Michigan Midterm Drama, Crypto Heist, and Guest Hillary Clinton

Kara introduced Hillary Clinton, her co-host on the new High Stakes podcast, as a Grammy-winning former secretary of state and asked which prospective Democratic leaders—including El-Sayed, AOC, Newsom, and Klobuchar—are built for the next decade. Clinton declined to rank them, saying presidential contenders cannot be judged until they compete, and predicted roughly a dozen strong Democrats would begin testing the waters after the new year. She said that competition could restore real debate after what she called a period in which “a cult” had been in charge.

Clinton predicted Democrats would win both the House and Senate because voters are experiencing higher health-care, fuel, and other costs directly. She attributed those pressures to reduced Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Iran war, and tariffs, and said voters increasingly connect their financial problems to corruption benefiting the Trump family and other officials. She cited Hungary, where opposition leader Peter Magyar connected Viktor Orbán’s corruption to voters’ economic struggles. Scott cautioned that a Democratic victory might reflect hatred of Republicans rather than affection for Democrats, making it “a lease, not a mortgage.”

Clinton said Democrats would need immediate discipline and a concrete agenda rather than assuming voters had permanently changed sides. Her priorities were an affordability package addressing health-care costs, faster housing construction, and shifting fossil-fuel costs from consumers toward highly profitable oil and gas companies. She also called for an anti-corruption package closing loopholes around the Constitution’s emoluments clause, arguing that a president should not report $1.2 billion in income from crypto and other deals while in office. Finally, she urged investigations into what data Elon Musk’s DOGE operation may have taken, including Social Security, Medicare, and tax information.

Kara asked about Representative Haley Stevens endorsing Republican Mike Rogers after losing Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed. Scott said he disagrees with El-Sayed on many issues but supports him because Rogers is an election denier and therefore would not provide a meaningful democratic debate. Clinton agreed that the episode was a sideshow: El-Sayed won the primary, and the overriding goal should be defeating as many Republicans as possible and reining in Trump. She said candidates’ hurt feelings or personal opinions cannot outweigh winning the election.

Clinton said she was hopeful about Texas, especially Democratic candidates Tallarico and Gina Hinojosa, whom she described as energetic, effective online and offline, and polling well. She warned that Republicans have built extensive turnout infrastructure over many years and would mobilize voters and relatives aggressively. Her optimism came from Republicans and independents who might refuse to support Ken Paxton, whom she called a poster child for corruption. On tech executives who donated to Trump or pledged investments, Clinton said many were seeking contracts or financial rewards, but a Democratic Congress could subpoena them; a pardon would not necessarily eliminate their duty to testify or their ability to claim the Fifth.

Asked why Trump was not paying the same political price as Joe Biden for age-related concerns, Clinton said Trump has long been held to an easier standard despite legendary “word salads” and increasingly difficult-to-follow speeches. She would not speculate about a medical diagnosis but said she is troubled by his apparent movement in and out of coherence, especially when decisions about renewed attacks on Iran could have grave consequences. She feared Trump’s thinking could become even more impulsive after the election and hoped congressional investigations would pressure people around him—including, more cautiously than Stephen Miller, other advisers—to restrain him.

Discussing Binance’s claim that it recovered about 95% of the $6.3 billion stolen in the largest crypto heist, with the FBI attributing the attack to North Korea, Scott said the scale mattered more than the damage to Binance itself. Because Binance manages roughly $30 billion, the loss represented about 2% of its assets, while $6 billion would equal roughly 20% of North Korea’s economy. He argued that theft and intellectual-property appropriation have historically helped countries industrialize, citing U.S. copying of European manufacturing and China’s industrial espionage, and said hacking and AI may now be North Korea’s core economic competence.

On the tech sell-off, Scott said transformative technologies such as railroads, electricity, and the internet all produced bankruptcies, so AI will eventually correct even if he cannot predict the timing or severity. He noted that Apple, which has stayed out of the AI arms race, had outperformed the other “Magnificent Seven” stocks; its latest quarter showed 12% revenue growth, helped by price increases and iPhone 18 Pro demand, though iPad and China sales were weak. Scott also made the bull case that Alphabet and Nvidia trade at lower price-to-earnings ratios than the S&P average while growing rapidly, despite worries about circular financing among Nvidia, Meta, OpenAI, and compute providers.

Kara mocked OpenAI’s proposed rebranding of AI data centers as “compute campuses,” suggesting the name change was intended to improve public perception before a tougher regulatory environment. Scott said renaming rarely fixes a damaged brand, comparing it with companies such as Meta, Altria, and BP. He also opposed Democratic data-center moratoriums, calling them “populist bullshit” and arguing that states should negotiate benefits such as local power generation, closed-loop water systems, and property-tax revenue. Kara pushed back that residents—not merely politicians—are objecting because of secrecy, non-disclosure agreements, rising inequality, and fears that communities will not share the benefits.

Kara’s wins included the Valkyries’ victory, The Gilded Age’s return, her friends’ attendance, and former 60 Minutes leaders Bill Owens and Tanya Simon; she declared she had no fails. Scott’s fail was society’s “idolatry of innovators,” arguing that Elon Musk should be judged by the same standards as other alleged traitors rather than excused because he is wealthy and technically successful. His win was young men shifting toward Democrats: he cited polling moving from Trump plus-14 in 2024 to Democrats plus-16, and historical averages since 1980 showing Democrats producing more jobs and GDP growth while adding less to deficits. He urged young men to vote blue for economic reasons.

New York Times journalist Michael Barbaro asked whether congressional investigations could repeat the backlash that followed Trump’s two impeachments; Kara said Trump should not be impeached because it would consume oxygen, while officials such as Pete Hegseth should face accountability. Barbaro also asked about live events, and Kara advised The Daily to be less buttoned-up and build community around its hosts and listeners. A 15-year-old who started a young-men’s club received Scott’s advice to accept rejection, seek jobs, learn capitalism, and love his parents. A 23-year-old who felt voting in a blue state was pointless was told that young people must vote because older voters control resources and policy.