It was an unmistakably invidious comparison. On Saturday's edition of MS NOW’s The Weekend: Primetime, co-host Ayman Mohyeldin praised a political cartoon by liberal Mike Luckovich that glorified “UK Justice” — showing police leading away ex-Prince Andrew, who was formally stripped of his royal title in 2025 amid fallout from his Epstein associations, while depicting U.S. immigration enforcement as “Just ICE,” symbolized by a masked federal agent carrying off a small child. MOHYELDIN: There was a very powerful cartoon from Mike Luckovich, which I thought was very impressive, because it was so simple and powerful. And on one hand, it shows in the UK, you see it there, what Justice looks like. And in the US, Just ICE, showing an ICE agent carrying a young girl.  And I think it's a perfect encapsulation of where we are as a country, and what our law enforcement is out there doing versus what's happening overseas.  The implication was clear: Britain holds the powerful accountable, while America targets the defenseless. Mohyeldin's moral contrast collapses under scrutiny. Ex-Prince Andrew was arrested in February 2026 on suspicion of misconduct in public office after documents released in the Epstein files suggested he shared confidential trade reports with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a U.K. trade envoy. He denies wrongdoing and remains under investigation. That is serious — and it warrants coverage. But portraying Britain as a model of uncomplicated “justice” ignores its own contentious record, particularly when it comes to immigration and public dissent. In recent years, British police have aggressively managed anti-immigration demonstrations, including arrests outside asylum housing sites and heavy public-order deployments at large rallies. In one widely circulated incident, a police liaison officer confiscated a Union Jack from a teenage protester at an anti-immigration event, reportedly citing concerns about community tensions. On the American side, the cartoon substitutes emotional symbolism for policy reality. ICE’s statutory mission is to enforce immigration law against individuals unlawfully present in the United States. It does not operate under a mandate to “target children.” Minors may become involved when families are apprehended or when custody determinations follow an adult’s arrest — controversial and complex processes — but the cartoon implies cruelty as policy rather than enforcement of law. The broader European context makes the contrast even more selective. Immigration is one of the most consequential political issues across Europe. In England and Wales, Muslims number 3.9 million, or 6.5 percent of the population according to the 2021 Census. Germany reports roughly 5.5 million Muslims, about 6.6 percent of its population. Across the European Union, 46.7 million residents — 10.4 percent — were born outside the EU as of January 2025. Earlier this year, Spain approved legal status for roughly 500,000 undocumented migrants under an extraordinary regularization program. Senior Western leaders themselves have framed these trends as long-term structural challenges. At the 2026 Munich Security Conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that sustained mass migration flows and declining cultural confidence could weaken the cohesion necessary for Western democratic societies to endure. His remarks were not apocalyptic; they were strategic — cautioning against gradual erosion rather than sudden collapse. MS NOW’s Mohyeldin Hails Cartoon Attacking ICE, Idealizing ‘UK Justice’ pic.twitter.com/HXj8mqZMdl — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) February 22, 2026 That is the broader debate the cartoon flattens into a simplistic moral contrast. Justice is complicated. So is immigration. So is the long arc of civilizational continuity. Reducing all three to a handcuffed ex-prince and a crying child may be powerful television. It is not serious analysis—but illustrative of MS NOW's hard-left bias. Note: Mohyeldin is the same guy we caught in 2015 describing Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle's work in Iraq as "killing sprees."   MS NOW The Weekend: Primetime 2/21/26 6:26 pm ET MOHYELDIN: So let me ask you about the kind of pursuit of accountability in this country, because it seems that the general public feels that it is rare that people in power are going to be held accountable.  I think we have a Reuters Ipsos poll that finds 86% strongly or somewhat agree that the Epstein files show powerful people are rarely held accountable.  There was a very powerful cartoon from Mike Luckovich, which I thought was very impressive, because it was so simple and powerful. And on one hand, it shows in the UK, you see it there, what Justice looks like. And in the US, Just ICE, showing an ICE agent carrying a young girl.  And I think it's a perfect encapsulation of where we are as a country, and what our law enforcement is out there doing versus what's happening overseas.  Do you think accountability or justice for Epstein survivors is still real and possible at this moment?  KRISTY GREENBERG: I think it's as real and possible as the fact that survivors continue to speak out and they continue to make it an issue. As much as Karoline Leavitt says, well, we're moving on, they're not moving on. They're continuing to demand answers, demand accountability. And there are still a lot of files that we are going through, but 2.5 million pages that we haven't seen. And they're being withheld on what I would view as very bogus claims of privilege and other explanations that aren't even clear for us. 

