November 2, 2024 • 9 mins
This week on the Sunday Panel, NZ Herald senior writer Simon Wilson and Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!
We've only got a few more sleeps to go until the US election - who do we think is going to win? The polls are still tied - where do we see this going?
It's been a great weekend for sport - the All Blacks beat England in Twickenham, the Kiwis took on Tonga in the Pacific Championships and Auckland FC won their first game against the Wellington Phoenix. What was our favourite moment?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Joining me this morning. On the panel, we have New
Zealand Herald senior writer Simon Wilson. Good morning, Simon, Hi there,
Francesco and news Talk zb Wellington morning host Nick Mills.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
How you doing, Neck, Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Doing great?
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Thanks?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Okay, Simon, we are days out from the US election.
Can you make an educated guess as to who is
going to win this selection? Or do you have a
gut feeling as to who was going to win the selection?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I think an educated guess is that you can't say,
And my gut feeling is actually I can't say either.
I suppose I'm fearful of the idea that if it's
this type now, there will be a sort of sag
in support for Harris and people will quietly go and
vote Trump. But on the other hand, I keep reading
(00:57):
stuff that suggests that, you know, when you dig further
into it, Harris is a little stronger in Pennsylvania than
people say. Blah blah blah. I I just don't now.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
And it doesn't matter what you read, Neck. It seems
impossible to pack well.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I went really hard for Kamada right at the beginning, right,
I said, look, I think you know, her first speech
was good. She looks articular, she's bright. I thought, oh
my god, how could she lose to trap? You know?
And then now I hate sitting on the fence. I'm
not going to sit on the fence. I'm going to
stick with her. But I spoke to a colleague in
America that I was trying to get on my show
(01:31):
during the week during next week, and he said, thanks, Mat,
that's like throwing me a hand grenade right now. And
I went, gosh, how what a great way to explain
that it really is. And then I got thinking, right,
and Simon will probably sorry to saying about this too.
I got thinking about what are the repercussions of it
isn't clear cut, you know if it is, and it's
not going to be clear cut, And I think the
(01:52):
world needs a headache in America now after what we've
been through over the last five years, like an absolute
hole in the head. And I'm starting to get really
really nervous of what happens.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
What Yeah, my first as soon as that it's going
to take days and days and it's going to be
quite a chaotic process to find out who you know
to name a president. Simon, You know, that's my first
concern is just getting through the election process and claiming
a winner.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I think you're right. I think nex's absolutely right. If
it's uncertain, then that's going to breed a level of
frustration and anger among many people. I did read something
pretty reassuring about this just yesterday that suggested that surveys
have shown that people who believe Trump should win and
(02:42):
believe that the election was stolen from him last time,
are going to vote for him. But when they're asked
directly if he doesn't win, or if it looks like
he's not winning, what will you do, they basically say, well,
we're going to go home. You know that, Actually, the
number of people who tried to storm the Capitol on
(03:03):
January sixth, twenty twenty one, was a tiny frack, a
tiny tiny fraction of the of the Trump supporters. Most
of them don't pick up their guns and go marauding.
It only takes a few to do it, of course,
to create real habit. But it's not like half the
population is going to go on.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
The rampage and then going back to what you mentioned
before about Karla Harris. I think you sort of had
a nail on the head there because there was so
much momentum after that debate, and I think you look
at the campaigning now and you go, why did she
not pull ahead?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
You know?
Speaker 4 (03:34):
And I go even further back to that when when
Biden made that horrific speech or do something really bad,
and she was questioned outside about half an hour later,
and she came across so damn well, you know's she
just spoke well confident. I just thought, well, she's a
perfect person to put in there. I just think America
(03:55):
is America, and I think males in America are males
in America. I think there's a whole lot of a
whole lot of that involved. And I just think that,
you know, color in America, there's a whole lot to
put in the pie that's going against them. To be really,
really perfectly honest, I think she's probably the right person
at the right time and the right decision. But that's
(04:15):
and that's coming from a non political person. I'm not
left or right. I'm just saying, hey, for New Zealand,
for America, you know, for America, for the world, she's
the right person. But I don't get to vote no.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
And look, that's the thing. There's nothing we can do
about it. We just have to deal with the hand
that we're dullt when it comes to New Zealand having
a relationship with the United States, Does it worry you
or do you care who wins?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
It Absolutely worries me. I'm in the camp that is
extremely fearful of what a Trump presidency will mean, not
just for Americans, obviously for Americans, but also for the world.
