The Young Turks - Honored To Lose

Episode Date: September 19, 2024

Walkie-talkie explosions reported in Lebanon after deadly pager attack. Harris targets digital ads spotlighting her words about ""human suffering in Gaza."" A San Francisco department head signed off on multiple six-figure contracts directed to a nonprofit led by a man with whom she shared a home address and car. The Teamsters union will not endorse a presidential candidate in 2024." HOST: Ana Kasparian (@anakasparian) SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ https://www.youtube.com/user/theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER: ☞ https://www.twitter.com/theyoungturks INSTAGRAM: ☞ https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK: ☞ https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕 Merch: https://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Watchlist https://www.youtube.com/watchlisttyt Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey https://www.youtube.com/indisputabletyt The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. I'm so upset. Oh my God. Let's see how Earth responds to that. Bega! Live from the Polymarket Studio in L.A. It's the Young Turks.

Welcome to TYTYT. host Anna Kasparian, and we've got a terrific show ahead for you today. We're going to give you an update on the pagers exploding in Lebanon. It appears that Israel has taken some responsibility for the attacks, which by the way, continue to play out today. So I'll give you those details as well. Also, some dirty political tricks are taking place in Detroit, specifically between the two presidential campaigns, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, they have launched digital ad campaigns in order to paint Kamala Harris in a very specific way. And it's just, it's an incredible story that has to do with pandering, policy.

It's an amazing topic. Like, you do not want to miss that. So we'll get us that in the first hour. We're also going to talk about the drama that has been unfolding with the Teamsters. They have now put out their endorsement for the presidential election. We'll get into those details in just a bit. And in the second hour, as always, John Iderola will be joining me to talk about the rest of the news of the day. But as always, just want to encourage you all to like and share the stream if you're watching us live on YouTube.

It's a free and easy way to help support the show and spread our message. You can also become a member and help keep TYT independent from corporate influence. We'd rather be funded by our members, by our viewers, as opposed to corporate advertisers and the like. All right. Well, without further ado, let's get to our first story. Several people have been killed and many more injured in fresh explosions of communication devices. This time, walkie talkies used by the Hezbollah militant group exploded, including near a funeral for some of the 12 people who were killed Tuesday when thousands of pagers exploded. The Iran-backed militant group had been using the devices in hopes of avoiding Israeli surveillance of their mobile phones.

Security sources claim Israel is responsible for these sophisticated attacks that appear to have been months in the making. Well, you heard that right. There has now been a new round of explosions that has killed at least 20 people and injured at least 450 just one day after thousands. were injured by pagers exploding across Lebanon. Now, Israel has declined to say whether it was responsible. However, considering the fact that even American officials acknowledged that Israel's responsible for this and yesterday's attacks, it seems likely that Israel is actually behind this. And so we're going to dive into that in just a moment.

But Hezbollah is promising to take revenge. And this is an escalation. This is definitely the antithesis of moving toward a ceasefire agreement with Hamas as it pertains to the ongoing war in Gaza. This is a bit of a disaster because it could go in a direction that leads to a broader regional war that the United States would be dragged into. Now before we get to some other disastrous developments, here's what we do know about today's attack. Rather than pagers, as you heard in the video earlier, walkie-talkies were detonated today. The walkie-talkies are less widely used than the pagers that blew up on Tuesday, as they had only been distributed among people organizing crowds, such as funerals and marches, the source said. Now, Lebanese media said that some of the devices were branded as ICOM, a company that actually sells radio communications, including at least one ICOMV-82, which is a handheld transceivable.

that is pictured right here. So that's what it looks like. Lebanon's Red Cross said that it had deployed 30 ambulances across the country in response to these walkie-talkies exploding. Meanwhile, the country's civil defense force said teams were working to put out fires inside homes, cars, and shops that were ignited by the blast. So as you can imagine, given the various areas in which these walkie talkies exploded, much like what happened with the pagers, it wasn't just Hezbollah militants who were hurt by this or killed by this. Some of the fatalities included literal children, but Israel doesn't really care too much about that. So I'm just letting you guys know, I'm letting the people know that it wasn't just Hezbollah

militants that were impacted by these explosions. Now, the Associated Press reported that its own journalists were actually in Beirut at a funeral for four people killed yesterday by exploding pagers, including a child, including a child, when they heard multiple explosions at the site. So an Associated Press photographer in the city of Saigon also saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them. and a girl was hurt in the south when a solar energy system blew up, according to the state news agency. And as mentioned, this actually comes after yesterday's attack, which now has a higher death toll from when we reported it yesterday. The current death toll from yesterday's attack is now 12 people, as opposed to nine people. The explosions were hypothetically meant to target Hezbollah members, but again, just want to reiterate, it wasn't just Hezbollah.

