What, Barbra Streisand wasn't available to offer expert commentary on Federal Reserve policy? Instead, Friday's Morning Joe went with former ESPN podcaster Pablo Torre. And the result was a bizarre mixture of perplexity and pathos. His appearance was a classic illustration of the perils of venturing outside 'core competencies,' in corporate-speak, and holding yourself out as an expert-on-everything.
Torre used to host the ESPN Daily podcast, but Pablo left ESPN and has gone off on his own, now hosting Pablo Torre Finds Out, and serving as a regular Morning Joe guest.
Substitute host Katty Kay invited Torre to comment on two stories: President Trump's attempt to oust Lisa Cook as a member of the Federal Reserve, and the President's plan to send federal agents to Chicago to increase arrests of what Kay called "unauthorized immigrants."
Kay even asked Torre to explain why, in response to Trump's efforts to remove Cook, the dollar and the markets "haven't tanked in the way that some people thought they might be?"
So, Torre was now also a Jim Cramer-style market analyst?
As for Kay, she and her fellow libs were likely not just thinking, but hoping, that markets would tank, with the blame being laid at Trump's feet. Torre launched into a meandering mess of a commentary. He twice mentioned "lag" in the impact of Trump's policies.
Pablo, the only lag you should be talking about is that in the golf downswing.
Torre eventually admitted to feeling like he's taking "crazy pills, again," and curiously concluded with a famous Ronald Reagan quote: "trust but verify."
A plaintive Pablo described himself as being "In New York by myself on a Friday before Labor Day weekend. It's very lonely here."
Kay felt Pablo's pain and tried to comfort him: "I'm so sorry you're all alone. It does something to you, being solitary up in the studio. I know we won't forget you, Pablo. We know. We know you're there."
Friendly advice, Pablo: you were great on ESPN Daily. Stick to sports!
One couldn't help think that the other panelists, Sam Stein, David Ignatius, and Jonathan Martin, were saying to themselves, "Why the heck is this sports guy being asked to opine on subjects that we actually know something about?!"
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC's Morning Joe
8/29/25
6:10 am EDTKATTY KAY: A hearing is now set for 10 a.m. this morning in Washington, D.C., after Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook filed a lawsuit against President Trump. Claiming that his to remove her from her position is unlawful, she is asking to remain an active member of the board. In her lawsuit, which also names the Fed's Board of Governors and Chair Jerome Powell as defendants, Cook describes her ouster as unprecedented and illegal. The filing argues that the president does not have the power to unilaterally redefine "cause," completely unmoored to case law, history and tradition, and conclude, without evidence, that he has found it. Trump has accused Cook of mortgage fraud, but she has not been charged with a crime.
Meanwhile, federal authorities are planning to surge agents to Chicago next week in an effort to increase arrests of unauthorized immigrants. Federal law enforcement officials tell NBC News the plans involve Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, and other federal agencies.
. . .
Okay, so we read those stories together, Pablo, because, again, it is part of this process of the country that is changing before our eyes.
You're up in New York. I'm gonna quickly pull you in on a kind of market response to this, because one of the surprising things, particularly about the Lisa Cook hearing, is we had anticipated that there would be more market response than there has been. Yes, the dollar's fallen a bit, but it hasn't tanked, and the markets haven't tanked in the way that some people thought they might be. What's going on with the markets and the Fed?
PABLO TORRE: Yeah, look, we have been waiting, frankly, for the larger Trump economic strategy to get over the lag period and actually impact, you know, Main Street America, so to speak.
And so the through line in these conversations in terms of what's happening with the market, it brings us back to this larger examination of, do we want the Fed? Do we want the CDC? Do we want these organizations, the transportation regulators, to be in place, such that their expert advice, which is warning us in a long-term way, and warning us, hey, it's not merely enough to be reactive but proactive, do we still consider their counsel on this to be worthy of inclusion in the room?
And so the question of how can you get away with this, it does depend on this lag, Katty. And we can talk about the ways in which what's happening in Chicago tends to be the comfort zone for Donald Trump in terms of the playbook he wants to run.
But all this feels familiar. All this feels of a piece. All of it feels like we're in reruns, frankly. Um, I don't know if you guys in D.C. feel that way. Certainly in New York, it just kind of feels like, okay, so we're trying to take the advice of the experts, or the guy who's saying, isn't everything fine now? Doesn't it feel okay right now in the present tense? Enough for you? And that kind of makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills, again.
But that's just me in New York by myself on a Friday before Labor Day weekend. It's very lonely here.KAY: I'm so sorry you're all alone. It does something to you being solitary up in the studio. I know. We won't forget you, Pablo. We know you're there.
TORRE: Trust but verify.
