8/25/25: Bernie Backs Trump Intel Buy, Zohran Flamed For Bench press, Krystal Exposes Famine Coverup

23:53And I believe Andrew Cuomo has weighed in as well. D3, please, let's put it up there on the screen. What have we got? Andrew Cuomo, it's easy to talk, it's hard to carry the burden. This guy can't bench his own body weight, let alone carry the weight of leading the most important city in the world. I actually do wanna know how much Cuomo can bench, because if you'll remember, his nipples were often very prominent in his shirts during COVID. Remember that comment that Trump made? Of course I did, yeah. Listen, he was right. He's right and right. He was protruding. Yeah, it's true. It's gross, all right?

24:28It's gross. Put a damn, you know, put a jacket on, man, if that's your physique. Anyway, this has gone quite viral for Mr. Zoran. So anyway, I am curious. I do want to know what Cornwall can bet. I mean, it's - And whether Adams is on TRT, because 64, lifting a lot, I mean, I'm skeptical, personally. There's a whole dynamic in this campaign. and it's also like a meme of them trying to like come up with the silliest scandals for Zoran. Like there was that whole, remember thing about like his college admissions and the box he checked and whatever, all that sort of stuff. Or the other thing that like the New York Post loves to do is they love to pull the DSA platform and like find something in that and be like, Zoran supports this.

25:08I just fell for that. Even when he didn't say anything about that. I literally just fell for that. It was the headline was like, Zoran against misdemeanors. Wants to get rid of misdemeanors. And I was like, man, what an idiot. it and I started reading it and I was like wait this is the DSA platform it's not the same thing yeah like he didn't say anything about that but they'll just pull anything from the DSA platform anyway so I do think this fits a little bit in that vein of like finding the silliest possible is this going to have impact no it's just funny I mean it's personally fun by the way I'm gonna I don't bench press at the gym my trainer doesn't have me do it because he thinks it makes him very injury prone but I have spoken to him and I will be doing the 135 challenge um even though I don't think I've done a bench press in two years, but I'm going to do it.

25:48It would be pretty embarrassing if I couldn't consider my body. Yeah, sure. I'll post a video. I'll do it here. I'll do the bench press challenge. I happily will. One three. That's just one plate on each side. I mean, for my size and body weight, I believe I should be able to do 225. That's like the, you're supposed, isn't that the metric? You're supposed to be able to bench your own body weight. The one guy who is the goat in this is Jamal Bowman, who we've had here on the show. Because he benched 400 pounds. That's impressive, man. He's very strong. That is genuinely, like, shockingly impressive.

26:20He is very strong. Maybe we should book Jamal to give us a breakdown on all of this. Oh, on his form. He's a Zoran supporter, too. That's right. Zoran supporter who can bench 400. Yeah, actually, we should, especially on his form. Because, again, I don't know enough about his form or whatever to see if it's— Jamal Bowman also, we had him on KKF, and we had him on our live stream when Zoran won the primary. And he's just in his like giving zero fucks mode too. So he's fun to talk to right now because he will just spill all the tea about what he saw in Congress and his interactions with AIPAC and all of that.

26:53So in any case, it'd be fun to hear his thoughts on the race more broadly. At the same time, we've got yet another genuine corruption scandal with regard to Eric Adams. The details of this are so preposterous. We can put this up on the screen. So he has this lady who's affiliated with his campaign who does outreach to the Chinese-American community in the city. And so apparently after some event, she said, you know, she said, oh, meet me over at the Whole Foods because I want to give you something. And so this reporter walks over with Greco as the Chinese-American lady who's the advocate for Adams.

27:32And it says, while inside the store, Greco handed the reporter an open bag of chips with the top crumpled closed. The reporter thought it was an offer of a light snack and told Greco more than once she could not accept the chips, but Greco insisted that she keep them. The two parted ways before entering a nearby subway station. The reporter opens the bag and discovers a red envelope inside stuffed with cash, at least one$100 bill, several 20s. Reporter then called Greco and said, I can't accept this money. Asked if she was still nearby so she could give it back. Greco said she left the area. Reporter told her she had to take the money back.

28:10Greco said they could meet at some point in Chinatown. Reporter then texted Greco, I can't take this. When can I give it back to you? She did not get a response. In an interview later Wednesday, the city, that's this publication, asked Greco what her intention was in handing money to the reporter. In response, she'd said she'd made a mistake and apologized over and over. And actually, her specific comments are really funny here. I don't know if we have them, but I'll just go ahead and read them because her explanation is kind of entertaining. She says, quote, I make a mistake. I'm so sorry. It's a culture thing.

