The Young Turks - The After Party

Starting point is 00:00:00 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. Stop. Do you know how fast you were going? I'm going to have to write you a ticket to my new movie, The Naked Gun. Liam Nissan. Buy your tickets now.

Starting point is 00:00:20 I get a free Tilly Dog. Chilly Dog, not included. The Naked God. Tickets on sale now. August 1st. What's up, everyone, What's up everyone to TY, I'm your host, Anna Kasparean. What's up, everyone? Welcome to TYT. I'm your host, Anna Kasparian. And today we're gonna do things a little differently.

Starting point is 00:01:05 I will be hosting the first hour solo, but for the second hour, John Iderola will be joining, so will Jank Yugar. And they'll be taken over for not just the second hour, but also the bonus episode. Lots of really great stories and I'm actually a little jealous that I don't get to talk about with you guys today, including a Black Rock executive, having some pretty strong and harsh words for what he refers to as the entitled generation. Really incredible story. So don't miss that in the second hour. We're also going to talk a little bit about Eric Adams attending a Wells Fargo credit card party. It's not really being reported on much, but the credit card is specifically for people who want to charge rent

Starting point is 00:01:51 because they can't pay for it in cash. Pretty disastrous. But there's another element to that that Jake and John will be discussing in the second hour. But in the first hour, we've got a lot of great stories as well. I wanted to focus a little more on labor-related stories. So we will be talking about various unionization efforts for Amazon warehouses and the kind of treatment that they've been dealing with from their union busting employers. So we'll talk a little bit about that. Also, Jay-Z had an after party at a place where there was a boycott happening, a strike taking place and he and other celebrities decided to cross the picket line in order to enjoy a lavish Oscars after party event. We'll get into that as well. But first, why don't we get into a

Starting point is 00:02:37 detail story about the unfortunate updates on Ukraine. So, Russia has unfortunately continued shelling parts of Ukraine where they had promised to scale down their attacks, which confirms unfortunately the suspicions of U.S. officials in regard to what Russia's true intentions were. Now, literally just yesterday, Russia had promised to scale down, scale back, and they claimed that they were doing this all in good faith to get to a point where they could reach a ceasefire and a peace deal with Ukraine. But it seems that they are far away from doing so because they have reneged on their own promises. Now, the intensified attacks in Ukraine took place. in Cherneyev and also continued, they continued shelling in Kyiv, despite claims that they would

Starting point is 00:03:32 draw back in those areas as well. Now, Cherney's mayor has released a statement about this, saying that Russia had lied and that they are continuing to heavily hit his city, which is less than 100 miles north of the country's capital. It's one thing for Ukrainian officials to say that, but it has been corroborated with other independent sources. Russia, unfortunately, has not scaled down in the areas that it promised to scale down in. There was also continued barrage of Kiev suburbs or Kiev suburbs, Ukrainian officials said, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense provided more details about this, saying that they're experiencing aggressive attacks on the ground.

Starting point is 00:04:15 He says, quote, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces has been noticing some, partial movement of certain units of the enemy from Kyiv and Chernev areas. At the same time, there's no mass scale withdrawal from those areas. The enemy has been withdrawing units which suffered the highest losses in order to replenish them. And really that was what the fear was, right? That the real intention when it comes to Russian troops appearing to withdraw isn't that they're really withdrawing, But it's an effort to kind of regroup, replenish whatever resources they need in order to continue the attacks. And that's not a good sign because clearly the number one priority should be, and for us, is a ceasefire and a peace deal.

Starting point is 00:05:06 Now, as far as we see the Ministry of Defense spokesperson says, as far as we see, the enemy has not abandoned its attempts to take or at least siege the capital city. And Chernev. So I should note that about 74% of Kharkiv's 1.4 million population is actually Russian speaking. And I mentioned that because the narrative that you hear from Putin and other Russian propagandists is that this so called military operation, of course it's an invasion, of course it's a war, was meant to liberate so called ethnic Russians in Ukraine. If that was really the case, I mean, they have a funny way of showing it, considering the fact that the attacks on Kharkiv have continued, they have intensified. Russia is also intensifying their attacks on the eastern Denex region, particularly in the eastern city

Starting point is 00:06:05 of Izum. But they never promised to scale back in the eastern portion of Ukraine. In fact, what they clearly want in Ukrainian concessions is to essentially have Ukraine hand over the eastern portion of Ukraine to Russia. And of course, Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky, are refusing to do that. And again, everything that we're seeing take place as we speak, everything that's happened over the last 24 hours, really does go against what Russia had promised to do, just to remind you all in case you might have forgotten or missed that story. Russia's deputy defense minister, Alexander Fulman, had claimed on Tuesday of this week, meaning yesterday, that Moscow wanted to increase mutual trust, create the right conditions for future negotiations, and reach the final aim of signing a peace deal with Ukraine. He added during the talks in Istanbul that the Kremlin would, quote, radically reduce

