Blake Lively... Settlement? + Astronauts Are Heading Home! +Trump Avoids War... for a couple weeks

Hey, it's Billy Bush. Tune into my show, Hot Mics, Monday to Thursday at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific for the latest in politics, entertainment, tech, sports, pop culture, and much more. Just tell your device to play Hot Mics on TuneIn to listen. Blake Lively is looking a last minute gift horse in the mouth. Jennifer Siebel Newsom strikes again. Gavin, you got issues, fella. And Taylor, Frankie Paul, mounting a comeback already? Oh, and by the way, I am extremely hungover from Taco Tuesday. How about you? It's Hot Mics with Billy Bush Daily. Here we go. Oh, my God. It's me doing me, right? I'm not quite as sharp. That's insane. Billy Bush. Another compliment. There she is. Hey, it's Billy Bush. Tune in to my show, Hot Mics, Monday to Thursday at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific for the latest in politics, entertainment, tech, sports, pop culture, and much more. Just tell your device to play hot mics on TuneIn to listen. Discover audio for all interests on TuneIn. Listen live or ask your smart speaker to play top news, sports, music, radio, and more. Like Hard London. Capital London. The UK's number one. Talk Sport. And where the club is going under Graham Potter. As far as Potter is concerned, he feels that luck is... And so many more. Whatever you love listening to, hear it all right on TuneIn. Bienvenidos a Caliente Microphones. Welcome to Hot Mics. Thanks for joining us on TuneIn, Facebook and YouTube. I am Billy Bush and desperately asking you to hit the like button, the thumbs up, the subscribe and the notification bell as we grow our little enterprise. Thank God for the Masters. The Masters par three is today, and then the tournament begins tomorrow. I cannot think of a better time in not just my lifetime, but history, to just melt into the couch and await that opening hello, friends, from Gymnats. God almighty, when I hear that, I just flush with excitement. Do I have a man crush on Gymnats? You're absolutely correct in believing that. The Masters is on and I can't wait. We've just got too much going on. Today, I am very pleased to welcome my fellow centrist, Chris Cuomo, shortly to break down the chaos on Taco Tuesday. Good news, we are not currently wiping out an entire civilization for now. what did we have to give up to achieve that basically everything but we will welcome chris for that okay by the way just to get started here i hopped into the chat section where things are already lively and uh and rocking and i said chris cuomo is joining us is chris cuomo hot i fed that little piece of red meat out there into the comments section we love joy shmeha Uh, Joy struck first. Um, yes. Okay. He is, uh, he is a man of bulbous muscles and bulbous intellect. And you don't often get that. Uh, you get one or the other, but with Chris, you get both. And I look forward to talking to him. We're going to, we're going to have, by the way, we're going to give Chris a little vacation too, not, you know, from the politics and all of that. We're going to definitely talk about what just happened, But then we'll get into a little fashion. I wonder if he's a fashion horse like me. I love it. And what he thinks of all the chaos in the celebrity world, too. Okay, we start where we've been starting all week. On a very positive note, my loves, and that is the Artemis II is on its way back. The crew has completed the flyby of the moon and is moving away from the moon's sphere of influence. the manual piloting tests. Astronauts are actively testing the manual steering capabilities of the Orion capsule. Isn't that fun? Like, ooh, let's see if we... Autopilot is no fun. You're an astronaut. You've been training for this. You want to drive the thing, right? You ask about radiation protection, because I did. The crew is conducting checks and monitoring radiation levels as part of the deep space safety protocols. God, it's exciting. I mean, when that thing hits down Friday night in the ocean off of San Diego, I mean, I'm going to cry. I'm going to cry because, and what else makes me cry? Like with, thank God for the masters and thank God for Artemis too. Captain Reed Wiseman, we told you about yesterday, just the fact that he lost his wife five years ago to cancer. Extremely emotional moment when Mission Control tells him, the crater that they just passed up there, they've named after her. Carol, oh my God, I'm going to cry. Jesus Christ. God, that was emotional. And then you see the selfie of Reed Wiseman's daughters. They're so cute. there he is taking a selfie with his girls in front of the 38 story Artemis 2 before takeoff I'm a girl dad I get emotional Kate Wiseman put up an amazing post series of posts about her father look at these they're the girls and their handsome dad in his astronaut uni there they are watching him take off to the moon and oh oh i am going down here whoo i am going down in flames oh put it back up put it back up to the moon and back love you dad whoo let that sit imagine And, you know, do my girls look up to me like that? My dad's a celebrity, you know, news reporter on television for so many years. And now he has an Internet show that he does. Yeah. Oh, really? That's cool. My dad is a fucking astronaut. So bye. You lose. Oh, you're killing me. I'm killing myself. I'm getting emotional seeing this wonderful father, you know, who's go up and his daughter is so proud of him. And also getting sad realizing, what a loser I am. Wait till you see the next one here because he gives him the, where are we going? Oh, God, here we go. He gives him the heart. Oh, my God. Oh, my God, the hearts. He gives him this back. Holy shit. Tissue. Tito. Tito, get me a tissue. All right. Now, oh, God, there's another one when they're little and he's just arriving. He's a young astronaut at NASA. And then the hands through the glass. Oh, shit. Is anyone else getting killed by this? Is it just me? Am I alone? Hello? Is there anyone else out there in the universe, in space, that's with me? Okay. Oh, you're doing it again, huh, Steve? Look at Steve putting the picture back up. The rocket taking off the photograph of the two girls from behind as they watch. Okay. He's one of the only people or dads in the world that when you say, I love you to the moon and back, when he comes back, he's actually going to be able to say that. Oh, shit. Like legitimately. That's unbelievable. You're like, I love you to the moon and back. He's actually me. Steve, I'm going to say to him, I have said that to my daughters too. A little cliche, a little bit, you know, it's a little overly accessible. But I said that to my kids when they were little. I love you to the moon and back. Now they're going to be like, but not like Kate Wiseman's dad. No, more like to Van Nuysenbeck. Dad, you love me to Van Nuysenbeck. You love me to... Oh my God, Steve's on a roll today. Wow. Now, we talked about Kate Wiseman and then at the beginning of the week, we put a little focus on Victor Glover, another astronaut who's up there. Check out Tam. Victor Glover is a hot astronaut. Yeah, that's his wife. Look at all his. He's got girls galore. He is a major girl dad. Want to see the coolest post from his daughter, Maya? Yeah, when your dad successfully pilots Artemis II halfway to the moon. Watch this. She's got a t-shirt of her dad. And she is just throwing down, dancing. Isn't that unbelievable? I want that t-shirt with Victor Glover on it. All right? These are the superheroes, kids. Forget about, I know you want, you go see the Marvel movies. Deadpool? You out, Ryan Reynolds. Uh-uh. We're not celebrating those superheroes anymore. These are the heroes amongst us and they arrive at just the right time. Joe says, me too. I think astronauts should be single so I can get me one. Joe, I think you're a woman. Intelligent is the sexiest of sexy with a good take me to the moon and back if it's wrapped well bonus. Whoa, I think that was a sexual reference. Billy, no matter what trajectory your career takes, you will always be number one hero to your girls, I promise. Oh, you make me feel better. All right, let's get into some of the news here. Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively declined a last minute settlement attempt over Blake's SH and retaliation lawsuit. Attorneys for both were contacted for last minute separation meetings to, sorry, separate meetings to give the judge an update on their client's, you know, updated settlement position. Yeah. All this before the forthcoming trial on May 18th. Well, no changes. Blake is fully dug in. As you know, 10 claims against Justin got tossed by Judge Lyman. Only three claims remain, including breach of contract, retaliation, aiding and abetting in retaliation, why not settle, right? You say to him, this is a moment, if I'm Blake, I'm like, okay, shit's going the wrong way, why not settle? Well, I think Baldoni will only accept a full retraction of the baseless claims against him. And Lively, Blake at least, wants an admission that her claims were substantiated based upon what she expressed to Justin and Wayfarer Studios in the form of her 17-point, you know, list of changes and demands to the environment on set. Remember that? And they met with her about it in her apartment or in her beautiful, spacious, you know, Tribeca mansion, you know, above ground. And she probably wants some money too. Yeah, not going to happen. But here's the thing. But retaliation? Like nobody's going to admit to that, right? Baldoni is, I tell you what, Baldoni's not guilty. I would be shocked if they find him guilty of retaliation, but you know, he's probably guilty, if you want to call it that, of digital self-defense. And I made up that term. DSD, digital self-defense. Somebody's coming for me. They're trying to take me out. They're trying to paint me as a predator, an SH-er, a rookie, a terrible director, a bonehead, everything else. What do you do? Oh, God, you know, unfollow. No, you strike back hard. And if he did that, what else are you going to do? Yeah, they're going to court May 18. And apparently Blake's legal team has a trove of work in front of them. 900 exhibits and 40 witnesses, something like that. I know it sounds crazy, but honestly, it's really not that much. Like every email, individual email is an exhibit. They also requested an appearance list from the other side. Standard, like who's going to be on the stand? Will Justin, Jamie, Heath, will Steve Sarowitz or the ladies, Melissa Nathan and Jen Abel, the publicist, will they take the stand? Probably not. But Blake wants to know that and in what order they will take the stand and on what days. Not a chance, girl. Yeah, not a chance. I mean, look, you have to submit your list, you know, of who's going to appear, who's going to take the stand. And there's a deadline for that for sure. But I don't think you have to do like you have to tell them what order it's going to be and who, when, and where, so they can exactly plan how they're going to handle it. It just tells you they got their work cut out for them in a major, major way. Okay, moving to a major culture-defining question for you. We have a long and rich tradition of first ladies in America. We applaud them all. We even have one second gentleman. You go, Doug. Doug, you did your thing, girl. Yes, you did. You waltzed in there as Kamala's man and showed what it is like to support the lady in front of you. And we applaud you, Doug Emhoff, second gentleman. But is this country ready for major progress? First partner. Are we ready for first partner? I just love Jennifer Siebel Newsom. She's never going to be Jenny Newsome, girl. Uh-uh. No way am I Jenny Newsome. She is not going to be that weak. And Gavin, you've got some serious problems again. And here we go. Here's Jenny. I will say is that I don't know if our country is ready for first partner. Okay. Sadly. I don't know if they are. I'd like to think, and I'm going to work really, really, really, really hard for people to see what's been rendered invisible. and devalued in our society and to go, oh, that's actually important. How did you feel about her wanting to be first partner instead of first lady? I mean, I had mixed feelings. I liked it because I thought it was just fascinating. You have this incredible women's caucus and all these allies and you're not asking about it. And this happens. I get mixed feelings. Yeah, I would say that I have mixed feelings. Yeah. The entire menosphere is, you know, there for the taking. They've all left Donald Trump. They've melted away from him. And now you're going to see, you've got all this potential. You've got swagger, dude. You've got great hair, bro. You are a leading man, sir. He has got skills. And now you're going to hit them with first partner. You're going to sit there. They're going to watch you tolerate, look at first partner. She is mowing you down. And she is gorgeous. You know, a lot of people are going, oh, you can mow me down. Okay. But this is not, why do the Democrats do this? They get a gift horse and they just, not just look it in the mouth, they punch it in the mouth. They are one sexy couple, though. The picture is on the screen and I'm not going to lie. That is a really good looking couple. Quick thing on Taylor Frankie Paul, the bachelorette, who obviously everybody saw her domestic violence video, throw in a chair at her partner, Dakota Mortensen. They have a baby together. There's a child on the couch. It's a total meltdown. She's completely hammered. The cops show up. She's mouthing off to cops in the back of the car. It's a total shit show. But, you know, she might be playing this little fallout period very well, making her, as they say, making her mess her missions, sowing the seeds through her sadness for an ultimate rise to new heights. Perhaps her Easter post? Taylor Frankie Paul on Easter posted, the last 40 days felt like hell on earth. Through every panic attack, I prayed for strength as I could feel my body breaking down from the distress of it all. And he just sent that in various ways along with so many undeniable signs saying, I am with you. Yes, which I can't wait to share that part. I've prayed since I was young, never strayed because always believed he wants us to ask for help, especially during our lowest points. So she has turned to the Lord. She has turned to God. Then she left the Mormon church. She posted, which by the way, I mean, it's a wonderful family-based religion, but people don understand it You know they just don get it It a little it not like quite Scientology but to the outside basic you know average person they don't get it. Mitt Romney, I think it's the one, Mitt Romney had a great campaign going. I think people couldn't quite put, you know, that together. But I think Taylor