members who were suffering the consequences of this attack. Hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the pager happened to be in homes, cars, at grocery stores, and in cafes, often with family or bystanders nearby. Many of the casualties were not Hezbollah fighters, but members of the group's extensive civilian operations, mainly serving Lebanon's Shiite community. At least two health workers were among the victims. So again, this is definitely an escalation. This is essentially Netanyahu's way of letting the United States know that they are not

reining him in. He is not listening to them. He is uninterested in a ceasefire agreement and is hell bent on continuing these types of provocative attacks in sovereign countries in order to ensure that there will be a broader war in the Middle East. And he benefits from that. In his mind, he would benefit from that because he would no longer have to worry about having to step aside. The people of Israel do not favor him. They do not like him. There have been mass protests against him. He doesn't want to face prosecution for the corruption charges that he's dealing with. And that's exactly

what he'd have to deal with if the war ends and he's no longer prime minister. He wants to stay in power and he's going to do whatever it takes to stay in power. And the most infuriating part about all of this is the current Democratic administration is enabling him to do what he's doing. There is no talk about using the weapons that we send to Israel, the weapons we fund for Israel as leverage to reign Netanyahu in. So Netanyahu is going to keep doing what he's doing. So there's more. Let's get to, you know, the timing here, because we're all. also learning the reason for Israel's timing. Apparently, Israel launched the Tuesday pager attack after it believed the capability had

been discovered by Hezbollah, according to an Israeli source familiar with national security. The decision was made to explode them before word spread and everyone got rid of their pagers, the source said. It was a use it or lose it moment, the source added. You know, super flippant, nonchalant attitude toward the possibility of civilian casualties. But are you really surprised? I mean, I'm certainly not surprised by any of this. So after yesterday's attack, even a former Mossad member agreed that this was a clear escalation

of war on Israel's part. Let's take a look. Seema Shine is ex-head of research at Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency. It's a warning. It could be also, of course, if Israel did it, it has to take into account that Hezbollah will retaliate, and we are escalating to a kind of a war. Short, long, I don't know about the war. Well, Hezbollah is promising to retaliate. I mean, look, every response so far, especially from Iran, has been pretty measured.

After, you know, Israel conducts military operations in Iran, another sovereign country. I mean, Iran, they have the military capacity to cause real harm to Israel. But they've decided to be measured because it's very clear that they, They do not want a broader war. They don't want a regional war. Netanyahu really has two options here. Option number one would be to agree to a ceasefire deal. Hezbollah stops attacking Israel.

The reason why Hezbollah is attacking Israel is because of what Israel is doing in Gaza. But Netanyahu doesn't want a ceasefire deal. He doesn't care for a ceasefire deal. He has served as an obstacle to a ceasefire deal. Even when Hamas gave up the condition of a permanent ceasefire and said, okay, fine, we'll agree to a temporary ceasefire, Netanyahu moved the goalpost and said, now I don't agree to the ceasefire.

I want to continue controlling the Philadelphia corridor. At that point, Hamas was out. So Netanyahu doesn't want a ceasefire, that's clear. The other option is what he's doing right now, which is intentionally pushing for a broader war. So let's get to what Hezbollah is saying they're going to do in response to the recent attacks. Hezbollah said Wednesday that it would continue its military operations against Israel

to support Gaza after the unprecedented attack on the grounds communications network caused thousands of electric pagers to explode across the country. As well as attacks against Israel, which started in October in support of its ally Hamas and Gaza, were separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday, Hezbollah said in a statement today, Wednesday. This is another reckoning that will come, it added. Also, Israeli commanders said the troops near the Lebanese border were at peak readiness. So that's reassuring.

Speaking to Israeli troops, Israeli defense minister Yoav Galant said the following. Quote, we are at the start of a new phase in the war. It requires courage, determination, and perseverance. Now, what it requires is U.S. weapons. And unfortunately, we have two separate, dominant political parties that are all too willing to enable all of this. But I'll continue. He also made no mention of the explosions of electric devices, but praise the work of Israel's army and security agencies, saying the results are very impressive.

Now, how has the United States responded to this? Pathetically, as you might expect. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says that the U.S. knew nothing about these attacks beforehand and expressed frustration over the fact that Israel has done this, hates the fact that things are being escalated. How could Israel do this? How could Israel escalate things? We really don't want a broader regional war.

Really, though? Like, are people really going to believe that when it comes to Anthony, Blinken. Like the guy who immediately traveled to the UK after Israeli snipers killed a U.S. citizen in the West Bank and demanded that they lift any weapons pauses for Israel. Like he wants to ensure Israel gets more weapons, okay, after they killed an American citizen in the West Bank. But no, no, no, he is very upset. He is very, very upset. Yesterday, after the first wave of pager attacks, he spoke to reporters in Cairo, where he, he said, he's participating in ceasefire negotiations. Let's watch.

