9/3/25: Trump Threatens Chicago Takeover, Venezuela Ship Blown Up, Tariff Refunds & MORE!

3 Sep 2025 · 2 h 2 min · 45 chapters

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In short

Breaking Points episode covering (1) Trump’s claim he will “take over” Chicago via National Guard deployment after a court ruling limiting LA deployments, (2) U.S. actions tied to Venezuela—Trump administration moves to designate/justify targeting Maduro-linked gangs and a reported strike on a drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean, and (3) tariff war fallout—an appeals-court ruling that limits broad tariff authority, potential tariff refunds, and market uncertainty; plus brief mentions of other global unrest and a Capitol Hill Epstein-related document push.

Guests

Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Anthony Aguilar (scheduled to speak in Washington, D.C. about enforced disappearances allegedly tied to Israel’s Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and his conversations with the ICC; says USAID/State internal investigators reached out to him). Pam Bailey (author/editor of the book We Are Not Numbers, a collection of Palestinian essays and poems about experiences before and during the last two years). Other named figures discussed: J.B. Pritzker, Marco Rubio, Maduro, Peter Doocy, Ro Khanna, Thomas Massie, and Jeffrey Epstein victims’ organizers.

Key claims

Trump’s Chicago plan will face legal constraints similar to posse comitatus/War Powers issues; deployment is framed as optics/photo-op rather than a durable crime solution. In Venezuela, the show argues the administration’s justification relies on shifting intelligence about Maduro and Tren de Aragua, and that a strike may violate laws of the sea/constitutional limits. For tariffs, the show claims the court ruling makes broad tariffs illegal, creating a lose-lose scenario: either prices rise or the U.S. must refund tariffs, driving yield spikes and shipment disruptions.

Notable examples

Trump’s press-conference “AI” video exchange; LA National Guard legality dispute; Maduro’s attempt to wedge Rubio vs Trump; the reported Caribbean boat strike; tariff refund logistics and carrier suspensions tied to de minimis rule changes.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

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Independent Media Impact

1:35 to 1:51

Discussion on the role of independent media in recent elections.

“Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election, and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show.”

Independent Media Impact

1:55 to 2:08

Discussion on the role of independent media in recent elections.

“and all put together for you every morning in your inbox.”

Upcoming Guest Introduction

2:08 to 2:30

Introduction of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar and his upcoming appearance.

“We're going to talk to Lieutenant Colonel, retired, Anthony Aguilar.”

Updates on International Affairs

2:30 to 2:58

Discussion on Israel's actions and Aguilar's insights on humanitarian issues.

“We got him before he was going to head to Capitol Hill.”

Trump's Press Conference Overview

2:58 to 4:08

Analysis of Trump's recent press conference and key moments.

“He also told me that the USAID and the State Department internal investigators have reached out to him.”

Tariff Refunds and Economic Impact

4:08 to 4:50

Exploring potential tariff refunds and market reactions to Trump's comments.

“Launching a war in the Caribbean against fishing boats.”

Capitol Hill and Jeffrey Epstein Updates

4:50 to 5:42

Details on an upcoming press conference concerning Jeffrey Epstein's victims.

“And then we're going to take a look at the unrest in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, all seeing significant protest.”

Southeast Asia Protests Discussion

5:42 to 6:00

Examining protests in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia related to corruption.

Pam Bailey and Literary Insights

6:00 to 6:30

Discussion about a new book by Pam Bailey featuring Palestinian narratives.

“Well, looking forward to hearing from Pam Bailey.”

Trump's Chicago Plans

6:30 to 8:00

Analysis of Trump's remarks on Chicago and his proposed intervention.

“and, of course, took many, many questions from the press, including some questions on whether or not he was actually alive.”
Show all 45 chapters

Legal Challenges and Responses

8:00 to 14:00

Discussion of the legal implications of deploying National Guard troops and local responses.

“And we know he wasn't in the greatest of shape.”

Chicago Crime and Federal Troops

14:00 to 22:12

Discussion about crime in Chicago and the implications of federal troop deployment.

“But is there something that's going to say that the crime, what are they going to use?”

U.S. Military Actions in Venezuela

23:35 to 28:00

Analysis of U.S. military strategies and justifications in Venezuela under Trump.

“Which they designate as a foreign terrorist organization.”

Military Actions in Venezuela: Exploring Implications

28:00 to 34:40

Discusses the implications of U.S. military actions in Venezuela, including the role of cartels and the risks of escalation.

“have um drugs on it yeah well i mean that's a really important point obviously and ryan you've covered this for years, but particularly in the Middle East.”

Military Actions in Venezuela: Exploring Implications

35:09 to 36:17

Discusses the implications of U.S. military actions in Venezuela, including the role of cartels and the risks of escalation.

“The Summer Savings Event is here at Apple Vacations.”

Trump's Tariff War: Market Reactions and Legal Challenges

36:21 to 42:00

Analyzes Trump’s comments on tariffs, market reactions, and the implications of recent legal rulings on tariffs.

“Klarna balance account required to be eligible for cashback points.”

The Complexity of Tariff Refunds

42:00 to 50:42

Explore the potential repercussions of Trump's tariffs and the logistics of refunding them.

“You and I both like the idea of protecting domestic industries where it's necessary.”

The Power of the Executive

50:42 to 52:33

Discussion on the implications of executive power in tariff negotiations and national security.

“Some of these constraints, particularly on executive branch power, which is the same in the case of Chicago, is the same in the case of Venezuela.”

Activism Ahead of Capitol Hill Hearings

53:43 to 54:22

Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar discusses his plans to disrupt a Senate hearing regarding Gaza.

“This is Charity Lawson from Bachelor Happy Hour.”

Activism Ahead of Capitol Hill Hearings

54:26 to 56:00

Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar discusses his plans to disrupt a Senate hearing regarding Gaza.

“Klarnaut Balance account required to be eligible for cashback points.”

Introduction to the Gaza Crisis

56:00 to 57:42

Learn about the current humanitarian situation in Gaza from a first-hand perspective.

“And that there can't be any confusion as to, well, we didn't know or we thought this or we thought that.”

Personal Reflections on the Conflict

57:42 to 1:00:26

Hear a contractor's reflections on their surprising views and experiences in Gaza.

“It's a situation that I did not necessarily think I'd find myself in in terms of standing up for what's right, standing up for the values and the ideals of humanity.”

International Humanitarian Law Insights

1:00:26 to 1:03:00

Understand the violations of international humanitarian law in the context of the Gaza conflict.

“completely transparent and honest that that's just, that that's the military culture that I spent my career in.”

Allegations of Forced Disappearances

1:03:00 to 1:10:07

Explore the serious allegations of enforced disappearances in Gaza's humanitarian operations.

“The body of evidence that now looks to the reality that we see every day, we are seeing a genocide occur every day in front of our eyes on the world stage, is that it was planned from the beginning.”

Detention and Disappearance in Gaza

1:10:07 to 1:18:15

Explore the complexities surrounding detainees and enforced disappearances in Gaza.

“So it was designed that way and it will continue.”

Plans for Post-War Gaza

1:18:15 to 1:23:51

Discusses the advanced plans for a post-war Gaza and the implications for its population.

“Participated as elements, as tools of a planned genocide and a planned forced displacement.”

Plans for Post-War Gaza

1:25:28 to 1:26:07

Discusses the advanced plans for a post-war Gaza and the implications for its population.

“This is Charity Lawson from Bachelor Happy Hour.”

Epstein Investigation and Political Reactions

1:26:11 to 1:30:39

Analysis of the recent release of Epstein documents and political responses.

“Klarna balance account required to be eligible for cashback points.”

Intelligence Connections: Epstein and Barak

1:30:39 to 1:33:39

Discussion on Jeffrey Epstein's potential connections to intelligence operations.

“Yeah, I think that's an important point.”

Transparency in Government Documents

1:33:39 to 1:37:19

Debate on the transparency of government documents related to high-profile cases.

“Let's roll this clip of Thomas Massey after the document dump yesterday.”

Southeast Asian Unrest

1:37:19 to 1:38:01

Overview of unrest in Southeast Asia due to corruption and economic issues.

“It's amazing that Democrats are still defending Bill Clinton and protecting him.”

Protests in Southeast Asia: Corruption and Unrest

1:38:01 to 1:50:00

Learn about the ongoing protests in Southeast Asia fueled by corruption and public discontent.

“So and the institution of the CIA itself or whatever.”

Protests in Southeast Asia: Corruption and Unrest

1:50:01 to 1:51:47

Learn about the ongoing protests in Southeast Asia fueled by corruption and public discontent.

“16 years ago, I started working as a CNA in the hospital.”

Introduction to We Are Not Numbers Project

1:52:00 to 1:53:05

Learn about the book and project that amplifies the voices of Gaza's youth.

“Limitations, terms and conditions apply.”

The Impact of Personal Stories

1:53:05 to 1:54:42

Discover how personal narratives from Gaza's youth reveal deeper truths about conflict.

“Tell us about the project We Are Not Numbers.”

Understanding Resistance Through Individual Narratives

1:54:42 to 1:55:43

Explore the complexities behind the motivations of those labeled as terrorists in Gaza.

“is that I learned in the course of that essay that he wrote that his brother had been killed because he was a member of the resistance.”

Structural Violence and Daily Life in Gaza

1:55:43 to 1:58:28

Learn about the ongoing structural challenges faced by people living in Gaza.

“And so I realized we have an important story, and I tried to get it published.”

Nonviolent Resistance and Its Challenges

1:58:28 to 2:00:18

Examine the efforts for nonviolent resistance and the tragic consequences of violence.

“But it's the everyday structural violence, the lack of water, just potable water, the astronomically high unemployment rate.”

Public Perception and Political Dynamics

2:00:18 to 2:02:16

Analyze how recent events have shifted public and political views on Gaza and Palestine.

“when all those other things were going on.”

The Human Cost of Oppression

2:02:16 to 2:04:57

Reflect on the human experiences behind conflict and the impacts of oppression.

“I'm curious for what you've been hearing about this because there's a there's a paradox at play in the sense that October 7th led to where we are today, which is utter, absolute, catastrophic annihilation of Gaza.”

The Future of Resistance and Hamas

2:04:57 to 2:06:00

Discuss what the future holds for resistance movements and the role of Hamas in Gaza.

“You know, so it's a little bit it's to me, I have this sort of like dueling thing is like we've gotten the cause for Palestine to a point, you know, in terms of broad base of public support.”

Understanding Resistance in Gaza

2:06:00 to 2:08:44

Explore the dynamics of resistance among Gazans beyond Hamas.

“Has this made them more powerful, less powerful?”

The Impact of U.S. Actions on Gaza

2:08:44 to 2:10:25

Discuss the implications of U.S. policies on Palestinian voices and resistance movements.

“We can't control our government, but we are hearing you and we value your voices.”

The Cycle of Violence and Recruitment

2:10:25 to 2:11:48

Analyze the cycle of violence and recruitment in Gaza and its broader implications.

“And so, you know, killing his brother who was in the resistance killed him, but then his brother wanted to join, but was then persuaded in a nonviolent direction.”

The Cycle of Violence and Recruitment

2:13:27 to 2:14:04

Analyze the cycle of violence and recruitment in Gaza and its broader implications.

“They set standards, broke records, empowered people to build bigger and higher, to dig deeper, to make the impossible possible.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Emily Jashinsky:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. I think something that makes me well-studied 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.

0:59advisor.

1:04Thinking about selling your car? Start with a real offer worth real money from CarMax. Then take seven days to compare your offer, and when you're ready, accept your offer and get paid. CarMax will even pick up your car. That's it. No haggling, no hassles, no pressure. Just a real offer worth real money from CarMax. Get all the details and a real offer today at CarMax.com. Want to drive? CarMax. At home, pickup not available in all locations. Distance restrictions and a fee may apply. Hey guys, Sagar and Crystal here. Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election, and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show.

1:43This is the only place where you can find honest perspectives from the left and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else. So if that is something that's important to you, please go to breakingpoints.com, become a member today, and you'll get access to our full shows, unedited, ad-free, and all put together for you every morning in your inbox. We need your help to build the future of independent news media, and we hope to see you at BreakingPoints.com. All right, good morning and welcome to Breaking Points. Happy Wednesday. Emily, how you doing?

2:12Emily Jashinsky:Doing great. How about you? Very good. We've got a packed show today. We're going to talk to Lieutenant Colonel, retired, Anthony Aguilar. Later today, he's in Washington, D.C. He's actually going to be disrupting a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Don't tell anybody, but check that out. That'll be at 10 a.m. That's kind of our secret. We got him before he was going to head to Capitol Hill. By the time this airs, it will have already happened. Right, but he has some really important perspective to share ahead of that about recent updates. Yes, the enforced disappearances that Israel's accused of effectuating through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and also his recent conversations with the ICC.

2:58He also told me that the USAID and the State Department internal investigators have reached out to him. So, you know, while he is working, while he's speaking publicly, he's also speaking directly to whatever authorities will listen about the crimes that he's witnessed.

