The Daily Show: Ears Edition - A Modest Manifesto, Pardons for All, and an American Cocaine Empire

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

Michael Kosta investigates a surprisingly modest manifesto from suspected UHC CEO shooter Luigi Mangione and Trump's appointment of Kimberly Guilfoyle as Ambassador to Greece. Grace Kuhlenschmidt asks New Yorkers, "Who Deserves a Pardon from Biden?" Author T.J. English discusses his latest book "The Last Kilo," chronicling the rise and fall of an American cocaine empire.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. Rolling. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Doan of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, A Second Look on Apple podcasts.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Ow. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for news. This is The Daily Show with your host, Michael Kosta! Yes, welcome, welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Michael Kosta. We have so much to talk about tonight. It's happy hour at the Pentagon.

Joe Biden is making a list and checking it twice, and Mangione drops a manifesto. So let's get into the headlines. Let's begin with the story. Everyone is still talking about the arrest of Luigi Mangione, alleged CEO killer and the reason conjugal visit is trending on Google. Everyone's been wondering what his motivation was and now they have his manifesto. Although for a manifesto, it's surprisingly modest. The US has the number one most expensive health care system in the world, yet we rank roughly number 42 in life expectancy.

Obviously, the problem is more complex. But I do not have space. And frankly, I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. OK, OK. I don't really know what I'm talking about. It's a surprising thing to put in a manifesto. This is the first murder manifesto I've read

that could have ended with, but no worries if not. You know, either way, you never see the Taliban like death to America, although we're not experts, so grain of salt. Now, whether he's guilty or not will be decided by a trial, but one thing we know for certain, Mangione is making everyone manja horny.

And, Lily, I know you were inside that courtroom today with the suspect. How was he behaving? Nora, it was remarkable. He walked in confident. At times, he seemed defiant. He was looking around. He kept looking back. And a couple of times I felt like he was making eye contact.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. He looked at me. He saw me. We had a moment. And, Nora, I'm getting new reports just now

that I can change him. Oh. Oh. Oh. OK. OK. But can I just say, this is confusing as a straight man to me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do to attract women. One day it's do more work around the house.

The next it's be a better listener. And now apparently it's execute the leader of a Fortune 500 company. Which one is it, ladies? Let's move on to someone who never has to go to court again in another edition of Trump 2.0, Coming for the White House. I'm gonna come. Look, look, there are over 20 countries in the world, and the president has to appoint an ambassador

to every one of them. And being an ambassador, it's a pretty sweet gig, all right? You get paid six figures to move to some mansion in another country, and you can't even get arrested when you plow into a group of tourists with your motorcycle. It's basically a dream. And Trump just announced the latest lucky person to get one of these coveted positions.

President-elect Donald Trump tapping another loyalist with close family ties to fill out his administration, naming Kimberly Guilfoyle to be ambassador to Greece. Kimberly Guilfoyle, Kimberly Guilfoyle. Why does that ring a bell? Why does that hurt my ears? She has no diplomatic experience, but she's a longtime Trump loyalist, firing up the Republican National Convention

during his 2020 reelection campaign. The best is yet to come! That's it. I remember. The screaming lady. The screaming lady. Although I guess in Greece, that's considered normal volume, maybe? Now, you might be wondering, why is Trump appointing Kimberly Guilfoyle if she has no diplomatic

experience and seemingly no ties to Greece? Well, it turns out it might be a consolation prize. In a statement, the president-elect calling her a close friend and praising her sharp intellect. But he made no mention of her four-year-long engagement to his eldest son amid tabloid rumors that Donald Trump Jr. is now dating someone new. Wow. Wow. What a great way to end a relationship.

Forget about, listen, it's not you, it's me. Now we've got, listen, how would you like to be the ambassador to Greece? Good for Kimberly to score this position after a break-up. Last time one of my relationships ended, I couldn't even get my Valtrex back. Now, it's okay. She needs it now, too, so...