Broadly speaking, we've been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we're trying to resolve in Gaza to see it spread to other fronts. It's clearly not in the interest of anyone involved to see that happen. And that's why again, it's imperative that all parties refrain from any actions that could escalate the conflict. We're focused on getting this ceasefire over the finish line. Again, it's imperative that everyone avoid taking steps that could further escalate or spread the conflict. Yeah, none of that is true. I just want to be clear about that. Like, I'm not even entertaining the possibility that Anthony Blinken is working

tirelessly to secure a ceasefire agreement. Okay, obviously what the U.S. has been doing, hasn't been working, and it's because there are no real consequences for Israel's actions. So if the U.S. is going to continue supplying the weapons, if the U.S. is going to bully other foreign countries, other sovereign countries to keep providing additional weapons to Israel, Israel's going to do what Israel wants to do. I mean, why would they act differently? It makes no sense at all. He also said that time and time again, when the U.S. and other international mediators believe themselves to be making progress in a ceasefire deal for Israel's and Hamas's war in Gaza, we've seen an event that makes the progress more difficult, might derail it.

Yeah. So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to do the same thing you've been doing? And if the answer is yes, you don't actually want a ceasefire deal. You want to use fire deal. You want to encourage the escalation that will lead to a broader war in the Middle East. Which by the way, I'm sure the military contractors and weapons manufacturers are real excited about lots of profits to be made, right? On the backs of US taxpayers, of course. And don't worry, luckily it seems like Israeli officials are taking this whole situation that could lead to a massive regional war real seriously.

So what happened? Officially, we do not know. As you said, Hezbole blamed Israel. I asked an Israeli official about that. The only response I got was an emoji of a shrugged shoulders. So that's what Israel is saying, nothing. That is what our government is enabling, everyone. Okay, I mean, escalation of a broader war, which could lead to the US going to war with Iran, by the way, which would be a complete nutter disaster. You would need boots on the ground if that happens. We are squandering precious American resources in the form of U.S. taxpayer money on a country that is acting belligerently and killing civilians with impunity. And by the way, at the end, do you think this makes Israel safer? Israel's going to be right in the middle

of this broader regional war? I mean, will the Iron Dome withstand the attacks that Israeli civilians might have to be concerned about now? Netanyahu and the current Israeli government doesn't care about Israeli civilians. They certainly don't care about Palestinian civilians or Lebanese civilians. All that government cares about right now, especially the head of that government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is power and behaving the way that they've been behaving. They're going to keep doing it. And it is infuriating that it doesn't even matter if you have a Democrat in the executive branch or a Republican in the executive branch. Because of the way our politics work, because of the fact that we have bribery baked into our political

system where, you know, interest groups representing foreign countries can literally legally bribe our politicians to do what we're seeing right now. That is, that is why we have no choice. Democrat, Republican, we're going to have the same outcome no matter what. And that makes people feel incredibly powerless. By the way, you think Israel doesn't know? The Israeli government doesn't know that that's how our political system works. The reason why they're behaving the way they're behaving is because they know they can with impunity.

And that is going to be the case until we actually do something about the root of the problem, which is money in politics, which is the impact of lobbying groups like APAC, for instance. So I feel terrified for the men and women in our armed forces, because if I were to make a prediction right now, I would predict that there is a high likelihood that some of them will be shipped abroad to fight a war that they shouldn't be fighting. All because Netanyahu would rather escalate this rather than find diplomatic solutions to, you know, bring the temperature down and save human lives. That's what we're dealing with. All right, we've got to take a break. When we come back, we'll talk a little bit about these tricky-paziki ad campaigns that are happening in Detroit.

Super interesting. I'm going to break it all down. You don't want to miss it. We'll be right back. Welcome back to TYT. I'm Anna Casparian. And thank you to all of our viewers, including our members, J-smart 90 writes in and says, looking forward to this solo hour, the live show has been making my 45-minute commute home from work both better and worse. I totally feel you on that. I love my TYT host, but the news continues to be depressing, a depressing roller coaster.

I mean, I think you guys have probably picked up on how demoralized I've been lately. But I'm right there with you. At least we're feeling what we're feeling together, right? And getting informed while doing it. So without further ado, let's get to our next story. And this one has to do with the presidential election and the ongoing war in Gaza. I will not be silent about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians. Our common humanity compels us to act.

