Nov. 3, 2026
Who Should YOU Watch Cover Midterm Election Results? Take It From Two Former Network Anchors: We Have Thoughts!
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RSS Feed We’ve spent three decades covering American politics every election cycle, and for 20 years, from inside network newsrooms. Tonight’s coverage of the midterm elections is like the Super Bowl for political journalists, and watching the networks’ biggest and brightest stars come together on one night to bring Americas election results is an absolute blast. We’ll explain what’s going on behind the scenes and why having a little insider information will go a long way when you watch tonight: for both the election results and the entertainment on the set.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, November 3rd. Yes, it is one of the biggest nights in politics, but it's also one of the biggest nights in broadcast news. They are bringing out all the stops, all the stars, all the stupid magic walls for their midterm coverage. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Rose. We have seen what it takes to put these on. They've been preparing for this for months and months and months. This is the Super Bowl for... for a news network.
00:00:32
Speaker 2: Yes, obviously the presidential election years are the biggest, but this is the next best thing when it comes to political coverage. And we have both been a part of local and network coverage of elections for the past three decades. So we know how the sausage is made. And that makes a big determination in how we now watch it from the outside looking in, at least not being a part of the network coverage, but Actually covering the networks, covering the midterms is a lot more fun.
00:01:04
Speaker 1: And it's really entertaining. I mean, it's entertaining. We've been seeing, I mean, the first thing this morning we got up and we saw some folks trying to use this immersive, what do they call it?
00:01:13
Speaker 2: It was the immersive wall. Yes.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: It was a hot, big booty mess right off the bat. They're trying to play with the new toys. And so things are going to go wrong. And some of that and seeing them show off and be excited about it is a part of the night. And that's part of the fun. And so this will be a popcorn night for us.
00:01:32
Speaker 2: And it's also fun because you get to watch the best of the best compete for airtime. That's also fun, as we know what goes on behind the scenes at a lot of these networks. We will not name names, but.
00:01:42
Speaker 1: It's okay. No, no, no. I'm not naming names.
00:01:45
Speaker 2: No, but we enjoy because we know what happens behind the scenes. We know, look, every... journalists who wants to be taken seriously knows that being included in election coverage gives you street cred among your colleagues and certainly hopefully among the viewers, right? So then who gets to sit at the anchor set? Who gets positioned in which battleground state? All of that, there's jockeying that goes on for months and months. There's competitiveness behind the scenes. There's bitterness about who gets to sit where or gets what assignment. So it's very fun. for us to even see who ends up on the big set, who ends up in the important states, and then all the little nuanced, forced conversations that have to take place. It's hilarious.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: You know what? You're right, babe. Behind the scenes, the type of things we... We have seen people walk off sets, refuse to stay on the air with another person, leave... mad early in the middle of coverage, all over ego-driven stuff, all over who gets to ask what question to which person and how much time and all over that.
00:03:03
Speaker 2: Because think about it, wherever you're watching, whatever network, whatever cable network, the people who are together tonight covering midterm elections are not people who typically sit next to each other. They have different positions. They're usually the highest ranking folks, but they all want the certain airtime where they all want to be the one who is deciding who interviews whom. And so if you look closely enough, you will see they're subtle, but there are jabs. There are pauses. I'm going to leave you hanging. I'm going to give you a look because these folks don't typically work together. They're not teammates necessarily on the same show, but now they're all forced to sit on the same set together and act like they're all best friends who respect each other and like each other. And most of that isn't true.
00:03:53
Speaker 1: And this is the highest, no matter what show they do, this is the highest profile assignment any of them will get. So this is the one time you get to show off to the biggest audience and maybe a broader audience that's not used to seeing you. This is a type of audition and a promotional vehicle for a lot of these folks, Robes. So they need to show each other up. They need to look like the bigger dog. They need to look like the one in charge. That mindset gets in there. It's not necessary, obviously, but that competitiveness, it shows up on this night like no other.
00:04:31
Speaker 2: If you can take what we're saying and then watch tonight's coverage, and we would really encourage you to go from network to network. We think you'll see the lens through which we see it because we've been there, we've sat there, we've experienced it. And so it is part of the fun of watching the returns come in. It's watching the folks jockeying for the right to tell you which returns come in and why and predict what may happen next. It is a battle of egos. It's a battle of intelligence. It's a battle of who studied their binders more to know All of the important details about each candidate. I mean, these folks who are sitting on those sets and who are in those states have studied. They've been studying for months. This is a marathon, so to speak, for political journalists. So it's just interesting for you all to just look at tonight's coverage with all of that in mind.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: They're all decent people, but egos get in the way, as we do know. Tonight, Though Robes usually, and there have been plenty of years where there hasn't been much network coverage at all dedicated to the midterms. Robes, they are blowing it out this year. There's been so much interest, and Trump has obviously gotten so much attention for what this could mean for his agenda. Robes, they're expecting a huge audience tonight.
00:05:54
Speaker 2: Yes, and look, that can go either way, because we've seen lots of predictions take place that don't actually come to fruition, but it does feel like This is something that everybody's talking about. Hell, even my 20-year-old daughter actually asked me via text about when the returns might come back and when races might be decided. And I thought, I'm sorry, where's my daughter? What have you done with her? It's interesting to me that it seeped down even to college students who now seem more engaged in a midterm election. Presidential elections, yes. Midterm elections, I'm not used to seeing that or hearing about it so much.
