This is the Oct. 29 edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you… not now, not ever.”

— Iranian military spokesman Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, on the efforts to broker an end to the war

CHART OF THE DAY

Source: Reuters/Ipsos, 1,272 U.S. adults, margin of error: 3 percentage points

Democrats just flipped a state House seat in Palm Beach, Florida — home to Mar-a-Lago — delivering a striking upset deep in Donald Trump’s backyard. 

Democrat Emily Gregory narrowly defeated a Trump-endorsed Republican by just over 2 points, taking a seat the GOP had carried by 19 points in 2024. 

The result follows another Democrat edging out the Republican candidate in the Tampa area, where, with all precincts reporting, a Navy veteran pulled ahead by a razor-thin margin in a state Senate race Republicans had previously won comfortably. That race is yet to be called.

Since Trump returned to office, Democrats have picked off more than a dozen GOP-held seats in state legislatures — including in districts that weren’t supposed to be competitive — a sign that something may be shifting ahead of 2026. 

Gregory, a first-time candidate and small-business owner, said the race came down to local concerns. “The conversations I had with my neighbors weren’t being reflected in Tallahassee at all,” she told “Morning Joe.” 

She kept her focus on affordability — property insurance, health care, and education — which voters raised again and again on the trail.

And even running in Trump’s home district, Gregory avoided making him the focus. “I centered my campaign around all of the voters in District 87,” she said, “not the most famous one.” 

Her takeaway? “It starts with listening — and then showing up and doing the work.”

ON THIS DATE

In 1969, five days after their marriage, John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin their first “bed-in” for peace at a Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam.

A CONVERSATION WITH RAÚL TORREZ

A New Mexico jury has found Meta liable for misleading users about platform safety and enabling the sexual exploitation of minors — a major courtroom loss for the tech giant. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez joined “Morning Joe” to discuss the $375 million verdict and what comes next. 

JL: Attorney General, you just secured a major verdict against Meta. What does this victory mean for social media platforms going forward?

RT: This is a historic moment in holding social media companies accountable. Meta has known for years that it created a dangerous, addictive product. They were warned internally — repeatedly — that parts of the platform needed to change, but executives chose profit over safety.

The jury sent a clear message: They expect much stronger safety protections in these spaces.

Adrienne Elrod: Some countries are considering banning social media for kids under 16. Could something like that happen in the U.S.?

RT: Not right now. There’s no real consensus in Washington to take that step. But this decision should force policymakers to recognize the urgency parents, educators, and teens are already feeling.

JL: So if Congress isn’t moving fast enough, what’s the immediate path to change?

RT: This case is an important first step — but we need broader, coordinated action at the national level.

Rev. Al Sharpton: How do you balance protecting children without crossing into censorship or limiting free speech?

RT: We’re pushing for real age verification, changes to how algorithms promote harmful content, and independent oversight to make sure those reforms actually happen.

This isn’t about censorship — it’s about creating safer digital spaces and enforcing responsible business practices. 

This conversation has been condensed and edited for brevity and clarity.

GONE IN 90 DAYS

The future of Hollywood lasted about three months. 

OpenAI’s sudden shutdown of Sora — its eerily good artificial intelligence video generator — comes just three months after a splashy Disney deal that had executives and creatives alike bracing for a world where anyone could spin up Pixar-level clips from a prompt.

A billion dollars and a three-year licensing agreement, dissolved overnight.

The explanation is economics. Video generation at Sora’s scale is brutally expensive, and with an initial public offering on the horizon, OpenAI is narrowing its focus to products with a clearer path to producing revenue.

Sora, while it lasted, was something else entirely. Some clips were light and strange — a capybara dribbling a soccer ball like Lionel Messi. Others stopped you cold. John F. Kennedy, resurrected in pixels, delivering messages he never gave, in a voice you almost believed.

And then, just like that, it was over. 

No user-generated Mickey Mouse in a bank heist. No Spider-Man swinging past your office window. No Yoda dispensing life advice. 

For now, at least.

EXTRA HOT TEA

$1 billion

— The Trump administration’s payment to a French company to abandon wind farm projects off the East Coast to focus instead on oil and gas projects

ONE MORE SHOT

A dog enjoys a ride along the Tidal Basin this week as Washington’s cherry blossoms hit peak “puffy white” — one stage away from full bloom, expected between March 29 and April 1.

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