WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.519 Good morning Michael, Good morning Dragon. Well he caught me 2 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:07.960 in mid workouse. Sorry about the breathing. 3 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:09.480 Dragon. 4 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:12.839 I'm a little disappointed to hear your going on vacation 5 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:16.160 and you're not going to be able to hear the 6 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:21.440 iHeart Music Festival reveal. Don't worry, We'll hear about it 7 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:24.719 for the next four months every segment, every commercial. 8 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:26.719 See boys, fear not. 9 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:31.160 That reveal is tomorrow at six am. I don't leave 10 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:34.479 until Thursday, so I will be here right along with 11 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:37.119 you guys with bated breath to know exactly who's going 12 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:38.560 to be at the iHeart Music Festival. 13 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:41.359 Oh so that's what the reveal is. Who's going to 14 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:47.560 be at theeart Yeah, tomorrow, six am. Dude, I haven't 15 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:49.799 seen any emails. Are we supposed to do anything about that? 16 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:50.880 Not us? 17 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:53.840 They typically relegate that to the FMS. Well, there's a 18 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:56.240 hard roadblock at roughly that time, I would bet. 19 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:01.399 Yeah. I'm just shocked that I had no clue that 20 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:05.640 we didn't know or cared who was. 21 00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:08.239 Going to be at the iHeart Now, yeah, tomorrow tomorrow 22 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:09.200 to be a big deal. 23 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:12.519 Okay, yeah, all right, big deal because when I think 24 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:16.359 back of all the other acts that have been at 25 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:19.239 the r Heart Music Festival. I couldn't name you one. 26 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:25.799 Uh they played as well as them? 27 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:28.879 Oh they've played too. Yeah, I didn't realize they were there. 28 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:31.680 Had I known they were there, I would have gone 29 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:36.400 to see them. And we can't forget about him. Oh 30 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:41.480 but will she be there? Misurprise appearance? Who knows? Well? 31 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:47.519 But the biggest question is will Z be there or 32 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:54.319 is it her z? I R will be there? Right? Oh, right, right? 33 00:01:57.079 --> 00:02:00.840 I got nothing as dumb enough as it is as 34 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:05.120 we are. There's uh no, I'm not ever known that path. 35 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:11.759 So I did I confess that I bought Tapper's book? 36 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.240 Yes, you, before you even left, you said that you 37 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:15.560 had got it. I think it was like a day 38 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:18.800 or so after it came out, but or maybe even 39 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:20.800 the day of, because you were asking listeners as to 40 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.479 what to do. You did say that you were you 41 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:25.680 bought it. You read a couple of chapters. 42 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:28.879 Oh that's right, I'd read like maybe thirty forty pages 43 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:31.000 or something exactly. Okay, we're going to have a full 44 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:34.039 book report when you came back. Yes, this is the 45 00:02:34.039 --> 00:02:37.039 book report session. But I need to kind of I 46 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:39.919 need to play the groundwork for it, so I did. 47 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:42.080 I forget what day it was, but one day before 48 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.840 I left on vacation, I drove over to the first 49 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:49.719 not that I don't trust my producer, but I don't 50 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.360 trust my producer, who had told me that the Barnes 51 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:57.439 and Noble return policy was that as long as you 52 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:01.159 have your receipt, you can return any book. Well the 53 00:03:01.240 --> 00:03:04.000 thirty days I think it was. There's a thirty day 54 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:08.240 wind though. However, not trusting my producer, which I don't 55 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:11.400 understand why I don't, I thought maybe I should read 56 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:15.439 the return policy myself because if i'm will show out 57 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:18.240 call with taxes. I think it was like twenty nine bucks. 58 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.159 I want to make shreck get my twenty nine bucks back, 59 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:25.159 because even though I thought about giving the book to 60 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:28.000 like Tamera's school or what, I decided, no, I'm not. No, 61 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:33.240 I want to be able to give them money and 62 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:37.080 take away the money. So I drove so I checked 63 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:38.599 and hang on real quick. 64 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:40.199 I just want to let you know that because we 65 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:42.800 kind of talked a little bout about seeing if the 66 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:44.719 listeners would pay us in order to go. 67 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:48.039 Oh yes, right right, we we got, we got, we 68 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:50.360 got money. You said you got like nineteen cents or something. 69 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:54.599 In twenty seven, you got thirty three three. 