Welcome in everybody. Mark Halperin here, ready to tell you what's next up. I appreciate you

joining with this episode. We'll talk to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. We'll also have a conversation

about what the Democratic Party can do and is doing to try to counteract Donald Trump.

And, of course, grateful to you for being part of what is our third episode.

I'm going to let you in a little secret here.

I'm going to tell you about the king's ear.

Who's got it?

Go back to ancient history.

And any time there's a king or a leader, a ruler, or a president, there's

a lot of palace intrigue around the question of who has the king's ear. Who gets to influence

what the top person does? And of course, that's a lot about palace intrigue. It's a lot about

gossip. But it's also about policy and what happens. And Donald Trump, the court of Donald

Trump, is an intriguing place.

There's been a lot of the conversation about who is influential right now for this president

at this time. Donald Trump is misunderstood in a lot of ways. He's a very curious guy. People,

I think sometimes character term him as not being curious. He's extremely

curious. He's extremely interested in soaking up information. And like Bill Clinton, he wants a

range of options. And he stays up late like Bill Clinton. And he wants to talk to people on the phone

or in person to get more information. The question of who gets to influence this president

is paramount. It's of interest in not just

Washington lobbyists, members of Congress and the media, but governments around the world want to

know who influences this president. Had a crazy example this past weekend where apparently he's met

...