1/30/25: DCA Plane Crash, RFK Confirmation, Trump UFO Coverup, Medicaid Chaos & MORE!

calling all Yellowstone fans. Let's go to work. Join Bobby Bones on the official Yellowstone podcast for exclusive cast interviews behind the scenes' insights and a deep dive into the themes that have made Yellowstone a cultural phenomenon. Our family legacy is this ranch. When I protect it with my life. Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm so sick of hearing men talk about women's basketball. This is Lexi Brown and Mariah Rose, and we've got a new podcast, Full Circle. Every Wednesday, we're catching you up on what's going on in women's basketball. We've got you with analysis, insight stories, and a little bit of tea. Full Circle is an iHeart Women's Sports production and partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Listen to Full Circle on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyeloho, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter. Listen to My Legacy on the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is My Legacy.

Hey guys, Sagar and Crystal here. Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election, and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show. This is the only place where you can find honest perspectives from the left and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else. So if that is something that's important to you, please go to breakingpoints.com, become a member today, and you'll get access to our full shows, unedited, ad-free, and all put together for you every morning in your inbox.

We need your help to build the future of independent news media, and we hope to see you at breakingpoints.com. Morning, everybody. We have a great show for everybody today, but we have a horrible tragedy here in the DC area, which we're going to go ahead and start with. So go ahead, Crystal. Yeah, so we're going to have breaking news about that mid-flight collision between a regional jet and a military helicopter tell you everything we know. This morning, we're also going to take a look at some of the political news coming out of DC. We had the RFK confirmation yesterday.

Tulsi's hearing is going to be today. We're going to give you the latest on whatever's going on with that spending freeze, another judge, Wade in there. We're going to try to get in a block with the breaking news. The show is a little bit scrambled. We're going to try to get in a block about Elon's attempts to cull the federal workforce. Jeremy Corporal is going to join. We got an answer from the White House sort of on the New Jersey drone situation. Not very satisfying, so Jeremy will do a great job breaking that down.

And Peter Bynard is going to join me to talk about his new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza. But let's go ahead and break into that horrific news we got last night, a regional jet, American Airlines regional jet, that was traveling from Wichita, Kansas collided last night with a military Blackhawk helicopter. That was doing a training flight from Thort Belvoir.

64 people were on board that American Airlines jet. Three were on board the military helicopter as far as we know. Search and rescue efforts this morning are ongoing in the icy Potomac River at this point.

It's hard to imagine that there would be survivors, but we continue to pray for some kind of a miracle. Thus far, as of 8.01 AM, the latest that we have is that 27 bodies have been recovered of those who were known to be on board. And this is the first major airline accident that we've had in this country

since 2009. I'm going to show you a video that was taken from a nearby webcam that shows the mid-air collision and the explosion. I mean, it is horrifying to watch, so just awarding before I go ahead and put this up on the screen. But let's go ahead and play this so people can see what we're talking about. This is the

approach and then you see this explosion mid-air. If you look more closely here, you can actually see the jet and then the helicopter coming right towards it. And you see the moment of impact and this unbelievable flash in the sky, you know, people who were nearby at DCA. This is literally miles away from where we sit right now.

said that they were able to see the explosion. They heard a loud boom. Of course, the airport is completely shuttered at this point in time. And there are going to be a lot of questions about how the hell this happened. But let's take a listen to this is actually an Australian news broadcast, but they did a good job of breaking down what we know as of relatively recently about what occurred. Let's take a listen to that.

This plane was immediately diverted away from the airport. The passengers watching the horrifying news unfolding beneath them on their in-flight screens. The Batomax splits two states, Maryland and Virginia and Washington DC. The White House is just kilometers from the crash site, as well as the Capitol building and some of America's most important national monuments. The Pentagon is just across the river. It's our deep sorrow about these events.

This is a difficult day for all of us at American Airlines. And the American Airlines care team has been activated to assist our passengers and their families. So that's a little bit of information that was coming out yesterday evening. We have a photo that we can show you here of some of the wreckage that is being pulled from the Potomac. You can see the airport there in the background. Anyone who's traveled to DC or lives in this area, very familiar.

With this airport very familiar with the approach, the airspace around here is tremendously busy. That's something we'll return to. Maybe one of the factors that contributed to this, but at this point, you know, we're just learning the very basics. And then let's put the CNN tear sheet up on the screen as well that gives what we know.

about what was going on at the time of this crash. So the headline here, FAA issues ground stop at Reagan National Airport after passenger plane collides mid-air with helicopter. And they say in this article, the passenger plane was American Airlines Flight 534-2, operated by PSA Airlines. It was traveling from Wichita, Kansas. I saw some information this morning also that indicated there were a number of kids who were returning from a figure skating camp.

who had been selected to get to go to this camp and they were on their way back. The kids and the coaches, some of them were the individuals who were on board. That plane was due to land at the airport outside of DC per CNN, Wednesday evening collided midair with that U.S. Army helicopter as it approached the runway.

Flight records showed the plane was expected to land around 9 p.m. local time. D.C. Police said it received calls at 8.53 p.m. about an aircraft crash above the Potomac River, so it was just about to land. The U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter was on a training flight at the time of the incident.

The 12th Aviation Battalion based out of Fort Belvoir in Virginia provides helicopter transportation and technical rescue support to the National Capital Region remains unclear where the Black Hawk took off from before the collision. So that is by and large what we know, Sagar, at this point.

