UNBIASED - July 8, 2024: Biden's Letter to Lawmakers Attempting to Ease Concerns, White House Logs Show Visits By Parkinson's Specialist, RNC Panel Approves Change to Abortion Stance, and Boeing to Plead Guilty.

Episode Date: July 8, 2024

1. President Biden Sits for Interview with ABC; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Holds Meeting, Biden Sends Letter to Lawmakers, Public White House Logs Raise Questions About Possible Parkinson's... Disease (0:32)2. Republican National Committee Panel Approves Draft Proposal Changing Platform's Position on Federal Abortion Limits (7:45)3. Boeing Says It Will Plead Guilty to One Charge of Fraud After Violating Deferred Prosecution Agreement with DOJ (9:57)Support ‘UNBIASED’ on Patreon.Watch this episode on YouTube.Follow Jordan on Instagram and TikTok.All sources for this episode can be found here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:50 call the Conax Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Welcome back to Unbiased, your favorite source of unbiased news and legal analysis. Welcome back to Unbiased. Today is Monday, July 8th, and this is your daily news rundown. If you love the unbiased approach that this episode provides and you feel more informed after listening, please go ahead and leave my show a review on whatever platform you listen, share the show with your friends, and if you're watching on YouTube, please just go ahead and hit that thumbs up button and subscribe to the channel if you're not subscribed already. All of those things really help me out. So thank you very much. And without further ado, we can get into today's stories, starting with the first of three stories
Starting point is 00:01:37 today. And it's also an update to President Biden's campaign. President Biden sat with ABC News for an exclusive interview, which aired on Friday, and discussed not only his performance at CNN's presidential debate, but also the future of his campaign. So what I'm going to do is I'll play a few clips, a few snippets from the ABC interview, just in case you haven't heard it. And then from there, we'll talk about what's been taking place since within the walls of Congress and how President Biden himself is responding. Mr. President, thank you for doing this. Let's start with a debate. You and your team have said you had a bad night, but your friend Nancy Pelosi actually framed the question that I think is on the minds of
Starting point is 00:02:20 millions of Americans. Was this a bad episode or the sign of a more serious condition? It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing. And a bad night. I guess the question, the problem is
Starting point is 00:02:40 here for a lot of Americans watching is you've said going back to 2020, watch me. To people who are concerned about your age. As you've said, going back to 2020, watch me. To people who are concerned about your age. And, you know, 50 million Americans watched that debate. It seemed to confirm fears they already had. Well, look, after that debate, I did 10 major events in a row, including until 2 o'clock in the morning after that debate.
Starting point is 00:03:02 I did events in North Carolina. I did events in Georgia. Did events like this today. Large crowds, overwhelming response, no slipping. And so I just had a bad night. I don't know why. Are you the same man today that you were when you took office three and a half years ago?
Starting point is 00:03:22 In terms of successes, yes. I also was the guy who put together a peace plan for the Middle East that may be coming to fruition. I was also the guy that expanded NATO. I was also the guy that grew the economy. All the individual things that were done were ideas I had or I fulfilled. I moved on. I know you said you have an ongoing assessment. Have you had a full neurological and cognitive evaluation? I get a full neurological test every day with me. And I've had a full physical. I had, you know, I mean, I've been able to read for my physicals.
Starting point is 00:03:58 I mean, yes. I know your doctor said he consulted with a neurologist. I guess I'm asking a slightly different question. Have you had the specific cognitive tests, and have you had a neurologist, a specialist, do an examination? No, no one said I had to. No one said they said I'm good. Would you be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation that included neurological and cognitive tests
Starting point is 00:04:23 and release the results to the American people? Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world. And that sounds like hyperbole. But we are the central nation in the world. I don't know if I was right.
Starting point is 00:04:43 Of course, if you want to watch the full interview, I have a YouTube link for you in the sources section of this episode. But following the airing of that interview, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hosted a call for the Democratic conference Sunday afternoon. And according to sources on that call, some Democrats, not all, but some representatives, Democrat representatives, said that Biden should step aside. Democratic Senator Mark Warner also had a meeting planned specifically for Democratic senators on Monday, but that meeting was canceled as of today. Senator Warner says he has not decided whether he thinks Biden should step aside.
