Matt Mackowiak's Mack On Politics

John Solomon is our returning guest for the 197th episode. John is the co-author of the new book, “Fallout: Nuclear Bribes, Russian Spies, and the Washington Lies that Enriched the Clinton and Biden Dynasties”. In this conversation, we explore the purpose of the book, what the central revelation is, how Uranium sales and Ukraine fit in, what he’s learned about the Steele Dossier, what his reporting has found about Roger Stone, George Papadopoulos and Carter Page, what he expected from the Durham Report, what questions he still has about the false Russian collusion story, how he answers his critics, and why he started his own news site.

Iran is the subject of our 196th episode. Our guest is Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director in the US Representative office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NRCI), their parliament-in-exile. In this conversation we examine how Iran is doing economically and with the coronavirus, how ending the Iran Deal has changed things, what life is like for the average Iranian, what NCRI hopes to accomplish with the Free Iran Summit on July 17, and how Iran will become a free country in the future.

The war in Afghanistan is the subject of our 195th episode.In this conversation, we talk to Rod Lurie, director of the #1 film in America, “The Outpost”, which profiles the Battle of Kamdesh in 2009.We explore how he came to direct the film, what techniques he tried to use, why the story was important to him, how, where and when the film was shot, how it was released, and what the response has been.

Tim Alberta, chief political correspondent for Politico magazine, returns as our guest for the 194th episode.In this conversation we take stock of the 2020 election, Trump’s polling disadvantage, the state of the GOP, the ‘law and order’ approach, the resignation of Black Democrats, and whether the 2020 race will likely tighten in the fall.

Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is our guest for the 193rd episode, and he joins us from Tulsa, OK, the scene of the Trump re-election campaign’s first rally in several months. In this conversation we discuss the protests, the current moment in our country, how rural America is surviving, what he expects from Congress for the rest of the year, what he hopes to see from the forthcoming Durham report on FISA abuse, how he sizes up Trump vs. Biden and what he sees as the stakes for the 2020 election.

The 202 presidential campaign is the subject for the 192nd episode.Our guest is Trump reelection campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh.In this conversation we discuss polls, protests, the economy, debates, and what will decide the 2020 race.

The George Floyd killing and resulting protests are the subject of the 191st episode.Our guest is social commentator and activist Toure, who hosts two podcasts, “The Toure Show” and “Democracyish”.In this conversation we take stock of this national moment, examine real solutions to police brutality, consider whether police union contracts are part of the problem, and probe the concepts of systemic racism and white privilege. Finally, we discuss how the protests will end.

The state of the Coronavirus is the subject of the 190th episode. Our returning guest is former HHS secretary Dr. Tom Price.In this conversation we examine the U.S. government response, the status of testing, treatment and a vaccine, the Gates Foundation’s financial commitment, whether a vaccine will be mandatory, how he views the risk of a second wave, and reflections on his time at HHS.

The Michael Flynn prosecution is the subject of the 189th episode. Our guest is Bloomberg Opinion columnist Eli Lake.In this conversation, our guest walks us through the Flynn prosecution, explains why he was charged with lying to the FBI, examines whether the interview was necessary or the lie was material to the investigation, whether Flynn knew Kislyak was being taped, how unmasking fits into all of this, whether Crossfire Hurricane was legitimate, and why the majority of the national media continues to advance the collusion narrative.

Investigating China is the subject of the 188th episode.Our guest is U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), one of 14 members of the appointed to the China Task Force in the U.S. House.In this conversation, we discuss the goals of the task force, how bilateral trade has been affected, what ag prices are going up, how we can decouple from China, what options exist to punish China, what risks exist in terms of their response, what our guest makes of the Phase 4 recovery bill and whether a compromise is possible.

China’s role in the spread of the Coronavirus is the subject of this episode. Our guest is U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In this conversation, we discuss China’s role, what policy options exist to punish them, how we decouple China and the U.S. and bring back manufacturing and the supply chain, where he thinks COVID-19 stands, how we are doing in ramping up testing, whether he believes a phased re-opening of the economy is prudent, when the House may come back to work, and what the next economic recovery package may look like.