28:42I don't know. I don't understand. I'm so sorry. I feel so bad right now. I'm so sorry, honey. Then she called the city back, advising that we call her attorney, Stephen Brill, and adding, quote, can we forget about this? I try to be a good person. please, please, please don't do in the news nothing about me. I just wanted to be her friend. I just wanted to have one good friend. It's nothing. So there you go. Another interesting let's put Eric Adams response. If I'm a Spanish guy, you just can't make it up. D5. So there were some other issues with the same Chinese American lady. There was like, she roped a campaign volunteer into helping her remodel her home.

29:22She lived at some hotel for months at a time that was supposed to be for formerly incarcerated people. There's all kinds of stuff going on with this lady. In any case, when Mayor Adams was asked about these findings previously, he deflected and downplayed his relationship to Greco, saying he hadn't spoken to her about the allegations. When I see her, I say, ni hao. You know, that's hello, he told the press. So that was his explanation of all of this. Well, it wasn't her defense also. She's like, I'm Chinese. That's just part of our culture. Yeah, just like Cuomo is Italian. So he's not a sexual harasser.

30:00He's just Italian. A little dicey there. Also, if you're going to bribe somebody, you've got to do more than$140. I mean, what are we doing here? These are local reporters. It's tough times. You know, it's tough times. The news industry is in free fall. A couple hundred bucks. I can make a difference. Adams, yeah, he's just one of the greatest to ever do it. I'm going to miss him. I really am. He was great. He's so, the cartoonish level of corruption with this man. I long ago lost count. Ross Barkin could break it down for us. Of the number of aides who were indicted under investigation. This lady herself had previously been under investigation.

30:32I think she had like an FBI rating her stuff seized previously, if memory serves correctly. But it's just, you know, he's just, it's like a throwback, you know. to old school, decades ago, levels of big city machine level corruption. And there was one other thing that was interesting about this, which is after the city gets their bag of cash and reports it all out and reports her to whatever the ethics commission is, et cetera, or law enforcement, then the New York Times publishes this piece that's like, yeah, reporters also saw cash being exchanged in these envelopes from the campaign. And it's like, why didn't you report that?

31:12Totally, I agree. That is the sketch. It's so weird, right? I don't know. It's just total laggy. Corruption is just so assumed to be a part of the Adams campaign that they didn't even find it newsworthy. I've seen a lot of corrupt shit here in Washington. I actually have never seen cash change hands. That's the one thing where everything is supposed to be, you know, oh, here's some free drinks, and here's a free dinner, and you get to come to this. And, oh, if you're on your way there, you can ride on my jet if you want. Everything is supposed to be soft. Like, you're not supposed to be able to prove it.

31:40Actual cash exchanging hands is wild. That's like Tammany Hall level stuff. Adams needs to, he just needs to launch his own shit coin. Yeah, exactly. People can just fuddle him cash via that because that's apparently a thing that politicians can do now, no problem whatsoever. So Zoran, as a little tongue-in-cheek response to this latest scandal from Eric Adams and also just, I guess, because they came up with this idea, he actually did a citywide scavenger hunt over the weekend and here is how he announced that. Hello, my friends. I have to come clean. I have something to hide. Many things, in fact, because we're doing a scavenger hunt.

32:17No, no, no. Actually, we are doing a scavenger hunt across New York City. When you arrive at the location, look for a campaign volunteer who will mark off your card and give you a clue to the next location. At the first stop, you'll get this card. At the final stop, you'll find a special surprise. Not a wad of cash. So make sure you go all the way to the end. So for those of you, again, are just listening, he starts with, like, the bag of chips. and he's like, oh, I've got something to hide here. And it's the same type of chip in which the envelope of cash had been stuffed. So that's a reference there or whatever.

32:48But I love the scavenger hunt thing. I don't know. It's like millennial cringe, I guess people are saying. Yeah, I was going to say. But I support it. I love the celebration of New York. That's really a key ethos of the Zoran campaign. It's personally making me very nostalgic for the city of New York and for the time period that I lived there. And apparently there's a huge response. We can put this up on the screen. the images while you say what you thought about it. On the one hand - Thousands of people who showed up for this freaking thing. On the one hand, Scavenger Huns, Pokemon Go, and all of this stuff is deeply cringe and millennial.

33:21On the other, we do have a crisis of community and people going outside and doing things. So I guess that's important. It's kind of like, what's it called? Like pickleball. You know, the people in the tennis community really hate pickleball because it's taking over the courts and all of that. Yeah. But it's the fastest growing sport in the country. I agree. It looks silly. Every time I play it, I feel a bit silly. It's kind of fun. It has zero barrier to entry. And, you know, anything that gets people moving, gets outside, is probably a good thing. So, anyway, sorry, tennis people. Your courts, we're seizing them.

