Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar - 7/28/26: Data Center Blackouts, McConnell Wild Proof Of Life Picture, Centrists In Shambles Amid Socialist Rise & MORE!

Episode Date: July 28, 2026

Krystal and Emily discuss data centers cause blackouts, McConnell new proof of life picture, centrists in shambles amid socialist rise.   Francesca Hong: https://francescahong.com/ Desiree Townsend: https://x.com/Cheering4Change?lang=en    To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show AD FREE, uncut and 1 hour early visit: www.breakingpoints.com    Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia, AEO, rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters,

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I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. A.O. Rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart women's sports. We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka, showing out. Shout-houts to you, Naomi. The viral moments. I've been obsessed with Kashan Rocks, boxing journey.

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I'm Yamanika and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey guys, Saga 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. This 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 breaking points.com. Well, Jim Clyburn, obviously one of the more high-profile Democrats in the House of Representatives, stopped by,

the podcast of Aestead Herndon last week and got a question about AI, gave an answer that I want to say is surprising. Unfortunately, it's not surprising, but it is astounding. Nonetheless, let's take a look. I want to ask you about AI. There's so much that it's changing in terms of the future of work in our economy. Have you, do you use AI? Have you ever used an LLM?

No, somebody was telling me I ought to, but I never have. No chat GPT, no clawed for you. Believe it or not, I didn't know what that was. wasn't about a week ago. Which one? Chap, GPT, or whatever it is. You didn't know until a week ago. Wow, I mean, I'm jealous.

You've got yourself in the bubble. That may sound strange to you. I didn't know what that was. Okay, have you been to a data center or anything like that? No, okay. I guess I'm wondering, like, with the speed of technological changes right now, with how much people are anxious about the ways AI and work might change because of it, How do you effectively legislate as a member who is distant from some of those technological shifts that are affecting folks' lives right now?

I have a great staff. You know, I wish I could know everything. I don't know everything. And I'm going to spend my time trying to learn everything. What I spend my time doing is trying to surround myself with people who do no stuff. Crystal, this is somehow worse, I think. I don't need to get into too much tip for tat, but worse than Ted Cruz not knowing the population of Iran, as he was like agitating for war in Iran, given how central data centers are right now to the American economy, how companies like OpenAI, chat GPT, how central they are to the American economy, to national security, to people's daily lives. That is insane.

And it's not just like saying my staff knows the ins and outs of the building code. policy to get this thing up and running. Like he literally said he's outsourcing all of his knowledge of AI to his staff, basically. And I want people to understand this is not an outlier. You have members of Congress who approach their jobs very differently. Some of them are really involved in thinking through policy and educating themselves. They have a worldview. They're pushing that worldview forward.

And some of them are like Jim Clyburn, who are happy to, you know, he's what, 80-some years old. He's happy to outsource all of his work and thinking to his staff. So you're really not electing this person. You're electing whoever their staffers are who are actually going to be doing the research and telling this man how he should vote. And you're also electing a whole host of lobbyists and special interests who will also be coming to him and telling him how he should vote on various issues. I just looked it up quickly.

South Carolina has been a hotspot for data center construction. There's roughly 30 projects in existence, more in the pipeline. So this is a very relevant issue for his constituents. He says, I've never visited a data center. I don't even know what. I barely know what ChachyPD is. I've never used any of these products. So pretty stunning revelation there.

At the same time, you know, we were struck by this. Was pulled by a more perfect union highlighted this local news report about the strain that data centers here in Virginia, which is perhaps the data center capital of the nation, maybe the world, are putting on the grid right now here in the present, while obviously they have massive plans to expand the data center load across the country. Let's go ahead and take a listen to a little bit of this local news report. Something happened on Wednesday morning that you might have noticed but didn't bat an eye. It happened inside thousands of your homes and businesses. And experts say it's a sign the cracks are starting to show in our power infrastructure. Yeah, just before 8 a.m., the electricity flickered on and off for about 10 minutes. It was the result of data centers in

Loudon County, Virginia. Experts say the cracks in our infrastructure grid are starting to show, as the data center industry consumes electricity at a rate the world has never experienced. Wednesday morning, that crack became visible to millions of Americans inside their own homes in a seemingly small way. This is what experts are worried about, right? The data centers are such a big load on the grid that they can have detrimental impact on the surrounding grid. Dominion Energy tells news for a transmission line servicing a data center failed.

So the data centers switched to their own power supply temporarily leaving the grid. In a statement to News 4, a Dominion Energy spokesperson said, quote, Dominion Energy did not disconnect area data centers from the grid. The data center's own control systems transferred them to back up power for a very short period of time. Think of it like ripples in water. The data center is switching their power sources the rock, and when that change impacts the water, or the power grid in this analogy, the massive shift in electricity load sent ripples through the electric current across half the country.

Ting Labs provided news for with this graphic that shows the scale of the service disruption. The company says the colors on this map should all stay the same. The big changes in colors means there's a change in electric frequency. It covers more than half of the United States. People working on regulations around this is they're concerned that one of these events in the future could cause the grid to become unstable. and it does not come back to normal in a few minutes or 10 minutes, and we're dealing with a real big problem. So, Emily, this seems like something our elected leaders should maybe be looking into

and care about and, you know, thinking about themselves, not just outsourcing to their staffers, but, you know, this is something that we've been warning about and many others besides. The strain on the grid is really a major issue. It's not being resolved, and it's only going to get worse over time. is a bit of a warning shot here. Well, I was going to say this is about the concentration of power, but in this case, it's like literally about the concentration of power. This is all being traced to literally to Loudoun County, Virginia Data Center, Allie.