Starting point is 00:07:05 military activity in the direction of Kiv and Shurniev, and of course, that has not been the case. I also want to talk a little bit about what new satellite imagery is showing us in Maripole, which has really has taken the brunt of this Russian invasion. If you look at the satellite imagery, you'll see that Maripole is just completely, completely destroyed. Heavy shelling, bombing, nonstop attacks. Russian troops also bombed a Red Cross warehouse in Maripole. And And the targeting of humanitarian aid is considered a violation of the Geneva Convention. But clearly, Russia has already committed so many war crimes in Ukraine that I highly doubt that they're concerned about, you know, drawing a line when it comes to the Red Cross or humanitarian aid

Starting point is 00:07:59 in Maripole. I mean, they bombed a theater that was clearly marked children on both sides. They also decided to target the maternity hospital, which we've talked about at great length on the show. And it doesn't matter. There really isn't any concern about breaking international laws or rules in regard to this war. Also, a famous Ukrainian cat is getting a lot of attention. I thought I would bring this up. I know it sounds a little cheesy, but it also shows you the extent to which animals are suffering. There were animals that were, you know, in some sort of facility that were rescued recently, kangaroos to be specific. But there's also this one famous Ukrainian cat that had to flee Kharkiv as a result of the heavy shelling. Stepan, the cat is his name. His Instagram account, Love You Steppen, has 1.2 million followers.

Starting point is 00:08:59 He was forced to flee with his owner from his, from their home in Kharkiv. Ukraine when Russia began shelling the city last month. Since reaching France, though, his owner has actually used social media to raise more than 10,035 US dollars for five charities that would actually help to rescue some of the animals that are still stranded in parts of Ukraine that have dealt with the most aggressive attacks. And I thought I would share this photo with you all because I thought it was very cute, their step in the cat. I love that they're using their social media account in an effort to raise money. The money will be donated to the five charities, Happy Paw, You Animals, Mikhailov Zoo, and Pollyushka. So again, obviously the great

Starting point is 00:09:52 deal of humanitarian aid, all of the attention is mostly on people, but there are some animals that are suffering as a result of this. Final thing I wanted to mention is, you know, the latest attacks by Russia First of all, is not helping its case. As you guys know, there's certainly been a miscalculation by Vladimir Putin. He was under the assumption that he would be in and out probably within two days. And he would be able to essentially install a puppet government to his liking. It hasn't worked out that way. There's been some pretty fierce resistance.

Starting point is 00:10:25 And Russian troops are failing pretty miserably when it comes to their own military weaponry and equipment. It's been a bit of a disaster for them. So there are various open source, you know, various teams like looking at open source data in an effort to kind of understand just how much Russia's failing in this war. But more importantly, they want to keep track of the weaponry and where it's ending up. And here's what we know. From open source data alone, namely images and video shared online, one team of part-time weapons trackers has documented a total of 2,055 Russian military. military vehicles destroyed, abandoned, or even captured by Ukrainian forces. Among that number are 331 tanks, 235 armored fighting vehicles, 313 infantry infantry fighting vehicles,

Starting point is 00:11:17 and 40 surface to air missile systems. So, and that's according to Orix, Orix blog. So this is one of the sources that's kind of keeping track of things. But they do provide a caveat to all of this, because the numbers that they're sharing, are likely to be underestimates. Their list they add only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or video evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. And you know, they want to make sure that they have the data, the actual evidence of the weaponry before they put their numbers out,

Starting point is 00:11:56 which is why they're being conservative. But it just shows you the heavy losses by the Russian troops, which is part of the reason why I, I think Putin does eventually want to save face. And instead of trying to take over the entire country, he'll probably try to do something similar to what he did with Crimea, essentially take a portion of Ukraine, the eastern portion for himself. It's unclear whether that will happen. And look, Ukraine clearly is negotiating on good faith because Zelensky has said repeatedly that

Starting point is 00:12:26 he is willing to avoid joining NATO, which Vladimir Putin claims is its top priority. So if that's his top priority, why is this war still going, right? And again, the most important thing to get to is that peace agreement. This war has been horrific for the people of Ukraine. Four million Ukrainians have fled the country seeking refuge and neighboring countries. And think about that number in the context of what the United States has offered to do, which is to take in 100,000 refugees. While that's still a drop in the bucket, it's also significantly higher than what the U.S. has been willing to do when it comes to refugees in Syria or refugees coming from Afghanistan, a country that we have completely destabilized and destroyed.