I’m old enough to remember when assassination attempts against sitting or former Presidents of the United States were covered by the Elitist Media as a breaking top story. Apparently, not anymore and certainly not on Sunday mornings if it means cutting into D.C.-based political affairs shows. Early Sunday morning, the Secret Service shot and killed a man who snuck through the gate at Mar-a-Lago and into a secure perimeter. Here’s how this was reported by The New York Post: The Secret Service and local cops gunned down a shotgun-wielding madman who broke into President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club early Sunday. Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of Cameron, North Carolina, sneaked into the secure perimeter around the club by driving through a gate while another vehicle was coming out, authorities said.  Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago at the time. On Saturday night, he and first lady Melania hosted the Governors’ Dinner at the White House. When cops found Tucker Martin around 1:30 a.m., he was carrying a shotgun and a gas can. He was “ordered to drop those two pieces of equipment that he had with them,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters during a press conference Sunday.  You would think that this would draw significant Sunday morning coverage. Think again.  Below is the sole Sunday show mention of the latest attempt to do harm to the President: 18 seconds on CNN’s State of the Union: The sole Sunday show mention of the latest attempted assassination attempt against President Donald Trump: 18 seconds on CNN's State of the Union. pic.twitter.com/We5JT2DSxi — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 23, 2026 DANA BASH: Before we go to break, we are monitoring a frightening situation at Mar-a-Lago. The Secret Service says they shot and killed a trespasser overnight. A man in his early 20s who appeared to be carrying a shotgun and a fuel can. The President and First Lady were not at Mar-a-Lago at the time. CNN will bring you updates as we learn more. That’s it. There was absolutely no mention of this on ABC’s This Week or CBS’s Face the Nation. No mention whatsoever, whether on the shows proper or on the panels. (NBC's Meet the Press was pre-empted for Olympics coverage- specifically the men's hockey final where the United States, decked in glorious Ranger-like livery, defeated rival Canada on both the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice AND George Washington's 294th birthday.) The media’s omissive non-coverage of events like this, and the terror attack against ICE offices before, can only serve to normalize this ongoing plague of left-wing violence in the eyes of the American public. And it is shameful.

We are a little over 8 months away from the 2026 midterm elections, but 2018 positioning is already in the air. CNN made sure to get that ball rolling with an early potential candidate interview: California Governor Gavin Newsom. The interview, conducted by State of the Union co-host Dana Bash, centered around the release of Newsom's memoir “Young Man in a Hurry.” The interview was as soft as you might expect. Everything you need to know about how the interview went, you can glean from its introduction. Watch as Bash hails Newsom as “straight out of central casting:” Often times, the intro will show you everything you need to know about the interview. In this fawning instance: Softball City. DANA BASH: You may think of Gavin Newsom as governor of California straight out of central casting, and, more recently, the sharp-elbowed nemesis of… pic.twitter.com/DBK7LBIPhd — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 22, 2026 DANA BASH: You may think of Gavin Newsom as governor of California straight out of central casting, and, more recently, the sharp-elbowed nemesis of Donald Trump. Now, as his term comes to an end in California and he considers running for president in 2028, he wants Americans to get to know a different side of him, with a new book releasing this week, "Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery." The interview was mostly autobiographical. The interview opened with a long segment on Newsom’s parents. There was brief discussion of Newsom’s personal peccadilloes, dyslexia, and other personal challenges, furthering his purpose of reintroducing himself to the broader national electorate on his own terms. The interview touched on Newsom’s presidential aspirations, to wit: whether he’ll cross paths with former Vice President Kamala Harris, and whether he’ll actually run. Newsom demurred on both, with very little resistance or pushback from Bash. Bash set Newsom up to, well…bash the current administration on tariffs, and allowed him to skate on affordability. Consider this exchange, wherein Newsom  KID GLOVES: Watch as CNN's Dana Bash completely allows Gavin Newsom to skate on why so many have fled California- a 2028 preview if there ever was one. DANA BASH: I do want to, while we're on the economy, ask about affordability, because, yes, people are struggling all across… pic.twitter.com/pDx1ZF7Mgj — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 22, 2026 BASH: I do want to, while we're on the economy, ask about affordability, because, yes, people are struggling all across the country. California has the highest cost of living in the nation. The state's prices are 11 percent higher than the national average. We were actually out to dinner here in Nashville last night. We met a couple from California. They moved out of California because they couldn't afford the rent or even to buy a home and also start a family. NEWSOM: Yes, we have had hundreds of thousands of people move into California. The last two, three years, we have seen population growth. As you know, we moved from six to the fourth largest economy in the world. And we dominate now in every key industry, from A.I., quantum, robotics. We dominate in ag. We dominate in forestry. We dominate in manufacturing. BASH: But people are struggling to afford things, like your mom was. NEWSOM: And that's why we did $11 insulin, first of its kind in the United States. It's why we have universal health care and the lowest uninsured rate in the country, 6.4 percent. That's why we just subsidized over 300,000 childcare slots, more than any other state in the nation. That's why 65 percent of people graduate from the U.C. and CSU with zero debt. That's why we have the highest minimum wage for health care workers, $25, in the United States, for fast-food workers, $20 minimum wage. So we're looking at it from both sides. That's why we have a parents agenda that expanded paid sick leave and extended to eight weeks of paid family leave, all to support families, to address cost of living and to address the affordability crisis that goes back literally 70 years in California, for one reason. We're as dumb as we want to be on housing, and we haven't been able to get out of our way. It explains more things in more ways and more days of what's wrong with our state. And, finally, we moved forward with historic housing reforms that even our worst critics, including some on the left, like my friend Ezra Klein, acknowledged were the most progressive and perhaps most impactful reforms in a generation to finally address that issue. There was no challenge from Bash, and no follow up to her weak initial question other than her evocation of the hardships suffered by Newsom’s mom. Newsom was allowed to rattle off a set piece that, far from addressing Bash’s question, attempted to gaslight viewers into believing that California’s unaffordability is a good thing due to the Democrat trifecta government’s many interventions. There were no questions, at least in the portions of this interview aired today, about the decay and crime plaguing California’s large cities, the costly bullet train to nowhere, or the slow recovery after the Los Angeles fires. At no time was Newsom worried about having to deal with anything resembling a tough question (or even a follow-up) during this tongue bath of an interview- which tells us that the Elitist Media are already ramping up for 2028. Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the portions of the aforementioned interview that aired on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, February 22nd, 2026: DANA BASH: You may think of Gavin Newsom as governor of California straight out of central casting, and, more recently, the sharp-elbowed nemesis of Donald Trump. Now, as his term comes to an end in California and he considers running for president in 2028, he wants Americans to get to know a different side of him, with a new book releasing this week, "Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery." I sat down with Governor Newsom for his first TV interview about his memoir at the first stop in his book tour at the OZ Arts performance center in Nashville. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BASH: In your new book, "Young Man in a Hurry," you're really explicit in trying to confront the perception that you are -- and I'm quoting here -- "a privileged prince," because your grandfather and your father, they had a lot of activity in politics and business in San Francisco. They were especially close to the Getty family as are you. You describe in detail the split personality, that's what you call it, of your childhood because your parents divorced when you were young and you had that privileged existence with your dad and then you went back home with your mom... GAVIN NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: ... who had to work three jobs to keep things afloat. NEWSOM: Yes, at 19, when she was pregnant with me -- she had two kids, a father, which I discovered only through the process of researching his life and writing this book, had a breakdown, ran for county supervisor in San Francisco, lost, ran for state Senate, lost both races, was broke and said he had a breakdown that required him just to leave. And he just took off to Lake Tahoe, Truckee area. And that was it. We saw him episodically when we were growing up. He was there every three or four weekends, maybe a week or so every summer and came back into our lives much later. But it was my mom, hard work, grit, never complained, explained, came from no wealth, single bedroom. And she just made ends meet, made things work and gave me the grit and gave me a work ethic that's, frankly, allowed me to survive in politics this many years. BASH: Yes. I mean, you talk about that grit. You talk about your mom giving you that grit and your dad teaching you other things like the love of the outdoors and poetry. But it really is striking