At QVC, shopping is more than just checking out. It's discovering something new every day. Let's start with today's special value. Then, explore exciting finds across the brands and categories you love. from beauty and fashion to home, culinary, and outdoor living.
Shop now at qvc.com. This January, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship takes over the ocean. The inaugural Bruce Cruise sails from Miami to the Bahamas aboard the Norwegian Jewel. Three straight days with pool deck bare-knuckle fights in the Caribbean. Massive parties, beach events, DJs, cigars, tequila tastings, and non-stop action.
The lightup reveals coming soon. Cabins are disappearing fast, and the prices won't stay this low. Reserve your spot with just $200 down at bkfsea.com. Good morning. I'm Jane Pauley, and this is Sunday morning.
In life, Princess Diana was the definition of a global icon, and the reverberations from her tragic death are still felt today. Nearly three decades after the car crash that shook the world, Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, is talking with our Mark Phillips.
Well, this part of the grounds is called the wilderness. And it was a very special area for Diana. Charles Spencer's new book about his sister Diana is full of memories about a life of promise that ended tragically and is full of recrimination against her former husband, now King Charles. And he said about Diana. We'll forget her soon enough.
And I said, I can't believe you said that. Diana's story, a brother's version, later on Sunday morning. It's been eight years since online sports gambling was widely legalized. Since then, terms like point spreads, parlays, and bonus bets have become almost as common as touchdowns, home runs, and three-pointers. The industry's dramatic growth has meant big business for some, but as Jim Axelrod will tell us, it's come at a price.
More than half of men 18 to 49 years old in America now have an act. Sports betting account. I'm getting paid this week. I'm about to put it all down. Your paycheck this week?
Yeah, sometimes I'll be like, hey, well, I like this game a lot. Yeah, let's just all put it on there. And then, look, I got paid double this week. Or. Or me and Ramen Noodle for the rest of the week.
But public health experts and even former gamblers see a threat in all this betting. We're about to witness an epidemic that's going to be far greater than the opioid crisis. The surge in legalized sports betting coming up on Sunday morning. Jo Lene Kent this morning is speaking with Jensen Wong, president and CEO of the chip maker NVIDIA. on where AI could be headed next.
Ben Mankowitz visits with Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood agent who rose from the mailroom to become a true power player in the entertainment world. Mo'Racca heads to Washington for a conversation with Lonnie Bunch, outgoing secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Robert Costa profiles Kentucky Governor Andy Bashir, a Democrat already being mentioned as a presidential candidate in 2028. and more on this final Sunday morning of summer, September 20, 2026. And we'll be back after this.
Football season is just getting started, but betting on football is already in full swing. Jim Axelrod looks at the exponential growth of legalized sports gambling and its consequences. Yes. Let's go back to back Let's go! In Fishersville, Virginia, gambling on sports is a year-round activity for Esteban Ruiz Haynes.
So how often do you bet? Oh, every day. People wake up and check newspaper. I wake up and check who's playing. But football season is high season for him.
Let's go. On this college football Saturday, he's got $250 down on four games. If he wins all four, This bet will pay $3,000. But Esteban wins only one.
So after a friend comes over He tries it all again. Northern Illinois plus 31 and a half. You tell me plus 31 and a half don't cover against a defensive team? Four more games. He loses another 250.
Just like that. He's down five hundred bucks. How much money do you bet a year? Probably 80 to 100,000, 120. Which has to be approaching the amount of money you make a year.
97. Oh, you gotta make a better pass than that. That's right. Great route. This single 29-year-old pest control salesman bets as much as he makes.
If not more. I'm getting paid this week. I'm about to put it all down. Your paycheck this week? Yeah, sometimes, hey, well, I like this game a lot.
Yeah, let's just all put it on there. And then, look, I got paid double this week. Or? Or me and ramen noodle for the rest of the week. In five steady years of gambling, Ruiz Haynes says he's down five figures.
If he sounds like a financial catastrophe waiting to happen, In the eyes of FanDuel, the betting platform he uses, Esteban is a VIP. Chances to life bet from the first sound to the final whistle. FanDuel is the biggest sports gambling app in the country. Part of how they stay that way is keeping their best customers loyal. This is a Daryl Payne jersey, signed by him.