00:06:39
Speaker 1: Roams, they've heightened it. You have guys like Tallarico, who is a master on social media. You have high-profile races in certain places. Yeah, up in Michigan. Even in Maine, what happened with having to switch candidates, it got so much attention to the race in Maine. I can't remember his name at this point. He had the allegations of being rough with an ex. But that candidate dropped out. But you look at some of the key places and key races, and even Lindsey Graham's sister has a big name kind of attached to it. These things have been pretty high profile.
00:07:12
Speaker 2: That's true. And there have been a lot of congressmen behaving badly. And I do think you make a really good point, though. TikTok, social media, so many of these younger candidates know how to engage the youth vote. And when they start talking about it, more people pay attention. So, yes. Networks are betting that the heightened interest is going to equate to big ratings. And so they have pulled out all the stops. This is a huge promotional opportunity for anchors, for the shows. So you're going to get all the big dogs. All their biggest celebrities are going to be a part of tonight's coverage in the hopes that you'll then follow them back to their homes, to Good Morning America, to World News Tonight to 2020, whatever. But yes, they're hoping that this will bring you back to the networks.
00:08:01
Speaker 1: Okay, so as we go through the big three, ABC, NBC, CBS. Did I accidentally leave Norah O'Donnell?
00:08:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, Norah's on there, yeah.
00:08:08
Speaker 1: All right, so CBS, their main anchor team for the night. Looks like it's going to be their former morning team, isn't it? Tony DiCoppo, Gayle King, and Nora O'Donnell are there with Margaret Brennan, who does the CBS Sunday Morning Show. Face the Nation, correct? Yes, Face the Nation.
00:08:24
Speaker 2: So, yeah, and that'll be interesting. Look, those three, haven't they worked together before? But it's interesting now that Tony is the big dog now. How will that, how will he and Gayle interact? Who's going to take the lead? These are the kind of fun things that... that you can look for. And we don't even know what will happen, but when people get different positions and they feel like they're the editorial chiefs, so to speak, or they own hard news, it is funny to watch some of the jockeying that goes on.
00:08:52
Speaker 1: Well, how do you see this one? Is that going to be an ensemble, equal parts, equal power cast, or is that one that Tony DiCoppo is going to lead?
00:09:03
Speaker 2: I would think typically you do see your evening news anchor take the lead. So that is classic. However, we saw that was what was expected initially at ABC when David Muir took over with George Stephanopoulos when George still did it. But at the end of the day, those two could not actually figure out who was going to be the lead.
00:09:23
Speaker 1: So who is, are they going to let the man lead the three ladies over there? Oh, absolutely. Really? You think that's going to happen?
00:09:31
Speaker 2: I don't think it.
00:09:31
Speaker 1: I know it.
00:09:32
Speaker 2: I've lived it. I believe you have too, 100%. David Muir is the man in charge. He will be leading ABC.
00:09:38
Speaker 1: No, no, the CBS. Oh, CBS.
00:09:40
Speaker 2: Oh, Tony, yes. I do think Tony. Oh, I thought you had moved on to David.
00:09:43
Speaker 1: I was like, uh, duh. I was like, why are you.
00:09:46
Speaker 2: Did you see the puzzled look I gave you? Yes, I do think we'll see Tony take the lead. I do. What do you think?
00:09:52
Speaker 1: I don't know. Because he's... uh to a certain degree the more novice in experience in politics than at least two of the three ladies.
00:10:04
Speaker 2: That's very true that has never stopped a man.
00:10:07
Speaker 1: Before okay so we'll check back in tomorrow and it'll be uh i told you so or you were right baby from me uh like you said the abc anchor team David, Lindsay Davis, and Martha Raddatz, who does the Sunday show. She hosts that on some mornings, right?
00:10:26
Speaker 2: Martha splits it with, sorry, it's George Stephanopoulos. What's the name of that show?
00:10:32
Speaker 1: This Morning.
00:10:34
Speaker 2: No, no.
00:10:35
Speaker 1: What's the name of that show?
00:10:36
Speaker 2: Now that you've put other things in my head, I'm not going to be able to come up with it.
00:10:40
Speaker 1: Face the Morning.
00:10:40
Speaker 2: No, Face the Nation is CVS. Martha Raddatz and, stop, Jonathan Carle. Split it with George Stephanopoulos.
00:10:49
Speaker 1: Steffa, by the way. What is the name of that show, baby? Come on. What's the name of the Sunday show?
00:10:55
Speaker 2: Why are you doing this to me?
00:10:57
Speaker 1: It's This Morning. This Morning with George Stephanopoulos. What's the name of it, baby?
00:11:02
Speaker 2: This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
00:11:06
Speaker 1: Okay. Wow.
00:11:08
Speaker 2: So that's obviously a staple for us. We make sure we never miss it every Sunday. But yes, I believe it's Martha Raddatz, George Stephanopoulos, and Jonathan Karl. I think they all split it, right?