to me how distant you describe -- and you're really detailed and pretty raw about how distant you felt from both of your parents, especially your mom. You call her impenetrable to you. NEWSOM: Yes, look, I mean, the title has meaning, "Young Man in a Hurry." I have been in a hurry. I have been always trying to chase something. I put a mask on and my face was growing into it. I was becoming -- I wasn't becoming myself. It was the biggest fear my mom had of me getting into politics. She never wanted me to go into politics, which I never understood until I learned in the process of writing this that was the reason for their divorce. She never explained that. They never talked about that when I grew up. I lost my mom almost 20 years ago to breast cancer, and I was hustling back then. I was a small business person. I had opened a number of small businesses, restaurants and hotel, smaller winery. I was a county supervisor. I was thinking about running for mayor. She was getting sick and sicker and I was distant. And she called. She left a voice-mail. It's in the book. How about getting this voice- mail? Literally, hi, it's your mom. Next week, I will be taking my own life. If you want to visit me, I would encourage you to do so before next Thursday. That was literally -- I still have the voice-mail. I kept it. And it was a big wakeup call. And I realized how selfish and self- absorbed I was. And I started spending time with her, but it was too late. She already made the decision. The cancer metastasized. She was in so much pain. And I had the privilege and the burden, the worst experience and, in hindsight, the most blessed experience I have ever had, and that was being there for her when she took her last breath, my sister and I there at her assisted suicide with a brave doctor. It was against the law. And it was a brave doctor who was willing to help her and take her out of her misery. And I was there for that last moment. BASH: And you were 34. She was 55. And you wrote that: "There was no peace that blanketed her. She gasped and took a last breath." NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: "I kept holding onto her hand tighter and tighter and sobbing." NEWSOM: Yes, I was there. She had a -- anybody who has been in this position with someone who's suffering and struggling. So we came there. And she took some pills. And she started to doze off a little bit. And she had an old binder of photographs. And she was talking. My sister and I were the two that were with her, both sides. And then she started dozing off a little more. And my sister said: "I can't do this anymore." She didn't want to be there for the end. And she took off. And about 10 more minutes of that, it was just my mom and I. And the doctor came in and administered the final dose. And those last breaths, I will never forget it. And I really -- I was angry that I was there. I was angry with her at the time. I was for years and years. BASH: Why? NEWSOM: Why would you do this? Why would you -- there was nothing -- it wasn't -- there wasn't calming about it. It was not a romantic end. She struggled. And she would -- she had struggled her whole life. And I'm realizing I can -- and now I realize it, how selfish and self- absorbed, as I suggested I was, that I never had a chance to thank her, never really had a chance to say I love you. Thank you for all your sacrifices. But over the years and through the process, I'm telling you, what a gift to be able to write something. I started realizing, ah, that last breath, I have still -- that's extended through me today. That hand I'm holding is her hand. And she's -- I'm an expression of her. She's still alive in me. And I have been able to come to grips with it in a deeper and different way. And it's also allowed me to recalibrate my life. And so much of this is about an honest assessment of self, just grinding, trying to be something, trying to make up for someone I felt I wasn't. I'm not smart enough. I mean, we talk about my dyslexia, my learning disabilities, how I struggled, how insecure I was, sweaty hands, and always trying to be something, and how, in this process of understanding that and uncovering some of those -- where those anxieties come from, it's allowed me to let a lot of things go. BASH: You're obviously trying to explore your own life and your family's history in this, but also put out to the world what you say is the full you... NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: ... and not perhaps what people see. NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: They see a slick politician... NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: ... who knows how to talk and has been climbing and a man in a hurry for a long time. NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: There's -- there's a connection that you have to so much history and also key players in San Francisco and national politics, which is -- which is interesting, because, again, the book, you're trying to fill out who you are. NEWSOM: Yes. I'm both/and. I'm all of these things, but I'm not just the caricature that FOX News paints me out to be. This book is not about victimhood. Quite the contrary, it's about agency. It's about resilience. It's about -- it's about the journey that we're on. It's a human story that I think a lot of people can connect