Franke-Paul is, she included a bunch of photos of herself just melting down what she's going through. And I know what she's going through. I have to say that. So as much as people want to hate on her, I'm going to share her. I'm just going to share a little love on her. I know she's going through a terrible period and the panic attack. I went through all of that in my own way years and years ago. So you ain't going to hear it from me. This I have a huge issue with. Mike Vrabel, who is the coach of the Patriots, Page Six just outed this guy with photos of him and the woman from, you know what? I think we don't probably need the photos. you know what I mean? Like, I don't know to perpetuate it. Sorry, we did not communicate. That was a mistake, I think. But anyway, it's a girl. She's a New York Times, you know, NFL reporter. And they were at this hotel together in Arizona. She is currently, her title is the Senior NFL Insider. And it seems that Mike and this woman were spotted at the Ambiente Resort, which is a very, very luxurious. There's photos of them having a late breakfast on Saturday morning, then lounging by the pool, then in the hot tub, little rooftop, you know, dancing and snuggling. The rooftops are all in, you know, the roofs, the rooftops of these bungalows that are 2100 a night. Anyway, Vrabel denies the thing that anything's going on. He says he drove up for the day with his buddies. And then she, the reporter Diana, denies that she, you know, she's like, look, I was on a hiking trip with my girlfriends. Page six goes so far as to interview other hotel guests who say, no, they were solo. It was just the two of them. Look, it's probably going down, whatever. But you know what? It's beyond invasive. I don't, how do you go there? And what is the motivation to do that to a football coach? Are we turning, are we looking to Mike Vrabel to, can we hold our president to a higher standard before we get to Mike Vrabel? You know what I mean? We're obviously fine with the people on his team who have issues. But why are we holding Mike Vrabel to Mother Teresa-like standards? Okay? And with that, we will shift gears to a man who's screwing 340 million people all at once in broad daylight. And also denies it, by the way. Yeah, yesterday was Taco Tuesday. The likes of which you have never seen. Nor could imagine. He launched an ill-conceived war that serious people warned him against. He was the boy who cried wolf. Iran waited. They took a beating, but they hung in there as gas prices skyrocketed and the world and our former European allies shook their heads. And Trump got desperate. You know, he dropped that a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. Then a deal which is basically a dream wish list for Iran that they never could have conceived or hoped for before. gets put forward. After his crazy war crimes intentional post about wiping him off the planet at breakfast, let's move to Taco Tuesday night, right? The buffet is open here at 6.32 p.m. Taco Tuesday. He posts, Prime Minister basically Shabazz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Muneer of Pakistan have helped negotiate the deal for the complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz. I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks, two weeks. The reason for doing so is that we've already met and exceeded all of our military objectives. Oh yeah, like you did in June 2025. You have no trust with this man. It doesn't, whatever you say immediately, I'm just going to assume the opposite. A long-term peace plan is very far along, says the president. We received a 10-point proposal from Iran. We can negotiate from that. So now a two-week period will allow the agreement to be finalized and consummated. On behalf of the United States of America, as president, he says, and also representing the countries of the Middle East, it's an honor to have this long-term problem close to resolution. Thank you for your attention to this matter, which he loves to say. By the way, Iran was slow to communicate with their local commanders about all of this, because shortly after the deal was announced, the new drone attacks and missiles were reported in the Persian Gulf. Okay, his second missive. This is concerning. It's at midnight. Don't usually love when the president is up at midnight, but here comes the oversell, right? They say a great dealmaker, which Trump calls himself, can propose his deal and then sit in silence. And then it gets awkward and the other side hasn't responded. They're not doing anything. They're looking at your contract. A rookie dealmaker will then jump in and go, and you know what else we can do? We can then, we can also deliver some great data resource and then, but a great dealmaker puts the deal out there and waits, lets the awkwardness sit, gets the response. Not this guy. I thought he was a great one. He said, a big day for world peace. At midnight, by the way, a big day for world peace. Iran wants it to happen. They've had enough. Likewise, so has everyone else. The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There'll be lots of positive action. Big money will be made. I feel like he used to be commercials in New York, like Crazy Eddie was selling Radio Shack in New York. Big deals. Iran can start the reconstruction process. that we'll be paying for. We'll be loading up with supplies of all kinds and just hanging around in order to make sure that everything goes well. He's literally typing this at midnight. We'll be hanging around. I feel confident that it will, just like we are experiencing in the U.S. This could be the golden age of the Middle East. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Okay, I told you years ago when I was interviewing him about The Apprentice for Access Hollywood, he said just tell them and they believe you I challenged him on the ratings and he said Billy Billy don't don't bring up the rate who cares I'll say I say I'm number one I say all these things you just tell people and they believe you yeah but when you're president United States and there are 10,000 journalists you know whose job it is to fact check you it gets difficult so then we have another one this morning at 7 22 a.m. Eastern time didn't sleep much the United States will work closely with Iran, which we have determined has gone through what will be a very productive regime change. There will be no enrichment of uranium. Oh, really? And the United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all the deeply buried B-2 bombers nuclear dust. Okay. It is now and has been under very exacting satellite surveillance. Space Force! Exclamation point. Nothing has been touched from the date of the attack, and we are and will be taking tariff and sanctions relief. Oh, talking tariff and sanctions relief with Iran. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Okay, Iran said, look, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be possible if it was coordinated with Iran's military. Literally, Iranian military now controlling a major energy checkpoint indefinitely. They never had control of the Strait before we started bombing them. They gained control of the Strait of Hormuz from this deal. and in this war. Four weeks ago, Trump demanded Iran's unconditional surrender. Now he's agreed to negotiate based upon their 10-point plan, which includes, wait for it, global recognition of Iran's right to enrich uranium. Their right to do that, globally recognized. Let it sit. Removal of all U.S. forces from the region. How does Israel feel about that. Bibi, you wanted us in. Now we got to go. If this doesn't get worked out in two weeks, the lifting of economic sanctions, no punishment, and the payment of reparations caused to Iran in the war. So this war cost us a billion dollars a day. What does rebuilding Iran cost? And this is the man who just asked for a $1.5 trillion defense budget next year. Oil prices fell. The Asian stock market is rallying. Great. But this potential deal is a farce and there is no way any of it could be agreed to in two weeks. Asia, keep your cheeks clenched for the next two weeks. Bottom line for Trump, if he fails to get 970 pounds of 60% enriched uranium out of Iran, as well as far larger quantities of lower enriched stuff, he will have failed. Obama's deal with them years ago started to look pretty good. In that deal, 97% of their nuclear stockpile was shipped out of the country. How this regrettable war started? This from the New York Times this morning. The pitch came from Israel. In the Situation Room, Bibi Netanyahu made an hour-long presentation to Trump and his senior advisors on February 11th, arguing that a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign could destroy Iran's missile capabilities, force regime change, and bring down the Islamic Republic. Sounds good to me, the president said. Like it. The next morning, U.S. intelligence officials questioned the plan. Kill the Ayatollah? Sure. Cripple Iran's capacity to threaten its neighbors? Absolutely. But a popular uprising, a secular leader installed to govern the country, they found that, quote, detached from reality. The director of the CIA called the scenario farcical. Trump, though, thought the campaign would be quick and decisive, right? Trump's decision, they said, was gut-driven and driven by Trump's gut alone. Big gut, by the way. Venezuela and Iran. Well, Venezuela and Iran 1.0, the June 2025 bombings, emboldened him. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was super psyched and enthusiastic about striking Tehran. Of course he was. And he posted a very predictable and disposable tweet or whatever he said. Iran begged for this ceasefire. And we all know it. Operation Epic failure was a historic and overwhelmingly victory on the battlefield. That wasn't a typo. I called it that. But Trump's more serious advisors like Marco Rubio, Susie Wiles, his chief of staff, General Dan Cain, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not push back on Trump's plan. Right? By the way, Tulsi Gabbard, our director of national intelligence, wasn't even consulted. I mean, she wasn't even brought in to the room. To his credit, some credit, Vice President J.D. Vance told the president, you know I think this is a bad idea, but if you want to do it, I'll support you. That's what the vice president's job is. You know, J.D. Vance and Tucker Carlson are extremely close. Tucker Carlson has gone from this, must be tense in their relationship because Tucker has completely gone off on the president. And Tucker's son works for J.D. Vance. He's an assistant press secretary for J.D. Vance. They're very close. And there must be a lot of tension because you know J.D. is sitting there. J.D. Vance is smart enough to know that we have a maniac in the office. Coming up, my friend Chris Cuomo. We're going to talk to Chris about, you know what I want to know from Chris? Chris is like the main anchor, the top dog at News Nation, which is the only, centrist cable news operation. And I just want to know, where is the center in this country? Because everybody I talk to is in it, apparently. Most people I talk to. So how do we stop this craziness? Today's sponsor first, though, is OneSkin. I use OneSkin, and I've got it right here because my skin is very dry and I'm constantly having to lube up. But I put a little makeup on this morning, so I'm not going to lie. I don't want to rub it in right now. It's not hype. It's real science. 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Just enter HotMics and that's 15% off. Okay. Listeners unite. TuneIn brings together your music, news, sports, and more. Whether you're music obsessed, love to stay in the know with top news, or want to stay in the game with by-the-minute sports coverage, it's all right here on TuneIn. Just sit back and listen. 9 a.m. Pacific for the latest in politics, entertainment, tech, sports, pop culture, and much more. Just tell your device to play hot mics on TuneIn to listen. Let's move to our man, Chris Cuomo, one of my favorite guys. He's been listening to me rant like a lunatic. But he is one of my favorites because he's, look, he comes. Chris, are you there? Is he there? I'm listening. I'm listening. I'm watching. I'm jealous of your lighting. I look like a ghost. I look like I came back from the dead to talk to you. But my room was so blown out with sunlight that this was the best I could do for your audience. So bear with. I love you, buddy. This is if you're telling me for the next whatever it is, I can look better than you. I'll take it. All right. If that's because it isn't going to happen any other time. Chris Cuomo, you are listening to all of this. You're obviously processing all of this. You're going on the air tonight at eight o'clock, as you always do. I just said it right from my heart. This is why I started Hot Mike, so I could say exactly what I feel. It is an unmitigated disaster. The war is a disaster. Its conception is a disaster. This deal for us to look over for two weeks is a disaster. What is, we would be giving up is a disaster. Do you see any bright lights in here? So the trick is, you can argue it any way that you want to encourage, right? Because we're in a binary situation. This has to be the worst thing ever or exactly what needed to be done. And you asked earlier on, where is the center? The center is the majority. Social media has given us this exaggerated notion of the state of play in our politics. And frankly, dopes like me have, I made this mistake years ago. We started relying more and more on social media as a proxy for Vox Populi, the voice of the people. Why? because it was easy. And what we wound up doing was playing into fringe politics where now magnified minorities dominate our politics And we have a president who is a fringe character and we have a resistance to him that is motivated by fringe politics. Whereas the majority of the country, the people in your life who are with you everywhere else, don't do it that way. They don't do what we do for a living. How do we get out of it? They see politics through the lens of right and wrong, not right and left. Right. And that's what we got to get back to. How do we how do we get back to it? You I mean, look, when News Nation, you know, announced that they were coming into into the fold, I said, great. You know, I always worried because, like, I remember years ago, you know, MSNBC was left. Fox News was right. And CNN tried to stake out the middle ground. The middle ground, by definition, is, look, it's an unsexy place. But, you know, we don't, we want, I want that. I want us to be practical, common sense people that I see a little bit on the left that's good, a little bit on the right. Can we, can we, how does the 80% or 70% of people who are mostly centrist people, how do their voices get heard louder then? One, the