The Young Turks - Mike Pompeo Gets Giddy Over Climate Change

Episode Date: May 8, 2019

Mike Pompeo can’t wait to exploit climate change for profit. Ana Kasparian, Adrienne Lawrence, and Maz Jobrani, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. 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. Hey, guys, you've heard of the Young Turks podcast because you're listening to it right now. But make sure that you subscribe and give it a five star rating if you like it. Thank you for listening. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Young Turks. I'm Anna Kasparian, Maz Jabrani and Adrian Lawrence join me today on this awesome panel.

Jenk will be back tomorrow, but today we're gonna have a great show. We will have a completely different panel for the second hour. Brooke Thomas will be joining in and we have, I'm honestly like I'm really looking forward to the first hour, don't get me wrong, lots of serious stuff to get to. But in the second hour, there's a lot of dunking going on. And I'm in a dunking kind of mood, so I'm looking forward to that. All right. But we're gonna talk about how Mike Pompeo is gonna destroy the environment because he's an idiot.

And then later on we're going to discuss, I mean, militias talking about rounding people up and murdering them. Yep. That sounds about right. Yeah, that's the world we're living in. That would be it. It's super unfortunate, but how are you guys doing? Pretty good, it doesn't feel like Tuesday.

Yeah. It's really weird. What does it feel like? It kind of feels like a Thursday. I wish. Really? Yeah. It's been a lot already.

Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well. All right, well, I'm sorry for that downer in the very beginning. I feel good. I feel good, even though the environment, according to all these news pieces, the environment's

collapsing. But overall, it feels like a Wednesday. Can we agree it's a Wednesday? It's a Wednesday afternoon. We'll go with a Wednesday. I like the compromise. I like it. I like it.

All right, well, let's get started. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo actually believes that melting ice caused by climate change is a wonderful thing because it opens up new business opportunities. This is what he said during his appearance at the Arctic Council in Finland. The Arctic is at the forefront of opportunity and abundance. It houses 13% of the world's undiscovered oil, 30% of its undiscovered gas, and an abundant. abundance of uranium, rare earth minerals, gold, diamonds, and millions of square miles of untapped resources.

Fisheries galore. And its centerpiece, the Arctic Ocean is rapidly taking on new strategic significance. Offshore resources, which are helping their respective coastal states are the subject of renewed competition. Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new passageways and new opportunities for trade. This could potentially slash the time it takes to travel between Asia and the West by as much as 20 days. Arctic sea lanes could come before the could come the 21st century Suez and Panama canals.

So as I mentioned, this is the Arctic Council. It is a meeting of various nations in Finland to talk about various issues, including the fact that there are 4 million people living in the Arctic whose lives at or have, like where they live is in danger. And so there was maybe some consideration about discussing climate change, but the United States was the only country that refused to even mention climate change. In fact, it appears that the Trump administration, on one hand, keeps referring to climate change as a Chinese hoax.

And then on the other hand, admits that climate change is happening, but thinks that it's a great thing because it opens up new business opportunities, according to Pompeo. And he was also quoted as saying, this is America's moment to stand up as an Arctic nation. The region has become an arena of global power and competition. So who cares what we're doing to that habitat? Who cares what we're doing to the environment? Who cares what type of ramifications, future generations? This current generation has to deal with.

People are gonna make money off of this, so awesome. That is essentially what Pompeo is saying. There's a few things on this. First of all, as a bald person, I try to look at, I try to look on the bright side. And, you know, when you lose your hair, I said, at least I'm aerodynamic, right? So it feels like he's looking at the bright side. He's like, hey, at least things, you know, boats are going faster now that there won't be there won't be any ice to slow them down.

So that's number one. Number two, if this was written, it wasn't going off the cuff. Am I correct? It seems as though he's reading a prompter, yes. Yeah, because like when Trump goes off the cuff, you go, he's just going off the cuff. This guy wrote this or somebody proof read this and said, let's go with this whole, the melting of the ice caps is good. because boats will go faster.

Yeah. And number three, I had to look up Pompeo again about where he went to school, he went to Harvard. And so this looks bad for Harvard, you know, I mean, you know, just because you go to Harvard doesn't make you smart. I mean, and by the way, remember when Trump said that thing at the United Nations, I forget what he said, but everybody laughed. Remember he said something and he was trying to be serious, but they laughed at him? I do remember that, I don't remember what he said.

I wish, I would have loved to see the camera angle on the Europeans and the Finnish people there watching him going, is this guy really saying what he is saying? These Americans are really stupid. Yeah, yeah. And something also kind of that hits me, maybe I guess I should say, as a woman with a weave, I can tell you that, you know, change, it happens. And it's a good thing. But unfortunately, in this situation, it's not good at all.

