5/21/26: Israel Panics After Flotilla Abuse Video, Ryan Exposes Schumer AI Screwup, Tom Steyer Confronted By Griffin

22:35And what all of it says about how we actually love, yearn, and obsess. We're going to Wuthering Heights. Which, for the record, is not a romance novel. And yet it has haunted the romance genre for 200 years. We're getting into dark romance, age gaps, certain Russian hockey players. And sentient objects in love, which is a thing. That's the kind of conversation we're having every episode. Listen to the Radio 831 podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

23:09Griffin:All right, Sagar, so we got a wild one for you today. Have you ever accidentally spent$9 million and gone, oops? So the Iowa Democratic primary is on June 2nd, and it pits Zach Walls, who's a state senator, against Josh Turek, who's a state representative. They have pretty much similar politics. One of them, though, Josh Turek has said he would support Chuck Schumer as majority or minority leader. Zach Walls has said he would not do so. And so Chuck Schumer has come into Iowa and spent$9 million of Democratic money supporting Josh Turek. He has spent most of it through this organization called Vote Vets.

23:58Griffin:And a bunch of it has also gone through this organization called Majority Dems. Now, Majority Dems you may have heard of. This is kind of a Liz Smith. It's called the bench. They're trying to become a party within a party. they're organized by this guy Seth London who is what's called a donor advisor. There are so many rich people in this country with so much money that we have created an industry of people that are called donor advisors. These are people who do exactly that. They advise donors on how to spend their money. Seth London loves abundance. He's an abundance guy and so he has advised a bunch of donors, that if they want to create abundance within the Democratic Party, this kind of centrist branded thing, the way they're going to do it is through this organization with Liz Smith called Majority Dems.

24:48Griffin:And so Majority Dems, they're behind Mallory McMorrow, for instance. They're behind Josh Turek. Now, the argument, you can't say, well, we're spending$9 million to support the Schumer backing guy because he backs Schumer. This is Democratic money that people are donating so that he can take back the Senate. It wouldn't really fly if you said we're doing this because he likes Schumer. So what they've said is that Josh Turek is more electable. And let's put up this first element where they explicitly make this argument. So this is Rohan Patel, actually a former top executive at Tesla, who's now top guy over at Majority Dems.

25:25Griffin:Rohan Patel says, the district Turek holds was held by a Republican who Josh defeated. He expanded on that performance in the next election in a Trump plus nine district. Zach, meanwhile, has represented one of the bluest districts in the state and has never run against a Republican. The electability argument in this case isn't a close call. All right. So that is a very explicit claim that Rohan Patel is making. The district that Torik holds was held by a Republican who Josh defeated. Rohan Patel was at Tesla. He's a technocrat. These are the smart people. You and I, Sagar, are the kind of populist idiots.

26:08Griffin:We're filled with rage, but we don't really understand how the system works. These are the quants. These are the people who have run the numbers, and they're going to calculate our way into prosperity and abundance. That's their entire pitch. Now, the problem here is it's just actually not true. But Rohan isn't the only one who got this wrong, put up these next elements. At least three different major profiles of Torek said that he flipped a red district. Here's one correction that The Atlantic had to run. This article originally misstated the nature of Torek's previous electoral victories. Here's a correction in NBC News.

26:50Griffin:A previous version of this article mischaracterized Torek's electoral record. He won a state legislative district that was redrawn to be more Republican-leaning, but he didn't flip a Republican district. Now, to let you in on how corrections are written, you always try to make the error seem as benign as possible. These are articles talking about how this guy's electable, organized around a central fact that he flipped a Republican district, and then they learn later he did not actually do that. So how do smart people make a mistake like that? This is where this gets really fun. Okay. So if a few weeks ago you asked ChatGPT about Josh Torek's 20th House district, here's what it used to tell you.

