December 1, 2025 • 8 mins
NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor Leland Vittert talks about the bizarre cranberry sauce mention in his WarNotes Newsletter and gives his take on how Americans are feeling about the economy as the Christmas shopping season gets underway.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go to the hotline and bring in News Nation
chief Washington anchor and host of On Balance with Leland Vitter,
which you can watch weeknights at nine on News Nation.
Leland Vitter is with Us. You could also check out
his free War Notes newsletter at warnoes dot com and
don't forget to pick up his brand new book, Born Lucky.
So Leland, I want to talk about your War Notes
(00:20):
newsletter for a second. In your latest one, this was
before Thanksgiving, you mentioned that you like cranberry sauce with limes.
I've never heard of that before. When did you start
eating cranberry sauce with lines?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Okay, it's not lines, it's lines l I N E S. Lines.
Oh oh okay, well that is the cranberry sauce right now?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, okay, Well in your newsletter says limes l I
M E S. It's a type.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Oh my god, okay, this is this. I was getting
a lot of really weird. I thought it was just
because I had had margarita. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I was gonna say, what is that. I'd never heard
of that before. That was new Okay with lines. I
know the one you're talking about, because it's the jelly
cranberry sauce. Yes, yes, okay, all right, Well that makes
a lot more sense than than limes. You've got a
lot of people reading your war notes of his letter
who think that you do something weird with your cranberry sal.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You know, you know, I got to tell you that,
you know what, I gotta tell you that, Ryan, I
just talked to your producer before I came on the air,
and he said he said, you know, he said, Brian
Muson had a good big because he's smiling today in
the studio, and that never happens. You need to smile more. Man.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Well, well, I know that I only have a couple
of weeks left for my next vacation, so you know,
it's it's it's a happy time of the year when
when you have a week off and then you get
a few more weeks off coming up. So yeah, I'm
in a pretty good mood this morning, which is, as
Dana cantest to, it's rare.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, you know, give us a couple more hours talking
about the news and we'll beating about it.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So, you know, sifting through everything that unfolded over the
past couple of days, I always think This is interesting
after a holiday when some people maybe weren't paying close
attention to the news. What happened that was important? And
what some of the stuff that that really wasn't as important?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Okay, and you are you gonna tell me what's important
what's not?
Speaker 1 (02:50):
No, I was hoping you could do that as our
as our guest. I mean I can, but I was,
according to you, what what should we take away from
the past couple day that was important that people should
know about and care about.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
To me, what is important in what is going to
matter from the past couple of days is how people
feel and what people talked about. And that sounds like
a sort of it's a silly metric for measuring things,
But that's really what this all comes down to, right,
I mean, how are people feeling as they do more
(03:28):
of their Christmas shopping? How do people feel about the
direction of the country, how do people feel about their kids?
It's much more of a of a texture thing than
it is a data thing. The one thing I saw
that I thought was most indicative of where we're headed
as a country is everyone is talking about oh my god,
(03:49):
Black Friday and Christmas shopping is up? Isn't this fabulous.
You see, the economy is doing great. It is if
you're rich, it is not if you're not. And that,
I think is this sort of long running story that
we have in America right now, that we are having
this continued and I'm going to use a big word here,
(04:11):
but I won't spell it bifurcation of the American economy,
that the richer getting richer and everybody else is just
continuing to struggle. And that is I think why you
see this level of discontent in America right now. And
it's real. There's a real feeling of discontent in America.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
We're john By NewsNation Chief Washington anchor Leland Viiddert, and
in that that war Notes newsletter, which again everyone can
read for free at warnoes dot com, you talk about
Michael Green, an investment manager, and you took a look
at at how much things cost for the average American
(04:53):
and how much you would need to make in order
to cover all of that, and it's a lot more
then I think, you know many people realize.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I'm glad you brought that up because we did have
an interview with Michael Green, and I thought he had
one of the best look at America ever, and I
will say that for anybody who missed the interview on
Tuesday night with Michael Green, I'm going to repost it
in today's War Notes. So go ahead and make sure
you subscribe warnoes dot com to subscribe for free and
(05:27):
you will see this interview from him. But he talks
about how the poverty line is about thirty five thousand
dollars a year for a family of four, impossible really
to survive, and then to live sort of what he
called comfortably, you need about one hundred and eight thousand
dollars a year, depending on where you live in America
(05:48):
of income, well above the national average. But the bigger
question for him was why between thirty five thousand dollars
a year and one hundred thousand dollars years it's so
hard for Americans. And it's because effectively, the federal government
disincentivizes work. For every dollar you make extra about eighty
(06:10):
percent or ninety per cents on the dollar of federal benefits,
it's taken away. So that is why many families to fight.