They provide them with top shelf swag and some of the best seats in the house. That makes you feel like they care. They do care. Since online sports gambling was legalized in 2018, The amount of money wagered has skyrocketed. to $167 billion last year.
Business is booming. But there's a downside. When states allow online gambling, bankruptcies and credit card delinquencies increased 25%. By the latest numbers, nearly 20 million people say they experienced at least one indicator of problematic gambling behavior. Vandal is not a nonprofit.
It's made. to make money. How do they make money? off of us losing. Luis Ruggiero says his story is a cautionary tale.
since more than half of young men now have an active account with an online sports book. There'd be some days where I'd be betting five, six, seven games a day, five thousand a game, ten thousand a game. Ruggero says his high-end ticket resale business funded his boom-bust gambling habit on multiple platforms. Eventually, he says, he lost it all. millions of dollars.
In just eight years. Why didn't you just put the phone down and stop? Betting. That thing is engineered to keep you going. I represent individuals who have essentially lost their houses and their spouses and their kids over this.
Jennifer Hoekstra is the lead attorney in suits against FanDuel and the other leading gambling platform, DraftKinks. She argues their apps are designed to hook users and never let them go. The verdict is in that landmark social media addiction trial, Meta and YouTube found liable. It's a strategy her firm and others just employed to win a case against social media giants Meta and YouTube. It's the same type of workflow, the same type of notifications.
This almost as if it's the same type of addiction. The dopamine hit. The suits allege FanDuel and DraftKings send advertisements when gamblers are most susceptible. like late at night or after a big loss. And perhaps most like social media, the vetting platforms send numerous push notifications.
sending them to gamblers after they've been inactive. To get them to re-engage. Dang, Nick's nets tonight. Jalen Brunson, over under 20 points, whatever it is. Bet on your favorite team.
Would these push notifications tempt you to bet? Oh yeah. It works. Yeah. There's no barrier between pulling out my phone and chasing, chasing, chasing, chasing.
Next thing I know, I had 10 grand in my bank account. five minutes ago and now I got nothing. What's most troubling to you about how FanDuel operates? It's just the smartphone access, the immediacy, the ability for people to act on every impulse without any thought or consideration. This man worked at Fandu.
He didn't want to show his face because of his current job. He says he saw first hand How FanDuel dealt with problem gamblers. I had conversations with people where they would say, well, we've. We know what we should do, but... We don't want to slow them down from placing a bet.
A recent study in Connecticut found fewer than 2% of adults are problem gamblers. But they accounted of sports betting revenue. What do you know from your experience there? about the way Fan duel. Deals with problem gamblers.
It's less about cutting them off than slowing them down. It's never forever. This former employee says FanDuel could identify betters headed for big trouble, but chooses not to. Their data collection is Among the best I've seen any company worked at.
So they know if an individual gambler is betting the normal amount for them, they would know if suddenly that amount surged. For its part, DraftKings declined our interview request, but said it takes responsible gambling seriously. VanDuel also declined, but told us any claim that we don't aggressively take actions to monitor and curb problem behavior. is completely false. Fanduel asked we speak with Joe Maloney.
Of the Sports Betting Alliance, a betting advocacy group funded by FanDuel and other gambling companies. Is the business model here for sports gambling companies to make the bulk of their money from a small number of big bettors? Absolutely not. The vast majority of users Participate in this activity, use these products for entertainment, and do so responsibly. It is for entertainment.
It is not for wealth creation. He says online gambling operators offer bettors responsible gaming tools, such as deposit limits, wager limits, and loss limits. But those are on the gambler to choose. We spent an afternoon with a better. We watched him lose.
500 bucks in six hours. Is anyone from the platforms got an eye out. on somebody betting that much money when it approaches, if not exceeds, his annual income, Even those that might have a sense of perhaps chasing losses, or maybe perhaps. spending too much time or even too much of their own money, they have the ability to use these limits. But the first step in fixing a problem Come on.
is admitting. You have one. Are you an addict? I'm not gonna say no. But I'm not going to say yes, I know my limits, I can control myself.
I know my limits, I can control myself. Whether we're talking about alcohol, drugs, gambling, I've heard something similar from other people. Yeah, gambling's like cracking the 80s. And that doesn't stop you. No.
You get that fixed, you gotta get it again. At QVC, shopping is more than just checking out. It's discovering something new every day. Start with today's special value. Then explore exciting finds across the brands and categories you love.