Bon voyage, Kimberly. Your relationship is over. But now you get to move to Greece. Or as you might say... The best is yet to come. Oh, my God. It still hurts. Still hurts. Meanwhile, things are a little rockier for a different Trump appointee, Pete Hegseth, nominee for Secretary of Defense and veteran of multiple tours

with Captain Morgan. Last week, his nomination looked like it was in big trouble, probably because people were worried he'd have to blow into a breathalyzer before entering the situation room. Let's check in on how it's going now. After a rocky start, Pete Hegseth, president-elect Trump's intended choice to lead the Pentagon, is on the rebound.

He's much better off this week than he was last week. Some Republicans, including ones like Senator Tommy Tuberville out of Alabama, someone who's very close to Donald Trump, have brushed off these reports of excessive drinking. Is he a drunk? I mean, does he hang out in bars overnight? Does he drink for lunch and dinner and breakfast? Does he piss martinis and shit olives? No?

Well, then give this man a security clearance. I'm sorry, but he's not drunk every second of his life. It's a pretty low bar. Which, by the way, is the only bar that Pete Hegseth hasn't been thrown out of. Look, you can argue what the exact definition of a drinking problem is, but I think a good barometer is, is everyone in the country talking about how much you drink? Then you probably have a drinking problem.

So that's one excuse for putting Hegseth in charge of the Defense Department. But let's hear another one from Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. Yes, that's his name. What I'm saying is, when you're talking about drinking at 10 in the morning, that's a drinking problem. Now, it doesn't mean that there should be a stigma. Well, there's a lot of politicians that have a drinking problem. Now, it doesn't mean that there should be a stigma.

Well, there's a lot of politicians that have a drinking problem, Jake. Yes, of course. But I guess my question is... Yeah, and then there's probably a lot of media that has a drinking problem, too. Yeah, yeah. A lot of people have drinking problems,

but they're not trying to run the Pentagon. So, yeah, it's different. It's different. And you agree. That's why you're clapping. It's like he's saying, oh, nobody cared about my drinking before I got behind the wheel, and now all of a sudden, it's a problem. Yeah, it's a problem.

Yeah. Ultimately, it's worse if you're an alcoholic in certain jobs. Like, you don't want to have an alcoholic pilot, but a drunk Daily Show host? What's the worst that happens? I pee myself behind the desk, and I need Latoya to bring me new pants right now. Latoya, new pants, Latoya, new pants. But even if he's confirmed, Pete seems to understand

that being blackout drunk 23 hours a day might be a problem, which is why he's confirmed, Pete seems to understand that being blackout drunk 23 hours a day might be a problem, which is why he's offering to change. He's been telling members of the Senate Republican Conference that if he were confirmed as Secretary of Defense, he would not drink alcohol at all. He would abstain from drinking. This is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won't be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I'm doing it. It's good enough for me.

Yeah! When has an alcoholic ever promised to do better and not followed through? What a deal. Just put me in charge of the largest military in history, and I'll stop drinking. By the way, jello shots don't count as drinking. That's eating. That's a solid.

And it seems like it's good enough for Donald Trump, too. The fact that there are these allegations against him, the fact that he said to some senators reportedly he'll stop drinking if he gets this job, does that worry you? No, I think that everybody has something that they can stop. Some people can stop eating. I'm lucky I'm not a drink stop. Some people can stop eating. I'm lucky I'm not a drinker, but I could stop eating.

All right. I think I speak for everyone when I say, sir, no, you couldn't. All right? I guess he means eating junk food. But still, there's a big difference between alcoholism and eating. No one's ever said, dad, you came home full again.