3:15Emily Jashinsky:The scrappy remnant of USAID. apparently there's there's still some people with like uh wi-fi access at usa id and they're probing this interesting we're also going to start today with uh some clips i feel like actually i was thinking about this earlier ryan the amount of times that we have opened up a show by saying the president had a truly wild press conference yesterday has to be in the like dozens and not wild anymore it's just called a trump press conference at this point right although it's It's absolutely accurate that he did have a truly, by other standards, Bananas press conference yesterday where he was confronted with video evidence that he had died and responded to that.

3:56Emily Jashinsky:So you're not going to want to miss this block. Also, as usual, he also addressed some very important questions, whether it's what's happening in Ukraine or what's happening here at home. So we're going to break. Launching a war in the Caribbean against fishing boats. Yeah. Well, yes, we are. we will discuss all of that. And we have video of the strike that the government is putting out. So we'll get into that. Also, we will have updates on whether or not companies are going to get tariff refunds from the United States government, which is an actual question on the table right now. So markets reacting a little bit to some of Trump's comments yesterday about those tariffs and what might be coming.

4:38Emily Jashinsky:So we have a lot to get into with that major Jeffrey Epstein victim press conference happening on Capitol Hill today. There was a big document dump just yesterday. We have some details on how legitimate or compelling any of that evidence is and what you can expect to see here in Washington today as Ro Khanna and Thomas Massey assemble this press conference victims to get that discharge petition, which is right now hanging in the balance as to whether they'll get enough Republicans in each six, whether they'll get enough Republicans to sign that discharge petition and compel the release of additional documents.

5:17Yeah. And then we're going to take a look at the unrest in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, all seeing significant protest. Each one of them has has their own unique characteristics, but all of them kind of related to corruption and people just fed up at the way that their governments and their elites are ripping them off.

5:40Emily Jashinsky:And we'll also be joined by Pam Bailey. Right, Ryan? Yeah, I think that is that an extra? Is that going to be part of the show? It's in the left block here. So Pam Bailey and others put together a book called We Are Not Numbers, which is a collection of essays and poems, pieces of literature by Palestinians about their experience, not just in the last two years, but also leading up to it as well. And that book rolled out this week. All right. Well, looking forward to hearing from Pam Bailey. Let's dive into our A Block, which is this winding press conference that Donald Trump conducted yesterday, where he made this announcement that Space Force Command Center was being moved from Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama, and had a collection of senators, cabinet members assembled behind him.

6:30Emily Jashinsky:and, of course, took many, many questions from the press, including some questions on whether or not he was actually alive. If you missed the fevered speculation over Labor Day weekend, then you probably weren't on TikTok or X or Instagram because, Ryan, it was absolutely everywhere. There seemed to be a genuine contingent of, I guess you could say, balloonon that was pretty convinced there was something odd going on with the president. I mean, there was. There's always something odd going on. But that's what I was just going to say. In fact, there have been obvious signs that Donald Trump is aging.

7:04Emily Jashinsky:He had the bruises on his hands. He had the swollen ankles. In July, the White House mentioned that he had been diagnosed with a benign condition that caused the swelling of the ankles. And then for Donald Trump to not have public events scheduled for three days is always strange, even if it's the slowest week of the entire year in Washington, D.C., which is Labor Day week. But granted, that is what it was. And Trump appears to be very much alive, as he confirmed for everyone in front of the cameras yesterday. Ryan, let's put a one. Let's roll a one here. How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?

7:40You see that? No, it's sort of crazy. But last week I did numerous news conferences, all successful. They went very well, like this is going very well. And then I didn't do any for two days. And they said there must be something wrong with him. Biden wouldn't do him for months. You wouldn't see him. And nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him. And we know he wasn't in the greatest of shape. I did numerous shows and also did a number of truths, long truths, I think pretty poignant truths. No, I was very active over the weekend. There is a video that is circulating online now of the White House where a window is open to the residents upstairs and somebody is throwing a big bag out the window.

8:23Have you seen this? No, that's probably AI generated. So actually, you can't open the windows. You know why? They're all heavily armored and bulletproof. So that's a fake video. Well, it's got to be because I know every window up there, number one, they're sealed. And number two, each window weighs about 600 pounds. You have to be pretty strong to open them up. No, that has to be. Where was the window? Let me see. Which is the window? It looks like this is on the 15th Street side, I think. So right here. Yeah, those windows are sealed. Those windows are all, they're all sealed. You can't open them.

8:58But also they create things, you know, it works both ways. If something happens that's really bad, maybe I'll have to just blame AI. Okay.

9:06Emily Jashinsky:So if you're joining us as a podcast listener, what you missed was Peter Doocy of Fox News, within that exchange, was happening between the president and Doocy, walked up to the presidential podium at Trump's request with his phone and showed Donald Trump the video. and Trump sort of looked over like your grandparent at Thanksgiving, who you're showing a very funny meme to, and said, it's AI. If anything goes wrong, blame AI. Let's add that in post as VO so people can see, if they haven't seen it, the video itself. The White House has already commented on it and said, like, it's not AI. Like, Trump is confused on this.

9:44Emily Jashinsky:He might be because they are renovating the Lincoln bedroom. This was part of the reason the conspiracy theories should have been halted by at least Friday is that he did this long interview with The Daily Caller and the reporter there, Reagan Reese, who posted pictures with him, said she talked to him for an hour. And in the transcript, you can hear him. He gets up at one point and shows her the renovations of the Rose Garden and then says, we should get her up to see the Lincoln bedroom at some point, which is why he's just so I mean, he's talking there about the windows. And he says, I know every window up there.

10:17Emily Jashinsky:Of course, he knows every window up there because he seems to be extremely focused on the details of every renovation that's happening at the White House. And we've seen since some comments from sources and media reports that suggest this is actually Donald Trump. Something he sees as his legacy is like the Trumpian renovations to the White House. So I thought the trash thing was legitimately weird and understand, you know, why people spiraled and went down the rabbit holes, given his his bruising and everything else. But it was obviously pretty by Friday. I think it was obviously a little a little bit over the edge.

10:53Well, he's alive. He's alive and.

10:55Emily Jashinsky:He's posting the most poignant truths. And he's playing very poignant truths. He thought they were poignant anyway. I'm sure they were poignant. Poignant. Yes. I love that he thinks his truths are poignant. That's amazing. He also announced that he's going into Chicago. So he's going to do that. We've got, we can roll that next stop. I end up on Chicago though. Well, we're going in. I didn't say when, we're going in. When you lose, look, I have an obligation. This isn't a political thing. Chicago is a hell hole right now. Baltimore is a hellhole right now. Parts of Los Angeles are terrible. If we didn't put out the fires and I mean the other fires, the bullet fires, they didn't do a good job with it.

11:35They should have had the water coming down. Like I said, you know, we had to release the water. We had to go in and release the water to L.A. It's so badly run. The President on March today in California ruled that your deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles was illegal. Do you have any response? Well, it was a radical left judge, but very importantly, what did you not tell me in that question or statement that you made pretty much of a statement? Well, I was asking for a response. No, no, you didn't say what the judge said, though. The judge said, but you can leave the 300 people that you already have in place.

12:11They can continue to be in place. That's all we need. But why didn't you put that as part of your statement. So he said he's going into Chicago, but doesn't know when. So presumably it's going to happen. We don't know when. What can we make of this, the latest legal setback?

12:30Emily Jashinsky:Yeah, it's a good question because obviously what's happening in D.C. is different than any other city. So whether it's Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, completely different across the board from D.C. And in L.A., the justification is that the National Guard was guarding federal property and federal agents, so ICE agents and then also federal buildings. And that is what the Trump administration now, they can declare emergencies of various kinds. That's something that was discussed in 2020 and actually had been used before, if I'm remembering correctly, Ryan Wright in the 1960s that the National Guard had been brought in.

13:11Emily Jashinsky:And that was what the Tom Cotton, the not infamous Tom Cotton at the New York Times was talking about, is that there's some historic precedent for doing that. But of course, those are active riots that were then trumped up to the legal standard of insurrection in order to justify it. And they also brought the military and a bunch to break up strikes in the 19th century. Oh, that's such an interesting point. Yes. And so there are all kinds of ways that you can stretch. And that's what was happening in Los Angeles. And it means that the administration has to think about how that would work in a place like Chicago.

13:45Emily Jashinsky:Are they just deploying around federal buildings? Are they just going to be following ICE agents? I mean, this is a difficult or or is there going to be some type of legal, like to your point, justification that there's an ongoing emergency? Obviously, that would be part of it. But is there something that's going to say that the crime, what are they going to use? They have different devices. So it probably means that they have to look at another tool in the toolkit legally. They have to fight crime only around federal buildings. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker responded, thank you, but no thank you.

14:25Here's Pritzker's response. I'm aware that the president of the United States likes to go on television and beg me to call and ask him for troops. I find this extraordinarily strange as Chicago does not want troops on our streets. I also have experience asking the president for assistance just to have the rug pulled out from underneath me when execution meets reality. I refuse to play a reality game show with Donald Trump again. All those events required significant coordination between all levels of government. Some, like the Democratic National Convention last year, even required a limited deployment of the Illinois National Guard for broad security purposes, including especially preventing terrorism.

15:16So Illinois lawmakers might not want it, but Morning Joe lawmakers do. Let's roll a three. I actually think that J.B. Pritzker should do something radical. I think you should pick up the phone, call the president and say, you know, and I know you don't have the constitutional authority to deploy the National Guard here and to police my my. You can do that in D.C. You can't do that in Chicago. But let's partner up. These are the most dangerous parts of my state. We would love to figure out how to have a partnership that's constitutional, that respects the sort of balance of federalism between the federal government and the state government.

15:58And let's work together to save lives. Was he proposing a clear and hold strategy in Chicago?

16:04Emily Jashinsky:I mean, first of all, the stilted melodramatic delivery of Joe Scarborough when he says, I'm going to propose something radical and takes like a 10 second pause. But, Brian, let me say something radical. I know it's not radical at all. It's actually conventional, probably, wisdom of people like Joe Scarborough, although in this case I'm not convinced it's entirely wrong. The chyron on that Morning Joe segment was 54 people shot, at least seven killed in Chicago. I think there probably is a middle ground. It's not to say that Donald Trump would be eager to compromise with J.B. Pritzker, but But I think J.B.

16:43Emily Jashinsky:Pritzker's political instincts here are way off unless what he's doing is just to position himself for a 2028 primary, in which case that's great because you're building up goodwill with the sort of activist base of the Democratic Party who absolutely wants resistance at all costs. On the other hand, people of Illinois see Chicago as being in like this rolling state of emergency for decades and I think not incorrectly so. So and this is there has to be a way for people like J.B. Pritzker to say, I'm taking this seriously. And, you know, the people of Chicago who are desperate for protection and some order in different parts of the city that desperately need it.

17:26Emily Jashinsky:You know, I'm not going to look like I'm blocking all of that. I'm not going to look like I'm because that's what Trump is doing. Trump is positioning them. He's like boxing them in so that they look like they're against taking this more seriously. And that's not exactly what's happening, but on the politics of it, people in Illinois are going to want to see Chicago be in some state of order. They might not lie to Donald Trump, but then you're forcing them to choose between something they don't like from Donald Trump and something they don't like from J.B. Pritzker. And a lot of people are going to side with Trump in the Trump-Pritzker.

17:58Emily Jashinsky:If Pritzker looks like he's against taking crime in Chicago more seriously and Trump looks like he's for taking crime in Chicago more seriously. Well, the reason I disagree with that is that I don't think there's anybody who's persuadable who thinks that Trump sending the National Guard into Chicago is actually going to do anything about crime, even necessarily short term. Like if you send a whole bunch of National Guardsmen into a block, I think while those Guardsmen are on that block, you might have less crime. you cannot occupy every single block and you can't do it indefinitely either it's not a it's not a it's not a short-term solution for the whole city it's it's not a medium or long-term solution period and so what it is is just a photo op and you know cool optics for the maga guys who want asmr videos of of boots stomping through chicago i don't disagree with that but i think for a lot of people, I mean, there were here in D.C.

19:04Emily Jashinsky:when, you know, local news was going around and asking people about the federal takeover, there were people in like Ward 7, Ward 8 saying, I'd love to see the National Guard. I don't love Donald Trump, but I'd love to see the National Guard actually come to the state because we haven't seen them yet. So I don't necessarily agree that maybe that's where we disagree on this. I don't, whether or not it's successful, I think there's an appetite for whether it's the National Guard or some like heightened enforcement among average people, that's a different question of whether or not it'll actually be successful.

19:32Emily Jashinsky:And that's one of the big problems here in D.C. that I'm already seeing is you have National Guard out and then across the street. I mean, I just saw this this weekend. You have people who are suffering from addiction tweak outs on the street. They're not doing it. That's not what they're there to do. And so, yes, it's obviously a very Band-Aid type solution. And probably the longer it goes on, Ryan, the more the less persuasive that is to the average person. Maybe it actually works against Donald Trump if he deploys the National Guard in Chicago in some way, because it becomes sort of D.C. with the federal city status is different than Chicago, Los Angeles.

20:07It becomes more obvious that it's not actually a long term solution. Right. If he had, if he even tried to present a solution, like I'm going to send these national federal officials, whether it's guard or whoever it is, into the city and here's how they're going to actually make the situation better. Right. Then I think he might at least get a hearing from a decent number of people. But he's not even trying that. He's just like, I'm going to fix it. I'm going to send in the guard.