I think global instabilities in the Middle East, Ukraine, with China,
climate change, all of those things are going to be
(04:59):
very precariously balanced. And precariously balanced is not a phrase
you want to use around Ronald Trump, because he's not that.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Nick And you know what, the other scary point, the
real scary thing is what I've been reading, because obviously
they're going to do a few days on over the
next week. They've been everywhere, And what really scares me
is that apparently Trump's got rid of all the people
that question them. So anyone in his camp that had
anything to do with saying, hey, that's wrong, Donald, pull
your head in there, and they're all gone. So it's
it's almost like a dictatorship.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I think I think that's a really really good point.
People say, look, what, why are you so scared of Trump?
We've seen him in power for four years. It wasn't
that bad. Well, it was that bad for a lot
of people. But he burnt off, or he burned off
almost everyone who worked for him, and a number of
the people who did were in senior positions, Conservative generals
(05:53):
who now call him a fascist, who people who you
would think, you know, would have been much more, would
have been much more loyal. He couldn't work with any
of them. And next time around, he's not going to
have those kinds of people, going to have much more
unquestioning loyalists who will do what he wants. And there
are people around him a now lining up for those
(06:15):
for those jobs.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Can I just ask you guys both a question, Because
I've never been a political person, and I've not been
on radio full time for for that long, I had
never known an American election like this.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Am I right?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Or am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I think you're right.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
No, I think you're right.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yes, you go back to sixty eight. Sixty eight was
the election when the Democratic Party in Chicago had its
convention and there were riots in the streets, anti war
riots in the streets. And that was the election where
Lyndon Johnson, who was the president and had announced in
an election year that he wasn't going to stand again.
(06:53):
So Herbert Humphrey stood up to be the candidate and
it was Thanny against Richard Nixon, and Nixon won that election.
That was incredibly heated and there were riots and holidus
social disorder. But this is this is something else again.
This is a real point where America it feels to
(07:13):
me like we'll go this way or we'll go that way,
and those two ways are very.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Different, and the world does not need it right now,
because we're all more sensible than America.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Right gentlemen, I want to talk about the cracking twelve
hours or so of sport that we've had over the weekend.
What has been your favorite win? Is it the All Blacks?
Is it the tong and comeback against the kiwis last night? Simon?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Well, I'm just going to say thanks, Francesca. I have
been avoiding the news, so I didn't know until just
about what five seconds ago, But that's all right. I
will I will watch it with pleasure, even knowing the outcome,
but please don't tell me the score. That will help.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Okay are you talking about Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
But I got to say Tongue are beating New Zealand
in the league. You know, why do people keep thinking
Tongue is not as good as it is? They are amazing.
That was a firestorm of the first half and you know,
I'm just full of admiration for Tom and sport.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Nick ho are you feeling about the fact that it's
taken in Auckland FC? Team, you know, to fill your
stadium down there in Wellington?
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Well at a football guy, we're obviously delighted that the
tools were ringing in the capital city and every week
was great. Apart from the results. The big money boys
came in and gave us a little tap on the backside.
But that's okay. That that makes.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
It more good money.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
That's the big money boys. You know what I'm going
to suggest. I've got David Domes on the show tomorrow.
I'm going to suggest that he takes us next one
to Eden Park.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Imagine.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Now, let's be really smart about this. You get twenty
four thousand and fifty eight at Sky Stadium and Willington
you imagine if you took your home game to Eden
Park against Auckland FC, you get forty five thousand dollars,
show me the money.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
You're absolutely right, bring it on, Yeah, show the money.
Fantastic competition, isn't it and it will be the edge.