And I'm curious how many times Jim Clyburn voted on something in one direction or the other that set up our economy to look like this in a way that enables the concentration of actual power in a sense where it's so, so clustered that it can affect the entire East Coast in one fell swoop like that. I'm sure you could go and find votes that indirectly enabled the economy to look the way. Maybe you can even find ways that directly enabled the economy to look the way, to look the way that it does. But astounding, he's so comfortable outsourcing the staff. He didn't learn what chat GPT was until a week ago. And meanwhile, we're already seeing these ripples from Loudoun County across the East Coast.

That's how dramatic the gap in knowledge is. Yeah, it's just a picture. I mean, are you living under a rock? Like, how do you not even know what this is? Who are you talking to? Where are you getting your news from? It's just on every level. How did you manage to avoid this particular knowledge?

And what other pieces of knowledge are you somehow managing to avoid? raises a lot of questions. I got a bit of a one-two punch for you here in terms of the progress of the tech industry pushing forward with these data centers over the objections of the public. We can put this up on the screen. You've got 300 bans now and moratoriums that the information is tracking that say they threaten the U.S. data center boom. This has increasingly become a hot political issue, both of the local, the state, and the federal level. It's something I'm going to ask Francesca Hong about in our interview with her. because of something she's certainly been campaigning on. We talked to Will Lawrence, who's a congressional candidate in Michigan, who also has been talking a lot about data centers and making sure that there is a slowdown at least, if not a moratorium, on the building of these data centers at the same time put D4 up on the screen.

They're going to, instead of going through any sort of public process, what they're going to do is something very similar to what happened in Louisiana, where they work behind the scenes with politics, This is meta specifically with politicians who signed non-disclosure agreements, which is an incredible. I mean, this should be illegal, in my opinion. It's technically not, but I certainly think it's unethical for politicians doing public policy to sign non-disclosure agreements with the companies they're negotiating with. They rush through the approvals to get this data center, massive data center built in a very rural and very impoverished part of Louisiana with very little of the really next to know. ability for local residents to be able to weigh in on whether they thought this was a good or a bad thing.

Now, let me be clear, and I think, well, we're going to see this dynamic develop as well. This was an area, as I mentioned before, it was really rural, impoverished community. And so the promise here was we're going to build this data center. There's going to be tons of job creation. It's going to revitalize this community. And in some senses, that has happened. During the construction phase, they've had huge number of construction workers coming into the area. some of the local people have been able to get construction jobs working on the data center.

So it's been good for them. But they also talked to some of the residents who had been living in trailer parks, which are very common there, who had their rent for their lot escalates so dramatically that they had to move out of the town entirely. One woman who has, I think, four kids, three or four kids was living there. She was paying $250 a month in rent. She owned her trailer, but you have to rent the lot. that it sits on, they jacked her rent up in a single month to $1,200. So more than $1,000 increase that she was just supposed to swallow.

She couldn't do it. Oftentimes, you either, it's expensive to move the trailer or they're just not really constructed in a way to be sturdy enough to be able to move them. She had to sit there and watch as they cut her trailer down into pieces. Her kids and her had to live for a time out of her car. So this sort of disruption is taking place as well. then the mayor of the town said, you know, it's okay for now. You've got a lot of people coming in. After it's built, our longtime residents are being pushed down in the area. Who and what is going to be left here after this thing is ultimately built.

So, but the important piece I wanted to highlight is that, number one, it's going to be a lot of poor communities that these things are forced upon because they are desperate and they need the tax revenue and they'll grab onto anything that looks like jobs and opportunity. And number two, that legislators will increasingly find ways, given that their campaign coffers are being flooded with cash from these companies and with the promise of future board seats or lobbying gigs, et cetera, that they will find ways to circumvent a democratic public process and do this behind the scene so they can continue to push this forward over the objections of the public. Yeah. And meanwhile, D.C. is being flooded with lobbying cash from these companies.

And like you said, the revolving door, politicians. know it'll be wide open, maybe not for Jim Clyburn, who would probably have to brush up on chat GPT and fully intends to remain in that seat until he McConnell's, which we'll be talking about in just on my crystal. But it's- Joy Reid calls him Glitchy-Mitchie, which I kind of like.

Glitch McConnell, man. And this has been going on for years with Glitch, Senator Glitch. And so it's just like, like you said, it's not isolated. The fact that he came out and said this aloud, and seemed to have zero shame about it and just said, well, it may sound strange to you.

It's like, no, no, no, it sounds strange to literally everyone, my man. Like, that's brutal. And again, they're all getting, his staff is getting lobbied. They're all getting lobbied enormously. So that tells you, to your point, Crystal, about who's making the decisions. If you are offloading a lot of these big decisions to your staff and you're doing it so comfortably, well, they're getting lobbied. They're going to junkets, happy hours, like,

They have these people in their ear, and they're not the elected representative. That's exactly right. We've got a couple of stories here, too, that speak to this sort of more, I guess, existential nature of the AI threat. This is really disturbing. Put D5 up on the screen. AI companies have been bulk buying rare books, scanning them through high-speed machines that cut the spines off and then shred the originals.

They, you know, this has been tracked by a number of news outlets. this particular account is called hedge markets. In any case, this is really disturbing because you're talking about the entire corpus of human knowledge. You're talking about books that there may only be one remaining in existence or only a handful remaining in existence that have not been scanned into the internet so you can just access them at some later time. This is the only proof of their existence.