00:11:19
Speaker 1: So yeah, she is one of the hosts of that show. Lindsay does the streaming, yes. She's been doing political coverage with them for a while. And we obviously know David is going to be running that show. Rose, the thing, I'm sorry they couldn't work it out. And those two guys can't work together. But that takes away. You have George on your staff. and it's the Super Bowl of politics, and he ain't there. This is no knock against anybody else, but Robes, we would say they were crazy if ABC had the Super Bowl and wouldn't let Michael Strahan be a part of the coverage.
00:11:58
Speaker 2: That is a good analogy.
00:12:00
Speaker 1: Robes, it is inexcusable. George is just whatever you think of him. He is as connected and well-versed of a political brain as we have him. working in this country?
00:12:15
Speaker 2: Yes. Look, I have thought this for quite some time, and I think just about everybody who understands the situation and knows what George brings to the table, he has oftentimes his skills are misaligned with his duties. And it's just a shame that what he actually has inside information about an insight that none of us could possibly have, he can't use those very things that are unique to him in his role as a journalist. That's all.
00:12:48
Speaker 1: On this night. It's a damn, damn shame. What we're having in NBC. This is a, this is hell of a mix of a group here. We got morning show, evening show, cable news show, and the Sunday show hosts all doing this. Yes.
00:13:03
Speaker 2: So Savannah Guthrie, and look, she is, I remember back in the day when I was at NBC, she was our chief White House correspondent. So Savannah knows her stuff. Her husband's deeply steeped in politics. So, Look, she's a good gal in terms of her journalism and her political nose. She's got it. Tom Yamas, who we've worked with as well, plenty, who hosts the evening show there, NBC Nightly News. Hallie Jackson, she's over at MSNBC, correct. Kristen Welker does the Sunday show, Meet the Press. See, we knew everybody. Face the Nation, Meet the Press couldn't come up with this week. You want to know why? Because it's attached to George Stephanopoulos' name, and we were talking about Martha Raddatz. and it just didn't connect. I think that's what it was, but anyway.
00:13:46
Speaker 1: I was saying this morning, that was something.
00:13:48
Speaker 2: That was what, I couldn't get out of that. I couldn't get out of my head. When you put that in there, I was like, and now I'll never know the name of the show. Yes, but Kristen Welker does Meet the Press, and Steve Kornacki, I'm not that familiar with him at all, but he.
00:14:02
Speaker 1: He's the board guy, the nerd guy that does the big board.
00:14:06
Speaker 2: Oh, the nerd show?
00:14:07
Speaker 1: No, he's the one that has the, he does the numbers, sorry.
00:14:11
Speaker 2: He does the numbers. Okay, so he's crunching the numbers about where the polls are.
00:14:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he has a big magic wall.
00:14:18
Speaker 2: I just don't know who that is. Oh, it's Kornacki Cam as well? I don't know.
00:14:23
Speaker 1: They love him. No, he's become a star over there.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: See, I don't watch NBC.
00:14:26
Speaker 1: Because of Buddy Duck. Yeah, sorry. Man, I'm sorry.
00:14:29
Speaker 2: Okay, I don't know. I haven't watched NBC's coverage, so I am not familiar with that whatsoever. But when we come back, we talked about the network's Okay, what we typically watch, we'll be honest, are the cable networks because they're a lot more fun. Yes, the networks, they play it straight. Yes, you might get exactly what you need to know, but if you want everything you didn't need to know, tune into cable. We'll tell you what we'll be watching. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. We are excited. Hope you are, too. Yes, it's the midterm results. It's the midterm elections. But isn't it so fun to watch the anchors of all the big networks and cable news networks talk to you about what they think is happening, what might happen, what could happen, what shouldn't be happening? Just reacting to it all live just means or, I guess, makes for a really fun experience. broadcast viewing.
00:15:33
Speaker 1: It's always a good time. And then there's a, it's, it happens. Oh, it never fails after the coverage goes for so long. And some of them, you know, have been up all day. They're just exhausted and they get a little loopy, start saying all kinds of stuff and they start getting a little snippy. Oh, this is a good time.
00:15:48
Speaker 2: It's fun. In fact, you even asked me when we woke up this morning, how late are you going to stay up? And I said, as long as I possibly can, because yes, the later you stay up, the more entertaining it typically becomes. So, yes, Fox News. You got Martha McCollum and Brett Baer. They are hosting the coverage. You've got their whole gaggle of folks. Dana Perino, Brett Hume, Harold Ford Jr., Bill Hemmer, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know all the folks. We have this on a lot just because, look, I think this, for me, is going to be the most interestingâ viewing because look, obviously it's widely expected that the Republicans are going to have a rough night. So what's more fun than to watch folks who are trying not to piss off daddy, AKA president Trump, when the news is likely not going to be in favor of president Trump. How do said anchors handle covering the, something that's catastrophic to the person they're trying to impress. It's a blast.
00:16:57
Speaker 1: It really is. We've seen this time and time again. There are stories of no way to spin other than a loss for the president, and they find no way to massage it. It is fun to watch. We get it. It's fine. I'm not mad at them. It is entertaining. And they have some decent folks over there. I watch Brett Baier damn near every night, 6 to 6.15 p.m. I just want a solid block of what happened in world news, and that's where I get it every day.