You know what's weird? It's almost like the revelations about Hegseth's drinking have helped him because now it feels like if he can just steamroll the senators on this one issue, he wins. Like the whole completely unqualified part about his resume is totally forgotten. But don't forget, if this guy quits drinking

to become secretary of Defense, his only qualification is that he quit drinking to become Secretary of Defense. But hey, maybe this nomination isn't the worst way to get someone off the sauce. In fact, some rehab centers are already adopting this strategy. Has your drinking problem gotten out of control? Then visit Five Star Recovery. Our program gets you back on your feet by giving you full control of the entire U.S.

military. You don't have to face alcoholism alone. At Five Star, you will face it while managing a trillion dollar budget and two million soldiers. Put your mind at ease at our lush grounds and spa-like facilities as you receive constant overwhelming updates on the position and force posture of our forces around the globe. When I went to Five Star I was a drunk. They gave me peace of mind and the nuclear codes. And it got me clean for like six and a half weeks.

Become your best self with our patented two-step program. Step one, admit you have a problem. Step two, determine how to redeploy our special forces in Syria without destabilizing Kurdish positions across the Euphrates. Do not f*** our s*** treaty with s***. Five star, the journey to recovery starts with one confirmation vote. And by the way, if anybody see those those calls, I just... help. When we come back, we'll find out who Joe Biden will pardon next. Don't go away.

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give the gift that keeps on giving memories. Whether it's for grandparents who adore seeing the grandkids' latest antics, or a friend who loves capturing every moment, the Skylight Frame is the perfect gift to bring joy and connection into any home. For a limited time, get 20% off your purchase of a Skylight Frame when you go to ca.skylightframe.com

slash comedy. That's right, save 20% off your Skylight Frame at ca.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's c-a dot s-k-y-l-i-g-G-H-T-F-R-A-M-E-dot-com-slash-comedy. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change.

Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Doan of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, A Second Look, wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to The Daily Show. Last month, Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter, causing people to ask, Joe Biden is still president? But he is.

And he still has pardon power for another month. Our own Grace Kuhlenschmitt hit the streets to ask New Yorkers who they think he should use it on next. President Biden pardoned two turkeys named Peach and Blossom on Thanksgiving, and a human man named Hunter Biden a few days later. To find out who else he might pardon before leaving office, I decided to ask my fellow friendly New Yorkers.

Oh, sorry, pardon me. Pardon me, pardon me. That's my purse. That's my purse. That's my purse. I love this city. So they're saying that Biden might pardon enemies of Trump. Can you think of anyone else

who might be on Trump's enemy list? Yes, me and all of my friends. Okay, gotcha. So Dr. Fauci would be pardoned for the crime of doing science? We have to pardon Fauci. He got us through a hard time. Yeah, he got me through, actually,

a really, really bad breakup. Do you think he should pardon Eric Adams? Eric Adams, Eric Adams, Eric Adams. Who's Eric Adams? The man of New York City? Oh no! Do you think that he should pardon Giuliani for going goblin mode 24 seven?

What's goblin mode? Well, he just kind of looks like a goblin. I think he's really disgusting. He shouldn't be pardoned for anything. Okay, so if he committed a crime, he's your president, are you pardoning him? The crime is actually disgusting. It's hein anything. Okay, so if he committed a crime, you're president, are you pardoning him? The crime is actually disgusting. It's heinous.

Murder, 100 people. We just had a conversation about our love is actually conditional and it murders one of the things. Oh my gosh. All right, let's play F*** Mary Pardon. You ready? Okay, yeah, let's do it. The QAnon Trombin.

Oof. Donald Trump. Oof. Eric Adams. Okay. And you can't f*** them all. Okay. I'd probably f*** Eric Adams. You could watch this so you might have a chance.

Just cause he's weak and you know you can like put your fingers on his balls and like make him squirm. Okay, you know what? I'll marry Donald Trump. You know what? I think I'd live a good life. I'm gonna marry Eric Adams. Interesting choice. Just so that I can play mind games with him. Love it. Hide things, gaslight, eight keep, girl boss. Being in the city of New York, I guess I'll pardon... Sure. Adams. Congratulations, you're f***ing the Q and

all, Traumann. I forgot about that. No you didn't. If you could get pardoned for one crime, what would it be? Orson. That was a really quick answer. I like fire. You like fire. Let's get the matches away from this guy. Have you ever done anything that you would need a pardon for? Uh, marrying my first husband. I did pirate a lot of, you know, lime wire back in the day.

