The Young Turks - Down Goes Christie!

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

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You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. Woo! It's up! We're going to be able to be. Welcome, welcome. You're watching TYT and I'm your host Anna Kasparian. I'm here with you for a marathon of a day because not only will I be hosting the main show as usual, but later tonight following the GOP debate. We will be doing special debate coverage. The debate coverage will include myself, Brett Ehrlich and Jordan Ewell will all be here. We'll all be talking about the responses from the GOP candidates. There's also some pretty big news in regard to who's currently running. for the Republican nomination.

So I'll get to that later on in the first hour. Of course, we're going to also fill you in on the latest updates on the Israel Gaza War. And unfortunately, the continuous violence that's been taking place among settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. In the second hour of the show, John Ida Rola will be joining me to talk about a whole host of topics, including what the FTC has done in response to companies that collect our location data and sell it to third parties. I got to say, the Federal Trade Commission under the leadership of Lena Kahn has been

pretty remarkable and I can't stop giving her props for the work that she's doing. So we'll get to that later on in the show. But as always, if you want to help support the work we do, if you want to give us props for the marathon work days that we engage in just to give you guys coverage of not only the news of the day, but the election, please, please consider becoming a member and supporting our show that way. You can do so by going to t-y-t.com slash join, or if you're watching us on YouTube, you can join that way by just clicking on that join button. All right, without further ado, let's get to our first story of the day.

With tensions rising in the West Bank, disturbing video showing the moment two Palestinian boys as shot dead by the Israeli military. The IDF launching what they called a counter terror raid in the town of Janine that Israel sees as a hotbed of terrorism. The IDF conducting operations there long before this war began. Eight-year-old Adam Samar al-Gul and 15-year-old Basel-Suliman Abu al-Wafa both killed. Now unfortunately, violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank doesn't simply come from IDF soldiers.

they have been experiencing violence from Israeli settlers for quite some time now. This is not new. Unfortunately, that violence has risen considerably following the terrorist attacks that happened in Israel on October 7th, carried out by Hamas. Those atrocities have emboldened these settlers who believe that they should be allowed to build illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. And now we have an investigation done by the Washington Post in regard to one of the recent clashes between Palestinians and settlers in the West Bank.

And unfortunately, it happened to be one of the most deadly instances of that violence breaking out. So I want to give you those details because that deadliest instance of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank resulted in the death of three Palestinians, including one teenager. And again, this particular instance was investigated by the Washington Post, and this is one of those examples of fantastic journalistic work, fantastic investigative reporting. Washington Post isn't perfect. Obviously, we criticize them when we feel that it's necessary, but in this case, they do deserve a lot of credit for doing this investigation. Now, the displacement and Palestinian death toll in the occupied West Bank kind of gives you a sense of the type of violence that has been. been directed toward the Palestinian community, and it's being done with impunity for the

perpetrators. Now, in the month after the October 7th, Hamas attack, more than 800 Palestinians were displaced from their West Bank homes amid increased violence by the radical Israeli settler movement, which has long held the aim of expelling Palestinians and expanding the Jewish footprint in the occupied territories. And look, I want to be clear about it. something. You know, you have this far-right Israeli government. You have the Israeli settlers who have been emboldened by the far-right Netanyahu government. But I don't want anyone to make the mistake in thinking that the settlers are representative of the Israeli population. You know, you see interviews with normal Israelis in Israel, and they tend

to give the settler community the side-eye, they see them as extremists. And in the past, With previous governments, there was more of an effort to hold them accountable when they carry out these acts of violence against Palestinians living in the West Bank. But increasingly that has not been the case. And thanks to the latest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas, again, that has essentially created the situation in which the settlers have felt more emboldened to carry out these acts of violence. Now, I gave you a sense of how many Palestinians have been displaced recently. from the West Bank, but it's worth getting into the number of individuals who have been killed.

Between October 7th and January 4th of this year, more than 300 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers. A dramatic increase in the rate of killing in the last months of 2023, the deadliest year since the United Nations began recording casualties in 2005. Now again, the deadliest instance, as of late, had to do with settlers specifically attacking someone's home, a Palestinian home in the West Bank. And then when three individuals attempted to protect the residents of that home and the home itself, unfortunately they were met with gunfire. And so this is what the Washington Post decided to investigate. And their investigation alleges that the Israeli defense forces essentially stood by and did nothing to. protect the Palestinians who were met with this violence. And if you're wondering, well, is the IDF supposed to do something?