The world population has doubled in size over the last 50 years. And there are so many other mouths to feed as well as people who are taking advantage of resources and need resources and food and everything that goes with that. And the fact that we're not using sustainable resources and energy and we're not moving in a direction that will continue to allow this earth to sustain us in our growing numbers, it's just, the greed is just, it's intolerable. It's disgusting. the U.S. government that consistently judges the inner workings of other governments, of other sovereign countries. So for instance, Lula de Silva in Brazil is a political prisoner. He was accused of corruption and there was really no evidence of that corruption other than

one individual who was willing to testify against him in return for a plea deal. Now I bring that up because you'll have the U.S. political establishment argument. Well, that corruption, I mean, we can't support Lula De Silva. I mean, that corruption is hideous. But what you're seeing right now is Mike Pompeo displaying for the world the type of corruption that we have in the United States, like to the point where he is willing to push the entire world to complete doom just so U.S. business interests or multinational corporations can profit off of it.

And it's absolutely disgusting. We have no leg to stand on to judge other countries. We have no like to stand on to judge Venezuela. And yes, there are issues in Venezuela, but we have issues at home that we need to deal with. We have absolutely no right to judge or take this self-righteous position on any other country. And by the way, he's touting the, again, the benefits of less ice so that boats can go faster. I feel, correct me if I'm wrong, as we progress, you know, perhaps there's going to be ways to transport things not through through water, maybe in the air.

I mean, I think we have airplanes now. Yes. So I'm just saying it's really looking at, I don't know what the job was for the speechwriter. It really was like, hey man, the globe is warming up and the world is about to be destroyed and melted. Find me some good things. Yeah, yeah. It's positive spin.

It's a lot of spin. It was complete and total positive spin. And I love how they'll do this when it serves their purpose in terms. of getting money, but then they do this fear-mongering otherwise when it helps further ethnocentric racism and bigotry. And something else, like you would point it out, in terms of being in the air and using that as a way to maybe ship resources and goods and whatnot. The thing is now because we have climate change, it also means that there's greater turbulence

going on in the sky. As a result, planes are less stable, and so it's just more problematic, whether it's by water, land or air, it's just, it's not a win. I think the reality of the situation is if the average person is harmed by what's going on with the environment, then nothing changes. Or at least it's not enough to convince the people in positions of power to do something about that. And I'm specifically talking about the United States because there are world leaders who want

to do something about this. I mean, part of the reason why all of these countries got together at this event in Finland was to talk about, you know, what we can do to combat climate change. And that included Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden. And the United States is, it appears the only country that just refuses to even use the phrase climate change. And I also want to quickly read you a different statement that Pompeo made at this gathering. He said, quote, I'm sure it was a good party referring to the Paris Climate Accord. I'm sure it felt good to sign the agreement, but at the end of the day, what matters

to human health, what matters to citizens of the world, is that we actually have an impact on improving health, and our technology, our innovation, and R&D, meaning research and development, we put in the United States, that's what will drive better climatic outcomes, that's what will create cleaner air, safer drinking water, and that's what I hope the whole world will focus on, as if he cares at all about cleaner air. Again, he's deferring to business interests, right? When he says innovation, he's referring to business interests. We all know that.

And I love that statement about cleaner air and water. In part, it's like, how's Detroit doing? Right. Let's talk about Puerto Rico. How's that running? So it's kind of like, do you really care or do you just want to, I don't know, maybe get some more money? Yeah, you know, this whole thing of climate deniers, and I read a great op-ed piece

written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He was talking about the lack of emphasis we put on scientists and intellectuals and how much emphasis we put on athletes. And he was talking about how that then leads to this world we live in where people go, I'm not going to listen to the expert, I'm going to go on my gut. So I'm not talking about Pompeo who obviously knows, he knows that this is bad stuff that he's saying, but he's protecting those interests. But the people that then support him and go, this is a hope.

The climate changes a hoax, because my gut tells me it's a hoax. And why was there cold weather in the East Coast? The difference between weather and climate and all that stuff. This type of stuff allows people to believe in their guts and not in research. And I just, I mean, it's frustrating where people that support somebody like a Mike Pompeo on something like this. I think it's the failure of how, it's a failure of the education system. And I don't mean that to just simply criticize public education.

I mean that because education has been effectively dismantled and defunded. And so critical thinking is not a thing anymore because the resources for quality education have been stripped away. There's also the issue of the media and the way that they have equivocated this very serious problem. And they act as if climate deniers are on the same ground as climate scientists. And that is just not the case. So that misinformation and that lack of critical thinking has really seeped into the minds of some Americans, certainly not all.

And remember, in order to do something about climate change, all of us have to do things that are inconvenient, which of course I'm willing to do. But a lot of people don't want to have to make those changes. And I think it's a very convenient excuse to defer to the climate deniers and the so-called Chinese hoax to keep perpetuating this dangerous cycle that we're. in. By the way, did you notice he worked in fisheries galore? Whenever I hear galore, I think of the EZ song.

My name's EZ, I got fisheries galore, you may have a lot of fisheries, I got much more. You know what I'm saying? Coming in with that leather jacket? I'm just saying. I'm just saying. I'm into it. Yeah, yeah. All right, well, let's talk about some of the chaos within Trump's administration, because

there's more of it. Yeah, for real. Really? Of course. Agriculture, economists within Trump's administration are apparently undergoing a mass exodus. And part of the reason why is because many of them have been retaliated against by Trump administration officials for putting out accurate research in regard to Trump's trade war. Now some of this research has to do with how the trade war has negatively impacted farmers.

