Third hour. This is we made it through the stretch hour. The power hour. The power hour. The seventh thing inning str were so glad everybody is with us this morning. Im glad to be next to you too. It is going quick. It is already 8 00. Speak for yourself. I did two hours and now it is three. Im so glad to be here with you guys because you guys mean, i think we all help each other make each other better and we hope we make you better at home. There is a lot to get to this morning. Welcome to the program. Were going to give you some news now including these baseless Conspiracy Theories circulating about the attack on paul pelosi. Were going to debunk them one by one in a cnn fact check coming up shortly. Midterm elections, were one week exactly away, but a lot of votes already cast in early voting. Republican leaders gaining confidence that this is going to cut their way. Chris sununu of New Hampshire running for reelection, hell join us this hour to talk about his partys prospects. And another big question is what are nasa and spacex up to today . The classified mission that is set to be under way very soon, well tell you more. Well get to our lead story now. Well gbegin with the spread of misinformation en the attack of paul pelosi, the House Speakers husband. Some of the loudest voices on the internet have been pushing some of these baseless Conspiracy Theorys to millions of their followers on social media. But new revelations from the San Francisco District Attorney put those Conspiracy Theories to rest. Yes, it appears as though this was based on his statements and comments that were made in that house during his encounter with mr. Lopelosi that this was politically motivated. Joining us to separate the fact from the fiction is cnn reporter and fact checker mr. Daniel dale. Good morning, daniel. Thank you. This is a very important story because there are tons of Conspiracy Theories out there. Please, what did you find in your fact check . Don, it is rare you see a Conspiracy Theory debunked this definitively, this fast. The central claim of the Conspiracy Theory that has been circulated by elon musk and others online is that paul pelosi invited the attack near the home, that they had some sort of salacious relationship that went bad. Thats complete fiction, according to local and federal Law Enforcement and the official fbi complaint says according to the attacker himself, the fbi says in that document that the attacker himself told police in a recorded interview that he broke into the pelosi home by breaking a glass door using a hammer, that he surprised mr. Pelosi, told mr. Pelosi to wake up, the complaint says pelosi told 911 later a Police Officer he didnt know the man and heres what San Francisco police chief bill scott told cnn yesterday. There is absolutely no evidence that mr. Pelosi knew this man. Matter of fact, the evidence indicates the exact opposite. The exact opposite is what he said. Daniel, some right wing figures including actually elected people in important office, like Lieutenant Governor of north carolina, have been promoting this claim that the attacker was found by police in his underwear. It is not true. Where did that come from . So, poppy, this came from a report from a local tv station, a fox affiliate, except that tv station retracted the claim, issued a correction saying pretty plainly, it is just not true. And if thats not sufficient for people, take a look again at the fbi complaint. It says the Cops On Scene found a bunch of stuff, including a cell phone and cash in the intruders shorts pocket. So this man was wearing clothes. Now, this one may have been based on some vague Police Language early on, but the fbi complaint makes totally clear there was one hammer, people have been saying there may have been two hammers, they both had hammers going at each other. The fbi complaint says the attacker told police he brought a hammer, he used a hammer. At the time the police arrived, mr. Pelosi had grabbed on to that hammer for obvious defensive reasons and was hit with it. And, daniel, you know, youve seen these efforts to distance this attack from people in the political right. What do we know about David Depapes potential motives . I think we should take it from this man himself, the fbi says in the complaint the attacker told police he broke into the pelosi home over his animosity toward the democratic party. That his aim was to hold Speaker Nancy Pelosi hostage because he viewed her as the lead er of a pack of democratic liars. He was thinking about breaking her kneecaps as a message to other members of congress. We know he had been promoting right wing Conspiracy Theories online. These are allegations from the feds, from local cops. We know this man has a curious history, dabbling in all sorts of ideas. It is very possible there are relevant things we dont yet know about the attack, the man involved. Im not saying the word of Law Enforcement should ever be taken on the gospel unquestioned word. But think it is clear, we can say confidently at this point, that the conspiracy narrative is bunk it just garbage. Conspiracy theories around the world before the truth gets out of bed. Thank you. Nancy pelosis democratic friend and colleague says the escalating rhetoric by some on the right is to blame for many of these dangerous Conspiracy Theories. Listen to this. This is something that has gone that is truly out of control. And i dont even know if