If you were in rugby, you'd be pretty worried about
this because this now gives New Zealand, the New Zealand
competition a real edge, professional level, great sport in football,
which of course is already a major sport among kids
and has the capacity to keep building in this country.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Look, thank you both very much, Simon Wilson and Nick
Mills and Simon, yeah, I know you're going to sit
down and watch rugby now. It's not a relaxing time.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Just warning you.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
I haven't mentioned the scordough.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News TALKSZ'B from nine am Sunday or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Joining me this morning. On the panel, we have New
Zealand Herald senior writer Simon Wilson. Good morning, Simon, Hi there,
Francesco and news Talk zb Wellington morning host Nick Mills.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
How you doing, Neck, Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Doing great?
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Thanks?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Okay, Simon, we are days out from the US election.
Can you make an educated guess as to who is
going to win this selection? Or do you have a
gut feeling as to who was going to win the selection?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I think an educated guess is that you can't say,
And my gut feeling is actually I can't say either.
I suppose I'm fearful of the idea that if it's
this type now, there will be a sort of sag
in support for Harris and people will quietly go and
vote Trump. But on the other hand, I keep reading
(00:57):
stuff that suggests that, you know, when you dig further
into it, Harris is a little stronger in Pennsylvania than
people say. Blah blah blah. I I just don't now.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
And it doesn't matter what you read, Neck. It seems
impossible to pack well.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I went really hard for Kamada right at the beginning, right,
I said, look, I think you know, her first speech
was good. She looks articular, she's bright. I thought, oh
my god, how could she lose to trap? You know?
And then now I hate sitting on the fence. I'm
not going to sit on the fence. I'm going to
stick with her. But I spoke to a colleague in
America that I was trying to get on my show
(01:31):
during the week during next week, and he said, thanks, Mat,
that's like throwing me a hand grenade right now. And
I went, gosh, how what a great way to explain
that it really is. And then I got thinking, right,
and Simon will probably sorry to saying about this too.
I got thinking about what are the repercussions of it
isn't clear cut, you know if it is, and it's
not going to be clear cut, And I think the
(01:52):
world needs a headache in America now after what we've
been through over the last five years, like an absolute
hole in the head. And I'm starting to get really
really nervous of what happens.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
What Yeah, my first as soon as that it's going
to take days and days and it's going to be
quite a chaotic process to find out who you know
to name a president. Simon, You know, that's my first
concern is just getting through the election process and claiming
a winner.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I think you're right. I think nex's absolutely right. If
it's uncertain, then that's going to breed a level of
frustration and anger among many people. I did read something
pretty reassuring about this just yesterday that suggested that surveys
have shown that people who believe Trump should win and
(02:42):
believe that the election was stolen from him last time,
are going to vote for him. But when they're asked
directly if he doesn't win, or if it looks like
he's not winning, what will you do, they basically say, well,
we're going to go home. You know that, Actually, the
number of people who tried to storm the Capitol on
(03:03):
January sixth, twenty twenty one, was a tiny frack, a
tiny tiny fraction of the of the Trump supporters. Most
of them don't pick up their guns and go marauding.
It only takes a few to do it, of course,
to create real habit. But it's not like half the
population is going to go on.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
The rampage and then going back to what you mentioned
before about Karla Harris. I think you sort of had
a nail on the head there because there was so
much momentum after that debate, and I think you look
at the campaigning now and you go, why did she
not pull ahead?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
You know?
Speaker 4 (03:34):
And I go even further back to that when when
Biden made that horrific speech or do something really bad,
and she was questioned outside about half an hour later,
and she came across so damn well, you know's she
just spoke well confident. I just thought, well, she's a
perfect person to put in there. I just think America
(03:55):
is America, and I think males in America are males
in America. I think there's a whole lot of a
whole lot of that involved. And I just think that,
you know, color in America, there's a whole lot to
put in the pie that's going against them. To be really,
really perfectly honest, I think she's probably the right person
at the right time and the right decision. But that's
(04:15):
and that's coming from a non political person. I'm not
left or right. I'm just saying, hey, for New Zealand,
for America, you know, for America, for the world, she's
the right person. But I don't get to vote no.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
And look, that's the thing. There's nothing we can do
about it. We just have to deal with the hand
that we're dullt when it comes to New Zealand having
a relationship with the United States, Does it worry you
or do you care who wins?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
It Absolutely worries me. I'm in the camp that is
extremely fearful of what a Trump presidency will mean, not
just for Americans, obviously for Americans, but also for the world.