And we're not talking about big time industry farmers. We're talking about small town rural farmers who have been hurt tremendously by these policies. And the whole point of these economists is to draw attention to the negative effects. So the administration can kind of recalibrate as it moves forward. But of course the Trump administration has no interest in that. So according to Politico, economic research service researchers, these are the agricultural economists I was referring to, presented a paper at an economic conference in early 2018 that indicated the GOP tax overhaul could largely benefit the wealthiest farmers generating

negative press coverage that staff members said irked senior officials at the USDA. So the reports also highlight the continued decline under Trump's watch in farm income, which has dropped about 50% since 2013. So if you look at the data and graphs related to the story, you'll see that as soon as the When the trade war started, there was more of a drop off in terms of the farmer's income. Now being a small-time farmer in America is already an incredibly difficult job, and there have been years in the past where they bring in negative income as a result of weather conditions and situations like that.

But the situation has been exacerbated by Trump's policies, and again, the whole point of these economists was to draw attention to it, and apparently they've been retaliated against. So in August, Sonny Perdue stunned members of the roughly 300 member research service by announcing plans to bring ERS, that's the Economic Research Service, under the control of the USDA's chief economist who reports more directly to the secretary, meaning Purdue. Equally significant, he said the USDA would move the agency out of Washington to a location closer to the US Heartland. So think about what that does to some of the employees or some of the research.

If you have to uproot your life and move to the middle of the country, you might consider taking another job, and it appears that is the intention of moving them out of D.C. and into some other state. Yeah, no, because definitely moving out of D.C. and going somewhere else that's maybe more rural or whatnot. That's a huge lifestyle change, but as you mentioned, Anna, the purpose is to not be able to keep them around so that then you can stack the deck with a bunch of researchers and economists who will say anything you want them to say, much like someone's doctor does.

I like how they just call it the heartland. Like, where are we going? Like, I mean, you can't be like, we're going to move you to the heartland. I'm like, well, is that Nebraska or is that? No, where am I going? Right. You know, and like you said, yeah, I mean. I mean, these are people with families and it's not easy to make that type of move.

And it appears the administration knows that. And it's intentionally doing this to encourage people to quit. And just to give you some numbers. So far in fiscal year 2019, non-retirement departures from the agency have more than doubled on an annualized basis compared to the previous three-year average. So people are quitting and they're also noticing the type of treatment and the way that they're being talked to by administration officials and they very much think that this is in regard to research that the administration just doesn't like.

Because remember, Trump has a lot of support from those small-time people. farmers, and putting out data that further confirms that Trump's policies are harming them could really hurt his chances at reelection. Yeah, my question is, what is it going to take? I mean, I also heard today on the news this guy talking about how all these tariffs, and then his threatening of further tariffs. I mean, the market is taking a hit today. So this dude's just up there, just throwing stuff around like it's no big deal, and

at one point does somebody sit there and go, wow, this guy. guy really doesn't know what he's talking about because he is not as, he's not, definitely he's not as smart as he says he is. And he's not, I mean, you can tell by looking at him, but. But face alone. The face alone is not, it's not a smart face. He just, it just isn't. And but beyond that, what's it going to take for these people to go, okay, you know what,

man, this guy is just, he's not, we don't have, it goes back to, I used to, I did this joke in my, in my special where I said, a lot of people go, I want someone. who is not, you know, people go, I want an outsider, I want an outsider. I want someone who doesn't know how to do this. And we got one. We got one who really doesn't know. So he just throws around things and now he's affecting these farmers. And then they give you research again. Research is like, research is a bad word to this administration, right? It is. It is. I mean, he lacks nuance. And it's fascinating because I think there is a debate to be had about the value of free trade. Because I think in some cases,

free trade is harmful to U.S. workers or laborers in other countries. And so, again, it's a nuanced discussion that you have to really sit down and be willing to listen to the experts on. And Trump is unwilling to do that. He's much more interested in his executive time where he sits down and wherever he does and where he gets to watch Fox News for hours at a time. But this is, this issue impacts the livelihood of so many people. And the reason why Trump's policies have actually benefited these factory farms and these,

you know, big industry farmers is because of the tax cuts. Remember, they're raking in a considerable amount of money and those tax cuts help them. But they don't help the farmers that are struggling, the farmers in the rural areas of America who haven't gotten any help from his policies whatsoever. So it's just something to keep in mind. One other thing I wanted to mention, though, is that Purdue and Trump made clear in their budget request in March that they wanted to reduce the scope of these agriculture economists, eliminating, quote, low priority research into such politically sensitive areas as food stamps

and environmental issues. And I know that the welfare state is something that the right wing pretends is angry about. But the reality is that the welfare state is also what right wing America benefits the most from. That's right. And the numbers bear that out. I'm not saying that to judge them, I'm saying that because it's time to take a deep breath, take a step back, and consider how these policies are affecting average Americans.

