The Chuck ToddCast

Documentarian Brian Knappenberger joins the Chuck Toddcast to discuss Turning Point: Generation 9/11, out on Netflix September 2nd — a film built around a striking fact: more than half of Americans were either born after 2001 or were too young to remember it. Knappenberger's aim was to bring that generation into the moment, capturing not just the attack but the fear and uncertainty that followed, including the attacks everyone braced for that never came. He points to a news clip in the film where 63% of Americans said they'd trade freedom for security, and to the AUMF passed almost immediately with Barbara Lee as the lone no vote. He and Chuck revisit the genuine moment of global unity — the only time NATO's Article 5 has ever been triggered — and Bush's real effort to reassure American Muslims, progress on Islamophobia that Knappenberger argues has since been squandered.
The back half is a hard-nosed accounting. Driving the Taliban out was a success; the Iraq war took America's eye off the ball; intelligence agencies genuinely do communicate better now. But al-Qaeda was only a few hundred people who exploited a vulnerability, and the domino effect produced ISIS, something far larger. Knappenberger talks about interviewing kids who lost parents that day — including a pilot's daughter still trolled online by a Truther movement that social media made possible — and about Marines at Abbey Gate, many not yet alive on 9/11, expressing real conflict about what it was all for. Chuck’s question hangs over it: after 25 years of Pentagon budgets, what exactly did we get? And with no meaningful congressional oversight of the Iran war, the founders' decision that a king shouldn't declare wars feels less like history than a warning. Knappenberger's hope is simple — that we remember the fear well enough not to repeat the mistakes it produced.
Play ball and swing for the fences on FanDuel, an official partner of the MLB at https://FANDUEL.COM.
Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.
For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck / *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Brian Knappenberger joins The Chuck ToddCast
02:30 Many Americans are too young to remember 9/11 well
04:30 9/11 is moving from a lived memory into history
08:00 Wanted to capture the fear and uncertainty of that period in time
12:00 Want the next generation not to fall into the same trap of fear & suspicion
17:00 The rally around the flag effect after the attacks
19:45 There was a real moment of unity worldwide before the divisiveness
20:15 The only time Article V of NATO was triggered was from 9/11
24:30 Pre-Trump the country had made real progress on Islamaphobia
25:15 Talked to a lot of kids who lost parents on 9/11 for the doc
26:30 Social media emerged after 9/11 and the “Truther” movement came with it
28:30 Driving the Taliban out of Afghanistan was a positive
29:00 We took our eye off the ball with the Iraq war
32:00 Have we sufficiently answered why Bin Laden attacked us
36:15 The real damage was the divisiveness and attrition of two wars
37:15 Al-Qaeda was only a few hundred people, exploited a vulnerability
38:30 The domino effect created ISIS, which is much larger than Al-Qaeda
43:15 Marines at Abbey Gate express feeling conflicted
45:45 25 years of Pentagon budgets has gotten us…what?
48:00 There seems to be no congressional oversight with the Iran war
48:30 What other Turning Point projects do you have in the works?
50:00 Ukraine war is a weird blend of history and modern technology
53:00 9/11 changed our perception of ourselves and our vulnerabilities
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd reads the tea leaves on a building Democratic wave: primary turnout is up 35% over 2022 while Republican turnout is down 4%, and Todd argues voter behavior is a far better predictor than polling — though it's a tea leaf, not a guarantee. He then digs into an underappreciated dynamic that could decide Senate control: governor's races make the weather. Texas, Chuck argues, is now more plausible for Democrats than Iowa. And South Carolina, which Republicans never expected to worry about, just got more expensive after Ralph Norman told supporters to write him in rather than back Darline Graham.
The second half is a five-alarm fire at the Pentagon. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned this week over Hegseth blocking Army modernization by firing the generals leading it — the latest in a purge that has left the Army without a chief of staff for months and cut four-star positions from ten to five, all during an active war. Chuck’s read is that this is a deliberate gutting and argues the fired and recently resigned generals have an obligation to speak up, because silence doesn't protect the institution. He closes with what he calls the cancer in American politics — the House — using Jared Golden's lobster fishing bill as the perfect illustration: Golden had to vote for a Republican rule just to get a floor vote on his own legislation, then got accused by leadership of a breach of trust for representing his constituents. That's the disease, Chuck argues, and Democrats will inherit every bit of it.