00:17:24
Speaker 2: No, and look, we are fans of, yeah, of Bret Baier. We think he is among the best of the best. I actually really do think that. I think that's a fair statement. I've always appreciated his reporting, and we enjoy watching him. Now, the fun thing to do is to have especially when you get later in the night and it's clearly going one way or the other. If you have Fox News up and if you can pull up, I don't know if you have a phone, if you have an iPad or any other television screen and simultaneously have CNN or MS Now up and just look at the banners, whatever the lower third says and how they're spinning whatever information's coming in. And it is so funny because one thing can be true. Let's just say, Texas has turned Democrat. And each network will have a completely different version of how they're spinning the same fact. And it is a blast to watch. That's one of our favorite things to do.
00:18:25
Speaker 1: That's going to be, I will have, I need to plug the iPads in. I want them fully charged. I will have everything up. This is going to be a fun night.
00:18:33
Speaker 2: It is. So on CNN, you've got Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, with Aaron Burnett, Dana Bash, and John King.
00:18:41
Speaker 1: They said he has multiple magic walls this year, I think. Yeah.
00:18:46
Speaker 2: Oh, that's also fun, too. I think we mentioned it. We saw it already this morning. But absolutely, with all of these magic walls and all the toys and the writing on the screens and the projections, technically things are going to go terribly wrong. So that's always fun to see how people handle those moments. And some people are better than others.
00:19:04
Speaker 1: Was it ABC or was it CNN? They're trying to do a hologram. Was that at ABC?
00:19:08
Speaker 2: ABC. Was that like for weather, the weather wall?
00:19:11
Speaker 1: No, they were trying to do it for election. There was a big plan to try to do a hologram of a reporter. Does that sound familiar? Yes.
00:19:17
Speaker 2: I do think it was ABC for some reason. Sometimes it's just too much and everything goes wrong. And we're here for that. MS Now, it's Rachel Maddow and.
00:19:28
Speaker 1: And everybody.
00:19:28
Speaker 2: And everybody.
00:19:29
Speaker 1: Everybody, but she's the head of the whole deal. I mean, who are we watching? You know, they start pretty early. A lot of these we should mention. Some of these are starting as early as 4 p.m. with their coverage, going at 6 p.m. in additional. That's a good ringtone. But yeah, they're starting earlier. It's clear they're putting in, making it investment in this night for what they expect this night to be who are we who's going to be on our big TV.
00:19:57
Speaker 2: I think Fox.
00:19:59
Speaker 1: You think so? And I think CNN.
00:20:01
Speaker 2: Look, I'll be honest, MSNOW is a little, I feel like they're going to get giddy and snarky and I just, I don't know.
00:20:07
Speaker 1: They can be fun too.
00:20:08
Speaker 2: They can be fun when they're winning, I guess.
00:20:10
Speaker 1: They can be fun.
00:20:11
Speaker 2: I think sometimes it might be fun just to turn the sound down on all three and then just look at the facial expressions. You'll know how things are going. But I think we do tend to go back and forth between Fox and CNN a lot. We might, you know what, just because we used to work there, And I do think we know a little more than most about what's actually going on behind the scenes. I think we might have to flip to our friends at ABC every now and then too.
00:20:36
Speaker 1: Who is your reporter, your anchor, your one person you look forward to watching tonight?
00:20:43
Speaker 2: I don't know if there's one because I don't really know what to expect. I don't have a go-to news anchor.
00:20:49
Speaker 1: Do you? My go-to correspondent is Kristen Holmes over at She's their senior White House correspondent.
00:20:58
Speaker 2: It's not because her last name is Holmes.
00:20:59
Speaker 1: Not at all. She is awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. You know I like plain speak. She knows her stuff, but she calls it like she sees it. I love, love, love her reporting, so I look forward to seeing her. I don't know where she's going to be stationed tonight. Will Gayle have on a necklace?
00:21:17
Speaker 2: Yes, she likes her necklace.
00:21:19
Speaker 1: You think she'll have on a necklace?
00:21:20
Speaker 2: Yes, I do. She always has a necklace on.
00:21:23
Speaker 1: Will Tony DeCoppo's tie have any color in it?
00:21:25
Speaker 2: Um, good question, but usually it would be safe to say red or blue, but not tonight because that could mean something else. So he'll have to go with green or yellow, or I don't know how they figure it out, but it'll be a color. What do you think? Okay.
00:21:43
Speaker 1: That was my only other question.
00:21:45
Speaker 2: All right. So you didn't want to answer that.
00:21:48
Speaker 1: No, look, I'm look, we watch these for the unexpected, but there's so much of tonight we can predict. How they're going to be, what they're going to say. We don't expect anybody to get out of line.
00:22:00
Speaker 2: No. Right?
00:22:01
Speaker 1: Rarely does somebody have an honest moment. These are big moments for these networks. These are big, big promotional opportunities. People are watching your network tonight that ain't watched it all year. Show them your best people doing their best stuff with your best graphics and your best of everything. So to see the networks, all of them, try to at least meet that standard is worth watching tonight.