33:54We're taking them over. And I feel similarly about this. Personally, I do think scavenger hunting is cringe. I would not engage. But, you know. If I was there, I would have done it. If it gets people to do it. If it gets people outside, it gets people doing something, go for it. One of my favorite things to do when I lived in the city was just to explore New York. Because you could explore that city and five boroughs for your entire life and constantly, every time, find something new, interesting, unexpected, etc. So in the spirit of that, I am a full supporter of the Zoran Scavenger Home. Well, I mean, look, you know, we didn't say that everything wouldn't be cringe, but it can also be good.

34:29So, you know, you never know. I think something that makes me well-studded to be a nurse is my empathy. Growing up with a big family, I think I've always kind of been a caregiver. When you care give, you get to know the family and the patient and you get really close. And Rasmussen University, they did a very, very good job of giving us the resources that we need. So just being able to apply the knowledge that I've retained to my daily life has been so amazing. Learn more at rasmussen.edu.

35:25Apple Vacations

35:31This is Charity Lawson from Bachelor Happy Hour. Charity, I was thinking about this the other day. What's something that you'll always say yes to? That's easy. Seeing my friends, a last-minute girls trip, basically making memories you'll talk about for years. Same. And somehow every one of these memories comes with something to plan. That's so true. That's why Klarna stands out. It's about smarter tools that help you manage your money without taking away from the moments that matter. Exactly. With flexible ways to pay, cash back that builds automatically, and everything in one place, Klarna helps you feel more confident making everyday money decisions.

36:06Because when you have the right tools, everything feels more manageable. Download the Klarna app today or visit Klarna.com to learn more. California resident loans made or arranged pursuant to California Finance Law License, NMLS number 1353190. Klarna balance account required to be eligible for cash back points, limitations, terms, and conditions apply. All right, Crystal, what are you taking a look at? Last week, UN-backed experts with the IPC, or Integrated Food Security Classification System, officially declared Gaza City in a state of man-made famine. Only the fourth such declaration made in that organization's history.

36:42Here you can see the steady rise in those facing emergency levels of food insecurity and catastrophic levels of food insecurity. Already, Gaza City has reached that organization's metrics for an official famine declaration with 35 percent of households at that catastrophic mark, and another 55 % at the emergency level. The other regions of the Gaza Strip are also on track for famine if a ceasefire and surge in aid is not immediately achieved, with conditions worsening everywhere. The authors of the report sounded a dire warning, saying, quote, if a ceasefire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and if essential food supplies and basic health, nutrition, and sanitation, and water services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially.

37:30Now, will Israel use this official report to take a step back, reflect on how they could have lost their way so badly as to go from genocide victims to genocide perpetrators in just a few generations, or even just to consider with shame the way that they have torched their reputation as a civilized nation with the entire rest of the world? Obviously not. Instead, they wage an immediate all-out war to try to deny the veracity of this assessment. Pseudoscience propaganda reports were crafted. Netanyahu, of course, called it a blood libel. And official Israeli Hasbara influencers were dispatched to debunk the claims.

38:07But the real high IQ genocide denial take came directly from the Israel Twitter account. Here, they claim that the IBC lowered their standard to 15 % malnutrition in order to unjustly smear Israel. Quote, in other countries, the IPC declares famine at 30 % malnutrition. In Gaza only, the UN-backed IPC lowered the bar to 15%, and it is based on unreliable data. They didn't find famine, so they forged one. This, of course, is total and complete bullshit, a made-up lie to deflect and to confuse you. Refugees International President Jeremy Conondyke posted an excellent thread to explain the trick that Israel is trying to pull here.

38:49He points out that, first of all, the exact same metric was used for declaring famine in Sudan just last year. So right out of the gate, this whole blood libel, anti-Semitism, double standard claim from Israel is completely blown up. The TLDR is this. There are two different assessments which can be used to determine famine conditions, both of which have been used by the IPC in the past. One is weight for height, which is basically a BMI metric, and the other is MUAC or mid-upper arm circumference. Conondyke writes that both are valid ways of assessing global acute malnutrition in a population and in line with IPC guidance.

39:30Mid-upper arm circumference is often used when assessors have limited access, as is the case in Gaza due to Israel's decimation of the healthcare system and attacks on international aid workers. These two different metrics also have two different thresholds for famine designation. Here, so you know, is the relevant chart. You can see that for the BMI, weight for height metric, 30 % of children must be bounderished for it to be deemed a famine. For the mid-upper arm circumference test, the threshold for phase five famine is 15 % of children, which is what was met in Gaza City. As to why the different tests merit different thresholds, Conondyke writes the following, quote, because they measure different physical characteristics, weight for height and MUAC often manifest at different levels within the same population.

40:20A lower MUAC usually equates to a higher weight for height GAM, that's a famine measurement, hence the different thresholds of 15 % and 30%. So essentially, mid-upper arm circumference is a more stringent criteria, so if you're seeing 15 % in trouble using that criteria, you would likely have measured more than 30 % if you were able to do a full weight for height assessment. The Israelis are not stupid. They know all of this. They're just hoping you are stupid and that you won't look past their surface-level assertions and that the process is rigged or to be so terrified about being accused of anti-Semitism that you will back down at the first challenge.