I mean, the IDF represents the best interests of Israel, right? No, in this case, they actually are tasked with providing protection for the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank. I know that is a naive thing to believe is actually happening. But again, the situation has devolved even further, thanks to this latest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Even worse, the perpetrators, according to the Washington Post, have gone unpunished. So let's talk about that incident. Let's talk about what happened. It occurred on October 9th, and the Palestinian residents of Kusra in the occupied West Bank

had received some threats on social media. This is what the threats had said. To all the rats in the sewers of Kusra village, we are waiting for you and we will have no mercy. The day of revenge is coming. Two days later, a group of masked and armed Israeli settlers struck the village in what would be the deadliest attack by settlers in the West Bank since the Israel-Gaza war began three months ago. So that attack began with these settlers intentionally crashing into a car in the area and then shooting at the vehicle following the crash. That's how it started. This is about at about 1 p.m. local time. More than a dozen Palestinians fled north to take cover behind a large building and just basically get away from the gunfire that appeared to be coming from the direction of Esh Kodesh toward Kusra.

The mass settlers were firing mostly pistols and one M16, which is a popular military-style rifle. They left at about 1.30 p.m. after the shooting, after they shot at several residents. Now, based on the reporting, that did not lead to any deaths. But unfortunately, they didn't just simply leave after that shooting at 1.30. An Israeli official with knowledge of the October 11th incident said soldiers heard sounds of gunfire coming from the village and left the outpost. He said soldiers reported the incident and then saw friction, friction between settlers and Palestinians in the area. They called for other forces who came and separated the groups. And luckily they did that.

They separated the groups, but unfortunately it didn't end there. I saw on the security cameras, there were settlers around our home destroying cars and shooting at windows. We hid in the house and they tried to get in. And they shot and swore at anyone they saw. That's a statement from a Palestinian in the West Bank by the name of Awad Ode. And he's relevant to this story. As soon as we got 10 to 15 meters out of our home, they shot at my family and injured my daughter. And I got shot right after.

It was like an action movie. I didn't expect to come out alive. I've never been in a position like this. So in the end, there were three Palestinians who were killed because the settlers didn't simply disperse after the troops came in and separated the two groups at around 1.30 p.m. local time. They ended up coming back. And so I want to talk about the individuals who were killed. I want to name them and I want to talk about what happened after they were shot and killed. One of the Palestinians killed was a teenager, as I mentioned earlier, a 17-year-old

by the name of Sayyed Abu Soror. Abusur was shot in the back according to a photo and his medical records, which revealed that the bullet exited from the upper middle of the chest, causing bleeding and destroying the lungs. Another person who was killed by the settlers was a new father by the name of Muath Riyad Ode, 29-year-old. He's gone. Ode ran into the house to try to save Awad's six-year-old daughter, said a witness who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Muath was shot and later died at a hospital.

And then there was a third man, a 20-year-old by the name of Musa. Abdel Halim, Abu Rita. This individual was killed close by to the 17 year old who was shot and killed. Now again, Israeli troops did not forcibly intervene despite their obligation under international law. And Israeli law, by the way, to protect all residents of the West Bank, including Palestinians. Now listen, there had been skirmishes that we had reported on in the past, even prior to this war that made it abundantly clear that the IDF was doing little to protect Palestinians. But now it feels as though anything goes and there's no protection at all

for Palestinians living in the West Bank, which by the way, I think you know, but just in case you're unaware, the West Bank is obviously different from the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is unfortunately governed by Hamas. In the West Bank, you have the Palestinian Authority, which which actually had some diplomatic relations with the Israeli government, but it has become very clear that the Israeli government doesn't respect the Palestinian authority either. In fact, when it comes to what the fate of the Gaza Strip will be, who will govern the Gaza Strip after this war is over, Nanyahu has made clear that he has no interest in allowing the Palestinian authority to essentially govern that area, the Gaza Strip.

And so the bad faith nature of all of this and the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank who are not governed by Hamas, in my mind, makes it very clear that this current Israeli government really had no interest in allowing for Palestinians to live lives of dignity. And it's just frustrating to see it because again, you don't have the Hamas excuse in the West Bank. Now, they'll argue that there are Hamas cells within the West Bank, but Hamas has not been elected by the people living in the West Bank. They do not control the West Bank. So to justify some of the attacks on the West Bank by claiming that there are Hamas cells there, I think is ridiculous. You want to go after the Hamas cells, the alleged Hamas cells, by all means do it.