And they're just being chopped up and fed into this AI beast. I think this really struck a nerve with people, Emily, because it does feel like a direct assault on our humanity, on our creativity, on our, you know, the bank of knowledge that we've built up over millennia. And here you have, you know, what is this sort of like a virtual or modern day mass book burning that has been occurring in the background that we didn't even know about. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Do we want to jump right in? Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish. Right inside the free IHard Radio app

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With all the hilarious moments You've been missing right on your screen Open the free IHard radio app Search video podcasts And tap watch What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers Hey, what's up y'all? It's your girl Sam J.

And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports It's a new podcast from Together and I heart women's sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo roer to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline.

And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out She beat Sabalinka Shout out to you Naomi You get the palm Naomi You get the palm for that

Because we're not just interested in what happened We're interested in why everyone's talking about it Because everyone watches women's sports Listen to everyone watches women's sports On the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast Hey Portlandia fans Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here

You know us or rather you know them Tony and Candace Nina and Lance Spike and yes the chicken We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years, but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning, breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made? Why do we think that was a good idea?

We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chryssel, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody. Well, I thought he was going to write. I thought you were all going to write a song.

I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A man named Charlie Becker posted a really interesting, post on X about this. His family runs, Houston's largest used in rare bookstore, according to his posts,

and he's been working to build an AI tool for bookstores like his. He says, every ingredient of the viral story is true. Booksellers really are getting bizarre bulk orders, but, quote, rare here isn't what you're picturing. It's the insiders guide to Metro Denver from 1995 and how to use word perfect 1991 manuals obscure, but often not precious.

And he goes on to say, though, that this is more mundane than the shredder story. The actual risk is worse because it's quieter. Books that don't sell eventually get liquidated. So if they don't sell via FBA, they end up getting liquidated. And he says if we really hold the last copies of some of these, we're feeding them into a portal. They may not come back from.

No AI company required. So basically he's saying he thinks that these are bulk, orders done by an AI to mark up and resell things on Amazon. But because when you do that, most of the books don't sell, they end up getting shredded anyway. And so it's like a mess, no matter how you slice it. And one that is doing exactly what you just said is going to do in the name of like turning around profits with this technology that allows you to spread the cost out in mass, mass, mass around the world. And then Emily, I wonder what you think about this. We talk a lot, I think, understandably, because people are concerned about it, about the way AI is already and is promising to displace a lot of human beings.

But there's also a real existential layer to this as well of, like, what is our purpose and what are we passionate about and, you know, what gives our lives meaning? And there is this extraordinary substack. We can put this up on the screen from this man, Kerwin Hampshire, who was a mathematician. And he's describing the way that he is experiencing this crisis of identity because the headline here is the dark night of mathematics. What are we really doing? Because you've had AI now be able to solve some longstanding what are called conjectures, these, you know, math problems. I don't know what I'm talking about here, guys. Sorry.

But in any case, been able to solve these problems that have existed for years or decades. that mathematicians and math enthusiasts have been puzzling over for years and years and years. And now you have AI just basically come in and like, oh, here's the answer, done. And so he says, I'm going insane during the last week or so, LLMs have produced a number of counter examples to significant longstanding conjectures. I won't recount these happenings here. There are many places where you can find the details. Mathematicians, math enthusiasts, and curiously, people are responding to these developments

in ways that I believe obscure what is for me, the true heart of the problem. I don't speak for everyone in the math community when I respond. but I suspect I'm not alone. I'm suffering a profound spiritual crisis due to these developments. I've been screaming internally for days. It feels as though I'm living inside of a nightmare. He says the recent lead-in declaration on AI and mathematics is to me a well-muffled screen, a saccharine melange of cell-soothing or which looms a painfully obvious absence. And effectively he says, okay, so if mathematical discovery, if that's just over now, like the LLMs are just better, than us now, what's left for us? And he goes on to say, look, even if you were to ban all of the AI and put it back this discovery process back in the hands of humans, we would always know it was a sort of lie that we had rigged it

so that we could be the ones that discover the answer when you have this technology out there that would have reached, would have been able to solve these problems much more rapidly. And so I thought it was pretty profound to think about. And he's experiencing this. in math. He says, I don't know what to do. There may be nothing you can do. I have no prescriptions, policy recommendations, or coherent calls to action. I just want to be honest and open about my

emotional and spiritual response. I want to feel seen. I want folks like me to feel seen. I feel need the architects of our new mathematical paradigm to look me in the eye, acknowledge our shared humanity and soul before they deliver the coup de grace. I need most of all for us to understand what we are really doing. So I don't know. What do you think about that? I mean, we are layering computer on top of computer on top of computer. Everything is computer, as Trump would say, but that might be the truest thing that he's ever said. Math is the infrastructure around us. Like, that's what builds the infrastructure around us. So think of when you have a further reduction of the human element. Of course, some of this has already been offloaded to computers, but when you

take the human element almost completely out of it, and then you have computer solving problem on top of computer solving problem on top of computer solving problem. Obviously, there are things that can get baked into that that are enormously problematic. And also, high level math is art. It is, it is literally art. It's like Coltrane. It's music. It's not just, you know, these like abstract goodwill hunting chalkboard problems. They're really meaningful problems, human problems. And it's great that we can progress if we can, if it's used for genuine progress. It's great that we can do it more quickly and perhaps more efficiently and with more sense of accuracy. Maybe that's great in theory, but I don't know that anybody trusts that this is actually

happening in a way that's good for humanity and not actually unsafe and less human in a less safe way. I don't have that trust. And it just scares me that this process is happening all around us so quickly. It is not like the transition from horses to automobiles. It is not like the transition from or to air travel, right? Like this is happening, those all happened actually pretty quickly. This is happening even faster and it's building on itself. Yeah. And it's, there's just no trust. It reminds me, it makes me think about the rapid transition that was experienced in the industrial Midwest where all of these factories closed, you know, towns that were built around the factories, just completely collapsed. You had men who had previously, mostly men, who had previously been able

to earn a good living and support a family and buy a house, et cetera, who lose all of that. And a lot of that is we tend to focus on what's measurable. That's the material loss. But it's also profound psychological blow. And I think our politics today really reflects the lack of recovery intending to that psychological blow of now you have no skill that's relevant to people, now you are unable to provide for yourself and for your family and, you know, aspire for better things for your kids. And I think we aren't really grappling with what the psychological toll of AI will be, because in a sense, how can we? We don't really know what it's going to be. But it did remind me, and I'll just end with this because we have a guest standing by, but