lowering the rhetoric is enough. It is an incredible cancer that if we dont Start Holding people accountable for their words, then were going to see more of this. And it sends shivers up and down my spine. That was democratic congresswoman Jackie Speier of california. Lets go to manu raju for the campaign fallout. Good morning, manu. Reporter good morning, yeah. The political fallout among republicans, youve seen them divided over how to respond here. Mitch mcconnell, the republican leader, the senate side, was quick to condemn the attack at the pelosi household, calling it horrifying. But others likened it to other political attacks, other Violent Attacks against republicans. Then youve seen some push those baseless Conspiracy Theories with no fallout whatsoever. This comes as nancy pelosi has been absolutely demonized by republicans for the better part of the past two decades in the republicans quest to battle over the house and certainly the fight right now to take back power in the house. The other big fallout and the big question among members themselves and questions that theyre confronting is the Security Situation that they face on the Campaign Trail, and also out in public as we know that only the leadership is the one who received the Security Detail that nancy pelosi had, but it does not extend to rank and file members and it certainly does not extend to Family Members themselves. So as we look at how the Political Landscape may be affected by this, members themselves are assessing their own personal safety. Right now, there is a review among Law Enforcement agencies within the United States senate and the house to determine exactly whether to change the Security Protocol for these members as we are seeing these threats of violence escalate. While we have you, it seems like president obama is working overtime, not in office, making sure democrats hold seats and gain seats. Hes back on the Campaign Trail today. How much of a difference do you think he can make in the final push, the final week . Reporter that is the big question here. There have not been that many surrogates, democratic surrogates on the Campaign Trail. President biden for one has not been out on the Campaign Trail. We have seen barack obama, the biggest one here. And this is such a significant race. The democratic incumbent, first term senator going against a republican, former attorney general, in a race that poll after poll has shown is essentially a dead heat. Republicans stand a serious chance of picking up this seat, more than 100 million has been spent on the air alone in this state between labor day and until now. And what Catherine Cortez mat so said is what she hopes is that barack obama will help juice democratic turnout. Listen. What do you hope that former president obama brings tomorrow to help you in your final days in this campaign . Were going to have a number of people coming in to help get out the vote. Theyre absolutely welcome. My focus are nonnevadans and getting out and talking to nevadans and the importance of voting and turning out those voters. Reporter looking at the calendar, you see how busy things have been for barack obama. Hes been in georgia, michigan, wisconsin. Hell be in nevada later today. And then arizona and pennsylvania. All those key states with those key senate races, barack obama trying to make the difference. He seems to be enjoying some of his Campaign Stops and bringing a lot of theyre still fine. That happened. Manu, thank you. That was the clip of the weekend. Manu in vegas. For more on all of this, we want to bring in New Hampshires republican governor chris sununu, who is up for reelection. Governor sununu, thank you for joining us on our first show. I want to start, though, with, you know, i know youve been talking about inflation and how you believe that is such an important factor and how voters in your state are making a decision in this election. But i want to start with whats happening with House Speaker pelosi and this attack on her husband. I know you said that your sympathies are with them. There was this moment last night with the republican candidate for governor in arizona, kari lake, she weighed in on what happened to Speaker Pelosi. It is not impossible to protect our kids at school. They act like it is. Nancy pelosi will, shes got protection when shes in d. C. Clearly her house doesnt have a lot of protection. What is your response to not just what kari lake said, but also the laughter from the crowd, the moderator . Yeah, look, i would just say anyone who is not taking what happened to Speaker Pelosi and her husband extremely seriously with all the sympathies that it deserves, there is just no place for it. This is serious. Us as political figures, we can talk about issues, we can defend ourselves. Most of our families doesnt ask for them. The political rhetoric over the past few years has been really escalating. Lines have been crossed. New lines have been drawn, inappropriately. And it is scary. It is a very scary thing and very scary time. So, you know, this isnt an isolated incident, unfortunately. We have the shooting of Steve Scalise, gabby giffords, the Assassination Attempt on Justice Kavanaugh. These lines are moving on both sides. This isnt Just One Party or the other. This is a cultural phenomenon that is not good for america. It is one of the bigger crises were seeing in that folks think that certain things are appropriate when