Welcome to Countdown 2024 ... there are now 56 days until the election.  We have conservative political titans Bill Kristol and Stuart Stevens coming up on today's show ... where the focus will be all about debate night ... in what could prove to be one of the most pivotal nights of this presidential campaign.

But first let's take a quick spin around the political world for the latest....

Tonight's debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in Philadelphia is the ONLY one scheduled before election day ... so the stakes are especially high.  In a likely attempt to get under the skin of the former president, Vice President Harris is bringing two former Trump White House staffers to the debate tonight, as her guests.  One of them is former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci ... we'll be talking with The Mooch here on Countdown on Friday!

Donald Trump called into NBC News this morning for a brief interview ... saying he "doesn't know what to expect" from Harris tonight, given her recently changing positions on several key issues.  Trump campaign sources say the former president won't try to hit Harris for "flip-flopping," ... but rather attempt to tie her to her most liberal positions on issues like immigration and fracking.

In some non-presidential campaign political news ... the House Republican majority put forward a spending bill that would keep the federal government up-and-running ... in exchange for approving a bill that would require voters to present proof of American citizenship.  It now looks like that gambit will fail ... and the government will be in danger of shutting down at the end of this month. 

The record for a TV audience watching a presidential debate came in 2016 when Hillary Clinton squared off against Donald Trump ... and an estimated 84-million Americans tuned in.  Tonight's Trump-Harris debate could eclipse that.

Today's guests on Countdown:

-Bill Kristol has been a presence in national Republican politics since 1970 when he was an intern at the Nixon White House.  He went on to work in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations ... and eventually founded The Weekly Standard.  Kristol now finds himself at The Bulwark.

-Stuart Stevens was in the leadership of George W. Bush's 2000 campaign and helped to prep the eventual president (and eventual vice president Dick Cheney) for debates that year ... Stevens has served as a media consultant to countless Republican campaigns, and is now an advisor to the Lincoln Project.

Welcome to Countdown 2024 ... there are now 56 days until the election.  We have conservative political titans Bill Kristol and Stuart Stevens coming up on today's show ... where the focus will be all about debate night ... in what could prove to be one of the most pivotal nights of this presidential campaign.
But first let's take a quick spin around the political world for the latest....
Tonight's debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in Philadelphia is the ONLY one scheduled before election day ... so the stakes are especially high.  In a likely attempt to get under the skin of the former president, Vice President Harris is bringing two former Trump White House staffers to the debate tonight, as her guests.  One of them is former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci ... we'll be talking with The Mooch here on Countdown on Friday!
Donald Trump called into NBC News this morning for a brief interview ... saying he "doesn't know what to expect" from Harris tonight, given her recently changing positions on several key issues.  Trump campaign sources say the former president won't try to hit Harris for "flip-flopping," ... but rather attempt to tie her to her most liberal positions on issues like immigration and fracking.
In some non-presidential campaign political news ... the House Republican majority put forward a spending bill that would keep the federal government up-and-running ... in exchange for approving a bill that would require voters to present proof of American citizenship.  It now looks like that gambit will fail ... and the government will be in danger of shutting down at the end of this month. 
The record for a TV audience watching a presidential debate came in 2016 when Hillary Clinton squared off against Donald Trump ... and an estimated 84-million Americans tuned in.  Tonight's Trump-Harris debate could eclipse that.
Today's guests on Countdown: -Bill Kristol has been a presence in national Republican politics since 1970 when he was an intern at the Nixon White House.  He went on to work in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations ... and eventually founded The Weekly Standard.  Kristol now finds himself at The Bulwark.
-Stuart Stevens was in the leadership of George W. Bush's 2000 campaign and helped to prep the eventual president (and eventual vice president Dick Cheney) for debates that year ... Stevens has served as a media consultant to countless Republican campaigns, and is now an advisor to the Lincoln Project.

Ahead of the most consequential election of our lifetimes, KNX News chief correspondent Charles Feldman and anchor Margaret Carrero host the key players in the biggest races facing America and Southern California, dive into the most critical issues in the 2024 campaign, and ensure you have the information you need to be an informed voter. 

Ahead of the most consequential election of our lifetimes, KNX News chief correspondent Charles Feldman and anchor Margaret Carrero host the key players in the biggest races facing America and Southern California, dive into the most critical issues in the 2024 campaign, and ensure you have the information you need to be an informed voter.

Countdown 2024 from KNX News

Conservative stalwarts Bill Kristol & Stuart Stevens on pivotal Harris-Trump debate

49 days to go until election day ... If you're not keeping count, aren't you glad we are?!?

On today's show:  it's been called the MAGA blueprint for remaking the federal government ... and has become a lightening rod for debate and controversy on the campaign trail.  It's Project 2025, and we're talking with the organization that created it.