00:22:22
Speaker 2: Yes, so we will be watching, and we hope we made your viewing tonight a little more interesting and maybe gave you a little something extra to think about. Yes, it's fun to watch the returns come in, but isn't it fun to watch the people who are watching the returns come in? And with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, November 3rd. Yes, it is one of the biggest nights in politics, but it's also one of the biggest nights in broadcast news. They are bringing out all the stops, all the stars, all the stupid magic walls for their midterm coverage. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Rose. We have seen what it takes to put these on. They've been preparing for this for months and months and months. This is the Super Bowl for... for a news network.
00:00:32
Speaker 2: Yes, obviously the presidential election years are the biggest, but this is the next best thing when it comes to political coverage. And we have both been a part of local and network coverage of elections for the past three decades. So we know how the sausage is made. And that makes a big determination in how we now watch it from the outside looking in, at least not being a part of the network coverage, but Actually covering the networks, covering the midterms is a lot more fun.
00:01:04
Speaker 1: And it's really entertaining. I mean, it's entertaining. We've been seeing, I mean, the first thing this morning we got up and we saw some folks trying to use this immersive, what do they call it?
00:01:13
Speaker 2: It was the immersive wall. Yes.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: It was a hot, big booty mess right off the bat. They're trying to play with the new toys. And so things are going to go wrong. And some of that and seeing them show off and be excited about it is a part of the night. And that's part of the fun. And so this will be a popcorn night for us.
00:01:32
Speaker 2: And it's also fun because you get to watch the best of the best compete for airtime. That's also fun, as we know what goes on behind the scenes at a lot of these networks. We will not name names, but.
00:01:42
Speaker 1: It's okay. No, no, no. I'm not naming names.
00:01:45
Speaker 2: No, but we enjoy because we know what happens behind the scenes. We know, look, every... journalists who wants to be taken seriously knows that being included in election coverage gives you street cred among your colleagues and certainly hopefully among the viewers, right? So then who gets to sit at the anchor set? Who gets positioned in which battleground state? All of that, there's jockeying that goes on for months and months. There's competitiveness behind the scenes. There's bitterness about who gets to sit where or gets what assignment. So it's very fun. for us to even see who ends up on the big set, who ends up in the important states, and then all the little nuanced, forced conversations that have to take place. It's hilarious.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: You know what? You're right, babe. Behind the scenes, the type of things we... We have seen people walk off sets, refuse to stay on the air with another person, leave... mad early in the middle of coverage, all over ego-driven stuff, all over who gets to ask what question to which person and how much time and all over that.
00:03:03
Speaker 2: Because think about it, wherever you're watching, whatever network, whatever cable network, the people who are together tonight covering midterm elections are not people who typically sit next to each other. They have different positions. They're usually the highest ranking folks, but they all want the certain airtime where they all want to be the one who is deciding who interviews whom. And so if you look closely enough, you will see they're subtle, but there are jabs. There are pauses. I'm going to leave you hanging. I'm going to give you a look because these folks don't typically work together. They're not teammates necessarily on the same show, but now they're all forced to sit on the same set together and act like they're all best friends who respect each other and like each other. And most of that isn't true.
00:03:53
Speaker 1: And this is the highest, no matter what show they do, this is the highest profile assignment any of them will get. So this is the one time you get to show off to the biggest audience and maybe a broader audience that's not used to seeing you. This is a type of audition and a promotional vehicle for a lot of these folks, Robes. So they need to show each other up. They need to look like the bigger dog. They need to look like the one in charge. That mindset gets in there. It's not necessary, obviously, but that competitiveness, it shows up on this night like no other.
00:04:31
Speaker 2: If you can take what we're saying and then watch tonight's coverage, and we would really encourage you to go from network to network. We think you'll see the lens through which we see it because we've been there, we've sat there, we've experienced it. And so it is part of the fun of watching the returns come in. It's watching the folks jockeying for the right to tell you which returns come in and why and predict what may happen next. It is a battle of egos. It's a battle of intelligence. It's a battle of who studied their binders more to know All of the important details about each candidate. I mean, these folks who are sitting on those sets and who are in those states have studied. They've been studying for months. This is a marathon, so to speak, for political journalists. So it's just interesting for you all to just look at tonight's coverage with all of that in mind.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: They're all decent people, but egos get in the way, as we do know. Tonight, Though Robes usually, and there have been plenty of years where there hasn't been much network coverage at all dedicated to the midterms. Robes, they are blowing it out this year. There's been so much interest, and Trump has obviously gotten so much attention for what this could mean for his agenda. Robes, they're expecting a huge audience tonight.
00:05:54
Speaker 2: Yes, and look, that can go either way, because we've seen lots of predictions take place that don't actually come to fruition, but it does feel like This is something that everybody's talking about. Hell, even my 20-year-old daughter actually asked me via text about when the returns might come back and when races might be decided. And I thought, I'm sorry, where's my daughter? What have you done with her? It's interesting to me that it seeped down even to college students who now seem more engaged in a midterm election. Presidential elections, yes. Midterm elections, I'm not used to seeing that or hearing about it so much.