But the violence and the illegal settlements that have plagued the West Bank for many, many years, gives you a sense of just how much these people have been dealing with, even though they're, even though they've done nothing wrong, even though they have the right to live in those homes, even though the settlers have no right to build the illegal settlements that they've been building. Nonetheless, soldiers and police were photographed at the scene of the deaths only after the attack ended, even though troops stationed at nearby military outposts were within earshot of the gunfire and had views of an earlier attack by settlers, the visual evidence shows. And that earlier attack was the one that happened around 1 o'clock. They were separated

at 1.30 and then the settlers came back to engage in more violence. In practice, there has been a serious problem of implementing the law, said Ronnie Peli, who's a lawyer with the association for civil rights in Israel, who also reviewed the October 11th evidence. There's no doubt that the Israeli army should have stopped it. They should have detained the settlers until the police come and take them. And look, there were some consequences. There were some consequences for those engaged in this violence. And I want to give you a sense of what that consequence look like. So police said that following the three Palestinians getting shot and killed, a 22-year-old resident of Esh Kodesh was arrested on November 7th on suspicion of murder. The 22-year-old was held

for about 20 minutes of questioning and then released on a restraining order. A restraining order prohibiting him from going to two Palestinian villages and from contacting 22 individuals. No prison time for literally gunning down, slaughtering, killing three innocent people, three innocent people who are trying to protect a Palestinian family's home from getting attacked from those settlers. And the reality is that settlers have been emboldened to carry out this violence, and they've been emboldened by Netanyahu and the current far-right government that's in power in Israel right now.

In fact, I want to give you a very specific example of what Netanyahu has done to emboldened settler violence in the West Bank. Let's watch. Svi Sukhote is a member of Israel's parliament representing the far-right religious Zionist party. He's become a prominent voice in the movement to expand Israeli settlements. Sukkot first started making headlines more than a decade ago as a member of the Hilltop youth, young Israelis who would squat areas of the West Bank with the hope of claiming the land for eventual new settlements. In 2012, Israel's security agency accused him of leaving

covert and violent activity against Palestinians, and he was temporarily banned from entering the West Bank. But after October 7th, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appointed him to lead a committee handling security issues in the territory. He's in charge of security in the territory. The guy who doesn't believe that Palestinians have a right to be in the occupied West Bank. The guy who thinks it's okay for settlers to build the illegal settlements, to squat on Palestinian territory and Palestinian land. That's the guy that Netanyahu has allowed to take charge of security in the West Bank. This is obviously deeply, deeply immoral.

It is unfair to the Palestinian population living in the occupied West Bank, which should not be occupied in the first place. And to be quite frank, it's deeply unfair to the Israeli civilians who are being led by a government that is creating an environment in which these individuals are going to be less safe. Because these are the types of policies. This is the type of terror that Palestinians have been dealing with for so long that unfortunately breeds the type of extremism that leads to the kinds of attacks that Israeli civilians have unfortunately suffered. And so it's not fair for anyone involved. And it does not make for a safe environment

in the region. And when you look at policies that have failed time and time again, you would want to believe that maybe, just maybe, those in charge would recalibrate, would reconsider, would think about handling this conflict and this ongoing war in a way that actually leads to peace. But if you're going to brutalize a population of people, if you're going to trample over their rights and steal their land, land that is internationally recognized as a region that belongs to the Palestinian people,

I'm talking about the West Bank, then you're never going to have peace because that extremism will continue to reproduce, it'll continue to happen, and it's not right for the innocent civilians involved on both sides. It's incredibly frustrating to see that failed policies keep getting repeated, but here we are. And thank you to the Washington Post for actually investigating the story and looking into whether the IDF did what the IDF is supposed to do by law. Provide protection for the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank, knowing full well that they are met with violence by these extremists, these settlers. My new movie, The Naked Gun.

Liam Nissan. Buy your tickets now. I get a free chili dog. Chili dog, not included. The Naked Gun. Tickets on sale now. August 1st. All right.

Well, I wanted to also share an interview that happened recently on CNN. I thought it was a great interview, an enlightening interview. And I want to show this to you to also give you a sense of the diversity of opinion among Jewish individuals and yes, among Israelis. You do look at the polling and unfortunately the vast majority of Israelis are supportive of the current war on Gaza. But there are some voices who courageously speak out and Gideon Levy, a reporter for Heretz, happens to be one of them. By the time we will finish this interview, another base,

will be killed in Gaza. By the time that you will finish your show, there will be another two women killed in Gaza. How long can this last? Israel had the full right to go for this campaign, for this war, but there must be limits. And we cross them so long time ago. Israeli journalist Gideon Levy slammed the Netanyahu government

and the IDF's military operations in the Gaza Strip following Hamas' terrorist terrorism. terrorist attacks on October 7th. Now he writes a weekly column for Israeli newspaper Haretz and has actually won some human rights awards for reporting on the suffering of the Palestinian people. We're talking about a guy who is an Israeli and has no problem speaking out against the injustices that