It's just really horrifying, honestly, to think about it. I drove past the crash site this morning. The airport remains sealed. It's very eerie morning here in Washington. There's no planes up in the sky. As we said, this is one of the busiest airports in the entire country, one of the busiest runways, one of the most congested pieces of airspace. And it's very heavily controlled because it is so sensitive, close to the White House, the national monuments. Pentagon's right there. Pentagon, that's right. You literally can see much of it on my entire

drive in and it's horrifying to learn from the emergency rescue people. They say that no survivors are expected. We're obviously praying for a miracle, knowing some of what's happened. But yeah, for those who aren't aware, you know, coming into this airport, it happens right off of a river. It's very similar if you've ever flown into San Francisco airport, the similar type of approach that comes where you come straight off the water right onto the runway. This is a smaller aircraft, a regional jet that was coming in. It was coming into one of the smaller ones.

here in Washington, and that appears to be right where the collision. But the big question mark is how this is all possible. I mean, for me, it's genuinely unfathomable that helicopters are crisscrossing this runway. I'm told by the transportation secretary who just did a press conference this morning, he says, a routine flight path, of course, of which I had.

No idea. We can only speculate a little bit at this time. Some of the aviation experts that I've checked in on basically say that it was a perfect storm of horrible things that happened where air traffic control called out to the helicopter, told them to watch out for a RJ, which is shorthand for a smaller aircraft.

regional jet. There was actually a regional jet that was taking off at the same time. So the speculation is, is the helicopter pilots are looking over to the right at a taking off aircraft. Air traffic control tells them, hey, you need to get behind that aircraft. They think that they have plenty of clearance for that takeoff. When meanwhile, what air traffic control really meant was this incoming regional jet that was landing, making its final approach. Helicopter pilots eyes are to the right where the jet is coming in on the left.

The other problem is when you're coming down is that the collision lights apparently on the helicopter would have looked just like the landing lights. There's a lot of other lights happening here. As you come down, you're literally landing in the midst of a major city and there's lights everywhere. So it would have been difficult for the pilot to distinguish. And also, I mean, if you're literally coming out on top of something,

and your eyes are trained directly on your landing strip or the runway, then you're not necessarily looking for peripheral vision. And that's how that happened. Because that's the most shocking part about the video is that just it looks almost like the helicopter is making a B line.

for it. Now, keep in mind now, we don't have, you know, look, all indications right now, this is an accident, but you know, there's all, there's a full investigation that remains to be happened. So we have three U.S. Army service members who are on board, the helicopter, you have some 60 odd passengers, apparently this is the if all are confirmed dead, which very, very likely, according to EMS and

Rescue, recovery, or the recovery operation currently going down. This is going to be the deadliest crash in the United States in 24 years, even more so than that 2009 crash in over New York states. And while that is the case, we know, because we've been covering here closely, there have been so many near misses.

in the past couple of years. And so many people raising red flags about, do we have enough air traffic controllers? You know, some of this has to do with also, this is unrelated obviously to this crash, but that raised a lot of questions about the manufacturer Boeing. This has been something that has been an ongoing concern because we had narrowly avoided horrible tragedies just in the past couple of years, several times. And now everybody's worst fears here.

coming true. This was Sean Duffy, the new transportation secretary's first day, literally, on the job. So now he's having to go out and give a press conference about this terrible tragedy. There are going to be a lot of questions about how the hell this could happen.

Let me go ahead and put M3 up on the screen. This is just the official announcement confirming the crash here from the FAA. They see a PSA, airlines, Bombardier, C3J, CRJ, sorry if I could read, 700 regional jet collided midair with the Sikorsky H60 helicopter commonly known as a Black Hawk.

while on approach to runway 33 at Reagan-Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time, PSA was operating that flight as American Airlines, departed from Wichita, Kansas, FAA, and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation. Sagar was alluding to the flight path of this regional jet. We have an animation. We can show you of this specific

flight path as it was being tracked here. You can see it there over Maryland and then it comes across the Potomac River and it's just about to land there at the airport when it crashes and the Potomac River there separates Maryland.

Virginia, you go a little bit further down and you're right there in DC. And so that is, you know, typical flight path. I did read that this was a particularly busy time at the airport. There were a lot of planes coming in, going out, et cetera. That could have contributed as Sager was alluding because you could have had confusion about which regional jet the helicopter was being warned about.

apparently air traffic control was in communication both with the regional jet attempting to land and with this military training helicopter as a layman. I don't know anything but it does seem crazy these helicopters were there at the time especially as the airport is so incredibly busy and I'm sure that will be a topic of this.

I've been landing at this airport literally since I was 18 years old. So almost 15 years. I've never seen helicopter out the way. Maybe I'm not paying attention. I don't know. But we do have a statement here from President Trump. Let's put that please on the screen. Quote, I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident, which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation. I will provide more details.

as they arise. And so that's really all we know now at this point now. The big question marks are about some of the things that we are going to look at for transportation safety and in the background of all of this. We'll recall all of those near misses that were happening over the last four years. Bizarrely, we seem to have weird connections to some of these. I mean, we were on the ground in Austin. I think the very hour that there was one of the nearest misses ever in U.S. history happened.

right there on the runway where they had to abort a landing very, very quickly and avoid collision there. But this raises big questions specifically really about the air traffic control, which have all the near misses have highlighted staffing problems, software issues, there's been accusations by the airlines, by the unions, et cetera. Nobody really knows anything. They're going to be a spotlight now.

on aviation safety. And that's the question mark now, because this is, you know, look, you know, it's not necessarily the Trump administration or whatever it's fault, but they're going to have to deal with it now that this happens. And that's the big question mark is what are they going to do? Because what I would like to say is somebody needs to burn for this.

This isn't just some we're throwing it to the pilot. If there is imprecise language that is not drilled into the heads of air traffic control or if some guy is tired because he's been on for a double shifter, something like that, we need to know every single thing about this because now it looks like some 60 odd people are dead.

as a result of this accident. You know, we need to talk about this helicopter situation. It's true. There are black hawks circling Washington literally all the time. For what reason? Why? You were supposed to be training. We're supposed to be doing training flights, which this apparently was right there across the airport. You know, there's go two miles down the other way. Look, again, easy. I'm a layman. I can always say this, but.

literally a customer of the airport and have been landing their millions of times. Lots of other people in this area. And most importantly, they're the families of these people. They will need both answers and every passenger. That's what Secretary Duffy said that we all learned. Like, we don't have question marks when we fly in the United States. It's a...