From beauty and fashion to home, culinary, and outdoor living. Shop now at qvc.com. Saturday, September 26th, two of Combat Sports Most Dangerous Strikers Collide. Bare Knuckle. Liverpool's own Darren the Guerrilla Till goes to war with Cuban Powerhouse, Yoel Soldier of God Romero.
Plus, the bare knuckle middleweight championship of the world is on the line. When the reigning champ, Dave, the redneck Mundell, defends against undefeated British challenger, Jack the Meek Pleaver Colon. BKFC 94, Till vs. Romiro. Watch it live, only on Dazone.
Sign up now at thezone.com. There's been much discussion lately about the threat posed by unchecked artificial intelligence. This morning, Joe Ling Kent is speaking with one of the leaders of the AI boom, Jensen Huang. President and CEO of NVIDIA. 2030 is not going to be the end of the world.
There is a zero percent chance that's going to be the end of the world. Jensen Huang has been called the most powerful man in AI, and he s slamming new warnings from top AI CEOs and researchers that artificial intelligence could end humanity in the next decade. It is now grounded on facts, it is now grounded on science. You've got your uniform. Clad in his signature leather jacket, Huang runs NVIDIA, the most valuable company in modern history, selling computer chips that power nearly every major AI company and data centers nationwide.
Why should Americans trust your perspective when your company's success, your net worth, is directly tied to selling chips? Our company's success is directly connected to the safe deployment. of products and services. If the computer industry doesn't provide value to the world safely and productively, if we don't continue to do that, our value would be diminished. Huang is pushing back against calls for new oversight and regulation of AI, just one week after Anthropic CEO Dario Amadei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman urged the industry to pace the development of AI, pointing to alarming examples of AI models going rogue.
The concern is not wrong. It is no different than I just landed from a plane. I'm really glad that the The entire ecosystem and industry of air travel takes safety seriously. And all the people who are working around the clock, they're more people working on airline safety and aircraft safety and air travel safety than they are working on making new types of aircrafts. And so it makes sense.
And we're just going through the same thing. You've said we don't need any new laws, we don't need any new regulations, but You just said here that you support Safeguards in major industries. Why not support the equivalent of an FDA or of FAA for AI?
Well, before we come up with new laws and new regulations, let's apply the current laws and the current regulations. Why does Jensen Wong's position on this debate matter.
Well, Jensen is the emperor of AI. Right? Like without his microchips, you're not doing anything. He's the single most powerful person in AI. OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, XAI, Google, they all need Jensen to build and deliver what they want to do.
You can think of it like a gold rush. Those guys are all the gold prospectors, and Jensen is the guy selling the shovels. Steven Witt is the author of The Thinking Machine, a biography of Jensen Huang. NVIDIA is the single most valuable company in American history. If you have a retirement account and you're invested in the U.S.
stock market, you own a lot of NVIDIA. and the race against China is the elephant in the room. In his recent call to slow AI development, Anthropic CEO Dario Amadei urged the U.S. not to sell powerful AI chips or semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. An idea Huang disagrees with as Nvidia continues to sell select chips to China.
I completely disagree that. We should ban China of all American products. We ought to go and compete and not seed entire markets. We ought to go compete for the world's market. That's the position President Trump holds too.
Mr. President, you're now talking to the planet. This past week, he cold called Huang live on stage at the All-In Summit, hours after posting that fears AI will take over were a hoax that benefits China. And we're not going to let that happen. It's a hoax.
And you're right, we're not going to let that happen, sir. Then yesterday, President Trump announced a new AI force, vowing not to hinder or stifle the growth of AI, saying the existing criminal and civil justice system is adequate.
However, in recent months, an open AI model escaped containment and hacked another AI company. Anthropic identified bad actors attempting to use Claude for malicious activity in cyber operations, scams, and biological weapons. And Google's Gemini broke out of testing and hacked three companies. Do you agree that President Trump has the ability to fend off and prevent an AI crisis while he's in office? You know him.
You talk to him. Does he have that ability? As the leader of America with all of the laws and regulations we currently have, I believe we have the necessary laws and regulations to handle those things. Agree or not, Jensen Huang has an industry to defend and slowing down is not in his playbook. I want to make sure that the American public understands.