40:59There are other high-acute genocide denial claims, though, and they are similarly dishonest. Israel claims that Gaza City did not yet actually cross even that 15 % assessed child malnutrition threshold as required in July. In fact, the report breaks July into two halves. In the second half of July, the threshold was in fact breached, clearly demonstrating the trend is towards worsening conditions and that the most recent data is in fact indicative of phase five famine. Israel also claims that Gaza has not met the threshold for famine based on the number of deaths from starvation. Here too, they are lying and they are gaslighting you.

41:35The IPC standards take into account all famine-related death, not solely those in which the sole cause is starvation. As Nir Hassan writes for Haaretz, quote, mass hunger is not only a medical issue caused by food shortage. It is a total collapse of the systems that sustain life. Elderly people and infants die because their immune systems are weakened. They suffer infections from living in tents without sewage or clean water. Chronically ill patients die because they cannot access treatment or special food or are too weak to travel to clinics. Premature births and pregnancy complications are rising, and this is only a partial list.

42:12In other words, ignoring those deaths in which starvation was a contributing factor is the equivalent of claiming that there was no Holocaust because actually Anne Frank died of typhus. But this is far from the only area where Israeli propagandists echo the despicable claims of Nazis and Holocaust deniers. The Israeli government has been busy pushing their influencer cutouts to back up all of their genocide denial. According to Haaretz, the Israeli Diaspora Affairs Ministry sponsored influencers to take PR trips to the GHF aid massacre sites, where they, of course, dutifully reported back that all was well and no one was starving.

42:51Propagandists like Eyal Yacobi have been busily reposting videos purporting to show Gaza grocery stores chock full of food and Palestinians out there enjoying lavish spreads of food. You should be very skeptical of all of these photos and videos. There have been a bunch of instances where they were actually old videos or for somewhere else entirely. But even when they are actually from Gaza in the present day, they prove nothing. And as Zed Jelani writes, they come straight out of the playbook of Holocaust denial. Drawing the parallel, Zed writes of the way a few restaurants in the Warsaw ghetto were used to claim that Jews were not only just fine, but they were actually gluttonous.

43:29Quote, the Nazis didn't have access to social media, but they did have cameras. They used these restaurants in the ghetto to portray an image of Jews getting fat off of plentiful food, ignoring the mass hunger and violence that gripped ordinary life in the ghetto. The following is the recollection from Samuel Puderman, who was there. The guests were supposed to eat a lot, voraciously, and wash down the food with alcohol, he said. They were filming waiters bustling around the tables laden with trays on which gourmet delicacies were piled up. They photographed the general view of the crowded room, single ladies who were ordered to lift up their dresses high, Jews eating sardines from the can with their fingers, Jews playing under the table with the bare calves of the female companions of the libation, Jews throwing half-eaten goose quarters under the table.

44:12The film reel did not show fainting women and the black and blue faces of people hit with a whip. Jacoby and his ilk are pulling the same detestable trick, showing a few decadent-looking scenes and claiming this is remotely representative, daring you to disbelieve the doctors, the experts, Palestinians themselves, and what you can see with your own eyes on your own timeline every single day. Haaretz did a virtual tour recently of Gaza hospitals, and they found exactly the horrific conditions you would expect among a trapped, starved, bombed population. Child after child, with bones jutting out, abdomens distended, full body rashes from the diarrhea caused by malnutrition and poor sanitation.

45:01There's little Amar, an infant whose hair was faded to a reddish brown, whose mom was too starved to breastfeed and too poor to purchase the$100 per tin formula, so she fed him all that she had, cornstarch in water. Doctors say if he survives, his brain will be permanently damaged and he will suffer lifelong severe retardation. There's Sham, a tiny two-year-old weighing less than 10 pounds. She was a healthy child just before October 7th. Now her body is wasted. Her face is that of an old man. Her family too could find no milk substitute for her. The Dr. Caring for Shams said, quote, as you can see, she's in a miserable situation.

45:43She's always crying. She's always suffering. Tell me they aren't real, you sick freaks, you disgusting monsters. Tell me I'm an anti-Semite for believing that their lives matter too. Your lies, your gaslighting, your number games are so paper thin, I can't imagine you even find them convincing yourselves. I hope that these babies whose lives you've stolen haunt you for the rest of your days. You are utterly disgusting and a disgrace to humanity. Sagar, I have lost words to describe how despicable I find this game that they're playing. I hate that I had to spend... And if you want to hear my reaction to Crystal's monologue, become a premium subscriber today at BreakingPoints.com.