to with divorced families, kids that are struggling, the good and bad of life, the serendipity of life, marriage, divorce, I mean, all of that. It's all there. BASH: Well, on that, I was going to ask you about that, because you do talk in great detail about issues that not that long ago were taboo and things that are not really highlights of your personal life. NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: You talk about the affair that you had with one of your staffers, his wife. You talk about the failure of your first marriage to Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was later engaged, of course, to Donald Trump Jr. NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: You even talk about your hair... NEWSOM: Yes, of course. BASH: ... and about your lifelong struggle with hair gel. (LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK) NEWSOM: I don't know about struggle. BASH: But I guess what I'm getting at here is that you are also a politician thinking about your future. NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: Are you trying to redefine and fill out or maybe even get the narrative set in a different way than it is now? NEWSOM: Well, I wish it was that intentional. I wish it was that Machiavellian of sorts. I wish I was that political about it. Well, I keep referring to this mask, because I think all of us put out -- I think that it was Oscar Wilde talked about in life we all sort of -- our first thing in life is, we all have a pose. And the second thing, no one ever really figures out. I'm trying to figure out the second thing. I sort of had that pose. And now I'm just trying, you know what? Just let it go. I am who I am, imperfect as I am. Have a swing at it. You don't like it, I get it. And so it's just -- it's a little -- and I think it's reflected. And I think you have seen it in my politics, the way I have addressed Trump and the way -- how I'm navigating even going overseas and how I'm talking in the political realm, how we did Prop 50. I'm punching back. I'm just on the other side of it now. I'm just less risk- adverse. I have always been -- I have always taken risks. BASH: Yes. NEWSOM: That's well-defined here. But there's a freedom now. (END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: When we come back, more from my exclusive interview with Governor Gavin Newsom, including the state of his relationship with another potential 2028 hopeful also from California, his friend Kamala Harris. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) BASH: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. More now of my interview with California Governor Gavin Newsom. We talked about his lifelong struggle with a learning disability, dyslexia. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BASH: People who really know your story know that you are pretty severely dyslexic, but you really go into what it was like as a kid, you said, feeling like you're dumb and like you can't get things done and understand things. And you interviewed your Aunt Cindy, your mom's sister. NEWSOM: Yes. Yes. BASH: And she described you as a child with a disability, a scrambled brain who required a certain touch. Your parents' failure to even seek out the right professional help for you left you on an island all alone. "That's kind of abuse, abuse by omission." NEWSOM: She was -- that's tough. I -- God bless. She loves me and I'm blessed, my aunt. My mom did too, but she didn't know how. She didn't -- I mean, I talk often in the book, she didn't have the language for some -- she was a kid. She was a kid marrying -- my dad was in his mid-30s. BASH: So you just struggled with... NEWSOM: And she -- so she didn't know how to deal with it. That's why she said it's OK to be average, because she was probably just trying to get to bed. And I was trying to figure out a book report and I wasn't reading. I was doing CliffsNotes. I was literally copying the back of CliffsNotes and putting it on a piece of paper. And I got -- I mean, it was just -- and she watched me struggle and scream. And she says: "It's OK." She was basically just saying, just let it go. But at the time I just thought, no, she's just consigning me to this sort of -- being stuck on stupid. BASH: But you also say that dyslexia is kind of a superpower as a politician. NEWSOM: Come on, it's the greatest thing, in hindsight, that happened to me. I mean, it just allowed -- I mean, I have the freedom of not having to be stuck on the written text and the freedom of having to work harder, more reps behind the scenes. I'm doing -- if you think you're working hard, trust me, I'm two to three X in terms of the work. BASH: But it's also your E.Q., being able to read... NEWSOM: Yes, and you can read the room. You have an emotional intelligence. You can see that you're about problem-solving, you're about iteration, you're about trial and error, your willingness to make mistakes, your willingness to seek to understand before you're understood, because you have to. You have to feel something. I do think it's a superpower, those that discover that side of it. If you never discover it, you will struggle with it the rest of your life. But some of the most dynamic and extraordinary leaders that I know all have one thing in common, dyslexia. It's almost as if it's the sort of creative gene. So