The Axe Files with David Axelrod

Hugh Hewitt, columnist and radio host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show," talks to David about his time as a young researcher to President Richard Nixon, how he went from describing Trump as a “stage-IV cancer” to supporting his candidacy, his thoughts on Hillary Clinton and Judge Merrick Garland, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your a...

Jeffrey DeLaurentis, chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, sits down with David to discuss his career at the State Department, his three posts in Cuba, the Obama administration’s push to normalize relations between the two countries, and much more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com...

Newton Minow, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, sits down with David to discuss the clandestine role he and his agency played during the Cuban missile crisis, his personal reminiscences of Lyndon Johnson, Adlai Stevenson and others, the legacy of President Obama, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad...

Maggie Haberman, presidential campaign correspondent at The New York Times, chats with David about her family’s journalism background, her time on the City Hall beat, what it was like covering 9/11, the 2016 race, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paul Begala, adviser to the pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC Priorities USA, talks to David about his loss to Hank the Hallucination at the University of Texas, his years working for President Bill Clinton, his thoughts on the 2016 race, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sen. Susan Collins, Republican from Maine, chats with David about her two decades on Capitol Hill, her relationship with Hillary Clinton, why she is not yet ready to endorse Donald Trump, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Isaac Lee, chief news and digital officer of Univision News and CEO of Fusion, chats with David about his grandfather fighting the Nazis and later moving to Colombia, the death threats Lee received as editor in chief of one of Colombia's leading investigative magazines, how millennials consume news today, and his concerns about Donald Trump. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, v...

Minnesota Senator Al Franken talks with David about his journey from comedian to politician, his work on mental health issues, Congressional dysfunction, the Orlando shooting, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bill Walton, one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history and former basketball announcer for ABC, ESPN, and NBC, chats with David about the importance of leadership, what he learned playing for John Wooden at UCLA, how his back troubles nearly drove him to suicide, and his new book “Back from the Dead.” To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about...

Beth Myers, who served as senior adviser to Mitt Romney on his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, sits down with David to discuss her wide-ranging career from working with Karl Rove in Texas to Romney in Massachusetts, the state of the Republican Party in 2016, and how a recent stroke changed her life. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about...

Tim Philips, president of Americans for Prosperity, chats with David about growing up in South Carolina, his admiration of Ronald Reagan, and leading the conservative advocacy movement. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tom Harkin, retired Democratic senator from Iowa, sits down with David to discuss his four decades in Congress, his work on the Americans with Disabilities Act, his take on the 2016 presidential race, and much more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeff Greenfield, an award-winning journalist who writes for the Daily Beast and Politico, chats with David about what it was like working for Robert F. Kennedy before his assassination in 1968, his views of the current presidential race, and much more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sits down with David at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics to discuss his childhood in New York City, his tenure at the Justice Department, his views on Donald Trump, Edward Snowden, and much more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leading Israeli news anchor Ilana Dayan chats with David about her career as a reporter in Israel, her thoughts on Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, U.S.-Israeli relations, and the prospects for a two-state solution. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Katie Couric, global anchor for Yahoo News, sits down with David in her New York apartment to discuss her wide-ranging journalism career from 9/11 to “The Today Show” to her 2008 interview with Sarah Palin, her views on the current media landscape, and the 1998 death of her husband Jay after a nine-month battle with colon cancer. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com...

Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, chats with David in New York about growing up in Ireland, how she went from a sports reporter at Yale to writing a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on U.S. foreign policy, and her take on the Obama administration's approach to conflicts in Libya, Syria, and elsewhere. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Lear...

Michael Nutter, former mayor of Philadelphia, speaks with David about going from nightclub disc jockey to City Council representative to mayor of the country’s fifth-largest city, his views on how to improve community policing, and his take on a possible Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton general election. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about...

Jon Stewart, comedian, author, and former host and executive producer of "The Daily Show," chats with David in Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago to talk about Donald Trump and the 2016 election, lessons from lobbying in Washington, what he's working on today, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Journalist and host of CNN’s “AC360” Anderson Cooper talks with David about his new book, becoming a self-appointed embed in Burma and Somalia, Donald Trump’s relationship with the media, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Frank Bruni, author and columnist for the New York Times, chats with David about his long and diverse career in journalism from New York to Detroit to Rome, Donald Trump's odds of winning the general election, gay marriage, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patrick Kennedy, former Democratic congressman from Rhode Island and son of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, chats with David about growing up in the Kennedy family, his battle with mental illness and addiction, his new book “The Common Struggle” and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute and author of “The Conservative Heart,” chats with David about his time living in Europe, the U.S. Immigration debate, how to combat the current political polarization, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Republican strategist Mike Murphy sits down with David at the Institute of Politics to discuss his time at Georgetown as a member of the College Republicans, his time on the McCain campaign’s Straight Talk Express in 2000, his assessment of Jeb Bush’s failed bid for the Republican nomination, and more. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about yo...

David Plouffe, former campaign manager for President Obama and currently a top adviser at Uber, chats with David Axelrod about his start in politics working for Sen. Tom Harkin in Iowa, Obama’s election in 2008, the use of data in campaigns, and his assessment of the 2016 race for the White House. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad...