A.I. Apocalypse with Manny Rutinel and Ira Shapiro

Albert Hunt (0:09)

Hello and welcome to Politics War Room with James Carville and I'm Al Hunt. This week our guests are Policy Maven and former top Senate staffer Ira Shapiro, and Congressional candidate for the 8th District in Colorado, Manny Rutinel. Remember, we love taking your questions, so write to politicswarroom.gmail.com for next week's show. We'll get to as many as we can, but don't forget to tell us where you're from. You also can get text updates about what's next, Politicon and Politics War Room by signing up at politicon.com. Tell your friends about us and remind them to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. Please check out the links to our sponsors, Mint Mobile, Casper, and Superpower, and our episode, Show Notes. We thank you for supporting these sponsors. It really helps make this podcast happen.

Hey, James, the big issues for which Trump's going to get slapped down on November 3 are the disastrous Iran war, worsening cost of living, corruption, including the Stonewall releasing all the Epstein files. But his behavior, apart from the awful policies, is so beyond normal. First, he bragged about his role on 9-11 as he was trying to help. He said two firemen had to carry him away. James, he wasn't even there.

Two, he promised $5,000 to every American cost to the Treasury of $1.2 trillion if they'd just vote Republican. The Wall Street Journal blasted this. The editorial page has a preposterous gimmick mocking him, hey, I've got a $5,000 bridge for you. It's a family affair. A Russian oligarch, pal of Putin's, picked up hundreds of thousands of dollars at Donald Trump Jr.'s recent wedding celebration. No objection for daddy or daddy's poodle, aka the Attorney General. 10, finally 10 presidents have supported the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, which turned Washington into a cultural center.

None more enthusiastically than Ronald Reagan. Trump says, unless they put his name on the center, we'd close it and it's going to stay closed. Of course it would require Congress to do that. He doesn't care. James, this is a deranged man. He is slipping cognitively.

James Carville (2:48)

He is. But the reason that my optimism continues to grow about November and the Democrats is simply this. The public sees this.

They see what it's... Russian oligarch, a Pungai, pays for an after-party or a reception or whatever they pay for in the Bahamas.

They're making billions of dollars on cryptocurrency and God knows what not. But he's marrying a self-described Palm Beach socialite. I don't know what the hell that is, but that's what his wife, her claim, the fame. And then she writes this article about how wonderful it was that all of them shared this way. People see that. People can't afford weddings. They can't afford barb and bisquits. They can't afford baptisms. They can't afford confirmations. And all of this is just building that wave and people are seeing it. And the guy is just, he don't have it, OK? It's just clear that he's always been, you know, a few degrees off dead center. He's now officially kind of mad.

He's not right at all. Just the stuff he does, that didn't make any sense. But the people, the public are watching and they're going to render a judgment here less than probably seven weeks, so stand by.

Albert Hunt (4:09)

Yeah, I totally agree with you. I think nothing is going to change that. The only question is the size of the judgment they render. I guess what worries me is he still is doing damage, a lot of damage. I mean, the latest is, they apparently are on the verge of indicting John Brennan, the former CIA director, for a simple reason. John Brennan basically told the truth about the Russian attempt to interfere with the 2016 election. They want to rewrite that history. Great struggle between Joe DeGenova, who once was actually quite a capable prosecutor, and now has kind of done a Rudy Giuliani. He's gone over the top. He resigned. He was in a fight with Todd Blanch over how they proceed on John Brennan. I don't know who the hell I would cheer for, and that is so bad.

And Todd Blanch, the Attorney General of the United States, having a press conference at the White House. He was the acting press secretary for a day. This is just awful. I mean, it's beyond a bad president. It really is just, it's disgusting, James.

James Carville (5:21)

Yeah, it's disgusting, I mean, yeah.

Albert Hunt (5:25)

Calm down, Albert. Calm down, Albert. Get used to it.

James Carville (5:28)

He's made how many, when they unearth the amount of money that they have made, it's going to be breathtaking. And, you know, one of the things that Democrats, people are talking about, and it should be, how do you prioritize what you do when you get to power? And to me, one of the first things they got to do is follow the money.