27:36Griffin:Go ahead and put this one up. Electoral history, a long-term pattern, mostly Republican in recent decades. Ray Sorensen from 2019 to 2023. Before that, Clell Baudler. Before that, Walt Rogers. So 12 consecutive years of Republican control before Turek. So that's what ChatGPT would tell you. That's pretty impressive. Gotta be it. Man, I flipped the seat. Now let's say we do our own research, which is, I think, what ChatGPT did by going to Wikipedia. So let's pull up Josh Turek's Wikipedia page. So at the top there, it says Josh Turek, American politician, wheelchair basketball ball player. We can talk about that a bit.

28:18Griffin:Serving as a member of the House of Representatives from the 20th District. If you'll notice in there that the 20th District there is purple because I clicked on that as ChatGPT and maybe Rohan and maybe the Atlantic also clicked on. So, all right, let's click on that. Let's take us to the page of the Iowa's 20th House of Representative District. Now, if you look at the bottom there, 2019 to 2023, Ray Sorensen, Republican, 2023 to 2027, Josh Turek. So there you go. He flipped the 20th, the old fighting 20th, went from Republican to Democrat under the banner of Josh Turek, whose banner we will now ride to victory and flip Iowa from Republican to Democrat because nobody else can win in Western Iowa like Josh Turek.

29:09Griffin:But let's keep clicking just for fun. So if you click on Ray Sorensen, you'll see that he is anything but defeated. Ray Sorensen now represents the 23rd district of Iowa. So what happened? They redrew districts in Iowa. Not much, actually. But the census came out. They redrew the districts. And they renumbered them, too. So, Durek represents a district that has been voting for Democrats for decades. He represents Council Bluffs. This is such a Washington moment. Council Bluffs is in western Iowa. Look it up on the map. It's a suburb of Omaha. It's urban and suburban. It's not rural western Iowa.

30:04It is in western Iowa, but it is really part of the Omaha metro region. So Torek represents a Democratic district. Sorensen, despite the claims that Torek tossed him out of office, never ran against him.

30:24Griffin:Torek and Sorensen didn't run against each other. And Sorensen is still in office. So I reached out to all the different people involved here because I was like, wait, so what's going on here? We've got three news outlets plus this top numbers guy over at the Super PAC backing Torek all thinking that Torek flipped a seat. How on earth did that happen? Like, did you just screw it up? Did you, or did somebody lie to you? So that's what I was curious about. Did somebody lie to you? Like, and how does, why is Torek not out here correcting the record? So got a statement from Liz Smith's organization, The Bench.

31:14Griffin:They said, Rohan misspoke here and acted on his own. No one fed him the stat. Our decision to support Josh is based on his being the best candidate in the race, and the only one who can take on Ashley Hinson in the fall. So Rohan just misspoke. Okay. How do you, like, what do you? Yeah, how'd you do that? So where'd you get this? Where'd you get this? How did the Atlantic misspeak? How did NBC News misspeak? How did local NPR, which also did it, how did they misspeak? Wild. So anyway, the entire premise of his electability argument is based on him flipping the seat, which it turns out he did not flip.

31:54Griffin:Now, what they will also say is that Council Bluffs, this kind of area voted for Trump, yet he held on. He won by like six votes in the House district. There's not many people voting. You're like, oh, that's cool. He's a Democrat who won at the local level while Trump won at the national level. That means he's probably electable. That's cool. That would be usually a decent argument. The problem is that is the pattern that has held in council bluffs since LBJ. It's just, you know how there are these regions, they're trending away from that, but there are these regions that split their ticket. And council bluffs is one of them.

32:34Griffin:Council bluffs votes for, Simms Nixon votes for Democrats at the local level and votes for Republicans at the presidential level. It's just what they did. And Turek happened to be wrapped into that. Now it gets us to the part about his rationale for the candidacy. So he was born with spinal bifida, and that is in his early ads, his bio ads. And he says that because his father was a veteran in Vietnam, that exposure to Agent Orange produced the spinal bifida may be true. and that as a result he's going to fight for veterans. In a lot of the more recent ads, that part of the bio is fading, and it starts blending with this veteran because the group that is supporting him is called Vote Vets.

33:32It starts to look like he's a vet.

33:36Griffin:Now, anybody who's followed it very closely knows that that's not the case, but the more recent ads are starting to blur it just a little bit. I'm curious for your take on this. So let's roll one of these ads that has enormous amounts of spending behind it from VoteVets.