That this industry will. It is our responsibility to build the technology safely. We do not want to be the country. that invented The technologies of this industrial revolution, but have this country, have our country be left behind. Don't let that happen.
Hollywood's super agent Ari Emmanuel has built a career on mega deals, high stakes negotiations, and a fair share of controversy. Ben Menkiewicz talks with an entertainment power player like none other. This is your office? Yep. Wow.
The office is spacious, the view spectacular. At a treadmill desk, and you've got the ideal setting for a Hollywood superagent. Just see, what do they say? Sittings the new smoking. Ari Emmanuel.
Keep it right out here. I won't be long. The TV character Ari Gold from HBO's Entourage was based on him. I have ears everywhere. Let me just say that if those ears hear about anyone talking about me, that person will die.
And I'm not threatening your jobs, I'm threatening your lives. And I'm serious. Emmanuel's rise to the top began at the bottom. It's hard. And where else?
The mail room.
Well, you'd be picking food up in the morning. Yeah. Copying scripts from all the different agents. And twice a day, he'd drive all over LA, dropping off scripts to producers, directors, and actors. Come back, he'd have a morning run.
and a night run. Dude, that job sucks. Yeah, it did. All those deliveries, they paid off. He's now the head of WME Group, the mega talent agency whose clients include Denzel Washington, Adele, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Bruno Mars, and Adam Sandler.
Emmanuel is also chairman of TKO, which owns UFC and WWE. I'm really hard worker. I've created a culture and people that follow me.
So I still might be a moron, but certain people think I'm actually good at my job. And so that's good. At 65, Emmanuel is telling his story in a memoir, Roll the Calls.
Somebody asked me. in this process. Having had read the book, said, Are you happy? Most of the time I say, I'm satisfied-ish. and I'm happy-ish.
But You know, I don't like these phrases. I am most competitive. You know, I'm a competitive guy. That is an understatement. Emmanuel, raised a few miles north of Chicago, loves to compete.
loves to win even more. the way we grew up. in my family and my parents. It was always a life of meaning and Self-improvement. They were never afraid of confrontation.
I'm not afraid of confrontation ever. I think my two brothers are not afraid of conflict. Uh and I don't do well with people that threaten me. Expectations in the Emmanuel House were always high. His mother was a civil rights activist, his father a doctor.
Plus two older brothers. Rahm served as President Obama's chief of staff, then as mayor of Chicago. Then Zeke He's just a world-renowned bioethicist and oncologist.
So Zeke was the smart one, Rahm was the artist. And I was the baby, the little, you know. And so in our family, you would come in, your grades would be up, and I mean, you get a C minus, it's on the board. You're grounded. What do you say?
C minus. You're grounded. Pissed you off. Pissed me off. There's a hint of the emotion that has followed Emmanuel throughout his career.
Rage. In chapter one of his book, he says one client simply calls him a ragent. It all goes back to his childhood. bullied for being dyslexic. until he changed the dynamic.
So I'm yeah, I'm a special ed and Football teams downstairs. One of these football players was making fun of this kid in special ed with me, and I just asked him. Yeah. Just cut it out. Just cut it out.
Yeah. It didn't happen. I remember taking that lunch tray. smashing in his face and You gotta be protecting yourself, protecting other people that you care about. I'm okay defending people and defending myself.
and doing what I think is right. His love of T V and movies fueled his ambition to become an agent. which is a bigger job than you might think. An agent. Takes dreams, makes people realize it.
And in that process is, yes, you're negotiating fees. you're getting a a script made, raising money, helping making sure that the marketing's there. Fighting the fight when a studio, a producer is trying to get in the way, or get them out of tough situations. You like it when there's a bad guy.
Well, when there's a bad guy, I'm okay in that fight. I'm comfortable in that fight. That comfort with going to battle is a trademark, a badge of honor. Like thirty five years ago. When he left CAA, his boss, legendary agent Mike Ovitz, gave Emmanuel the If you quit, you'll never work in this town again speech.
And he just said, you know, this is not going to be good for you. In whatever the phrase was. And I just didn't understand it. You took it as he was trying to, you leave, you're going to pay a price. Yeah.
And so Stood up, grabbed the chair. Did you raise it over your head? I was right about here.