20:41Emily Jashinsky:Right. And I don't think anybody takes that seriously. Well, so this was the decision that Trump was referring to there was from actually Stephen Breyer's brother out in California, who said that deploying to L.A. earlier in the summer violated posse comitatus. So Trump then has to say, on the one hand, the National Guard is restoring order and that he is not violating posse comitatus. And those two things are really difficult legally to say are both true at the same time, unless you can find, like we were talking about earlier, the, like, quote, loophole of—I mean, it's not really a loophole.

21:22Emily Jashinsky:It's the Insurrection Act exists. There are ways that you can do it. But Breyer's ruling bars the Pentagon from, quote, ordering, instructing, training or using the National Guard currently deployed in California or in any or and any military troops heretofore deployed in California from, quote, engaging in arrests, apprehension, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation or acting as informants unless they have permission from Congress, according to Politico. So obviously that's narrow. The language is narrow to California.

21:53Emily Jashinsky:But looking to Chicago, the administration is not going to be afraid to test that ruling and see if they can get something like this up to the Supreme Court, probably. 16 years ago, I started working as a CNA in the hospital. I loved it. On the day I decided to enroll in the nursing program at Rasmussen University, it was afternoon, my 35th birthday. I was hanging out with a friend and they had just questioned me what I was going to do with this next chapter of my life. I immediately had said, I want to go to nursing school. So I actually had contact information from an advisor at Rasmussen, contacted her and actually ended up starting like three weeks later.

22:26My name is Cherish Adams and I'm a Rasmussen University graduate. it. Learn more at rasmussen.edu. Apple Vacations, where your story starts. The summer savings event is here at Apple Vacations. It's the perfect time to bring everyone together for the getaway you've been dreaming about. Book between July 24th and August 27th and enjoy up to 55 % instant savings. From relaxing beach days to unforgettable moments with the people who matter most, your next vacation starts here. Travel through July 31st, 2027. Start your vacation today at AppleVacations.com or through your travel advisor. Apple Vacations, where your story starts.

Read the full transcript

23:03Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for$15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made$15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at MintMobile.com slash switch.

23:34So let's move here to Venezuela because I think this is actually a good segue because rather than trying to actually prevent crime, the Trump administration appears to be just committing crimes. um the you know we sent down this naval armada since nuclear-powered submarines to venezuela saber rattled at uh nicolas maduro put a marco rubio put a 50 million dollar price on his head

24:00Emily Jashinsky:have you got have you seen your 50 million yet i haven't seen my 50 million uh saying that he's the head of a narco trafficking operation then said that um he runs uh trend de aragua venezuelan and U.S.-based gang. Which they designate as a foreign terrorist organization. So this is how they're bringing Maduro. This is how they're going to justify it. We don't know yet. It's still early. But they designated Tranda Aragua a foreign terrorist organization. And then they sanctioned something called the Cartel of the Sons. And say that Maduro is, they say the Cartel of the Sons is providing material support to Tranda Aragua.

24:33Emily Jashinsky:And that Maduro controls Cartel of the Sons, which has been sanctioned. So this is how they're building the justification. And in order to get to that, they needed the intelligence community to say that this was not a total figment of our imagination. The intelligence community put out a report saying, sorry, this is a figment of your imagination. He does not run Trendy Aragua. This is false. Those people were then fired by Tulsi Gabbard for producing a report that did not align with the outcome that the Trump administration wanted. She then put people in place who would write the report that she wanted written to say that Trenerag was actually this foreign terrorist organization under the control of Maduro, which just use your common sense.

25:18If you are a government. Do you need gangs like. If Robbie Suave were here, he would tell you what is a government is it is a gang that has evolved into. Having a monopoly over violence. If you are the government, you are a basically regulated, empowered gang already. You don't then go and create new gangs. Like that's not in general how these things work. You create paramilitary organizations.

25:54Emily Jashinsky:I think it's fair to contundere a paramilitary organization. Yeah. So anyway, according to the IC, American intelligence community, this was bogus, fired those people, got a new report, said that actually, yes, Maduro does run Trender, Aragua. Now, the other problem for the administration's rationale here is Trender, Aragua is not primarily a or even in the main a narco trafficking operation. Like that's not their thing. there are some of their people involved in it some some ways sure um but that's crucial to understanding um what they did yesterday so let's roll what's the first one that we have here oh this so this is the the administration released this a little dinghy rolling through the caribbean the laws of the sea here just getting lit up if you're listening to this yeah would say that if you want to, and there's people getting burned alive, the laws of the sea here would say that if you believe that this ship in international waters is doing something that you don't like, as the Coast Guard, U.S.

27:03Navy, you can try to intercept them, you can try to stop them. You can't blow them out of the water without warning. You can't blow them out of the water if they're not a threat to you. You're obligated to try to stop them and board them. And if you think that they're trafficking in drugs, then board the ship and seize the drugs and interrogate the people. Because, again, use some common sense here. If they're serious about rolling up a drug trafficking operation, what's a better way to do it? Do you seize the drugs, interrogate the people, ask them where'd they get the drugs and roll it up that way?

27:43or do you use a 50 million dollar missile to bomb every fishing boat that you think might

27:49Emily Jashinsky:have some drugs on it it's good business for lockheed that's good business for lockheed do you i don't know if we have enough missiles to hit every single fishing boat that may or may not have um drugs on it yeah well i mean that's a really important point obviously and ryan you've covered this for years, but particularly in the Middle East. And this is now in our hemisphere. And obviously, there were Cold War conflicts in some of these very places where there were extrajudicial killings and all of that from the sort of fervent anti-communists in America and in some of these countries themselves.

28:25Emily Jashinsky:But we're getting support and aid from America. But this high-tech extrajudicial killing where we're not, I don't think it's confirmed whether it was a drone or a helicopter, that type of strike. And we can put this next element up on the screen. This is from Representative Kassar, who introduced an amendment to the NDAA Pentagon bill requiring Trump to follow the Constitution and War Powers Act, as this person on X puts it. The amendment simply says that Congress must vote before Trump sends our troops into danger in Venezuela as required by law. So getting to the point as to whether it's a drone or a helicopter is actually important because that indicates if it's a helicopter, you have potentially people in harm's way, these paramilitary cartel organizations.

29:11It didn't look like that was a very dangerous dinghy.

29:14Emily Jashinsky:No, but you can see how that spirals really quickly into a protracted conflict in our hemisphere. And it doesn't really behoove anyone, least of all the people of these countries, to have such robust paramilitary organizations running so much of the land in their countries. Like the war that's happening right now in Sinaloa is like that's land that is out of control of the Mexican government. And it's not that far from the American border. This doesn't absolve the U.S. of any of its role in helping fuel the rise of some of these groups. One of the least discussed things ever is basically that because of the Biden administration's immigration policy, every single person was who crossed the border under Biden was ka-ching, like money in the cartel's pockets.

29:59Emily Jashinsky:And so they've exploded in terms of their tech capabilities, not just because of that, also because of fentanyl and other things, but they've exploded in their capabilities. And they now do have some, you know, they have more drone capacity, all of that stuff. And it's not just hawkish warmongering to say that. They're just actually pretty well-funded, advanced paramilitary organizations that now run swaths of their respective countries. And so to then be doing questionable or operations with questionable legitimacy, I mean, we'll take a look at the evidence. But given our track record in the Middle East, I'm not optimistic that this will come out looking like it was fully constitutional legal use of force.

30:45Emily Jashinsky:then you are genuinely risking what seems like the Trump administration wants, which is some type of all-out military conflict with these paramilitary groups, which will mean that Americans die. Right. And 11 people were killed yesterday on this fishing boat or whatever it was. And here's Trump with A6 announcing this attack. When you come out and when you leave the room, you'll see that we just, over the last few minutes literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat, and you'll be seeing that. And there's more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time, and we just, these came out of Venezuela.

31:29There's more where that came from. Yes, there is more drugs where that came from. You think you're going to blow up every boat that might have drugs on it? I don't even want to not, maybe it did. I don't even want to acknowledge that without some type of evidence. There's plenty of fishing going on in the Caribbean.

31:45Emily Jashinsky:Well, yeah, I mean, also people who have followed this have already said it's a very small craft. And there's been some debate of people in that space, like former agents, guys like Yoan Grillo, who've covered this really closely, as to whether or not that boat, from what we know now, looks like something that would be engaged in mass trafficking. Some people say you see the waterproof bags in the middle of it. I think that's hard to see. But we'll obviously learn more, at least from our government's perspective. But very interestingly, in the aftermath of the strike, Maduro, this is, I don't know if you saw this, Ryan, because you'll have interesting thoughts on this.

32:20Emily Jashinsky:Maduro tried to drive a wedge between Rubio and Trump by saying Marco Rubio, who obviously has supported Juan Guaido and other opponents of Maduro, has been a vicious enemy of Maduro for a long time. saying Marco Rubio is trying to draw you into a war with the people of Venezuela. But I'm confident that there's a way that we can work with Donald Trump, etc. That's what Maduro said afterwards. It was a pretty interesting attack. No, I think it's smart by Maduro because I think it's true. I think Rubio is taking the opportunity that he sees. He's boxed out of a lot of the rest of the world. but the thing that he really cares about is fighting the left in the Caribbean and Latin and Latin America and he's just being allowed to do it.

33:10Emily Jashinsky:Well stop on that point because notice I think Trump is absolutely itching for a conflict with cartels that he can. But Mexican cartels not communists. And Rubio's like how about we go after Venezuela. Exactly yeah because if I think Trump is absolutely itching for a war with cartels which is not like I think it's really emotional for people who have lost family members of fentanyl, which is just staggering number of Americans who do want to see some justice and want to see action. And I absolutely understand that. I think we've we've learned, you know, after 9-11, for example, that it's very easy after deep tragedy to be sort of swayed in one direction or another by politicians who say they have our best interests and are pursuing justice at hand.

33:58Emily Jashinsky:So there's that. But the Mexican cartels, Trump, I think, is particularly eager because he feels like they're fairly easy to crush. And I think he's eager to have videos of those cartels getting lit up. But your point, I think, is important, which is that Marco Rubio, who's actually on a sort of swing of Latin America, this happened And literally right before he was going on his trip, Marco Rubio, isn't it interesting, is going after the first strike is on the communists. Venezuela, how about that? The communists. Maybe he'll find some Cuban drug traffickers next. That probably is coming. Yeah.

34:35Emily Jashinsky:That probably is coming. My name is Arnold Bogarty, and prior to me enrolling in Rasmussen to become a nurse, I spent 16 years in the military, 12 in Special Forces, as an Army Green Beret, and I was recommended to Rasmussen by a former student. She said she loved the culture. It was a family atmosphere. I went to visit the campus. The facilities were amazing. I knew before I left that that was the school that I was going to attend. Rasmussen University. Are you ready to be your own hero online and on campus? Learn more at rasmussen.edu. Apple Vacations, where your story starts. The Summer Savings Event is here at Apple Vacations.

35:14It's the perfect time to bring everyone together for the getaway you've been dreaming about. Book between July 24th and August 27th and enjoy up to 55 % instant savings. From relaxing beach days to unforgettable moments with the people who matter most, your next vacation starts here. Travel through July 31st, 2027. Start your vacation today at AppleVacations.com or through your travel advisor. Apple Vacations, where your story starts. This 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.

35:52Same. 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. Because 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.

36:27Klarna balance account required to be eligible for cashback points. Limitations, terms, and conditions apply.

36:33Emily Jashinsky:We started this by saying it was a wild press conference that spanned all kinds of different topics. And it was including tariffs. So, Ryan, let's talk about how the president responded to setbacks or maybe he doesn't see them as setbacks, but setbacks in his tariff war. We can go ahead and roll B1 again from this press conference yesterday. And now it's going to the Supreme Court. Now, we're going to be asking for early admittance. we're going tomorrow and we're going to ask for expedited an expedited ruling because, you know, when you look at the stock markets down today, the stock market's down because of that, because the stock market needs the tariffs.

37:13They want the tariffs. Without the tariffs, we wouldn't have a chance because we wouldn't be able to protect those investments of the companies coming in. So if you took away tariffs, we could end up being a third world country. That's how big the ruling is. So we're asking for an expedited ruling. Sir, China's having a massive military parade that President Putin and Kim Jong-un will be attending. Do you interpret that as a challenge to this? And are you concerned at all about those countries? No. Not at all. China needs us. And I have a very good relationship with President Xi, as you know. But China needs us much more than we need them.

37:52No, I don't see that at all. No. So, and I had actually a very good meeting with President Putin a couple of weeks ago. We'll see if anything comes out of it. If it doesn't, we'll take a different stance.

38:03Emily Jashinsky:OK, so two things going on there. Not unrelated, of course, the tariff war and the meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Obviously, Narendra Modi was in the mix as well over the last couple of days. What was your reaction to Trump's comments there? So he referenced the stock market plunge. And so it wasn't huge, but like the market was down across the board. This is coming because this appeals court has affirmed the lower court's ruling that Trump's use of the tariffs is illegal, that the president retains ability to put tariffs in place in particular instances. But he does not have an across-the-board ability to just willy-nilly slap tariffs on everybody for any reason.