34:13Josh Turk's a fighter. He's who Iowa needs. VoteVets is responsible for the content of this ad. Yeah, that's right on the line there, Ryan, where I'm like, wait, what? It doesn't make it 100 % clear. If I had watched that cold without knowing a little bit of what you're talking about, I would have thought, oh, he must have gotten injured in combat or something like that.

34:32Griffin:Let's watch the transition again. So here's the transition from this colonel who we get the bio of the colonel. By the way, he never mentions he was deployed, which is kind of interesting. So we get this bio of the colonel. Why? He's not running. Josh is running. We get the bio of the colonel. So let's just do the transition again. Play that one more time. I enlisted out of high school. I rose to the rank of colonel. I pushed myself. Born with spina bifida. Josh Turek has done that his whole life. Now Josh is running for Senate to end the corruption in Washington. Yeah. It's a little like, huh?

35:06Griffin:Yeah. If you're just watching it like at home, you kind of come away with, yeah. And then at the end he says he doesn't take corporate PAC money in an ad paid for by VoteVets, a super PAC funded by Chuck Schumer and his major donors. If we can put up the next element, this was one that somebody flagged for me too. Josh Turek has spent his life in the toughest battles. Ah, I see. Now he's been very clear that he's had spinal bifida since he was a child. He's never said he was a veteran. But these VoteVets ads, like that's a little like. Right. That's on the line for me. That's pushing. And the reason this could be risky is if you poll Iowa voters and you find that like a significant chunk believe that he's a veteran, Republicans then can come at him and say, you thought that he was a veteran.

35:58Griffin:He's not. Now, he never said he was. But look at these ads. You believed it. You were fooled. And so it creeps into this accessory to stolen valor type situation that Republicans could potentially hammer him. Right. And I just think zooming out, your point is they used an AI error. They spent$9 million. $9 million? Other people's money. They basically had an AI error. They didn't track it all that closely. And people in D.C. and all these other donor advisors were like, oh, let's just throw some money. Yeah, he's from western Iowa. Actually, he's from Omaha. Vote Vets comment. They say, quote, we are proud to support Josh Turek because he knows firsthand the generational costs of war.

36:42Griffin:He was born with spina bifida due to his dad's military service and had 21 surgeries before age 12, which we've said in our advertising. True. It's true. Josh will be a strong advocate for veterans and military families, which Congress needs to fight back against the Trump administration's devastating cuts to VA. He has talked a lot about the VA. Absolutely. Josh has been fighting his whole life. And with Donald Trump in the White House, Josh will be exactly the kind of senator Iowa needs. So anyway, so that's that's that's their take. Let's finish with the guy that they're going against. So Zach Walls, he became this viral sensation in like 2011.

37:20Griffin:You might remember this when he stood up in the Iowa legislature and talked about his two moms. Oh, that guy. It's that guy. He's back. Yeah, I remember him. Now here we are. He was like 20 years old when I was. Yeah, he was 20. He was a child. We were the same age. That's why I remember this. He and I were the same age. Yeah, it was a great speech. Yeah, it was moving. So anyway, so here's Zach Walls, now state senator, talking about Hinson, who's going to be the Republican opponent. This one company from Utah bought 15 communities across the state, three of them in my Senate district, two in Johnson County and then one in Cedar County, the more rural part of my district.

37:56And as their state senator, I took it upon myself to go knock doors in my communities to hear from my constituents, my people about what was going on. And the stories I heard were heartbreaking. I met a woman named Candy. Candy was a widow, and her late husband had saved up, bought her this beautiful double-wide trailer. And she had a place to call her home. And she was worried about her own home. She was terrified about what would happen to her neighbors. and I was so angry about what I was hearing that I was able to take these stories and I went to my Republican colleagues. We brought together a bipartisan group.

38:29We hammered out a bill that we could all support and as a freshman, I got that bill with the help of people like Candy and her neighbors who came to the state house to fight for that bill. We got it through the Senate 48 to zero. Everyone assumed this was a done deal and then two days later, I get a text message asking me to come over to the house side for a closed-door meeting about my bill. And I remember it like it was yesterday, walking in. First person I see is the lobbyist representing these big companies. And the second person I see is a state representative who's holding my bill, shaking her head.