It's so hard to be upwardly mobile in America. We
used to make America different, right, is the is the
middle class in America and how you could move up
through the middle class and that has basically been taken away.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
It's a really interesting book that he writes, or piece
that he writes, and the interview was certainly fascinating, along
with some of these statistics and figures on just how
much things cost when you take a look at you know,
the cost over the course of a year.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, and I think he put his finger on why
so many Americans feel like they just can't get ahead,
like it's just not fair. And that is we have
said over and over and I've said it on on
this program, and I'm always grateful for the opportunity to
be with you that when people feel like things are
(07:12):
unfair is when we have this really difficult time in America.
And that to me is why you're seeing just so
many people so angry in America right now.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
All right? Leland News Nation chief Washington anchor and host
of On Balance with Leland Vertt. You can watch him
weeknights at nine on News Nation. You can check out
his free war Notes newsletter again Warnes dot com, and
you can of course get his new book, Born Lucky
wherever you get your books. Leland really appreciate your time off.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Oh, twenty five percent off. Born Lucky ends today on Amazon,
so if you if you want a present, Born Lucky
is hope for every parent of a kid having a
hard time. It's a great story. As Ryan, Amazon dot Com.
Until midnight tonight you get twenty five percent off.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Oh nice deal for Cyber Monday. All right, Leland really
appreciate it. Thanks so much, and we'll talk to you
next week.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Anybody we go. Ryan Gorman Show five to nine every
weekday morning on news radio w u FLA
Let's go to the hotline and bring in News Nation
chief Washington anchor and host of On Balance with Leland Vitter,
which you can watch weeknights at nine on News Nation.
Leland Vitter is with Us. You could also check out
his free War Notes newsletter at warnoes dot com and
don't forget to pick up his brand new book, Born Lucky.
So Leland, I want to talk about your War Notes
(00:20):
newsletter for a second. In your latest one, this was
before Thanksgiving, you mentioned that you like cranberry sauce with limes.
I've never heard of that before. When did you start
eating cranberry sauce with lines?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Okay, it's not lines, it's lines l I N E S. Lines.
Oh oh okay, well that is the cranberry sauce right now?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, okay, Well in your newsletter says limes l I
M E S. It's a type.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Oh my god, okay, this is this. I was getting
a lot of really weird. I thought it was just
because I had had margarita. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I was gonna say, what is that. I'd never heard
of that before. That was new Okay with lines. I
know the one you're talking about, because it's the jelly
cranberry sauce. Yes, yes, okay, all right, Well that makes
a lot more sense than than limes. You've got a
lot of people reading your war notes of his letter
who think that you do something weird with your cranberry sal.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You know, you know, I got to tell you that,
you know what, I gotta tell you that, Ryan, I
just talked to your producer before I came on the air,
and he said he said, you know, he said, Brian
Muson had a good big because he's smiling today in
the studio, and that never happens. You need to smile more. Man.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Well, well, I know that I only have a couple
of weeks left for my next vacation, so you know,
it's it's it's a happy time of the year when
when you have a week off and then you get
a few more weeks off coming up. So yeah, I'm
in a pretty good mood this morning, which is, as
Dana cantest to, it's rare.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, you know, give us a couple more hours talking
about the news and we'll beating about it.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So, you know, sifting through everything that unfolded over the
past couple of days, I always think This is interesting
after a holiday when some people maybe weren't paying close
attention to the news. What happened that was important? And
what some of the stuff that that really wasn't as important?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Okay, and you are you gonna tell me what's important
what's not?