they really arent. We have to take it seriously. I think it youre right that it is escalating. I think it is unfair to say on both sides. This is not the same on democratic side as it is on the republican side, especially when you consider you say it has been escalated over the last couple of years. That has been a direct contribution from the former president. Treating people harshly and his language around violence and the attack on the capitol, the assault on the capitol and encouraging people toward violence. So, listen, you can say, you know, it is the sort of both sides, but really republicans arent speaking out for the most part in a vehement way. You have youve got senator mitch mcconnell, kevin mccarthy, but for the most part, silence, very muted from republicans about what is happening with violence and don jr. Tweeting horrific things. Why dont people get in front of the cameras, more republicans, and say this is awful, this should not happen, this is what republicans shouldnt be doing, i dont want my party defined by this bs . Why doesnt that happen . Well, look, i think look, i think youre absolutely right. As leaders, whether youre a governor or president or an elected official in washington, everyone should be speaking out about the horrific actions of what happened. Again, the Steve Scalise shooting, Justice Kavanaugh was almost assassinated outside of his home, so there is danger on both sides. Governor, i dont disagree with you. Let me tell you the difference here. When it is on the democratic side and it does happen, people say it is wrong, it should not happen and they denounce it. Democratic leaders come out and do it immediately. Republicans dont do that. Are they afraid of don jr. . Are they afraid of donald trump . Are they afraid to come out, theyre going to lose votes . Im being honest. That is the truth. Go back and look at the evidence. So it is not the same thing. Look well, look, im here telling you as one of the leaders of the republican party, you denounce it wholeheartedly. Of course. A lot of folks have. I get it. And, you know, whatever the issue and the action of the day is, unfortunately this week it happened to Speaker Pelosi and her husband and her family, thats real. And does that mean it is going to stop today . Probably not unfortunately, right . It is going to potentially continue. As a whole, the media, the social media, elected officials, everyone within their Community Needs to bring that temperature down. Governor, thank you again for joining us for this really important conversation this morning. Youre right, you mentioned elected officials. We know that this suspect, we know that depape hosted, mentioned many times Conspiracy Theories including about the 2020 election. You are supporting, youre going to vote for the republican nominee for senate in the state of New Hampshire, don bolduc, who keeps denying the results of the 2020 election. He did it again a few weeks ago and said i cant say whether it was stolen or not. Hes perpetuating lies that are dangerous, that become these Conspiracy Theories. How do you square the two . This is a guy who called you a Conspiracy Theory extremist. Why is he worthy of your vote . Yeah, so, look, at the end of the day, the election was not stolen and the vast majority of people he keeps saying it could have been. No, he three weeks ago came out three weeks ago came out and questioned it again. Thats all im saying. Yeah. Yeah, and what im saying is when it comes down to voting for an individual, voters, whether as a me or the 1. 4 million other people in the state of New Hampshire, theyre going to go cast the vote on a variety of issues. We might disagree on what happened in 2020 or folks are focusing on the Conspiracy Theories around the 2020 election. At the end of the day, the vast majority of voters, independent voters who havent made up their mind, theyre voting on inflation, theyre voting on the cost of goods, theyre voting on not being able to make their mortgage or find housing. Those are things drastically impacting their family today that have been driven by very bad policies out of washington, d. C. On the democrats side and so therefore not just myself but a lot of other folks will be voting for republicans come november. It is not just a one issue, you cant say, well, based on that one issue we vehemently disagree, so we shouldnt be casting our vote. Youre arguing that what youre hearing from voters in your state is that what theyre paying at the supermarket, at the gas station is more important to them. And thats whats factoring into their vote. You know, youre supporting don bolduc the republican as poppy was mentioning there in this race. If hes elected, are you confident that if he goes to washington that republicans are going to have a plan to fix inflation . Because thats been the pushback we have heard from democrats, from the white house, is they say republicans keep talking about inflation, but theyre not so sure they have a plan to fix it. Do you think that they do . One thing im really confident of is if you send the same people back to washington, you aint going to get a different result. Not even close. The fact you have folks that want to step up, that arent typical politicians that want to come down that the general, hes a war hero. He served his country. Hes worked with issues of Mental Health at a level unseen in this country. And those are very important issues s and