They're definitely beneficial for big corporations, but not for farmers who are already struggling. And just to kind of bring up the real impact, I guess, at the lower level, they say that mid-sized farms, that's those with annual sales between $50,000 and up to $5 million, that they're dwindling to the point where they're selling off their machinery and these auction houses, they've showed a 30% increase in people just selling their tractors, all of their farm equipment, because they're not being able to make money. The low prices for corn and soybeans, like that impacts a lot of people's income. And the fact is that these major corporations and these big entities that may own the property,

they're still charging rent just as high, even though these farmers aren't making money. So people are actually leaving the business in its entirety. And essentially, the only person who really benefits are the large, large companies and the small niche farmers. But otherwise, middle America, they're just dwindling away. We got to take a break. When we come back, TYT Investigates broke an insane story involving that militia at the border and the violence that some of them are completely okay with.

Come right back. You don't want to... We need to talk about a relatively new show called Un-F-Inging the Republic, or UNFTR. As a Young Turks fan, you already know that the government, the media, and corporations are constantly peddling lies that serve the interests of the rich and powerful. But now there's a podcast dedicated to unraveling those lies, debunking the conventional wisdom. In each episode of Un-F-The Republic, or UNFTR, the host delves into a different historical episode or topic that's generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called powers that be. Featuring in-depth research, razor-sharp commentary, and just the right amount of vulgarity,

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It's a disco. Nice. Did you ever go to a disco, Maz Jabrani? Did I go? I went to clubs. I don't know if they were still called discos back. I mean, I'm 47. The reason why, were you born in Iran?

I was born in Iran. You definitely went to discos. No, I didn't got in Iran. I was six, I was six years old when I left. I was six years old when I left. I wasn't a six year old. Oh, I didn't realize you were. Because I asked Jake once, I asked Jake once, did you ever go to discos in Turkey?

And he said yes. Oh, we had discos. Yeah. And I heard a lot of music. Do you guys know, you know, you know, Boney M? Do you know who that is? Of course I do. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy cool.

Daddy, Daddy cool. Daddy cool. Bada-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Come on. So good. So good. Becker, da, da, da, da, da, that, you know my becker? Yes, of course, of course.

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in and says they don't care because they figure they'll be dead before anything happens, meaning the Pompeo's of the world, you know, just completely ignore the negative impact of climate change. They don't even care about their own family's futures. His future, money is the only thing they have attachment to. Cozyaholic says, can we all agree that Pompeo is Chris Christie 2.0? He is a gross Trump lackey that wanted to be president. We can agree, definitely.

Sure. TYT lives, Cabbage says, I wonder what Pompeo's mom paid to get him into Harvard. Ooh, I was thinking the same thing. Yes. And Hindu Hillbilly says, avoiding policy is all about avoiding promises that would not be pleasing to their donors. And I believe Gabby Marita mentioned that Bernie Sanders is proposing legislation that would specifically help some of the rural farmers and people living in rural America.

So there's actual policy where he wants to help people, whereas you have the Trump administration and Pompeo doing anything and everything to help big business to the detriment of small town farmers. Tax breaks. The tax breaks for the rich will work its way down. down and they're not gonna go buy boats, they're gonna give it to us. Mm-hmm. I don't believe it.

Yeah. Terrible. All right, well, let's move on to TYT Investigates. Ken Clippinsign at TYT Investigates uncovered an insane story involving a former anti-immigrant militia leader who went to police and reported a militia individual, a member of that militia, who had said some pretty terrible things. So apparently this guy wanted to know, why are we just apprehending them? These are immigrants that they're apprehending at the border.

Why are we just apprehending them and not lining them up and shooting them? We have to go back to Hitler days and put them all in a gas chamber. So Armando Gonzalez allegedly said that. This is according to a police report that Ken Clippenstein received. through a Freedom of Information Act request. And I mean, the fact that Stephen Brandt, the former militia member, felt that this was problematic enough to go to the cops, really says something. Because understand that Stephen Brandt is not one of these good guys, he was a very willing

and active member of that militia, and he does believe that the militia should have the ability to apprehend migrants at the border, even though that's a federal crime. Because they're not Border Patrol, they don't have the right to do that. But he thinks, okay, well, maybe this goes a little bit too far. Maybe we should do something about it. Armando Delgado Gonzalez then handed Stephen Brandt, a handgun, and ran to his vehicle and grabbed an AR-15. So he was willing to take action, and at that point, Brandt went and spoke to the authorities

about it. The fact that this guy named Armando Delgado Gonzalez saying all this. I thought the same damn thing, I was just like, okay, son. Was he dropped on his head? Like, what is wrong with this guy? Well, he says he's a veteran who suffers from PTSD, and he definitely seems to be, there's something completely and totally wrong here. And I can, well, from a legal standpoint, I can see why he went to the authority.

It's essentially because if he's involved with this Gonzalez guy, Brandt would be possibly linked in by way of a conspiracy. And so anything that Gonzalez went off and did as a result of that without Brandt saying something could actually be attributed to him, and then it becomes liable. So it was very smart of him if he didn't even do it out of the goodness of his heart to tell police so that he can say, hey, I'm not down for this. I mean, I've never lived on the border, but I feel like there's way too many. I don't know.