All lime wire users should be pardoned. Absolutely. Do you ever, like, if you're at CVS or something and you you're holding a bunch of things, and you forget to ring something up? When you're doing self-checkout. To me, part of self-checkout is maybe I am gonna shoplift. Do you want to look into the pardon cam right here and ask Joe Biden to be pardoned for your limewire usage? Joe Biden, I'm sorry.

I just really wanted that Linkin Park single. President Biden, I would like to be pardoned for the occasional mistake of missing an item on self-checking. Right. She does it every single day, but she doesn't mean to. Is there anything that you've done that you think that you should get a pardon for?

I guess, telling people I love them when I don't. If you wouldn't mind looking into our pardon cam here and asking Joe Biden for a pardon for that. Yes Joe Biden, please pardon me for lying to men all over the world. That's why I date women. I'm bisexual too. Oh my god I love that! This is the first time I admit it on camera. I guess I am growing up. Biden I need a pardon. I outed someone on national television. That's right. To be fair, she said it herself. That's right.

But I feel as though I was the lesbian accomplice in this situation. I will date you. Biden, I need another pardon. I've picked someone up on camera. That's right, that's how it works. I'm an absolute player. ["The Last Post"]

Thank you, Grace. When you come back, TJ English will be joining me on the show. Don't go away. Skylight Frame is more than just a photo frame. It's the perfect way to keep loved ones close, no matter the distance. With Skylight, you can share the joy of a special moment, a silly snapshot, or a special moment with your loved one. Skylight Frame is a photo frame that's a little bit more than just a photo frame. It's a photo frame that's a little bit more than just a photo frame. It's a photo frame that's a little bit more than just a photo frame. It's a photo frame that's a little bit more than just a photo frame.

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making it the perfect present for anyone who values connection and family. Millions of families have fallen in love with their Skylight Frame. It's perfect for parents and grandparents with a simple, user-friendly design. This holiday season, give the gift that keeps on giving memories. Whether it's for grandparents who adore seeing the grandkids' latest antics, or a friend

who loves capturing every moment, the Skylight Frame is the perfect gift to bring joy and connection into any home. For a limited time, get 20% off your purchase of a Skylight Frame when you go to ca.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's right, save 20% off your Skylight Frame at ca.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's c-a dot s-k-y-l-i-g-h-t-f-r-a-m-e dot com slash comedy. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes.

It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Doan of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, A Second Look on Apple podcasts. Welcome back to Daily Show.

My guest tonight is a journalist and bestselling author whose new book is called The Last Kilo. Please welcome TJ English. TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ!

TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ!

TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ!

TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! TJ! It's got it all. It's got it all. This book is so fun to read. When I was, the first half of this book, I said, you know what? I want to quit my job and become a cocaine smuggler. It changed. Yeah. But would that be good?

By the end of the book, you had a whole different view on that, I'm sure. Yeah. I mean, should I do that? Should I? If you do it as well as they'm sure. Yeah, I mean, should I do that? Should I? If you do it as well as they did it, you could possibly create a whole era of cocaine that would last for 10 years, and you'd be very popular,

and you'd be the king of the hill, and then it would all come crumbling down. Yeah, and who's they? Who do you write about so well in here? I write about a group that was called Los Muchachos. They were led by a man named Willy Falcone, who was a Cuban exile whose family had been chased out of Cuba at the time of the Cuban Revolution.

He came to the United States. In the 70s, he kind of was working construction. And then some members of the anti-Castro movement came to him and said, we need some young guys who will partner with us on a plan we have to bring cocaine into the United States and to sell it in the United States and use the proceeds to buy guns and explosives

for the Contras in Central America. And Willie said, drugs are not my thing. Goodbye. End of the story. He probably maybe wishes And Willie said, drugs are not my thing, goodbye, end of the story. He probably maybe wishes he had said that, but no, he said, I can do that. I mean, his main motivation was to get rid of Castro. I mean, that was that generation of Cubans woke up in the morning dreaming of a dead Fidel Castro.