salesmanship of it, you know, people say they want that, but they don't want it. They want the clickbait. Why? Because increasingly they're on social media and that's what social media is designed to give you. It's literally a design feature. You know, podcasts are obviously an outgrowth of that. You know, being in network news, being in cable news, there always have been standards. And you can say people violated them. They didn't live up to it. And that's why social media has such resonance with people. Okay. But my point stands, which is we've never had a media platform, let alone the most dominant one that has absolutely no standards except what will make them the most money. So you have the algorithm like on Twitter, what Elon has made it is a repository for right wing dumpster fires. And that's what the algorithm rewards. so if you want to be successful you really can't do what you're doing and you better not do what i'm doing yeah the libs can't keep up the libs can't keep up with the with with with the with the hardcore right wing guys in in the in the twitter so they don't have the culture yeah but they're making strides you're seeing guys now bubbling up now the problem or the risk you know you look at a Mehdi Hassan, you look at a Piers Morgan, you look at Cenk Uyghur, they're playing to fringe radical ideas. Why? Because that's where the outrage is. And that's where the clicks are because the algorithms are going to reward the outrage. So if you're in the reasonable business. Do you think Piers is in that? I don't think Piers Morgan's in that category. He calls out Trump all the time. I think that he has a show that is designed to just be a shout fest. it's just a clickbait shout fest and sure you have billy on who believes uh that ice cream is great and you have chris cuomo who says ice cream is the worst thing in the world and you put us on together and i'm like ah billy you're so stupid with your ice cream and you're like ah shut up you're obviously eating something fat boy and we get the clicks click click click click that's what piers is about he's about the clicks yeah click click click you know why because when he was about right and wrong when he had his show at CNN and he tried to take on guns in America because he thought it was crazy and it was a righteous purpose. He got crushed and he learned his lesson. Oh, wow. He became an entertainer. Yeah. And the entertainment value is in the manufactured division. And that's what that show is. And that's why it does well. Yeah. Yeah. I remember. Boy, I remember that. Listen, I want to know who is MAGA, you know, at this point, how can they still be, you know, so supportive? How many are they really? What are the actual numbers? Tucker's gone. The manosphere is melting. Megyn Kelly regrets wearing the red hat at the rallies now. By the way, many of them, you know, are trying to sneak into their positions unnoticed, you know, as they criticize the Donald more openly now. But this is a guy that I found in Glenn Greenwald. I don't really know, Glenn. You may. But he put this in 45 seconds. He put this argument out there to MAGA, to hardcore people, and it just it stopped me in my tracks. It's a perfect less than 60 seconds summation. Fire it. You didn't get a wall. You didn't get any arrests. You didn't get drain the swamp or America first. You didn't get any new infrastructure, no five thousand dollar doze check. You didn't eliminate any national debt or get any help buying a new home or help with lower grocery prices or gas prices. I mean, it's quite the opposite, in fact. You didn't get a $2,000 stimulus check or affordable health care or any accountability for the Epstein files, which he promised when he said he was going to release them all to the public. And you damn sure didn't get any no more wars. now what you got was conned and you're too fucking embarrassed to admit it uh that is not glenn greenwald um glenn greenwald wishes oh glenn posted that yeah that he must have that kind of delivery and that kind of resonance and lighting um i agree with all of it, including the lighting, the gray on black I could do without, but the, the one where I disagree is at the end, it's not that you're too embarrassed to admit it. Here's what it is. First of all, the answer to your question, it's got to be partially right though. Who's in MAGA. It's not who it's, is MAGA still a thing? And the answer is no MAGA is done. There is no, a right wing populist agenda. It's not happening. It's an opportunity. The fix America first opportunity is open and the Democrats should be sprinting toward it, grabbing it with both hands, never mentioning Trump's name again, and just talking about his policies and how they can do better here at home. And they will crush it in the midterms, which I think would also be better for the country to be having that fight instead of the fights we're having now. That said, are the people who voted for Trump, not bigots, not, you know, red hat mafia, are people who say, I'm disgusted with the system. I'm disgusted with the political culture. I want disruption. I don't like that. It's two tiered and set up against me. Those people, many of whom were Democrats, many of whom are artisan class, working class Democrats, or were they are not wrong about what is wrong they are right about what is wrong they picked somebody some of them like this yeah because they thought he would be the enemy of the enemy and they were wrong and he is doing much of what they're against more than they've ever seen before he just talks in a way that sounds like someone they wouldn't let in their house and so MAGA is done. What replaces it, we will see. The outrage is real in this country. Now it's bigger than it was when there was MAGA. That's why I call the reaction formation to MAGA, mega. Not because it's equally filled with a lot of hateful things. I don't believe that it will be. You see these no kings rallies. They're not just anti-anti. They want things. They believe in things. And I think it's a bigger coalition. I think it's a deeper coalition. And I think it's what the Democrats and independents and anybody who wants to be in power should get down with fast. I'm not talking about Antifa. I'm not talking about people who want to burn down college campuses in the interest of Hamas. I'm talking about people who are desperate for relief from the tariffs, the economic struggles, the purchasing power problems, feeling the dreams are not just deferred, but they're going to die that they had for themselves and their kids. That's the war that people want, not Islamism. I, you know, look, I see that every time, I mean, you know, Democrats built the chariot that Trump wrote in on for round two, right, with wokeism and open borders. And they just, the woke, Trump, I always say this, Trump was the only person who could smash this wokeism bullshit with a cudgel. Everyone else is a little, you know, I don't know. I mean, testing, they're a little nervous about, you know, the mob and whatever else that might come after them. not him. He was the only one wired to just crush that thing. He rides in when Joe, you know, on the back of Joe and Kamala, Joe, who got suckered in by the far left of his party. He was just fine. He was brought in to be the normal guy. Now we, you get this fear that there's going to be the answer to someone so extreme is our extreme. Ah, you know, now I like a guy like Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona, who is, you know, an astronaut, a pilot. I mean, he makes, he's a, he's a more of a, you don't like him. What about Bennett from Colorado who ran, you know, not long ago? What about somebody who is in the middle? There is, look, Billy, we both know this. Whoever wants to be in the middle of a fight, no one, you're just going to get hit twice. and you're an enemy of both sides. It's not about middle. It's about right and wrong. It's about reasonable and it's not a semantic difference. Why am I saying no to Michael Bennett? Why am I saying no to Mark Kelly? Nothing negative about them personally, but they're both instruments of the machine. That's how they'll be perceived. Right or wrong, it doesn't matter. Perception is reality in politics. You need the left. What follows Trump? Our politics are very pendular. You're right because they're binary. and the swings are violent and they're usually in equal opposite directions you're right you're right you're right so what you need here is the left is going to be looking for its own trump that's why gavin newsom jesus is becoming the the worst most uh punk version of himself the reason he's doing and saying things he never would before is because he thinks that's how he matches trump I'll be a jerk too. I'll say stupid sophomoric things and act like a fool on Twitter too with that echo of empty toughness. And he is not being his best self because he thinks it's what they want. But his problem is he carries the baggage of California. And he is the insider's insider. Oh, huge baggage. They want an outsider. They want their own disruptor. Mark Cuban is in the family of guys you've got to look for. somebody who is outside never been inside but knows how to do shit and knows how the inside works that's what they're looking for uh i you know what i don't know about that i i i could be wrong but that's my sense because that's why you keep seeing this jumble why else would ram emmanuel appear on anyone's depth chart, let alone Mark Halpern's. Say what you want about him. And he works with Megyn Kelly, who is exactly an example of what's wrong with our media. But Rahm Emanuel, it's like, what? Why? Because you're desperate for someone who seems to get it, who's not seen as part of it right now. Yeah, somebody who can fight. But anybody can fight. It's what are you fighting for? You know what I mean? Anybody can fight. Anybody can pretend to be tough. It's not like there's any price for being tough these days. It's what are you tough about? What do you care about? Why are you here? You know, that's the problem we have in our politics. These people are just about getting power and keeping it, and everybody knows it. So what do you do? You have to return to first principles of what we live with everywhere else in our lives. And I think someone who's not identified with the problem could be very persuasive to people once they knuckle down and what they want is the domestic agenda litigated and changed. Chris, I'm going to the chat section here where we got some comments. People are saying, Cuban is a one-sided nasty guy, says Danielle. Karen says, I also love Pete Buttigieg. Hold on. Justice Israel says, if Dems want to win, they'll put up Gavin. Okay. Wow. I feel like people will be too traumatized with Trump to want to vote for another disruptor. I, as a Republican, like Rahm Emanuel, it says another comment. Pete Buttigieg is smart. I wish America was ready for a gay president. What a great man. Yeah. OK, so people are, you know, look, lots of feelings here. I don't see. That's the problem, right? What's the problem with social media? What do we see now? Like when people go out like Don Lemon and talk to people on the street, literally stop someone on the street and say, what do you think about the war in Iran? You're getting people. This isn't what you do. All of this is ancillary to your life. Most of what you're going to give is a feeling. Oh, I like Ram. I think it should be that I feel like that. Yeah. OK, the that's all fine. Everybody's got a right to say something. It doesn't mean that what you say is right. OK. And we are so reliant on this now because we're in this business. We need that. And what we're doing is empowering this hollow, useless series of provocations. You know, if you talk to people, you change the question, you change the reality. Okay? I think I like Rom and I don't think... Okay, what matters to you in your life that you think involves government? you're going to hear the same thing from 90% of the American people. Because remember, the problem in our society is that the many are held hostage by the interest of the few. I'm worried about my purchasing power. I do not have money if there's an emergency. I am a couple of checks away from really hard times. If they're young, they cannot achieve their ambitions. I cannot get ahead of my student debt. I cannot get the house. I cannot build the family I want to build. if they are in the family game already i'm worried about what i can provide to my kids i do not think they're going to do as well as i did and and if you can get me past all that yeah i kind of feel that we're crazy these are kind of some we're crazy but i don't care about crazy as much as i care about those first things the big regime that the american people fear is not in iran it's in health care that is the regime that they are afraid of and they are threatened by attack that and you win. What about Fetterman? I mean, that's a set of good comment there from Christina a second ago. Democrats need more Fettermans. And you know what? Republicans, I have to, you know what? I like Fetterman. I think he's funny, but not, not, obviously not in the conversation for president, but here's what I'm stunned by is that Donald Trump right now is a lame duck president. He is careening his party towards a blowout in the midterms. And the little Keebler elf, you know, Mike Johnson, who is the Speaker of the House, is standing by him in everything he does. Why are you standing by this man who's leading you to a cliff to fall off? How are these people? Because he can still primary you and beat you. It is all pragmatism. Why is J.D. Vance setting himself up for failure to be just pilloried as a hypocrite? He is because it works right now. That's why. Yeah. And that's why Trump is not your normal lame duck. One, he is capable of doing outsized, radical, dangerous things. And you've you've got to pay attention to that. You have to take him seriously, not literally. okay you take donald trump seriously because he can hurt you he can do bad things politically bad things militarily he can do bad things domestically just look at the brute squad that he put together calling it ice and has now hurt the reputation of law enforcement across this country so you got to take him seriously because he can do some really serious shit but you don't take him literally because what he says is usually not connected to anything but where he is in the moment. Yep. So Mike Johnson makes complete sense to me. Fetterman you got to have a team brother and he got problems with his own team You can win if your own people are coming at you and the other side No but you can be admired by me You can be admired by people who are not part of the game. But if you want to win power, you got to play the game. And I think Fetterman, through his own conscience and being out of step