Wow, allegedly Kamala Harris is extremely concerned about human suffering in Gaza. At least, that's what her latest digital ad campaign in Detroit is trying to communicate. to the large Arab and Muslim community there. However, as we all know, talk is cheap and she knows her campaign coffers will take a hit if she actually pursues any real action in reining in or holding Israel accountable. Kamala has also been saying different things to different audiences when it comes to this particular issue, U.S. foreign policy toward Israel. But look, before we dive into all of that, more on why she's.

launching this ad campaign in the first place, because that's an interesting, juicy part of this story. It turns out that it's a direct response to digital ads. Republicans are running in the area, which happened to paint Kamala Harris as an unwavering supporter of Israel. Vice President Harris has chosen a side for right side. Harris has made herself clear. She stands with Israel and the Jewish people. She has again and again. She understands the unbreakable bond between the U.S. and Israel. So when Netanyahu came to D.C., Harris hosted the prime minister at the White House. And when supporters of a free Palestine stood up for Gaza, Harris put them in their place.

And supporters of free Palestine, they hate her. But as Kamala Harris gets it. We can trust she'll always support Israel. Okay, so that ad was paid for by the future coalition pack, whose treasurer is Republican operative Ray Zaborny. Democrats in Michigan are understandably incensed by this, calling the Republican ad campaign against Kamala a dirty trick. One Democratic operative told Huff Post that clearly this ad is designed to get low information and low engagement Arab American and left-leaning voters to oppose Harris, a classic rat-effing

operation by a PAC that is helping a former president that uses Palestinian as a slur. I mean, the Republican ad is actually pretty accurate in how they're depicting Kamala Harris and what her real views are. I mean, look, this, the incident, by the way, that they point to in the ad, like the one where they're saying that, you know, she put Palestinian supporters in their place. What they're specifically referring to is that rally in Michigan, where she actually did shut down a group of pro-Palestinian protesters. And she did it in not the most tactful way. Let's watch. He intends to surrender our fight against the climate crisis and he intends to end the Affordable

Care Act. You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking. Thank you. But don't get it twisted, the angry Democratic operative who spoke to Huffpost is right that a Republican administration led by Trump honestly wouldn't be any friendlier to Palestinians, which makes this situation feel so hopeless. Trump gave Israel all sorts of presies during his first term, including the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The Trump administration also moved the U.S. Embassy there. Money influences Trump's decision making as well. For example, Miriam Adelson, one of Trump's biggest campaign donors, has committed to giving Trump $100 million during this election cycle as long as he

allows Israel to annex the West Bank, which they appear to already be doing as we speak. Adelson honestly could have saved her money. Because when it comes to Democrat, Republicans, there's really no difference in how they would respond to Israel. That's a fact. But let's get back to Kamala, who was right about one thing that she said in her ad. It's undeniable that there's been a great deal of human suffering among Palestinians and Gaza. In fact, Gaza's health ministry has now identified 34,34,34 out of the 41,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks in the territory, complete with names, ages, gender, and ID numbers. And here's what they found. Among those dead, it includes 11,355 children, 2,955 people aged 60 or older,

and 6,297 women. So of those individuals who have been identified, that's 20,000. 6,607 children, women, and elderly people. In other words, if you just do the math, over 60% of those killed and identified are either women, children, or the elderly. Obviously, obviously, there are also many civilian men of fighting age who have been killed, but Israel identifies all fighting age men as militants, even if they aren't. Israel, in fact, claims it has killed 17,000 Hamas militants without providing evidence. It does not provide an estimate of civilians killed in Gaza, and I think we all know why that is. Now, let's break the numbers down even further.

Of the document's 649 pages, more than 100 are filled with the names of victims under 10 years old. And the first adult names do not appear until page 215. The identified people include 169 babies born after the Hamas attacks of October 7th that began the war and a man born in 1922. Because of the high civilian death toll in Gaza, Arab and Muslim Americans have completely soured on Biden, who has shown unconditional support for Israel. But will Kamala Harris be any different? Look, we can actually listen closely to what she said recently while speaking before the National Association of Black Journalists. Is there a specific policy change that you as president of the United States would say you

would do that would help this along? Because, you know, you've gotten a lot of credit for emphasizing the humanity of Palestinians. But what I often hear from folks is that there's no policy change that would, that either you or the president, President Biden have gone and said they would do. Is there a specific policy change as president that you would do in our helping of Israel? We need to get this deal done. And we need to get it done immediately. And that is my position.

And that is my policy. We need to get this deal done. But in the way that we send weapons, in the way that we interact as their ally, are there specific policy changes? Well, Eugene, for example, one of the things that we have done that I am entirely supportive of is the pause that we've put on the 2000. pound bombs. Yeah, well, according to Reuters, between October 7th of last year and June 28th of this year, the Biden administration has transferred at least 14,000 of the MK 84, 2,000 pound bombs,

6,500, 500 pound bombs, 3,000 hellfire, precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker buster bombs, 2,600 airdrop small diameter bombs, and other munitions. The totals suggest there has been no significant drop-off in U.S. military support for its ally, despite international calls to limit weapon supplies and a recent administration decision to pause a shipment of powerful bombs. I mean, did the pause on the 2,000-pound bombs slow Israel down at all? We clearly know. And luckily, Kamala was asked a follow-up question at this event. Let's take a look at that.