Starting point is 00:05:22 All this to say, there has been a lot of discussion happening within the confines of Congress when it comes to Democratic lawmakers. In light of the concern, President Biden sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers this morning. The letter reads in part, quote, now that you have returned from the July 4th recess, I want you to know that despite all speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump. I have heard the concerns that people have, their good faith fears and worries about what is at stake in this election. I can respond to all this by saying clearly and
Starting point is 00:06:01 unequivocally, I would not be running again if I did not absolutely believe that I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024. End quote. The letter continues, quote, we had a Democratic nomination process and the voters have spoken clearly and decisively. I received over 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast across the entire nominating process. This was a process open to anyone who wanted to run. Only three people chose to challenge me. The voters of the Democratic Party have voted. They have chosen me to be the nominee of the party. Do we now just say this process didn't matter, that the voters don't have a say? I decline to do that, end quote. The president then concludes the letter by writing, quote, The question of how to move forward has been well aired for over a week now, and it's time for it to end.
Starting point is 00:06:48 We have one job, and that is to beat Donald Trump. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump. End quote. That full letter is also included in the sources section of this episode if you're interested in reading it. In addition to this letter, we also know that this afternoon, President Biden got on a call with top donors. One donor on the call expressed Biden's attitude as, quote, feisty and defiant about staying in the race and beating Trump. And then finally, this afternoon, we got a update from White House logs, not necessarily about Biden's
Starting point is 00:07:32 health. Nothing has been confirmed. But what came out this afternoon is that according to White House visitor logs, a neurologist and movement disorders specialist named Dr. Kevin Kennard visited the White House eight times between last July and March of this year. That's about once a month. Now, again, the White House did not confirm nor deny whether the doctor was advising the president specifically when he made those visits. The White House only said in a statement, quote, a wide variety of specialists from the Walter Reed system visit the White House complex to treat thousands of military personnel who work on the grounds, end quote. Importantly, just in February, there was a summary of the president's annual physical release, which said that the neurologist found no signs of Parkinson's disease. So again,
Starting point is 00:08:18 it's unconfirmed whether the doctor was on site for President Biden or some other White House staff, but the White House will not confirm nor deny. Another piece of information we have is that prior to July of 2023, that specific doctor had only visited the White House once in November of 2022. So that is your update on everything currently going on with President Biden's campaign. Let's now shift gears and move across the aisle. A Republican National Committee panel overwhelmingly approved a draft platform proposal today, which shifts the party's current stance on abortion. The new text will receive a final vote tomorrow behind closed doors. According to reports, here is how the new text differs from the platform's previous position. Previously in 2016, the Republican Party passed text that included a 20-week federal limit
Starting point is 00:09:12 on abortions or called for states to pass what was called the Human Life Amendment, and that was a proposal for an amendment to the Constitution that says life begins at conception. That same proposal was then adopted in 2020. However, the text that passed the RNC panel today instead says that states are free to pass laws protecting the rights granted in the 14th Amendment. In other words, states are free to pass laws protecting life at conception or any time thereafter. This change signals that the party's platform is shifting away from abortion limits being a matter for the federal government, or at least shifting away from such a direct stance. The text reads in part, quote, we proudly stand for families and life. We believe that the 14th
Starting point is 00:09:57 Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life or liberty without due process, and that the states are therefore free to pass laws protecting End quote. Now, I do want to be clear that at this time, the public does not have access to the draft text. The text that I just read is based on sources of people familiar with the vote. I would imagine once the text goes to a full vote tomorrow, we'll get access to the text, and then at that point, I can go over it with a bit more certainty, but that is what we know as of now. And then whatever the committee and full membership adopt tomorrow will be unveiled to the full Republican National Committee on July 15th at their national convention. In some non-political
Starting point is 00:10:58 news, and as our final story of the day, Boeing says it will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge after violating an earlier agreement that protected it from prosecution. So the deal requires Boeing to pay an additional $243 million fine, be subject to an independent monitor who will oversee Boeing's safety and quality procedures for the next three years, and requires Boeing to invest at least $455 million into its compliance and safety programs. But to really understand this, we need to back up a little bit. It'll all make a little bit more sense. Boeing was first charged with fraud back in January 2021 in light of the 2018 and 2019 crashes, but it entered into what's called a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ.