Documentarian Brian Knappenberger joins the Chuck Toddcast to discuss Turning Point: Generation 9/11, out on Netflix September 2nd — a film built around a striking fact: more than half of Americans were either born after 2001 or were too young to remember it. Knappenberger's aim was to bring that generation into the moment, capturing not just the attack but the fear and uncertainty that followed, including the attacks everyone braced for that never came. He points to a news clip in the film where 63% of Americans said they'd trade freedom for security, and to the AUMF passed almost immediately with Barbara Lee as the lone no vote. He and Chuck revisit the genuine moment of global unity — the only time NATO's Article 5 has ever been triggered — and Bush's real effort to reassure American Muslims, progress on Islamophobia that Knappenberger argues has since been squandered.
The back half is a hard-nosed accounting. Driving the Taliban out was a success; the Iraq war took America's eye off the ball; intelligence agencies genuinely do communicate better now. But al-Qaeda was only a few hundred people who exploited a vulnerability, and the domino effect produced ISIS, something far larger. Knappenberger talks about interviewing kids who lost parents that day — including a pilot's daughter still trolled online by a Truther movement that social media made possible — and about Marines at Abbey Gate, many not yet alive on 9/11, expressing real conflict about what it was all for. Chuck’s question hangs over it: after 25 years of Pentagon budgets, what exactly did we get? And with no meaningful congressional oversight of the Iran war, the founders' decision that a king shouldn't declare wars feels less like history than a warning. Knappenberger's hope is simple — that we remember the fear well enough not to repeat the mistakes it produced.
Finally, Chuck updates his ToddCast Top 5 list of senate seats most likely to flip, answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment, and previews week 1 in college football.
Play ball and swing for the fences on FanDuel, an official partner of the MLB at https://FANDUEL.COM.
Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.
For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck / *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd's introduction
04:15 A Democratic wave is building… but how big?
06:15 Dem turnout up 35% from 2022, GOP turnout down 4%
08:30 A tea leaf, not a guarantee — and why behavior beats polling
11:15 New Hampshire primaries preview
13:15 Senate control may be decided by governor races in MI, TX and IA
14:30 Ramaswamy is the wrong avatar for a Republican to win Ohio
16:45 Republicans didn't think they'd have to worry about South Carolina
17:30 Ralph Norman tells supporters to write him in rather than back Graham
22:15 Governor's races make the weather and drag Senate candidates along
26:00 Ticket splitting hasn't disappeared since 2010, but it's less common
27:15 Breaking down the penalty for various candidate sins
30:00 Ken Paxton needs Abbott to win big — and Abbott's trending down
33:15 Todd Akin's voters fled to the Libertarians in 2012
35:00 El-Sayed's penalty isn't scandal, it's ideological — 2-3 points
36:00 Jocelyn Benson is running the best campaign of the cycle
38:45 Iowa hasn't split a governor/senate race since 1998
41:45 Texas looks more plausible for Democrats than Iowa
43:45 Problems at the Pentagon should be a five-alarm fire
45:30 Hegseth forced out the leaders modernizing the Army
47:45 Hollowing out the military during an active war
48:45 Hegseth wants the Pentagon to be a reality show about himself
52:00 Assets needed to deter Russia & China are being removed
54:15 Military leaders must be able to disagree with civilian leadership
57:00 An obligation to warn the country if the military is being weakened
59:45 The House of Representatives is the cancer in our political system
1:03:30 The Jared Golden lobster bill saga
1:06:30 Golden voted for a GOP rule to get a vote on his own bill
1:09:45 Leadership accused him of breaching trust… by representing their voters
1:13:00 If Democrats win the House, they inherit all of this dysfunction
1:18:00 The House is the cancer we have to cure first
1:22:45 Brian Knappenberger joins The Chuck ToddCast
1:25:15 Many Americans are too young to remember 9/11 well
1:27:15 9/11 is moving from a lived memory into history
1:30:45 Wanted to capture the fear and uncertainty of that period in time
1:34:45 Want the next generation not to fall into the same trap of fear & suspicion
1:39:45 The rally around the flag effect after the attacks
1:42:30 There was a real moment of unity worldwide before the divisiveness
1:43:00 The only time Article V of NATO was triggered was from 9/11
1:47:15 Pre-Trump the country had made real progress on Islamaphobia
1:48:00 Talked to a lot of kids who lost parents on 9/11 for the doc
1:49:15 Social media emerged after 9/11 and the “Truther” movement came with it
1:51:15 Driving the Taliban out of Afghanistan was a positive
1:51:45 We took our eye off the ball with the Iraq war
1:54:45 Have we sufficiently answered why Bin Laden attacked us
1:59:00 The real damage was the divisiveness and attrition of two wars
2:00:00 Al-Qaeda was only a few hundred people, exploited a vulnerability
2:01:15 The domino effect created ISIS, which is much larger than Al-Qaeda
2:06:00 Marines at Abbey Gate express feeling conflicted
2:08:30 25 years of Pentagon budgets has gotten us…what?