Starting point is 00:13:12 So, you know, you kind of take a step back and you look at all of that in context. But the point here is the pain and suffering needs to stop. And the only way that it will stop is if there are good faith efforts to engage in these negotiations. And so far, we're not really seeing that from the Russian side. But the sanctions have been crippling. Ukraine continues to fiercely defend itself and resist Russian aggression. Of course, with the funding and the military weaponry that's been given to the country by the United States and its allies. But again, I'd love to see this end sooner rather than later.

Starting point is 00:13:51 All right, well, with that update, why don't we move on to something completely different? some, I guess, good news from the United States. Wait, private companies spend 17 times more on administrative costs than Medicare. What are a private insurance company spending on that Medicare is not? Does Medicare spend hundreds of millions of dollars on television advertisements like private insurance does? Dr. Collins. Here's the moment. Representative Katie Porter absolutely crushed private health insurance companies for their added fees and costs. I love it. Keep watching. No. Does Medicare spend millions of dollars on stock buybacks to shareholders? No. Does Medicare spend money on marketing? Private insurance likes to put its name on stadiums and PGA tournaments. Is there a Medicare arena? No. Does Medicare, Medicare spend $23 million on executive pay like private insurance companies do?

Starting point is 00:14:59 No. There isn't a lot of good news, but anytime Katie Porter gets to grill anyone on anything, it's typically exciting because she comes with the facts, she comes with the receipts. And in this context, she's specifically carrying out what we need to hear in Congress in regard to Medicare for all and how it would actually save not only Americans, but the U.S. government, quite a bit of money. It would be a far better system than the system that we currently have that relies mostly on private health insurance companies. Now, this was during a recent hearing that took place in the House, of course. And the whole point is to do this hearing on Medicare for all. The House Progressive

Starting point is 00:15:47 Caucus wants to revive these discussions and these debates, which I think is a good thing to do, even though let's keep it real under this current administration, it's highly unlikely that we would get Medicare for all. But it's important to, you know, I'd like to say keep momentum going, but momentum has died down a little bit. So trying to revive this, I think, is a good move. Now Katie Porter came with the receipts, like I said, and she specifically wanted to draw this distinction between the costly, wasteful nature of private insurance versus Medicare, our Medicare system and how it actually saves a lot of money. Let's watch. Dr. Collins, what percentage of revenue do private insurance companies spend on administrative

Starting point is 00:16:33 costs? Now, between about 17 to 18 percent of spending in private insurance plan. So if I pay my insurance company $100, $1, two, three, four, $5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, $13, 14, $15, $17, $17, $17, $17, $17, $17, $1,000 go to administrative costs. What do they spend on administrative costs? You know, that range is about, you know, 3 to 5, 3 to 5 percent. 3 to 5 percent. About 3 to 5 percent right here. And if we look at just billing costs, just billing and insurers costs, Medicare is at 1%.

Starting point is 00:17:16 We know how much it costs to run a high quality health insurance program, $1. Out of $100, research shows that Medicare spends 1.1% on administrative costs. We spend $4 trillion on health care every year. We could save $200 billion on administrative costs with Medicare for all. Now, before I get into some facts, figures, numbers, and obviously applauding Katie Porter for always doing a good job in these hearings, I just want to note that there is, there was a hearing on Medicare for all in the house. And any progressive who was touting the necessity of force the vote, who somehow failed to do any coverage on this story is super sus, very suspect.

Starting point is 00:18:05 Because this is something that deserves attention. Yes, the likelihood of this hearing resulting directly to Medicare for all and like the passage of it is unlikely. But it doesn't matter, right? The whole point of force the vote was it's spectacle, it's spectacle, let's do spectacle. And everyone all of a sudden we'll get everything we want through spectacle. Yeah, okay, we know that that's not really the reality of the situation. But again, this is an important hearing crickets. I haven't seen any of the force the vote progressives talking. about this hearing at all. Now, with that said, I want to talk about what the reality is, add a little more meat to the argument that Katie Porter made there because her point is exactly

Starting point is 00:18:47 right. The system that we have in place right now is not cost effective. It's incredibly wasteful. The majority of the money that we see used by these private health insurance companies goes toward things like marketing, putting their names on arenas. I love the fact that that she brought that up. But let's get into some other research. So there was, obviously, Kaiser Family Foundation does a lot of really great work on Medicare for all. They've been pushing for it. And they do so by presenting the data that people should know about. For instance, in 2020, the United States spent 19% of its GDP on health consumption. And every year it goes up. For instance, in 2019, it was 17%. Whereas the next highest comparable country,

Starting point is 00:19:39 the United Kingdom, which actually has a much better health care system than us, devoted just 13% of its GDP to health spending, up from 10% in 2019. Now, of course, 2020 was the year the pandemic began. So you're going to see an increase in spending on health care as a result of that. But it doesn't matter what year we're talking about. The U.S. always spends a higher portion of its GDP on its health care system compared to other OECD countries that tend to, by the way, have far better systems that cover more people and ensure that people are able to get the treatment and the care that they need, including incredibly important preventative care that prevents people from getting so sick that by the time they go to a doctor, by the time they go to an emergency room, whatever illness they're dealing with has unfortunately progressed to a point where they're going to need costly treatments and medical attention. Now with that said, obviously what Katie Porter and other progressives are touting here, Medicare for all would be a far better system. And there's a reason why that system tends to be far more popular with voters.