But first, let's take a quick sprint around the political world:

Donald Trump is holding his first campaign rally since the second assassination attempt against him was foiled.  The former president will be in the crucial swing state of Michigan, holding a townhall style event in Flint.  Meanwhile multiple investigations into Sunday's incident at Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach are just getting underway ... as the Secret Service looks to ramp up protection procedures around the candidate.

The Biden administration's deputy attorney general said today that the Justice Department is fielding an alarming surge of violent threats against public officials and election workers.  The risks for poll workers and state and local election officials is said to be particularly troubling ... with increasing fears that violent acts might be carried out on election day itself.

Vice President Kamala Harris had what was reported as a "tense" meeting with leadership from the Teamsters Union ... emerging WITHOUT an endorsement from the labor organization representing some 1-point-3-million workers.  While Harris has received endorsements from just about every major labor union in the country, Sean O'Brien and his Teamsters have been holding out.  If an endorsement comes, it could happen as soon as tomorrow.

It is a 900-page wish list for the next Republican president of the United States ... with plans for remaking the entire federal bureaucracy in a far more conservative light and tearing down much of the administrative state.  But Project 2025 from the right-wing think tank, the Heritage Foundation, doesn't stop there:  it's a conservative re-imagination of American life, from immigration to abortion to LGBTQ rights.

That's the focus for today's Countdown 2024 ... we're talking with Ryan Walker, he's the executive vice president of Heritage Action ... the lobbying and advocacy arm of the Heritage Foundation.

49 days to go until election day ... If you're not keeping count, aren't you glad we are?!?
On today's show:  it's been called the MAGA blueprint for remaking the federal government ... and has become a lightening rod for debate and controversy on the campaign trail.  It's Project 2025, and we're talking with the organization that created it.
But first, let's take a quick sprint around the political world:
Donald Trump is holding his first campaign rally since the second assassination attempt against him was foiled.  The former president will be in the crucial swing state of Michigan, holding a townhall style event in Flint.  Meanwhile multiple investigations into Sunday's incident at Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach are just getting underway ... as the Secret Service looks to ramp up protection procedures around the candidate.
The Biden administration's deputy attorney general said today that the Justice Department is fielding an alarming surge of violent threats against public officials and election workers.  The risks for poll workers and state and local election officials is said to be particularly troubling ... with increasing fears that violent acts might be carried out on election day itself.
Vice President Kamala Harris had what was reported as a "tense" meeting with leadership from the Teamsters Union ... emerging WITHOUT an endorsement from the labor organization representing some 1-point-3-million workers.  While Harris has received endorsements from just about every major labor union in the country, Sean O'Brien and his Teamsters have been holding out.  If an endorsement comes, it could happen as soon as tomorrow.
It is a 900-page wish list for the next Republican president of the United States ... with plans for remaking the entire federal bureaucracy in a far more conservative light and tearing down much of the administrative state.  But Project 2025 from the right-wing think tank, the Heritage Foundation, doesn't stop there:  it's a conservative re-imagination of American life, from immigration to abortion to LGBTQ rights.
That's the focus for today's Countdown 2024 ... we're talking with Ryan Walker, he's the executive vice president of Heritage Action ... the lobbying and advocacy arm of the Heritage Foundation.

Dissecting Project 2025 with its conservative architects

50 days to go until election day ... and if those 50 days are anywhere near as drama filled as these last 50, then buckle up.  

Once again, former president Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt----that will be the focus of today's Countdown, where we'll examine the political implications with former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele ... and look at what seems to be continuous security breakdowns at the Secret Service.

But first, a quick lap around the political world:

Much more on this throughout the show but, as Charles just mentioned, Donald Trump was once again the target of a would-be assassin.  58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was a one time Trump voter, back in 2016, but after that his politics seem to be all over the place ... and he has a pretty lengthy criminal record with plenty of gun charges.  Routh was caught with an assault weapon and sniper scope, plus other gear, setting up along the fence of a West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round.  He apparently was within at least 500 yards of the former president when he was spotted by Secret Service agents.

Even though the young man in Pennsylvania who shot at Donald Trump was a registered Republican and the man caught yesterday was a former Trump voter ... that hasn't stopped the Trump campaign from fundraising around the two incidents.  A campaign fundraising pitch sent out this morning says "The would-be assassin believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and yesterday, he acted on it.  She’s trying to incite the most extreme elements in her base."

In a post on Truth Social, Trump says Kamala Harris has taken politics in the country to "a whole new level of hatred, abuse and distrust.  Because of the communist left rhetoric," Trump wrote, "the bullets are flying."

Both Vice President Harris and President Biden were quick to condemn the latest assassination attempt ... and political violence in general.  Harris says she was "deeply disturbed" by the arrest of the heavily armed man at Trump's golf course ... while Biden condemned any and all hate speech and violence rhetoric in politics.