I think global instabilities in the Middle East, Ukraine, with China,
climate change, all of those things are going to be
(04:59):
very precariously balanced. And precariously balanced is not a phrase
you want to use around Ronald Trump, because he's not that.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Nick And you know what, the other scary point, the
real scary thing is what I've been reading, because obviously
they're going to do a few days on over the
next week. They've been everywhere, And what really scares me
is that apparently Trump's got rid of all the people
that question them. So anyone in his camp that had
anything to do with saying, hey, that's wrong, Donald, pull
your head in there, and they're all gone. So it's
it's almost like a dictatorship.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I think I think that's a really really good point.
People say, look, what, why are you so scared of Trump?
We've seen him in power for four years. It wasn't
that bad. Well, it was that bad for a lot
of people. But he burnt off, or he burned off
almost everyone who worked for him, and a number of
the people who did were in senior positions, Conservative generals
(05:53):
who now call him a fascist, who people who you
would think, you know, would have been much more, would
have been much more loyal. He couldn't work with any
of them. And next time around, he's not going to
have those kinds of people, going to have much more
unquestioning loyalists who will do what he wants. And there
are people around him a now lining up for those
(06:15):
for those jobs.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Can I just ask you guys both a question, Because
I've never been a political person, and I've not been
on radio full time for for that long, I had
never known an American election like this.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Am I right?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Or am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I think you're right.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
No, I think you're right.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yes, you go back to sixty eight. Sixty eight was
the election when the Democratic Party in Chicago had its
convention and there were riots in the streets, anti war
riots in the streets. And that was the election where
Lyndon Johnson, who was the president and had announced in
an election year that he wasn't going to stand again.
(06:53):
So Herbert Humphrey stood up to be the candidate and
it was Thanny against Richard Nixon, and Nixon won that election.
That was incredibly heated and there were riots and holidus
social disorder. But this is this is something else again.
This is a real point where America it feels to
(07:13):
me like we'll go this way or we'll go that way,
and those two ways are very.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Different, and the world does not need it right now,
because we're all more sensible than America.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Right gentlemen, I want to talk about the cracking twelve
hours or so of sport that we've had over the weekend.
What has been your favorite win? Is it the All Blacks?
Is it the tong and comeback against the kiwis last night? Simon?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Well, I'm just going to say thanks, Francesca. I have
been avoiding the news, so I didn't know until just
about what five seconds ago, But that's all right. I
will I will watch it with pleasure, even knowing the outcome,
but please don't tell me the score. That will help.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Okay are you talking about Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
But I got to say Tongue are beating New Zealand
in the league. You know, why do people keep thinking
Tongue is not as good as it is? They are amazing.
That was a firestorm of the first half and you know,
I'm just full of admiration for Tom and sport.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Nick ho are you feeling about the fact that it's
taken in Auckland FC? Team, you know, to fill your
stadium down there in Wellington?
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Well at a football guy, we're obviously delighted that the
tools were ringing in the capital city and every week
was great. Apart from the results. The big money boys
came in and gave us a little tap on the backside.
But that's okay. That that makes.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
It more good money.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
That's the big money boys. You know what I'm going
to suggest. I've got David Domes on the show tomorrow.
I'm going to suggest that he takes us next one
to Eden Park.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Imagine.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Now, let's be really smart about this. You get twenty
four thousand and fifty eight at Sky Stadium and Willington
you imagine if you took your home game to Eden
Park against Auckland FC, you get forty five thousand dollars,
show me the money.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
You're absolutely right, bring it on, Yeah, show the money.
Fantastic competition, isn't it and it will be the edge.
If you were in rugby, you'd be pretty worried about
this because this now gives New Zealand, the New Zealand
competition a real edge, professional level, great sport in football,
which of course is already a major sport among kids
and has the capacity to keep building in this country.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Look, thank you both very much, Simon Wilson and Nick
Mills and Simon, yeah, I know you're going to sit
down and watch rugby now. It's not a relaxing time.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Just warning you.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
I haven't mentioned the scordough.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News TALKSZ'B from nine am Sunday or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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