with his own party, is basically ruling himself. I think he's going to get primaried, by the way. I think he's going to get primaried, and I think he's going to get primaried hard. And this isn't about like, dislike. I have him on all the time. It's the state of play. And the state of play in his party is you keep empowering Trump, and you see what we do to you. You keep doing it. You keep saying Hitler's got a nice haircut. We'll take you out on the inside. You see what we do to you. You mentioned your guy Lemon before. Lemon. Look at Lemon's having a little bit of a resurgence. Lemon's running around out there. He had a nice little. perfect for social media yeah he is perfect but you know look his arrest he'd do he would do better with the boss because if he's working at cnn nbc anywhere he doesn't go in that church yeah you don't go in that church why because you make a phone call you say here's what we're about to do and someone from standards and practices someone with a cooler head says no no no no you talk to them about why they want to go in there and do that and then after they do it you talk to them We don't go into the commission of what we know to be a crime. Now, do I think it was a good arrest? No, it was a bad arrest. Why? Because he's a journalist. Yeah, but you just said you didn't like his call. Yeah, that's called being a bad journalist. Still a journalist. So he's good. I like that you said he's good for social media. Great for social media. But, yeah, he would never survive, you know, that kind of move. Well, he did survive. He did many, many years. But you and Lemon were friends. Are you friends with Lemon? He's just better suited to this. Why? Because he likes to say outrageous things. and be hyper emotive, and play to people's outrage. He's very good at that. And that's social media. He's a fire starter for sure. You used to say, love you Lemon. You used to say, love you Lemon to Lemon. You loved Lemon. I meant it. Do you still love Lemon? No. But that doesn't mean I hate him. That doesn't mean I want bad things for him. That doesn't mean I would do bad things to him. but if you choose your own interests you're not loyal you're not a real one you're about yourself and i respect that i'm not going to judge it but i will judge what that means in my own life i wish him well if he needed me i would be there when he got arrested i sent him a note right away you did yep what it said be quiet shut up just be quiet lemon okay now he didn't follow my advice. When he got fired, I sent him a note. Lemon could not get himself to California quick enough to even after all that. He was on Kimmel that night. He was at the Grammys. He was being feted by the liberal elite establishment. He loved it. Why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't he? Well, he's got to build that social account. But Trump gave it to him by arresting him. yeah you don't arrest you lionized lemon he lionized the lemon yeah he did him a huge favor he does a favor for everyone on the left that he attacks he makes you a commodity yeah i get it do i want it no why because i don't have a side and i've done enough to my family i need my what i do professionally to be as separate and apart from their lives as i can make it that's how i live my life that's how i do my job i do not want to put any more on my kids and my family than i already have uh why did chris fall out with bill o'reilly says craig did you fall out with o'reilly i never fell in with him no he's on my show every week yeah what are you talking about i have to say i think i think he does a regular i'm telling you these people just because you comment doesn't mean you have something to say don lemon looked amazing coming out of jail i shouted out to him did you stand up did you stand up all night in jail not a wrinkle in that suit okay karen must be from from minneapolis right i mean you see what i'm saying it's like what do you have going on that this is the kind of thing that you want to say and where would you see these people anywhere else in your life where you would entertain that except on social media you know somebody walks up to you and you're like buying a coffee and they're like hey did you see don lemon when he came out of the prison you'd be like get the fuck away from me i don't want to talk to you you know but this is social media this is what it is yeah you're too big a guy i mean you know what you got to pick on a smaller guy if you're gonna say some shit to somebody in the coffee line don't make it cuomo maybe it's somebody a little smaller littler guy you should make it me if you're looking for a payday because I will never relinquish my right to be wrong. And I'm not going to have someone walk up to me and say shitty things to me in front of my family and think that I'm going to just let it go because I'm the bigger guy. I'm not the bigger guy. I'm not. I don't want your approval that much. I don't want your vote ever. And if you don't like me, that's fine. I'd rather knock you in the mouth, teach you a lesson that your mother should have taught you a long time ago, and pay the price. because this has to end, Billy. It can't be where I don't like your points, which I do, by the way. You're very thoughtful in what you lay out. Thank you. And say, Billy, you're an idiot. You're just a jerk. You're the worst. I wish your mother had aborted you. All the kinds of things that people say now with no price tag. Yeah. And I think it's putting us in a worse place, not a better place. I don't think this is freedom of speech. Freedom of speech isn't about ensuring people can be their worst. That's not why we have this freedom. Do we have to tolerate it? Yeah, but we don't have to reward it. We don't have to reward it. It's lawless out there. Quolms, you are a great man, a buff man, a beautiful man. I don't know if you've worked out today, but I do see. That's why I sent you that belt, by the way. Oh, Jim in a Box. That's why Nika from Jim in a Box sent you that thing. It works. It's not a cure-all, but it works. It's a good tool. You sent me a vibrating belt to put on while you work out. So it's electro-stim technology, which is very old. Every time anybody gets PT, you know what it's like. So you put it anywhere. You have the bands and stuff, but the belt, I put it on when I do my cardio. So you get more. When I'm doing stuff outside, I was cleaning my car. I got the belt on. Why? Just get a little bit extra sweat, a little bit extra calorie burn. I need that. At our age, I mean, I'm much older than you, but at our age, I need to be constantly fighting what I'm up against. You know what I mean? And it helps. So I sent it to you. I'm just worried about these. Thank you. It's called Jim in a Box, and I've got to chat with the founder, Nika Christiani, a little bit later today. She's cool. Yeah, she's a big fan of yours, but, you know, she does a good job. She's also, you know how I know her. Oops, sorry. You know how I know her. Thank God you weren't nude right there. Your camera just went down to your crotch. Did you see my three pairs of socks? I just stuffed three pairs of socks down there. That was all intentional. I want to get the clicks. So the tariffs are killing small businesses disproportionately because they don't have the relationships with the vendors, nor the deep pocket to push them back or offset them. So she has been tutoring me in the experience of the small