Grounded with Jon Tester & Maritsa Georgiou

We didn’t mean for this episode to turn into a lesson on furries for Jon Tester, but here we are.

Former Sen. Doug Jones is in a rematch against Sen. Tommy Tuberville—this time for governor of Alabama. This is a state that has voted for the Republican nominee in every presidential election going back to 1980, and which Trump won in 2024 with 64.6% of the vote. Even while we were live, Alabamians were in the chat telling us about Trump supporters in their lives who plan to vote for Doug in this race.

“It’s kind of that silent majority that we’ve heard so much about in the past, that folks in this era of retribution, they don’t want to put a Doug Jones sign in their yard,” Jones said. “There’s just something that we have felt on the ground. We believe it will translate into a win. I remind people that even in a losing effort in 2020, I got more votes than any Democrats ever gotten in the history of Alabama and enough to win any governor’s race in the history of the state.”

Jones point to fielding Democratic candidates for every constitutional office race for the first time since 2006, along with packed town halls he’s been hosting across the state. He lays out his plan for affordability, why he wants a one-year moratorium on data centers, and yes, his response to the wild video of Tommy Tuberville talking about furries on the Senate floor—a video Jon Tester hadn’t seen before today.

Tester will join Jones, Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Shomari C. Figures on the campaign trail in Alabama Thursday, and we hope to jump on for a short livestream as they’re on the bus. Let’s hope there are no Booker/Tester chest bumps as the bus is moving at high speeds.

We have two weeks to go, friends. If you’ve voted already, great job! If you haven’t, make sure you get those ballots in. If you need to check your registration or polling place, track your ballot, or learn about what’s on your ballot, vote.org is one of many fabulous resources.

We hobbled our way through some more technical difficulties, but are grateful for another chance to talk with retired federal judge Diane Wood, who sat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal. She is now one of about 60 retired federal judges who formed the Article III Coalition through Keep Our Republic.

Judge Wood stresses the importance of judicial accountability, her proposal for more oversight of the Supreme Cours, and attacks on the judiciary.

“It is uncharted territory, I think. There have always, as you said, been some instances of attacks on the judiciary,” Wood said. “But what’s different now is that the source of the problem seems to be the president, not some random disappointed litigant who doesn’t have good judgment. That’s new and entirely inappropriate.”

With less than four weeks until the midterms, officials across the country are preparing as the federal pressure on our election administrators ramps up.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, who also chairs the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, joins us to discuss the Trump administration’s decision to shut international election observers out, the new push to seize voting machines through the Commerce Department, and what voters should do if they see any kind of meddling or intimidation at the polls.

Aguilar’s primary message?

“We just need people to make a plan to vote and we just need them to actually f*$&ing show up to vote.”

27 days. Let’s go.

This week, the USS Abraham Lincoln is scheduled to return to San Diego after a near-record 10+ month deployment during which we heard reports of suicide attempts, food shortages, plumbing problems, deteriorating mental health and overall abysmal conditions.

“First and foremost, it's absolutely not normal,” former Secretary of the U.S. Navy Carlos Del Toro said. “And it's a disaster over there at the Pentagon, or as you may put it, Senator, it's a shit show, quite frankly. And it's very, very tragic.”

Del Toro joined us to do a deep dive on the war in Iran, from deployments to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—or Strait of Trump if you go with Jon Tester’s preference. Del Toro discusses what he sees as missing strategy and where our operational readiness stands after a newly announced plan to cut 20% of U.S. military generals and admirals, a depletion of munitions, and damage to our bases in the Middle East.

We also talk about potential military action in Cuba, concerns about the South China Sea, and the recent call from President Trump for Iran to attack Los Angeles or San Diego.

“I wonder how the Republicans in Orange County, California are feeling right now. About their president, commander-in-chief saying basically let him drop a nuke on Los Angeles and San Diego,” Del Toro questioned. “It's not a good feeling. I don't think we've ever seen anything like this.”

“This is incredible bullshit that this guy is presenting, and people are buying it,” Tester added. “People are cheering when he says we should bomb fucking Los Angeles. Are you kidding me? This is just total insanity. Total insanity.”

We had a little communication snafu this morning and our scheduled guest never made it to the live show. We’re working with her team to reschedule!

That didn’t stop us from devoting almost an hour to headlines, including the bizarre turn of events at Jack Smith’s testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. We also discuss Congress ceding more of its power as the administration continues to shift appropriated money elsewhere. Plus, new lawsuits over Renee Good’s killing, the Cornell frat assault investigation, and the scrapped plan to play a Major League Baseball game in a national park. And are we really talking about whether Richard Nixon got a raw deal? Lots to cover in this one.