But what do you say to those that say that's not enough, that stopping the 2,000 pound bombs, the one time wasn't enough that this administration, your possibly administration, has to do more? Well, we are doing the work of putting the pressure on all parties involved to get the deal done. But let me be very clear also. I support Israel's ability to defend itself, and I support the need for Palestinians to have dignity,

self-determination, and security as we move forward and get a two-state deal done. But right now, the thing we need to get done is this hostage deal and the ceasefire deal. We need a ceasefire. We need the hostage deal. Yeah, look, I think it's pretty clear that Kamala doesn't really plan to change US foreign policy toward Israel. That is the same garbage that we've heard from Biden and Anthony Blinken. And look, it's honestly, in my opinion, the direction she's going to go in regardless of what her Detroit ad buy is trying to message to Arab and Muslim American voters. In fact, even Huffpo admits that, writing that Harris has not broken with Biden's approach,

even if reports indicate she would be willing to take a harder line on Israel and its right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So look, I just, I think we should just see this for what it really is. You have two dominant political parties who are completely beholden to the moneyed interests that want them to support Israel regardless of what Israel does. And that is exactly what I think Kamala Harris is going to do. There has been no real indication that she plans on changing gears, switching things up, and actually using the weapons that we've been funding for Israel as leverage to rein in their military operations and Netanyahu's behavior.

Not just in Gaza, but also now in Lebanon and other countries in the area. which he has had no problem bombing when he feels that it's appropriate to do so. It is incredible that we're not currently in a regional war. And, you know, one of our members wrote in and said, you know, you should stop saying that Israel is going to end up dragging the U.S. into a broader regional war because the U.S. government probably wants it. And you know what? Their actions make that clear.

You're right. I mean, if they really wanted to prevent a regional war, if they really wanted to rein in, the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, yeah, they would use the weapons as leverage, but they're unwilling to do that. So nothing will change. What we've heard from Kamala Harris is what we've already heard from Anthony Blinken and from Joe Biden. There really hasn't been a change in policy.

Maybe there's a little more emphasis on how she might feel bad about Palestinian civilians dying. But again, talk is real cheap. And unless there's specific policy differences that she wants to highlight, then I'm not going to believe for a second that she's going to be better toward Palestinian civilians or on U.S. foreign policy than what we've gotten from the Biden administration so far. All right, let's change gears entirely. I wanted to talk a little bit about a story that might seem local, but it's actually impacting other states across the country. It's a model that I think is a failed model that I want to move away from ASAP.

Is your administration doing enough to determine whether the money that's being plowed into homelessness is being, We have spent 24 billion taxpayer dollars in the last five years. During that same time frame, we have seen a 32% increase in our homeless population. Do you worry? I'm curious, do you worry that the appetite is souring among the public for spending more given the lack of progress that's happening? Speak for everyone in California, but it's certainly souring with me. A statewide audit earlier this year found that the $24 billion allocated to combat homelessness in California was unaccounted for, while the state saw an explosion in the number of people living on the streets. The California State Auditor's Office found that the California Interagency Council

on Homelessness, created in 2016 to oversee the state's implementation of programs dedicated to the worsening crisis, has not ensured the accuracy of the information. in a state data system and has not evaluated homelessness program's success, according to the state auditor. But the outcomes of these programs have been pretty clear. Homelessness grew 6% in 2023 from the year prior to more than 180,000 people, according to federal point in time data. In fact, since 2013, homelessness has grown in California by 53%.

Now, if that isn't infuriating enough, the state might be gearing up to extract more cash from taxpayers who consistently say in polling that the homelessness crisis is their top concern. A recent analysis by Los Angeles city officials urges local, state, and federal governments to more than double their spending to tackle the problem. Los Angeles alone is being advised to dedicate a whopping 20.4 billion. billion dollars over the next decade to produce 36,000 permanent housing units for homeless residents with chronic health needs and build or subsidize 25,000 additional apartments for very low income residents. The proposal assumes the city maintains nearly 17,000 beds in shelters

and other interim housing locations through 2029 before ramping down. Now officials claim that if this funding is implemented, they project homelessness to decline annually before reaching what's known as functionally zero by the end of 2032. Now, Californians, in my opinion, should fight this effort, and they should do so aggressively, because one thing is clear, the state has done nothing to protect citizens from having their money mismanaged and misused by the very nonprofits who claim to, want to help. One of the latest scandals involves a Santa Monica, California-based homeless housing and services nonprofit called Step Up on 2nd Street, which actually gave Governor Gavin

Newsom the idea of converting old hotels into apartment units for the unhoused. Step Up teamed up with a for-profit company called Shangri-La or Shangri-La Industries and pulled in more than $114 million in state grants to convert seven state motels into apartments. But things didn't play out that well. They played out a little differently. According to the Los Angeles Times, while Step Up and its partner lined up business elsewhere, the seven projects in California fell into debt. Instead of creating hundreds of badly needed apartments, the properties went into foreclosure and were taken over by lenders. or remain empty and unfinished.