business. You know they're still paying tariffs? Oh, yeah. They are still paying the tariffs even after the Supreme Court ruling. I have her coming on to show us the receipts, literally, okay? Like, look, I just paid, and there's no way to get the money back. So that's how I got to know her. And we developed a friendship, her and her husband, Nino, who makes me and you taped together. Oh, shit. He just scares me just hearing his name. Nino. Nino. No, he's the real deal. He wears a shirt. You like my wife's gym in a box, huh? I mean, these people are the real deal. Okay. But what I'm saying is this, Billy. We know what's wrong. We all know what's wrong. We do. We just got to tap into that. We all know what's wrong. I know. What's wrong to say. We know what's wrong to do. we know what's wrong in terms of how you approach things we know what's wrong we got to get back to that what's right and what's wrong not right versus left that's killing us gotcha changing chris cuomo great man and i love it love what you're doing uh at eight o'clock at news nation uh every night chris is uh he's doing it his way which i like free agent baby he's a free agent i like that stay a free agent i know your commenters are mad at me but here's the good news you can now tell them when I leave that you agree with them and you'll get more clicks. Yeah, I'm going to do that. I'm going to call you a giant asshole as soon as you hit leave. It works. It worked. Why not? I'm too scared. That's what my kids call me. I'm too scared to say it to your face. Yeah, I just can't do that. I know you could beat me up. Hey, Billy, you can do it. You'll get a big kiss on the cheek is what you'll get. I love you, pal. Thank you so much. You're a good man. You have a great show and I'm glad your voice is out there. Thanks. It has value. I'm having fun with it. Appreciate it. Yeah, just take the shirt off, punch somebody, get a little drama going, and all of a sudden, look at that. I mean, look at that. I mean, come on. It's got to be illegal. You've got to be on something. So say you're on something, say it's illegal, do something crazy, punch somebody's window, and you're going to have like a million followers tomorrow. It'll be great. Thank you for the advice. I'll see you, pal. Thanks a million. We'll be watching tonight. All right, next time, brother. Chris Cuomo tonight at 8 o'clock on News Nation. He does a great show, man. That's for sure. Steve, I kind of want to just play with a little. Do you want to push the fashion for tomorrow? I mean. I think we can push the fashion for tomorrow. I do want to say that we. So much a good. There was a great night of fashion last night. And if you know me, folks, you know I love fashion. I like fashion as much as I like football. And there was an event last night. My gal, Allie, went out to it. And she's like texted me from there. The hottest women on the planet are here. Everybody's here. It's the Fashion Trust LA event. Not one guy was there. And it was all the cool girls. There's Garcelle Beauvais. Bang. Look at Brittany Snow. Oh, my God. Look at the dress. Go back. Don't go so fast. What are you doing? You're killing me here. Look at Brittany Snow with a little peekaboo. I've never seen that. A peekaboo right there in the upper. You do like a peekaboo. I do like a peekaboo. Britney, I think, has gotten so beautiful. I mean, she's just in a place right now. Is that Mila Kunis? That's Kelsey Ballerini. Kelsey Ballerini. Boy, does she look in a white, flowy. Those are like sheer shades, right? Right there. And it looks like those would hang in a hotel room in Cabo San Lucas. A different look? Lovely? there's Melissa McCarthy and doesn't she look radiant? Fuck you, Steve. Move it to the next picture. Oh my God, it's Kylie Jenner looking amazing. Kylie in her favorite color. It's light blue. Wow. God, Kylie looks amazing. And I love a sleeveless strapless. Is that Pam Anderson? Pamela Anderson. Please. There's no need to make this makeup point anymore. I don't need makeup. It's the real me. Okay, great. But you're a woman and you have like full clearance to use it. I am, you know, a longtime television starlet. And so I have to wear a little makeup here and there, you know. Bethany Frankel looks fantastic. Did she get a little eye job or something to open up the eyes a little? How do you describe that dress? The dress that she is wearing has a cape on it. I wonder if it's detachable so you can see those great shoulders that she works on all the time. Maybe she did the tie dye herself. It looks like, I don't know, it's very drapey and it looks like, you know, like Animal from the Muppet Show, if he had like a multi-technicolored thing on it. Do we have anyone else? Let's see, Chrissy Teigen, there's Chrissy Teigen. Don't love this outfit, love her. It's kind of got, She looks like a duck, right, with the orange feet at the bottom. That would look good roller skating without the glow-in-the-dark roller skating. Yeah, it looks like a fun outfit. She might be having a good time in it, very easy to move about. Where's my girl Gina Davis? There's Gina. Gina's very tall. You do not want to be on it. You want to be a little man. You on a date with Gina Davis, Steve, would be a disaster. She's a very big lady, very tall. It would be tough on me. You'd only see from here up in the pictures. Let me go with statuesque. Look at the computer behind you. It's so good. So it just told everyone. Sharon Stone. Texted with her, tried to get her on. She's like, we're not, you know, I've just been out doing stuff. I could hit her again. I want to get Sharon in here just to talk issues. Okay, Billy, this last one, I want to see if you recognize who this one is because I think it's been maybe a long time since you've seen this person. Jesus. Any idea? Wow. Hold on. First, the boots are sensational, matching the clutch, the purse. She's wearing a lace shirt dress showing a lot of leg, beautiful long legs. The hair is delightfully sexy. I think you're going to be shocked. Beachy waves on the hair. And yeah, gorgeous, glamorous, boho chic at its finest. Who is this woman? It's Paris Jackson. Sorry, Miss Jackson. Jackson. I am for real. Wow. Wow. That Michael cannot be the father. It's just, I mean, I should not have said that, but I don't see any Michael in there. All I see is absolute stone cold beautiful. Billy, I got one more thing for you. I know Michael very well. He's my neighbor for a long time. Billy, we put up a Chris Cuomo is he hot or not poll that we did through the show. And he started strong, but he ended, I think you'll be shocked. What's the number? 53% said no. Oh, that's not true. They're mad at him. They're mad at him for something he said maybe, but you know, I don't know. I mean, you're telling me you would kick Chris Cuomo out of the sheets for eating crackers? I don't think so. No. I don't think so. No. Uh-uh. I would, but that's just me. We are done. Is there any more fashion photos? No more fashion photos. No more fashion photos? Oh, okay. Well, my friends, that's it for us. Thanks for being with us. Big thanks to today's sponsor. Prize picks. We love prize picks wherever I go. Whatever game. Got the Masters now. The best place to win money while you're watching. I will show you my prize picks, master's picks tomorrow. But for you, go to the app and pick more or less on a few player statistics. 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