this notion of a gift, I feel that. That said, for my mom, it was the curse, because her poor kid sitting there was trying to drop out of school, faking being sick every day. I was going into community college, which luckily I got lucky with a baseball call from a few coaches and got into a four-year college. But it's -- yes, it's turned out to be a blessing, and, in politics, a huge blessing. BASH: Kamala Harris. NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: You write about the fact that you've been friends with her for a very long time. You came up together. And you talk about your parallel careers. NEWSOM: Yes. BASH: She was prosecutor, California DA, and senator. You were San Francisco mayor, lieutenant governor and governor. What happens if and when those parallel careers intersect and collide? (LAUGHTER) NEWSOM: Well, I'm San Francisco now. She's L.A. So we're a little -- there's a little distance between the two of us. BASH: I'm talking about running for president in 2028, the whole country. NEWSOM: That's -- fate will determine that. And I've never gotten in the way of her ambition ever. I haven't. And I don't imagine I would in the future. But I don't... BASH: Well, if you run against each other for president... NEWSOM: Yes, just that's fate. I don't -- I don't know. See, I -- you can -- only can control what you can control. I think this entire book is that fundamental lesson, and this notion of controlling what you control and taking responsibility for what you control is a big part of what I try to communicate in this book. That's the third thing. It's like how this book will be received. It's the third thing. I can't control that. I can't control whatever decisions she makes. BASH: The Supreme Court struck down most of President Trump's tariffs this week. He's already using different authorities to impose a 15 percent global tariff, vowing to forge ahead even without Congress. What do you do? NEWSOM: Well, what does anyone do? You're going to move your factory from overseas and onshore it with a 150-day certainty on a 15 percent tax or tariff? I mean, the whole thing is a farce. I talk about petulance. It was 10 percent two days ago, maybe 20 percent tomorrow. I mean, this is madness. He's flailing. He's a punch-drunk boxer. He's just trying to hit anything, a shadow. And he's a shadow of himself. He's lost a step or two. Under the IEEPA, we were the first state to sue. I was out there in the Central Valley talking about how this is going to impact ranchers and small businesses and farmers, the ag community, in my state larger than any other state in the country. And Justice Roberts, by the way, basically, our arguments were literally laid out in detail in his response. So it was always an illegal act. He needs to return that money. He needs to refund that money with interest. He could do that in a nanosecond. They could do that electronically. BASH: How? NEWSOM: They can do it electronically. They have the tariff codes. They have the ability. They do refunds all the time. They have the ability to do that. The problem is, for families, it's been about $1,701 a year. That's a different requirement that I think he has to pay the American people back. I saw Bessent out there, almost gleeful. He was gleeful that, no, we won't be doing it. This is dumb and dumber, Trump and Bessent. They have wrecked this economy, 1.4 percent GDP growth in the last quarter, inflation back up to 3 percent, the worst jobs market we have seen since 2013, 2.2 percent GDP for the entire year. He inherited 2.8. It's a wrecking ball presidency. He's wrecking this economy. His entire economic paradigm is mass deportations, tax cuts for billionaires, and tariffs. And he's been exposed. He's a fraud. And, by the way, the tariff, this is a self-dealing operation. This is about his personal portfolio. You know exactly what he did in Vietnam with the tariffs. He used them to get a deal on his golf course to fast-track his development. Connect the dot. This is unprecedented grift happening in real time. That's reflected in what just happened with the tariff decision in the Supreme Court. It was a profound moment for this administration. BASH: I do want to, while we're on the economy, ask about affordability, because, yes, people are struggling all across the country. California has the highest cost of living in the nation. The state's prices are 11 percent higher than the national average. We were actually out to dinner here in Nashville last night. We met a couple from California. They moved out of California because they couldn't afford the rent or even to buy a home and also start a family. NEWSOM: Yes, we have had hundreds of thousands of people move into California. The last two, three years, we have seen population growth. As you know, we moved from six to the fourth largest economy in the world. And we dominate now in every key industry, from A.I., quantum, robotics. We dominate in ag. We dominate in forestry. We dominate in manufacturing. BASH: But people are struggling to afford things, like your mom was. NEWSOM: And that's why we did $11 insulin, first of its kind in the United States. It's why we have universal health care and the lowest uninsured rate in the country, 6.4 percent. That's why we just subsidized over 300,000 childcare slots, more than any other state in the