2:10:45 There seems to be no congressional oversight with the Iran war
2:11:15 What other Turning Point projects do you have in the works?
2:12:45 Ukraine war is a weird blend of history and modern technology
2:15:45 9/11 changed our perception of ourselves and our vulnerabilities
2:20:00 ToddCast Top 5 senate seats most likely to flip
2:20:30 #1 North Carolina
2:21:15 #2 Alaska
2:21:45 #3 Texas
2:23:15 #4 Ohio
2:25:00 #5 Tie between Maine & Michigan
2:27:00 Ask Chuck
2:27:15 Could the Bradley effect be in play in the Texas senate race?
2:29:30 Should congress be doing more to protect the mail-in vote?
2:32:30 Thoughts on proposal to add 12 at large senators?
2:34:45 College football preview
2:40:00 Column on Lane Kiffin being the “bad boy” of college football
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd reads the tea leaves on a building Democratic wave: primary turnout is up 35% over 2022 while Republican turnout is down 4%, and Todd argues voter behavior is a far better predictor than polling — though it's a tea leaf, not a guarantee. He then digs into an underappreciated dynamic that could decide Senate control: governor's races make the weather. Texas, Chuck argues, is now more plausible for Democrats than Iowa. And South Carolina, which Republicans never expected to worry about, just got more expensive after Ralph Norman told supporters to write him in rather than back Darline Graham.
The second half is a five-alarm fire at the Pentagon. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned this week over Hegseth blocking Army modernization by firing the generals leading it — the latest in a purge that has left the Army without a chief of staff for months and cut four-star positions from ten to five, all during an active war. Chuck’s read is that this is a deliberate gutting and argues the fired and recently resigned generals have an obligation to speak up, because silence doesn't protect the institution. He closes with what he calls the cancer in American politics — the House — using Jared Golden's lobster fishing bill as the perfect illustration: Golden had to vote for a Republican rule just to get a floor vote on his own legislation, then got accused by leadership of a breach of trust for representing his constituents. That's the disease, Chuck argues, and Democrats will inherit every bit of it.
Finally, Chuck updates his ToddCast Top 5 list of senate seats most likely to flip, answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment, and previews week 1 in college football.

Play ball and swing for the fences on FanDuel, an official partner of the MLB at https://FANDUEL.COM.

Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.

For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck / *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.
Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd's introduction
04:15 A Democratic wave is building… but how big?