In fact, they woke up in the morning dreaming of strangling Fidel Castro to death with their own hands. But in a way, doesn't that romanticize this a little bit? I mean, it's like, it's easy for Willy Falcon to say, it's okay that I'm doing all this because it has a good credibility because I'm overthrowing this regime. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, it grew bigger than that for him. Yeah, I think we refer to that as a false value system.

Okay, great. I mean, he believed in it. He believed in it. He believed in the cause. And he was willing to do anything for the cause. And so when they asked him to do this, he was all for it. Now, you got to remember, in the late 70s, when this started, cocaine was only used by the very rich in Hollywood, rock stars and some professional athletes.

Nobody else could afford it. So the first thing they did was they made it affordable. They brought in so much quantity that they could lower the price and they started to sell it. And it was available at the working-class level. Everyone was using it. How much cocaine did you do to research this book? Well, if you look at the cover of the book,

they showed me the cover of the book. I said, could we make the cocaine embossed? So it looks like a real line of cocaine. I think we'd sell more books that way. Right. And they probably said, sell more books, and then we'll emboss it. Yeah.

and then we'll emboss it. Yeah. Um, this book has 40 pages of reference notes. Yeah. So, you know, this is an entertaining read about cocaine smugglers and speedboat racing and sex and women and buying sheriffs to create airfields so they can fly in cocaine from Columbia. But you're telling me you actually researched this shit? Hey, man, when I started this book, I thought I knew this era.

Like a lot of people, I saw the movies, Scarface, Miami Vice. You know, this era existed in our culture, and I came to believe that a lot of that is not untrue, but sensationalized. There's a lot of stereotypes in the presentation of the cocaine era. For instance, this group did not use violence as part of their operation. That was startling to me. I was even concerned.

I was like, how do we tell a cocaine story without Uzi submachine guns and chainsaws? It seems like their philosophy was you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I mean, there's examples of people lying to them, and they actually don't use violence. If anything, they would call them in for a meeting and give them some money and say, we should be friends, right?

Well, you know what they would do? They would cut them out of the business. And Willie and his partner, Sal Magluto, Willie and Sal and Los Muchachos, that was the name of the organization, were so predominant in the cocaine business. If you got cut out of their operation, you were cut out of the business. They had the best product at the best price. And we're talking about Miami as a base, but what they were known for was their distribution system.

Right. So bringing cocaine cocaine to la to San Francisco to Chicago to New York. They really created a system that touched off that entire era. And you sat with Willie Falcone sure did yeah. Once twice 7 or 8 times wow and then we communicate a lot through is he still doing blow a lot of times or what. No. You know I got to wonder that it. Is he still doing blow a lot of times, or what? No. You know.

I kind of wondered that. It's like, he's doing blow. He's on speed boats. They're doing this. And then I'm like, then he goes to prison. I'm like, well, he's got to be addicted to cocaine at this point. He was doing blow in prison, I'm sure.

Oh, wow. That's one of the easiest places to get blow. To do pre. Yeah, you don't have to tell me, TJ. Yeah. All right. Well. I've never been to prison.

So you sat with Willie a bunch. I sat with him a bunch, yes. And I traveled to the country that shall remain nameless, where he is. And it wasn't easy because we're in the middle of the COVID crisis, so flying in and out in the country was really difficult at the time. But it was really important. I knew I couldn't do the book unless I could take stock of him face to face as a person.

There's kind of a funny party vibe with cocaine. It's done at the club. That's what I hear. Right? But then you say crack, and it changes quickly. And I wonder if Willie Falcone feels any remorse or does he feel that? I mean, the crack epidemic, it's not a laughing matter.