he wants to mix things up and hes going to go to washington and do that. You cant say by electing the same old democrats youll get a different result. We want a different result. Only way to do that is to bring a different system. Governor chris sununu, taking time to answer these important questions for us this morning. Anytime, thank you, guys. Thank you, governor, on our maiden voyage. He came here and took the tough questions so really appreciate it. Hes up for reelection obviously himself. Hes got a big race, dont forget. It is one week from tonight, were going to be talking about his race, the other senate races in New Hampshire, cnns special coverage of the midterm elections will start at 4 00 p. M. That afternoon. We will be going all night with the three of us. Youll see us bringing in the results. All night, all morning. Details to come. Well explain what we mean that. Spacex hoping to recreate the successful launch in just a few hours. This time, though, the Falcon Heavy Rocket will head to space for another mission for the u. S. Space force. So joining us now cnn space and defense correspondent kristin fisher. Good morning. Good to see you. So, what can you tell us about this . What is going on . Apparently some sort of Secret Classified Mission here . Reporter good morning, yeah. Guys, it is tough to hide a rocket this big launching, right . Everybody up and down the Florida Space cost is going to see it. It is the most powerful rocket currently in operation today. What is being kept secret and what is the mystery here is the classified payloads, the things that are inside this rocket. Those are coming from the u. S. Military, the u. S. Space force. This rocket, the falcon heavy, is going to be launching it into a orbit called geosynchronous orbit, lower than other orbits where most satellites are placed. This is a big deal because, yes, it is a secret mission for the u. S. Space force, but it is also just really cool to watch because, guys, this rocket has not launched in since 2019. It only launched three times before. This will be its fourth launch. And if you are anywhere near the Kennedy Space center at 9 41 a. M. Eastern time this morning, this is one of those launches that you want to just go outside and look up in the sky because there is nothing else like this flying today. With that said, nasa is trying to launch an even more powerful rocket, a little bit later this month. But what youre going to get with the falcon heavy landing, guys, it is not just a rocket launch, youre also going to get two rockets landing. Theyre going to try to bring two of the boosters back and land them almost simultaneously at cape canaveral. So, you get a launch, you get two rocket landings, and two sonic booms that come with that. The space force putting out warnings up and down the florida coast that if you hear two big booms, dont worry, it is just the sonic boom. It is a good launch to go see if you can. Good heads up. Got to put this thank you, kristin, appreciate it. Puts into perspective what we do. This is not rocket science, that actually is rocket science. The Climate Crisis causing droughts across america and pushing the Mississippi River to its lowest levels on record. How that will unpack your wallet. Thats next. Bill weir, there he is, live in my hometown of baton rouge, louisiana, coming up after the break. Hey lexus, turn it up theres no place like unknown. 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So i saw this firsthand, when i was home in minnesota a few weeks ago, this relentless drought, not just across minnesota, across so much of the heartland pushing the Mississippi River to some of its lowest water levels on record, and creating a Shipping Crisis that is going to affect how much you pay for groceries. Our Chief Climate Correspondent bill weir reports. Reporter to navigate this river in the old south, a man would stand on the ship and bounce a lead weight on a knotted string off the bottom. If it was a safe 12 feet deep, he would shout, Mark Twain Samuel clemens made that his pen name, of course, but if you wrote about this river today, tom sawyer and huck fin would spend a lot of time walking on the beach because in too many places, the not so Mighty Mississippi is a fraction of a twain. Were going to look at a few old steamboats. Steamboat wrecks. Reporter mark swain era steamboats. And the relentless drought across the heartland is exposing all kinds of memories. It may have caught on fire or sank 50 miles upstream and floated here during the floods. As far as water levels go, this is the worst youve ever seen . This is about as low as ive seen it. Reporter from the missouri down to new orleans, accidental archaeologists are Finding Steamboat Graveyards and human remains, Civil War Ammo and forgotten shipwrecks. One of the more striking yardsticks is here in baton rouge, the uss kid, on a good year the mississippi comes to that first rust stripe, about 25 feet above my head right now. And these water levels are so low, creating such a catastrophic Shipping Crisis that this is going to affect your grocery bill. It is a price of moving a bushel of soybeans went up 300 and there are thousands of barges full of food and all they can do is just wait and pray for rain. And if they cant get rain, they pray for help. We got a difficult stretch of river. Reporter from the army corps of engineers, with billions of dollars on the line they cut channels as fast as they can, with Working Antiques like the dredge potter, built in 1932, but still a work horse and endless fight with the river in every kind of weather. Youre a professional weather bed redecorator. Kind of. Yeah. Yeah. Move this over here. Put that over there. As long as we can keep barges moving and keep Commodity Prices down, thats our mission. Reporter it is impressive to see up front. You know the ole miss better than most. Youve been doing this a while. 