00:06:39
Speaker 1: Roams, they've heightened it. You have guys like Tallarico, who is a master on social media. You have high-profile races in certain places. Yeah, up in Michigan. Even in Maine, what happened with having to switch candidates, it got so much attention to the race in Maine. I can't remember his name at this point. He had the allegations of being rough with an ex. But that candidate dropped out. But you look at some of the key places and key races, and even Lindsey Graham's sister has a big name kind of attached to it. These things have been pretty high profile.
00:07:12
Speaker 2: That's true. And there have been a lot of congressmen behaving badly. And I do think you make a really good point, though. TikTok, social media, so many of these younger candidates know how to engage the youth vote. And when they start talking about it, more people pay attention. So, yes. Networks are betting that the heightened interest is going to equate to big ratings. And so they have pulled out all the stops. This is a huge promotional opportunity for anchors, for the shows. So you're going to get all the big dogs. All their biggest celebrities are going to be a part of tonight's coverage in the hopes that you'll then follow them back to their homes, to Good Morning America, to World News Tonight to 2020, whatever. But yes, they're hoping that this will bring you back to the networks.
00:08:01
Speaker 1: Okay, so as we go through the big three, ABC, NBC, CBS. Did I accidentally leave Norah O'Donnell?
00:08:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, Norah's on there, yeah.
00:08:08
Speaker 1: All right, so CBS, their main anchor team for the night. Looks like it's going to be their former morning team, isn't it? Tony DiCoppo, Gayle King, and Nora O'Donnell are there with Margaret Brennan, who does the CBS Sunday Morning Show. Face the Nation, correct? Yes, Face the Nation.
00:08:24
Speaker 2: So, yeah, and that'll be interesting. Look, those three, haven't they worked together before? But it's interesting now that Tony is the big dog now. How will that, how will he and Gayle interact? Who's going to take the lead? These are the kind of fun things that... that you can look for. And we don't even know what will happen, but when people get different positions and they feel like they're the editorial chiefs, so to speak, or they own hard news, it is funny to watch some of the jockeying that goes on.
00:08:52
Speaker 1: Well, how do you see this one? Is that going to be an ensemble, equal parts, equal power cast, or is that one that Tony DiCoppo is going to lead?
00:09:03
Speaker 2: I would think typically you do see your evening news anchor take the lead. So that is classic. However, we saw that was what was expected initially at ABC when David Muir took over with George Stephanopoulos when George still did it. But at the end of the day, those two could not actually figure out who was going to be the lead.
00:09:23
Speaker 1: So who is, are they going to let the man lead the three ladies over there? Oh, absolutely. Really? You think that's going to happen?
00:09:31
Speaker 2: I don't think it.
00:09:31
Speaker 1: I know it.
00:09:32
Speaker 2: I've lived it. I believe you have too, 100%. David Muir is the man in charge. He will be leading ABC.
00:09:38
Speaker 1: No, no, the CBS. Oh, CBS.
00:09:40
Speaker 2: Oh, Tony, yes. I do think Tony. Oh, I thought you had moved on to David.
00:09:43
Speaker 1: I was like, uh, duh. I was like, why are you.
00:09:46
Speaker 2: Did you see the puzzled look I gave you? Yes, I do think we'll see Tony take the lead. I do. What do you think?
00:09:52
Speaker 1: I don't know. Because he's... uh to a certain degree the more novice in experience in politics than at least two of the three ladies.
00:10:04
Speaker 2: That's very true that has never stopped a man.
00:10:07
Speaker 1: Before okay so we'll check back in tomorrow and it'll be uh i told you so or you were right baby from me uh like you said the abc anchor team David, Lindsay Davis, and Martha Raddatz, who does the Sunday show. She hosts that on some mornings, right?
00:10:26
Speaker 2: Martha splits it with, sorry, it's George Stephanopoulos. What's the name of that show?
00:10:32
Speaker 1: This Morning.
00:10:34
Speaker 2: No, no.
00:10:35
Speaker 1: What's the name of that show?
00:10:36
Speaker 2: Now that you've put other things in my head, I'm not going to be able to come up with it.
00:10:40
Speaker 1: Face the Morning.
00:10:40
Speaker 2: No, Face the Nation is CVS. Martha Raddatz and, stop, Jonathan Carle. Split it with George Stephanopoulos.
00:10:49
Speaker 1: Steffa, by the way. What is the name of that show, baby? Come on. What's the name of the Sunday show?
00:10:55
Speaker 2: Why are you doing this to me?
00:10:57
Speaker 1: It's This Morning. This Morning with George Stephanopoulos. What's the name of it, baby?
00:11:02
Speaker 2: This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
00:11:06
Speaker 1: Okay. Wow.
00:11:08
Speaker 2: So that's obviously a staple for us. We make sure we never miss it every Sunday. But yes, I believe it's Martha Raddatz, George Stephanopoulos, and Jonathan Karl. I think they all split it, right?
00:11:19
Speaker 1: So yeah, she is one of the hosts of that show. Lindsay does the streaming, yes. She's been doing political coverage with them for a while. And we obviously know David is going to be running that show. Rose, the thing, I'm sorry they couldn't work it out. And those two guys can't work together. But that takes away. You have George on your staff. and it's the Super Bowl of politics, and he ain't there. This is no knock against anybody else, but Robes, we would say they were crazy if ABC had the Super Bowl and wouldn't let Michael Strahan be a part of the coverage.