70 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:58.240 Cents from Mike. Oh, Mike or Michael's Venmo is still 71 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:00.400 unknown to me. Here's some sense for you to give 72 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.400 to Mike or Michael for that book or not. It's 73 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:05.840 yours now, okay. 74 00:04:05.479 --> 00:04:07.280 Okay, Well, I want you to keep that in your 75 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:11.280 Venmo account, so that when you're in Tokyo, the most 76 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:15.919 expensive city in the entire world, you'll have what was 77 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:21.839 it sixty cents, you'll have which will not get you 78 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:28.639 anything that I know of in Tokyo, but enjoy. So 79 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:35.120 the return policy is, uh, it cannot be read or 80 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:40.560 appear to have been read. The dust jacket has to 81 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:43.480 be in pristine. I don't think they use the word pristine, 82 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:46.000 but you know, it can't have any tears or smudges 83 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:49.240 or copy stains on or anything like that. The book 84 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.560 binding has to be it can't be cracked. So how 85 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:58.319 does a book not appear to be read? Well? Apparently 86 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:02.360 apparently I succeeded in doing that because I took I 87 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:06.319 took the book, I get the book, I take it 88 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:09.439 out to the car, I set it in the back seat. 89 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:11.800 I don't want like if I have to slam on 90 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:13.519 the brakes. I don't want this going into the floor. 91 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:16.920 Super careful, I'm super careful. I get home, I take 92 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:19.240 the dust jacket off, put it down in my office, 93 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:24.839 and then I take the book to New Mexico and 94 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:27.800 I read it. You know, you know how you tend 95 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:29.959 to you don't even crack the spine. I don't crack 96 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:33.519 the spine at all. It was really difficult because I'm 97 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:37.519 just I'm holding the pages down, and I'm also because 98 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:43.759 it was really rainy. So and the light in the 99 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:47.079 undisclosed location is not the greatest. It's not like the 100 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.680 crappy lights we have in here. It seemed crappier down there. 101 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.240 But I do have a floor land next to my chair. 102 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.759 But I'm having to move to get the like you know, 103 00:05:57.800 --> 00:05:59.759 I got these old fart eyes and I can't see 104 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:05.000 that way. But I read the book, bring it back home, 105 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:09.279 put the cover on, put the receipt in. I walk 106 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:11.240 up to the counter and I said, I'd like to 107 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:15.800 return this book. And she's no problem. She takes the book. 108 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:21.879 She glances at it and she goes, oh this one again. No, 109 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:26.199 But after all the care I took to make sure 110 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:29.120 that there was no question that it was in pristine condition, 111 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:33.199 she said. She pulled the receipt out, she takes the book, 112 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:38.600 and she tosses it into a box. Yes, and then 113 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:41.720 she said, may I ask why you're returning it? And 114 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.279 for that nanosecond in my brain I wanted to say 115 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:50.079 because the book sucked, But I said, well, I bought 116 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:52.079 it for a friend and the friend already had it. 117 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:56.439 She means, You're like, oh, okay, just whatever do you 118 00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:58.920 do you want store credit or do you want back 119 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:02.120 on your credit card? So I just I want to 120 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:04.439 credit on my credit card. So she gave me my 121 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:08.480 twenty nine whatever it was back, So Jake Tapper got 122 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:11.480 no money from me, and I got to read the book. Now, 123 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:15.240 having said all of that, I'm really pissed that I 124 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:19.399 read the book. I'm really pissed at myself having read 125 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:23.439 the book. Asked me what I learned that I did 126 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:27.079 not know? Michael? What did you learn that you did 127 00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:31.480 not already know the names of the four or five 128 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:34.240 members of what they referred to as the polit bureau 129 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:38.920 that was running the White House. You think back during 130 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:42.120 those four years, Dragon, how many times did we say, 131 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:45.360 aren't we curious who it is, it's actually running things. 