Starting point is 00:11:43 If you're around for my reports on Hunter Biden, this term may sound familiar, but a deferred prosecution agreement, or DPA for short, essentially puts prosecution on hold for a fixed amount of time in exchange for certain actions or omissions from the defendant. If at any point within the time allotted in the DPA, the defendant breaches their obligations under the agreement, they open themselves up to prosecution. However, if the defendant fulfills their obligations within that time period of the DPA, they're safe from prosecution and their charge or charges will be dropped once that DPA expires. In this case, the DOJ charged Boeing with conspiring to defraud the government in 2021. But per the DPA, Boeing essentially said, as long as you pay a fine of $2.5 billion,
Starting point is 00:12:32 which will go towards the government, the establishment of a fund to compensate the families of the victims of the 2018 and 2019 crashes, airlines that were unable to use these 737 MAX planes while they were grounded, and airline customers, and you admit that your employees misled regulators about the safety of the 737 MAX, you cooperate with any ongoing or future investigations and prosecutions, you report any evidence or allegation of fraud being committed by any Boeing employee or agent, and a few other things, you will be free of any charges at the end of this three-year term. Fast forward to this year when the emergency exit door blew off a 737 plane mid-flight. The DOJ opens a new investigation. Since then, multiple
Starting point is 00:13:22 whistleblowers have come forward raising concerns, and not only concerns, but also said that when they would raise these concerns to Boeing management, Boeing wouldn't do anything about it and instead would retaliate against those employees. These events led to the DOJ's determination that Boeing had breached the terms of its original DPA and was now open to prosecution. But instead of prosecuting, as many of the crash victims' families wanted, the DOJ offered a plea deal. And that is the deal that Boeing said last night it was going to accept. Under the terms of this new plea deal, Boeing will plead guilty to one count of criminal conspiracy to defraud the government, which it didn't have to do under the DPA.
Starting point is 00:14:03 Boeing will have to pay an additional fine of $243 million, again be subject to that independent monitor to oversee the company's safety and quality procedures for the next three years, and has to invest at least $455 million into its compliance and safety programs. Now, the one thing I want to make clear, this deal does not protect Boeing from liability stemming from the exit door situation, despite that being the event that led to this investigation and plea deal. Remember, the original DPA was conditional on Boeing complying with its terms. If it didn't, it was open to prosecution of the charges at the center of that DPA, which the Alaska Airlines incident was not a part of, hadn't taken place yet. The Alaska Airlines door incident is merely what led to the new investigation and the determination of the breach of the DPA, but it doesn't change the charges at issue in the original
Starting point is 00:14:55 DPA. So this plea deal only covers wrongdoing by Boeing involving the 2018 and 2019 crashes. It doesn't give Boeing immunity for any other incident, including the Alaska Airlines door incident. From here, the Justice Department will file the written plea agreement, which it says it expects to do by July 19th. At that point, the judge overseeing the case will have to accept or reject the agreement. If the judge accepts the agreement, that's the end of it. But if the judge rejects the agreement, then Boeing and the DOJ will have to go back to negotiations, try to reach a deal that is acceptable to the judge. And if they can't reach an agreement that the judge accepts, then the DOJ could decide to move forward with prosecution. That is where that situation stands. Again, Boeing has not pled guilty yet.
Starting point is 00:15:46 It just says that it intends to do so. And then from there, court still has to accept the plea deal. So there's still quite a few things that need to happen before that's all said and done. That is what I have for you today. Thank you so much for being here. Have a great night and I will talk to you tomorrow.

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