00:11:58
Speaker 2: That is a good analogy.
00:12:00
Speaker 1: Robes, it is inexcusable. George is just whatever you think of him. He is as connected and well-versed of a political brain as we have him. working in this country?
00:12:15
Speaker 2: Yes. Look, I have thought this for quite some time, and I think just about everybody who understands the situation and knows what George brings to the table, he has oftentimes his skills are misaligned with his duties. And it's just a shame that what he actually has inside information about an insight that none of us could possibly have, he can't use those very things that are unique to him in his role as a journalist. That's all.
00:12:48
Speaker 1: On this night. It's a damn, damn shame. What we're having in NBC. This is a, this is hell of a mix of a group here. We got morning show, evening show, cable news show, and the Sunday show hosts all doing this. Yes.
00:13:03
Speaker 2: So Savannah Guthrie, and look, she is, I remember back in the day when I was at NBC, she was our chief White House correspondent. So Savannah knows her stuff. Her husband's deeply steeped in politics. So, Look, she's a good gal in terms of her journalism and her political nose. She's got it. Tom Yamas, who we've worked with as well, plenty, who hosts the evening show there, NBC Nightly News. Hallie Jackson, she's over at MSNBC, correct. Kristen Welker does the Sunday show, Meet the Press. See, we knew everybody. Face the Nation, Meet the Press couldn't come up with this week. You want to know why? Because it's attached to George Stephanopoulos' name, and we were talking about Martha Raddatz. and it just didn't connect. I think that's what it was, but anyway.
00:13:46
Speaker 1: I was saying this morning, that was something.
00:13:48
Speaker 2: That was what, I couldn't get out of that. I couldn't get out of my head. When you put that in there, I was like, and now I'll never know the name of the show. Yes, but Kristen Welker does Meet the Press, and Steve Kornacki, I'm not that familiar with him at all, but he.
00:14:02
Speaker 1: He's the board guy, the nerd guy that does the big board.
00:14:06
Speaker 2: Oh, the nerd show?
00:14:07
Speaker 1: No, he's the one that has the, he does the numbers, sorry.
00:14:11
Speaker 2: He does the numbers. Okay, so he's crunching the numbers about where the polls are.
00:14:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he has a big magic wall.
00:14:18
Speaker 2: I just don't know who that is. Oh, it's Kornacki Cam as well? I don't know.
00:14:23
Speaker 1: They love him. No, he's become a star over there.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: See, I don't watch NBC.
00:14:26
Speaker 1: Because of Buddy Duck. Yeah, sorry. Man, I'm sorry.
00:14:29
Speaker 2: Okay, I don't know. I haven't watched NBC's coverage, so I am not familiar with that whatsoever. But when we come back, we talked about the network's Okay, what we typically watch, we'll be honest, are the cable networks because they're a lot more fun. Yes, the networks, they play it straight. Yes, you might get exactly what you need to know, but if you want everything you didn't need to know, tune into cable. We'll tell you what we'll be watching. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. We are excited. Hope you are, too. Yes, it's the midterm results. It's the midterm elections. But isn't it so fun to watch the anchors of all the big networks and cable news networks talk to you about what they think is happening, what might happen, what could happen, what shouldn't be happening? Just reacting to it all live just means or, I guess, makes for a really fun experience. broadcast viewing.
00:15:33
Speaker 1: It's always a good time. And then there's a, it's, it happens. Oh, it never fails after the coverage goes for so long. And some of them, you know, have been up all day. They're just exhausted and they get a little loopy, start saying all kinds of stuff and they start getting a little snippy. Oh, this is a good time.
00:15:48
Speaker 2: It's fun. In fact, you even asked me when we woke up this morning, how late are you going to stay up? And I said, as long as I possibly can, because yes, the later you stay up, the more entertaining it typically becomes. So, yes, Fox News. You got Martha McCollum and Brett Baer. They are hosting the coverage. You've got their whole gaggle of folks. Dana Perino, Brett Hume, Harold Ford Jr., Bill Hemmer, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know all the folks. We have this on a lot just because, look, I think this, for me, is going to be the most interestingâ viewing because look, obviously it's widely expected that the Republicans are going to have a rough night. So what's more fun than to watch folks who are trying not to piss off daddy, AKA president Trump, when the news is likely not going to be in favor of president Trump. How do said anchors handle covering the, something that's catastrophic to the person they're trying to impress. It's a blast.
00:16:57
Speaker 1: It really is. We've seen this time and time again. There are stories of no way to spin other than a loss for the president, and they find no way to massage it. It is fun to watch. We get it. It's fine. I'm not mad at them. It is entertaining. And they have some decent folks over there. I watch Brett Baier damn near every night, 6 to 6.15 p.m. I just want a solid block of what happened in world news, and that's where I get it every day.