38:51He just doesn't have that power, and he's clearly doing it that way. Like, oh, India's buying oil from Russia. Well, here's another 25 % tax on a tariff on India. Or the entire formula that he rolled out that hit the entire world. There was nothing, you know, there was very little attempt to root it in the statutory authority that delegates to the president the ability to implement these tariffs. The consequence of that is think about that. One reason that the market hasn't gone haywire over the tariffs is because there was significant revenue coming in and we haven't had a complete calamity economically.

39:32And so Wall Street starts thinking, oh, wait, there's actually a decent revenue potential for the United States. And so maybe we'll keep maybe maybe that keeps bond prices a little bit flat and interest rates don't go crazy because we're not as worried about a debt spiral. if the tariffs are illegal. And let's say you run a small business that manufactures fishing gear in Ohio and you paid$200 ,000 in tariffs in June for the material that you need to manufacture the goods that you're producing here in the United States and then selling here. You paid 200 grand. You didn't have that 200 grand. You went to the bank and you're like, look, I'm going under if I don't pay for these imports.

40:19So you got this$200 ,000, you paid it. You're now told that these tariffs are illegal. You want that$200 ,000 back. And you're not alone. Everyone who paid those tariffs is going to then demand those back. And so Wall Street is factoring that in. And that's why Trump was saying the market went down. I think he's actually right about that. The B3 is the appeals court ruling. We put up that real quickly so people can see it. And then quickly move to B4, which is that Trump is not crazy here to think this. This is CNBC headline, Treasury Yields Jump on Prospect of U.S. Having to refund tariff money.

41:0630-year yield tops 4.97%. We saw 50-point swing, 50 basis point interest rate swings, half point, like massive jumps in interest rates as a result of this uncertainty. And so that means two things. One, the tariffs get approved and we continue to have prices going up because everybody's paying more for the things that are coming to the country, which is most of the things. Or the tariffs get shot down and then the U.S. has to spend hundreds of billions of dollars refunding people their tariffs that they collected illegally. Neither of which the market or the economy is going to like. So Trump has set himself up for a complete lose-lose situation here, which goes back to what I was saying at the very beginning, if you remember.

42:02You and I both like the idea of protecting domestic industries where it's necessary. But you want to have the public on your side and you want to have a strategy for why you're protecting those industries and how you're going to bolster them in the meantime. Let's say it's aluminum. Here's our aluminum strategy. we're going to make sure the pentagon and the federal government and the states are buying from american aluminum makers and we're going to make sure that would they have uh access to the global sources that they need in the over the course of the time that they're building up the industry we'll do some tax breaks you do whatever you want and explain it and put it into law and then that can work he's just like we're doing this because you suck and you've been ripping us off.

42:54And the court's like, well, you can't do that. And the voters and the businesses don't think you're going to stick with it. So it doesn't actually develop any domestic industry. And then you wind up in this lose-lose situation.

43:07Emily Jashinsky:So Trump also has said a couple of other things worth noting. One is he told Scott Dennings that the uncertainty was hurting the stock market, which is what his critics have been saying since we were liberated on April 2nd. You think, buddy? But he then also said that the stock markets are upset because they need the tariffs. That was another comment. They love the tariffs. Well, so they're bringing it. These tariffs have brought in about$30 billion a month. And so if that goes straight to the Treasury. So if then that leaves the Treasury, this is a huge hole in Trump's talking point about tariffs, which isn't just that we're going to make fair deals, we're going to protect American industry, but also that it's going to help the deficit.

43:55Emily Jashinsky:And so if that goes away, also, there are companies, experts who weighed in on this. We put the CNBC article up on the screen already. That article talks to some people. We're like, it's possible, actually, that it's not that difficult to do the refunds, that the process, like logistically, is not impossible. You can't be able to do it. It all has, they're all coded. Everybody knows they're paid. Right. But some companies do their imports through third parties, like DHL or other groups, which is a nightmare. Right, and then who's entitled to that? Right. Yeah, so this is a B4. This is the CNBC article that you can read if you want to.

44:35Emily Jashinsky:But basically, the breakdown is that the logistics of this, they're doable, but then it gets really, really messy for certain companies. And obviously, the markets are going to react to that. Good point. Think about this. Let's take your fishing rod company again. Like, let's say that fishing rod company, their costs for the imports went up by$200 ,000, but they actually paid this importer. Because it's the importer, exactly, that paid. So the importer now got paid by the company itself because they told the fishing company, hey, look, sorry, man, you want to make these fishing rods, it's going to cost you an extra$200 ,000.

45:16Because Trump did this to me. and then they take the money from the fishing company they pass it on to treasury now if they get ruled illegal the importer is going to go to the treasury and say give me my 200 000 back yes of course now the fishing rod company is going to be like well you owe me that 200k of course because i had to raise my prices and i had to go into debt um so now give it back like no oh, legally it's mine, I'm not giving it back to you. And then me, who spent an extra 30 bucks on the fishing rod, it's gonna be like, I want the$30 back. Yeah, exactly. And they're gonna be like, no, too bad.

45:59Emily Jashinsky:Well, maybe you'll get your tariff rebate. Don't count on it. What was it called? So let's put B5 on the screen because some of this actually is probably already priced into things. So this is a screenshot from NBC. Package carriers suspending shipments to the US. lots and lots of carriers from different countries around the world that have already kind of adjusted to this. And that's why some adjusted in a brutal way. Like, so this is the de minimis rule, which says, which is awesome. It used to be under what a pound or two. It started that way. It's it evolved in a really egregious way over time with inflation.

46:37Emily Jashinsky:So it started as like a buck or two, uh, to your point. And then what was it? 2015 or 2016, they moved it to like$800, something like that. So basically you could package a crazy amount of stuff in these little boxes from China and not have to pay. Right, not enough to pay any tariffs. And so they got rid of that. And so - If you've ever wondered why stuff got really cheap in the last 10 years, that's a very good example. Like why the Amazon prices started tumbling about roughly 10 years ago and you started being able to get crazy stuff really quickly on Prime. Right, and different LLCs could then be the ones that are buying all these different things.

47:12And so, but again, they didn't really figure out a rational replacement to what is going on. So all of these mail carriers are just like, well, we don't really understand what the new rules are for the U.S. So we're not sending any packages, period. So if you need something from this list of 30 plus countries here, like it's not coming. or you have to find some other like private shipping method that's going to be super expensive to get it in.

47:43Emily Jashinsky:Right. Yeah. I mean, this is, we'll see. I mean, Trump also said, this is another thing I wanted to get your take on because I think it was Obama and Justin Trudeau may have done something similar at some point. You'll remember your memory is better than me on this, but Trump was talking about how these IEPA tariffs, so the emergency tariffs are actually, it's great that they go through the president and not Congress because it gives the president the ability to make deals. And the implication of what he was saying, I'm paraphrasing him, of course, is that it gives the president the ability to make deals for national security and for prosperity and do sort of all of that rolled up into one negotiator, not trying to go through this Byzantine legislative system just to negotiate with other world leaders.

48:30Emily Jashinsky:And it sounds, It reminds me a little bit of, do you remember when Obama was, he got hammered really hard for almost sounding like he yearned to have the power of Xi Jinping at one point? I'm sure you remember this. It sounds exactly like that. that, you know, the president should be able to kind of wave the wand and do these emergency deals, even though that also sort of undercuts the legal emergency justification for doing these deals by saying, well, it's just better this way anyway. But yeah, that's, I think, a worthwhile distinction is we may, we don't know, I mean, like, but we may look back on this five to 10 years from now and say the emergency tariff authority of the executive pursuing these tariffs with that vehicle was actually the downfall of the Trump tariff policy ultimately, because while there was some, in some ways, he does have more leverage just as a sole negotiator because he's able to say, ah, I don't know.

49:32Emily Jashinsky:I don't like this. I'm not getting along with you right now, whatever. But then on the other hand, that creates such enormous uncertainty that everyone just bets on bricks or just stops doing as much business with the United States. And again, like I'm saying that's a possibility that we look back 10 years from now and that's the problem because that's actually not the way that the system is designed to avoid that problem. Yeah, it's exactly how it's designed. No, I saw somebody jokingly suggesting that Trump actually is on track to win his Nobel peace prize because the achievement of bringing together the historic rivals of China, Russia, and India, which represent billions of people around the world into coalition together.

50:13Like that's a peace deal that he deserves great credit for. People didn't think it was possible. And yet he's pulling it off.

50:21Emily Jashinsky:Amazing. Yeah, I mean, the theme of this show so far, we started with, you know, Chicago. Then we talked about Venezuela. And now we're talking about tariffs. The theme of the show so far is the theme of the administration, which is testing the legal limits, both as norms and as legal precedents. Some of these constraints, particularly on executive branch power, which is the same in the case of Chicago, is the same in the case of Venezuela. And it's right now the same in the case of tariffs. And let me just say, on tariffs and—well, tariffs in particular, if Barack Obama had been doing this, the anti-Obama right would have been up in arms about Obama wanting to be a king, which was the case with DACA and I think correctly the case with DACA.

51:11Emily Jashinsky:But now that Trump is in this position, it's possible he leaves office and the executive branch is not in any way less powerful to the point that some conservatives, this is a battle internally in the conservative movement, whether the executives would be more or less powerful or powerful in different ways, but that the executive, the executive's power is massively expanded and then wielded by a Democratic president in ways where their emergency power is, punishing countries that don't go along with the LGBT agenda or something like that. And conservatives then find themselves in that position.

51:49Somehow, I suspect the Supreme Court will find a way to distinguish between Democratic and Republican presidents.

51:55Emily Jashinsky:We'll see. TBD. Because actually, that very internal debate in the conservative movement, these justices are federal society justices that are not, in every case, MAGA justices. And so they have been involved in this debate about executive power over the course of the last several decades. And it is not a given whether they side with the kind of originalist branch that they came up in or MAGA world. And that's actually very MAGA world, which is sort of cribbing from Nixon in this case. That's if they think they're just going to get rubber stamped at the Supreme Court. My guess would be that that's not the case.

52:32Emily Jashinsky:We'll see, though. We'll see. Let's move on to Anthony Aguilar, who is joining us in studio this morning on his way to disrupt a hearing over on Capitol Hill. We'll bring him in just now. Shortly after I enrolled at Rasmussen, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was like a bomb had just been dropped in my life. I reached out to Rasmussen. They immediately were like, Rosa, take what time you need. You can come back when you're ready. We are cancer-free today, and I'm just so grateful for Rasmussen for all of their support throughout my journey and for my own village. Rasmussen University. Find your seat and start now at rasmussen.edu.

53:13Apple Vacations, where your story starts. The Summer Savings Event is here at Apple Vacations. It's the perfect time to bring everyone together for the getaway you've been dreaming about. Book between July 24th and August 27th and enjoy up to 55 % instant savings. From relaxing beach days to unforgettable moments with the people who matter most, your next vacation starts here. Travel through July 31st, 2027. Start your vacation today at AppleVacations.com or through your travel advisor. Apple Vacations, where your story starts. This is Charity Lawson from Bachelor Happy Hour. Charity, I was thinking about this the other day.

53:48What'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. Because when you have the right tools, everything feels more manageable.

54:22Download 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. Klarnaut Balance account required to be eligible for cashback points. Limitations, terms, and conditions apply.

54:38Emily Jashinsky:We are joined once again by retired Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar. Ryan, we have a lot to get into. So first of all, thank you so much for being here and coming back on the show. We appreciate it. Thank you. I appreciate it. You can come back and have the opportunity. Yeah. So welcome back to Washington, D.C. We're recording this early in the morning on Wednesday. You're headed from here down to the United States Senate. And by the time this show airs, the hearing that you're going to will have already begun. What's your plan there? Can you tell us anything about what brought you to Washington?

55:14So today, Senate is back in session. They returned for the 119th Second Congress on Monday, administrative work yesterday. Today, the Senate and the House are back into sessions. Today at 10 o 'clock will be the Foreign Affairs Committee discussing nominations to be presented moving forward. So kind of somewhat business work, but also kind of the start of business for the Foreign Affairs Committee. And the Foreign Affairs Committee, in my particular interest, is crucial in how the United States continues to back fund support what's going on in Gaza. So my goal is to ensure that our lawmakers, our representatives, the Congress that works for us, the people, is unquestionably aware of what the truth is in Gaza.

56:19And that there can't be any confusion as to, well, we didn't know or we thought this or we thought that. and hopefully by being there through, you know, I will disrupt the hearing and that there is an acknowledgement or at least going back because the rest of this week and next week is all matters, you know, in the House. So they're not actually having committee hearing meetings. So they'll take back and do work. So I'm hoping that by addressing this now in a more elevated way that it'll be discussed and lawmakers will actually put some serious effort into what we're going to do.

56:59Emily Jashinsky:Is it a strange position to find yourself in right now being so upset about what you see that you're willing to disrupt congressional hearings? Is this a position you ever thought you'd find yourself in? And also I assumed by the way that everybody watching this is familiar with your work. We'll just let people know who are just tuning in. You were a contractor at the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and so-called aid distribution sites and have been speaking out about the killings and the starvation policy that you've seen unfolding there. So if you're new, that's what we're talking about here.