Okay. Like, are you threatening me? And uh it was an interesting moment. That notion. Rage first, ask questions later.
Maybe not the same now? There was moments in life early on where it was shoot, aim. That's not the case anymore. but it's still in your arsenal. Oh, it's definitely there.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. The red button can get hit. As much as Emmanuel talks about anger, competing, winning, he's a pretty upbeat guy. Optimistic, too.
even about the future of show business in uncertain times. Telling stories is human nature. It's always been around, it's not going anywhere. Is AI and other things going to make it better? I think so.
You just think this is a change and we adapt to change? We have to adapt to change. I think there's going to be actually more movies and more television.
Now, does that mean That TV shows, the writers' rooms are going to be 12 people. Maybe it's 8. Yeah. N and people will argue that's good and bad.
Okay, let's have that argument. Ari Emmanuel always wants to have the argument. What he doesn't want is a clichéed question from a reporter, though he does give a really good answer. Do you think about legacy? That's such a bull phrase.
Legacy is. Yeah. Yeah. That's all Flagellation. This whole concept, what will my legacy be?
Complete crap. You don't care. No. It's all a lie. Would I rather have a meaningful life or a pleasurable life?
Definitely meaningful. I have a meaningful life. I've done everything I've wanted to do. I continue to do things that I want to do on the representation side, on new businesses. I keep enjoying the creative process of creating the puzzle in my own little world.
Am I worried what my legacy is going to be? No, definitely not. At QVC, fall shopping is more than just checking out. It's discovering the brands you love across beauty, fashion, home, and culinary, all in one place. whether you're getting ready for crisp mornings.
Cozy nights, or everyday moments, QVC has what you need for the season ahead. With brands like Laura Geller, Philosophy, Ninja, and so many more. Shop now at QVC.com. Saturday, September 26th, two of combat sports most dangerous strikers collide. Bare knuckle.
Liverpool's own Darren the Gorilla Till goes to war with Cuban powerhouse, Yoel Soldier of God Ramiro. Plus, the bare knuckle middleweight championship of the world is on the line when the reigning champ Dave the Redneck Mundell defends against undefeated British challenger, Jack the Meat Cleaver Colin. BKFC 94, Till vs. Ramiro. Watch it live only on Dazone.
Sign up now at the zone.com. Hard to believe, but it's been almost thirty years since the tragic death of Princess Diana. The coming year is sure to bring tributes and remembrances from around the world, but few people knew her as well as her brother, Charles Spencer. His new book about Diana comes out this week, and he's talking about it with our Mark Phillips. This is the sort of the girl I grew up with.
She was always... Charles Spencer is testing one of the lingering questions of our time. Can the world ever get enough of his sister? Diana, Princess of Wales. That's her collecting daffodils in the garden.
It turns out the controversy surrounding that girl's life has not faded with the years. In fact, Charles Spencer's new book has pulled the scabs off some old wounds. especially when he recounts an unsettling conversation he says he had with Diana's ex-husband, now King Charles, shortly after she died. He said about Donna. We'll forget her soon enough.
Hm. and he said it I can't really recreate it, but it was said with a bit of a hiss, to be honest. And I said, I can't believe you said that. You'd have to have been living under a rock not to know Diana's story. the daughter of one of England's grand aristocratic dynasties.
chosen at just 19 to be the bride of the then Prince Charles. Their seeming fairy tale wedding. which turned into a rocky marriage. That ended in a bitter divorce. her tragic early death in a Paris car crash.
It was a riveting, if sad, real-life soap opera, with an apparently insatiable worldwide audience. But why do a new book about such a well-known story? With the 30th anniversary of her death coming up next year, I was getting inundated with requests. To be in somebody else's book or documentary. And it suddenly occurred to me: well, if you're also interested in hearing from me, I might just give you the definitive story.
Well, the Spencer version of this story. Diana has always divided opinion. She was the modern breath of fresh air who blew the cobwebs out of the fusty royals. Or she was the upstart whose popularity threatened the old ways and undermined an institution that had done very nicely, thank you, by maintaining its aloofness and its mystery. I'm sure this is a long list, but.
What do you think? People got wrong about her. I think people who picked at her and found fault with her did so without a true appreciation of the unique force that she was. Do you think there was any malice in it? Do you think it was a an orchestrated attempt by a threatened establishment?