06:15 Dem turnout up 35% from 2022, GOP turnout down 4%
08:30 A tea leaf, not a guarantee — and why behavior beats polling
11:15 New Hampshire primaries preview
13:15 Senate control may be decided by governor races in MI, TX and IA
14:30 Ramaswamy is the wrong avatar for a Republican to win Ohio
16:45 Republicans didn't think they'd have to worry about South Carolina
17:30 Ralph Norman tells supporters to write him in rather than back Graham
22:15 Governor's races make the weather and drag Senate candidates along
26:00 Ticket splitting hasn't disappeared since 2010, but it's less common
27:15 Breaking down the penalty for various candidate sins
30:00 Ken Paxton needs Abbott to win big — and Abbott's trending down
33:15 Todd Akin's voters fled to the Libertarians in 2012
35:00 El-Sayed's penalty isn't scandal, it's ideological — 2-3 points
36:00 Jocelyn Benson is running the best campaign of the cycle
38:45 Iowa hasn't split a governor/senate race since 1998
41:45 Texas looks more plausible for Democrats than Iowa
43:45 Problems at the Pentagon should be a five-alarm fire
45:30 Hegseth forced out the leaders modernizing the Army
47:45 Hollowing out the military during an active war
48:45 Hegseth wants the Pentagon to be a reality show about himself
52:00 Assets needed to deter Russia & China are being removed
54:15 Military leaders must be able to disagree with civilian leadership
57:00 An obligation to warn the country if the military is being weakened
59:45 The House of Representatives is the cancer in our political system
1:03:30 The Jared Golden lobster bill saga
1:06:30 Golden voted for a GOP rule to get a vote on his own bill
1:09:45 Leadership accused him of breaching trust… by representing their voters
1:13:00 If Democrats win the House, they inherit all of this dysfunction
1:18:00 The House is the cancer we have to cure first
1:20:30 ToddCast Top 5 senate seats most likely to flip
1:21:00 #1 North Carolina
1:21:45 #2 Alaska
1:22:15 #3 Texas
1:23:45 #4 Ohio
1:25:30 #5 Tie between Maine & Michigan
1:27:30 Ask Chuck
1:27:45 Could the Bradley effect be in play in the Texas senate race?
1:30:00 Should congress be doing more to protect the mail-in vote?
1:33:00 Thoughts on proposal to add 12 at large senators?
1:35:15 College football preview
1:40:30 Column on Lane Kiffin being the “bad boy” of college football
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inside ten weeks to the midterms, Chuck Todd and Chris Cillizza start with the race Republicans have suddenly woken up to: Texas. With Talarico sitting on $21.5 million to Paxton's $1.75 million, Cornyn refusing to raise money in-state, and John Kennedy telling Fox News flatly that the Senate doesn't have the money budgeted for Texas, the guys argue the GOP's comfort blanket — that this is a Paxton problem, not a party problem — is wrong. Chuck's bet: no Republican on the Texas statewide ticket breaks 55%. From there they turn to the issue that's moved faster than either expected, data centers, framed by Trump's Monday Truth Social post declaring that communities rejecting them "want to end up being backwards and poor" and urging the country to "let Data Reign." Chuck and Chris place it in the rare category of issues voters force onto politicians rather than the reverse — the opioid crisis being the last one — and track the fallout from Wisconsin, where Tom Tiffany is already hitting David Crowley on it, to Shapiro and Hochul reversing course, to the blue-collar trade unions now cutting the other way.
The heart of the episode is a long strategic read of the map. The Atlantic reported Trump wants to deploy MAGA Inc's roughly $400 million on ads touting his own second term, telling voters to "pretend I'm on the ballot" — and Chuck makes the counterintuitive case that it may be defensible where the fight actually is, even as they debate whether it gooses MAGA turnout or hands independents another reason to break left. They walk the four-seat path through North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, and Alaska, why Michigan is the state that keeps Democrats up at night, and what Abdul El-Sayed's ongoing Hasan Piker problem is costing him thirty days after the primary. Chris picks Texas as the GOP's nightmare on sheer cost; Chuck picks Iowa, where three House seats, a Senate seat, and a governorship all sit on the table. Plus: the 2028er welcome in both red and blue America (it's not who you'd guess), Trump's demand that the FCC punish Kristen Welker over a single mild remark, a blistering segment on Pete Hegseth and a munitions shortage nobody in Congress seems to be asking about, and the Nats' blown ninth-inning lead as a season in miniature.