Starting point is 00:20:55 So we've talked about the polling, there are many polls showing that a single payer health care system, Medicare for all, would do really well with the electorate. Let me give you one of the more recent ones. We have polls dating back to 2018 and even earlier than that. But this one's from Pew Research in 2020, September of 2020. 63% of U.S. adults say the government has the responsibility to provide health care coverage for all. And that was actually up slightly from the 59% in 2019. So I'm guessing experiencing a pandemic and seeing how faulty our healthcare system is,

Starting point is 00:21:34 made more Americans realize the necessity of something like Medicare for all. Roughly a third, 37% say it's not the responsibility of the federal government, according to the Pew Research Center survey. Now, there are Republicans, of course, who have been brainwashed into thinking that a single payer healthcare system is terrible. They've heard made up horror stories about Canada. They've heard made up horror stories about, you know, the UK, even though Americans travel to Canada just to get affordable prescription drugs. Okay. But what about something simple like a public option, right? I would want Medicare for all. But a public option polls even better. So 68% of voters support a public health

Starting point is 00:22:21 insurance option, including 80% of Democrats and even 56% of Republicans. And by the way, public option is what Joe Biden purported to be in favor of, but then did nothing about it. A public option is what mainstream corporate Democrats claimed they were going to essentially progress the Affordable Care Act to accomplishing, right? No, no, no, we don't need Medicare for all. The Affordable Care Act is just the foundation of this healthcare system of our dreams. And eventually, you know, the Democrats are going to fight tooth and nail to provide a public option for those who want it. But did they do anything on that front at all? No, of course, nothing, zero. Now there are wonderful progressives who are fighting for the right things.

Starting point is 00:23:10 They're doing their best. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of them in Congress. And as we know, our system of legalized bribery continues. And it continues to, crush efforts to pass a single payer healthcare system both on a federal level, but also on a state level in states like California that continuously get touted as progressive blue states when in reality corporate Democrats tend to rule the game. And there's a price to pay. Notably, the 30 million Americans who continue to be uninsured, the 30 million Americans who are still struggling with our broken health care system, even in the middle of a global pandemic. And remember, Joe Biden during the pandemic can single-handedly unilaterally expand Medicare to cover every single uninsured American, but he refuses to do it. My guess is he realizes, much like other corporate Democrats, that if more Americans see just how well a system like that would work, they would maybe get a little more aggressive in demanding it. But the proof is in the polls. The proof is in the data, the numbers.

Starting point is 00:24:19 the arguments that you hear Katie Porter and other progressives make during this hearing on Medicare for all. But it is interesting to see how evidence doesn't really matter. The will of the American voters doesn't really matter. And things will continue to move in that direction unless we do something to change the way our government functions, unless we do something with the virus that continues to corrupt our politicians to work against the will of the voters. All right, we got to take a quick break. When we come back, we've got more news for you, including one of my favorite stories of the day, Alex Jones, just dealing with a lot of legal problems. I love to talk about these stories. He deserves it and more. So we've got those details when we come back. Stick around.

Starting point is 00:25:18 Ice cream. Welcome back everyone, Anna Casparian with you. Let's get right to our next story because there's more good news. And believe it or not, it involves Alex Jones. The families of Sandy Hook victims have rejected a desperate attempt by Alex Jones to settle their defamation lawsuit against him. Now, he offered them, what I would argue is a tiny amount of money and they got together and every single one of them said, no way. Let me give you the details. Jones offered to give each plaintiff $120,000, which the families unanimously rejected. In court

Starting point is 00:26:08 filings, they said the offer was a transparent and desperate attempt by Alex Jones to escape a public reckoning under oath with his deceitful profit-driven campaign against the plaintiffs and the memory of their loved ones lost at Sandy Hook. Now, this is a story we've been following. Alex Jones decided to, I mean, engage in some of the most horrific, defamatory content, calling the Sandy Hook massacre a hoax, referring to parents who lost their children as crisis. actors and what did that lead to? It led to all sorts of audience members harassing these individuals, harassing these people who lost their own children. There's the Posner family. They had to move seven times because of the credible death threats they were dealing with. In fact, some members