I think a lot of people in the British establishment didn't know what to do with this totally rogue but brilliant force. And there were a lot of attempts during her time on the public stage where they tried to suppress her. Who's they? Diana would call them the men in grey suits, people working for the royal family in particular. All these pictures up here are of yours.
They're all Spencer's. Going back to the 1500 or so. Charles Spencer is the ninth Earl Spencer. His family has not endured near the top of the British aristocratic food chain. by being critical of the royal household.
But Diana's story has changed that. We're sitting in a house here surrounded by portraits of my ancestors, all of whom served the crown very loyally. And There was a probably a thought when Dinah was plucked. to become a royal bride that should fit into the mould of the past. And she didn't.
And so I don't know about malice. But I do know about jealousy. She said it was very difficult, even from her first royal tour overseas, which was to Australia, how if she was on one side of the street with the public and he was on the other, The crowd on his side of the street were less thrilled. and that this was very difficult for him. And of course Charles's continuing connection during the marriage to his old flame, now Queen Camilla, didn't help.
King Charles does not come off well in this book so badly in fact that the palace has responded. saying Spencer's recollections may be the result. of fraternal grief that can cloud reason, affect judgment, and color memory. Memories like the one of a call Spencer says he got from Charles soon after Diana's death. He sounded excited.
uh in in in a sort of upbeat way. Upbeat. She had just been killed and he sounded upbeat. Yes, and obviously I'm not justifying or criticizing. I'm reporting that's the fact.
You also thought you said you thought that maybe just because he finally felt that he was free to pursue. Camillo. I said that that might have been it. Yeah. But that's obviously I don't I can't say what he was thinking, but I'm trying to think why would somebody feel giddy at that time.
I stand before you today, the representative of a family in grief. In his eulogy, Spencer casts himself as protector of Diana's legacy and of her children, particularly after they were made to walk behind their mother's coffin. I thought it was such a Absurd idea that I just thought, well, that won't happen. Because you felt it would be too hard on the boys? Yeah, that, and I thought it was barbaric.
You say that the idea of having them follow their mother's coffin through the streets of London was to protect Charles from the crowd reaction. You think that's what it really was? That's what I heard from politicians who were involved at the time, yes. There was a concern that if he walked alone behind Diana's coffin, that he would be. insulted by people in the crowd.
That was the fear. that that couldn't possibly happen if the boys walked. behind. I was told they wanted to do it and I was uh I believe I was lied to. Have you ever discussed it with them?
I never discussed what I've discussed with William and Harry, but I know the truth from all angles, I can put it that way. It's been a long time since Diana was buried here on an island on the family estate. But to Charles Spencer, what happened back then is still having an effect now. Do you think? Harry's current difficulty with the family.
with the press all harkens back to the experience he had at the time his mother died. I do sometimes wonder with the situation, if I can call it that. Whether uh between Harry and William. I think the broader one of Harry's feelings. I just I wonder how much it is connected to this very sad time.
he was so young, and I just wonder if a gentler, more understanding treatment of his grief then. might have helped him. And um that everyone might have Found a happier course ahead. Do you ever think of? If if if that tragedy had not happened.
And the marriage had somehow survived. what kind of queen she would have made. I think Donovan has been a really amazing queen. To have a sort of superstar in that role would have been very good for Britain. Facing renewed scrutiny from the Trump administration, times are changing at the Smithsonian, the world's largest museum, education, and research complex.
Among the changes, the museum's longtime leader, historian Lonnie Bunch, is preparing to retire. He talks about his legacy and decision to leave with Mo Raka. I just love this museum so much. When Lonnie Bunch walks through the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., his love of history is on full display. I was in North Carolina at Kitty Hawk and went to see the replica and I wanted to say, we got the real one, you know.
One of his favorite pieces, the 1903 Wright Brothers Flyer. And it's here in the Smithsonian so that forever people are going to be able to say, oh my goodness, and really sort of begin to understand the creativity and the joy that is incumbent in the American spirit. As secretary of the Smithsonian, Bunch runs the place, overseeing twenty museums and the National Zoo. But it was the Aaron Space Museum that nearly 50 years ago launched his career when he was hired by the museum's then director, former Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. Michael Collins, a bona fide American hero, what did he see in the 25-year-old Lonnie Bunch?