It's a point of pride for our FAA, for our country, to so see something like this, which is almost certainly some sort of horrible accident tragedy. There has to be major reforms. Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And look, Trump's been in office a week. I think it will be difficult. A lot of people are sharing, you know, some of the moves that he's made. He put the next piece up on the screen here for the Huffington Post that, you know, he came in, he got it a key aviation safety committee, fired the head of the TSA Coast Guard.

Obviously, we're going to try to get to a block later in the show about this. People are calling it a buyout. It's not really a buyout, but they say that people can continue working from home until the fall if they promise to resign at that point, but, you know, an effort to cull the federal government. Again, Trump's been in office for a week. However, I do think that this will cast

those attempts to strip the federal government down to bare bones in a different way because it is a reminder that having sufficient personnel of high quality

is can be a matter of life and death. The air traffic controllers will see whether they are to blame or not. That is continues to be an open question. But the functions of the federal government really, really matter. One thing that may be quite relevant here is some of the lever news outlet, David Serra does outlet that we always appreciate there, reporting

is out with this report. We can put this up on the screen. So months ago, before this collision, lawmakers brushed off warnings and boosted flights. So despite the fact that there had been mid-flight near Mrs. Dyer, please, airline bankrolled lawmakers recently expanded flight traffic at Washington's Busy Airport. Apparently, they just added an additional number of flights.

to this airport and all the both senators from Virginia and Maryland, so four senators total, voted against this as a protest saying this airport is already too busy. It's already dangerous. There are already too many flights going in and out. You can't add five more flights to this airport. Everybody else voted for this bill and

You know, was this a contributing factor to this crash? Nobody knows at this point, but that is certainly potentially the case that the busyness, just the sheer number of flights in and out of this airspace helped to create the dynamic that led to this horrific tragedy.

That's going to be one of the, actually it was very supportive of those opening slots. But for people who want to know why they did that, it's because lawmakers don't want to drive. If you're not from DC, it won't make a lot of sense. But there's two airports here. There's Washington DCA, which is like a 10-minute drive from the city. And then there's Washington Dulles, which is like an hour drive, maybe more with traffic.

and the people who represent the state of california and a few others who want direct flights from that they can get to from congress all open the up these new slots because they want to be able to go home quicker just so everybody understands uh... what their motivation was for voting for that you're absolutely right and actually one of the reasons uh... so i was supportive of that but one of the problems was they didn't increase the number of air traffic control and so the safety mechanisms that were at the airport now uh... actually was not fully aware that that provision had not been

added or have been extended more fully. Now obviously we are. So like I said, somebody, when 60 some odd people are killed, clearly as a result of systemic and even if it is pilot error, there are systemic things that have contributed to that. You need to have a full route to branch examination of all the problems that happened. It does appear that there have been people who have been warning about this now.

for years about both congestion, about DCA, specifically from the new slots being added at the airport and all of that. And so we should listen to them. We should need to have actual hearings, one of the least things that we should

It's one of those things where we really need to, for the families of those people who have so tragically lost their lives, like actually do them service and also for our own country. This is our nation's capital. Right. Well, and to avoid this happening again. Because as of just a few months ago, air traffic control, they're short, roughly 3,000 air traffic controllers nationwide. So there's been an ongoing shortage.

So I certainly hope that no air traffic controllers are planning to take the buyout because this is an area where we need more and highly qualified and capable. Well, I think that's for work from home. It's only for work from home employees to supply to everybody.

What they received, they received the same email, offering them the same thing. I think it went to every federal employee in terms of eligibility bill. Look, I have no idea. Actually, I haven't looked specifically to air traffic control. I know there were certain areas that were exempt in terms of which specific departments, because when they say it's all federal employees, really, half of the people

who even qualify, they blasted it to everybody. We'll talk about it more in the bio. But yes, listen, yeah, please stay. And beyond that, let's think about it. And you're right, you know, look, some of the federal government is extremely superfluous and stupid, and some of it's extremely

absolutely life or death critical and this is certainly one of those instances. So we'll keep an eye on anything new that comes out because this obviously has immense consequences for safety of air travel, which a lot of Americans already rightfully had a lot of concerns about given all the near-miss.

Of course, yeah, near Mrs. Boeing, you know, and all this, all these questions. I mean, don't forget about all of the investigations that happened after those horrible Boeing crashes as a result of software, and then nobody goes to jail for it, you know? This is what I'm talking about.

where we have, if you improperly are driving your car and it's your fault, you're going to face consequences for that. But when hundreds of people get killed as a result of this, people, oh, they have to pay a fine or whatever. Well, I don't think that's satisfactory. And so I'm really hoping that somebody gets punished for this, whoever is responsible, not a scalp or something like that, but somebody, an actual investigation from NTSB on downwards. And then we have real change.

Yes. If it's a human error, but also, like you said, it is likely to be emblematic of a broader systematic issue. Human errors occur within a vacuum. They occur within this aviation is one of those which were most tightly controlled, focused on specifically, like you said, because of the stakes.

Well, there's supposed to be multiple layers of failsays. It's supposed to be the case that you would have to have a whole series of things go wrong, mistakes and errors and things go wrong to result in this sort of a horrific crash because the stakes are so incredibly high.

really, really just so tragic for the families of all. All these people are going to learn more. I'll keep everybody updated as to all of it, but just awful for the city, for Wichita, where these people were all coming from. Apparently there were two world-class figure skaters, champions who were on the plane from Russia, all of them, just really, really tragically lost.

Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Each week, we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyello, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter, and their plus one, their ride or die, as they share stories never heard before about their remarkable journey.

Listen to my legacy on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. This is my legacy.

I'm so sick of hearing men talk about women's basketball. If only there were a professional WNBA player with her own podcast, I could listen to. Hey, this is Lixie Brown, WNBA player and professional yapper. And this is Mariah Rose. You may know me from spilling the tea on hoops for hotties on TikTok. And we've got a new podcast full circle. Every Wednesday, we're catching you up on what's going on in women's basketball and not just in the WNBA, but with athletes unlimited, unrivaled and college basketball.

We've got you with analysis, insight stories, and a little bit of tea. I know you guys have seen a lot of former and current basketball players telling their stories from their point of view, and I just think it's time for the girlies to tap in. We want to share all of the women's basketball stories that you won't see anywhere else. Tune in to Full Circle, an iHeartWomen's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeartWomen's Sports. Everyone's forgotten who runs this valley. Time to remind them. Yellowstone fans, step into the Yellowstone universe. Our family legacy is this ranch. When I'm protected with my life.

Hosted by Bobby Bones, the official Yellowstone podcast takes you deeper into the franchise that's captivated millions worldwide. Explore untold behind-the-scenes stories, exclusive cast interviews, and in-depth discussions about the themes and legacy of Yellowstone. You know, the first dozens to settle this valley fight was all they knew.

Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the ranch. Welcome to the Yellowstone. Bobby Bones has everything you need to stay connected to the Yellowstone phenomenon. I look forward to it. Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Let's go to RFK Junior. So, RFK Junior testified yesterday. He will testify again before the United States Senate, two different committees that he appears over because HHS has actually split into two, the Health and Human Services Department, for oversight before the Senate. So, this was first. You did see the opening of what's we're likely to see more of today. Lots of democratic attacks here on RFK Junior using some of his past statements

against him. First, we're going to go ahead and take a listen to his opening statement where he thanked President Trump and basically laid out the make America healthy again movement and we'll get into some of the Q&A. Let's take a listen. Today, Americans overall health is in grievous condition. Over 70% of adults and a third of children are overweight or obese.

diabetes is ten times more prevalent than it was during the 1960s. Cancer among young people is rising by one or two percent a year.

autoimmune diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, Alzheimer's, asthma, ADHD, depression, addiction, and a host of other physical and mental health conditions are all on the rise, some of them exponentially. There is no single culprit in chronic disease, much as I have criticized certain industries and agencies,

President Trump and I understand that most of their scientists and experts genuinely care about American health. Therefore, we will bring together all stakeholders in pursuit of this unifying goal. I want to make sure the committee is clear about a few things. News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or any industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety.

pro-vaccine protesters behind RFK Jr. By the way, don't worry, he was not singled out. It's a Washington tradition to be screamed down by protesters in your confirmation hearing for everybody. Let's get then to what he referenced there, vaccine statements. That is where the bulk of a lot of the criticism against RFK Jr. was concentrated from a lot of the Democrats. Let's take a listen to some of that questioning. So I'm running out of time.

I think the gist of what you are trying to say today is you really pro-vaccine, you want to ask questions. You have started a group called the Children's Health Defense. You're the originator. Right now, as I understand it, on their website, they are selling what's called onesies. These are little things, clothing for babies. One of them is dialed, unfaxed, unafraid.

Next one in the sold for $26 a piece, by the way.

Next one is no VAX, no problem. Now, you're coming before this committee and you say you're a pro-vaccine. Just want to ask some questions. And yet your organization is making money selling a child's product to parents for 26 bucks, which has fundamental doubt on the usefulness of vaccines. Can you tell us now that you will, now that you are

pro vaccine that you're going to have your organization take these products off the market. Senator, I have no power over that organization. I'm not part of it. I resign from the board. I was just a few months ago. You founded that. You certainly have power. You can make that. How you support about this?

I've had nothing to do with these. Are you supportive of these ones? I'm supportive of vaccines. Are you supportive of these, this clothing, which is militantly anti vaccine? I am supportive of vaccines. Well, I want good science and I want to protect.

I will not tell the organization you founded not to continue selling that. Are you lying to Congress today when you say you are a pro vaccine? Or did you lie on all those podcasts? We have all of this on tape, by the way. Senator, as you know,

because it's been repeatedly debunked. That statement that I made on the Lex Friedman podcast was a fragment of this statement. He asked me and anybody who actually goes and looks at that podcast and we'll see this. He asked me, are there vaccines that are safe and effective? And I said to him, some of the live virus vaccines are

And I said, there are no vaccines that are safe and effective, and I was going to continue for every person. Every medicine has people who are sensitive to them.

Are you supportive of the onesie being the iconic line from the hearing? But basically, I watched the entire thing. That was basically a taste of all of the Democratic questioning. Do you want to weigh in before we play the Lex Friedman clip? Because that's the one that Ron Wyden referenced in his opening statement and then was brought up several to more times by Senator Cantwell, Senator Bennett, and a few others.

I mean, listen, I would never support RFK Jr. for this position because he has been consistently over the course of the past two decades, I would say, anti-vax. And so I would never support him for this position. But I would respect it more if he would actually rep the position that he has held consistently for the past two decades. And we'll show you the Lex Friedman thing. The thing he says about it is total and complete nonsense, not to mention. Even if you take that out of it,

like he founded the Children's Health Defense in 2011. He led that organization. It has been consistently anti-vax. Now what he'll say is, oh, I'm not against vaccines. I just think that none of the existing vaccines are actually safe.

He has his own children vaccinated, but he also has said he would do anything to go back and have them not be vaccinated. So listen, there's a lot of people out there now who are anti-vaxx, okay? You've succeeded, your movement has grown. I think that that movement is devastating to public health. I think it's contrary to science and I think that vaccine development has been of one of the greatest inventions of modern medicine in terms of reducing, extending lice and reducing deaths, et cetera, et cetera.