Starting point is 00:27:06 of Alex Jones's audience had to deal with prosecution as a result of the threats that they were directing toward the families of these Sandy Hook victims. I mean, it's just keep in mind, like, that massacre left 28 people dead, two injured, okay? There were 18 children, innocent children who died as a result of that. And you have Alex Jones profiting off of his defamatory content in regard to these families. Now, also offering them $120,000 is a joke, especially when you look at how much Alex Jones profits from his garbage programming. Here's a recent headline from Rolling Stone. Alex Jones raked in $165 million over three years selling supplements and prepper gear. Can I just say, listen, I get the desire to be healthy. Everyone wants like a magic

Starting point is 00:28:06 cure for whatever ails them. And sometimes those commercials for those, whatever supplement could be very enticing. I would just take a good hard look at the sweaty tooth madman who's, you know, shilling for these supplements. Like I don't look at Alex Jones and think, oh yeah, no, that guy nailed it. Yeah, he looks like he's super healthy. Mine, body, soul, totally gets it. No, not really. I can't believe he makes that much money of selling these supplements. Now, let's get back to the defamation suit because Alex Jones did lose the defamation suit. And it's his own doing. It's not only because of the fact that he engaged in defamation, but because he just refused to cooperate with the lawsuit. He refused to hand over documents in

Starting point is 00:28:56 the discovery portion of the suit. And so to give you the details on that, the settlement, offer in the Connecticut case came from Jones personally and a constellation of companies associated with him, including free speech systems, Info Wars, Info Wars Health and Prison Planet TV. It also included something approaching an apology from Jones reading in full. Mr. Jones extends his heartfelt apology for any distress his remarks caused. Well, that apology wasn't good enough for these family members. They did not want to settle. Now the families sued Jones in a Connecticut court back in 2018 for repeatedly claiming on air that the shooting was a giant hoax to advance a gun control agenda. They won a default judgment against him

Starting point is 00:29:46 in November. Sandy Hook families in a separate case against Jones in Texas also won a default judgment against him in October. Now, why is it a default judgment? Again, because of the fact that he refused to cooperate with the court. When you're being sued and you are asked to hand over documents as part of the discovery process, it's not like a suggestion. You have to do it. And since Alex Jones refused to do it repeatedly, the judge had no choice but to find him guilty of defamation. Now, he's dealing with other legal issues as well. And it's very costly for him to the tune of $50,000 a day. We'll get to those details in a second. But before we do, I just really want to emphasize the pain and suffering

Starting point is 00:30:32 that these parents dealt with as a result of this disgusting grifter Alex Jones. We're going to hear from Lenny Posner, who again lost his six-year-old son, Noah, and he ended up becoming the target of Alex Jones viewers. Let's watch. I've described it as it's not a wound that heals over and disappears. It's always there. It's carrying it. This is a wound that you carry for the rest of your life. That's the new normal. And some of the conspiracy theories that came out early on was that I never even attended Noah's funeral because there were no photos or video of me in this reality show for conspiracy theorists. It should be investigated. All I'm saying is you should investigate what really happened. Most fake mass shootings, they have shooters and then kill a patsy.

Starting point is 00:31:23 In 2014, I reached out to people that went on a show saying, how can you go on a show like that when he's spreading so much misinformation and causing the targeting of victims? And they said, well, that's a show business. Lenny Posner and his family were forced to move seven times for their own safety because of the people targeting him and his family, the threats that he was. was dealing with. They were afraid for their lives. And I mean, you see what kind of like rabid lunatic Alex Jones is. Can you imagine what his hardcore fans are like? Can you imagine being targeted by Alex Jones and having his audience members come after you? I mean, and let me just say, if you're forced to move for your own safety seven different times, that's costly. And so offering A $120,000 settlement for all the pain and suffering this family has dealt with for years

Starting point is 00:32:27 is a joke. And I'm glad that they rejected it. I'm glad that it was unanimous. Now, I also want to get to how ridiculous Alex Jones was during his own deposition. He did show up for the deposition, and it was a nightmare because it turns out he's a pretty bad guy. So let's watch that video. You've done mocking imitations of Sandy Hook parents crying, correct? No. I want to play you a video clip, too, from September 24th, 2014, and November 11th, 2016. We play the video clip called crying. And then you've got parents laugh and go, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, and they walk over some camera,

Starting point is 00:33:09 and go, not just one, but a bunch of parents doing this. And we see footage of one of the reported fathers of the victims, Robbie Parker, doing classic acting training where he's laughing and joking. And they say, hey, we're live. And he goes, oh, and maybe that's real. I'm sure it is. You realize now you were mocking the difficult emotional reactions of people who provably lost their children. No, I was not mocking. I was showing what people were questioning was not to mock the parents.