39:02That state representative is now a member of Congress. And she was my Republican opponent in November, Ashley Hinson. And I was in the room, and I watched as Ashley Hinson killed my bipartisan bill as a favor to that lobbyist. And after this was over, I looked up how much money this lobbyist had bundled for her re-election campaign. You want to guess how much it was? $50 ,000. $1 ,500. Cheap date. And you will never guess, though, who was some of her biggest supporters in her campaign for the U.S. House or who did a fundraising event for her in the Senate campaign just a few months ago. So when we talk about this connection between the rigged economy and the corruption of our politics, I saw that firsthand as a freshman legislator.

39:49And look, I will tell you this. I was excited to run against Joni Ernst. But when I found out I was going to be running against Ashley Henson, I jumped out of bed the next morning.

39:59Griffin:All right. So he's probably going to lose after$9 million got dumped on his head. But what's ironic is that the race is not over. Zach Walz is actually still in it. If it was really true that Turek was the most electable candidate by miles,$9 million spent by Washington should put him way over the top. Like, it should not still be close. Like, that kind of undermines your own case. Anyway, we'll be tracking this one. We'll see. All right. So there we go. You had a candidate who might have technically been able to win and all that, and instead they backed some guy because of an AI error. You can't make it up.

40:33Maybe Turek wins. We'll see. This is why we love Ryan. Only he could uncover something like this. Okay, we have a pre-recorded interview here. Our great Griffin Davis actually sat down with Tom Steyer, the gubernatorial candidate. He pressed him on all kinds of questions. So without further ado, and by the way, let me just mention again, his suit looks fantastic in this interview. Meanwhile, Tom Steyer is not wearing a suit, and you will see why that matters as the power dynamics shift towards Griffin as he forcefully pushes him on all the issues. Let's take a listen. hey it's us the jonas brothers and guess what we have some big news what's the news huge news we created our own podcast called hey jonas we invented a podcast well we didn't invent it we we just contributed to first people to do podcasts pretty yeah pretty wide range of but this one's extra special so how did we how do we actually come up with the name hey jonas guys i honestly don't remember i think it was on a call about what we should call it and Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.

41:41This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, hey, Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy. Not quite. On Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

42:17This week, my guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. The United States will not stand by and allow any power, however great, take over another country.

42:48Griffin:From iHeart Podcasts, Saigon. Please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? I should stop talking so much. I like hearing you talk. One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from Japanese ground fire. Do you read me? They're pouring petrol all over him. He's holding matches. I'm on a landmine. For freedom. Let's get out. Freedom from Vietnam. Saigon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict. Sting, here's madness. The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country and it's going to burn out everything.

43:30Listen to Saigon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, Breaking Points. Griffin here, and we're here with California governor candidate Tom Steyer. Tom, how's it going? I would say I'm having a ball. Yeah? You would say. I am having a ball. Okay. And let me say this. People always ask me, you know, is it really hard? And I'm like, it's really fun. I actually feel like this is such a privilege and such a joy to get to go around and meet Californians. I mean, I'm going to go out today and talk to, you know, a few hundred Californians and I get to go around every single day and meet people and learn stuff.

44:07And Californians are great. This state is great. It's fun. No one should be feeling sorry for me. Let's have, let's have some fun. I only got you for a few minutes. I got a lot to ask. So I talked to people, they say they'll never trust a billionaire. What do you say to them? Well, I can understand why people are skeptical of building areas. That's for sure. Because so many of them seem like such selfish people. So self-absorbed, so entitled, so insensitive. But let me say this. I didn't inherit a penny. I started a business, ran it for 27 years, walked away from billions of dollars because I wanted to give back to the state of California.

44:41And my wife and I have said, we're going to give our money away while we're alive to good causes. And you're for tax the billionaire? I'm the only person who's for taxing the billionaires in the state of California is the one billionaire on the ballot. Sure. So you're for taxing the billionaires because I think people have a problem with billionaires because they feel like that wealth should be redistributed elsewhere. But also because people feel like billionaires are a threat to our democracy. Now, some of your opponents have accused you of paying for influencer campaigns, paying influencers to promote your campaign.