But you have succeeded in winning a lot of people over this cause, so wrap that cause. Like, why are you running away from it now? Because you can't get confirmed. Well, and that's the thing that's so pathetic is like, OK, then, I mean, you, like, one of the most preposterous moments here is you guys all know how critical RFK Junior was about the COVID vaccine.

Many of you out there are probably, like, on board with his criticisms and believe what he says. In this confirmation hearing, he's like, Operation Warp Speed was amazing. It was great. The vaccine development was spectacular. It's like, why should anyone believe a goddamn word that you have to say about anything when this has been the core of your views and your life's work for the past several decades? And you will just throw it in the garbage so that you can get closer to power. That's what I would say.

the only way that you're going to get confirmed. So look, it's politics. I'm not saying I forgive it, no, necessarily. I do think you probably should have just, this is part of the problem, though, with these confirmation hearings. It's like cable news. You only have five minutes of question and answer you can't really.

get into it. In terms of what he said for past criticism of MMR and the polio vaccine, his defense and the defense of Maha and all those other people is basically like the no vaccine can be 100% safe and effective. All vaccines all medicine has side effects.

Look, in general, I don't think that you're wrong that there are a lot of people now whose eyes have really been open to the medical system. And to be honest, I find myself in that category. I mean, I thought RFK Junior was some evil person. And then, you know, you learn a little bit more. I thought COVID vaccine really opens your eyes. So there's a lot of questions here about vaccination schedules and the way that we do things and even the legislation that has been passed. I think he's a legitimate question. But that's not his position. No, but OK, but in fact, that is not his position.

of how it will look like as a member of the United States government. And this, well, I mean, but that's not really true. I mean, he has a lot of power if he's confirmed in this position, which there's still a question mark about. I don't think that any, I mean, I thought the Democratic questioning here was much more effective with RFK than it was with Pete Hegsett, for example, for one key reason, which is they actually focused on his relevant policy, like statements relevant to policy.

for this position. So I do think that they landed some effective blows here, not to mention just how like ridiculous you look to completely change your position on a dime with no real explanation. So if he was just like, oh, you know, maybe we should look at the schedule and other European countries do it differently, blah, blah, blah.

That is not what he's been out there to. Yeah, that is true. There was questioning about him and his organization's involvement in these deaths in Samoa, of which the people who were involved there say that the impact of his lives and his organization's lives helped to contribute not 100%, but helped to contribute to the death of dozens of kids.

from not getting vaccinated after there was a, you know, horrific human error type accident with regard to the MMR vaccine. They seized on it and lied and said that the whole vaccine was unsafe. People were terrified. They stopped getting their kids vaccinated. There was a virulent outbreak of measles and dozens of kids died. So I listen.

There are things that R.K. Jr. says that I actually agree with, especially when it comes to food and pesticides and ultra-processed foods in particular. If he was up for ag secretary, I might actually consider putting him in that position, because I think that his views are more grounded in science, and I think he could actually effectuate some of the things he cares about with regard to nutrition, healthier lifestyle, et cetera, he'd be in a better position to do that.

As HHS secretary, I think that he could be incredibly, actually, deadly for this nation, especially as we're heading into the possibility we have an ongoing threat of an avian flu pandemic. There is a vaccine, by the way, that exists for avian flu. And guess what? RFK Jr. has gone out and said that he doesn't think it's safe. So, in any... Maybe he's right. What do we know about bird flu vaccines? What are we going to trust, Dr. Fauci and the rest of these people?

This is part of what we're getting at here with the HHS. How can it be worse than right now? You're saying it's deadly. We're already living in a deadly country. It could be worse, but it could be worse by reducing vaccination rate and having polio and measles outbreaks and people dying. But again, most of these children are going to die of diabetes, cancer, like chronic disease.

health care for all. But I understand that that's your position. But that's not what the American people voted for under Donald Trump. This is clearly like a huge activity. What can he even do about nutrition at HHS? No, the F. That falls under the ag secretary, but better position. That's not necessarily true. HHS actually controls dietary guidelines as he talks about with SNAP. He will have immense regulatory authority. I mean, this is part of what I'm talking about with this vaccine thing. Look, I completely understand. And I used to be really in this camp.

I just don't see how it could be bad to publish the studies and the safety data and then leave parents with some choice. Like, look. That's not even what I'm saying though. But in practice, he said, I will not touch the polio vaccine. I will not touch the MMR vaccine. Yeah, but he is clearly willing to lie about everything all the time when it serves his interest. I think that it is- Yes, he's a politician. I'm not forgiving it for saying. I think we should assume that what his life's work has been

which is to tell people that all vaccines are unsafe and to try to get them to not vaccinate their kids as emblematic of the onesies, the fact that even he wants this baby propaganda about them not getting any vaccines, I think you should assume.

that that is the ideology that he takes into this position. And like I said, I'd have a lot more respect if he would actually rep what he has said and what he believes. And the fact that he will just run 180 degrees, turn on a dime, do whatever he can to get into power is, to me, utterly disgraceful and unforgivable. And when you are in that position,

He could effectively, so one thing he could do is eliminate certain vaccines from being covered by Medicaid. By the way, he doesn't seem to appear to know the difference between Medicaid and Medicare was very confused about that during the hearings. But he could eliminate a number of vaccines getting covered by Medicaid. That in and of itself would make it impossible for many poor parents to get their kids properly vaccinated.