132 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:48.279 Two yeah, time or two. Well, now we know who 133 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:52.639 it is, and I would say it's probably some of 134 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:56.519 the former staffers that work for Barack Obama that are 135 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:00.360 now on the Biden staff. And sure enough, thy of 136 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:03.800 them were Anita Dunn and a couple of others. But 137 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:07.160 the really you're the pullet bureau was a guy by 138 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:10.879 the name of Raschetti or Racketti or something to that effect, 139 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:15.279 who was Jill Biden's I'm I'm so sorry, I'm out 140 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:19.160 of practice. I've been on vacation. Some guy named Roshetti 141 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:24.319 who was doctor Jill Biden's chief of staff. He became 142 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:27.519 the titular head of this pullet bureau. It was running everything, 143 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:31.360 and everybody was scared of him, and so they all 144 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:33.600 pretty much just did whatever he said. If there was 145 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.320 a decision to be made, and he did it, he 146 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.039 just did it. So you had doctor Jill Biden's chief 147 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:43.840 of staff, you had three members of the old Obama team, 148 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:46.960 and you had ron Klain, who was kind of in 149 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:49.679 and out, who was Biden's chief of staff. I think 150 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:51.759 he was gone for the last year or so, but 151 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:53.799 he was still part of the pulot Bureau that still 152 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.000 helped him make the decision. So that was the only 153 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:59.879 thing I learned. With some names, the book was such 154 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:02.759 bull crap. But here's what I really want you to 155 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.960 comprehend about it. Let me just describe the book in general. 156 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:14.559 First of all, I seriously, seriously recommend you not buy 157 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:20.799 this book. And unless you're just a total political method 158 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:27.440 like I am, don't read the book, because you really won't. 159 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.639 I don't know. I take that back. Having worked in 160 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:34.679 the White House myself, having worked for a president, having 161 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.000 you know, been in that in the sub cabinet, I 162 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:40.559 understand how things work, and you not having that experience, 163 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:42.720 there might be some interesting things in there. So I 164 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:47.039 can't tell you do not go read it, but check 165 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:49.919 it out from the light, from from the library or something. 166 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:56.320 Two hundred. Just listen to this for a minute. Here's 167 00:09:56.360 --> 00:10:02.799 here's what I wrote down about the book. It draws 168 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:10.320 on two hundred interviews with Democrat insiders, interviews with White 169 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:20.279 House staffers, congressional leaders including Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jefferies, 170 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:26.240 Congressman Climber. I'm sure there's some others. Come off the 171 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:31.679 top of my head. Uh. Donors Democrat donors, including the 172 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:37.639 big wigs like George Clooney and other just you know, 173 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:42.960 random political people. Now, why do I spell out who 174 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:48.639 they interviewed? Well, why would you interview these people unless 175 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:53.120 they knew something? They all knew something. Oh, I left 176 00:10:53.159 --> 00:10:55.440 out another group. There's another group. I forgot to mention. 177 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:03.080 They also listed Cabinet member nine, number one, Cabinet member 178 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:12.000 number two, Cabinet member number three. They talked to or 179 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:18.440 tried to get some information out of Cackle and Kamala Harris. 180 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:29.919 They did interview some of her staffers. Every single one 181 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:36.440 knew what was going on. They all knew. Now, in particular, 182 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:39.279 I want to emphasize the cabinet members because of the 183 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:44.879 twenty fifth Amendment. Now, if for the just for the 184 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:49.480 sake of argument, if three dragon, if three people in 185 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:54.320 this building know something that those three people are trying 186 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:58.000 to keep confidential, how many people in this building really 187 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:01.559 know about what they're trying to keep confidential? More than half, 188 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.519 if not all, so, at least fifty one hundred people 189 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:11.360 or something. Yeah, if three cabinet members know something, how 190 00:12:11.399 --> 00:12:15.000 many cabinet members know something? All of them, all of them. 191 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:20.559 If a vice president knows now, granted she's a little schizophrenic. 192 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:25.200 But if if one part of Kamala Harris's brain knows something, 193 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:28.840 oh never mind, the other parts of the brain probably 194 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:31.200 don't know anything. She'll never forget that one. That one 195 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:35.480 doesn't really work. The point is they all knew. There 196 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:38.720 was really nothing new in this book. When I think 197 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:41.559 back on four years of talking about Joe Biden, there 198 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.720 was nothing in this book that to me was new, 199 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:47.200 other than the specific names that some of the people involved. 