46:31My name is Tuba Nguyen, and enrolling at Rasmussen University was essentially a handshake to a lifeline, a career, stability, and a future for myself. I found it important to be able to speak with instructors and staff outside of office hours, and to have that support system was essential because they believed in me. Rasmussen University. Are you ready to rewrite your story online and on campus? Learn more at rasmussen.edu.

47:31This is Charity Lawson from Bachelor Happy Hour. Charity, I was thinking about this the other day. What's something that you'll always say yes to? That's easy. Seeing my friends, last minute girls trip, basically making memories you'll talk about for years. Same. And somehow every one of these memories comes with something to plan. That's so true. That's why Klarna stands out. It's about smarter tools that help you manage your money without taking away from the moments that matter. Exactly. With flexible ways to pay, cash back that builds automatically, and everything in one place, Klarna helps you feel more confident making everyday money decisions.

48:07Because when you have the right tools, everything feels more manageable. Download the Klarna app today or visit Klarna.com to learn more. California resident loans made or arranged pursuant to California Finance Law License, NMLS number 1353190. Klarna balance account required to be eligible for cash back points, limitations, terms, and conditions apply. Very excited now to be joined by Shahed Goreshi. He is a former State Department employee who was summarily fired recently. Let's go and put this up there on the screen. Fired this official over internal debates over Israel. Goreshi recommended expressing condolences for slain journalists in Gaza and exposing the forced displacement of Palestinians, according to documents reviewed.

48:50He was then fired days later. So, Shahed, thank you so much for joining us on the show. we appreciate it. Glad to be here. All right, so let's start off with the top. You were recently fired from the State Department. The State Department says that they won't comment, but they're basically accusing you of leaking. It appears that a lot of this comes down to internal debates over Israel. First and foremost was about this journalist statement. So why don't you describe this statement, what it was, and why you think it got you fired? Sure. So Sunday, August 10th, we got the breaking news that Anas and his colleagues were killed in Gaza while sleeping in a tent.

49:24It's very common when you're a press officer to receive one-off questions from reporters. So we got what's submitted. It's what's the response, the general open-ended. Somebody like me is like, hey, what's the government's response? Exactly. And when you read an article, you'll often read a State Department spokesperson said X. That's usually us emailing, one of the press officers emailing the op-ed or the journalist. And so in that specific instance, I drafted, we're still gathering information, which is still true. It just broke. And my second bullet was we are sharing condolences, which is, I think, a human and response that's also in line with U.S.

50:00interests. Like we do want to have that line out there. And immediately I was told that we don't know what happened and we don't know what he did. So to pause. And then by tomorrow, by the next day, August 11th, which is a Monday, Israel said that he was Hamas. And then that was the line we ended up going with by the press briefing. Okay. And so that – how did that lead to your firing? Because this is the first of many – Right. I think it was a buildup. So that was the Sunday. Monday, I drafted a line saying we were against forced displacement of Gazans to South Sudan. They cut that line out. And I think that was some sort of flag for them as well.

50:33And then by day three, I think the nail in the coffin was me removing the line in reference to Judea and Samaria in my press guidance that was not in line with anything the State Department had been saying at the time. But it's something that the senior officials at Embassy Jerusalem wanted. So at that point, I was flagged up, and by Sunday, I was gone. Which senior officials? And what is your—did they directly sort of confront you about these, about you expressing condolences for journalists and saying, hey, it's the West Bank, not Judea and Samaria, by the way? What is your—how did you gain the understanding that those are the reasons why they let you go?

51:12Sure. So some of it's obviously the Washington Post reporting. But from my end, it was David Milstein that was often pushing a particular agenda in the building. And this is Ambassador Huckabee's? Senior advisor. Okay. And he would often ask for certain lines or certain statements. I know the Washington Post reported on the Ireland statement. And he would go around the building trying to get this through. And it was, in a more basic level, it was very annoying to, like, navigate his request. In that particular instance with the Judea and Samaria line, that's not a line. Ambassador Huckabee is using it, but it wasn't common for anyone in D.C.

51:47to use it. Explain why. Why does that matter? Judea and Samaria versus West Bank and Gaza. Because that was a racer for the Palestinians living in the West Bank. And it also really undermines our relationship with our partners in the region. And third, it's for an Israeli audience. So it makes sense for Ambassador Huckabee to want to use those terms. Sure. And at that point, I wasn't the only one in the building that wanted that removed. And so I went in, cut that line, the line we had been using for the West Bank, which was a very general response. It was like, we support stability in the West Bank, which protects Israeli security.