57:35Emily Jashinsky:Go click on the interview with Sager and Crystal, catch yourself up, and then come right back here. Pause this, Google, go watch that. Yeah. So it's, I wouldn't say it's a strange situation. It's a situation that I did not necessarily think I'd find myself in in terms of standing up for what's right, standing up for the values and the ideals of humanity. But a weird position I find myself in that what's happening in Gaza is happening. It's mind-blowing to me that the world has stood by for so long and has done nothing but write stern letters or made statements on media. but you know the the great nations of the world have the have the ability to do something and we and we haven't and when i first went to gaza i was aware of the ongoing conflict i was aware of um both sides of the of the position in terms of well this is what this is what hamas has done this is what israel's doing there's a lot of narrative there's a lot of rhetoric the it's very difficult for, as it was for myself and for the average American, to cut through what's truth and what's not.

58:48Emily Jashinsky:And you were sort of generally favorable to Israel when you went over, right? In all honesty, yes. As a military officer in the United States Army, we are trained and somewhat brought up in officer education that Israel is an army that we should emulate. They're an army that is as professional as we are. And they are these partners that we should strive to work with. And so, yes, when I went to Israel, I kind of had that initial perception of, you know, that, okay, what, Israel's fighting a war. War is complex and complicated. There's a problem with starvation. They didn't let the UN go in anymore because they're giving food to Hamas.

59:35what's true, what's not. And so me going there, I really was focused on, I can't control the political aspects of food going in or not. But what I can be a part of is providing aid to a desperate and in need population, regardless of the politics, the people of the Palestinians are dying. So that was my premise for going in. I was, I was lied to, we were lied to all the contractors that went there. Um, it was, it was not a mechanism to provide aid to the population. So yes, I kind of, I first went in kind of, if you were to put me in a camp on day one, the 24th of May going into Gaza, um, I probably would have fallen to that, fallen to the side of the, the, the pro Israel side.

1:00:24And that's just, that's just me being completely transparent and honest that that's just, that that's the military culture that I spent my career in. And you and I were talking just before you came on here about meetings that you've been having outside of this Senate one, but more above board meetings. You said you had some interviews with the ICC. Can you tell us a little bit about what they're curious about and what are they looking into that relates to your work there? So when you particularly look at the ICC, and there are numerous entities, offices, and organizations that are now taking a deeper look into this cloak and dagger organization of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

1:01:10The ICC particularly is looking at the aspects of the violations of international humanitarian law. The core of the international humanitarian law that Israel is a signature to are the protocols of the Geneva Convention. So if you have this large body of law that is the international humanitarian law, you know, the, the, the meat of it in terms of how we fight wars is the protocols of the Geneva convention and the ICC, like many, many who are informed and aware of these conventions and these laws and these protocols is that there are clear violations, clear violations of this in terms of forced displacement.

1:01:53Not starvation. Not providing water. And these things are all articles of the protocols that are identified by specifically like you have to give civilians water. You have to feed civilians. You have to safeguard civilians. You can't displace civilians. You can't do A, B, and C. So it's very rational in its approach. Now, where the investigations come to, which will take the voice of the world, is that how do you then establish intent? So if I'm in an unfortunate situation where someone's killed, just say in my everyday life, I don't immediately get charged with first -degree murder and go to jail.

1:02:38There's a trial. There's an investigation. What was the intent? What was the situation? Right. But I think at this point, it's very, very, very clear that Israel's involvement in Gaza and how this war is being fought. It's no longer a war. This is not a war. This is an annihilation. This is a genocide. And that. The body of evidence that now looks to the reality that we see every day, we are seeing a genocide occur every day in front of our eyes on the world stage, is that it was planned from the beginning. This has always been the plan. It's premeditated. It's designed. And unfortunately, the United States is a part of it.

1:03:25Emily Jashinsky:I want to ask, we can put this element up on the screen, if you saw anything related to these new allegations about forced disappearances, actually the word they're using is, quote, enforced disappearances of Palestinians at aid distribution sites in Gaza. As the Times of Israel reports, the allegations are that the military lawfully detains individuals who approach aid compounds after hours or in ways that endanger its forces. Now, unlawfully is probably the best way to frame the allegation. Now, Israel is saying the claim of the forced disappearance of Gaza residents in aid compounds is baseless and entirely unfounded, according to a statement.

1:04:02Emily Jashinsky:But these are particularly about those Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites. So did you see anything that would lead you to believe that these allegations of enforced disappearances of Palestinians are actually happening? Without question. Not only did I witness it, but you can, they're on the ground in terms of the plan and how things are enacted. Two data points I would say that give me a clear understanding of that. one the the response from israel and the idf very similar and parallel to the ghf's response to any and every allegation is always that's baseless that's categorically false last week when we saw uh you know a hospital struck and then there's irrefutable evidence from what occurred.

1:04:58But up until the Israelis were faced with irrefutable evidence and they apologized as a mishap, what did they say? Oh, yeah. That's categorically false. That didn't happen. We don't do that. You're lying. We don't do that. And the world saw it. So when the IDF says they didn't do it or they didn't do something, that's like asking a criminal to adjourn their own trial. Like, oh, nothing to see here. It's like you did it. So let's take that with a grain of salt that when Israel or the GHF say this is categorically false or this is not true. So what is true is that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation through Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions, Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions in Israel and Gaza, from day one, from the very beginning, they implemented biometric facial recognition data collection.

1:05:57from day one and began building out these extensive POIs, persons of interest databases, of anyone that looked like Hamas.

1:06:11Emily Jashinsky:And were you, as a contractor at GHF, expected to sort of have a recollection of who might be a POI or be aware of who might be a POI? We were, yes. So in the first few days of distribution, we were told very clearly by the Safe Reach Solutions intelligence analysts. Why does a humanitarian assistance operation have an intelligence analyst? We were told, kind of given this briefing of look for these things. Look for these things. Be aware of this. What do you look for? What do they say makes a person Hamas at an AIDS site? You know, I feel like I feel like I'm reliving lessons that we learned long ago.

1:06:51When I was in Iraq, Afghanistan, the early days. Let's look for the ma 'ams, military-aged males. That becomes the catch-all. If you look at the videos, and if you also just use your common sense, these sites are, you tell me, 5 to 15 kilometers away from where people are staying. The person in the family who's going to be able to make that journey and then make it back is going to be the ma 'am, the military-aged male. a person who's... Typically someone in the family that's capable. And so if you look at the videos, and I'm curious from your perspective, you had actually eyes on the ground, in the videos, most of the people are military-aged males, which makes sense, because those are the ones that can hike all the way through the desert in the middle of the night.

1:07:38It's very difficult to get there. Yeah, so almost everybody then fits the category that they're describing as potentially Hamas, it sounds like. And what you will see now, and again, the proof is in the reality of what we're seeing. In the beginning days of distribution, what GHF, under the umbrella in coordination with the IDF, called phase one. Phase one, establish the sites, run the sites, and begin collecting data. It was never about humanitarian aid. Start building these persons of interest mugshots. They even call them that, mugshots. So when they get a package, take a photo? So facial recognition software where cameras on site that are doing that, they're set up to look for certain characteristics, right?

1:08:26Now, what you will see in the distribution that's happening now with people that are coming down to the south to this large 2.7-kilometer area concentration camp that GHF is running, they call it a humanitarian village. But when you displace a population and you concentrate them in an area and you put them on a camp, that has a name. It's a concentration camp. So when you look at how that was being done, now the majority of Palestinians coming to the sites are women and children or elderly because that's all that's left. Because what wasn't advertised and wasn't told is that if you leave your house and you're going to site one, two, or three, sites one, two, and three are all south of the Morag Corridor, which is a militarized corridor that bisects the southern portion from the central.

1:09:15Well, if you want to go to site one, two, or three to get food, you have to cross that corridor. Once you cross that corridor, you don't go home. You cross the corridor, you go to get your food. On your way back and you hit the intersection of a site in the Murag Corridor, you're assigned to one of the encampments, Eunice Camp, Mawasi Camp. You never go home. So then your family – This is the trap that my colleague Jeremy Scarehill described. It's a trap. It's being set up. It's a trap. And then it's a one way trap. And then your family that's back home or already in a U.N. encampment. A lot of the people that came to get food from these sites were already in U.N.

1:09:57encampments. U.N. encampments that, oh, by the way, are not being run, managed by the U.N. So because the U.N. is out. So it was designed that way and it will continue. And did you see people detained and interrogated? And could that be related to these enforced disappearances?

1:10:19Emily Jashinsky:That's what the claim from the IDF is if the initial field questioning, people come in after hours and are around the compound. They say if the initial field questioning raises suspicion that a detainee is engaged in activity against our forces, the suspect is transferred for further interrogation. Israel detainees for whom there is no justification for detention are released into the Gaza Strip, while those for whom grounds exist for continued detention in accordance with the law are brought before a judge and are entitled to legal representation as provided by law. That's the claim. And to this, can you add the context of, they say after hours, but how do people know when the hours are?

1:10:54And how consistent are these hours? That is a great question because the truth is, they don't. it's all left to obscurity and confusion to, you know, kind of like, uh, um, I equate it to like, if you were trying to get your taxes done at the DMV, it's like, which line do I go to? Like, where does this exist? How do I, how do I do this? It's like, Oh, that building's over there. What are the hours? Oh, we're only open every fourth Sunday. Right. You're like, and sometimes every, sometimes we close for, for lunch, eight days a week. And we'll let you know when we close. We'll let you know. So it's like, Like it's so – it's intentionally designed to be confusing and cryptic in how it's being done.

1:11:34Now, to the point of the actual detention, one anecdote I witnessed, one I did not witness but I'm intimately familiar with. I'll start with the latest, the latter. Middle Eastern Eye, they have a reporter that was recently killed who was in Nasser Hospital. that reporter that did the story about amir the story that was broke about my my um interaction with amir the person that then followed through on that story because ghf came out and said oh he's fine here he is and showed a different a different boy altogether so middle eastern eye who's in gaza followed that up and i done it and found his his mother and talked to his mother and days later last week that individual that reporter the person that wrote that story who is further looking into the disappearance of Amir where's his body was detained and questioned on site number three the Khan Yunus site then further detained and then a few days later.

1:12:42Yes, sir. Muhammad Salama, look up his... And he did some great reporting on the 16 medics that were killed in Rafa. Yes, that's right. He was killed in the Nasser Hospital hit. So then they detained a source of his, right? Yes, they detained a source of his, specifically trying to find out where he was. And then days later, he, as well as others, are hit in Nasser Hospital, which is directly north of Khan Yunus. So when you put these pieces together, it seems awfully convenient. And the, now I did not witness that, but it's reported. And the individual that was his source is dead. What I did witness was in early June, an individual who worked at the site, site number two, distribution site two, which is in Southern Rafa.

1:13:37The Kogat, the organization out of the Ministry of Defense of Israel that covers governance and the territories, they had aligned Palestinian workers, Palestinians that live in Gaza, that got vetted through them to then work for us at these sites. And in that time, within like the first couple days of distribution, one of their buses was hit. And apparently that was blamed on Hamas. Hamas cannot operate in the area that far south of the Morag Corridor unless the Israelis let them. You can't. Right, because you're talking about 5 to 15 kilometers through the desert with total drone surveillance.

1:14:23Total drone surveillance. And no tunnel network. Tanks. Right. Infantry. Tunnels have been destroyed. Full coverage. And everything is flattened. You're not looking at a city. Right. Right. So for Hamas to openly have operated and shot up this bus of 25 Palestinian workers on in late May, early June, the only way that could have happened is if the idea of let it or it didn't happen. And they were killed another way, because how do we know? So on this particular incident on this day in early June at site number two, I cannot recall the exact date, but we got a we got a call from Kogat, a radio phone call from from Kogat to our operations center that said one of the local Palestinian workers on site two is Hamas.

1:15:10And our position on it was like, you're the ones that vetted them. Like, what are you talking about? Like, hey, I brought a guest to your house and man, he's a jerk. You brought it. Like he's your guest. So these people that were here that were working on the site, Kogod says, oh, one of them is Hamas. Okay, well, how do you do that? Like, does he, if I pat him down, does he have his Hamas membership card? If I take off his shirt, is he wearing a Hamas T-shirt? How do you know that? Well, he has connections. Really. Absolutely. So. G.H.F. U.G. Solutions, American contractors who, mind you, are in Israel, in Gaza on a tourist visa.

1:15:51Emily Jashinsky:Right. Detained this man and would not let him leave until the IDF said he could leave. took his passport took any of his identification would not let him leave and he was under the control of ug solutions until the idf told us that that he could either leave or he was going to be taken away by the idf and this prolonged to the point to where it's almost as if the idf wanted to tire us out or wait us out to say like oh we'll just come and get him but then later in the later at the night two o 'clock in the morning remember in two o 'clock in the morning it's hunting season if you will for the idf out there it gives them the perfect excuse that anybody out moving around well they must be bad so this man gets released go back home and he begged cried and begged not to be put off the site and just put he was like i live all the way in in barish which is north by the netzerim corridor how i can't get home from here i'm gonna get killed right either you know by hamas for supporting this effort or by the idf and this man was released and set out from the site to his own to his own device to his own devices and moments later, north of the site.