Starting point is 00:33:46 It was showing why people were questioning each you that is projecting mocking onto it. I was showing what he did. Yeah, he was mocking them. I think it's pretty clear what he was doing. But whether he's mocking them or not doesn't matter. It's the narrative that he was putting out there over and over and over again, that the crying was fake, that they were acting, that it was all just a hoax meant to take precious guns away from rabid right wingers who love Alex Jones and his show. I mean, and these people got all riled up. Some of them ended up issuing threats that were so credible that they got prosecuted. But let's go back to Alex Jones and the trouble

Starting point is 00:34:31 he's in. So a judge has actually just decided to charge him $50,000 a day because he just refuses to show up to court. Let me give you the details. Jones is in trouble for twice skipping a court order deposition in the Connecticut case. His lawyer said in court filings that Jones was dealing with an undisclosed medical issue. The lawyers for the Sandy Hook families pointed out that Jones wasn't too sick to call into his own show and asked the court to issue a warrant for his arrest. Now, ignore the last part of that graphic because this story has since been updated. The judge has weighed in on what the punishment will be for Alex Jones, and he will be charged $50,000 a day until he shows up to his depositions.

Starting point is 00:35:22 So we'll see how that all plays out. He clearly has quite a bit of money selling those, you know, scam supplements. So, you know, maybe, maybe this is like a sustainable thing for him, who knows? But I love to see the consequences that he so rightly deserves. Okay, when we have discussions about freedom of speech, we need to keep in mind that there are limitations to all of our freedoms. We don't have the right to go around inciting violence toward people who have already been victimized by a school shooting.

Starting point is 00:35:56 We don't have the right to engage in rhetoric that puts other people in harm's way. So for all the clowns out there who keep defending Alex Jones, not because they like him, it's not that I like Alex Jones, it's just that I really value free speech. Well, even under our constitutional rights, what Alex Jones engaged in, not protected by our Constitution. It's not protected by our First Amendment. In fact, it's, it's what I just said is So true that he's actually paying real consequences that have been decided in a court of law. Okay, so I love it. I think that this is what he deserves. I think it sends a clear message to others who decide to add insult to injury and make up all sorts of crazy inflammatory

Starting point is 00:36:49 garbage stories about victims like the like the Posner family, Posner family. And we'll see. how long this is going to go on. But I just love the fact that he thinks he can just, that he's above the law, doesn't need to show up to court, doesn't need to hand over the documentation that's been ordered by the court. Sorry, he's not above the law. I love, I love seeing this happen to him. He deserves it. Anyway, so why don't we digest that piece of good news that we just got? Take a break. And when we come back, we've got some labor stories to share with you. Stick around. Welcome back to TY-Y-T-Y-T Anna Casparian with you. And I wanted to dedicate a block of the show today on some updates on the labor movement.

Starting point is 00:37:46 There's two big stories that we've been keeping our radar on. One involving Amazon, of course. So let's do it, let's talk about it. Chris was bringing grilled chicken and pasta to feed the workers. We had just finished passing out all the food. And then I went outside to talk to Chris because I saw the general manager talking to him. He approached me. He asked me to leave the premises. And I said, you know, I will leave.

Starting point is 00:38:19 I complied. I said I'll leave several minutes later. That's when five or six squad cars pulled up. about 12 police officers jumped out. Several members of my union, the ALU, came out of the cafeteria to my aid. And the police officers actually started to arrest them before they arrested me. Turns out that Amazon has learned nothing after its union busting debacle in Bessemer, Alabama. In fact, it will likely have to face more legal challenges very soon, since there seems to be

Starting point is 00:38:56 some collusion taking place between Amazon and the New York Police Department. More Perfect Union has put out a video detailing how union organizers were swiftly arrested, including Chris Smalls, which, I mean, it's just, it really does remind me of what happened in Occupy Wall Street, right, when Zuccotti Park was cleared out by the NYPD. And the NYPD had just received a massive donation from J.P. Morgan Chase, tens of millions of dollars. And when we talk about policing in this country, it is interesting to see how fiercely they protect corporations, how fiercely they protect property. But when it comes to the rights of workers, not so concerned. The idea of arresting someone for providing food to workers is, I mean, it tells you everything you need to know about the priorities here.

Starting point is 00:39:52 This is taking place at JFK 8 in Staten Island and I want to go to more of this more perfect union video because it just shows you how gross the treatment has been. And this isn't a unique incident. This isn't a unique case. We're seeing this at other Amazon warehouses across the country. Let's watch. I was the third one to be arrested. And obviously for no reason, they charged me with a trespassing. As they were leaving, said, we won, you lost. So it's apparent to us that the Staten Island police are really the 21st century Pinkerton force for Amazon. I mean, this is the third time that the police have been harassing the organizers. So this isn't just like the first time this has occurred.