Timeline:
00:00 Inside ten weeks — and a college football appetizer
01:00 Why college football has become prime political ad real estate
02:00 The ads they spotted: anti-Whatley in NC, anti-Talarico in Texas
03:00 Republicans wake up to a real race a real money problem in Texas
04:00 The cash disparity — $21.5M for Talarico, $1.75M for Paxton
05:00 The Texas governor's race
06:00 A one-party state can't blame a party that doesn't exist
07:00 Is Paxton the problem, or is it the environment?
08:00 Trump's data center post: "let Data Reign"
10:00 Reid Wilson called data centers the sleeper issue six weeks ago
11:00 Washington is only discovering what voters have said for months
12:00 David Wallace-Wells & data centers as a vessel for tech frustration
13:00 Wisconsin: Tiffany already attacking Crowley on data centers
14:00 Big tech is the new big Pharma
15:00 The counter-trend: blue-collar trade unions saying these are jobs
16:00 Why is Trump this pro-data-center in an anti-data-center moment?
19:00 The Atlantic: Trump wants to spend the $400M and run his own campaign
20:00 "Pretend I am on the ballot"
21:00 Wave-year history: Clinton in '00, Bush in '06, Obama in '10 and '14
22:00 Where Trump can't go: Ohio, North Carolina, Maine, Michigan
23:00 The four-seat path — North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, Alaska
24:00 The fifth state problem: Iowa, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana
25:00 The Darline Graham rescue mission and what it proved
26:00 Democratic gains are a given — the question is wave or tsunami
27:00 This election is about the cost of living
28:00 Cook's toss-ups always break in one direction
31:00 What if Republicans win New Hampshire and Democrats win Texas?
34:00 The state that keeps Democrats up at night
35:00 El-Sayed is still doing cleanup thirty days after the primary
37:00 The libertarian-candidate play red-state Democrats aren't running
38:00 The Hasan Piker problem
39:00 The Detroit synagogue comment and the apology he did make
42:00 The Trump-and-white-supremacists parallel
43:00 Alaska as the wild card: ranked choice, two Sullivans, Peltola
45:00 Josh Turek is a very hard candidate to attack
47:00 Rob Sand deserves 30% of the buzz Ossoff is getting
49:00 The Obama-in-'06 comparison and the asses-in-seats metric
50:00 Newsom went to Michigan and couldn't find anyone to campaign with
52:00 Trump demands the FCC punish Kristen Welker
54:00 What the meltdown says about how fragile he is
57:00 The Maggie Haberman attack, 48 hours apart
58:00 Hegseth gets the worst week in Washington
59:00 Sean Parnell, the influencer hires & a very online secretary
1:00:00 The cabinet primary: Lutnick, RFK Jr., Gabbard
1:02:00 Are we really out of munitions after one excursion against Iran?
1:03:00 Lake Ontario gets more coverage than troops without weapons
1:05:00 The Nats blow a 2-0 ninth-inning lead to the Marlins
1:07:00 No bullpen help at the deadline, and here we are
1:07:00 Becoming Statler and Waldorf
1:08:00 Tuesday night live: the Massachusetts primary
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Todd argues the entire 2026 election is collapsing into a single issue — prices — and that every other story is just a contributing factor. The problem for Republicans is that the economy is going to get worse, not better: price pressure is building across the food supply, the Iran war has disrupted fuel and fertilizer, JP Morgan is warning food inflation could hit 5% by 2027, and Kevin Warsh is going to be forced to raise rates, which will infuriate a president who Chuck argues is focused mainly on his own financial interests and could produce genuinely 1970s-like conditions. Chuck brings back reporting from a visit to the Black Locust Livestock cattle ranch to explain why beef prices can't be fixed by turning a dial: raising cattle is a years-long process, the American herd is historically small, only four companies process the country's beef and capacity is shrinking, and importing more is a short-term patch that damages domestic supply long term. It's the pattern of the whole administration — solving a price problem today by making it worse tomorrow, while the cost of producing food rises because of decisions Trump himself made. Underneath it all sits the number that explains the mood of the country: corporate pre-tax profits are at their highest share since just after World War II while workers take home the smallest share since the 1950s. There is no economic boom for most Americans, Washington keeps misreading the anger, and Trump's own voters are getting hit hardest at the pump.