34 years. Reporter how would you characterize what is going on these days . It is a concern. A heightened concern. I dont know that i would call it a panic yet. But we are watching the water levels very closely on an almost hourly basis. Reporter is it the kind of thing if this goes on, you can dredge around the problem . To a point. In 1989, and then again in 2012 we got to an area where the to a level where the channel was almost unsustainable. That we had numerous drudges working, and there was very little commerce going through. And ultimately what saved the day was rain. Reporter and these days when you wish for rain, you have to specify not all at once. The midwest is still recovering from summer flash floods. And if the Water Cycle Whiplashes again, Hard Rain On Parched Earth would be another blow to farmers. Already struggling to move their har harvest. Fewer and lighter barges on the river means more expensive trains and trucks, putting more planet cooking pollution into earths system. Which scientists continue to warn will only make droughts and floods and the related crises more extreme. And on a connected planet, where one in eight humans eat something that was moved down the mississippi, those hardy souls on the dredge potter are going to need a lot more help. Normally they dredge until december. Theyre going to go until february this year. And, don, i dont know if you remember in your years here, locals tell me they can remember when they could stand under the uss kid but never remember it being this extreme, this low, for this long. You can see on the banks, the big pier and dock here at baton rouge that takes folks from the Paddle Wheels and ferries to the Convention Center is completely worthless right now. You couldnt even use this. And so, again, the water will come back on the mississippi, it always does. The question is, when, when, and how much of this vital commerce will be choke points. I got to tell you, it is jarring, especially for me to watch this, bill, because i know exactly where you are. Used to be the central plex and now the Convention Center and i remember when the uss kid, they put it in as a memorial there, what have you. I think back in the 80s, like 1982. I remember going there as a kid and watching it. And just behind you, on the other side of the river, that is my hometown. Right across that river that youre looking at. Ive never, ever seen the river this low in my entire years. I wont say on this planet. It has got to be weird. Shocking. Reporter really is. And the really shocking thing is it could get lower between now and thanksgiving. So, again, i cant put it we got guys on 1932 dredges trying to keep up with this river, and this is the beginning of a Climate Crisis, we have to rethink coastal infrastructure, sea level, and now inland infrastructure for droughts like this, got to talk about this more, guys. Well, look, youve been ringing aring ing the alarm bells on this for years and years and years and now it accelerates. Thank you. Michigan state has suspended four players who were involved in that post Football Game brawl. But, michigans coach jim harbaugh says he wants criminal and expects there to be criminal charges. 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And deliver ultracapacity 5g coverage thats years ahead of the competition. Tmobile for business has 5g thats ready right now. Xfinity rewards is a program whose sole purpose is to say thank you with experiences big, small and onceinalifetime. Sometimes its about cheering hard enough to shake the stadium sometimes, its as simple as movie night right here at home, on us. You mean the world to us. So were bringing you closer to what you love. Kinda like this. Welcome to 30 rock join Xfinity Rewards for free on the xfinity app today. Ouas a teacher livingrds. And working in San Francisco, the cost of housing makes living and working here really difficult. Proposition d is the only measure that speeds up construction of affordable new homes by removing bureaucratic roadblocks. So teachers, nurses, firefighters and workers like us can live where we work. While prop e makes it nearly impossible to build more Housing Join Habitat For Humanity in rejecting prop e, and supporting prop d to build more Affordable Housing for everyone. Now. So, we have this new this morning, pfizer says it will seek fda approval for its rsv vaccine by the end of this year. Pfizer says that the vaccine is administered to pregnant women, who can then produce antibodies and pass them on to their babies. A study found after birth the vaccine was 82 effective at preventing severe lower respiratory Tract Infections in hospitalized babies for the first three months of life. And about 70 effective at preventing severe rsv in hospitalized babies for six months. Pediatric hospitals across the country say beds are filling up fast with infected children. Big concern for parents. Meanwhile, michigan head coach jim harbaugh says he expects