The global race for a COVID-19 vaccine is the subject of the 186th episode. Our guest is Dr. Robin Robinson, who was the first director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and is now chief scientific officer for RenovaCare. In this conversation we explore stem cell therapy, the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, take stock of progress on treatments and testing, examine in depth the unprecedented global effort to develop a vaccine, and discuss the crucial role BARDA plays. Finally Dr. Robinson offers advice to the Trump administration.

The economic and public health outlook on the coronavirus is the subject of the 185th episode.Our guest is longtime business and government relations advisor and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce Bruce Mehlman, founder of Mehlman Castagnetti. In this conversation, we take stock on where COVID-19 is currently, delve into why testing remains insufficient, discuss whether density explains the difference between California and New York, consider how to re-open the economy amid increasing protests, examine what it would take to return to large gatherings, and identify two significant public policy consequences of the pandemic. Finally, we look forward to how COVID-19 will affect the 2020 election.

Reforming the World Health Organization (WHO) is the subject of the 184th episode.Our guest is Lyman Stone, Hong Kong-based adjunct fellow for the American Enterprise Institute.In this conversation, we examine the need for reform at the WHO, the timing of President Trump halting U.S. funding, what the WHO does, why China has so much influence, how the WHO delayed in responding to COVID-19, what role Taiwan has played, what life is like in Hong Kong, and how China is grappling with COVID-19.

Democratic strategist Addisu Demissie is our guest for the 183rd episode.In this conversation, we look back at the 2020 Democratic primary when he served as campaign manager for Cory Booker, examine their decision to drop out in mid-January, discuss the DNC’s debate process, review how he became Booker’s manager, consider what explains why there were not female or minority candidates as finalists for the nomination and chat about Warren, Bloomberg and Biden.

U.S. Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) is our guest for the 182nd episode.The coronavirus pandemic is our subject.We discuss her ’15 Days of Giving’ campaign, why she partnered with the Salvation Army, how her home state is doing, what Congress should do next, how she views falling oil prices, how she evaluates the federal response, what role the U.S. military is playing and whether China should be held accountable. Finally, we discuss her groundbreaking military career and her U.S. Senate race in 2020.

Former NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni is our guest for the 181st episode. The coronavirus pandemic is our subject. We discuss the state of the pandemic, the importance of testing, the risk of our hospitals being overwhelmed and our first responders contracting the virus, why community spread must be avoided, whether treatments and a vaccine show promise, and what his message to the American public is.

The economic consequences of the cononavirus pandemic is the subject of the 180th episode.Our guest is Tony Fratto, former Assistant Secretary of Treasury and partner at Hamilton Place Strategies.In the conversation we examine the multiple stimulus proposals on the table, and discuss the important of direct payments, the proposed payroll tax cut, the idea of interest free loans to small and medium sized businesses, whether certain industries should be bailout, and whether stock buybacks should be disallowed and if the federal government should receive an equity stake in return for taxpayer investment.

The CoronaVirus (COVID-19) is our subject for the 179th episode.Our guest is former HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt.In this conversation we get his outlook on the virus and discuss containment vs. mitigation, the mortality rate, the risk to the average American, how the federal and state and local governments have responded, vaccines and medicine to treat the virus, how it is affecting the U.S. and global economy, whether summer will slow the spread of the virus, and how health professional are rising to the challenge.

The 2020 presidential race is the subject of the 178th episode.Our guest is NBC news senior political correspondent Steve Kornacki, a returning guest to this podcast.In this conversation we get our guest’s take on the state of the race, discuss the demographic trends between Biden and Sanders, consider what Sanders’ strategic options are, review how ‘electability’ has mattered, explore why Warren failed, examine how Democrats came to coalesce behind Biden, delve into Biden’s path to a delegate majority, make some predictions about Biden as a general election nominee, and remember the influence Chris Matthews had on our guest.