The war, Chuck argues, isn't just making life expensive — it's making America vulnerable. Defense leaders are warning Hegseth the Iran campaign is unsustainable: barely a quarter of the Navy's destroyer fleet is ready to deploy, advanced munitions stocks are largely burned through, and equipment and personnel are worn out, meaning fighting this war has left the country less capable of fighting the next one. China is the clear winner of Trump's second term, and Chuck’s real worry is Putin testing NATO while looking at an American president desperate for any win. Then there's Venezuela, where Trump has announced the U.S. has seized the country's oil reserves — a move Chuck calls British-empire-style imperialism and highway robbery at gunpoint, asking the obvious question: if Putin did this to a neighbor, what would we call it? The standard shouldn't change because we're the ones doing it, the windfall ought to benefit Venezuelans, and it's worth asking who's actually negotiating this and who stands to profit. It's exactly why two-thirds of South America resents the United States, and why Trump's imperial turn will only compound a credibility problem that's already severe. Chuck closes somewhere more personal: his old high school, Miami's Killian, is down from 3,000 students to 400. The kids didn't disappear — school choice killed the ambition to attend. Big public high schools once defined their communities and forced people to know each other; we traded that for choice and specialization without ever asking what a public school is actually for. We didn't try to fix public education, Chuck argues. We empowered people to escape it — and in doing so gutted one of the real sources of American strength.

Then, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine joins the Chuck Toddcast in his final months in office and, freed from ever facing voters again, says exactly what he thinks. The headline is his reversal on capital punishment: DeWine helped write Ohio's death penalty statute as a state senator in 1981 and defended it as attorney general, but in June he called on the legislature to abolish it, saying the moral justification he once had simply no longer exists. He walks Chuck through the practical case — roughly 20 years on average from sentencing to execution, a process that structurally cannot be sped up — and the harder question a Republican has to answer about whether you can be both pro-life and pro-death penalty. That flows into a broader argument about criminal justice that DeWine says has been driven by emotion rather than logic: truly violent offenders are a small percentage of the prison population and those are the people who need to be removed from society, but it's in society's direct self-interest to educate and rehabilitate everyone else. He's equally out of step with his party on immigration, arguing America needs legal immigrants, that we've been educating them and then failing to keep them, that Ohio's economic gains have come from immigrants, and that they're critical to caring for an aging population. On Springfield, DeWine is direct: the Haitian population created real challenges for the community, but they work hard, and it is not in America's interest to deport people who are here and working.
The conversation turns to the economy and the state's political future. DeWine calls the Canada trade war a genuine problem for Ohio — Canada is a major customer — and argues the country needs a real balance between domestic manufacturing and importing rather than a grudge match. On the data center boom reshaping Ohio politics, he says tech companies have an obligation to invest in the communities they move into, notes the technology has improved and no longer requires as much water, and makes the case that nuclear power is what will actually have to underwrite the buildout. He and Chuck get into whether there's a genuine divide between the two factions of the Ohio GOP, and DeWine offers a thoughtful answer about how the nationalization of politics has flattened the local distinctions that once existed inside both parties — and how that nationalization is now in everyone's face every single day. He takes ownership of the COVID shutdown decisions (the buck stopped with him), assesses whether Ohio is genuinely back to purple status with both the governor and Senate races going down to the wire, weighs in on whether the state is in good hands with either Vivek Ramaswamy or Amy Acton — and, of course, whether this is finally Joe Burrow's year.
Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit the assassination of President William McKinley and the striking parallels between modern America, and America in 1901. He also answers listeners’ questions in the Ask Chuck segment.
Play ball and swing for the fences on FanDuel, an official partner of the MLB at https://FANDUEL.COM.

Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.

For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck / *Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.