45:13Are you paying influencers? and we have never paid for an endorsement. We pay people for their time. They're small business people. They can put up whatever they want, but we have, has any of it been negative? I don't read it. I don't follow it. Honestly, look, and it could be, and that's not the problem. This is, we do this and so does everybody else. It's just, we do it openly and we report everything. And so the Becerra campaign, which has been running from answering questions from people like you, who've been running not to talk to reporters, not to answer questions from Californians, is saying, oh, you know, they're trying to change the subject.

45:51The topic in California is the people of California and why it's not working for the people of California when the state as a whole is killing it. That is the question. And they're scared to talk about that. So you don't think if someone accepts money from the campaign that they would pull questions, do softball interviews, obviously they're going to do positive content about you. Look, they can do whatever they want, but we're not paying anyone for endorsements or outcomes. People actually are supporting our campaign. I don't know how closely you've looked at the campaign. People are supporting our campaign because they like our campaign.

46:24I mean, this race, Griffin, everyone talks about how complicated this race is. This race is not complicated. There are three people in this race. There's a MAGA Republican. Steve Hilton. Steve Hilton. And he's British, which is rough. Well, he's originally Hungarian, just so you know. Oh, Okay. Worse. Maybe. I'm not sure. Hungarian to Britain to California. Okay. There is a corporate Democrat who's taking money from the health insurance. Which one's that? Javier Becerra. Okay. He's taking money from the health insurers. He's taking money from Chevron. He's taking money from the other oil drillers.

46:56He's taking money from the strongest lobby against single payer healthcare. He is the corporate who's taking their money and clearly feels like the corporate special interests deserve to run this state. and he said, you know, Chevron's not bad guys. We need Chevron. We should drill more. And he doesn't have an environmental policy. For me, that's, you know, end of story. But the other thing, and there's one progressive Democrat in this race who's standing up to the corporate interests and the corporate interests are spending tens of millions of dollars, a record amount in any campaign against me because they know that I will stand up for working people and I will go after the corporations that are driving up the costs that make it impossible for working people to live here.

47:36But do you think it sets a dangerous precedent? You know, we got union workers outside. They obviously view you as a good billionaire, but couldn't there be a bad billionaire that comes along and floods the race with influencers that are getting money from the campaign? Isn't that a dangerous precedent? Well, let me put it this way. There've been billionaires who've run in California before and they've always lost. And the difference is I've spent this, I didn't just decide to do this. I've been doing this full time for 14 years. I walked away from my business 14 years ago. You can look at my record and see.

48:03I've taken on three times at the ballot, powerful corporate interests and beaten them. I've registered 1.2 million young Californians. My wife and I have started a nonprofit community bank to lend money to the people that the commercial banks won't lend to because they're redlining. We've worked really hard to get a coalition to push free breakfast and free lunch for every school kid in California. We've had 20 people working for 11 years in Sacramento on every progressive legislation in this state. I didn't just fall off the turnip drop. Right. Yeah. So it could be a bad billionaire comes along where you said bad billionaires have run in the past and lost, but you don't think it's a dangerous precedent to flood influencers.

48:48Look, let me say this. Do I think that we need campaign finance reform? Of course I do. The only person who is standing up to these corporate special interests is me. Should there be a cap? Look, it's a much more complicated question than just one thing. But it's clear, really, the question here is, I'm the only billionaire on the ballot, but I'm not the only billionaire in this race. Billionaires are giving money right now to all the other candidates. Billionaires are putting money in independent expenditures to fight me. I'm the one person who's pushing to tax billionaires like me more. The only person.

49:24No one else is standing up for that in this race, including Steve Hilton and including Javier Becerra. Let's talk more about California. A lot of people feel like California is failing, and some people blame it on the over-representation of Democrats. Some people tell me they feel like we need a Republican to counteract and bring balance back to the state. Why do you think California is failing? Well, let me start by talking about the Republicans. Let me just put that one to rest. Have you heard any of the debates? Oh, I've watched them all. Okay, let me say, Steve Hilton is ridiculous. He's ridiculous.