He could also change the current structure and make it basically so that it is unprofitable and impossible for vaccine makers to continue to distribute and sell vaccines. He would have tremendous power in this position. And so if you're anti-vaxx and you just think that you should let it fly and you're cool with measles and polio and whatever coming back, then this is your guy. But this is one of the primary things he'll have responsibility for. And I think he already

already has done tremendous damage and has blood on his hands, literally in the case of Samoa, for the type of lies, unscientific lies, not legitimate questions of which that's fine, but unscientific lies that he has spent decades at this point.

I think, look, I understand that. The Samoa thing is complicated, as we know. It's not complicated. No, I mean, look, I've decided the Vinay Prasad thing. I read it. It's pretty convincing, not that it was necessarily 100% fall. There's a lot of the questions about MMR. But look, I guess where it comes down to is that the VAX position is at blood on his hands, et cetera. It's like, well, how come there's no smoke? If there was a traditional pharma lobbyist here,

Wouldn't they have 10 times more blood on their hands and more responsibility for all of the chaos that has been wrought in our healthcare system? Look, I understand your position. Universal healthcare and all that did not win. Within the Republican context, honestly, this is as good as it gets as opposed to what? Who is our previous HHS secretary? That moron who's taken private flights, what was his name? Tom Price, using US taxpayer dollars to pay for a private jet. You got somebody here who at least can publish some safety data.

Who, what did he say? He said people should be able to buy whatever they want as long as they have the knowledge in front of them. You know, look, you got to go to war with the, you know, with the fighters that you have. This is on balance. I think it's much better than any, any traditional HHS secretary who could have taken that position.

And look, the vaccine question here about Medicaid, et cetera. Right now, US government policy and state policy forces you to comply with the schedule or face immense consequences socially, public school and all of that. Do you think that that's fair in all of these era of the post-COVID landscape? I don't believe a fucking word that these people say, I'm serious, I really don't. After what I've read- So you don't think the polio vaccine is a good thing. You don't think the MMR vaccine is a good thing.

Okay, but there's 63 vaccinations that children get before what the age for. So do you think, I'll tell you right now, there's no, the HPV or what is the hepatitis B vaccine that's given to a child literally the momentous birth for literally for societal reasons, which only applies to drug addicts? No way, not happening. And you know, the societal consequences you face for this and the medical system and the way that they push this stuff is unbelievable. You brought up vaccine profit. It's like, I mean, you know, how many times we talked here on the show about drug profit.

So then the answer to that is not, listen, here's my core problem. His diagnosis of the system and what's wrong with it, I think, is completely wrong. The problem is not that the vaccines don't work. The vaccines do work. We have decades of information showing that the vaccines

work and have saved huge numbers of lives. That's not the problem. The problem is a lack of access to health care. The problem is a lack of ability to pay for health care. The problem is a profit motive at the center of health care. What he wants to do has nothing to do with any of that.

It's just a reaction, an immediately knee-jerk reaction against any actual like scientific medicine and advancements in favor of some like natural hippie, dippy, woo-woo bullshit. Why is it so bad? We're just way less, because why is it bad because I like kids do not get sick and die. That's why it's bad. Yeah, but this is this is a straw man argument. It's not a straw man argument. RSD vaccine is added to the schedule, literally last year. What do we know about the RSD vaccine? It's a straw man argument, okay?

Well, we have 63 people who were dead from in Samoa. Again, with an open question mark, whether it's 100% RFK Junior's fault or not, there are what tens of millions who have died now of chronic illness and of disease here in the United States. Like, where's the smoking question mark around this? But what is he going to do?

With regard, again, if he was up for ag secretary, I think there's a lot more he could do about lifestyle, diet, pesticide. But HHS guidelines control that, the SNAP program. As he talked about, I had no idea, by the way, that 10% of SNAP dollars are spent on sugary drinks and 60% of SNAP dollars are spent on processed food. Now, again, I don't even disagree. And my least libertarian opinion is he was like, oh, we shouldn't be telling what people want to eat. I'm like, actually, we probably should.

Especially if they're on government assistance. Secondary, I think question mark, not going to happen in the Republican Party. But, I mean, on balance, the current system is a disaster. We talk about drug addiction, obesity,

answer. I mean, when you listen to not even him, go listen to the more credible people, Dr. Casey Means, right? She's got a rant that's like three and a half minutes long of all of the chronic disease markers that have gone up. His proposal for NIH is to end infectious disease coverage. Great, by the way, as we'll talk a little bit about, with Lyme disease and to focus on

chronic illness, like cancer and obesity. I think, you know, one of the big drug company dreams right now is to have Medicare and Medicaid cover ozempic for all, including children. Maybe, but, you know, there's probably be some rigorous studies and long-term views as to whether this is important or even useful for children and what the long-term impacts are all of that. In this country, we go drug first and not lifestyle.

the HHS secretary does have a lot of impact. This is the largest organization in the entire U.S. federal government, even when you accept Medicare and Medicaid payments that are gone out of that. I mean, what we look at the terms of the coverage like you're talking about with vaccines, I had no idea even from the hearing that 40% of the births in this country are covered by Medicaid, which is insane, which means that the government has total authority over payment and control over people's lives.

I think that's why, to me, it's terrifying. I mean, the man is a liar and a quack, who spouts all kinds of, he's an HIV truther. He doesn't even believe that AIDS's cover is caused by HIV. He makes stuff up all the time. What's more dangerous, quackery or?

It's institutionalized death and pharma, which is our current health care system. He wants to institutionalize a different sort of death. I mean, this is the thing. Listen, maybe there are things he would do that I would support. Although, I don't know, the Snapchat, well, that's a longer debate. But I hold out the possibility that there are theoretically things he could do that I would support in this position. To me, it does not outweigh the risk

of confirming him and the immense damage that he could do to families and children and their health, health simply through his consistent anti-vaccine views. I do want to get to the next reading clip because one of the things he'll say, oh, you heard him in that clip that we played a long time ago at this point, where he was like, oh, no, I totally didn't say that. It's taken on a context. I was going to add, like, no vaccine is safe.