I read the three body problem trilogy. And in the first book, and I'm not really giving away anything here, but everybody should read them because they're fantastic books. But anyway, there's a spate of scientists who are committing suicide. And it starts to this sort of mystery of like, what is going on with these scientists? Why do they keep killing themselves? And come to find out, okay, I'm giving away a little bit. But basically, they've been thwarted and their experiments are coming out in these crazy ways where they're sort of becoming convinced that the science that they accepted wasn't real and that there's no way for them to progress in science and specifically in quantum physics. And for reasons that I won't divulge because that does give some away,

it comes to be realized that they have in fact been thwarted and they are are being prevented from making any further progress in this particular discipline and others as well. And so it's sort of reminded of that reading his, reading his explanation of what he describes as the spiritual crisis that he's going through. So anyway, one more impact of AI that we're all going to have to grapple with. No, I mean, my mom grew up in one of those towns and a bunch of my family is still there and we all have seen what happens. That was in Wisconsin. We've all seen what. happens where opioids filled the gap. Yeah, that's right. I remember David Obie represented that district for a long time, and he said he regretted how ineffective the job training programs that they were promised after, I forget, whether it was NAFTA came in. He ended up losing his seat, by the way, to Sean Duffy in 2010.

Before really the MAGA revolution, it flipped. That was a Dem district for 40 years. So people get really, really, really profoundly psychologically unsettled. And then, of course, our special interest-fueled economy swoops in with something awful to fill the gap often. And that breeds more and more resentment and division and suffering. And it seems like we're heading straight down that road once again. Well, let's talk about one of the architects of that world that we live in now, Mitch McConnell. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it.

Do we want to jump right in? Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish right inside the free IHard Radio app. Make some noise. Wooee! Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like Bestie Listen, Hey Jonas, and Las Culturistas.

Now with full video. I'll just leave that there. It's the same hosts and the same chemistry with all the hilarious moments you've been missing right on your screen. Open the free IHard radio app. Search video podcasts and tap watch. What's up, fam?

I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and I Heart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower

to go from California to Hawaii. My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments to take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories

across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat. Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it.

Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. On the IHeart Radio app. Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us. rather, you know them. Tony and Candice, Nina and Lance, Spike, and yes, the chicken.

We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years, but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning, breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made? Why do you think that was a good idea. We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chryssel, the mayor himself,

Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Man, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody. Well, I thought he was going to write. I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo, rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. We're joined now by Desiree Townsend, journalist who has been doing the Lord's Work,

tracking down what on earth is going on with Mitch McConnell, Senator Mitch McConnell. Desiree, thank you so much for being here. Of course. Thank you for having me. So as you know, the senator, at least from yesterday, I'm going to head over there shortly soon again, is still hospitalized. So if you look closely at the statement his office had made,

They said that he's been discharged, and the way they sort of framed it is they made it sound like he's being discharged from the hospital, but he's really not. He's just apparently being moved or currently in the rehabilitation facility of the hospital. Now, this is interesting because there was a viral video from yesterday that I think may have actually triggered this statement where rapid CPR girl, apparently. walk through the hospital, walk through the public areas of the hospital on a different sort of business there. And she went to the rehabilitation floor and wing on the fourth, on the fourth floor of George Washington Hospital. And she didn't see his capital police detail or him. So it's interesting

as well because if he's actually in rehabilitation and he's capable of being moved, you would almost immediately move him out of that hospital. There's paparazzi everywhere. It's also a a teaching university. It's at a university. So there are, you know, 20-year-olds everywhere following this story. You would want to move him out of that hospital and put him somewhere like Walter Reed. Senators have access to Walter Reed. I think John Federman had gone to Walter Reed not too long ago. So they have access to Congress has access to Walter Reed. They have access to better facilities. If he's actually capable of being moved, why is he still there? So that's leading me to believe after we're coming in on seven weeks now.

It's leading me to believe that he cannot be moved. Desiree, I have so many questions for you, for him, for a stab. I mean, because there's so many pieces of this that don't make sense to me, right? First, we find out he's in the hospital. We hear, you know, that the EMS was called because of a heart attack. We get some images of him looking very bad being taken out of his home on a stretcher. We don't hear anything then for weeks. Then we get this message from him saying, oh, I suffered a minor fall. No stroke, no concussion. I'm good. But they want to keep me here indefinitely. Okay, well, that doesn't really pair with what you're saying about how this is a small injury, no big deal. We've gotten a couple of proof of life photos. We have a few Republicans who have claimed that they've spoken to him on the phone and he's sharper than never and he's good to go, et cetera, et cetera. We have not gotten any sense. statement, you can correct me if I'm wrong about Lindsay Graham, you know, someone who's known