1:17:17Now, I didn't see a drone strike or a missile strike hit this individual. But moments later, as he left the site in the area that he was walking, there was a strike. So is it any doubt to me that the UG solutions under Gaza Humanitarian Fund are part of this detention and extra questioning tactic, Gestapo tactics, if you will? They absolutely are. Americans on tourist visas are detaining people on behalf of the IDF. That should be very concerning to any American that is paying their tax dollars towards this effort. Yeah. And also for the men or women who, it's all men. Is there any women there?

1:18:04Of the Palestinian workers? Contractors, I mean. Any of the contractors? Oh, from UG Solutions? And during my time there, it was all men. I can't say what there is now. These men went there on a tourist visa and participated in murdering somebody, most likely. Participated in murder. Participated as elements, as tools of a planned genocide and a planned forced displacement. The bait, the anecdote you gave or the analogy you gave of the bait. Well, if you think about bait in a mousetrap, well, the people guarding that bait to bring everybody in are American contractors. Right. Now, we could put up this second element on the screen.

1:18:51The Washington Post has finally followed the Financial Times and some of its reporting on the Boston Consulting Group and others who have put together plans that they say are circulating among administration officials that would see basically the population of Gaza expelled. there would be some opportunity there some gazzans would get a token and they could use a token to come back and buy like a an apartment in a digital future um gulfified uh gaza that would be the riviera that trump has talked about this plan even included from north to south what they call an mbs highway east to west like an mbz highway named after mohammed bin salman of saudi arabia Mohammed bin Zayed of the UAE trying to get their buy-in by naming streets after them.

1:19:47So the plans are advanced for a post-Palestinian Gaza. As you witness what's going on in the ground unfold, do you think that it is past the point of no return, or do you think that the clock is still ticking on whatever the strategy is? the clock is still ticking but we are seconds away from that clock striking midnight we we there is time for the world to make a humane decision but there's also time to do nothing as we've been doing as a as a as a world community the the final solution if you will in this greater plan this plan for a post-war Gaza and what that would look like with this real estate venture, the Riviera, tech parks, and all these things, you know, things that your voluntary Palestinian would not want.

1:20:49They want to live in their land. So one, this notion of we're going to kill everybody, consolidate them, move them out, rebuild their homeland, and then give them a token to come back in. That's laughable. Um, and then the, this aspect of the, the plan has always been from before we even opened the sites, the Boston confident, uh, BCG Boston consulting group had already developed this plan for this post-war real estate venture that was already planned. That didn't, that's not something that came about in the last weeks. Like, Oh, we'll do this. That's the plan from the beginning. So what that will look like in Gaza is the forced displacement of the entire population.

1:21:37And we don't have much time left because the final phase of that, the final solution to rid Gaza of all Palestinians is already happening. operation Gideon's Chariots 2 in the north to clear Gaza City to Jabalia to Erez. That was not supposed to begin operationally until the end of September because the IDF has to call up 60 ,000 reserves. They have people that aren't wanting to fight. They don't have the forces to execute that offensive in an actual military way. They're just going to use bombing. Last night they were bombing, dropping incendiary devices on tents. Yes. Burning tents. So is That is the UN tent in the north.

1:22:18Do you suspect that that's happening because they don't have the manpower? Absolutely. But they can drop bombs. They are critically short on manpower, especially in the north for an offensive. And calling up 60 ,000 reserves that you don't have time to train or prepare. Israel knows that putting Israelis, I think yesterday or the day before there was the article about the ultra-Orthodox that have been forced into service. If they go into the offensive on the ground and try to fight this in a way that a moral army would fight this war, a lot of people will die. A lot of Israelis will die. And Israel is not going to stand for that.

1:22:58So they're going to bomb. the reason i feel that that we have time but not much as in within the next 19 days 20 days the question of a of a palestinian state or the question of the the palestinians existence and right to exist won't even be a question if we don't do something now because operation gideon's chariots 2 they started it a month early the 60 000 reserve call up they're they're bringing them in, but they've already started the bombing campaign. And they're not only coming from the South, they're coming from the North. They're halving the time and how long it would have taken them. So before the Palestinian question comes to the UN General Assembly on the 22nd of September, it's likely that if the world doesn't condemn this displacement and the starvation and stop the war, it is highly likely that there will not even be a question of a Palestinian state come the 22nd of September.

1:24:01We won't be discussing when the UN meets and the UN when the UN General Assembly meets. We won't be discussing a future of Palestine. We will be discussing the memoriam of millions of that have died. Yeah.

1:24:14Emily Jashinsky:Well, retired Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar, You're heading to Capitol Hill. Thank you for stopping by our show once again on your way. Love what y 'all do. And thank you for having me. Always welcome here. Thanks for coming. My name is Arnold Bogarty. And prior to me, I enrolled in Rasmussen to become a nurse. I spent 16 years in the military, 12 in Special Forces as an Army Green Beret. And I was recommended to Rasmussen by a former student. She said she loved the culture. It was a family atmosphere. I went to visit the campus. The facilities were amazing. I knew before I left that that was the school that I was going to attend.

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1:26:22Emily Jashinsky:The House Oversight Committee yesterday released documents that the Justice Department turned over to the committee about the investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. That said, Representative Ro Khanna tells us that we can quote him less than 1 % of those documents. Less than 1 % of those documents are new. So much of what was released yesterday was already public. But Ro Khanna and Thomas Massey are right now, actually, as we're recording, assembling a press conference of people who say they've survived abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on Capitol Hill as they rally support for a discharge petition that would force a vote on releasing more Epstein files on Capitol Hill.

1:27:08Emily Jashinsky:So they believe they can pressure. They need to get enough Republicans. If they get every Democrat, they need to get six Republicans, so five, not including Massey, to support forcing that vote with the discharge petition. And they believe rallying and having House Republicans hear from people who say they survived abuse at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell will help compel members to join the cause and force that vote. So after House Republicans met with some of those people who say they were abused by Epstein and Maxwell just last night, here's what Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican, had to say.

1:27:43The biggest thing that stands out to me is the victims themselves have stated that this is a lot bigger than I think anyone anticipated. We are obviously going to be requesting the SARS reports from Treasury and also, too, following up on that. There are some very rich and powerful people that need to go to jail. I think everyone's been frustrated as to why that hasn't happened before. But it is very much so a possibility that Jeffrey Epstein was an intelligence asset working for our adversaries. But also, too, I think the questions that we have is how much does our government know about it?

1:28:17Emily Jashinsky:Some of these people actually told NBC News just on Tuesday night, so last night, that they're compiling basically their own client list of people that they know were in the Epstein orbit and are implicated by all of this. And also, I think one of the interesting things happening now, Ryan, is some of these people who say they were abused are not the high profile folks who have been on the scene for years sharing their experiences. Some of these people have not been in the press with the same level of exposure. And that's, I think, a pretty interesting development that Ro Khanna and Thomas Massey are bringing to the table right now.

1:28:59And I thought it was interesting that Representative Luna, if you notice in the very end of the clip there, she said it's possible that Epstein was a foreign intelligence asset for one of our adversaries, which seems directed at debunking the claim that he was an asset for Israel. Even though in the emails that we've gotten so far, one of his biggest interlocutors is Ehud Barak. Ehud Barak's not just a former prime minister. Perhaps more importantly, Barak is a key player in the advancement of Israel's cyber technology over the last 20 decades. He sits on a bunch of those boards. He's involved with a bunch of these companies.

1:29:44And one of the most significant developments historically in the last 10, 20 years is the growth of Israel's cyber warfare capacity, which changed its power balance with regard to Iran, Hezbollah, the Pager attack, etc. Like its ability to get inside the communications devices of its allies and adversaries is almost unrivaled. And Barak is a key part of that. And so Barak being a key, key friend of Jeffrey Epstein flies in the face of this claim that he was. But maybe he was also a foreign intelligence asset for an adversary. Like just just because he was let's say he was an asset for the U.S.

1:30:36and Israel doesn't mean he wasn't also one for Russia or.

1:30:39Emily Jashinsky:Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think that's an important point. He could have been basically a freelancer that was a, quote, asset, however you want to define that, whether it was a formal arrangement or not, that was basically just selling his services to the highest bidder. He had a decent number of connections. And Israel has a lot of relationships with Russia as well. And Epstein, if you go through the files that are already public, there's a lot of Viktor Vekselberg. There's a bunch of Russians that are in the mix constantly. And you were referencing these emails that were posted by Distributed Denial of Secrets back in May of Ehud Barak, which is sort of ironic that Ehud Barak's inbox ends up on this WikiLeaks-like website.

1:31:19Emily Jashinsky:And actually, Ryan, this is very – I'm curious how you respond to this because you've covered things like Pegasus in the past. If you have Pegasus, you don't necessarily need to get people on a plane into an island. It's like the shortcut. But you can jump into their device, right? It's easier. Well, and that's Israeli. Right. There's still right. So Pegasus is this no click penetration of your phone. Like basically they'll send you a link, link unfurls. And if you don't have your phone, say on Apple, it's called lockdown mode. When the link unfurls, it sends the virus into the phone and they're in.

1:31:58You didn't have to be a John Podesta and accidentally put your, or have your assistant put the password in to change a password and give it to the Russians or whoever. It's just, boom, they've got you. On the other hand, getting people to the island is helpful too. Or in his mansion that is completely filled with cameras.

1:32:18Emily Jashinsky:And Barack and Epstein were going back and forth actually on whether or not Barack would bring his security to the island. And that's one of the leaked emails is him saying like, well, I'm trying to do it without the security. Yeah. And also for people who are good at operational security, your phone should not actually have much on it at any given time. So even if they do manage to hack, they shouldn't be able to get much. And at least up until recently, if you turn your phone off and back on, it kicks Pegasus out. They may have fixed that. I don't know. But that's part of the security device that phones have.

1:32:57And every Pegasus hack is expensive. It's not like they can, it's not like sending, let's say they want to hack Emily over here. It's not like they can just constantly be sending her links. Every time they do it, for whatever reason, it's pretty expensive to do it. So if you keep kicking them back out and there's nothing in the phone in the six hours they're in there for them to get, then they didn't get anything. So if you can get somebody in a compromised position on an island or mansion, go for that.

1:33:26Emily Jashinsky:For now, the old-fashioned methods are still the best. I don't think you can take these shortcuts like modern kids who get lazy. Intel kids today. They just want to click and get you. So I've got to put the time in. Was Ahud Barak involved in Pegasus? We can Google that one. He's got his... But that's his business, basically. like that that time he's got his fingers in like so many different um intel so let's roll this clip he's co-founder of paragon solutions oh yes which is paragon is is kind of a rival that the trump administration is actually just lifting uh some obstacles to to bring them in and use them uh to try to hack immigrants around the country which is like not legal but so they're uh a rival to to NSO, which is in charge of Pegasus.

1:34:22So, yeah. So, Ehud Barak, co-founder of Paragon.

1:34:24Emily Jashinsky:There you go. All right. Definitely. And tight with Kepstein. Right. So, that space in the industry. Let's roll this clip of Thomas Massey after the document dump yesterday. Massey is obviously working with Ro Khanna on the discharge position. Here's what he had to say. It's like only 1 % of what they possess. And 97 % of it's already been released. I'm afraid, is this is going to be like Pam Bondi's binders. Is people are going to dig into it and say there's nothing new here. They haven't given us anything. They've given us the sleeves off their vest. So he compared what happened yesterday. So those are documents from the Justice Department to the Oversight Committee as potentially being like Pam Bondi's binders all over again.

1:35:07Emily Jashinsky:We can roll D3 as we keep talking here. This is Nancy Mace leaving that meeting with people who say they experienced that abuse in tears. So I think Ryan, whatever. She later said that it triggered her, like hearing that, because within the last two years she was a victim of abuse. Yeah. Yeah. So I was going to say, whatever, we don't even need to get in to open up the Nancy Mace can of worms here. But we can just say that the stage is being set for a very, very high pressure campaign on House Speaker Mike Johnson. The White House is not wanting any Republicans to go along with this discharge petition pressure.

1:35:52Emily Jashinsky:So what does Marjorie Taylor Greene do? What does Nancy Mace do? What does Tim Burchett do? What happens in the future now, or actually like literally now, when these Republicans just came back from their August recess, definitely hearing for people who want information on the Epstein files in their own districts? What decision do they make here? Because just to be clear, all of this additional pushing for information, it's all in the hands of a select group of people at the Justice Department. There's absolutely nothing no one can do or anyone can do to make sure that that, you know, zero zero one percent of the documents in existence that actually are potentially smoking gun documents.

1:36:32Emily Jashinsky:We've seen this with the JFK files. You can get ninety nine percent of the documents and the one percent of the documents that's actually important will always stay behind closed doors. Now, that may or may not be the case with the JFK files. It may just be, and this is potentially the case with the Epstein files, that 50 years from now, we're in the situation with the Epstein files that we're in now with JFK files, or 60, 70 years from now, where we start getting maybe that last 1 % of documents. But just to be clear, like people can push for as much transparency and they should push for as much transparency as they want.