The foreclosures were actually the result of private loans that Shangri-law took out in addition to the state grants. For example, in Ventura County, Shangri-La received $26.7 million in home key funds to convert a 78-room motel in Thousand Oaks, state records show. That was supposed to cover the purchase, renovation, and some operating costs. However, according to property records, Shangri-La then borrowed more than $10 million for the project from private lenders.

The company then defaulted on those loans. One of the lenders, Qualfax, foreclosed and took ownership of the property in March. So, like, that project remains incomplete, and it is completely unknown if the former Quality Inn and Suites will ever be converted into housing. What we also don't know is where the nearly $27 million in state funds, that's taxpayer money, granted for this project went. Where did it go? This hasn't just been an issue in California, and there seems to be some shady behavior in other states as well. Like in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where Step Up and Shangri-La backed out of a motel conversion

last November. Less than two months later, California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, sued both Step Up and Shangri Law in civil court over their home key projects. The complaint alleged fraud, breach of contract, and demanded the return of more than $114 million in grants. In response, in a response filed on September 9th, attorneys for Step Up denied the allegations and pointed a finger back at state officials for creating the situation as well as other defendants. Oh yeah, California definitely created the situation by deciding to take our money and hand it over to these non-profits with zero oversight. But there are some serious allegations floating around in court.

In a lawsuit pending in Los Angeles Superior Court, Shangri Law has accused its former CFO, Cody Holmes, of embezzling housing money and spending it on personal extravagances, including tickets to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, jewelry, and rents. rent for a Beverly Hills mansion. Step up on Second's president, Todd Lipka, is also playing dumb and says that he had no idea about Shangri-Law's defaults until Bonta sued both companies. Yeah, I'm personally not buying it. And honestly, others who used to work with Step Up, that's the nonprofit, are validating my concerns. According to multiple people who have either worked closely for Step-Up, Lipka also

appear to enjoy the high-flying lifestyle of Shangri-Law executives like CEO Andrew Myers, a one-time NFL player who sometimes flew private jets out to out-of-town engagements. Todd got high off flying in Andy's private jets and one insider who worked closely with Lipka. Turns out that after partnering with Shangri-Law, after taking all that money from our state government, Lipka went from driving a normal modest car to sporting a Mercedes AMG. Later, he traded it in for a BMW 8 series, and that's according to former employees. But Lipka brushed off those criticisms by saying that, look, I have a monthly car allowance of about $1,350. Yeah, that's a pretty massive car allowance when the nonprofit was running into money problems.

Bankruptcy court filings show step up as Shangri Law for a cash infusion in late 2022. The nonprofit agreed to sell its share of any future profits from the home key projects to Shangri Law for $2.7 million. Now, Shangri Law's attorneys allege that the payments came from funds intended for a housing project. But Lipka says he didn't know that that was the case and would not have approved the transaction if he had. Right. But it gets worse. It really does because apparently there's a Boston-based nonprofit that also benefited from the very state grants that were allocated to step up called

the American Roundtable to abolish homelessness or art. Philip Menjano and his Boston-based nonprofit would be paid for his advocacy on certain homekey projects up to a total of 100,000, thousand dollars per property. Now, Manjano denies that Lipka was able to pay him for his consulting services, which he described as helping with the broad strategy of project room key. Can we just pause, right? Like, what is the broad strategy? I thought we knew what the strategy was. The strategy is you take $114 million in state grants to convert old motels into apartment units. What strategy? What consulting is necessary for this? Total BS. Now, a tax filing for the fiscal year ending in December 2022 shows that Art actually did get paid. Art received $226,500 from Step Up. It also shows

that Lipka joined Art's board of directors that year and received $149,000 in the form of a loan from art for program service venture receivables, whatever the hell that is. Now, Manjano and Lipka each said in emails that the loan was actually $149,000 that Step Up still owes Manjano for his earlier work on the Homekey projects. Unfortunately, Step Up isn't the only housing nonprofit that's been embroiled in scandal in recent years or months. Last April, an audit found that the San Francisco nonprofit Homerise was careless and irresponsible with taxpayer money. Homerise operates almost a third of city funded units that serve formally unhoused people, some 1,500 units across 19 properties financed by