You know, I think he probably saw passion. I cared so much about history. I didn't understand what I was going to do, but I loved it. Lonnie Bunch made history himself in 2019, becoming both the first historian and the first African American to serve as secretary in the Smithsonian's one hundred eighty year history. We're here speaking in a place as an African American where Frederick Douglass could not speak.
But we are a different institution. I kept thinking about Frederick Douglass, and I really wanted to say he's now speaking. I just wanted to signal that. I will never be afraid of telling truthful stories, no matter how hard or how painful they are. What happens if you don't tell difficult stories?
It's kind of like, you know, you go to the doctor, you get your physical, and suddenly you say, only tell me half about what happened, right?
So you only know a little bit about who you are, so you're incomplete. Museums are the best storytellers in America. But over the last year and a half, the Smithsonian itself has become the story. In March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order excoriating the institution and its leadership for its, quote, divisive race-centered ideology and threatening to cut funding. And he hasn't held back on social media.
Does your decision to retire have anything to do with the pressure campaign, some would say the attacks from the White House? No, not really. And in fact, the challenges that we've experienced are one of the reasons I stayed so long. And that there's a part of me that says I shall stay forever. To protect the family.
To protect the Smithsonian, but also to protect history, as well as sort of dealing with mischaracterizations that the Smithsonian is this place run by left-wing radicals who want to destroy America. But that's pretty much how the White House painted Smithsonian leadership when it turned the screws even tighter this past july fourth with a one hundred sixty two page report blasting its National Museum of American History. And it included this quote. It would benefit most Americans, especially parents bringing their children for a tour, if the Smithsonian's Flagship History Museum had a label at every entrance that reads, warning, the exhibits in this museum were prepared by people who don't want you to love your country. I can't even comment on that because the people who work at the Smithsonian love their country in profound ways.
The challenge is that often people look for simple answers to complex questions. Among the report's allegations, the museum hasn't done enough to honor the founding fathers. Was there anything in that 162-page report that made you think, okay, we could have, I don't know, given the Founding Fathers a little bit more love? Those stories are there. Could they be told more expansively?
Sure. But I think the reality of saying that they aren't there, that there's not the love, more importantly, not the acknowledgement. Of the special nature of the founding fathers is wrong. In blunt terms, that quote I read. Is essentially questioning the patriotism of Smithsonian leadership, which includes you.
Does that? personally offend you? Anybody that knows me personally knows my love of this nation. I'm the son of somebody who was a World War II veteran who, you know, I can remember every Memorial Day going to parades.
So I come at it from a world of let us love our nation. But let us not be afraid to understand the totality of who we are. I believe very strongly that. You can run from history, but you can't hide. That belief was the driving force behind the creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened its doors ten years ago to near universal acclaim.
Bunch was its founding director. There's no doubt that the most important thing I've ever done in my career was be part of building the National Museum of African American History and Culture. No doubt about it. Because that is a museum that says: here is a story of us all. Here is a people's journey, but a nation's story.
And as far as who will be the next head of the Smithsonian, fill in the blank. Your successor needs to be what? needs to be somebody who cares about the history of the institution, needs to be somebody who understands the political world we're dealing in, and needs to be somebody who is courageous enough when all else fails to blame me. That's smart politics. Just blame the guy who was there before.
Absolutely. Until he leaves at the end of the year, Lonnie Bunch says the institution he runs will continue doing its level best to give America a full picture of itself. At the Smithsonian is America's collective memory. and you don't want to be a nation that forgets. Matching outfits, extravagant birthdays, many nicknames.
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Midterm elections are less than two months off, but some political watchers are already turning their attention to the race for the White House in 2028. This morning, Robert Costa sits down with a potential Democratic hopeful, Kentucky Governor Andy Bashir. In Kentucky, they take bluegrass and brown liquor, bourbon to be precise, quite seriously. But this past week at the Kentucky Distillers Association meeting in Louisville. High spirits were undermined by frustration with President Trump's tariff policies and war of words with Canada.
But I continue to push the current administration to hold back these destructive tariffs. Congratulations! Kentucky's Democratic Governor Andy Bashir, just a few months shy of his 49th birthday, was there shaking hands and looking to shake up Washington. The fight with Canada, even before tariffs, has bourbon down 85% in that country. And listen, I'm not blaming Canadians, but this president's insulted them.