1:37:06Emily Jashinsky:But nobody should be optimistic at all that the government is actually complying with these requests for the relevant information. Maybe that's the one thing we'll get when Trump dies. Potentially. Potentially. Or Bill Clinton. Or both. Bill Clinton. It's amazing that Democrats are still defending Bill Clinton and protecting him. Guys, he's been out of office for 25 years. But, you know, it's the same. Let him go. But the Kennedy files is such an, I think, instructive parallel here because it's the same thing with this in that people who might be implicated can die. And Mike Pompeo will still say there's a national security reason.

1:37:46Emily Jashinsky:You know, there are people who will be in danger if the JFK files are released in 2020. He can still make that claim. But what they're actually protecting in all likelihood is allied, quote, allied intelligence services and countries. So and the institution of the CIA itself or whatever. And that doesn't go away just because people die. I suppose it gets easier to say that you've improved and reformed with time. But that's we're not getting any. I think we're not getting any like smoking gun information in the near future, unfortunately. Yeah. All right, Ryan, let's move on to Asia, where we have actually a lot of video here.

1:38:29Emily Jashinsky:You're going to walk us through what's happening in Southeast Asia and Indonesia and the Philippines, because it's not getting a ton of play in American media. So, yes, we're seeing unrest all over Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, but also in the Philippines and Malaysia. We can put up E1 here. All of these are are corruption related and also related to people's sense that they're, you know, working harder and falling farther behind. prices are getting out of control, and that the elites, and in particular the lawmakers, are enriching themselves while not doing what they're supposed to be doing, in some cases through some flagrant corruption where they're taking millions of dollars or millions of whatever to build things, not building them, and then people are catching their kids going out and buying fancy cars.

1:39:19In other cases, in Indonesia, the Philippines, lots of foreign travel and like lavish stipends for these lawmakers while people are suffering. In Indonesia, protests began about these ridiculous stipends and travel that Indonesian lawmakers were getting as well as some corruption. And then it really exploded. We put up E4 here when a police vehicle, you can see it here, smashes into a delivery driver who was not involved in the protests, who was just doing his job as a delivery driver. and then the crowds surround the vehicle and the police vehicle keeps going and kills the man. And so this then took what were modest protests and took them, you know, and put them on steroids.

1:40:20Prabowo, who is the Indonesian former death squad guy, you know, U.S. death squad guy, who's now kind of a little hostile to the U.S., kind of funny, our own death squad guys. can't even keep them happy can't even can't even keep those in our orbit um has said he's going to prosecute these police officers uh he said they're going to roll back some of these lavish treats and bonuses that these uh that these different lawmakers have but also said he's going to crack down um if people you know continue pushing hard the but the protests are getting quite serious you You can roll some of this VO from E2.

1:41:01A parliamentary building, not the main one, but one elsewhere, was burned by protesters, killing some people inside of it. You've got troops in the street. You've got people pushing back pretty aggressively. in in the Philippines you have one of the big scandals being these what they call ghost projects Emily where it's like the government will say all right we're going to build a seawall because there's so much flooding and we're going to appropriate money and then the politicians buddy gets the contract throws a couple stones and calls it a day and the president recently went up there and looked at the seawall and was like, wait, there's no seawall here.

1:41:49And it's still flooding constantly. We could jump out of this and go to E8, which is a bit of a mashup about what I was just explaining.

1:42:00Emily Jashinsky:Since July, there's been massive flooding over there with over 25 people dead, hundreds of thousands more displaced, schools and offices, air travel all suspended. And what's come to light from all this is the catastrophic failure of the Philippines flood control systems, which is weird because they've spent a lot of money on this. Around 5 billion USD this year alone. But it doesn't seem to be working at all. So where did all that money go? Well, it turns out it's going right into the pockets of the politicians and their families. The whole thing is corrupt. Tons of flood control projects were found to be poorly documented or unfinished, and there's been huge outrage from the public.

1:42:34For instance, the other week, the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to this town of Ballywag, which is just north of Manila. And you can see that there's this river that flows through it that dumps into the Manila Bay, and it floods all the time, so much so that the government decided to invest 55 million pesos, which is an equivalent to about 1.24 million US dollars, to build a 220 meter river wall, which would have stopped the flooding. And official paperwork from the Public Works stated that at the end of June that the project was completed. And when President Marcos arrived into town in August 20th, he found that there was no wall and there was nothing but a field where the water was getting dangerously close to the houses made of wood.

1:43:08Or this other flood wall in Lucina City that just cracked and collapsed earlier this month after it cost the government over 100 million pesos or roughly about$2 million to build. So when you have people like Sarah and her husband, Curly Desgaia, who own a couple of these construction companies, one of which that had a 96 million peso contract, so roughly about 1.96 million US dollars to build one of these flood mitigation structures. And when the president of the country goes to Bullock, Canada, visit this project that was allegedly completed earlier this year and finds a wall that is barely started and clearly abandoned right after Sarah Disgaid just made a vlog showing off her brand new Mercedes Maybach, Rolls Royce, Bentley, and Porsche, where she basically states, oh my God, I bought this Rolls Royce because it has an umbrella in the door.

1:43:51Or people like Claudine Co. whose father also owns construction companies who also received those flood contracts, is making videos flaunting her brand new Mercedes G-Wagon with custom interior having such a hard time trying to figure out which one of daddy's credit cards to pay for gas with. Just a quick reminder, G-Wagon's base cost is almost$150 ,000. Where Jamie Cruz loves to flaunt her Chanel bags when her father has secured over 3.5 billion pesos, or roughly 71 million US dollars worth of flood contracts. Again, while the rest of the country is literally drowning underwater. So in Malaysia, we can put up E9 here, they went through this 1MDB crisis, which if you guys haven't seen, what's it, Man on the Run documentary?

1:44:36You were watching it right and saw me all of a sudden.

1:44:38Emily Jashinsky:Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's this documentary. It's so wild. It's this documentary about this guy, Jolo, who was a Malaysian official who basically teamed up with the UAE and some others to figure out how to move money around and steal more than a billion dollars. The book about it called The Billion Dollar Whale. I've done some reporting on it over the years which is why i was in that documentary um and then this guy becomes friends with like all these like hollywood celebrities and he he funded the wolf of wall street with the stolen money and as far as we know he's living on like a yacht in china somewhere like he still haven't caught him that nobody nobody knows where the guy is so malaysia's like okay we're gonna not do this anymore figure out not how to not get ripped off again the prime minister went to jail for that uh and they rushed through this like ethics bill that everybody said wait don't rush this through like we want to take this seriously and so they did this slapdash thing that now people are protesting as well uh meanwhile the uh symbol for all of this all three countries are using protesters you are using the one piece flag which if you're an anime fan you're like well good for these dudes this is this is amazing you did not producer mac was very excited to see the one piece flag standing in um for these for these rebels i am not that much into anime so i can't tell you much about it your kids are though kids are in anime for sure every kid nowadays is deep in anime i'll take your word for it we need producer mac to explain to us why the one piece flag is so appropriate though producer mac just sent over his thought quote everyone loves anime And I see he's typing now, so I think we're about to get comments.

1:46:18I mean, yes, everyone does love anime. It's not just kids today. Oh, my gosh. Producer Griffin's typing, too.

1:46:22Emily Jashinsky:He says, big true. And Mac says, quote, it's a symbol of liberation and freedom. Okay. So take that to the bank. I trust Mac as a source on this. All right. Get them, guys. Right. And I don't know if you've caught this, but there's a debate happening on the sort of, I don't know what you could say, like nationalist right about whether or not it's cringe to say civil war is potentially coming to America. But as you were breaking down these protests, it reminded me of this massive piece the Wall Street Journal published yesterday. Sarkar sent it to us. The headline was Americans lose faith that hard work leads to economic gains.

1:46:57Emily Jashinsky:America is becoming a nation of economic pessimists. They write a new Wall Street Journal. Nork poll finds that the share of people who say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living fell to 25%, a record low in surveys dating back to 1987. More than three quarters said they lack confidence that life for the next generation will be better than their own. the poll found. And what's interesting about that is, you know, I think there's a non-zero possibility that we look back on 2020 protests, January 6th and 2021, as the beginning of something and Luigi Mangione and what happened in Midtown not long ago as a build up, not as the peak, but as something that was building up to a much more violent time that does more resemble the violence of the late 1960s.

1:47:43Emily Jashinsky:And that's obviously something that we want to avoid very much. But when you look at what's happening here, it's the sense of injustice. You can just go through the Batman movies, if you want to see how that plays out, that they're getting cheated by people who are bringing the system for themselves. And that just creates such a powder keg. And we always think that it feels far off and distant, but I think we've had some indications that it might not be. Right. And we also have to understand the way that the U.S. really kind of outsourced its violence in the 20th century. As we think about violence here in the United States, like we know the names of a lot of the people who were killed in the, say, in the civil rights, uh, during the civil rights movement.

1:48:34Emily Jashinsky:Um, whereas in Indonesia, you know, the, the U S backed death squads there killed half a million to a million people. And we're talking 1960s, 70s, like, um, within our lifetime, um, Philippines and Malaysia within our lifetimes have seen enormous amounts of, um, U S sponsored violence, um, as well. And so that leaves a mark on a society. And so I think that could be one reason you see more aggressive protests as well, that that memory is there. The Prabowo, the Indonesian guy, like literally oversaw a massacre, for instance, that nearly killed Amy Goodman. Like she famously, infamously was covering this, covering the movement there, covering the kind of civil war, whatever you want to call it, and was very nearly killed in a massacre that killed enormous numbers of people.

1:49:44You can just go look up Prabowo and Amy Goodman on that. And now he's president.

1:49:52Emily Jashinsky:Yeah. Well, thanks for breaking all of this down. It's definitely not getting the play. It deserves American Media. All right. Up next, we're going to talk about a new book from writers in Gaza called We Are Not Numbers. 16 years ago, I started working as a CNA in the hospital. I loved it. On the day I decided to enroll in the nursing program at Rasmussen University, it was afternoon, my 35th birthday. I was hanging out with a friend and they just questioned me what I was going to do with this next chapter of my life. I immediately said, I want to go to nursing school. So I actually had contact information from an advisor at Rasmussen, contacted her, and actually ended up starting like three weeks later.

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1:52:21Pam Bailey is joining us today to discuss this project and this book. We encouraged Pam over the last several months that people go and buy Rifat Al-Arir's book, If I Must Die, not just because it was a terrific collection of poetry, prose, and interviews, but also as an act of resistance to annihilation, that just the very act of reading the poetry, of reading these stories, is a way to stand against the elimination of a people. And I would encourage everybody to do the same with We Are Not Numbers, which is a—let's back up. Tell us about the project We Are Not Numbers. First of all, thank you so much for being here.

1:53:10Emily Jashinsky:Thank you. Yeah, it was, Reganant Numbers founded it in, right in the aftermath of the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, which at the time I thought would be like the worst in history. I could never imagine at the time that we'd be going through something like this. But it was the worst of the wars at that point in time. And I was living in Gaza at the time. And I met this young man. I had met this young man in Gaza at a party and I sort of followed up with him on Facebook. I noticed that his Facebook profile had gone dark. He wasn't posting like he usually did. He was a prolific poster. And so I just reached out to him and said, you know, how are you?

1:53:57Emily Jashinsky:And he said, fine. And I said, no, no, no, tell me something real. Clearly something's wrong. It turned out his elder brother, who he idolized, had been killed, had been murdered in that war. And because I'm a writer by background, and because I knew that he had been struggling to improve his English, instead of avoiding the topic like people tend to do when a tragedy happens, I leaned into it. And I encouraged him to write a story about his brother to honor him, honor his memory and help other people know who he really was. And so over the course of like three months, we passed this story back and forth.

1:54:36Emily Jashinsky:The young man is Ahmed, who now heads the project. And what was really, really important, and I think what this whole book tries to do, is that I learned in the course of that essay that he wrote that his brother had been killed because he was a member of the resistance. And he was afraid to tell me that at first. He thought he assumed that once I knew that, I would no longer feel sympathy with his brother. But of course, that wasn't true, because by the time he told me that, he had told me all about his brother growing up. And I knew what kind of a kid he was. I knew what kind of what was going on in the life of the family, what he endured, what he saw that no child should ever see.

1:55:17Emily Jashinsky:And I realized, you know, that's the story we don't hear. We still don't hear here. Right. We hear about Hamas and the people who fight for Hamas, and we think of them as terrorists. We don't think of them as humans, as individuals with stories. And we don't think about, gee, why did they get to the point where they felt like they had to do that? Same with October 7th. We don't question, too many people don't question about why did that happen? You know, it doesn't happen in a vacuum. People don't get to that point in a vacuum. And so I realized we have an important story, and I tried to get it published.

1:55:49Emily Jashinsky:It was the first time that, you know, a resistance fighter had been depicted as just an ordinary person. And also at the same time, Ahmed came out of his depression. What's interesting is at that time, too, he was thinking that he should join the resistance, that he should become a fighter. He saw no other future for him. All he saw was bleak, a bleak future. So the act of writing and telling the story and actually seeing it get published convinced him that perhaps there was another way to resist. Now, what breaks my heart today is that I really did think when I started the project that, you know, this would give young writers, young people another way to resist and express themselves.

