capacity. And they know that they've transformed warfare, the way the Ukrainians have to some extent too, by having drones targeting American assets and assets

in the strait. And I recommend you read the Professor Substake. You may not agree with everything he says, but he has a point of view about this, which is extremely illuminating.

And tells you why, despite the presence claim that the strait is open, it is not.

Professor grateful to you always for coming on.

Thank you for the graphics. Thank you for explaining all that. We look forward to talking to you again soon. Thank you for having me. All right, that's it for today's program.

We'll be back on Tuesday, a brand new episode of Next Up. Hope everybody has a wonderful weekend. Make sure you subscribe to the show on YouTube and as a podcast wherever you get podcasts,

you'll see it there on YouTube on our YouTube channel.

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