49:54I mean, there is the fact that he's supporting Trump kicking millions of people off Medi-Cal. There is the fact that he's supporting ICE raids. There is the fact that he believes the war in Iran is good and that it hasn't caused gasoline prices to go up a buck and a half. There is the fact that he would extradite California doctors to Louisiana to be prosecuted criminally under Louisiana law for performing an abortion in California. Look, there is no way that guy has an idea in his head that makes sense. He is a MAGA Republican, and the MAGA Republicans are trying to destroy this country. I don't want them destroying our state.

50:31Gotcha. So that is very clear. The question in this mind, but there is a real question here. Yeah, about balance. The corporate special interests own this state. The oil companies clearly own D.C., and they're trying to buy California and stop cap and invest. I don't know if you've, they're trying to stop that. They are absolutely ripping us at the pump. You know, their costs don't go up when the Iran war starts. Nothing happens for them except their ability to charge more. And the head of the Western States Petroleum Association, which is the lobbying group for oil, said it's their fiduciary duty to extract every penny at the pump from Californians as a result of the Iran war.

51:12Do I trust those guys? Why would you? Let's talk about the train in nowhere. This is a big topic. Train was supposed to go from LA, San Francisco. They spent$15 billion, haven't laid a single bit of track. Why did that fail? And what would you do to change that? Well, it was more complicated than that in terms of failure. They started, they didn't build a train from San Francisco to LA. They built a train from Bakersfield to Merced. Yes. Well, that's what they got so far. And so there's no ridership there. But they did that because the federal government said they'd give them$4 billion if they put the train there.

51:47So they crazily decided to do it. Look, there's something going on in this state which is true, which is we're not getting results in the real world. I mean we're killing it in cyberspace when you say California is not succeeding. Let's be clear. California is half the growth in the United States of America. That's true. California is growing faster than any other state by a lot. The issue is we also have the highest poverty rate in the country. We also have a school system that's delivering somewhere in the 30s out of 50 states. We do have a place where Californian working people cannot afford to live between really high housing costs, really high health care costs, electricity costs that are twice the national average.

52:27Everybody's getting ruined at the pump, but especially Californians and food costs. So there is a real issue here about building things physically in this state. That's for sure. So recently, about two months ago, you went on the Hassan Piker broadcast. And he asked you if you believe that Israel was committing a genocide. And you said you didn't really know what that meant. It's been about two months. Have you looked it up? Look, what I think is clear about this is the Netanyahu regime is committing war crimes. America used to be supporting them with money and armaments. We're now their open partners in Iran.

53:04It's clearly a mistake. Like, do I think, am I against, you know, do I oppose AIPAC? Look, I think they're a dark money organization. I don't think they should have a place in American politics. Do I understand that there's something really wrong going on here and that we're now open partners in it? Yes, I think I got that one. Why don't you think it's a genocide? You know, over 80 % of Democrats and over 50 % of independents say it's a genocide. Why are you in the minority on that? I don't think, what I've said is, I'm calling it war crimes. I still, and some people get mad at me when I say this, but it's true.

53:38I don't understand how we possibly solve this without pushing for a two-state solution. The Netanyahu regime has been pushing to end the possibility of a two-state solution for as long as I can remember, for as long as they've been in. I don't think that there's any way to support them. I think what they're doing is not just morally reprehensible. I believe it's a crime. Yeah, but not a genocide. You recognize the Armenian genocide. Why don't you recognize this one? I will say this. I have asked people who are international experts, and they're very mixed on this. Well, that's actually not true.

54:11I've got Human Rights Watch, Beth Selim. We had an international genocide scholars group over 500 that overwhelmingly called it a genocide. And the reason I'm pushing on this is because I think the majority of Democrats really feel like this is a moral litmus test. and it is but i'm i it is a moral litmus test and i'm completely on the side of condemning what the netanyahu regime is doing i'm trying to preserve the possibility of still having a two-state solution where everybody's dignity everybody's self-determination is continued and that's what i think that's the only solution i see to this so if i asked like a suburban mom in like alabama you know not a politician not not as well read into any of this stuff as you and i are but neither of us are genocide experts.