the four Michigan State players who were suspended after they appeared to assault his players to potentially face criminal charges. New video appears to show one of the players from Michigan State swinging his helmet in the tunnel as you can see the violence that broke out after their game. Coach harbaugh says the suspensions are not enough, not even close in his view. There needs ts to be accountability, a full thorough timely investigation. I cant imagine that this will not result in criminal charges. The videos are bad. And it is clear what transpired. It seems very open and shut. As they say, watch the tape. An apology will not get the job done in this instance. There should be serious consequences for the many individuals that are culpable. Obviously two of the michigan players were injured in that violence that broke out. The attorney for one of the players who suffered a concussion told us, quote, they have every intention of pressing criminal charges against those persons who are responsible for this vicious assault. It is just it is unacceptable to see what happened. Unnecessary, uncalled for and no excuse for it. The political discourse in america, speaking of no excuse for this, sinking to new lows. Our calls for civility futile. Well take a closer look next. We also will have some fun this morning. Why not on day one . We have a little surprise coming up that you will not want to miss. Stick around. Who is it . Who is it . Got to guess who it is. What if just an idea could become a Family Tradition . This is financial security. And lincn Financial Solutions will help you get there. As you plan, protect and retire. Will help you get there. My moderate severe plaque psoriasis. Thtightness, stinging. The pain. Emerge tremfyant®. With tremfya®, most people saw 90 clearer skin at 16 weeks. The majority of people saw 90 clearer skin even at 5 years. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. Emerge tremfyant®. With tremfya®. Ask your doctor about tremfya® today. [tom petty singing something good coming] and im thinking bout mama and about the kids theres somethin good comin just over the hill, somethin good coming i know it will. When youre through with powering through, its time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. Powerful relief so you can restore and recover. Theraflu hot beats cold. Sir, sir, this is what im saying, look, we got a there is a process that we set up in our democracy. Right now im talking. Youll have a chance to talk sometime. This is part of the point i want to make. Just basic civility and courtesy works. And thats what we want to try to encourage. That was like a champ, the former president did you see whitmers face during that, shes sitting there watching it all. Thats how you handle it. Thats on the Campaign Trail in michigan calling for basic civility. But is that call too late for america . We need to go back to that. People talk about when john mccain did his thing or what have you. Thats how you handle hecklers and disinformation. We dont do that anymore. Joining us now, elsy granderson, the latest column asks if were part if were past the point of civility. Also my friend and our friend, friend of the show here. I was jobiking, like, elsie, we never get to talk to each other. We talk every day. This is amazing. Happy first day. This is not even our permanent set. Wait until you see our new home. Setting the bar high. I hope i can come back. Lets talk about this. You have a new column that is going to drop this morning for the l. A. Times, everybody goes back to that, when they go low, we go high. Is that from the former first lady, michelle obama. Is that realistic in this moment . You know, thats what i was trying to explore in this piece, right . Like, i want to still believe in that higher calling, right, but as were still reaching for the higher calling, the people who are reaching for the lower callings are getting things done. Like the Supreme Court situation theyre the loudest voices. Theyre the loudest voices, right. There comes a point, and i have spoken to a lot of voters, a lot of grassroots leaders over the years and theyre beginning to get more and more frustrated with playing nice with republicans. Did you see my conversation with Elissa Slotkin earlier . Im not sure what i understand what shes saying. But i wanted to be clear about what people may be hearing about what she is saying. Shes saying this win at all costs, shes saying it is a bad it is bad for democracy. And she is right on that point. But when you say, you know, winning is not the most important thing, Democrats May could be turned off by that. And may think, democrats arent Strong Enough because the whole point is to win and get your legislation passed to make it better for your particular constituents. Am i wrong about that . Youre not wrong. Were in this weird transition as a nation where were in this weird transition politically. I think were still trying to figure out what covid did to us culturally if you will. I know im interacting differently interpersonally. Im assuming a lot of us are. When i hear a cough in a public space, it triggers me, right . You look, like so were still trying to process what it means to trust one another again. And so while it is true that, yes, you want to try to win, you want to get your policies through and want to do it as much as possible and sometimes that requires back room dealings, but because we