for a very long time dying. He put out something after the fact on, I believe it was on July 12th or the day after he finally put something out. But to your point, he didn't address it. There's a funeral today in Washington, D.C. Yes. Is he going to show up? Right. And so he puts on this statement, and you pointed this out saying, oh, I won't be at Fancy Farm this week. And I've been to Fancy Farm is a big deal in Kentucky. But it seems like Lindsay Graham's funeral is maybe, be a bigger deal, and we're not talking about that. I don't know. What are you gleaning from all of this? And what are some of the big questions that you have since you've been covering this so intently? So what I am kind of taking from these statements is I think somebody, most likely his staff or his wife,

because a wife would largely be the one in charge of an advance directive in a living will. I believe they are haphazardly putting these statements together and putting them out without fully thinking them through. To me, it smells more of trying to buy more time and using every mechanism possible to do that. The other thing you have to keep in mind, I think this is kind of worried a lot of people in Washington, D.C., Elaine Chow is very well connected to China. She met with the vice president of the CCP three days after he had this event, cardiac arrest. And, you know, China has access to a lot of AI technology and the ability to make photos. And I think that's why maybe we haven't seen a video yet. So I think the question is, so I work in litigation as well. And I think you kind of have to look at what is the motive here?

So originally, I thought the motive was to shut the U.S. government down. Because without Senator McConnell's vote, they almost certainly cannot move forward appropriations. But speaker Mike Johnson has, before they left for recess in the House, they've already started the process of reconciliation. So at least we ensure the military is funded. So if for some reason this war in Iran goes on for a longer amount of time, we at least have the resources to defend the country with the troops. So that takes China out of the equation and any foreign government that would be. want to see the government shut down for sort of a national security reason. So that motive's gone. So now we have this election, right? So we have this August 3rd date. That August 3rd date,

I think it's really going to end up being nothing because the August 3rd refers to two different statutes of election laws in the state of Kentucky. Those two statutes aren't really reconciled right now, but it's something a court can easily reconcile, and it wouldn't really, in my opinion, it shouldn't harm a special election. We could still move forward with a special election. So that motive's gone. So the only motive left that I can really point to is keeping the staff paid. So the staff makes a lot of money. And the staff, I think, also has maybe potentially some of Elaine Chow's friends or family. I know there's a driver. I don't know if the driver is a friend of the family, but is paid by the senator's office. So at this point, the only motive I can point to is to keep

the staff paid. You know, Desiree, one thing I saw floated, and let's just be clear, like, they've given us no information. So we can't do anything but speculate, right? So just for people, we're going through what is possible? Because the things they put out don't make sense. There are big questions, it would be very, if he's doing so great, looking as good as he looks in these photos, shouldn't be hard to call into a news that we're going to talk to you, like anyone, right? So we could get some. Or show up to Lindsay Graham's funeral. Or show up to his funeral. I mean, something, right? Get something beyond what could be an easily generated AI photo, given the tools that we have at our disposal these days. So one theory that I saw Desiree is that let's say he's in,

he's alive, but he's in like a vegetative state where it's then on the family to decide are you going to, you know, continue this care or are you going to effectively, sorry to be crude, but pull the block. And if that becomes public, then suddenly you have every, you know, one in the world with an opinion for the family about what they should do in this circumstance, given the political ramifications. And maybe they just don't want all of that public pressure on them at what is a very sensitive moment in their lives. What do you make of that potential theory. I flirted with that idea and I do think that is a possibility, but it kind of, when Elaine Chow didn't immediately return from China, kind of throws that argument completely out

the door because she was in China prior to his hospitalization. She then met with the vice president of China three days later, but she didn't actually return to the United States until closer to July 6 and then issued these statements that it didn't warrant her return to the to the United States. So if she is in fact in love with her husband cares about his life and advanced directive, you would think that, you know, I don't know, you would return sooner. So that to me, it just doesn't point to somebody who's struggling with what do we do, end of life. Do we pull the plug and also I don't know how close he was with his children because no one's seen them at the hospital and there are a lot of us there. I'm not the only one there. There's there's other

paparazzi's that are staking out the hospital. No one's seen as kids. So I don't know if that's really the struggle. Sure. Go ahead. Well, no, actually, that's so interesting me because I was going to ask next. I don't know that anybody has spent more time sticking out the house or the hospital than you have. And this is such a bizarre story. Just that anecdote about people not seeing the kids is a really interesting aspect of this. And I feel like we're doing a true crime documentary here and it's endlessly fascinating. But what have you picked up on just atmospherically? What oddities have you observed from your position watching both the house and the hospital? What's it been like? It's all very, very odd. It's so tight-lipped. There's really no movement or no appearances from family.

And no one can really seem to find Elaine Chow of mainstream media. Even that photo where they, some paparazzi, found her outside of George Washington Hospital, it all looked staged to me because what paparazzi wouldn't take a video and ask her, her questions. And so what was really interesting about all of that is I found another person at George Washington Hospital. He actually went and talked to that paparazzi. He's like, why didn't you take a video? Like, what's wrong with you? Why weren't you asking questions? And I guess the paparazzi was like, oh, I made a mistake. I hit the wrong button. That's, you don't make mistakes like that. I'm sorry. I'm new to this. I've only been doing

journalism and in filming and doing all of this for a year, you don't screw up like that. And you have enough time to fix it, which leads me to believe that paparazzi was not there to take video. He was there to take a photo, could have been tipped off by Elaine Chow. But she's missing. We can't find the kids. It's just very, very odd because usually you would have a family member issue a statement saying, please give us our privacy. We want to like figure out what we're doing with my father or my husband. Nothing. There's been nothing. from the family. In fact, I believe it was Porter McConnell deleted her ex account. So this is all very odd. Well, Desiree, thank you so much for doing this work. I feel like I'm going insane that there's not

more coverage of what is an incredibly consequential story, both in terms of, is there a cover-up, what it means for our politics, moving forward, all of those questions. And there seems to be very little curiosity in the mainstream press. And that is one other point I want to make here is people may be under the impression this is all unfolding in Kentucky. No, this is unfolding here in Washington, D.C. It is undoubtedly the case, just as there were many people who know about Joe Biden's decline. There are many people, many of them probably in the Washington Press Corps, who know exactly what is going on with Mitch McConnell and are keeping their lips sealed. So I think it's important for people to understand that as well. Tell people where they can follow you and where they can find your work, and I hope you'll come back and keep us updated as well. So real quickly, to address that, I want to let all of you know.