Starting point is 00:40:44 And not only is it not the first time it's occurred. We see other union busting tactics, other election interference for union organizers in other states as well. We'll get to those details. But what happened to Chris Smalls? Well, he is an Amazon labor union organizer and he ended up getting arrested, as you saw from the video. He was held in a prison cell for more than six hours after simply delivering food to his fellow organizers. That's it. I mean, they had to let him go because that's not a crime. In fact, what Amazon did in essentially getting the NYPD to arrest these organizers breaks certain NLRB rules, labor laws, and so of course the organizers are now planning to pursue

Starting point is 00:41:34 legal action as a result of this. And it seems like Amazon does think it's above the law. So for instance, workers say that the arrests were used to scare, intimidate, and punish workers from voting yes on unionization. A recent national labor relations board ruling actually forced Amazon to agree to stop this practice of union busting. In March, the national labor relations board sued Amazon against the company's flagrant unfair labor practices. In fact, Bessemer, Alabama, which of course made big news, its warehouse was attempting to unionize, was able to, the workers there were able to secure a revote for the union.

Starting point is 00:42:15 Their initial vote failed. And part of the reason why they're able to get an opportunity to vote again is because there was clear evidence of Amazon interfering with their election process. One of the other ways that they engage in union busting, and by the way, break labor laws while doing it is they snatch any type of union literature in the break rooms. And there's evidence of this. It's been documented. Again, this is JFK 8 in Staten Island. Let's watch. In another video, Tammy was confronted by one of the workers and he was like, hey, you know you're not allowed to do that. And she's like, oh, no, I'm not doing anything. I'm not doing anything. I'm not doing anything. I'm not doing anything at all. And then you see the video that we just showed you where she's clearly doing away with the union literature.

Starting point is 00:43:31 And there are other examples. For instance, in Bessemer, Alabama, there were instances of the employer. Forcing the workers to join in these meetings that were just meant to propagandize against the union. And look, if it's your source of income, if it's your job, if your livelihood depends on it, it's not far-fetched to be intimidated by those kinds of meetings, right? To be scared that if you do vote in favor to unionize, somehow the employers will find out, somehow you'll get fired, you'll lose your job. and then, you know, you're risking a lot. So it's really, really important that we have, you know, officials in the federal government in the NLRB that do the right thing and actually protect the rights of these workers as they're attempting to unionize. It's one of the positive components of the Biden administration. Obviously, I would like to see more. But compared to

Starting point is 00:44:28 what we saw in Trump's administration, you know, Biden's NLRB is more willing to just, in and protect the rights of workers, especially when their labor rights and certain labor laws are being broken by their employers. So look, this is an incredibly important effort in JFK-8. The revote in Bessemer, Alabama is also very important. It's one thing to have a small company that unionizes. That's also great. But when we talk about the largest employers in the country, Having a unionized workforce means more than just having the ability to change your immediate work environment. That's very important. However, you have the power and you have like baked in organization to essentially apply pressure on a much higher level, right? Apply pressure when it

Starting point is 00:45:22 comes to government policy. I just think you get far more bang for your buck, I guess, Far more bang for your organizing if you organize these massive corporations like Amazon, where they're employing so many Americans. And to have this organized effort to change their working conditions and also possibly apply pressure to state and federal government is really, really important. So I love to see it. I love that they're undeterred. And you see this like labor militancy kind of rising up that we hadn't seen in this country for literally, literally decades. I mean, unions are, unionized workers are a tiny, tiny percentage of workers in this country. But we're starting to see this very strong effort to change that. And I love

Starting point is 00:46:09 seeing it, especially at places like Amazon. So we'll keep updating you guys on this story as we learn more. For now, why don't we move on to yet another labor-related story? This one has a little to do with celebrities as well. Of course, the Oscars discourse overwhelmingly focused on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. It's the slap heard around the world, of course. But there's another Oscars related story that deserves a lot more attention. And it has to do with a labor dispute at the Chateau Monmont in Los Angeles. Now this is the hotel where Jay-Z and Beyonce decided to host an Oscars after party.

Starting point is 00:46:57 What they clearly either didn't know or didn't care to know about is the fact that there's currently a boycott taking place as a result of workers saying that they've been abused at this place of work, at the Chateaumormand, okay? And so the unite here local 11 hospitality union has been boycotting the hotel since 2021 because of how poorly the employees have been treated. So just to fill you in on all of that and then I'll give you the update on this Oscars after party. In 2020, Chateau Marmont owner laid off nearly all of his employees at the onset of the pandemic without providing severance packages or extended health insurance. Months later, more than 30 staffers told the Hollywood reporter about long, simmering workplace issues, including allegations of systemic racial discrimination and sexual misconduct. Those are pretty serious allegations.

Starting point is 00:47:52 And if there's a boycott taking place, maybe reconsider hosting your. after party event at this place. But nonetheless, Jay-Z and Beyonce went forward with it. Now, both sexual harassment and racism apparently were running rampant at this hotel. Five employees, one man and four women, told the Hollywood reporter that they were inappropriately touched by the owner, Belize, either at work or during company events, typically on their buttocks or while he was inebriated. What's weird is that it didn't feel personal, says one chateau staffer.