he is noticing, seeing, and wanting to shed light on. So he sat down for an interview. with Christian al-Mampur on CNN, and he shares his concerns about the high civilian death toll in Gaza, and it is in fact backed up by the numbers. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Tuesday said that in the previous 24 hours, a total of 126 people had been killed and 241 injured. On most days, recently, the ministry has reported between 100 and 200 people killed. The ministry said the number killed by Israeli military operations since October 7th has risen to 23,210 with 59,167 people injured. And when you look at that death toll, it is true

that the Palestinian health ministry does not separate the Hamas militants from the civilian population. Unfortunately, you can't get any straight answers from the Israeli government in regard to how many Hamas militants are represented in that overall number. But I also want to remind you all that that overall number does not include Palestinians who remain trapped under the rubble thanks to the bombardments, the aerial bombardments that the IDF has been conducting on the Gaza Strip. So my point is the civilian death toll is likely much higher because these are individuals who have been trapped under the rubble and they're presumed to be dead considering

how long they've been trapped under the rubble. Now, Levy was then asked, you know, about the Alaksa Martyrs Hospital, basically receiving dozens of casualties from several parts of central Gaza due to heavy overnight airstrikes by the IDF. Let's take a look at what he had to say about that. There is the latest, and we have to say graphic video that's coming in from Gaza today, resulting from air strikes last night. The hospital at Al-Axa there in Gaza says

57 people were killed, nearly 70 injured, at least 10 of those were children. In your mind, having covered so many of these Israel-Gaza wars, what is the point? What is the purpose three months in of this, as you put it, very heavy death toll? What is the strategic point? I doubt very much if there is one.

First of all, everyone is paying it's his lip service. The Americans, the Israelis, they do their best. The Americans ask gently Israel to refrain from a killing civilians. But the outcome is very clear. It is a bloodbath and you cannot, you cannot ignore it. That answer that he gave really resonated with me because look guys, the truth of the The matter is, you know people in your personal life, you know Jewish Americans that are really struggling right now because they feel like they have a target on their backs.

They feel that some of the news coverage about what the Israeli government is carrying out and what the Israeli defense forces, what they're carrying out is leading to hateful thoughts and hateful treatment toward Jewish people. I don't want that, I don't want that. And I feel like I'm in this incredibly impossible, difficult place where I can't ignore these stories, I just can't. And so my heart breaks for Jewish Americans that feel like they're living in an increasingly difficult environment because they feel that, you know, their targets, that people are

directing hatred toward them. And I don't want that to happen. But then at the same time, you see what's happening to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank. And how are you supposed to ignore that? Jewish individuals are not responsible for the decisions that are being made by the Israeli government. I want to be clear about that. And any anti-Semitism, I wholeheartedly reject and condemn. So again, that last part where he's like, how do you pretend like you're not seeing it? And that's where I'm at. How do I pretend like this isn't happening? This is happening. And the reason why I care so,

deeply about it and why I believe others feel so deeply about it is because this is something that is wholly supported by the United States government. The United States government represents the American people on the world stage. And if we don't speak out against what's happening, I don't want anyone on the world stage to think that the American people are complicit because they're not complicit. Poll after poll indicates that anywhere between 65 to 71% of Americans want a ceasefire. The reason why President Joe Biden keeps getting protested during public appearances, including one protest while he was speaking at a South Carolina church, is because they want

a ceasefire. There is a disconnect between the desires and the demands of the American people, including Democratic voters, and what the Biden administration continues to provide cover for. It's deeply, deeply frustrating and the immoral nature of the aerial bombardments that have been carried out, the shelling that's been carried out, the high civilian death toll that's been carried out in the Gaza Strip is something that needs to be spoken out against. I want to just give you some more information, though, about the images that you saw of the Alaksa Martyr Hospital, martyrs hospital. The video shows people praying for the dead

who had been brought there from Der Al-Bala, Al-Maghazi, and Al-Nusarat, all areas of central Gaza where there has been heavy fighting and extensive airstrikes. Jamal Haim said that he lost his mother, three daughters and three grandchildren. One of his daughters was a 27-year-old by the name of Shema.

She had just graduated from a school to be a dentist. And he told the media that he only was able to find fragments of her body. And he also told CNN, quote, we were asleep in a shelter house in Dear Albalah. We had evacuated from Nusarat as we were told it's safe here. Suddenly at 11 at night, the house was struck. We don't know why. They struck the room that my daughter slept in. My mother was martyred, as well as my three daughters and three grandchildren.