So I put out videos back in February of the state of Senator Mitch McConnell, and I asked him questions as I'm walking past the press gaggle. They knew the condition he was in. They have never covered it. And to this day, I still find it incredibly odd that they're ignoring this story. So you can find me, Desiree Townsend. I'm on all the platforms except for Facebook. I'm sorry, it's a lot of work to have all these things up.

So you can find me on TikTok, Instagram, and X. Thank you so much for your work and thank you for your time today. Desry, good to meet you. Thank you both. Have a great day. You too. You've heard the chaos. Now you can see it. Hello. My gosh. Watch all your favorite podcasts from start to finish right inside the free I-Hard Radio app. Get the blood going up. Catch every laugh and eye roll on shows like the Tom Green Farmcast and park the bus. Now with full video.

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It's your girl, Sam J. And we're the host of everyone watches women's sports, a new podcast from Together and IHart Women's Sports. Because let's be real. Women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days. So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo roer to go from California to Hawaii. First thought is, like, what's up with the snacks?

Like, what are we eating? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire timeline. And the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports. Naomi Osaka showing out, she beat Sabalinka. Shout out to you, Naomi. You get the palm, Naomi. You get the palm for that.

Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. You know us, or rather you know them.

Tony and Candace, Nina and Lance, Spike, and yes, the chicken. We've played a lot of iconic characters over the years, but today we're showing up as ourselves to tell you about Podlandia, AEO, rewatch, our brand new podcast. Each week, we'll revisit an episode of Portlandia from the very beginning. Breaking down the sketches, exploring the backstories of our most iconic characters, revisiting the Portland locations you know and love, and opening up about our creative process. How did any of this get made?

Why do we think that was a good idea? We're ready to talk about it. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. Guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysler, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised, not just words, but a song, a melody. Well, I thought he was going to write.

I thought you're all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. Ayo rewatch on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There is a very consequential governor's race unfolding in Emily's home state of Wisconsin, and we are joined now by one of the leading candidates. Francesca Hong is a state representative there. She is also a socialist and is running to be the.

the first socialist governor of any state in the country. Welcome. It's great to have you. Happy to be here. Yeah, of course. Polls have you up. So it looks like things are going pretty well for you. What do you see on the campaign trail? What do you think are the core issues that voters are considering right now in the Democratic primary? Grapling with rising costs, public schools that have been defunded for over 16 years, the construction of AI data centers and affordable health care. Tell us a little bit more when you're on the campaign trail. how people, Wisconsin has a very interesting particular history, actually, in America with socialism. So talk to us a bit about how that label is playing on a campaign trail. Obviously, you're in a primary right now.

Do you get questions about electability? What have those discussions looked like? Almost every day. I have to remind folks that the person who is most electable is the person who wins the most votes. But Wisconsin has a strong progressive history. Milwaukee, Wisconsin is where sewer social. was born. This is the state of kindergarten, environmentalism, social security, and unemployment insurance. We've had trailblazers like fighting Bob LaFollett, Belle Phillips, and Gaylord Nelson. I get asked every day,

you know, why run as a Democratic socialist? And I remind folks that I'm a Democratic socialist running on the Democratic ticket, but being a Democratic socialist means that I am committed to the work and workers first in ensuring that we are fixing. a rigged system that is designed to uphold the billionaire class and the elite. When we focus on making sure that working class people across the state have what they need to live a life of dignity, the entire state will thrive. Representative Hong, as I'm sure you're well aware, there's been a bit of a centrist establishment free count happening in the Democratic Party about the rise of candidates such as yourself or Zarin Mandani or Dari Liza Villa Chevalier or

Claire Valdez in New York City. One entrant in this free freak out has been Van Jones, of course, a prominent commentator on CNN. I want to get your reaction to a video that he put out recently about how he sees this kind of intra-party fight. All right, a quick message to my friends on the far left. Quit pooping in the Kool-A bowl and telling us that the turds are ice cubes. They're not ice cubes, and I want to talk about. Van Jones.

Everything that's good in our party, I believe in, have been leaving in for a long time. Do I want universal health care, Medicare for all, whatever you want to call it? Absolutely. If you are sick, you should be able to go see a doctor. That's a good idea. I want free education for everybody as long as they want to keep learning. I think that's a good idea. The Green New Deal, I'm the author of the Green New Deal.

The Green New Deal is my phrase from my first book in 2008. There's nobody more committed to criminal justice reform than me, ecological solutions, the whole deal. These are our ideals as progressives. We should fight for them. We need them now more than ever. But what does it have to do with supporting Hamas? What does it have to do with putting up candidates who say

we should have no police, no prisons, we can't deport anybody, even if they commit rape or murder, Israel shouldn't exist. These are terrible ideas. These are awful ideas. Where did these ideas even come from? If we want people to join this party, when people come to the party, you want to give them a wonderful punch bowl, a wonderful idea like this. Who is putting the poop in the punch bowl? Why are these ideas are punch bowl?