00:17:24
Speaker 2: No, and look, we are fans of, yeah, of Bret Baier. We think he is among the best of the best. I actually really do think that. I think that's a fair statement. I've always appreciated his reporting, and we enjoy watching him. Now, the fun thing to do is to have especially when you get later in the night and it's clearly going one way or the other. If you have Fox News up and if you can pull up, I don't know if you have a phone, if you have an iPad or any other television screen and simultaneously have CNN or MS Now up and just look at the banners, whatever the lower third says and how they're spinning whatever information's coming in. And it is so funny because one thing can be true. Let's just say, Texas has turned Democrat. And each network will have a completely different version of how they're spinning the same fact. And it is a blast to watch. That's one of our favorite things to do.
00:18:25
Speaker 1: That's going to be, I will have, I need to plug the iPads in. I want them fully charged. I will have everything up. This is going to be a fun night.
00:18:33
Speaker 2: It is. So on CNN, you've got Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, with Aaron Burnett, Dana Bash, and John King.
00:18:41
Speaker 1: They said he has multiple magic walls this year, I think. Yeah.
00:18:46
Speaker 2: Oh, that's also fun, too. I think we mentioned it. We saw it already this morning. But absolutely, with all of these magic walls and all the toys and the writing on the screens and the projections, technically things are going to go terribly wrong. So that's always fun to see how people handle those moments. And some people are better than others.
00:19:04
Speaker 1: Was it ABC or was it CNN? They're trying to do a hologram. Was that at ABC?
00:19:08
Speaker 2: ABC. Was that like for weather, the weather wall?
00:19:11
Speaker 1: No, they were trying to do it for election. There was a big plan to try to do a hologram of a reporter. Does that sound familiar? Yes.
00:19:17
Speaker 2: I do think it was ABC for some reason. Sometimes it's just too much and everything goes wrong. And we're here for that. MS Now, it's Rachel Maddow and.
00:19:28
Speaker 1: And everybody.
00:19:28
Speaker 2: And everybody.
00:19:29
Speaker 1: Everybody, but she's the head of the whole deal. I mean, who are we watching? You know, they start pretty early. A lot of these we should mention. Some of these are starting as early as 4 p.m. with their coverage, going at 6 p.m. in additional. That's a good ringtone. But yeah, they're starting earlier. It's clear they're putting in, making it investment in this night for what they expect this night to be who are we who's going to be on our big TV.
00:19:57
Speaker 2: I think Fox.
00:19:59
Speaker 1: You think so? And I think CNN.
00:20:01
Speaker 2: Look, I'll be honest, MSNOW is a little, I feel like they're going to get giddy and snarky and I just, I don't know.
00:20:07
Speaker 1: They can be fun too.
00:20:08
Speaker 2: They can be fun when they're winning, I guess.
00:20:10
Speaker 1: They can be fun.
00:20:11
Speaker 2: I think sometimes it might be fun just to turn the sound down on all three and then just look at the facial expressions. You'll know how things are going. But I think we do tend to go back and forth between Fox and CNN a lot. We might, you know what, just because we used to work there, And I do think we know a little more than most about what's actually going on behind the scenes. I think we might have to flip to our friends at ABC every now and then too.
00:20:36
Speaker 1: Who is your reporter, your anchor, your one person you look forward to watching tonight?
00:20:43
Speaker 2: I don't know if there's one because I don't really know what to expect. I don't have a go-to news anchor.
00:20:49
Speaker 1: Do you? My go-to correspondent is Kristen Holmes over at She's their senior White House correspondent.
00:20:58
Speaker 2: It's not because her last name is Holmes.
00:20:59
Speaker 1: Not at all. She is awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. You know I like plain speak. She knows her stuff, but she calls it like she sees it. I love, love, love her reporting, so I look forward to seeing her. I don't know where she's going to be stationed tonight. Will Gayle have on a necklace?
00:21:17
Speaker 2: Yes, she likes her necklace.
00:21:19
Speaker 1: You think she'll have on a necklace?
00:21:20
Speaker 2: Yes, I do. She always has a necklace on.
00:21:23
Speaker 1: Will Tony DeCoppo's tie have any color in it?
00:21:25
Speaker 2: Um, good question, but usually it would be safe to say red or blue, but not tonight because that could mean something else. So he'll have to go with green or yellow, or I don't know how they figure it out, but it'll be a color. What do you think? Okay.
00:21:43
Speaker 1: That was my only other question.
00:21:45
Speaker 2: All right. So you didn't want to answer that.
00:21:48
Speaker 1: No, look, I'm look, we watch these for the unexpected, but there's so much of tonight we can predict. How they're going to be, what they're going to say. We don't expect anybody to get out of line.
00:22:00
Speaker 2: No. Right?
00:22:01
Speaker 1: Rarely does somebody have an honest moment. These are big moments for these networks. These are big, big promotional opportunities. People are watching your network tonight that ain't watched it all year. Show them your best people doing their best stuff with your best graphics and your best of everything. So to see the networks, all of them, try to at least meet that standard is worth watching tonight.
00:22:22
Speaker 2: Yes, so we will be watching, and we hope we made your viewing tonight a little more interesting and maybe gave you a little something extra to think about. Yes, it's fun to watch the returns come in, but isn't it fun to watch the people who are watching the returns come in? And with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.