Again, I don't know how people keep moving forward after suffering such tragic losses. And maybe this isn't something that most people do. I'm not in the heads and in the minds of most people, obviously. I can only speak for myself. But when you read stories like that, how could you not think about your loved ones? If one of my loved ones were killed in this way, I don't even, I don't know how I would be able to move forward after that. But three daughters, three grandchildren, your mother, all wiped out in one airstrike. How do you move forward?

And more importantly, how do you not grow resentful from all this death and destruction? This is the kind of stuff that breeds extremism. People clearly would want revenge after experiencing the tragic losses that these Palestinians have been experiencing, which is why this war and the way it's being conducted is so counterproductive. And it's not only unfair and unjust for the Palestinian people when you consider what's being bred right now, the extremism that's being bred right now, it's also unfair to the Israeli population. Now, what I found most interesting about this interview is what Levy had to say about meeting, coverage in Israel, and I want you guys to keep in mind how powerful propaganda is,

especially when it comes to things like this, when it comes to war, and just keep that in mind before you decide to judge or make generalizations about an entire population of people. Let's watch. The Israelis are the only people in the world right now who are not exposed at all to what's going on in Gaza. Nothing. We were always laughing at the Russian. TV covering the war in Ukraine. Ours is much worse because here it is voluntarily. Nobody dictates us not to show the suffer and the punishment of Gaza.

And Israelis are not exposed to it. But that's just, by the way, remark. There are goals, the prime minister had declared them, namely releasing the hostages and crashing Hamas. After three months, I can tell you we are not getting closer to both of them. I think about the releasing the hostages, which from my point of view, must be in first priority and they don't go together. I think that here we are going far and far.

We are much more distance now than a few weeks ago from releasing the hostages. I think he's absolutely right about how they're further away from the possibility of releasing those hostages. But more importantly, when you look at public opinion. polling in Israel, and you see that the majority of Israelis have co-signed to the IDF carrying out these military operations in this ongoing war, you have to consider the media environment that they're currently living in what they're exposed to and what they're not exposed to. Because the fact of the matter is, we see how this plays out in our context, in the United

States. If you're stuck in a filter bubble, you will be completely ignorant of a, whole different perspective pertaining to the exact same story. And if they're not seeing what the Palestinian people are currently suffering, the extent to which they're suffering, if they're not exposed to that information, they're not seeing those images, all they're really thinking about is what they suffered, understandably. And they're understandably terrified for their own safety. They don't want to experience another October 7th.

So, the reason why I cover stories like this is because for a long time in the United States, there seemed to be a bit of a corporate media blackout when it came to the plight of the Palestinian people. That has changed a little bit with this ongoing war. But we're gonna keep doing our jobs and we're gonna keep telling you the truth about what's happening on the ground there. But I also think it's important to avoid making generalizations about any specific population of people that includes the Israelis, that includes our Jewish brothers and sisters,

do not feed into the kind of hatred that we want to condemn. So we're going to take a break. When we come back, we've got more news for you, including some big updates on the 2024 presidential election. Don't miss it. We'll be right back. Well, we've got some pretty big GOP-related election news, so let's get right to it. I've always said that if there came a point in time in this race where I couldn't see a path to accomplishing that goal that I would get out. to me tonight that there isn't a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I'm suspending my campaign tonight for President of the United States. That's right, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has announced that he is dropping

out of the Republican primary race, and that's definitely understandable when you consider the fact that he never really did well in this primary election. He was really there, in my opinion, to be the critical voice among the Republicans toward Donald Trump. And now we're noticing that there is a shrinking field less than a week before the Iowa caucus takes place. Here's more from Chris Christie's announcement. I know, and I can see it from some of the faces here, that I'm disappointing

some people by doing this. People who believe in our message and believe in what we've been doing. I also know, though, it's the right thing for me to do. Because I want to promise you this, I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again. And that's more important than my own personal ambition. Listen, this is beside the point, and maybe I shouldn't comment on this, but I can't help it. That is the saddest looking group of people on the planet.

And I like my heart breaks for the lady on the bottom right hand corner who looks like she's about to break down. Like I want to give that, I want to give you a hug. Let's bake pies together. It's going to be okay. Let's hang in there. She looks like a sweet lady. I feel really bad for issues really distraught. But anyway, according to Project 538,

Christie ended his campaign with only 3.6% support among the GOP electorate. So what does his departure from the race mean now? Well, this could potentially boost Nikki Haley, who has also selectively, very selectively criticized Donald Trump. But she's been far more cautious. I mean, Chris Christie came in, guns blazing. I mean, that's why I feel like the whole purpose of him entering the race was to try to cut Trump down and it didn't work. It really didn't work.

