Chuck Todd opens with the attempted hijacking of a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight and the reminder that history turns as much on what almost happened as what did. With 33 days to the midterms, Ken Paxton got caught on tape at a private event calling Trump's midterm convention a negative — and is now in full cleanup mode, nervous about having crossed the president. Chuck returns to the Eric Schmitt debacle as a window into the intellectual rot of the Trump-era GOP: nobody in the room double-checked the facts, because loyalty is now valued over competence and the conclusion arrives before the evidence. He also unpacks Trump's White House AI summit, where six tech CEOs signed a one-page "morally binding" accord and Trump formally renamed AI "superintelligence" by executive order — a self-policing pact that does nothing for Republicans whose own voters are frightened of this technology. 

Then, Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon — the Jacksonville union organizer and DSA member who upset Alex Vindman in the Senate primary despite being outraised roughly 16-to-1 — joins the Chuck ToddCast. She explains how she got into politics through community organizing, why she associates with the DSA while not agreeing with everything it wants, and argues Democrats lost Florida because they divested from the state after 2018 rather than because of ideology. She describes being assigned a basement office with rats as punishment in Tallahassee, calls the Florida legislature pay-to-play but still workable, and lays out what she'd do in the Senate: repeal the Big Beautiful Bill, extend ACA subsidies, get big money out of politics, and fund HBCUs. She won't commit to voting for Chuck Schumer. 

Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and previews the upcoming weekend in college football.

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Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

08:00 The attempted hijacking and the history that almost happened

11:45 Paxton caught on tape, and a campaign in cleanup mode

17:45 The Schmitt incident and the intellectual rot of the Trump GOP

27:30 Trump's AI summit, the "superintelligence" rebrand, and a self-policing pact

31:15 The issues polling best don't help Republicans at all

36:30 An economic backdrop the GOP can't ignore

39:45 The off-ramps Trump won't take

43:00 Voter exhaustion, instability, and what comes after a wipeout 

00:55:45 Angie Nixon joins the Chuck ToddCast

00:56:45 From community organizing to the statehouse

01:01:15 Why the DSA — and where she parts ways with it

01:04:15 How Democrats lost Florida, and why divestment did it

01:10:15 Rats in the basement: corruption and pay-to-play in Tallahassee

01:16:30 What she wants to do in the Senate

01:22:15 Venezuelans afraid to leave the house, and Florida's political swings

01:28:15 Fixing the Democratic Party — and not committing to Schumer

1:35:15 Ask Chuck

1:35:30 Book recommendation about the “butterfly effect” in history

1:37:15 Thoughts on your monologue on fixing public ed

1:39:00 Why aren’t Democrats putting more resources into Texas?

1:42:30 Would you have a former FBI agent on the pod to discuss changes at FBI?

1:44:45 Can a self-described Democratic socialist like AOC win in America?

1:49:45 College football preview