52:26And saying we support stability in the West Bank could be perceived with someone who is a pro-Israel hardliner as like somehow, maybe if you're in that mindset condemning Israel. because, like, oh, you're saying that we're making it unstable by doing this thing. I think that's how it's perceived, even though I think it's a very standard kind of simple line. And by the next day, Wednesday, I was asked by people in the spokesperson office that who tried to draft that line, and they wanted to connect with Milstein to discuss it around me. So if they're having discussions with Milstein on Wednesday, and those three events happened in a row, And then on Thursday and Friday, which happened to me the last two days, I didn't know, it was odd.

53:10The question I was receiving from a number of people in leadership in NEA twice, once Thursday and, again, Friday morning, was where did that line of Monday come from about forced displacement? I was like, that line of Monday? That was like four days ago. Why are people asking about it four days later? And I was asked to compile an entire history of where, like the evidence of how I cleared it. I was like, I have evidence of clearing this. And Special Envoy Wyckoff and President Trump technically said something similar in the spring. So I'm very in line with what the administration has been saying.

53:42But that seemed to be the excuse at that point. Can you explain what is your understanding of what the administration's policy is vis-a-vis Gaza? Well, that's it's a good question because I'm moving forward with my firing. I think it's going to become even more radical, which is, I know, shocking. But I think the language is going to lean into terms like Judea and Samaria or maybe more passive on these forced displacement, ethnic cleansing rumors that are coming through. So that's my concern moving forward. Now, in the past, on West Bank or Two-State Solution, we didn't really have a straight response.

54:19It was always, hey, what's the review on Two-State Solution? and it would be something like President Trump understands how, I don't want to use the right words, but it was something like it's messy, so we're not there right now. We need to release hostages and get things settled. So basically a deflection. A deflection. Yeah. Okay, so now that you have been fired, you can speak freely. How long have you worked at State? How long have you worked at State? September 2024 was when I started. Okay. I started as the, this is not what I was technically hired for, But because of capacity issues, I ended up covering Lebanon-Jordan Press right off the bat, which was a very quick start because Lebanon was very hot at the time.

54:59Got it. And then in January, I was officially asked to cover Israeli-Palestinian affairs, which was odd. As a contractor, I just started. You don't typically put that person covering that file. Because it's very sensitive. So for your own person. So basically what I heard is, oh, he's a Democrat. Of course you fired him. Yeah. So what's your response to that? That's not true. because day to day, if I was an activist in the building, even the quote that Tommy used in the Washington Post piece, that I was an activist, I would have been fired much quicker, this is to be short. If I was going in fighting on every single line, that would have hit up really quick red flags.

55:33I did, there were flags I did make. I would go up to leadership and be like, hey, on the podium, because I'm only controlling press lines. I have no influence or policy. I'm just controlling language, right? So give me an example. Yeah, like something you would flag. On the day-to-day lines, it was difficult because I'm going through a clearance process. But I would look back. I would look at the guidance, and I'd be like, this is a pretty hard line. And I would brief it. I was doing my job. At the same time, I would go behind the scenes and be like, hey, these lines are, at the very least, they're not very empathetic.

56:02When we're discussing fame a month ago, I was worried that the language was just like, if you want to do a hard line language on the podium, you can acknowledge that you're seeing horrific photos before you make your argument. But that wasn't even happening. So I was like, on a strategic level, there's a moral imperative. But on a strategic level, it just looks terrible at the podium. Let's talk a little bit more about that moral imperative. We can put this next element up on the screen. I suspect you probably have seen this news this morning. This is just a horrific video. of these are a combination of journalists and medical work personnel and people who are there trying to rescue people who are on the scene.

56:48This is a double tap strike. There's been a documented history of the IDF using these double tap strikes, not only to kill whoever they originally wanted to kill, but then to kill any rescuers who are coming to the scene, something that's been reported out, you obviously, part of what got you in trouble was just the very basic, hey, we express condolences for these journalists who were killed. And we know there have been hundreds of journalists who have been killed in the context of the Israelis targeting them inside of Gaza. How as a professional did you grapple with your own sort of moral standing on this topic?

57:29And I don't say this to put you on the spot. I'm just genuinely curious, like day to day as someone who's trying to go in there and do the best you can and figure out, okay, what is the administration saying? And what is our line for journalists? How are you absorbing those images? And how are you thinking about your own sort of role in this capacity? No, it's a very good question. And in terms of like my personal views, they're not wrong. I just didn't show it as often day to day when I was doing my job. So it was an issue. And it was something that like particular colleagues that we would discuss because I wasn't the only one.

58:00Because it could be an Israel file, but it could be another one too throughout the building. So there was two, I think, responses to that. One, like I said, the last thing was I was flagging with people and leadership that I would trust, that certain – try to make small changes. I do think those small changes do matter, not just because you're an activist in the building, but because it's in line with U.S. interests. Because you can just be outside protesting, but you're just outside, right? So I think that's important to have that balance. And then two, this is a very more strategic response that I stepped back and looked at President Trump's words.