200 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:51.840 They never named the three cabinet members. Cabinet member in 201 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:55.080 one and two are mentioned quite often. Cabinet member number 202 00:12:55.080 --> 00:12:57.679 three is not really mentioned until near the end of 203 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.519 the book, and it was so innocuous I don't really 204 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:06.200 remember much about it. They do go into some detail 205 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:14.120 about the process that led up to Biden withdrawing from 206 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:17.799 the race, and the only thing I shouldn't say the 207 00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:19.279 only thing, but one of the things I did find 208 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:28.919 interesting was Chuck Schumer's his description of his drive to 209 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:32.799 either Rehobe or Wilmington. I forget which place they went 210 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:38.919 to Delaware, because Chucky had decided he had to tell 211 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:47.440 his good friend he shouldn't be running the staff. Remember 212 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:51.120 when those times that Joe Biden would talk about, well, 213 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:53.759 the poll numbers are good for me. You know, I 214 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:58.120 can beat Trump. Everything's looking good. He honestly believed that 215 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:05.799 because the staff kept the three main Democrat pollsters who 216 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:10.360 kept trying to get meetings with the Politbureau because they 217 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:13.720 were hearing what Biden was saying on TV. They were 218 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:17.279 trying to protect their reputations because what Biden was saying 219 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:22.039 on television or radio or in speeches was one hundred 220 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:25.879 and eighty degrees opposite of what they're polling data showed, 221 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:29.360 and they kept trying to get in to speak to 222 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.240 Biden so that they could describe to Biden, Hey, listen, 223 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:36.279 mister president, you can't beat him. Things are a lot 224 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:40.600 worse than you've been told. Well, they kept them at Bay, 225 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.000 so I guess that's something else I learned that might 226 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:51.600 be a little different. They provide a little bit of 227 00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:56.600 granular detail about Biden's decline. They go through all of 228 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:00.480 the ones that we talked about, the ones about the 229 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:03.879 discussion about with Jake Tapper about him talking about the 230 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:07.000 most transparent president ever in terms of his health, He'll 231 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:09.919 be telling all the truth about that. Tapper talks about 232 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:16.440 that they talk about they saw exactly what we saw 233 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:19.480 at D Day, that what we saw at the G 234 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:22.879 seven or the G twenty, whichever it was all And 235 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:25.720 remember when they were all doing the it was it 236 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.240 was Black History Month or whatever it was, and they 237 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.679 were all dancing, you know, and you know, driving around, 238 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:35.279 and he was just standing there. They talked about how 239 00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:38.279 he was always gaping with his mouth just you know, 240 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:43.279 not no clueless. That when they would have cabinet meetings 241 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.600 that those some cabinet members had not seen the president 242 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:52.360 for more than a year. That's unfathomable to me. But yes, 243 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.080 that those who had not seen him for a year 244 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.840 near the end, when they would have those televised cabinet meetings, 245 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:06.879 that they would describe themselves as in total shock and disbelief. Now, 246 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:11.399 let me talk briefly about the autopin. Everybody's making a 247 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:15.639 big deal out of the autopin. I think they are. 248 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:21.360 They're they're chasing they're they're chasing their own tails. And 249 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:24.320 the reason for that is the use of the autopin 250 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:31.480 to sign things, even other than proclamations or letters to constituents. 251 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:34.600 You know, you write the right or birthday greetings, whatever 252 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:37.960 the kind of crap. Course mean, there's there's hundreds of thousands, 253 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:40.919 if not millions, of pieces of correspondence that come out 254 00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:44.159 of the White House that are autopin with President's signature. 255 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.720 I've never said anything to my My sister has a 256 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:55.000 She and Ronald Reagan shared the same birthday, and Reagan 257 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.879 sent her a really nice letter. It's autopin. You can 258 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:02.000 you can if you've ever had, like I had an 259 00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:04.799 autopen when I was the undersecretary, you can tell an 260 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:10.799 autopin signature from a real signature because what they do 261 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:14.000 now autopans have vastly improved since I had You know, 262 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:16.599 when I had an autopan, it was twenty years ago. 263 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:21.000 The technology has vastly improved. But you can tell an 264 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:24.400 autopen signature from an actual signature in many different ways. 265 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:28.960 You know, every time you sign something, uh, pressure points 266 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:33.440 are different. You you know, you're it's not always exactly 267 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:36.880 the same. Well, autopins are all exactly the same. But 268 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:40.559 chasing this as some controversy, I'm not really sure there's 269 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:42.440 a controversy there. Explain why. 270 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.799 Hey, Michael, I'm really surprised you didn't go for the 271 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:50.319 audible version of Jake Tapper's book, Original Son. I got 272 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:53.279 it the other day, and well, here's the first sentence. 