It could have maybe worked if the other candidates were willing to engage in similar attacks, but everyone else is so terrified of him. But more importantly, terrified of his base. They're trying to attract his base. And so I do think that the MAGA movement is pretty dominant among Republican voters. And I think I see that playing out with how this primary election is going. So when you think of who that 3.6% of Republican voters are likely to go to now, I do think that Nikki Haley, who's more representative of the Chris Christie, you know, end of the Republican political spectrum, would attract those voters.

We'll see. Now, Haley and Christy have both overperformed, I mean, if you want to call it that, among self-described independence in polls ahead of New Hampshire's January 23rd, open primary. But that doesn't mean that this is definitely gonna help Haley, right? Or that he even wanted to help Nikki Haley. Christy has been resisting calls to drop out and make room for Haley to grow her support further in recent days, arguing that she was damaging her candidacy by pandering to different audiences and by refusing to rule out becoming Trump's running mate. But I honestly kind of disagree with Chris Christie because she's actually experiencing

a surge in the polls. So obviously pandering to whatever group happens to be right in front of her on any given day seems to have played out well for her. Now eventually I think that it's probably going to end up hurting her. And one thing that's been pretty clear to me, and this is basically anecdotal based on media figures on the right and what they've been saying about Haley, Magane into Haley. They look at her and they see the old guard of Republican politics. They see the neocons, they see the endless wars, they don't see the kind of populist rhetoric

that attracted them to someone like Donald Trump in the first place. So I do see Nikki Haley as someone who's trying to have her cake and eat it too. She does tend to pander to whatever audience happens to be right before her. And I don't think that she is ultimately going to get the GOP nomination, despite the fact that she's experiencing a surge in the polling right now. And remember, Donald Trump just started attacking her pretty viciously. And he did do a pretty good job dismantling Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis says refused to drop out.

He still thinks he's got a chance. He's going to play this out through the caucuses in Iowa because he thinks he's got a good chance in Iowa. We'll see, we'll see. But I do want to go back to Chris Christie because he was caught on a hot mic hot Mike before the live stream of his event. And he was bashing someone very specific. Let's watch.

People don't want to hear it, Wayne. They don't want to hear it. We know we're right, but they don't want to hear it. And there's, you know, we couldn't have been any clearer. We couldn't have been any more director, worked any harder. So, you know. Unless I forget she spent 68 million dollars. Yeah.

Well, when you give land to China and places like that. Yeah, that's what you get. Yeah, I mean, look, she's been 68 million so far, just on TV, spent 68 million so far, 59 million by DeSantis, and we spent 12. I mean, who's punching above their weight and who's getting a return on their investment, you know, and she's going to get smoked. And you and I both know it. She's not up to this. She's still 20 points behind Trump in New Hampshire, right? Yeah, oh, yeah.

And he's still going to carry out, right? Yes, always. I talk to, Desantis called me, petrified that I've. He's probably getting out after Iowa. DeSantis called you. I would have liked to hear a little more from that conversation, from that hot mic moment. How do you have a sensitive conversation like this and not really consider that you should maybe check to make sure you're not still mic? Anyway, but clearly he's got issues with the way Nikki Haley is carrying out her campaigning.

She's doing well right now. Again, it seems like right now the GOP primary is all about who's going to win second place, which is laughable because second place doesn't matter in the primary elections. What matters is who ultimately is the victor, who's the winner, who will end up being on the Republican ticket. And so far, Donald Trump's lead is so significant that even Nikki Haley, even the surge that she's experiencing right now doesn't even come close to, in my opinion, making the MAGA world concerned that he might not get the nomination.

And you know, you do have some on the left, on the Democratic side, thinking that, well, there is a possibility that the indictments could destroy Trump's candidacy. I wouldn't hang my hat on that either. But in terms of what Haley has done so far, you know, she has really taken a page out of the old GOP playbook. She's sucking up to the corporate donors. The corporate donors love her. They shifted away from Ron DeSantis to Nikki Haley as a result of her typical traditional neocon rhetoric.

And so it'll play well for her right now. It remains to be seen if it's going to lead to a continued surge in the polling. If I had to bet my money on it, unfortunately, I do think that the general election will come down to Donald Trump and Joe Biden, since he refuses to to allow for a primary, refuses to maybe reconsider running as an 81 year old man who's deeply unpopular. So buckle up. We've got one of the worst general elections to look forward to, if it is in fact the case that Donald Trump and Joe Biden end up being our only two options. All right, we got to take a break. And when we come back, I do want to do one more election-related

story because if you're worried about only having those two options, well, there is a corporate effort to give you a third option, and it won't be any better. So we've got that story and more coming up. Don't miss it. If you're concerned that the only two options that we have to look forward to in the general election include Donald Trump and Joe Biden, you're just wishing that there was another option. Well, there is a group that's looking to provide you another option, and maybe they're thinking about people like Charlemagne the God, but probably not. Let's watch.