It's not a cocaine isn't either. But does he feel any of this or? Yeah, the crack, the emergence of crack, which they had nothing to do with, was a phenomenon that was created kind of at the street level. Changed everything. Up until then, you could say that the cocaine era was all parties and good times.

Crack was ugly, it was violent. It brought it down to a street level and took all the fun out of it. Yes, all of a sudden, if you were a cocaine dealer. God damn it, crack. Yeah, all of a sudden, if you were a cocaine dealer. God damn it, crack. Yeah. All of a sudden, you had blood on your hands if you were a cocaine dealer.

I remember in 1989 watching George H.W. Bush. Do blow? It do blow. And that's when I said, I will know. It was in the White House. He did this press conference. Did you ever tell anybody about that? Him doing was in the White House. He did this press conference. Did you ever tell anybody about that? Him doing blow in the White House?

You know what? It would help. Yeah, if there's a party that does blow, it's probably Republicans, to be honest with you. But he showed everybody this bag of crack. I was watching it with my father. I remember thinking, holy shit, drugs are bad. He says in this press conference that they bought this crack

outside at the White House. I'm D.A.R.E. Don't do drugs. Nancy Reagan. Holy shit. Then I read your book. I find out that that whole bought crack at the White House thing was... It was fake. It was fake.

In fact, the DEA said to a drug dealer, you got to sell us crack outside of the White House. And the drug dealer says, where the f outside of the White House, and the drug dealer says, where the f*** is the White House? I mean, this is all made up. Right. What... Let's talk about the American government's role in all this.

The war on drugs. The war on drugs and also helping fund... Oh, God. ...the rebellion that started this whole thing. Listen, this opened my eyes. And again, I thought I knew a lot about this era going into it. The ways in which cocaine was used as a political tool. Here's something that's interesting. Willie and Sal's main money launderer was a banker in Panama City known as Guillermo Indara. He was burying their billions and billions of dollars in bank accounts in Panama.

When they would ship in drywall pallets, right? Down to Panama? Yes. I mean, I read this stuff and I'm like, this guy should be the head of Walmart or something. They're inventive, right? Yeah, absolutely. They basically were making it up as they went along. These are guys who are high school dropouts.

I mean, it's ingenious. I find this in the criminal world quite often. Criminal organizations of people with very little formal education, they'd construct these phenomenal criminal operations. If they had chosen legit form of business, they probably would have been really successful. For sure, yeah. Willys, Guillermo, and Dara.

So they deposed Manuel Noriega in Panama. The United States is done with him. He's no longer their buddy. They force him out. They bring him to the United States, put him away in prison. As a successor, you know who President Bush chooses to be president of Panama?

Guillermo and Indara. Right. William Sal's money launderer becomes the president of Panama. And there's an interesting part in here where they get worried that they're not going to get their money from him. Yeah. And he says, don't worry, I'm going to become president. Yeah.

Yes. And they thought they were going to get their money, and they lost $400 million in those accounts. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, and then he ends up being in a cell next to Noriega and they're kind of chatting to each other and he was kind of like, Noriega is annoying. I don't want to talk to this guy. Strange bedfellows. Yeah. You write so much about the

criminal underworld. You know, some of your other books, The Westies, Havana Nocturne, Dangerous Rhythms, Born to kill. It's about the bloodiest Asian gang, the Cuba mafia, the Irish mob. Just admit it, you want to be a criminal. This is what keeps me from being a criminal. It is. Yes, absolutely. What is it that it's trying?

I mean, it's very entertaining to read this stuff, but you are diving in. I've always thought of organized crime not as some fringe aspect of American culture, but as the main vein of American culture. And if you research it that way and you look at it that way, you learn a lot about America, politics, sociology. It really is an interesting prism or angle to look at.

I call it from the gutter. It's looking at America from the point of view of the gutter. Yeah. And you learn so much about it. It's it's an inexhaustible topic to me. I can go back in history and tell stories. I can do contemporary versions of it. I can't walk around Manhattan anymore because

when Willie Falcone was hiding, yes, he had to hide from the federal government. He did it here in New York. He's on the lam. He's on the lam. He didn't want to stay home where I think his wife was, where were they living, Upper East Side or something? Upper West Side.