54:55I think the majority of experts have called it a genocide. That Alabama suburban mom, she's going to call it a genocide. An Alabama suburban mom? Yeah. I think there's moms all over this country that saw what happened and now believe it's a genocide. Look, you're hung up on the word. What I'm hung up on is this is clearly morally wrong. This is clearly a crime against humanity. Yes, absolutely. Okay. Spencer Pratt is gaining traction here in LA. What are your thoughts on his candidacy? I honestly have not focused on Spencer Pratt, but it sounds to me from what other people tell me that he's a super right-wing guy and who's using a lot of anger to try and stir people up.

55:39And I'm absolutely opposed to that every place it comes out in our society. Why do you think he, I mean, debatable on how much traction, but he's getting some traction, because I do think there's this feeling that LA is failing in some way. The Hollywood industry is failing. There is a homeless crisis. People do feel like the city is failing. Let me say this. I think across California, people don't think government works. I think young people especially think they're being ripped off. They have never seen government help them make their life be better. That is an absolutely critical point. And it's true.

56:11There's no question about that, that people feel like, and I think you were talking about the trained to nowhere. People know that. People think they'll never be able to afford a house in California. The average first-time home buyer's age has gone from 28 to 42. Young people think they'll never buy a house. They don't think this state can work for them. Why can't we build here? I think people think there's this battle between the state government and local city governments. How are you going to force building? So let me say this. As I know you've spent lots of time on my website, I don't have to go through every detail.

56:44One of the things that I'm doing really differently about housing is I'm saying on day one, I will call a special election to close a corporate tax loophole that's worth$20 billion. And that money will go to the states, to the counties and the cities. And the reason that's important is there is a tussle between the state and the cities and the counties, because the state wants there to be building of houses, but the cities and counties are responsible for the people who live in those houses and they don't have the money for it. And therefore, as a result of old tax rules, they push back because they don't want to get stuck in an unfunded mandate, or they put in an upfront fee that's up to 20 % of the cost of the house.

57:23What I'm saying is, okay, here's$20 billion around this state. Now you can afford to have housing. And when I've talked to mayors about this, they've said, if you really do that, I'm in. Okay. Final question. So now you got to go. Hollywood. We feel like Hollywood's dying out here. What are you going to do to save Hollywood? So let me say this. I'm a super competitive person. I am on team California. Hollywood is by far the greatest collection of film and entertainment talent, not the stars, but you know, right down in all the jobs in the world. People are trying to buy our business, buy the business that basically Los Angeles invented.

57:59We can't let that happen. So there's, I have a long list of things we need to do, but it starts with tax credits. People shoot in Canada because it's cheaper or they shoot overseas because it's cheaper. How can you fix that? Part of it's tax credits. Tax credits? Part of it is looking at the regulations and trying to take that away. But in the long run, it's driving down costs, which is my whole campaign is about driving down costs for working people, housing costs, healthcare costs. But in the short run, I don't want to lose this. Every tax credit brings back $1.14 to the state of California.

58:30We can't lose this because people buy our business. That is not okay. And we can't lose this because we've been so, the perfect is the enemy of the good. We have so many expensive rules that small productions can't do it. I want to support that whole ecosystem as strongly as possible. It's very hard to rebuild an ecosystem. So I don't want to lose it in the first place. Tom, thank you for your time. Deal, Griffin. Thank you guys so much for watching. We appreciate it. Friday show for everybody tomorrow. Great bro show. Always good to see you, my friend. And we'll see you all later.

59:31We'll see you next time. being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but you know, tired and sick, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen, we don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. On Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

1:00:05We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I actually drop better when I'm high. It heightens my senses, calms me down. If anything, I'm more careful. Honestly, it just helps me focus. That's probably what the driver who killed a four-year-old told himself. and now he's in prison. You see, no matter what you tell yourself, if you feel different, you drive different. So if you're high, just don't drive. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council.

1:00:46Griffin:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.