I mean, yeah, you're not like in San Diego. I'm not in San Diego live on the border, but also I don't think I would ever take up arms. I mean, I would call the cops if something were happening. But I can't imagine, I mean, these guys- But all those women and children are super dangerous. In fact, we've talked about this militia before. They're known as the United Constitutional Patriots,

even though they're breaking the law and posing as Border Patrol, which they're not supposed to be doing. Whenever they have too many patriotic names, they're bad news. United constitutional, patriotic of, you know, the presidential liberty, freedom, fighting. These guys are bad news. Definitely, like focus on the family, one of those like- Focus on the family, right? Right, right? That means we're gonna tell you what to do with your body.

That's right. We're gonna focus on the family. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Not my own. So when we had originally covered this militia and what they were doing, we showed a photo of them apprehending over 200 migrants, many of whom were women and children. I wanna toss to that video as B-roll, we'll talk over it because I want to give you more information and more details on what's going on.

Now, the border patrol was asked to comment on this story, and they allege that they did not cooperate with this militia, that they don't agree with what the militia is doing, because it is a federal crime. You are not allowed to pose as a police officer, as a border patrol agent, you get the picture. But there is evidence showing that there were border patrol agents cooperating and coordinating with this militia. It's unlikely that any of those Border Patrol agents will ever be held to account for what they did.

But there is some good news, and that good news has to do with the militia leader who did get arrested following this story breaking. So let's take a quick look at that. This country is built on three things. God, guns, and guts. Hopkins leads a militia group known as the United Constitutional Patriots. It is an invasion. Based in Sunland Park, New Mexico, the militia members dress up in camouflage and are armed as they patrol the border looking for migrants who crossed over from Mexico.

They are known to wear their own badges. And impersonate border patrol agents. I am confident that Mr. Hopkins will be through this. He'll farewell. The AG has declared war on American citizens at the order of the ACLU. What? Anyway. The Attorney General, he said, is declared? I don't think he knows what he's talking about.

I don't know. Jeff Sessions? I mean, Jeff Sessions was the one, I mean, if he was referring to Jeff Sessions, which I don't know, I don't think he knows what he's referring to at all, but if he were referring to Jeff Sessions, he's the one who pushed to separate children from their parents at the border. I see these guys and I think we have way too many Rambo-type movies, which is way too Because these guys are watching that going like, oh, that's a good idea.

I'm going to dress up in the camouflage, go do my thing on the woods or get some of them caravan. You know they got those badges at Party City, right? You know what they did? Those badges, yes, they did. Come on, man, we don't need the sticking badges, you know? I don't think we have too many Rambo-style movies. I think that we have too many, ironically, older Americans, like some of the people that

you saw in that video, who have absolutely no self-awareness, right? Like, they think they're Rambo. That's what I'm saying. Looked in the mirror, like someone needs to sit them down and have a good conversation with them and tell them what they are, who they are, and how they're not Rambo. Yeah, first of all, get in shape. You're not in shape. You gotta get, you gotta exercise. Rambo was fit.

He took a shirt off. He looked good. I'm sure they'll blame that on immigrants too. Oh, of course. I'm telling you, but that's the problem is-immigrants. Immigrants ruin your metabolism. Happened to me all the time. Burritos.

They bring their burritos and make us fat. Well, to be fair, that has ruined my own. He goes, this country was built on gods and guts. Gahy. That's what we're staying for. It is funny that a group that brands itself, constitutional patriots, doesn't really know what the country was found out. Oh, hell now.

But anyway, that's part for the course for these right wakers. But as you said, the grown men, it's like you're not a, you're not a 10 year old playing, you know, whatever, we shouldn't be playing, I'm saying, like playing like, you know, good cop, bad cop, whatever that is, whatever the kids play, you know, chasing each other. You're grown man, all right? Like, don't you have a job? That's what I was thinking. Don't you have something better to do?

Nope. And exactly, apparently they do not have anything better to do. And the fact that they even spend their nights this way. Can you imagine if someone calls you up as like, look, we're rounding up a militia. You want to join? I'll be like, yo, I can't, I gotta do, I got yoga at 10 and I got me in the car. I got to peats. I think that's a secret.

More yoga for everyone. And I think, you know, we'll calm those nerves, ease those nerves. One serious point that I want to make though is, you know, just going back to what Delgado said in regards. to migrants, where he thinks that it makes sense to round them up, put them in gas chambers, shoot them. Oftentimes, when I see debates about the impact that Trump has had, I just don't understand those who think that, no, Trump's not that bad.

The media is just hyperbole from the media. It's not hyperbole. What he has done has emboldened the worst parts of our society, and they are taking action. They're advocating for violence, they're inciting violence in a lot of cases, and you're seeing more and more people like the woman that you're about to see who was at one of these Steve Bannon events that he was doing. Take a look. Yes, ma'am.

Never in my life did I think I would like to see a dictator. But if there's going to be one, I want it to be Trump. Bannon stood up. Wow. Who is that whack job? Just some woman who supports Trump and she said never in my life did I think I would want a dictator. But if there were ever to be a dictator, I want it to be Trump.