Speaker 1 (02:50):
No, I was hoping you could do that as our
as our guest. I mean I can, but I was,
according to you, what what should we take away from
the past couple day that was important that people should
know about and care about.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
To me, what is important in what is going to
matter from the past couple of days is how people
feel and what people talked about. And that sounds like
a sort of it's a silly metric for measuring things,
But that's really what this all comes down to, right,
I mean, how are people feeling as they do more
(03:28):
of their Christmas shopping? How do people feel about the
direction of the country, how do people feel about their kids?
It's much more of a of a texture thing than
it is a data thing. The one thing I saw
that I thought was most indicative of where we're headed
as a country is everyone is talking about oh my god,
(03:49):
Black Friday and Christmas shopping is up? Isn't this fabulous.
You see, the economy is doing great. It is if
you're rich, it is not if you're not. And that,
I think is this sort of long running story that
we have in America right now, that we are having
this continued and I'm going to use a big word here,
(04:11):
but I won't spell it bifurcation of the American economy,
that the richer getting richer and everybody else is just
continuing to struggle. And that is I think why you
see this level of discontent in America right now. And
it's real. There's a real feeling of discontent in America.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
We're john By NewsNation Chief Washington anchor Leland Viiddert, and
in that that war Notes newsletter, which again everyone can
read for free at warnoes dot com, you talk about
Michael Green, an investment manager, and you took a look
at at how much things cost for the average American
(04:53):
and how much you would need to make in order
to cover all of that, and it's a lot more
then I think, you know many people realize.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I'm glad you brought that up because we did have
an interview with Michael Green, and I thought he had
one of the best look at America ever, and I
will say that for anybody who missed the interview on
Tuesday night with Michael Green, I'm going to repost it
in today's War Notes. So go ahead and make sure
you subscribe warnoes dot com to subscribe for free and
(05:27):
you will see this interview from him. But he talks
about how the poverty line is about thirty five thousand
dollars a year for a family of four, impossible really
to survive, and then to live sort of what he
called comfortably, you need about one hundred and eight thousand
dollars a year, depending on where you live in America
(05:48):
of income, well above the national average. But the bigger
question for him was why between thirty five thousand dollars
a year and one hundred thousand dollars years it's so
hard for Americans. And it's because effectively, the federal government
disincentivizes work. For every dollar you make extra about eighty
(06:10):
percent or ninety per cents on the dollar of federal benefits,
it's taken away. So that is why many families to fight.
It's so hard to be upwardly mobile in America. We
used to make America different, right, is the is the
middle class in America and how you could move up
through the middle class and that has basically been taken away.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
It's a really interesting book that he writes, or piece
that he writes, and the interview was certainly fascinating, along
with some of these statistics and figures on just how
much things cost when you take a look at you know,
the cost over the course of a year.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, and I think he put his finger on why
so many Americans feel like they just can't get ahead,
like it's just not fair. And that is we have
said over and over and I've said it on on
this program, and I'm always grateful for the opportunity to
be with you that when people feel like things are
(07:12):
unfair is when we have this really difficult time in America.
And that to me is why you're seeing just so
many people so angry in America right now.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
All right? Leland News Nation chief Washington anchor and host
of On Balance with Leland Vertt. You can watch him
weeknights at nine on News Nation. You can check out
his free war Notes newsletter again Warnes dot com, and
you can of course get his new book, Born Lucky
wherever you get your books. Leland really appreciate your time off.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Oh, twenty five percent off. Born Lucky ends today on Amazon,
so if you if you want a present, Born Lucky
is hope for every parent of a kid having a
hard time. It's a great story. As Ryan, Amazon dot Com.
Until midnight tonight you get twenty five percent off.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Oh nice deal for Cyber Monday. All right, Leland really
appreciate it. Thanks so much, and we'll talk to you
next week.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Anybody we go. Ryan Gorman Show five to nine every
weekday morning on news radio w u FLA
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