are dealing with the end hopefully of trumpism, because we are still trying to assess what happened to us after covid, were not necessarily in a position culturally to trust one another that youre going to do whats best for me if you look differently. Or if youre in a different party, or youre a different gender, or you worship differently. Thats where we are right now. Something obama said as hes been on the Campaign Trail, being very outspoken, that really stood out, he talked about birtherism and the lies that were spread about him, he made a joke to Mandela Barnes in wisconsin saying, get your Birth Certificate ready, youre a democrat with a funny name. But he said remember those, those were the good old days, saying our political discourse has gotten so much worse even from that really ugly moment. It has. And it is really unfortunate. I think, you know, in 100 years or so, knock on plexiglass, if were still here, that there will be like some ph. D. Student that would go back and look at what went wrong during this time period. And i think one of the biggest things that went wrong was allowing the lie to breathe in spaces where truth is supposed to reside. The birtherism lie. And allowing the person who perpetuated that lie a platform. If they said the earth is in the and i have documentation soon that the earth is flat, we probably wouldnt entertain that. We did for that purpose because it was considered harmless and now it is look at what we had Elissa Slotkin on, and shes on the Campaign Trail tonight with congresswoman liz cheney, working together, even though they have many disagreements on issues. My sons teacher partnered them together with people they have different views with and they have to work together, 4 years old. My kids dont know what it is like to go into a world, if you disagree, it becomes like that for so many. Somehow that wins you points in votes in some circles, right. How do we get what were teaching the 4yearolds to teach the people in charge . What is interesting about we started this conversation about the former first ladies when they go low, we go high. The larger part of that conversation, she was talking to her children about that. Thats where that phrase comes from. After an attack on the white house. Exactly. So, what youre talking about, poppy, is exactly that. Like, this is how you do it. You raise adults who dont need to be reminded of this by having your children go through these type of programs. Just sometimes think, sometimes watching our kids helps remind us how to live. Yeah, and the context of that, someone took shots at the residents in the white house and she was teaching her kids that just because they go low, you dont have to go low. Thank you, lz. Youre back with us on thursday, right . Thursday. Coming up coming up, we have a Mystery Guest that poppy and i know who it is, but guess what, don lemon does not. Well reveal it next and make him guess who it is first. I hate surprises. Sorry. Sorry, youre going to like this one. Oh, boy. Intelligent technology. Courageous performance. Discover a new world of possibilities in the allnew lexus rx. Never lose your edge. Hi, susan. Honey. Yeah. I respect that. But that cough looks pretty bad. Try this robitussin honey. The real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. Mind if i root through your trash . Robitussin. The only brand with real honeyand elderberry. I told you who i think it is. All right. Oh, my gosh. Were back from commercial break to help promote this new show we went to a coffee shop in the best borough, brooklyn. Chatted about lives, our careers, had a lot of coffee and we talked about what and who inspire us. Interesting. What was the moment you fell in love with journalism . I turned on the television and saw bryant gumbel. I was like that is what i want to do. I would pretend in the mirror that i was anchoring a show like the today show. I would say this is today on nbc. Now youre anchoring a morning show. How cool is that . Yeah. I realized from watching those vhs tapes that i could do it. What . Bryant gumbel. This is a surprise for don. We have a special guest. The legendary i knew it. I got it. Oh, my gosh. Really tough guess. Bryant, i love you, man. How you doing, man . Dont make me cry on my first day. Youre not going to cry. Wheres your beautiful wife . Shes back at the house relaxing. Morning. How are you . Thanks so much for joining us. My pleasure. Its an honor to have you. I had dinner with you two weeks ago. Yeah, i think so. Bryant is celebrating his 50th Anniversary in the business. You gave he advice. What did you say . Everybody will always ask what time do you get up. There are two things common to everybody. Whatever time you get up you bitch about it. Number two, the second year in the shower it doesnt matter. You bitch about it. You thought i was going to be the first one to curse on tv. Thats not one of the words you cant say. You were on broadcast. This is cable, bryant. Youre the host of real sports on hbo. I dont use bad language on it. It was a special moment when we were talking about what this show would look like and don really talked about how he watched you and envisioned himself in a similar role. He wishes he was watching Something Else at the time. You werent watching cartoons . No. I should have been watching a movie to become a movie star. Bryant, you did inspire me. You were perfect on television. You never flubbed a