Oh, Jesus. She got her wish. He's very much, she's working on it. Yeah, for reality. You know, what you just said, I have always said this too. I mean, he doesn't take responsibility for his words and he needs to take responsibility for his words because you're at the highest position and you have a lot of visibility. Now the problem, I heard this great piece where they were talking about.

about, you know, these extremists on, you know, whether it's, you know, the right wing militia members or, you know, people joining terrorist organizations, whatever. These guys have always existed. It's just that disseminating the ideas was a lot harder. You have to go out and, you know, make flyers and see if people wanted to join your group or send out letters. Now it's all online. So it's not just Trump.

There's a lot of people disseminating these ideas. But then when they see somebody in a position of power talking like this, I agree with you, it emboldens them and they go, let me throw in the word Hitler, gas chambers. That's totally accepted, right? I can say that in public to you, anybody? Yeah, exactly. Final point, the internet has certainly mobilized people and it's connected them, but they were still kind of lurking in the shadows because it wasn't socially acceptable to come out and

reveal to the world that you think it's okay to round people up and put them in gas chambers. But someone like Trump has made them think, oh, it's totally acceptable. In fact, Trump is able to say all the things that he says about various groups of people. And he's the president of the United States, so if he can do it, why can't I? And again, the fish rots from the head down. And Trump is as rotten as they come, especially when it comes to rhetoric and the way that he talks about migrants, the way that he talks about people of color, the way that he talks about Muslims.

It has an impact and it has an effect, and we're seeing it today. So let's take a break. When we come back, we have more news for you. Use the hashtag TYT live to tweet to us during the break. One of the stories that we will get to is in regard to the NRA president. They have a new president. And she wants to minimize a congresswoman's win. She was newly elected.

I'll tell you how she's doing it and the backlash when we return. At TYT, we frequently talk about all the ways that big tech companies are taking control of our online lives, constantly monitoring us and storing and selling our. our data, but that doesn't mean we have to let them. It's possible to stay anonymous online and hide your data from the prying eyes of big tech. And one of the best ways is with ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN hides your IP address, making your active ID more difficult to trace and sell the advertisers. ExpressVPN also encrypts 100% of your network data to protect you from eavesdroppers and cybercriminals. And it's also easy to install. A single mouse click protects

all your devices. But listen, guys, this is important. ExpressVPN is rated number one by CNET and wired magazine. So take back control of your life online and secure your data with a top VPN solution available, ExpressVPN. And if you go to ExpressVPN.com slash TYT, you can get three extra months for free with this exclusive link just for TYT fans. That's EXP-R-E-S-V-N dot com slash T-YT. Check it out today. We hope you're enjoying this free clip from the Young Turks. If you want to get the whole show and more exclusive content while supporting independent media, become a member at t-y-t.com slash join today. In the meantime, enjoy this free segment.

Welcome back to TYT. So it turns out that the lizard, Mariguana, has invaded and hacked ShopT-YT, and there is a new mariguana t-shirt as a result. Yes. And so if you're a mariguana fan, he's very pleased, or she, I don't know what the gender of the mariguana is. But you just go to shoptyt.com, and all the proceeds for this shirt will be wired to mariguana directly. Yes. Something to keep in mind.

Again, the shirt is now available at shoptyt.com. Please check it out. All right, a few Tybt lives for you. Cabbage writes it and says, I wonder what pump. Oh, I'm sorry, I've already read that one. My bad. Sorry, cabbage. No double the love for you.

So I don't know how to say this name, star, oh, star inc cost, star in cost says, is there a running tally on how many times members of Trump's administration has lied to Congress? Isn't someone going to jail because of it? No. No. I mean, look, I'm being, maybe I'm being overly pessimistic. I don't think anything's going to happen. comments, no, best, best name ever because I make fun of this regularly.

Milk of the Poppy writes in. Yes, yes. Let's flip this around, think of all the free time Trump will have to tweet and watch Fox and Friends if he loses 2020. He did say he missed his old life. Did he say that? Yes, we miss it too. Yes, I miss your old life.

Go, get out of here. Do it. Do something. Go golf, I mean, golf's anyway. Yeah, for real. Yeah, all right, let's move on to some more news. Joe Biden, who is currently the frontrunner for the Democratic Party, has said that he will reject contributions from lobbyist and corporate PACs.

But The Intercept has uncovered some new information, some new intel that indicates that he is getting a little bit of help from one PAC, and it was the Political Action Committee that he founded himself back in 2017. Biden founded American possibilities in 2017 to support Democrats in the midterm elections. The group took about $29,000 in donations from federal lobbyists and $5,000 from a PAC affiliated with Massimo, a medical device company. So he's still working with that pack and they are helping him in some ways. So I want to be clear, based on the intercepts reporting, I don't know whether they're actually

giving him money directly, whether this political action committee is giving him money. But they are helping him, and that's still relevant. So American possibilities has been important to Biden's presidential ambitions and helped to pay for a political staff after he left office in 2017. So remember, that political staff is for his election. So they are helping him financially by hiring that political staff. That's very relevant. More information.

The Political Action Committee was recently given access to former President Barack Obama's massive email list of supporters. That is incredibly valuable if you're running for president. That email list is almost everything. So Biden has been given access to that. And just to give you some more information on American possibilities, they have taken in lobbying money from all sorts of people, the private healthcare industry. I'll give you some more specific details in just a second.