Well, Democrats are going to do well this November, Rob. Kentucky bourbon might not be the typical fuel for presidential ambition, but the fight has thrust Andy Bashir into the 2028 conversation. His new memoir quotes Jesus, who said people should follow in the footsteps of the good Samaritan. Go and do likewise. Should Democrats be doing more, not only here in Kentucky, but nationally?
To engage with people of faith? Oh, I think so. I mean, think about the lessons the Bible teaches. The miracle of the fishes and loaves is one of the only miracles in the first four books of the New Testament. In a place of scarcity, Jesus makes sure that everybody has enough.
Democrats are fighting to make sure there is food assistance for all of America's children, that kids don't go to school hungry, that seniors don't go to bed hungry. And look at what Donald Trump tried to do. He tried to cut SNAP benefits during a shutdown for the first time in history to use starving Americans as leverage. That's not Christian. It's not the right thing to do.
You say Democrats have to do a better job of speaking, as you put it, normal. What does that mean? We got to sound like normal human beings. I think that it was advocacy speak that was meant for the right things. It was meant to reduce stigma, but I don't think you reduce stigma by changing words.
You reduce stigma by changing hearts. You think about The term food insecurity. You don't like that? No, because it doesn't convey what that person is going through, it doesn't convey your compassion. for trying to make sure everyone has enough to eat.
like the word hunger does. Trump has won big in Deep Red Kentucky. But Bashir points to his record, one term as Attorney General and two as governor, as proof Democrats can win in the South. Tonight Kentucky made a choice. A choice not to move to the right.
Or to the left, but to move forward for every single family. And the past success of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton could provide a playbook. But you look at Bill Clinton as someone who was good at being president. I think the last president to run a surplus. And I think part of that was bringing in that outsider's perspective of having been a governor where you have to run a balanced budget every single year or you've got to start cutting mid-year.
Bashir may claim the mantle of outsider, but his father, Steve, once served as governor as well.
Now yes, sometimes people try to do the Nepo baby deal with my dad being governor and they look at me and they say, how old were you when your dad was elected governor? And I look at them and say, 30. As a lawyer, I did more free legal work for that man than anybody in my lifetime. He has still yet to repay me. Bashir is now chair of the Democratic Governors' Association and tells us he'll wait until the midterms, and after consulting with his wife and two children, to decide about twenty twenty eight.
Hello, Dallas! But he's already on the offense against one potential GOP candidate. And you've been taking on Vice President J.D. Vance. Publicly.
He's out there just like you talking about faith. Writing a book. but stark differences, it seems, between you and him.
Well, I try to use faith to lift people up. I see J.D. Vance using it to kick them while they're down. I see the arrogance in which he goes about his job and his life using faith to judge people, to demean people. Engaging in the poverty tourism that his book, Hill Biliology, was.
Judging our people and claiming the people of Appalachia are lazy and that addiction is their fault when opioid companies sent hundreds of pills into counties for every man, woman, and child that lives there. Poverty tourism, tough words.
Well, but true. Earlier this spring, Andy Bashir appeared at South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn's Fish Fry. Famous proving ground for presidential hopefuls. Thank you all very much. Let's go get big wins in November.
Thank you. Where he looked every bit ready to throw his hat into the ring. You call it in the book the Great American Reset. And when I read that, Governor, I wondered: is that really possible? We've lived through A civil war?
We've lived through McCarthyism, which, by the way, Donald Trump is engaging in right now. Yes. We can get beyond this. It's the idea that your neighbor isn't the enemy from within. It's just your neighbor, and he or she is doing their best in a very difficult world.
Shouldn't we show them more kindness and less judgment? Our communion table is open to everybody. Thank you for listening. Please join us when our trumpet sounds again next Sunday morning. Paramount Plus is your streaming home for the NFL on CBS every Sunday.
with the most anticipated games and football's biggest stars. Sign up for Paramount Plus today. See you soon. Sunday! At QVC, fall shopping is more than just checking out.
It's discovering the brands you love across beauty, fashion, home, and culinary, all in one place. Whether you're getting ready for crisp mornings, cozy nights, or everyday moments, QVC has what you need for the season ahead. With brands like Laura Geller, Philosophy, Ninja, and so many more. Shop now at qvc.com. Um