Starting point is 00:48:31 He was just in a promiscuous mood. He does it in a way that makes you feel unseen by him. And there were other allegations as well. For instance, there was a restaurant staffer in a supervising role who allegedly directed ethnic slurs at a group of Latino kitchen workers multiple times a week for years. They didn't feel they could report the situation without potential blowback. And so on March 21st, Variety actually revealed that Jay-Z and Beyonce were going to host this Oscars after-party event. There was backlash to that.

Starting point is 00:49:07 So I don't believe for a second that like they were unaware that there is a boycott taking place. I just don't think they really cared about it. The union and former Chateau Marmont employees actually organized press conferences. They sent letters to city officials in the following days to try to put an end to the party. But to no avail, obviously the party still happened. And so with no other options, they decided, all right, then we're going to go ahead and protest right outside of the hotel as all these celebrities are arriving for the event. And so here are the celebrities who decided to show up, didn't really seem to care too much about the boycott. It makes me really sad because there are a lot of people on this list that I like, Janelle Monet, Emily Radikowski.

Starting point is 00:49:54 who's usually right on a lot of political policy issues, not surprised about Kim Kardashian, Chloe Kardashian and all of that. In fact, Kim Kardashian's dealing with some blowback after she made some ridiculous comments about women, like she was asked to give women advice. And this is the advice she decided to give them.

Starting point is 00:50:16 I have the best advice for women in business. Get your stuff up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days. That's so true. You have to surround yourself with people that want to work. Have a good work environment where everyone loves what they do because you have one life. No toxic work environments and show up and do the work. You have to work.

Starting point is 00:50:41 And obviously what she's saying there is work for me. Right? Like that's what like she's apparently having some sort of issue with her own employees and decided to get super salty about it in that ridiculous interview. in that statement. But last week, she did address the blowback that she got for issuing that statement. She says, it wasn't a blanket statement toward women or to feel like I don't respect the work or think that they don't work hard. I know that they do. It was taken out of context. It wasn't. But I'm really sorry if it was received that way. So there's her nonapology, really. And by the way, after she issued that statement, a bunch of her, you know, former

Starting point is 00:51:25 employees came out and had something to share with everyone. Kim Kardashian West is facing claims from seven members of her domestic staff that say that they were not paid enough or given breaks while employed at her California home. The plaintiffs claim Kardashian West failed to pay overtime, cover expenses and provide legally mandated breaks according to a civil action filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. So look, those are accusations. We'll see how that lawsuit plays out. But given the way that she issued that statement, I wouldn't be surprised. Given the fact that she had no problem crossing that picket line to attend some Oscars after party, I'm also not surprised. And, you know, let's get back to some of the people, though, who actually did do the right thing.

Starting point is 00:52:16 So a union representative said that Casey Affleck, after hearing about the protest from the organizers, gave a thumbs up and turned away from the party. Love to hear it. Also a representative for the protest said that Lakeith Stanfield told the assembled group, quote, I respect what you're doing, But it's unclear whether or not he went inside, but it's good to show solidarity with a statement. Hopefully he didn't go inside. But there are others who decided to skip the party after learning about the boycott, want to give them a lot of credit as well. Gabrielle Union, Spike Lee, Issa Ray, I'm so happy to hear it.

Starting point is 00:52:55 I love her so much. Samira Wiley, Jane Fonda, Martin Sheen, Tom Morello, not surprised about that at all, by the way. Eddie Falco, Amanda Seafried, and everyone else that you see. see on that list. Deveed Diggs, Tanahishi Coats and Sarah Silverman have all publicly backed the boycott and I love to hear it. Sarah Silverman is also wonderful. I mean, she's pretty active politically speaking and I love hearing her perspectives. So that solidarity is important. It's really important to show that, you know, the workers at these places that we love so much that we enjoy going to are being treated right, they're being paid well. But more importantly,

Starting point is 00:53:34 that their work environment is a safe one, a place that they actually feel safe going to and earning a living in. And based on what we've heard from these employees at the Chateau Marmont, that has not been the case. And it's really sad to see all of these incredibly wealthy celebrities, not really taking into account their privilege. They love to virtue signal about privilege. But when push comes to shove, they never actually carry out the right actions that show solidarity with the workers. Anyway, so that is, that's it. That's the first hour today. I'm going to now kick it off to Jank Uger and John Ida Rolla. It's going to be a great second hour. A bunch of stories in their hour that I actually wanted for myself,

Starting point is 00:54:16 but I felt it would be better for them to discuss. So stick around. We'll be back after a brief break and you're going to love the show. See you soon. Thanks for 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 at apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.

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The Young Turks - The After Party

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