Interesting, stylistic choices being made there. But respond to his concerns here and his critiques. He says that bad regressive ideas are being snuck into the party by candidates such as yourself. But what is your response to that? We need to build the broadest big-ton coalition that we can to fight fascism and rising authoritarian and the Trump regime together. I think that if we alienate voters, especially those who are committed to human rights, what's happening in Gaza is a genocide, that, you know, fighting to ensure that we actually fix the systemic issues around criminal legal reform and make sure that we're investing in systems of care first. I think it's disappointing that we would continue to be divisive when our campaign is focused on building this really wonderful, multiracial, multi-geographic, multi-faith coalition with voters in every corner of the state, including Republicans and independence. And I think that if we are to be stronger as a Democratic Party, if we are going to build durable power as a Democratic Party, we cannot alienate those on the left.

And I think that, you know, I welcome some of Van Jones's commitments to universal policies. I think they're the only ones that will make sure that we don't come back to these moments, that we ensure human rights for folks. But to make this about, you know, the human rights violations of Israel and making this about the left focusing on these slogans, I think is a disservice to building this coalition that we need to build together. Senator Bernie Sanders famously once called Open Borders, they quote Coke Brothers proposal. And I'm curious if you think the Biden immigration surge, which according to New York Times, was 8 million non-a-sidents's coming in over the course of about three years.

Do you think that put downward pressure on Wisconsin workers' wages? And is there any room then for deportation of people who are non-criminals, whether it's through ICE or another law enforcement agency in the name of controlling wages? and putting American workers first. Right now, our dairy farms, our agricultural center, meatpacking, education, every single sector across the state relies on the leadership and the contributions of immigrants. And I think that right now, when it comes to suppression of wages or those conversations around potential deportation or impact in the workforce,

we are struggling to make sure that all of our communities feel safe, be able to go to work. And, you know, policies like driver's license for all and in-state tuition for DACA recipients, these are incredibly popular positions that, you know, we have the Farm Bureau supporting driver's licenses for all here in Wisconsin. So I think that this manufactured crisis at times and fear mongering, especially in the wave of growing late in the era of AI, it's important to recognize that we have to be fighting for our neighbors. You mentioned that you get a lot of questions about why identify as a socialist and are you electable in a general election.

There was a Marquette poll recently. This was featured on the Wisconsin Public Radio site that had all of the candidates, and everybody was within, you know, was within target distance of the Republican. candidate, but they did have Mandela Barnes outperforming and winning, and you were somewhat behind the Republican candidate, Tiffany. So I'm curious, you know, how do you view that poll? What do you make of how you will sell, you know, a socialist candidate and a socialist ideology to a broader Wisconsin electorate? It's important to remember that we still have about 40, 45 percent of voters in that last Marquette poll who were undecided, that we will have.

another Marquette poll coming out on Wednesday because we had some shifts in the Democratic primary candidates with the county executive coming back in with the governor's endorsement. I think one of the advantages that the former lieutenant governor has is that there is a broader name recognition. And so in a head-to-head, oftentimes you'll find the person who has the broadest name recognition in a better position. But I think that our movement is growing. We have new donors every day. We're already beating Tom Tiffany, who is a traitor, an election denier, somebody who supports a national abortion ban and has voted to gut health care and food chair away from our kids. The more people see that who he is and what his voting record is, because right now they're

out here trying to make him out to be this, you know, grew up on the dairy farm and is this nice average guy. But who he is is truly somebody who's going to put Trump ahead of every single Wisconsin night. So we're excited to have. more individual donors than Tiffany, more individual donations, over 22,000 donations, in fact, from every county here in this state. I think having led in every Marquette poll and growing our lead shows that the coalition is growing, that we are an organizing first campaign that over the weekend our volunteers hit over 35,000 doors across the state. And we are growing momentum in rural, more purple or red areas. And it's a multi-jurban.

generational coalition. And I think this sort of excitement and joy belongs in a new type of politics and is part of resistance building as well. We get to have fun when it comes to campaigns and be serious about the issue. Abdel Osayyad over in Michigan, we've covered his race a lot. I'm sure you're following it closely as well. He has a similar worldview, but he does not describe himself as a socialist. He was asked in a debate last night. He says, no, I'm a capitalist. And I'm wondering if you think that the socialist label is still scary for voters and how you put them at ease, how you explain your view of what socialism or democratic socialism is? I am a former small business owner. I owned a small restaurant in downtown Madison close to

my legislative office for almost seven years. I support union rights and making sure that we have living wages, health care for all, universal child. care, fully funded public schools and fully funding our local governments. Democratic socialism to me means that we are a government that puts working class people first ahead of corporations and the elite and the ultra wealthy. And so when I explain democratic socialism in a way through the Green Bay Packers, filling potholes, making sure that we're funding public schools, you know, the pride and the collective joy that comes where.

with our only publicly owned NFL team. It helps folks to realize this is so much more about the economic populist issues that are growing in popularity. I think democratic socialism is sensible. What is radical is the fact that we still have a 725 minimum wage in our state, 233 an hour for a tipped minimum wage.