I think President Biden historically has been a lack of, lack of a better word, an elected official. But you know, Donald Trump is the end of democracy, as we know. Every time, you know, there's a Republican candidate, people say, oh, it's the end of democracy, you know, you know, he's the anti-Christ. But this is one of those times where, you know, it really actually positively is true. Charlotte made the God expressed his frustrations with the two frontrunners for the presidential election, the 2024 presidential election, who, of course, include Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Now many Americans are right there with him. Many Americans feel the exact same way that Charlemagne feels.

They're not happy with Biden. Obviously, he's deeply unpopular when you take a look at his approval rating. But they don't want to vote for Donald Trump either. So this is why we're now hearing about a new super PAC. They've just announced that they're going to support a so-called unity ticket for the presidential race, but remarkably that mystery candidate and their running mate will probably be even less popular than Biden and Trump. And I'm gonna explain why in just a moment before we get to that, let's first watch

a little more of what Charlemagne had to say. It's not that I regret endorsing Joe Biden, it's just that, you know, I think that we all can get burned, you know, by politicians, because when I say endorsing, like, you know, I put my name and my reputation on the line, with my listeners. And when my listeners feel like he didn't deliver, they come back to me. And they say, hey, man, you're the one who told us to vote for Joe Biden. You're the one who told us to vote for Kamala Harris.

So I care about my listeners and what my listeners think. But I do want to say that, you know, I think President Biden historically has been a lack of, lack of a better word, elected official. But you know, Donald Trump is the end of democracy as we know it. So you'd vote for Biden again? I'm not saying either or. Donald Trump is the end of democracy as we know it. I don't mean, I don't know what to tell people.

And I know it sounds, when you say that now in 2024, you've heard it so much. Because every time, you know, there's a Republican candidate, people say, oh, it's the end of democracy, you know, he's the anti-Christ. But this is one of those times where, you know, it really actually positively is true. I know, I know, we get it every election cycle. This is the most consequential presidential election in history. This is the most important presidential election. Oh my God, if you don't vote the right way, if we don't elect the right person, our democracy as we know it will come to an end.

I know, I know. Look, just to respond to what Charlemagne had to say there about, you know, if I'm endorsing someone and that person ends up being an awful leader, well then my audience members come to me and they get mad at me for doing it. Listen, you guys are adults. You guys vote however you want to vote, okay? I'm an adult, you're an adult. I'm not going to judge you and you shouldn't judge me.

That's how it should play out. I don't control you. I can tell you what I think and you can respond to what I think in any way that you'd like. But I can't stand this whole environment, this whole culture of who are you voting for? And oh my God, you endorsed this person and you voted for that person. And they ended up being a massive steaming pile of crap. How could you? Well, I don't have predictive skills, neither does Charlemagne.

And quite frankly, in 2020, when people were being encouraged to vote for Biden, someone who I didn't vote for actually, I wrote in Bernie Sanders's name. What ends up happening is you forget that the whole reason why Biden was elected into office is because everyone thought he was the only candidate who could beat Trump. But no one was excited about him, no one was excited about Biden. And if you start your term knowing that the majority of people who voted for you weren't really excited for you in the first place, then you gotta show them the type of leadership that persuades them that you're actually a pretty damn good leader.

Okay, so putting that aside, let's get to the group that's looking to give you a third option. Okay, so look, the reason why many Americans are frustrated is because they feel the same way that Charlemagne the God does and apparently a new super pack called New Leaders 2024 is hoping to capitalize on that angst. So they just announced that they plan to throw their weight behind a new candidate. They didn't name a person, but here's what they wrote on their website. New Leaders 2024 is being formed to support the election of a no no labels unity ticket should one be named in the coming weeks. Most Americans clearly believe a a Biden versus Trump rematch fails to offer them a choice that fulfills the full promise

of a healthy democracy. The people are demanding another option. And if no labels sounds familiar to you, it's because no labels is something that we've talked about on the show in the past. We're gonna get back to that in just a moment. But here's a little more from their statement on their website. A unity ticket is the innovation our democracy needs in today's broken political dynamic. I don't know why democracy is, okay, anyway. Entrenched institutional interests will continue to howl in protest about a unity ticket, but these protests will be brought by the same partisan adherents that have stood by,

