Grounded with Jon Tester & Maritsa Georgiou

As we start a new work week, major TV news networks suspended their pooled coverage of President Donald Trump after he banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists from the White House over the weekend. The three outlets filed a lawsuit against the president and three top advisers Monday, saying the ban violates the First Amendment.

We welcome our friend Jim Acosta, whose own White House credentials were famously removed in 2018, to break down Donald Trump’s latest assault on the free press. Jim walks us through how the pool coverage works, what the press collectively needs to do next, and why he thinks this is really a distraction from gas prices and the war in Iran.

“[Trump] doesn’t want to be held accountable,” Acosta said. “And so I think this is a harbinger of bad things to come because I don’t think he’s going to honor the election results. I could be wrong about that, but I think he’s going to try to avoid the seating of a new Congress, which will plunge the country into, I think, a constitutional crisis. And this assault on the press, I think, is to some extent sort of lay the groundwork for Really, you know, full frontal assault on the Constitution.”

In The New York Times this morning, a top headline reads, “Republicans Reel on the Midterm Map as Deep-Red Areas Come Into Play.” The article discusses the battleground of Georgia, but also vulnerabilities for Republicans in Kansas and Nebraska. The story doesn’t include Montana’s House race in the western district, where new polling shows Democrat Sam Forstag in a dead heat with Republican Aaron Flint. It also doesn’t mention Michigan’s first Congressional district, where Callie Barr is waging a rematch of her 2024 race against Republican incumbent Jack Bergman.

Barr is a lawyer, former high school English teacher and a military spouse who took care of her husband when he returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD and a brain injury.

Barr lost by more than 20 points in 2024, but she tells us why she thinks voter sentiment will work in her favor this time around, with her own internal polling showing a close race.

“Folks can’t even go to work because gas is too high. You know, they’re having problems buying groceries. This is real stuff,” Barr said. “And it’s just kind of the basic necessities of life that folks can’t afford. And it’s rising costs because of corruption.”

Barr says voters in her district care deeply about those rising prices, but also rural hospital closures, and veterans issues. And with all of that in play, you won’t believe what most people write to her complaining about.

Plus, JT gets pretty spicy over the headlines. 47 days to go.

A few years ago, former White House Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri found herself needing help in north central Montana. Her rented mini van was stuck on a snow-covered road a mile (or two) from Jon Tester’s farm, where she was meeting him for an interview to be featured on The Circus.

“It was great television, but mortifying,” Palmieri said. “But yes, Jon Tester big time came to our rescue.”

“The truth is that a staff member was supposed to tell you not to go down that road and he forgot,” Tester said. "So it really wasn’t your fault, but it sure was fun to blame you.”

Beyond the snowy hiccup, Palmieri joined Grounded to talk about her new venture hosting and producing Long Play, a series exploring the South, and the path forward for Democrats to dig themselves out from being stuck on the proverbial political road when it comes to winning elections in the region.

“If you can’t win the South, you can’t lead America,” Palmieri said.

Palmieri explains why southern voters feel misunderstood, the history lessons that have shaped the southern political environment today, and the shifts she sees on the ground. Plus, we talk about electability, independent candidates, and the wildest rumor she ever had to deal with as a comms director.

Before our chat with Palmieri, we discuss new bombshell ProPublica reporting that a Russian oligarch close to Putin secretly paid for parts of Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding in the Bahamas. Jon, who sits on Anthropic’s advisory board, also weighs in on AI safety and why Congress needs to act on regulation.

We wanted to take a moment on the 25th anniversary of terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. We hope you take some time to reflect on all of the lives we lost that day, and also a moment for the more than 9,000 people who have died since from their exposure to toxic materials in the aftermath.

Independent candidates are hoping to leave their mark on the 2026 midterm elections, with 47 on the ballot for U.S. Senate alone. And Montana’s race might be the wildest of them all.

Former University of Montana president and Army veteran Seth Bodnar joins Grounded to make his case for Montana’s open U.S. Senate seat. We clear the air on why he is running as an independent, what he’s hearing from voters, and why he thinks people are hungry for leadership that’s not beholden to either party. As for why he decided to run?

“Every veteran has a little bit of survivor’s guilt. I was really lucky. You know, I didn’t face what so many did,” Bodnar said. “But I’ve got friends who are in the ground who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this country. I have the privilege— I was blessed to be able to live, to be able to have kids, to be able to have a family. And I owe it to them. To try to do right by this country, the country they died for. And I’d be damned if I’m going to stand aside and watch it go to hell.”

The conversation includes his latest pledge on AI data centers, Medicaid cuts, housing costs, and the attacks he’s faced on the campaign trail. Plus, his military perspective on the escalating war in Iran.

“When you politicize the U.S. military, you strike at the very heart of what makes this country special,” the former Green Beret said. “I’ve got a lot to say about the U.S. military, but I'm deeply, deeply concerned.”

Make sure you stick around for the new reason Maritsa will only be addressing Jon Tester as “sir” from now on.