Timeline:
(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)
00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction
04:30 With return of college football, comes a ton of political advertising
05:00 Football attracts a wide array of potential voters
06:30 Pro-Paxton ad in Texas made China the central theme, blamed Talarico
07:30 GOP has controlled Texas for decades, blaming Talarico is ridiculous
10:00 Dems dismiss the ad as ridiculous, but some people will believe it
12:15 Massachusetts primaries coming up on Tuesday, Sept 1st
14:15 The electorate will be voting on one issue… prices & affordability
15:00 Every other issue is a contributing factor to the price issues
15:45 The problem for Republicans is the economy will get worse, not better
16:30 Price pressures are building across the food supply
16:45 Iran war is causing major issues with the fuel & fertilizer supply
18:00 JP Morgan warns food inflation could reach 5% by 2027
18:30 Kevin Warsh will be forced to raise rates, Trump will be furious
19:00 Trump is only worried about his own personal financial interest
19:45 Fed raising rates to combat inflation will create 1970’s like conditions
20:15 Went to the Black Locust Livestock cattle ranch for Noosphere interview
21:45 Beef prices can’t just be adjusted with the turn of a dial
22:15 Raising cattle is a long term process & our beef herd is historically small
23:00 Trump knows beef prices are hurting him & wanted to import more
24:15 Importing is a short term solution, hurts the long term domestic supply
25:00 Only 4 companies process American beef & we’re losing capacity
25:30 How we can lower beef prices and boost domestic production
26:30 Trump tries to solve price issues in the short term, makes it worse long term
27:00 The price to produce food is rising because of decisions Trump made
27:45 Corporate pre-tax profits are at highest share since aftermath of WW2
28:15 Workers are getting lowest take home share of profits since 1950s
29:00 This is why voters across the spectrum are so pissed off at the system
29:30 There’s no economic boom for most Americans
30:15 Washington continues to misunderstand the anger of the voters
30:45 Trump voters are getting hardest hit by higher gas prices
32:30 Iran war isn’t just making things expensive, it’s making us more vulnerable
33:00 Defense leaders warning Hegseth the Iran war is unsustainable
33:45 Hegseth has put America in more danger than it’s been in since Cold War
34:15 Barely 1/4th of the Navy’s destroyer fleet is ready to deploy
34:45 We’ve burned through most of our advanced munitions
35:15 We’ve worn out our military equipment and personnel
36:00 Fighting this war has made us less capable of fighting the next war
36:30 China has been the biggest winner of Trump’s second term
37:00 What are we no longer willing to do because of the Iran war?
38:00 We’ve spent all this money on the military… and we’re tapped out?
38:30 We should be incredibly concerned about Putin testing NATO
39:15 Putin sees an American president desperate for a win
40:00 Trump announced that we’ve seized Venezuela’s oil reserves
40:45 This feels like British empire style imperialism
42:00 If Putin had done this to another country… what would we call it?
42:30 The standards shouldn’t be different because WE are doing it
43:30 Who is doing this negotiation and who stands to benefit?
44:30 Shouldn’t the windfall from Venezuelan oil benefit Venezuelans?
45:00 Trump is taking Venezuela’s oil at gunpoint, it’s highway robbery
46:00 This is why 2/3rd’s of South America hates the United States
46:30 Trump wants to make America and empire… and the world will hate us
48:00 This compounds America’s credibility problem globally
49:00 The world is only going to hate America & Americans more due to Trump
51:00 Chuck’s high school, Killian is down to 400 students from 3,000
51:45 The kids didn’t disappear, school choice killed ambition to attend there
53:00 Big successful public high schools defined their communities
54:30 Connection between community and schools has broken down
55:00 School choice creates communities not based in their neighborhood
56:00 We haven’t asked “What do we want a public school to do for a community?”
56:45 A public school is central to creating a local community
57:30 We trade choice and specialization, for a community that isn’t forced to interact
59:00 Killian’s community is still a good one, but the character changed
1:00:15 What exactly is public education for? Is it purely for kids' education?
1:01:00 The public school system was a source of our power… and we’ve gutted it
1:01:30 We didn’t try to fix public ed, we tried to empower people to escape it
1:03:45 We created more choices, but did we make education better?
1:05:45 We lost a place where we were forced to get to know each other
1:10:15 Governor Mike DeWine joins the Chuck ToddCast
1:11:30 More comfortable speaking out since not running for office
1:12:45 Mike’s argument against the death penalty
1:13:15 It takes 20 years on average from adjudication to execution
1:13:45 Death penalty process is not able to be sped up
1:15:15 We need to have legal immigrants admitted to America
1:16:30 We were educating immigrants, then not having them stay
1:17:15 Ohio’s economic increases have come from immigrants
1:17:45 Immigrants are critical to caring for our aging population
1:18:30 Can you be pro-life and pro-death penalty?
