The Axe Files presents Hell & High Water with John Heilemann
The Axe Files with David Axelrod
CNN
4.6 • 7.7K Ratings
🗓️ 1 September 2022
⏱️ 76 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week The Axe Files team is sharing an episode of Hell & High Water with John Heilemann. This episode features a conversation with David Axelrod and was recorded in New York City in December 2021. Together they took a look back at the year in politics, from the Biden administration’s successes and mishaps, Covid-19, the polarization and paralysis in Washington, and Donald Trump’s continued stranglehold on the Republican Party. Axelrod reminisces about his storied career as a political reporter, Democratic strategist, and architect of Barack Obama's rise to the White House. Looking ahead to 2022, Axelrod lays out what he sees as the greatest challenges ahead for Democrats — and American democracy.
To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, Axe files listeners. This week we're sharing a conversation I had with my pal John |
| 0:11.7 | Hylman back in December for his podcast, Heller Highwater. Every week John talks to |
| 0:17.3 | seminal figures in politics entertainment business tech, the media and beyond, but the |
| 0:22.4 | chaos we've lived through during the last few years. The conversations are deep, rich, |
| 0:27.2 | racingly real, but also hopeful. I was honored to talk about my time as a political reporter |
| 0:32.8 | a democratic strategist, a white house aide, as well as to reflect on what's ahead for |
| 0:37.3 | the Democratic Party and the country. I hope you'll enjoy the episode as much as I loved |
| 0:41.7 | recording it. Be sure to check out other episodes of Heller Highwater, wherever you get your |
| 0:46.5 | podcast. |
| 1:07.8 | Hey everyone, John Hylman here and welcome to Heller Highwater. My podcast for the |
| 1:10.8 | recount about politics and culture on the edge of Armageddon with big ups to my pal Rizza, |
| 1:15.6 | the presiding genius, behind the sound of Wu-Tang Clan and the producer of our dope theme |
| 1:19.8 | music. It's that time of year again, people, meaning the end of the year, where we here |
| 1:24.9 | at Heller Highwater start feeling a little, hmm, not exactly sentimental or nostalgic, God |
| 1:30.7 | knows, or reflective, God help us, but you know, just a little retrospective, which is |
| 1:37.3 | to say that we're in the mood to gaze back upon these past 12 months to review and assess |
| 1:42.4 | and analyze, extrapolate and explicate the highs and lows, the big stories, the sweeping |
| 1:46.9 | trends, and the most unsettling, unnerving and occasionally uplifting events, developments, |
| 1:51.7 | dust-ups, and disasters of this past year. And boy, there have been a bunch of those |
| 1:56.6 | all across the news landscape from 2021, Anno Domini, for all of you, people who are |
| 2:02.7 | either foolish or lucky enough not to have to take four years of Latin high school. That |
| 2:05.7 | means the year of our Lord, 2021, in the year of our Lord. Although when it comes to this |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from CNN, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of CNN and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.