Guests on today's Countdown 2024:

-Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee & former Lt. Governor of Maryland

-Cheryl Tyler, retired Secret Service agent who served on the protective details of both Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.  She was also a long-time instructor at the Secret Service training center

50 days to go until election day ... and if those 50 days are anywhere near as drama filled as these last 50, then buckle up.  
Once again, former president Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt----that will be the focus of today's Countdown, where we'll examine the political implications with former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele ... and look at what seems to be continuous security breakdowns at the Secret Service.
But first, a quick lap around the political world:
Much more on this throughout the show but, as Charles just mentioned, Donald Trump was once again the target of a would-be assassin.  58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was a one time Trump voter, back in 2016, but after that his politics seem to be all over the place ... and he has a pretty lengthy criminal record with plenty of gun charges.  Routh was caught with an assault weapon and sniper scope, plus other gear, setting up along the fence of a West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round.  He apparently was within at least 500 yards of the former president when he was spotted by Secret Service agents.
Even though the young man in Pennsylvania who shot at Donald Trump was a registered Republican and the man caught yesterday was a former Trump voter ... that hasn't stopped the Trump campaign from fundraising around the two incidents.  A campaign fundraising pitch sent out this morning says "The would-be assassin believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and yesterday, he acted on it.  She’s trying to incite the most extreme elements in her base."
In a post on Truth Social, Trump says Kamala Harris has taken politics in the country to "a whole new level of hatred, abuse and distrust.  Because of the communist left rhetoric," Trump wrote, "the bullets are flying."
Both Vice President Harris and President Biden were quick to condemn the latest assassination attempt ... and political violence in general.  Harris says she was "deeply disturbed" by the arrest of the heavily armed man at Trump's golf course ... while Biden condemned any and all hate speech and violence rhetoric in politics.
Guests on today's Countdown 2024:
-Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee &amp; former Lt. Governor of Maryland
-Cheryl Tyler, retired Secret Service agent who served on the protective details of both Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.  She was also a long-time instructor at the Secret Service training center

Former RNC chair Michael Steele on Trump's response to second assassination attempt

53 days to go until election day ... 53 days for Margaret and yours truly to get you prepared for what might be the most consequential presidential election in our lifetime.  On today's show we're talking with Anthony Scaramucci, the short-lived White House communications director for Donald Trump in his first term ... The Mooch was at the Harris-Trump debate on Tuesday.  And later in the show ... Northern California Republican Congressman Tom McClintock is here.

But first, just some of the things happening in the political world today. 

Donald Trump ventured into enemy territory today ... the former president is here in California for a pair of fundraisers, going from Los Angeles this afternoon up to San Francisco tonight.  Trump didn't miss an opportunity to trash the Golden State and make his case that Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom "destroyed the state":

It's worth noting that Trump delivered his remarks from the beautiful grounds of his golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes ... with gorgeous ocean views behind him.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have been on the other side of the country for the last two days ... holding rallies in more rural and agricultural areas of swing states like Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.  Harris and Walz are purposefully targeting rural areas that have often been overlooked by Democratic candidates ... trying to steal away some traditional Trump voters in forgotten small towns.

Believe it or not, voting is already underway in a handful of states ... with mail-in ballots now in the hands of voters in Alabama and North Carolina.  Early in-person voting gets going in Pennsylvania on Monday ... and later next week, Wisconsin will start sending out mail-in ballots.  In the 2020 election, over 100-million Americans voted before election day.

Today's Countdown guests:

-Anthony Scaramucci, short lived White House communications director in the Trump administration, venture capitalist

-Rep. Tom McClintock, R-California's 5th Congressional District

53 days to go until election day ... 53 days for Margaret and yours truly to get you prepared for what might be the most consequential presidential election in our lifetime.  On today's show we're talking with Anthony Scaramucci, the short-lived White House communications director for Donald Trump in his first term ... The Mooch was at the Harris-Trump debate on Tuesday.  And later in the show ... Northern California Republican Congressman Tom McClintock is here.
But first, just some of the things happening in the political world today. 
Donald Trump ventured into enemy territory today ... the former president is here in California for a pair of fundraisers, going from Los Angeles this afternoon up to San Francisco tonight.  Trump didn't miss an opportunity to trash the Golden State and make his case that Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom "destroyed the state":
It's worth noting that Trump delivered his remarks from the beautiful grounds of his golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes ... with gorgeous ocean views behind him.
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have been on the other side of the country for the last two days ... holding rallies in more rural and agricultural areas of swing states like Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.  Harris and Walz are purposefully targeting rural areas that have often been overlooked by Democratic candidates ... trying to steal away some traditional Trump voters in forgotten small towns.
Believe it or not, voting is already underway in a handful of states ... with mail-in ballots now in the hands of voters in Alabama and North Carolina.  Early in-person voting gets going in Pennsylvania on Monday ... and later next week, Wisconsin will start sending out mail-in ballots.  In the 2020 election, over 100-million Americans voted before election day.
Today's Countdown guests:
-Anthony Scaramucci, short lived White House communications director in the Trump administration, venture capitalist
-Rep. Tom McClintock, R-California's 5th Congressional District

Conservative stalwarts Bill Kristol & Stuart Stevens on pivotal Harris-Trump debate

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