273 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:07.160 What I some books I like the audio versions, but 274 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:13.359 some books that I really want to read, I prefer hardbacks. 275 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.839 I hate reading on my iPad or Kendall for that 276 00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:22.319 matter of tame, I just don't like them. But the 277 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:24.640 last thing I wanted to do was listen to Jake Tapper. 278 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:29.839 So Jake Tapper, the I think probably the first major 279 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:34.680 interview that he did post publication was, in fact, let 280 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:36.720 me look at the date of this, I think it 281 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:45.799 was with Megan Kelly, and she started, she didn't hold 282 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:50.400 any punches. I listened to the entire interview because having 283 00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:55.599 read the book, I was curious what his reaction would 284 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:59.599 be to many of the questions that I had heard 285 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:03.119 that Megan Kelly had asked. And one of the first 286 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:09.000 questions was, and I'm just paraphrasing here is first with 287 00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:14.319 regard to Alex Thompson, his co author. Alex had been 288 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:17.559 planning to write a book about Biden, but I forget 289 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:21.440 what the topic was. But the publisher rejected that book. 290 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:27.279 But Thompson continued to keep notes about what he observed 291 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:32.200 as he continued to report on the Biden White House 292 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:38.799 for Axios. So the point I'm making is he's watching, observing, 293 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:43.200 and making notes about what's happening, anticipating that he would 294 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:46.400 write a book. Now, he didn't know at the time 295 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:49.680 that he started his original book that that would get 296 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:53.720 you know, deep six by the publisher and that he'd 297 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:55.519 have to turn to Jake and he and Jake would 298 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:58.400 partner up to do this book. But Tapper admits that 299 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.079 he was doing a book too. He was going to 300 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.440 to keep he was keeping all these notes about what 301 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:07.960 he was observing. So these two s heads, these two 302 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:14.839 dirt bags, continue to lie as much as the administration lied. 303 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:22.200 So Megan's first question was, and again paraphrasing, so conservative 304 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:27.960 media was observing all of these things, Georgia Molonia at 305 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:30.599 D Day, trying to get the president to come back, 306 00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:35.079 Obama leading him off the stage. And in fact, one 307 00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:38.559 of the interesting parts of the book was the backstage 308 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:44.880 encounter that George Clooney had with Biden before they did 309 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.799 the you know, the interview out front with Jimmy Kimmel 310 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:51.559 or whoever it was, I don't care, and Clooney talks 311 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:57.480 about how he was literally shocked by what he saw. 312 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:02.440 So Megan goes through this whole lengthy question about we 313 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:10.160 all saw this, the conservative media, conservative news sources, Fox News, 314 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:15.319 an Newsmax, everybody is reporting on it, even you know, 315 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:18.240 at some point even the New York Times makes a 316 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:19.400 few comments about it. 317 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:21.359 But you. 318 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:27.319 And the left wing media continued to say that we 319 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:31.079 shouldn't believe our eyes. Cheap remember, cheap fakes whatever they 320 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:35.640 called some of the videos. So why is it that 321 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:40.799 we saw it but you didn't, and why didn't you 322 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:44.000 report on it? 323 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:49.359 It's a tough and fair question. I would say that 324 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:54.519 Alex and I after election day interviewed more than two 325 00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:58.279 hundred people, two hundred mostly Democratic insiders in all these 326 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:00.559 interviews were almost all of these interviews were or after 327 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:06.559 the election, and they justified to themselves what they had 328 00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:10.960 done in terms of misrepresenting how the president was, not 329 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:15.480 just to me and Alex and other reporters, but also 330 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:16.279 just to each other. 331 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:23.599 That's a subtle shift to blame. Oh, we were keeping notes, Yes, 332 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:28.400 he admits they were keeping notes, But all these insiders were, 333 00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:33.359 as he says, justifying what they were hiding from us. 334 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:37.960 So what's he doing? He's trying to blame other people, 335 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:39.640 not himself. 