Chuck Todd argues we've entered end-stage Trump — the most dangerous phase — as the president lashes out at a reality that keeps refusing to cooperate: raiding the Pentagon to fund his vanity arch, banning news outlets from the White House over coverage he dislikes. The new NBC poll gives him nothing to work with. Trump's approval sits at a second-term low of 41%, 55% say his policies have hurt the economy, and 43% say their congressional vote is meant to signal opposition to him — the highest such share NBC has recorded in three decades of pre-midterm polling. The war is a millstone (62% say it wasn't worth it), data centers are the worst-performing issue of the cycle, and the most popular positions in the survey are taxing billionaires and Medicare for All. Chuck’s read: the midterms are now entirely a referendum on Trump and the wave is showing up in Republican behavior as much as the polling. Then, Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter joins the Chuck ToddCast to talk about a state whose bipartisan political culture — he worked productively with Mike Johnson in the statehouse — has been steamrolled by a president who's made clear he doesn't want to work with Democrats at all. Carter notes the irony that a majority of Johnson's own district is Medicaid-dependent in a state that never expanded Medicaid, and that the One Big Beautiful Bill cut it anyway. He argues Democrats lose working-class voters by refusing to speak plain American, that Bill Cassidy would have been tough to beat had he run as an independent rather than losing his primary, and that impeachment without the votes is a fool's errand even as rampant corruption demands answers. Plus: why progressives struggle with Black voters, the flawed SCORE Act, Jeff Landry's LSU mess, and Carter's bill requiring watermarks on AI video. Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit the story of Soviet soldier Stanislav Petrov correctly identifying a false alarm and preventing a potential nuclear war & the importance of human decision making in an automated system. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and recaps the week in college football. Timeline: 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 06:15 Vanity projects, Pentagon money, and a president lashing out 11:00 Banning the press and the danger of end-stage Trump 15:45 Inside the new NBC poll: a second-term low 18:45 Immigration, healthcare, and where the public actually is 24:00 The Iran war and data centers as the cycle's worst issues 29:30 The wave showing up in GOP behavior — and why Kansas may beat Iowa 35:00 Religious tests, the Hungary parallel, and the limits of the system 39:30 Codifying norms and repairing the damage 51:00 Congressman Troy Carter joins the Chuck ToddCast 52:00 Louisiana's bipartisan culture and a president who won't play along 57:00 Medicaid, the OBBB cuts, and government that fails to deliver 1:03:45 How Trump wins working-class voters — and how Democrats lose them 1:09:00 The House map, surprise flips, and the Cassidy what-if 1:13:45 What Democrats should do with a governing majority 1:17:45 Oversight, impeachment, and the limits of both 1:26:15 Progressives, Black voters, and building a broader coalition 1:30:30 Procedural rules and Carter's reform wish list 1:36:45 College sports, the SCORE Act, and the LSU fight 1:45:00 AI, watermarks, and what Congress has to figure out 1:48:45 Chris Simms had excellent rant on the Protect College Sports Act 1:50:00 The conferences & networks don’t want a fair market for college sports 1:51:30 ToddCast Time Machine - September 26th, 1983 1:52:15 Soviet soldier, Petrov, was trying to determine if the US had launched a nuke 1:56:00 Petrov concluded the warning was a false alarm, the machine was wrong 1:58:30 We were fortunate a human was involved in the chain of events 2:01:45 Spoke with Ashley Judd about AI on Noosphere 2:05:15 Humans can’t just be a rubber stamp in the machine’s chain 2:07:30 As we race into AI era, we need to make sure humans are still in the chain 2:08:15 Ask Chuck 2:08:30 Is there a method to John Fetterman’s madness, or is it just madness? 2:15:15 Why can’t Trump’s opponents also “flood the zone”? 2:19:15 Could the speaker refuse to swear in Democrats? 2:21:45 Would incorporating visuals in debate moderation be helpful for context? 2:23:30 Thoughts on Nate Silver joining Crooked Media? 2:32:15 Thoughts on the personal feud between Trump & Mark Carney? 2:35:45 College football recap See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