nation. That's why 65 percent of people graduate from the U.C. and CSU with zero debt. That's why we have the highest minimum wage for health care workers, $25, in the United States, for fast-food workers, $20 minimum wage. So we're looking at it from both sides. That's why we have a parents agenda that expanded paid sick leave and extended to eight weeks of paid family leave, all to support families, to address cost of living and to address the affordability crisis that goes back literally 70 years in California, for one reason. We're as dumb as we want to be on housing, and we haven't been able to get out of our way. It explains more things in more ways and more days of what's wrong with our state. And, finally, we moved forward with historic housing reforms that even our worst critics, including some on the left, like my friend Ezra Klein, acknowledged were the most progressive and perhaps most impactful reforms in a generation to finally address that issue. BASH: Last question. What are the metrics that will determine whether you run for president? NEWSOM: There's five of them, Dutch, Brooklyn, Hunter. You get the drill. BASH: Want me to help you name the rest of your kids? NEWSOM: No, you don't. (LAUGHTER) NEWSOM: But the biggest one is Jennifer. BASH: Exactly. NEWSOM: So, it's going to -- look, this book was dedicated to them. I wish this was a book my parents wrote. BASH: Do they want you to run? NEWSOM: And it's going to be -- that's -- I don't know. It depends on the day. My son wrote me. It was very powerful, texted me a few months ago when there was some headline that suggested that I had made some decision. And he goes: "Dad, are you running for president?" I said: "No, I -- we will do this decision as a family." He goes: "You can't." I said: "Why?” He goes: "I'm too young. You need to spend more time with us." I mean, how do you deal with that one? I screenshotted it. If I still had my phone, I'd show you. BASH: How do you deal with that one? NEWSOM: Exactly. I'm asking you. Come on. BASH: I'm not running for president. It's not... NEWSOM: No, that's the point. And the point is the point. And so what matters is what matters. Like, what matters is what matters. And that's hard. BASH: And then, going back to the book, your mother didn't want you to even get this far in politics. NEWSOM: Yes. And I think this is -- this is what -- that -- that text, I don't -- this why I talk about fate. But it will be done as a family and it'll be done as a unit and it will be done in a partnership with these magnificent creatures.   I'm just so blessed, the two boys, two girls. And they're -- people say their kids are perfect. Mine are not. They're perfectly imperfect because they're all composites of everything in the book, me, and they're all works in progress. But, God, are they beautiful and loving and they just have huge hearts. And they have the one thing that matters. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry to the great Elon Musk. It's the most powerful force on planet Earth, empathy. And that's a superpower. And that is, because of the grace of God, I married a rock star wife who gave them that. But also I'm blessed because my parents had that as well. BASH: Governor, thank you for your time. NEWSOM: Thank you. BASH: I really appreciate it. Thanks. (END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: Be sure to catch more of my interview with Governor Newsom tomorrow on Inside Politics.

Something appears to be laughably missing in Politico's Saturday story about the  June nonpartisan gubernatorial primary in California. Namely the front runner is a Republican, Steve Hilton, and another Republican is very possibly the second place candidate, both of whom would be facing each other in the November general election for governor. Is it a mere coincidence that Politico writers Blake Jones and Lindsey Holden completely ignored them because they happen to have the taboo (R) by their names which are completely AWOL in "Why Swalwell and Steyer are surging in California governor’s race"? The focus of the story (to the complete exclusion of Republicans) is made completely absurd by the inconvenient fact that Eric Swalwell is currently in either second or third place while Hilton is ahead of him according to the latest results from Emerson College Polling.   NEW: CALIFORNIA POLL with @CaliforniaICPSteve Hilton (R) 17% Eric Swalwell (D) 14% Chad Bianco (R) 14% Katie Porter (D) 10% Tom Steyer (D) 9% Xavier Becerra (D) 4% Matt Mahan (D) 3% Antonio Villaraigosa (D) 3% Betty Yee (D) 2% 21% undecided Watch: https://t.co/X1Ghupak8X… pic.twitter.com/AClOv7CB9j — Emerson College Polling (@EmersonPolling) February 18, 2026 Swalwell might even be behind another Republican, Chad Bianco, because the latter is in a statistical dead heat with Swalwell. However, the astounding possibility that the two Republicans could end up in first and second place in the June primary meaning there would be two Republicans on the November general election ballot to the exclusion of any Democrats seems to be utterly lost on the tag team of Jones and Holden. When Eric Swalwell and Tom Steyer jumped into the California governor’s race, much of the political class rolled its eyes — two failed presidential hopefuls with seemingly thin bases and no track record statewide. Even though Jones and Holden