But apparently there is a line that can be crossed and the political action committee returned a $5,000 donation in December from 21st Century Fox, then that's the parent company of Fox News. So maybe that's the reason why they decided to reject that money. But nonetheless, there is a political action committee that is helping Biden and I think it's relevant for everyone to know about it. I look at the numbers, 5,000 doesn't seem like a lot. So that 21st Century Fox, that's the most they could send them? Is that a law?

Is it like, is that the maximum or that's all they had? Well, I mean, because it's- Fox. Well, they were too busy making settlements to sexual rasteries. Yeah, there's that. Yeah. Right. Well, Citizens United made it possible for political action committees to give, you know,

unlimited money to politicians. I don't know why they only gave $5,000. I'm not entirely sure, but what I can't say is that it doesn't take much to corrupt politicians. No. Well, absolutely, I mean, listen, the whole point, I mean, obviously it's going to, it's very hard to get a politician in power without some sort of corruption or owing somebody something somewhere, the bigger thing for me that I found that was interesting, because I like Biden,

I like Bernie, I like all these guys, but the fact that they were saying when these, when he got in, that a lot of people, that he had a really good chance because he's an older white male. Yes, that's right. To me, that makes me just shake my head going. No, but older white males are like the hot new trend. But I'm just, I mean, for like the past, what, 300 years? But there are, there's some people who will, I mean, you know, they will only vote for that. Because they're seen as a source of authority and the only ones in our society who can make decisions, which is just complete and total ball.

And it's unfortunate because that is a thing that we kind of have to acknowledge that it could end up being Biden on the ticket despite the fact that there are other qualified candidates and it only be largely by virtue of his gender and race. I think it also has, look, I think that's a factor for a lot of people, but there's also older Democratic voters, not all, I don't mean to make a blanket statement, but a lot of the older Democratic voters who are already established in their, you know, financial stability don't like the proposals coming from the more progressive candidates because it, it threatens the very system that's been pretty nice for them. That's right. Joe Biden, my mind, I can't stop thinking about that video that we showed you guys yesterday

where Biden is being interviewed by, I believe, a Los Angeles Times reporter, and he starts talking about how young people keep telling them that they've got it tough. And he says, give me a break. And the entire audience just starts laughing at young people who are going through, you know, maybe not the same issues that Biden went through when he was young, but there are severe economic frustrations that young people are facing today and to minimize it and just kind of brush it aside as give me a break, it's so incredibly insulting. But that's the kind of rhetoric that does sit well with some Democratic voters.

But that's disappointing. That's also the problem with when we have low turnout from young people. I mean, really, I think if young people went out and voted, we would have a different result. And I feel that in the general population, we don't have the turnout that we need to have. And as you said, these people who have financial interests and are more secure in there in where they are, are gonna go out and vote, and we'll see who the candidate is. I mean, I, gosh, I just wanna, I just can't imagine, I mean, Trump could win again, but I really

hope not. I, yeah, I hope not as well. I think he's gonna win again. Oh, God, girl, please. I mean, I see the same, I'm sorry, I see the same mistakes being made and no, no one has learned anything from the past election. I see the media propping up Biden, who knows, I could be wrong, I'm famously pessimistic And they need to be a little more optimistic, I get that.

But what I'm seeing in the way the media is covering these candidates and the way certain people are being propped up, it's not good, it's not looking good. So we'll see what happens. But of course, we're going to update you guys as the election develops, as these stories develop. And we do have another great Biden story in the second hour, so make sure you check that out. All right, moving on. The NRA has a new president, and she is not a fan of a freshman lawmaker who ran her

campaign specifically on the issue of gun control and won. Now Carolyn Meadows is the new president of the NRA, and she believes that Representative Lucy McBath in Georgia only won because of the fact that she is a black woman, didn't win because of her actual policy proposals and her platform. So here's what Carolyn Meadows, again, this is the NRA president, had to say in reference to Representative Lucy McBath. Quote, it is wrong to say, like McBath said, that the reason she won was because of her anti-gun stance.

That didn't have anything to do with it. It had to do with being a minority female. And the Democrats really turned out. And that's the problem we have with conservatives. We don't turn out as well. I think that might be the first person I've ever heard argue that Democrats turn out more than Republicans do. Maybe she was saying that we don't turn out as good, like as well in life, like as a good

people. In that case, I agree with her. She'd be right. Yeah, I think she, maybe she, I think she's very wise, we don't turn out as well. So just to give you actual data to disperse, the ridiculousness that you just heard. McBath's district actually leaned significantly Republican and went for President Donald Trump in 2016.

Macbath inched ahead of her competitor, Republican Karen Handel, who has said that she'll run again with 50.5% of the vote in 2018. So she won by a very slim margin, but I want to be very clear. She won while running in the state of Georgia on gun control policy. I mean, that is insane. So Macbath didn't respond directly to Meadows, but she did tweet about her victory, and I would argue that it's probably in reference to Meadows. And I want to share some of those tweets with you.