For everyone all the time, if you listen to the clip, so we'll play the extended thing, you can hear the whole context. That's not what he was saying. He was saying there is no, he theoretically may support some vaccine that theoretically exists, but he does not support any of the vaccines that currently exist. Let's take a listen to what he had to say to Lex.

You've talked about that the media slanders you by calling you an anti-vaxxer. And you've said that you're not anti-vaccine, you're pro-safe vaccine. Difficult question. Can you name any vaccines that you think are good? I think some of the live virus vaccines are probably so affirming more problems than they're causing.

There's no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective. The big words. What about this poll? Yeah. Can we talk about the? Well, here's the problem. Yes. Yeah. Here's the problem. The polio vaccine contained a virus called semi to virus 40 as V 40.

It's one of the most carcinogenic materials that is not demand. In fact, it's used now by scientists around the world to induce tumors and rats and guinea pigs in labs. But it was in that vaccine, 98 million people who got that vaccine in my generation got it. And now you've had this explosion.

of soft tissue cancers in our generation that kill many, many, many, many, many more people than polio ever did. So if you say to me, did the polio vaccine was effective against polio, I'm going to say yes. If I say, if you say to me, did it kill more people that it caused more deaths than I've heard? I would say I don't know because we don't have the data on that.

So, but let's talk. Well, you know, so I'm going to have to narrow in on is it effective against the thing it's supposed to fight? Well, a lot of them are. Let me give you an example. The most popular vaccine in the world is the DTP vaccine. There are tetanus and pertussis. It was used in this kind of introduce in this country around 1980. That vaccine caused so many injuries.

that Elias, which was the manufacturer, was said to the Reagan administration, we are now paying $20 in downstream liabilities for every dollar that we're making in profits. And we are getting out of the business unless you give us permanent immunity from liability. So the vaccine companies then were given, and by the way, Reagan said at that time, why don't you just make the vaccine safe?

And why is that? Because vaccines are inherently unsafe. They said unavoidably unsafe. You cannot make them safe.

You can hear the entire context there, him saying no vaccine is safe and effective, and then going on to explain why he has an opposition to polio vaccine, why he has these other problems with vaccines. And like I said before, listen, if that's your view, there are some people that agree with you at this point. Rep that view, but the reason he doesn't is because he knows that even though there has been an uptick in vaccine skepticism, it is still,

It is still dramatically unpopular to actually be blanket anti-vax, which is why he always runs away from the label, even though, sorry, it does apply and it has applied for a long time. So he has to hide the ball about what he actually believes. And so, you know, I mean, that shows you that he knows

what his views are, what he's articulated over decades are so poisonous in terms of how the American people would think about it, that there's no way he could get confirmed if he actually held on to the views he's expressing there with like prison. I think it's because, look, I don't disagree. I think it's probably fair to say that he's been skeptical of all vaccines in the past. He doesn't think any are safe and effective.

Again, I think it's a choose your fighter thing. Would you rather have somebody who's deeply skeptical of that system or somebody who's like, yeah, no, it's actually totally fine. I mean, you know, using Claude, so blame Claude, if these numbers are incorrect, you know, a child born in the United States today will receive 47 to 51 and up to 60 doses of a vaccine by the age 18 before 1990. That was, it was between 10 to 17.

So with all, with the advances in medicine, the same doses and all of that, do we really believe that the public health system which delivered us COVID-19 and all of the death and everything where rigorous safety studies were done and that all of the correlative long-term data on top of their exemption exists?

I do not believe it for one second, and this doesn't just apply to vaccine. This is the problem, it's not vaccine. There was another senator, I forget her name. I think it was Cantwell, who was railing at him for not supporting SSRIs. It's like there's a religion in this country around drugs, around what's just prescribed and move on and forget about it. I think that his general disposition against that is far more beneficial.

than any just wholesale quote-unquote acceptance of whatever bullshit that these pharma companies publish in their pre-prints and journals and, you know, they don't even release all of the data. I mean, this was part of the real learning process, I think, for me, for millions of other people through the COVID net vaccine policy, through all of the justifications, you know, even today that they're pushing COVID-19 vaccines on pregnant women and flu shots and all this other stuff. Again, maybe, maybe it's safe. They tell us it is.

But given how what has transpired over the last five years, and I think a lot of this comes back to, I mean, let's make a political point here. Donald Trump is not president without RFK Jr. In my opinion, do you agree? I don't think there's a chance in hell that he wins. I think that's true. He would never win Michigan, no way considering how tight that the margin was there, especially if you look at the margin in Pennsylvania and others. We did, we did focus groups of a lot of these people.

not explicitly endorsed him, a lot of them were not going to vote for Donald Trump. He is an integral part of the MAGA 2025 coalition, up there with the libertarians. Then he should rep what he actually believes. But I mean, you should rep what he actually believes. Do we? What are we supposed to do? Yeah, and he should rep what she actually believes too. I mean, that's- But that's not how politics works. I mean, look, I agree. I wish it were that way. Why are the idiots in the United States saying even get a say over the cabinet, I have no idea. It's so insulting.

for him to try to claim he's not anti-vax. For him to try to, oh, well, my kids are vaccine. Yeah, and you said you wish that you had never done that. You would do anything to go back and change that. For you to just brazenly lie. And there were moments up there where they'd ask him a question. Did you say that the chemicals in the water are turning kids, trying to, oh, no, I never said that.

Oh, really? Well, here's five clips of you saying that. Did you compare the rollout of the COVID vaccine to Nazi death camps, even though now you're like, oh, Operation Warp Speed was amazing and Trump is, it was great. It was such a great accomplishment. Blah, blah, blah. Oh, no, I didn't say that. Oh, really? Well, here's the transcript of you literally saying that. So,

Listen, if you have those views, which are wrong and not based on anything, you can doubt the pharmaceutical studies, but at least there are studies. At least we have years of data to back up the efficacy of these vaccines and the number of lives that they have saved. At least we have that versus what you made up in your head, because it is just as foolish to knee-jerk reject all of science, which is his posture.