58:40And if you look, we started with a ceasefire in that context. And in the region, we were talking with the Iranians, for example. So I had on a macro level some hopes that even though these lines are difficult right now in this moment, there could be a chance that something could come about. But it was getting worse, not better, by the summer. Because by June, we're bombing Iran. Right. And now the embassy Jerusalem really took over. The pushback that I did see a little bit. Let's talk about that because that's what I'm curious about. There has been a flippening, right? Right, in the initial policy from ceasefire, talking with the Iranians, talking with Putin, to now it's like the opposite.

59:22So you talk about there the embassy in Jerusalem. What was your observation having seen that from the inside? How did we go from Steve Wyckoff constantly going to Doha, talking about ceasefires, or meeting with the Iranians, and then using that as cover to bomb them, and then also for basically allowing Mike Huckabee to have carte blanche over the Israel policy? That's a good question. So on the White House level, I can't say because President Trump, I don't know what phone calls he's having day to day that like that's shifting his direction. Yeah. But on on my end, what I'm noticing is people were I remember people when President Trump was elected, inaugurated, people were happy that the Pompeo's and the Boltans and Nikki Haley's were gone.

1:00:00All true. These are all positive developments. And then you would see, you know, Elon was talking to the certain like the Iranians on one end. And so they're really small. And the Bitcoff wanted to make deals and to end the war in Ukraine, wanted to end the war in Gaza, wanted to make a deal with Iranians. So I do think that the personnel is still an issue. Like people are glad that John Bolton might not be there. But having Secretary Rubio and Huckabee is kind of the same thing, but a more sneaky level. right you don't it's not as in your face as Bolton but Secretary Rubio does kind of mirror some of President Trump's language like he wants peace he wants to end wars but you look at his team it's all like a number of Heritage Foundation guys now you can say it's his prerogative of course it's President Trump one he's gonna have Heritage Foundation guys on his team but on foreign policy that's not in line with what his agenda was supposed to be and the same thing goes with Ambassador Huckabee there so they're going to say that I was some political activist I think they're the political activists that are undermining what President Trump claimed to have wanted and campaigned on initially.

1:01:05Got it. With regard to Huckabee, we saw one moment where there was a little bit of pushback from him on the Israelis after they had, what was it, they had like bombed a church, right? Yeah, it was the Christians. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And there was some sort of statement that went out. And then after that, he just went back to being, you know, totally on board with the most extreme versions of the Netanyahu government. From the inside, what were the issues that were most difficult for this administration to grapple with? Because it seemed like, yeah, when Christians were being killed and attacked, that was one that was hard for them to ignore and hard for them just to accept.

1:01:46Were there other things like that that you saw that were like, you know, a little bit difficult for them to just totally do the pro-Israel spin on? The Christian thing was the only, like, Christians being targeted by settlers in the West Bank and the church in Gaza was the only time I saw some verbal accountability. He even had a statement, like, I was shocked at the time, that was like, houses of worship must be protected. Like, I don't remember the exact language. We brought up mosques. I'm like, well, there's more you can say there. So that was the only accountability that I saw. What was frustrating is that every time there was a settler attack that was horrific or the case with the journalists or just your terrible airstrike that killed X number of Palestinians in Gaza, it was always deferred to Israel.

1:02:33And so it was like, well, we can defer to the government of Israel to explain their airstrike. Well, OK. So then here's the question. Did you work on any other countries while you were in state on any other portfolios? It was Lebanon, Jordan. I started for a few months, but that shifted by. So based on your observation, is there any country else in the world that we treat with the same level of deference inside of the state government? Give me an example from on the inside. No, no. So if someone had an issue, we would – like we would always have our own intelligence or our own commentary on every issue.

1:03:09Now, I can't think of one off the top of my head, but like in the Lebanon-Jordan case, maybe we would have – a lot of our lines had accountability. like we would say again it's a different administration and again um there are issues there too obviously but just in terms of like language and again i'm working with words not with policy so um i'll use that as an example um but there would be um airstrikes against like these roman ruins in lebanon then they would be like oh these sites need to be protected or journalists must be protected and um uh we would have those lines built in very easily it was very like made sense but we're immediately like even the case with on us the line that our response was like don't respond we don't know what he did you're already preempting the refer to israel line it's not like oh let's check you could say before they even came out before they came out yeah yeah we were even yeah they're already saying what did he do and so it's like okay let's say you want you're the government you're the u.s government you wanted your due diligence you don't want to go out you don't have to respond right away um you're not tweeting your policy if you want to say hey hey, let's give it 48 hours.

1:04:12We'll check our sources. And then on Tuesday at the daily press briefing, then we'll give condolences. That I would understand. But they weren't even doing that. It was like, he probably did something, you know? And then the next day, Israel comes out with those. So it's just total deference. Total deference. We witnessed some of this publicly in the context of the decision to join Israel in striking Iran. Tulsi Gabbard famously testified, hey, you know, we don't see any indication that they're pursuing a nuclear weapon. then the justification given by the Trump administration was actually reliant on Israeli intelligence versus our own intel assessment.