1:20:15 Putting an emphasis on rehabilitating prisoners
1:21:30 It’s in the self-interest of society to educate inmates
1:22:45 Emotion rather than logic & nuance drives the crime debate
1:23:45 Truly violent criminals are a very small percentage of the population
1:24:15 Violent criminals are the ones you have to get out of society
1:25:30 America goes through pro-immigration and anti-immigration phases
1:26:15 We need people who want to work
1:26:45 Haitians in Springfield created challenges, but they work hard
1:27:45 It’s not in our interest to deport people who are here and working
1:29:00 Haiti is a major challenge
1:32:00 Canada trade war is a problem, they’re a major customer for Ohio
1:33:45 Need a balance between manufacturing here and importing
1:36:00 Is there a divide in Ohio GOP between the two factions?
1:38:45 There used to be major distinctions within the parties
1:39:45 Nationalization of politics has stymied local distinctions within parties
1:40:45 The nationalization is now in everyone’s face everyday
1:43:15 Tech companies need to invest in communities where they put data centers
1:44:00 The data center tech is getting better, don’t have to use as much water
1:45:00 Need to invest in nuclear power in order to power the data center boom
1:45:45 Is Ohio in good hands with Ramaswamy or Acton as governor?
1:47:30 Shutdown decisions during COVID were the governor's choice. Buck stops with him
1:48:30 Is Ohio back to purple state status?
1:49:45 The governor and senate races will go down to the wire
1:50:15 Will this finally be Joe Burrow’s year?
1:52:00 ToddCast Time Machine - The Assassination of William McKinley
1:52:30 Of all presidential assassinations, Americans know the least about this one
1:53:00 The assassin was Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist who felt system was unjust
1:53:45 After McKinley died, Teddy Roosevelt became president
1:54:15 Czolgosz actually produced some of the political change he wanted
1:55:00 Modern America echoes America in 1901
1:56:00 Czolgosz saw political assassinations create change in Europe
1:57:45 Other anarchists thought Czolgosz was too committed, maybe a plant
1:58:15 Emma Goldman argues that societal conditions explain the assassination
1:59:00 When people conclude politics won’t solve problems, they look to alternatives
1:59:45 The assassination happened at a fair showing celebrating technological advances
2:00:30 The United States was emerging as a world power, but there were two Americas
2:01:00 One America saw dynamism, the other saw exploitation
2:01:30 The setting of the assassination was almost poetic
2:02:15 Doctors treating McKinley were too afraid to use new X-ray technology
2:03:15 Lincoln’s son was actually nearby during the assassination
2:03:45 Roosevelt was installed as VP by party bosses to get rid of him
2:04:30 Roosevelt sworn in at age 42, and understood the conditions for political radicalism
2:05:00 Roosevelt argues for the “Square Deal” and goes after concentrated corporate power
2:06:00 The uncomfortable truth: Does assassination provide the sought political change?
2:06:45 Lincoln and JFK’s assassination both changed the political timeline
2:08:00 Czolgosz was convicted and executed weeks after McKinley’s death
2:08:30 Congress passes the Anarchist Exclusion Act, Goldman is deported
2:10:00 The forces that produced Czolgosz weren’t confined to America
2:10:30 Roosevelt’s policies helped prevent a Russian-style revolution
2:11:00 Roosevelt argues capitalism has to be regulated and restrained
2:12:15 America in 2026 isn’t America 1901, but it does rhyme
2:13:15 Ask Chuck
2:13:30 What do you make of James Talarico’s status in Texas?
2:19:30 Thoughts on Project 2025, is it a threat and is Trump following it?
2:21:45 Do you think the Trump administration will still act on Cuba?
2:24:00 Why not make the Attorney General an elected position?
2:27:45 Do you see your political independence as a protest against duopoly?
2:32:00 Takeaways from first week of college football
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.