Welcome to the beat, everyone. We are prepping a lot tonight. Former Trump White House official

counselor, Ty Cobb, on the Donald Trump-D-O-J overreach, plus questions about Trump's mental

acuity. We are talking about someone who is as credible as they come and has been a straight

talker. Ty Cobb coming up. By the end of the hour, famed New York novelist Jay McInerney is here. We begin with

Trump's agenda swamped by blunders and an inability to message. There is a rolling backlash

to Donald Trump posting that he is a type of Jesus, something that he lied about in a strange

denial. Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth also getting into the religious game now, he says that journalists who report on Trump's mistakes in Iran or the wider war are like biblical figures who betrayed, of course, because look at the comparison they keep trying to make, which their own supporters have called blasphemy, it's like betraying Jesus.

Jesus entered a synagogue and healed a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees came to watch.

Even though they witnessed a literal miracle, it didn't matter. The Pharisees went out and immediately

held counsel against him,

how to destroy him. Our press are just like these Pharisees. That's what's coming out of the

Pentagon during a war on a week where the president has had to delete and backtrack from a post

called Blasphemus. The vice president has sort of heckled the Pope, and on we go.

About 30 minutes later, the Pope discussed figures who manipulate religion.

But woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or

political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth. The world is being ravaged

by a handful of tyrants, yet is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.

The Pope there addressing the faithful amid this clash with Trump, the administration has now

counseled millions in funding for a Catholic charity that shelters and cares for migrant children.

J.D. Vance's attempt to get involved in this by pretending or suggesting that the United States government should issue orders to the Pope, something that manages to offend the Pope's followers and plenty of Americans who believe in the separation of church and state. Well, the Vance train has gotten its own treatment on late night.

Let me remind you guys that what the Pope basically said was war is bad.

That's not controversial, all right? It's literally the Pope's job to say things like that.

...