1:04:49Were you witness to any of that and how that played out internally? Right. Well, it went from third people like I mean, I'm not I wasn't working on that file per se. But obviously you have your colleagues are in the building. You talk to people working on it and whatnot. And what I would hear is that it went from certain people being like, oh, we're close, what the next steps were, the negotiations, to all of a sudden, like, oh, well, even certain people were closer to the administration. Oh, well, Iran didn't respond to the deal we have on the table. That was like two weeks ago, those same people might have said, like, oh, we might get a deal done.

1:05:27So it was quick to follow. It's a very, like, on a more macro level, it's more like a MAGA thing, right? You're kind of like, you're there with them when the talks are happening, you're there with them when the bombs are dropping. But on the level of the intelligence and Tulsi, just on a personal front, that was ridiculous because they were automatically undermining her own words from the, I think it was a congressional discussion. Yeah, from just months earlier. Were there people, so we talked about some of the problems and Huckabee effectively taking over a lot of policy vis-a-vis Israel. Were there people who you worked with or who you interacted with who were really trying to take a different approach, who were upset about using diplomacy with Iran as basically cover to allow Israel to bomb them, who were looking to acknowledge journalists shouldn't be murdered during a war?

1:06:20Were there people who were looking for that different approach and who were committed to it and sort of fighting that fight on the inside? uh in general i think the like the political appointees do have the lead so it's difficult to make those changes but when you're um when you have influence i'm just doing even on a mid-level like a mid even me as a press officer you can have those discussions there are people that like yeah we're political appointees that you can have a sit-down discussion with and be like hey this isn't right and there were actually people that were easier to talk to than others right you knew who to talk to like it was it was a bit of a a tightrope constantly of like okay like even saying this with this person might be a flag, but with this person, I can have this discussion.

1:06:58And sometimes it could have been effective. And I think those small changes, I know people on the outside might be like, why were you there or whatever, but those small changes do make a difference. Because then if someone says something about, hey, this airstrike was wrong, or we have provided condolences, that leads to then journalists being able to provide accountability. Because they'll say, hey, you said X then. When if you go full hardline, then that's your policy. So is that your assessment now with your firing? That's where you think things – I mean it already kind of was the policy, but you just think it will be even more matters.

1:07:28Yeah, it is. So if my replacement or whoever goes in front of me, who knows? I'm not sure what's going to happen. I think they realize that it's going to be a political point here. I'm not sure. But no one is going to want to push back after what happened to me. And I wasn't someone who was a random press officer. I was pretty well established. I was the guy not only was like was doing the longest briefings I had my my colleagues in the room I had to do a full like 20 minute briefing with a spokesperson whereas someone else might be much shorter um I was also the person who was could be on a social level organizing the happy hours with just internally or reporters I was like in a position of I felt very secure and I was close with a lot of colleagues uh and to go from that and and firing me very quickly I think it sends like a chilling effect through the building and an NEA of toe of the line.

1:08:23And now what's the spokesperson going to do? They're going to listen to the next press officer or are they going to call the David Milsteins of the world or him specifically before he goes to the podium to make sure he's covered? Right. And do you think that was part of the intent in firing you was to send that chilling? Oh, I do. Yeah. Send that message. 100%. Well, Chad, we appreciate you joining us, man. There's a lot of insight. I think the audience will find it very insightful. Yeah, I certainly did. Thank you for having me. Thanks so much for watching, guys. We appreciate it. See you tomorrow.

1:09:15personalized deals, and more as a member. Extra Care is the way to save at CVS. Join for free, online, or in-store and start saving. Visit your local CVS store or cvs.com slash extra big deals for this week's deals. Skincare means Sephora. Makeup, same. They've got the products, expertise, and the brands that fit your lifestyle. But when I talk about hair care, do you make the same connection? Well, you should. Sephora is just as trusted for hair whether you're looking to repair, strengthen, hydrate, or add shine. You'll find brands like Kerastase, K18, and Gisu. Plus, the guidance that helped you choose what's right for your hair.

1:09:57And with free shipping and same-day delivery, great hair care is easier than ever. Shop hair at Sephora today. I love the little everyday moments with my dog, especially treat time. But dental care? Not always so fun. until we found Greenies Dental Treats. These are more than just tasty. They're vet recommended and designed to support the four areas vets check the most. Plaque, tartar, gums, and breath. Their unique texture cleans down to the gum line and supports cleaner teeth after 28 days when fed daily. It's a simple daily habit that supports their health and gives us another moment to enjoy together.

1:10:33Greenies make health a treat. Shop now at greenies.com. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.