$200 million in public grants and loans. KQED notes that the audit found widespread financial mismanagement fueled in part by high turnover among its senior staff and high vacancy rates at its properties. Let's pause right there. High vacancy rates. Why do you have high rate vacancy rates when the whole purpose of the nonprofit is to house the homeless? Maybe they're not really serious about housing the homeless. Maybe they're more serious about extracting state grants for other purposes. The nonprofit spent money on fundraising, staff bonuses. lunches and gifts for staff. The expenses reviewed showed unallowable, imprudent, or questionable spending that did not meet the intent of the city's grant agreement. Hmm. Homerise even held

meetings to figure out how their corporate expenses could be covered with city grant funds that remained at the end of the year. They also spent lavishly on promotions and bonuses. One salary increased by more than $87,000 in nine months. That's a 74% increase. And while their only mission was to house the unhoused, Homerise lost about $6.3 million because of vacancies during the four-year audit period. Most properties had vacancies for a vacancy rate of 14.6%. And despite the insane amount of cash they received,

in grants, rent payments to the building owners were either late or just unpaid altogether. More than $1.7 million in rent was more than 90 days late and remained unpaid. Yeah, so there hasn't really been a robust response from California when it comes to these non-profit scammers. And until there is, voters should reject any effort to shake us down for more cash, because if recent history taught us anything, it's that that money ain't going to the homeless. We need a real plan with real oversight that goes farther than the failed housing first agenda. And yes, it's a failed agenda that's been propagated by the very nonprofits that have been scamming us out of our hard-earned money.

We need inpatient mental health facilities for those suffering from severe mental health problems. We need to fund rehabilitation programs rather than just relying on some of these nonprofits to hand out needles and crack pipes in the name of harm reduction. Obviously, that's not working. The overdose deaths have exploded. And yes, we need to build housing, but not through partnerships with newly formed organizations that get to do as they please with our hard-earned money. We need a better plan, and right now I'm not seeing it.

Until we see a better plan, I don't want to hear any talk. about us spending another $20 billion on an issue that this state has severely mismanaged. We got to take a break. When we come back, we've got more news for you, including who the Teamsters have decided to endorse in the presidential election. All right, let's get right to our next story. Any reaction to the Teamsters decision not to endorse? No, it's a great honor. They're not going to endorse the Democrats.

That's a big thing. And this is the first time in, I guess, 50, 60 years that's happened. Democrats automatically have the Teamsters. They took a vote and I guess I was at 60 percent or more. And that's a great honor. I mean, it's really, I've had a lot of Teamsters work for me, a lot of the concrete trucks and built all these buildings that you see in New York City, the Teamsters. Never did I think I'd see the day where an American politician, a candidate for president,

would say that it is a great honor that a union didn't endorse him, but also didn't endorse the Democrat. So in this case, we're talking about the Teamsters Union, and they have decided we're just not going to endorse either candidate. And I think that has a lot to do with where the actual members stand on this presidential race. You might be surprised by it. I personally am not. According to a survey or two survey data collected and released by the union on Wednesday,

close to 60% of members who participated in the electronic poll support Trump, while 34% back the vice president, Kamala Harris. Moreover, another survey, which was conducted via phone, found Trump leading Harris again with union members by 58% to Kamala Harris is 31%. Now, this news comes after an apparently tense conversation. And meeting between the Teamsters president, Sean O'Brien, this was a meeting that happened earlier this week. Now, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien had asked to have two speaking slots, one at the RNC, one at

the DNC. I'm sure you all remember, he did speak at the RNC. I thought his speech at the RNC was fantastic. People got mad at me for saying that. It is what it is. It was a great speech. He did not speak at the DNC, even though he wanted to. He didn't get an invite.

Now, Sean Fain, who's the president of the United Auto Workers, did give a speech. So I'm glad that that happened. But, you know, Sean O'Brien, of course, did not speak at the DNC. Now, John Palmer, a Teamsters executive board member and vice president at large, said, the meeting had lasted a little more than an hour. He praised Harris by paring questions on the role President Biden played in averting a rail strike in late 2022 and the ways the White House could have been more helpful in a Teamsters dispute last summer with United Parcel Service. Okay, so I want to pause right there.

Biden stepping in to prevent the rail workers from striking clearly had some political consequences here. And we updated that story by saying, while he did fight to avert a rail strike, behind the scenes, he also fought to secure the paid time off that the workers wanted. But it still wasn't great optics. And it seriously did not sit well with some of the teamsters when Biden stepped in and prevented that rail strike from happening. And I think there are other issues at play as well. I mean, when you think about it, when the train derailment happened in East Palestine, Ohio, Biden didn't go visit until. way later, I think about a year later, he did finally visit. But Trump was savvy enough to

go ahead and visit the area by McDonald's for all of the, you know, first responders and workers who were there to clean up the mess that Norfolk Southern had caused. And those are like little retail politics, you know, type situations that do bode well for the person who's savvy enough to engage properly. I think in that case, Trump engaged properly. Biden didn't. It's just the fact of the matter. And look, you can know everything about the two candidates policy-wise, but that's separate from the optics. When you have Trump, at least providing this illusion that he cares about workers more than Biden does, well, then that's going to benefit him in the election. And I think that that's partly what we're seeing here. I have more to say,