1:56:36Emily Jashinsky:And I thought it might make a difference. You know, so, you know, when I went through all the stories that we had mentored over the years since the project got started in 2015, I just cried because you look at where we're at today. And I felt like I'd broken a promise to them. You know, I told them that this could make a difference. You know, this is another way. And, you know, this war, what we're going through now is worse, so much worse. and all the, yeah, so it's a heartbreak for me. Yeah. Well, I was going to say, I mean, even what you just explained was not a conversation. I mean, in many corners of the American media, it's still not a conversation that you're allowed to have.

1:57:22Emily Jashinsky:You can't talk about people who commit acts of terrorism as human beings. Even if we take like the most hardened, reprehensible terrorist, asking questions about how they got from point A to point B, from being a baby to point B, is forbidden. You're absolutely not allowed to have that conversation because you get lumped into a category as empathizing with acts of terrorism itself. So Pam, can you tell us a little bit about when you spend time actually diving into these stories, what patterns maybe emerge? What are people missing by not digging into those particular stories? And I think what makes this book unique, there's been a lot of books about Gaza and Palestine that come out recently, which is wonderful to see.

1:58:11Emily Jashinsky:But what makes this book unique is that it's a collection of very real stories. These are not professional writers, which is the beauty of it, I think. Very real snippets of vignettes of life in Gaza over 10 years. And this book answers the question why October 7th happened. Because if you look, you know, going back from 2015, month after month, year after year, not only were there constant attacks in terms of Israeli forces, you know, coming in every year, We shouldn't hear about it all the time. But it's the everyday structural violence, the lack of water, just potable water, the astronomically high unemployment rate.

1:58:58Emily Jashinsky:Youth, you know, they have a very high rate of education there. You know, they go through college and everything and then they come out to no hope of a job. They can't leave, you know, Gaza to pursue that. They can't even travel for a vacation. You know, so it's like that's what I think comes out of the book and the lesson I want people to take. It was a grinding oppression in both the big ways, the attacks and the small ways every day, 24-7. For this game was 10 years. You can't go through that kind of oppression and not have something happen. And the other thing is that, you know, they also write about all the forms of nonviolent resistance that they tried.

1:59:38Emily Jashinsky:There's a number of stories. You'll probably remember there was the Great March of Return. You know, there was a nonviolent protest along the border with Israel. They called it for return because it was like their desire to go back to their original land that they'd been kicked off of. But it was nonviolent, you know. And they write about all the other ways they've gone to the ISIS, you know, the International Criminal Court. They really tried everything, and it didn't work. And to me, the sad part is, and I also want everybody to take home from this, is that the only time they got attention, serious attention, is when there was violence.

2:00:13Emily Jashinsky:I mean, if we didn't want this to happen, maybe we didn't want October 7th to happen, then the international community should have responded and heard them when all those other things were going on. If you don't want people to resist, then show them that some other technique works. you know when people people have no future when people have they can't envision themselves living past the age of 30 what do you think some people are going to react and this is this is true in our own country look at the american revolution this is not a non-violent country you know but yeah so i i think and the other thing i think is i hope people get from the book is that you also have glimpses of just ordinary kids struggling with weight and with migraines and and going to the beach, you know, woven in and all the tragedy, you know, is everyday life.

2:01:04And you start to recognize that there's no difference between them and us. And to the point about nonviolence, the Palestinian Authority, you know, with, you know, the PLO put down arms and entered into negotiations with Israel in the hopes that it would, you know, lead to some two-state solution and a slowdown in settlements. Instead, the settlements expanded. And just as last week, the U.S. even said that members of the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, Palestinian Authority, would be denied the opportunity to even travel to New York to attend the United Nations upcoming assembly. Which, when the U.S.

2:01:45agreed to take the United Nations or, you know, asked if it could host the United Nations, one of the deals was we are going to allow even our worst enemies to come here to New York. doesn't mean they can go around the entire country but they can come to New York and they can go to the UN because it would give us an immense amount of power we're going to have the UN and we can just keep people out of the country and not let them attend the United Nations and the one group of people we do that to is the officials with the Palestinian Authority who you know did everything that they were supposed to do um but lay down their arms entering negotiations and so on I'm curious for what you've been hearing about this because there's a there's a paradox at play in the sense that October 7th led to where we are today, which is utter, absolute, catastrophic annihilation of Gaza.

2:02:36On the other hand, a lot of people who, like you said, committed to nonviolent forms of resistance over the last decades have told me they questioned that decision. And I say it's a paradox because the violent path led to this utter, complete catastrophe. Thank you. And yet still some internally they're feeling like, well, perhaps that was all there was. So how are the people that you're talking to sorting through that question?

2:03:09Emily Jashinsky:Well, you know, there's sort of, I guess, a split between, you know, the activist community outside and our Gazan writers who are still trapped there. At this point, the people in Gaza, they just they just want it all to stop. You know, what breaks my heart is that, you know, this is a very proud people who rightfully so are very proud of their culture. And they're reduced to the point now of being willing to accept anything. You know, you want them to all leave and go to Uganda? You know, then OK, then we will. But just stop the killing. Stop the killing. And they're reduced to that. And the conundrum here is like from the outside, from an activist point of view, I mean, of course, this is probably the point in time that we've seen the largest growth in supporters of Gaza and Palestine.

2:04:09Emily Jashinsky:You know, I mean, there's a huge change. I mean, to see even the number of Democrats we have in Congress, you know, proposing a bill to stop arms sales to Israel is, you know, we've never been there before. and it isn't a shame that this is what it took this really is what it took you know where were they when you know all those years of just like not being able to live you know I mean you know not having power I mean when I lived there we had electricity for three hours a day every day Americans complain if they're without a power for like a couple of days I mean, I often say you put an American over there for say, I give them three months.

2:04:53Emily Jashinsky:Some of them will be throwing rockets. I mean, some of them will. You know, it's human nature. That's how we respond to oppression. You know, so it's a little bit it's to me, I have this sort of like dueling thing is like we've gotten the cause for Palestine to a point, you know, in terms of broad base of public support. and even some politicians who are always way behind is at a point we've never been before. But this is what it took. A little bit of a follow-up on Ryan's question. You know, it was less than a year ago we were being told by Anthony Blinken that Hamas had already reconstituted, and we know this, in different parts of Gaza.

2:05:38Emily Jashinsky:And the entire purpose of the war, from Netanyahu's perspective, was to return the hostages and eradicate Hamas. Does any of what's happened over the course of the last several years, has that made Hamas, from your perspective, having talked to people in these places, has this fueled future violent conflicts? Has this made them more powerful, less powerful? Is this going to create a generation of Gazans who are more attracted to the cause of Hamas? What do you make of what happens now? I see. I think there's a mistake in focusing on Hamas. We should talk about the resistance. Because one thing that was really important that was said earlier is that I don't believe it's really about Hamas at all.

2:06:29Emily Jashinsky:Israel has never supported any Palestinian movement that had any kind of power. They were against Yasser Arafat. They actually helped create Hamas in the very beginning as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority, they will not like anybody who is in power over the Palestinians that they don't control. So I don't think this is about Hamas at all. And the question should be not so much whether Hamas will continue, but will the resistance continue? And I believe that despite the fact that you do have a, the people overall are at a point now when many of them would just give everything up, the resistance will come back.

2:07:12Emily Jashinsky:You can pound it for a while into the underground, into submission, but it will come back. I mean, that's what history, I think, has shown us. Tell me one country where you haven't had this kind of oppression and resistance totally went away. It doesn't happen. Anything else you'd like to say about the book before we wrap? I do think that what you said earlier, but buying this book is an act of resistance that Americans can do. What's going on in the U.S. with President Trump's latest action, suspending or threatening not to give visas to anybody at the Palestinian passport holder, is trying to keep this narrative from coming out.

2:07:58Emily Jashinsky:So one way you can fight those kinds of actions is to buy the book and give it to people, talk about it. And again, what I think is really important about this book is these are not, there's a few Palestinians that have become like really prominent, but there are so many more. That talent is so broad. And that's what to me is also the beauty of the book. It's not just one person who manages somehow to get above the fray and get like in the New Yorker or whatever all the time. There's all these others invisible Palestinians. And this book is a collection of those stories. They're because it's important.

2:08:31Emily Jashinsky:So I would say, please buy it because if we can make it a bestseller in the US, that sort of sends a message to the administration. No, we want to hear these voices and we value them. And it sends a message to the writers too. It tells them that we're hearing you. We can't control our government, but we are hearing you and we value your voices. And I think people will also want to know where the proceeds are going. It's all going to We Are Not Numbers. It goes to the project and we're desperately trying to help our, I'd say about half of our writers are still there, and we're really trying to help them.

2:09:03Emily Jashinsky:It's difficult to get money in right now. You have these sort of vultures that take half of the money. Half or more. No, I can confirm that. But we're trying desperately to support them, and any money we get from the book is going to help do that. Great. Well, Pam Bailey, thank you so much for taking the time, and best of luck on the rollout of the book. Thank you so much for having me. You got it. I was lucky, have to get an early copy of the book is very good. It's rare to get these ground level insights from people who've become quite good writers. Yeah, I'll have to check it out. I mean, I can't say I agreed with everything there, but what is remarkable is that it's a conversation you are not allowed to have still.

2:09:49Emily Jashinsky:It's a conversation you are not allowed to have because if you answer some of those questions, they go into a very uncomfortable place for the United States and for Israel as to whether Israel has actually made its own people more safe in the way this war has been waged. And I think, you know, that has been greatly to our detriment. Yeah. And Ahmed's case is instructive in the sense that, you know, we always, we all understand that when you, we understood in Afghanistan, you drone strike a family, you might kill one member of the Taliban, you probably created three more. And so, you know, killing his brother who was in the resistance killed him, but then his brother wanted to join, but was then persuaded in a nonviolent direction.

2:10:38Instead, through the hope that the sword, the pen would be mightier than the sword, turned out neither were a match at this point.

2:10:47Emily Jashinsky:And I wish I had the exact quote. Actually, here it is. This is from Antony Blinken. Again, this was as the Biden administration was leaving office. He said, each time Israel completes its military operations and pulls back Hamas, militants regroup and reemerge because there's nothing else to fill the void. Indeed, we assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost. This is a recipe for enduring insurgency and perpetual war. That is from Antony Blinken saying that, and that's where one of the things I disagreed with Pam on is that it's, I think it is very worthwhile to focus on Hamas narrowly as opposed to the resistance broadly, as she said, because not that we don't have to get into this debate or anything, but I mean, if Hamas itself is recruiting by the U.S.'s estimate almost as many new people who had been lost by last year, the end of 2024, what is all of this death actually?

2:11:39Emily Jashinsky:What purpose is it serving at that point? So that's why full extermination seems to be on the docket as Anthony Aguilar talked about today. crazy show this was jam packed so thank you to everybody if you want to get a premium subscription which means you get the show early right in your inbox and you get access to the second half of the Friday show lots of fun stuff behind the paywall it's good stuff behind the paywall you can head over to breakingpoints.com subscribe there no problem if you can't most important thing is subscribing on YouTube that helps us so much yep and Emily and I will see you on Friday see you guys

2:12:23Emily Jashinsky:I have been with Rasmussen University since 2013, all virtual. All of my professors throughout the entire journey have been nothing but supportive of making me reach my dreams. Rasmussen professors, they want to see you grow so that you can be what you went to school to be. I'm so thankful for Rasmussen University for being able to make it so easy and seamless. Rasmussen University. Find your seat and start now at rasmussen.edu. Apple Vacations, where your story starts. The Summer Savings Event is here at Apple Vacations. It's the perfect time to bring everyone together for the getaway you've been dreaming about.

2:13:03Book between July 24th and August 27th and enjoy up to 55 % instant savings. From relaxing beach days to unforgettable moments with the people who matter most, your next vacation starts here. Travel through July 31st, 2027. Start your vacation today at AppleVacations.com or through your travel advisor. Apple Vacations, where your story starts. This episode is brought to you by Bobcat. They started the compact equipment industry through grit, determination, and a whole lot of think we can't do that? Watch us. They set standards, broke records, empowered people to build bigger and higher, to dig deeper, to make the impossible possible.

2:13:42We've all been there with doubters telling us what we can't do. Who cares what they think? We don't need their permission or forgiveness. We just get things done. So go ahead and doubt me. Judge me. Challenge me. But when the time comes, watch me. Bobcat.

2:14:01Emily Jashinsky:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

From the publisher

Ryan and Emily discuss Trump threatens Chicago takeover, Trump blows up ship near Venezuela, judge orders Trump tariff refunds, Israel disappearing Gazans at aid sites, Trump fakes Epstein files release, Southeast Asia erupts in protest, voices of Gaza youth.

Fox News is now reporting that the boy "Amir" Aguilar reported to have seen shot has been located unharmed. https://www.foxnews.com/world/exclusive-video-reveals-gaza-boy-said-killed-idf-alive

 

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