or worse, overseen the selection of their deeply flawed likely party nominees. Okay, so listen, I like the idea of working toward ensuring that Americans have another option. So it's not down to Donald Trump and Joe Biden and RFK Jr., who I think is a lunatic and I have no interest in. No, no, unfortunately in this case, this is really about pushing for a third option that is deeply, deeply, deeply involved in the corporate world of America, deeply influenced by the corporate world of America. So for starters, no labels is in fact a dark money organization that is funded by corporations and billionaires. Last year, for instance, Mother Jones had obtained a list of the 36 wealthy donors who

wrote checks to support the organization. This is back in 2022. And that roster really does include, I mean, the who's who of corporate interests, People from major companies like Lowe's. Lowe's Corporation has donated money to no labels. You also have Fleur, which is an engineering and construction giant. Abrey partners, a private equity firm. You've got Sale Point, a tech firm, and Fortress Investment Group.

So all these corporate interests have been backing no labels. And they've been doing so in order to protect their own corporate interests. So the idea that this organization is going to result in the kind of ticket that will attract American voters, I think is laughable because it would be the kind of ticket that's representative of the dysfunction and the greed that led to someone like Donald Trump in the first place. Think about what his campaign messaging was like in 2016. It was highly effective because he purported to give a damn about the economic frustrations that Americans had been suffering from, okay, the corporate greed that had led to their jobs

being outsourced, okay? The globalization that also led to their jobs being outsourced. That is what Donald Trump spoke to. We know that he wasn't legitimately concerned about those issues because the first thing that he, the only thing he accomplished in his term, really was a massive tax cut for the rich. And, you know, his supporters will also He also hang their head on the fact that he successfully nominated and confirmed three conservative Supreme Court justices. And I'll give them that, they're right. I mean, he did accomplish that.

But in terms of policies, he managed to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget by giving corporations and the wealthy a massive tax cut. And by the way, if you're middle class and you experienced a little bit of a tax cut as well, those are the tax cuts that are set to expire very soon. So I hope you enjoy. I hope you enjoyed them because they're gone.

Anyway, but let's get back to no labels and this new super PAC funding a potential third ticket here. Some of those donors, by the way, have poured money into the presidential campaigns of Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden as well. So the same players are involved, the same players who funded the very candidates that were annoyed by, frustrated by, want nothing to do with. But others have spent millions on Republican causes as well. Notable within this group is Michael Smith, the billionaire founder of natural gas behemoth, Freeport LNG.

He has donated more than $5.5 million to the Senate leadership fund, a super PAC tied to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. And we all know how popular Mitch McConnell is, not popular at all, very unpopular in fact. Lewis Bacon, billionaire CEO of hedge fund, more capital management gave $1 million, each to no labels and the Republican Party after donating the maximum allowable contribution to Kirsten Cinema.

The person who ran as a progressive, then became a moderate Democrat, and then during Biden's term, decided, no, I'm an independent because I really like corporate greed. Nelson Peltz, a major backer of former Republican President Donald Trump and a billionaire, The billionaire investor gave $900,000 to two no labels political action committees and also maxed out his donations to cinema.

So that already sounds bad, but are you ready for it to get even worse because it's about to Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia who recently said he would not seek re-election has suggested he's considering a presidential campaign and he is seen as a top potential candidate by some in no labels, not by the American people, not by the typical American voter, but by no labels. Because it seems like they really have their finger on the pulse in terms of what Americans are looking for. So we can't say for sure that Mansion will be their pick, but it does seem very certain that a corporate ghoul like him will end up as the no label's choice in this so-called unity ticket. And just last month, former Senator Joe Lieberman,

the founding chairman of the organization stated that there would be a lot of people in no labels who would be happy to give consideration to Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley is the one who proudly declares on national television that she is a union buster who proudly not only takes corporate money, but thinks that she absolutely should and it's nothing to be embarrassed about, nothing to be ashamed of. She caters to the corporate donors and does it proudly. So I guess they're thinking, look, if Nikki Haley isn't going to get the GOP nomination, then we need to find a third option, a so-called unity ticket.

And it's going to have that facade of bipartisanship. But whoever that candidate is and whoever they're running mate is, they're very similar in the most important area. And that area is look out for corporate interests to the detriment of the country and the American people. So unfortunately, there ain't anything to get excited about with this unity ticket that might or might not happen. At the end of the day, it's just another effort for corporations and corporate interest to get the representation they're looking for in the executive branch. All right, we got to take a break. When we come back,

John Ida Rollo will join me for the second hour, and it's going to be fantastic. You don't want to miss that, do you? So don't. I'll see you there.