So these sort of working class people first policies are what is popular with folks across our state. And Democratic socialism, holds me accountable to my principles of human rights, democracy, and fairness. It's why we need to tax the rich. And so, and I think with growing momentum of organizations like DSA, the political home they're providing, even though they're not a party, the organizing skills and tools, you know, we reflect a lot of that too. We want communities across the state to have the organizing tools and knowledge to be able to continue to build local community,

community safety, community care, and that should grow out and be across the state. And so for me, Democratic socialism is also an accountability measure to make sure I'm holding true to my principles. My last question is on this, I was just going to say, Chris, on the taxation issue, it's pretty well documented that Wisconsin has benefited from people and businesses coming up from Illinois in the sense that Wisconsin has seen as having a more competitive business climate. So is there, are you sensitive to the issue of perhaps losing some of that competitive edge if taxes go up? How do we increase taxes in the state of Wisconsin in a way that also

ensures we're still working? You said you're small business owner, working with the business community to make sure that people aren't going to other nearby states that maybe border in the southeastern part or in different parts of the state. And at the same time, though, make sure that, you know, the system is fair. 99% of the businesses in Wisconsin are small businesses, which means they either make up to or less than $5 million in revenue or they have 20 or fewer full-time employees. Right now, we have manufacturing agricultural large business tax credits where some of the largest corporations are paying 0.9% or less of corporate tax rates.

We have a very regressive income tax structure where some of our lowest income earner. are paying a higher tax rate some of our highest tax bracket earners. And so when we have a millionaire tax and we add a 1% tax to billionaires, we're looking at actually lowering property taxes, putting them by up to 44% for folks across the state and putting that funding into public education

because we have a very antiquated public school funding formula that ties property taxes to school funding. So in addition to, to changing this formula. You know, fair taxation is actually good for growing local and state economies. Policies like universal childcare and funding schools and paid leave for all is good for strengthening workforce and expanding our tax revenue bank. We've had very minimal net migration.

We have to make Wisconsin a place where all working class folks can thrive and grow families. I think that as a small business owner, I understand the cost of trans, of, of, of, workers where there's more turnover. I understand the costs that come with closing and reopening a business. And I think that, you know, in the Scott Walker era and even into these last eight years under Governor Evers, we haven't seen the growth of manufacturing jobs. In fact, we've actually seen manufacturers leave our state. And so reinvesting in green new jobs and renewable energy companies, manufacturing jobs in, you know, in the tech sector. I think that we're going to be able to invest in the local and state economies in a way that's much more durable and sustainable than the tax credits we're giving to the business businesses, some which aren't even headquartered in Wisconsin.

They're in Florida. Foxcon. And I don't want to get Foxconned again. Yeah. They're putting a data center where Foxcon was supposed to go. Wow. You know, I think that speaks to the absurdity of where we are in large corporations. coming and taking over community.

Wow. Francesca Hong, tell people where they can find more information about your campaign and support you if they're interested. Yes, you can go to www.franchiscahong.com or follow us on socials at Francesca Hongwai. Well, thank you so much. I know you have a very busy life between campaign and family and all of the things that come in between. We really appreciate you making time for us.

Happy to be here. And folks, if you're in Wisconsin, don't forget to make your plan to vote on or before August 11th. So, Emily, did she convert you to socialism with that Green Bay Packers pitch? It's all over. According to our right-wing commenters, I've been converted to socialism for years now, though,

so she didn't have to do much. But, no, I mean, it's good to have these conversations, especially during, I think, the primaries where you're often getting questions that are understandably from the left. So, like, from the right, sometimes it's fun to pop in and be like, here's a question that you might get. later down the road too. Yeah. Well, and I mean, she is getting some of those questions from the

centrist in the party right now. This is a, I think increasingly common instance of centrists in this race because there are two more establishment. Centres civil war. Yes, there are two more establishment candidates in the race who are dividing some of that vote. And so there's been all this pressure of like, okay, one of y'all got to drop out. And now we're, you know, coming down to election no one's dropping out, and that is helping to pave the path. Not to say she couldn't win if it was her versus one or the other of them, but that is certainly making her task easier, which is why at this point, I think she's, you know, I hate to use the betting market odds, but she's like 80% favored to win Democratic primary. And in a year that looks like it's a very good one for Democrats, she's going to have a good shot to win the governor's mansion, which would be, you know, it would genuinely be a historic, historic victory. First time a socialist would win a statewide. race and in a swing state like Wisconsin that obviously people watch very closely. So very important and interesting race that people are going to be following very closely. Tom Tiffany is probably a stronger candidate than Republicans have put up in a while.

He's sort of because of the lack of Riz. Yeah, what's his deal? I don't know anything about him. He's from the northern part of the state, as Francesca Hong was saying, has background as a dairy farmer, very normy Republican who is like kind of MAGA Freedom Caucus coded. as he was in Congress, but is also just doesn't have the like maga-ris that some of the hardcore people do. So just from like a political standpoint, he's a little bit, I think, more difficult to paint in one direction or the other, a little maybe slippery is the word. Gotcha. All right. Well, we will watch this one closely. Emily, thank you so much. It'll be us again

tomorrow, but we're going to switch places. Emily will be in studio. I'll be at home. Chris will be up my house. Yeah, exactly. We're just swat this out. Anyway, I hope you guys have a great day, and we will both see you back here tomorrow. Hey, Portlandia fans. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here. The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form.

We're launching Podlandia, AEO rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Chrysall, the mayor himself, Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here.

You fully improvised, not just words, but a song. Well, I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia. A.O. Rewatch on the IHeartRadio Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist, Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girls. Sam Jay. And we're the host of Everyone

Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together in I Heart Women's Sports. We're breaking down the biggest headlines. Naomi Osaka, showing out. Shout-hous to you, Naomi. The viral moments. I've been obsessed with Kashan Rock's boxing journey. She looks good. Her combos are swift. And the stories everyone's talking

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