So let's take a look at the first one. She says, I was just a Marietta mom. I loved my son Jordan more than anything else in the world. After Jordan was murdered, I realized that nobody was going to change our laws for us, so I had to do it myself. So that's just, she's so inspirational, inspiring. She also says after Jordan was ripped away from me, I did not stop being his mom. Every single thing I do is out of the love that I have for my son.

My love for Jordan is what I extend to my work or to the work I do in my community every single day. So she's not quiet about gun control. And she has been pushing the state of Georgia in some cases successfully so to do something about gun control. In fact, she also tweeted about that. Let's go to the next graphic, I have faced attack after attack from the far right, but that hasn't stopped my work for families of Georgia, District 8.

The House has already passed gun safety legislation for the first time in decades, and there is much more to come. Yes. That's great. You know, some of these people are just, I mean, they are, I mean, the lady, the new president of the NRA, being this white lady. you know, playing the race card. It's just, you're gonna, I mean, you're totally insensitive to, to, the times we live in.

You shouldn't be playing that card regardless. You know, she could have said there was other reasons as opposed to, if she really wants to downplay the gun thing. But I feel, and I hope, fingers crossed, that there is a tide against, and for gun control, you see like Eric Swallow running on gun control. And I, and I hope that he goes far because I really feel, I mean, how many massacres are going to need? Exactly.

There was another shooting today in Colorado, and it's the interesting thing for what Meadows is doing is she's kind of playing on this narrative that everything's great for blacks and people just voted for you because you're a black female and that's a hot topic. Whereas we still carry with us negative stereotypes and connotations that make us vulnerable members of society. We just saw what went down with Sandra Bland and the video coming out today. That's things we face on a daily basis. getting jobs and having opportunities and just being able to exist in your own space is

something that's continually denied to people of color. And so for this Meadows woman to pretend that it somehow elevates you in a political sphere where we have been excluded by and large for however long, as in forever, it's like, come on now, but hey, you know, you see maybe one black person do well in some form or fashion and you assume, oh, yes, everything's great for them. They're taking everything and they're getting things by virtue of their blackness or their color. And it's like, really, yo, is the struggle still every day and it's still very real?

Yeah. And what I'm noticing from the NRA and in particular from Meadows' reaction to Macbath winning is people act in weird ways when they're struggling to survive. And the NRA is in a lot of trouble. And they know what the polls indicate, they've seen the polls, and we've talked about those numbers before, but let me give you some new numbers coming from Gallup. So Gallup recently surveyed Americans, a nationally representative sample of Americans to see what most Americans feel in regard to gun legislation and gun control. And here's what they found. So in a recent Gallup poll, 61% of Americans believe the nation's gun laws need to be more strict.

61% also 61 worry about the availability of guns a great deal or a fair amount. So most Americans want to do something about this. And I don't think that Macbath won based on luck or on accident. Again, her platform was all about doing something about the laxed gun laws that are leading to all these deaths and she won. And the NRA doesn't like that truth. It doesn't fit with their narrative. That's right.

I always like I could get in the heads of the Wayne Lappears and the Dana Loche. I'm just wondering, do they have a lot of financial interests in the gun culture? Is that why they're so passionate? Or are they really? What would they do for work if it weren't for? I'm curious. I mean, at some point, an objective person would sit there and go, all right, you know what? Yes, there are certain regulations we should, you know, implement.

There are certain guns we really don't need out there. And the argument, a lot of times you hear back, you go, well, there's already gun, there's already laws on the books, we just got to implement them. Well, okay, then implement them and let's go further and let's look at these problems. It's not just mental health. Right. It's a combination. As somebody who is trying to be objective here, I'm going to say it's not just the guns.

It is mental health and it's guns and there's a lot of other aspects to it. But that's why I'm saying these guys are so zero tolerance in terms of any kind of legislation. So I just wonder what kind of financial interests they have and where they real, sincere heart is, or I don't know, I'd be curious. I think their heart is where the money is. Yeah. That's all. Yep. And the weapons manufacturers help keep the NRA alive.

And if you're funded by gun manufacturers, then you're gonna do and say as you're told. And they just keep pushing this narrative that's been so incredibly harmful. And yes, we do have laws, but there are also all sorts of terrible loopholes to those laws. including the federal background check and how the FBI has a very limited amount of time to conduct a background check when someone is attempting to buy a gun. Of course, the gun show loophole, we've talked about that, everyone knows about that. We know that those loopholes exist, and there needs to be something done to change that. All right, thank you to Maj Gibrani and Adrian Lawrence for joining.

So tell everyone where they can find you, your social media, your projects. I will be at the Hollywood Improv this Friday, Saturday, doing four shows, headlines, lining four shows there, and I'm on tour. So if people want to come follow me, I'm going to be all over the country. It's all at Maz Jobrani, M-A-N-I, on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Mazurbanne.com for all my dates. Check me out. Come see me live. Love it.

Adrian? Awesome. I am on Twitter at Adrian Law and Instagram at Adrian Lawrence. Awesome. Thank you guys. We're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, a whole new panel and a whole new set of stories. listening to the full episode of the Young Turks, support our work, listen to ad-free, access

members-only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.