word. You were great. I have a different memory, but thank you. I never walked away from something saying i couldnt have done it better. I find a zillion things that are wrong. I was given and opportunity and was fortunate. What did you learn over the years . This is day one. Were pretty lucky. You guys were great together and you were lucky to be with one another. Were lucky to be together. What did you learn . I learned incremental. You dont learn everything in a hurry. You try to learn something each day and pick up on that. Patience is one of them. Understanding, tolerance, civility like barack obama just said. Just trying to be yourself on a daily basis. Its a very difficult thing to do when everybody is watch. Don is okay that i come in with my colorcoded folders with sticky tabs. I was worse. In my early days, i color coded Guest Materials based upon what their background was. In other words, politics was blue. If it was economy, it was green. If it was hollywood, it was red. Honest to god. Im not surprised. Since were in this moment, how has it changed . We talk about civility and all of that. Politics has always been a rough and tumble sport. Has it changed . Yeah. Yeah, i really think so, and not for the better. I was watching you with governor sununu. I remember when rob brown died in a plane crash. At the time republicans said nothing about it. I went on the air and asked if that was politics as usual or bad manners. I got a reprimand from nbc. Nbc apologized, but i didnt. I was watching that this morning. This is where i get it from everybody. This is where i get it from. As i was watching this morning, i was thinking the more things change the more they remain the same. I dont like to both sides things. Its a false equivalence. Whats happening is Beyond The Pale and more people should vehemently speak out about the madness. Paul pelosi could have died. Every republican at any available microphone should be speaking out and saying its terrible, but theyre not doing it. Its unfortunate. What do you think is the way to handle that . You see people like governor sununu saying he expresses sympathy for the family, but then you have kari lake who is laughing about it and making a joke about it. I saw that and heaven knows desantis hasnt said anything about it either, that im aware of. I dont know any other way other than to call it out when you see it. You would ask it of anybody in any position in society. These are the two Sports Brains were going to hate each other this weekend. Theyre going to alabama. They were like poppy, do you want to come and referee . I was like have fun. Sports, real sports, this is your wheelhouse. You just saw what happened in michigan. Its sad they still do that at that stadium at um. They go through the same tunnel. They had an incident two weeks ago of going through that same tunnel and cooler heads did not prevail. Thats clear assault. I would expect some charges. I think i read that five of the kids have been suspended from the team during an investigation. Those are the role models that so many people look up to. Its one of the reasons i did this. I talked to you and other people. Its not often you get to do Something Different at the place you already work and challenge yourself, but you did that with real sports. What you get to explore is that sports i mean, look, thats what changes things in the culture. It has a huge impact. This thing about shut up and dribble, thats never been the case. No. When people talk about real sports, they say i shouldnt watch that because im not into sports. We use that as a vehicle to get to other stories about race, gender, equality, income. Thats how we use sports. You see with kyrie irving. He was saying he wasnt going to apologize for talking about that movie that pushed antisemitic tropes. Then you see last night i missed that. I was out halloweening. Look at what happened in baseball, tennis with arthur ashe, on the basketball courts, Social Justice and civil rights, that came from sports. It backfires too. Keep an eye on georgia tuesday. Just saying, it backfire. Well be up all night covering that. Lets get back to don. This is an out of Body Experience sitting here with you on this set. I grew up i know im old. People come up to me and say don lemon, i grew up watching you. Im like im not that old. I grew up, bryant, wanting to be you and here you are. As i said to you at your anniversary, its an honor to be in the room with you. Im proud of you. Happy for you. Thank you. Any advice . Yeah, be nice to these two la ladies. Thats not a challenge. Hes a dream. What did you think when you heard about don getting this show . I sent him a text right away. I was surprised, but i wasnt. I knew that, you know, while it hadnt run his course he was interested in doing Something Else. I didnt foresee this. I told him i was here to help if he needs something. You getting to bet earlier now that you dont have to watch me . I go to bed late. It doesnt matter. I dont sleep much. He doesnt sleep. When i did this thing in the morning, i slept an average of three hours. What do you sleep now . Probably about six. Six on a good night. Six or seven. What is it about your brain . Ive never been a great sleeper. Ill have plenty of time to sleep when its all over. Bryant, thank you. I love you. Love you, buddy. Our thanks to mr. Bryant gumbel on real sports. Thanks for watching, everyone. Cnn newsroom starts right now