Upper West Side. Along the park. So his work partner would pick him up in a van and he had this CB radio and they would drive him around Manhattan. He would talk to Escobar on the CB radio organizing. Every time I see a van out there, I'm going, that's the f***ing cocaine smuggling happening right now. You might be onto something there.

Right. Yeah, a mobile headquarters where he was consummating cocaine, international cocaine deals from the back of the van. They were doing encrypted messaging. Yeah. Yeah, they really... I mean, I'm telling you,

if you bend your mind around what it is they had to do to create this operation, it's pretty extraordinary. I love, there's a speedboat on the cover here because they also were... Powerboat racing champion. Champion, I mean, it's like... But also, if you're doing coke, you want to go fast. So I...

That's true. If they became powerboat champions and they were high on marijuana, that'd be different. Now... You were only going three miles an hour, Willie Falco. If they were high on marijuana, they'd be doing their Powerboat racing in the bathtub. I hate to say this because it romanticizes them, but it does seem like they were winners, or at least they went big.

Now everyone should know it ends poorly. It ends very, very poorly. And there's also a part of me that gets so mad at all the rules they broke. That's not fair. You can't buy a sheriff. Fixing the jury. They fixed, I mean that blew me away. Tell me a little bit about that.

Well they finally go to trial a big federal racketeering trial and they're so popular in South Florida. Yeah that they not only fix the jury. They fix 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 jurors out of 12. Yeah, they buy off to give them a not guilty verdict and they're found not guilty was a shock to everybody right. They buy off to give them a not guilty verdict and they're found not guilty. It was a shock to everybody. They own the system. They were like Robin Hoods in South Florida. They were revered by many Cuban Americans because they funneled money back into the community. They built baseball parks and they spread the money around. They were very popular.

Some of the more powerful moments in the book are when they're faced with those decisions through their families. Yes, we're parents who came over dangerous situations and almost act now embarrassed of their children. That's very poignant. It was very poignant to me because, you know, their parents were kicked out of Cuba. Some of them had been professionals and they lost everything. They wound up in South Florida with nothing.

And here's the kids, 11, 12, 13, are looking at their parents. They grow up watching their parents suffer. I think what was driving a lot of this cocaine generation was to succeed and to make their parents proud. Ironically, that was their goal, you know, to show that they could make it in America in a way that would make their parents proud. And it was the parents that came to them,

knew they were in the cocaine business, and came to them and said, Son, you got to get out of this business. It's not going to end well. And that's easy. It's easy to cheat. It's hard to do it the right way. It's hard to cheat, too. It's hard to cheat, too. And that's, that's easy. It's easy to cheat. It's hard to do it the right way. No, it's hard to cheat, too. It's hard to cheat, too. Okay. And that's the lesson.

I want to ask you this. This is your 10th book. Yes. For any young writer, author out there, advice for anyone who wants to write. I don't even know if these kids read books anymore, but there is a kid out there that wants to write books. What would you say to him or her at this point? Write every day.

Okay. Write something every day. Okay. And get out into the world, because writing is basically transforming your experiences into the written word down on the page. And so get out. If you're a kid who's in school, get away from school.

And I don't mean drop out. I don't mean drop out, but I mean, there's a reality other than school. And that's the reality you got to learn. Let go of the side of the pool and push yourself out into the deep end. That's how you become a writer. Well, you write wonderfully.

Um... Applause That's how you become a writer. Well, you write wonderfully. Um... CHEERING AND APPLAUSE My family was happy when I finished this book, because they were talking to me, and I'm going like, sex in prison? What the hell? It's cocaine. But it's a great book. Thank you for coming and talking with us today. The Last Kilo is available now. T.J. English, we'll be right back after this.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Please consider donating to One Simple Wish, a charity that grants wishes to children in foster care.

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