The Chuck ToddCast
Full Episode - The Circus In The Senate Judiciary Committee + The Elections That Changed The World
Chuck Todd opens by correcting Jon Stewart, who made him a punchline Monday — before turning to the circus at Tuesday's Jack Smith hearing. Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, a potential 2028 VP pick, thought he'd caught Smith perjuring himself with text messages placing him at an Atlanta Hawks game the day after the Fani Willis affair broke. Smith was at an Iowa Hawkeyes women's game in Maryland. Klobuchar spotted the mix-up, Schmitt never backtracked, and Chuck's point is the deeper one: Schmitt decided the conclusion before the evidence and displayed exactly the confirmation bias he was accusing Smith of. If evidence can't change your worldview, what's the point of evidence? The second half is a substantive argument that the voucher experiment has hit a dead end — it never moved low-income kids into private schools, it mostly subsidized families already paying tuition, and school funding may be a real reason Republicans lose in November. He also explains why focusing on improving pre-k through 3rd grade education should be a national project. Then, CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash joins the Chuck ToddCast to discuss The Elections That Changed the World , out September 22nd, which she wrote with David Fisher. The fifteen elections she chose stretch from Julius Caesar — who ran partly because he was deeply indebted and didn't want to be prosecuted — to Nelson Mandela, and "election" is defined loosely enough to include Pope John XXIII's selection and Martin Luther King's informal elevation to lead the Montgomery bus boycott. The through-line is money: wealth shaped nearly every one of them, from the Magna Carta to Caesar effectively buying votes. Bash's larger point is that you rarely know in the moment how consequential a vote will be — Germany in 1932 was a revolution disguised as an election. Plus her five favorite 2026 races, why Michigan is fascinating, and what it's like covering a second-term Trump White House. Finally, Chuck presents his ToddCast Top 5 2026 midterm results that will most impact the 2028 race and answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. 18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Please carefully consider if it is appropriate for you in light of your personal financial circumstances. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. See kalshi.com/regulatory for more information. Sign up today to get $25 in bonuses when you trade $25: CHUCKTODD http://kalshi.com/r/ CHUCKTODD 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. 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Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 01:45 Jon Stewart, NBC, and setting the record straight 03:15 Which Republicans will actually campaign with Trump 09:15 The Schmitt-Jack Smith hearing debacle 13:15 Confirmation bias and what evidence is even for 16:15 What Jack Smith was actually investigating 22:45 Public education as an American advantage 25:30 The voucher experiment and whether competition worked 30:00 What Mississippi got right, and why pre-K through 3rd grade is everything 40:45 Vouchers hit a dead end — and the political price 47:30 Alabama's TikTok settlement and the limits of blaming teachers 58:45 Dana Bash joins The Chuck ToddCast 59:45 Why write "The Elections That Changed the World" 1:44:30 Caesar, Hitler, and the cautionary tales 1:46:45 Wealth as the through-line from the Magna Carta forward 1:15:15 Sun Yat-Sen and the bridge between imperial China and Mao 1:21:15 Pope John XXIII and modernizing the Catholic Church 1:25:15 Kasturba Gandhi, Golda Meir, and women leading democracies 1:32:30 Mandela's election and the limits of judging history in real time 1:43:45 2026 races to watch: Michigan, Lawler, Iowa, Texas 1:58:15 Covering a second-term Trump White House 2:04:45 ToddCast Top 5 2026 results that will most impact 2028 2:05:00 #5 Does an independent break through? 2:09:30 #4 California’s wealth tax 2:08:45 #3 Texas senate 2:10:15 #2 Texas governor 2:11:45 #1 Michigan senate 2:13:45 Ask Chuck 2:14:00 How would a mega-tsunami election affect committee assignments? 2:18:45 Is there a value in running uphill races beyond winning? 2:23:15 Will Republicans act with more independence from Trump after midterms? 2:25:45 If enough independents won and didn’t caucus, who would have control? 2:30:30 Favorite sports + political movies? 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