but let's get to some more details here. So allies of O'Brien indicated that they were still angry that Biden signed legislation, ending a rail strike and imposing a labor agreement between rail companies and workers. Harris said that the move had been initiated by Congress, not the president. They also hit her for not preemptively saying the White House would play no role in settling the Teamsters dispute with UPS. I think Democrats have a real problem here. Okay, I think it'd be a mistake to be upset with the Teamsters for supporting Trump over Harris,

at least the members. Remember, the union didn't endorse one candidate or the other. But I do think that this is a sign of Democrats losing their appeal among working class Americans. And this has been a growing problem. It doesn't mean that, you know, Donald Trump is necessarily going to be better for workers, but it does mean that workers increasingly feel abandoned by the Democratic Party. So Harris apparently understood that she might not get the endorsement from the union, which has typically backed the Democratic presidential candidate. Now, some union members would be voting on other issues beyond labor,

including the border, according to one person in the room. And that's another issue where Trump might seem more effective than Kamala Harris. right? The issue of immigration, the issue of the border. That person said that she had asked that Teamsters leaders educate their members about the bipartisan border control bill that she had backed and that Trump had killed. She also recalled how Trump had told Elon Musk that striking workers should be fired. And she said to them, listen to the guy when he's told you who he is. And look, it is true. Trump has said some pretty terrible things about unions, which is probably why the Teamsters have not endorsed Donald Trump over Kamala Harris.

They've just decided not to endorse either candidate. But when the Biden administration kind of ignored some of the issues at the border and didn't really care to do anything about it until the final hour when it became a political liability, pretty sure the workers noticed that. See, that's the thing. I think one of the bigger issues is this underestimating of American voters, insulting their intelligence and just assuming that you can just pull a narrative and they'll buy it, hook, line and sinker. That's not happening.

Now, following the data that showed members supporting Trump over Harris, almost two to one, Sean O'Brien released a statement regarding the union's decision to stay neutral in this presidential race. The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members face-to-face during our unprecedented roundtables. Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before big business. And he added that we sought commitments from both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries and to honor our member's right to strike. But we're unable to secure those pledges.

That's going to speak volumes for the Teamsters. And I'm really sad to, here that they were unable to secure that commitment from Kamala Harris. I mean, I feel like that's a layup. Democrats, Republicans, and independents proudly call our union home. And we have a duty, says Sean O'Brien. To represent and respect every one of them, we strongly encourage all our members to vote in the upcoming election and to remain engaged in the political process. But this year, no candidate for president has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters

international union. So that's where the Teamsters are at. I'm sure that there are plenty of Democratic voters who are furious about this. I'm sure the Democratic Party and establishment is furious about this. But rather than getting angry, I think that it would be better to maybe just pause and self-reflect. Why is it that an increasing percentage of American voters no longer see the Democratic Party as the party of FDR, no longer see the Democratic Party as the party that looks at.

looks out for working class Americans, it is a problem for Democrats, because what are they going to use to differentiate themselves from Republicans? Typically, they lean into the culture wars or identity politics. But that's also going to be a failing strategy, because if you look at the teamsters, I mean, if you look at workers overall, guys, workers come from all walks of life, different political views, different priorities. The one thing that unites all workers is what they experience at the workplace. That is the glue that bonds us as Americans, right? And so if the Democratic party leans into and is hyper-focused on the culture war issues or the identity politics that

seeks to divide us, it's just not going to speak well to workers who are part of a union, especially if you're looking for their endorsement. They need to focus on economic policies that actually improve Americans' lives. I will give Kamala Harris a little bit of credit in that she has been a little more of a hardliner when it comes to dealing with the border. It doesn't seem to have played strongly enough with the Teamsters to make a difference, but it doesn't matter. I think she's understanding that there's a real problem that needs to be addressed.

And I also give her credit for understanding that we need to increase the stock. of housing in this country. I haven't really seen a detailed plan on how she intends to do that. And I do worry about that money that would be allocated for a project like that, being squandered on either private corporations or nonprofits that have done a real good job squandering our money here in California. But she at least is able to identify what some of the issues are. I would say that she'd be best served in honing in on what the details of those policy proposals are, and just really, really leaning in to improving the economic situation for ordinary Americans in this country.

So we'll see how it plays out. But the Teamsters, they're going to sit out this election. They are not endorsing either candidate. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, John Ida Rola joins me for the second hour. And you shouldn't miss it. We're going to get into this New York Times op-ed that was written by someone who has a massive conflict of interest and should not have been allowed to write this op-ed.

It's incredible. We'll be right back.