appear to be wearing absurd political blinders, Politico in December was very aware and worried about the real nightmare electoral situation that could be facing the Democrats, as we noted in "Politico Worries With Liberals Over Too Many Democrat Candidates = GOP Win in California." "California Democrats have a math problem: They’ve added so many candidates in the race to succeed Gavin Newsom that two Republicans could end up winning the state’s quirky “jungle primary,” shutting the Democrats out." With that sobering reality in mind it makes the Jones and Holden musings such as the following microanalysis paragraph sound like garden path detours into amusing irrelevance: Swalwell has jumped ahead of Porter in several recent polls. And Steyer has climbed to the high single digits, into a statistical tie with Porter in some surveys, after blanketing every major media market in the state with ads. Steyer has already spent around $28 million of his own wealth campaigning — multiples more than any other candidate has raised — and restocked his campaign with another $9 million last month to keep the advertising onslaught going. He’s one of few candidates on the air right now, joined only by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, for whom a super PAC is trying to boost his low name recognition in Los Angeles. Oooh! Oooh! Do you think Swalwell or Steyer or Porter or any Democrat even appear on the gubernatorial general election ballot due to the very real possibility that the two Republican candidates whom you have completely ignored come in at first and second place in the June nonpartisan primary ballot?

On Friday’s weekly PBS journalist roundtable Washington Week with The Atlantic, panel regular Susan Glasser of the New Yorker foisted insults on President Trump for being obliged to appear at the State of the Union after losing on tariffs at the Supreme Court, “I really think that this is a really embarrassing political moment for Donald Trump to be going up to Capitol Hill for the State of the Union.” After that outburst, the panel turned to the upcoming Tuesday address. PBS’s congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins found something to watch out for: Heckling of the president (though many Democrats have vowed to stay away from the address in protest). Lisa Desjardins: ….I think I can confidently say there's a hope by most members of Congress, Republican, and Democratic leaders, that there won't be the kind of yelling that you see. They -- both sides have something to lose by that. However, there's a question about Democratic progressives. They're having an alternate event. Some of them are skipping the State of the Union all together, but some will attend. Leader Jeffries, I've been told by many Democrats, is asking Democrats to just be respectful. But he has many progressives who are seething and who -- it's going to be hard for them to not yell when he says something they see as a lie. Desjardins seemed copacetic about the prospect of Trump being shouted at by Democrats. Needless to say, that kind of empathy regarding the frustrations of the party in opposition was not how the PBS News Hour reporters reacted when President Obama was confronted by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) during a 2009 speech on his health care proposal (later known as Obamacare) to a joint session of Congress. Coverage on the September 10, 2009 PBS News Hour reproved Wilson, and the brief incident became a multi-day story. Reporter Kwame Holman: Attention to the president`s plan and the debate over it were diverted somewhat today by some of the reaction last night during his address to Congress. A Republican from South Carolina created a furor when he heckled Mr. Obama. Congressman Joe Wilson shouted out, "You lie!" when the president said his plan would not include insuring illegal immigrants. Barack Obama, President of the United States: The reforms -- the reforms I`m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC): You lie! Holman: This morning, Wilson went before reporters staked out at his office and apologized. Days later, on Sept 14, then-News Hour anchor Gwen Ifill scolded that “Rancor had become the hallmark of Washington debate, so much so that even the president weighed in on the matter on 60 Minutes last night.” Barack Obama, President of the United States: The truth of the matter is that there has been a coarsening of our political dialogue that I've been running against since I got into politics…. Ifill: Last week`s primetime example occurred during the president`s address to a joint session of Congress. President Obama: The reforms -- the reforms I`m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. Rep. Wilson: You lie! And again the next night: Ifill: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution of disapproval today against Republican Joe Wilson. Last week, the South Carolina congressman touched off a furor when he shouted, "You lie!" during President Obama`s health care speech to a joint session of Congress. Wilson later apologized to the president`s chief of staff, but he refused Democrats` demands to apologize to colleagues on the House floor. That, in turn, triggered today`s debate. If Democrats were to heckle President Trump on Tuesday night, will PBS’s reaction be equally extended and judgmental?