336 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:41.640 Into the world and to Democrats into the cabinet, etc. 337 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:44.440 By saying that there was this existential threat of Donald 338 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:46.720 Trump and only Joe Biden could be Donald Trump, and 339 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:50.640 that justified everything in their minds. After that existential threat 340 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:52.799 was over, because the election was over and Donald Trump won, 341 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:58.480 they were We found Alex and myself remarkably willing to 342 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:01.119 talk to us, either off record or on background or 343 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:03.720 in some cases on the record about what they saw. 344 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:08.720 One of the things that emerged was that there were 345 00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:14.319 two bidens. One was the fine Biden, serviceable, adequate, and 346 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:16.839 the other one was as a non functioning Biden. And 347 00:23:16.839 --> 00:23:18.480 that's the one we saw the night of the debate, 348 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:20.759 and that's the one we saw some clips up here 349 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:24.440 and there that you just showed. And that non functioning Biden, 350 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.839 the one that lost his train of thought in a 351 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:29.680 significant way, not in the way just that every human 352 00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:31.319 loses their train of thought, but in a way that 353 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:36.400 shows that he's having trouble articulating his very views. And 354 00:23:36.440 --> 00:23:40.559 the one who forgot the name of close aids, who 355 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:42.960 was not able to come up with George Clooney's name, 356 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:44.519 didn't seem to recognize him. 357 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:45.079 All. 358 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:49.559 That sort of thing that non functioning Biden was, according 359 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:54.119 to our reporting, showed up as far back as twenty fifteen. 360 00:23:55.359 --> 00:24:00.759 Twenty fifteen, according to our reporting, showed up as far 361 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:02.839 back as twenty fifteen. 362 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:05.839 After the death of bo or One. Top Aid said 363 00:24:05.880 --> 00:24:10.480 that that tragedy, the loss of bo was like watching 364 00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:11.839 somebody pour water on sand. 365 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:13.359 That was the effect on his psyche. 366 00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:16.799 And there were other moments twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen. 367 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:18.240 You hear some the her report. 368 00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:20.039 One of the reasons he came to that conclusion was 369 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:22.440 because of the recordings they heard of Joe Biden in 370 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:25.480 twenty seventeen talking to his ghostwriter, in which he was 371 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:29.680 similarly inclined. Obviously, in twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, there were 372 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:32.319 other moments like that. Most of his campaign staff and 373 00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:34.359 others would say that he's you look, he's seventy eight, 374 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.000 he's seventy nine, He has senior moments, but he's fine, 375 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:37.880 he's fine, he's fine. 376 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:39.440 Well, he wasn't fine. 377 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:47.119 And throughout his presidency, that non functioning Biden would show 378 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.119 up more and more and more, and he was worse 379 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:50.039 and worse and worse. 380 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:54.200 Really deteriorating tremendously. 381 00:24:54.759 --> 00:24:57.680 The next time, there was a really horrible family incident, 382 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:01.039 which was when Hunter Biden's pleading all fell apart in 383 00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:03.559 the summer of twenty twenty three, and then obviously in 384 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:08.319 June he was convicted, and the thought the fear of 385 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:10.720 losing his son, not to jail, but maybe to another 386 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:13.279 to a relapse, to an overdose, to a suicide, who knows, 387 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:18.200 was a very real fear, and the threat of losing 388 00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:22.599 a third child who really just diminished him tremendously, according 389 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:26.119 to top aides. So all which is to say that 390 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:29.400 this was a deterioration, was a this was a progression. 391 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.279 And look, knowing what I know now. 392 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:39.079 This is really key right here. Look knowing what I 393 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:44.599 know now, but you you kind of did. Obviously. 394 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:50.640 I feel tremendous humility about my coverage that Laura Trump interviewed, 395 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:54.799 for example, et cetera. She saw something, she saw something 396 00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:58.640 that I did not see at the time, one hundred percent. 397 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:03.359 And I own that I did ask Joe Biden to 398 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:05.519 be transparent about his health records in an interview in 399 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:07.440 twenty twenty I did ask him about the fact that 400 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:12.119 voters then he was thought that he power balls, and 401 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:13.799