It is just as foolish as to do that as to, you know, accept, lock, sock, barrel, everything that a pharmaceutical company tells you. Yeah, no, that's true, but also- So if you really want to get at the problem here, which I would love to do, you have to take the profit motive out of healthcare. That's what you really need to do. Is there any impetus in that direction with RFK Jr., whatsoever?

No, no. And so, like I said, listen, for me, obviously we're not going to come to agreement here today. For me, the theoretical potential possible may be good that he could do in this position is vastly outweighed by the longtime track record and committed ideological belief, which has been at the core of his adult work and life that he is against all vaccines.

And that he is a brazen liar who will say anything to anyone when it is convenient for him and his pursuit of power.

I agree. I wish you would have actually defended a lot of his views. I think if you have to take a real, politic view of this, would you rather have somebody who quote, unquote, accepts mainstream science, big pharma and all that? Again, within the universe of options for MAGA, for Donald J. Trump, would we rather have the billionaire CEO of Pfizer?

or somebody BHHS Secretary or somebody who thinks that the Pfizer people have been lying to people for decades. I'm going to go with the latter. And I think that that's a core to the reason why RFK Jr. has even become a popular MAGA-like figure, whisk of a lot of skepticism about the COVID vaccine, which opened up a lot of people's eyes. Now, on abortion, I think this is where we can say

Fairly for both a lot of the pro-life and the pro-choice crowd, arguably 10 times more of a bigger flip-flop that has happened. There were a lot of questions about RFK Jr. in the HHS role. The reason why is that he'll have jurisdiction specifically over mythopresteld, which is the

abortion drug, of which there has been a change in Biden administration policy about prescriptions for it, and of which the pro-life coalition has been pushing Donald Trump to, quote, unquote, study the safety of it and to look at the drug and possibly hold it up, which, of course, would dramatically reduce the number of abortions in the United States. So we have a lot of the questioning in the back and forth on this issue, including some of the past statements that he's made. Let's take a listen.

I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy. I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions here. I agree with him that the states should control abortion.

President Trump has told me that he wants to and late-term abortions. With a life-threatening bleeding from an incomplete miscarriage goes to the ER. And her doctor also determines that she needs an emergency abortion. But she's in a state where abortion is banned. You would agree also as an attorney that federal law protects her right to that emergency care, correct?

I don't know. I mean, the answer to that is, I don't know if the state does. Well, let me ask you this. As an attorney, doesn't federal law preempts state law? The federal constitution does. Sometimes not every federal law preempts state laws. It could be unconstitutional events are. We need to understand the safety of every drug and every other drug.

And President Trump has made it clear to me that one of the things he is not taking position yet on Mr. President, a detailed position, but he's made it clear to me that he wants me to look at safety issues. And I'll ask NIH and FDA to do that. Thank you.

But so in other words, keeping it as is with Roe versus Wade having been overturned and leaving it up to the states to determine if and when a woman can have an abortion? No, I wouldn't leave it to the states. I would say completely. It's up to the woman. I believe it's the woman. We shouldn't leave it to the woman. We shouldn't have government involved. Even if it's full term.

even if it's full term. So we can all agree him being there. I was the last clip there was showing what he used to say about abortion. Now versus saying things on our show. Comformation times. True. Yeah. I think it is that is the biggest hit against him always has been. That's why Mark Mike Lee. Not Mike Lee.

Mike Pence has been campaigning very hard against RFK Jr. for being pro-life. We have been talking, sorry, for the pro-choice. James Langford, the person who was questioning fame there, that was really important. He's the chair of the National Prayer Breakfast here in Washington. He is probably the most pro-life member.

of the Congress. I didn't actually realize that. He's from Oklahoma, makes sense, in terms of the big evangelical population. But there are a lot of people who fall into the Langford category. It's still actually an open question, Mark, how some of them go. Joni Ernst is another one who's very pro-life. Well, we have a list if we want. A6, can we put A6 please? I'll just read off some of the names. These are the Republicans who are currently

Question marks on RFK Jr. We've got Mitch McConnell. We've got Bill Cassidy. Who's a polio survivor. That's right. You've got Bill Cassidy, who's a doctor, who actually, he questioned him a little bit there. Senator Chuck Grassley, who also questioned RFK Jr. Senator Jeremy Ernst. You have Senator Tom Tillis, who now has come out as a lean yes. And then, of course, you have Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who, if I had to guess, are probably going to be nose on that. I would think so, yeah. I think Till probably lose those and then what he can lose one more.

Or he can't lose. That's all he can do. Well, he can lose McConnell, Murkowski, and Collins. And Collins, that's it. And Collins, that's it. Yeah. But that's it. Because if he loses those three, then JD Vans can cast the tie-breaking vote. But there are bigs. I'd give him a 65% chance of getting confirmed.

I'm pretty sure. I mean, look, the MAGA base right now is behind RFK 100%. And Trump is whipping for him. JD is whipping for him. The online Maha army against a lot of like four of these people. You should, I mean, the enthusiasm there was crazy yesterday.

RFK has got like a genuine constituency. We've been waiting, people have been waiting a long time for someone like him to actually be in power. So you would be surprised, I think, to see one of these Republicans turn, especially one who might be up for re-election. But if anyone could get away with, I mean, that's like, do we really believe Lindsey Graham is going to vote against RFK junior? Like this guy's like a toad, you know?

in terms of his sucking up to Trump. You would really need these Murkowski and Collins people, and McConnell, who's never gonna run again for anything, they're unique for a reason, because they're really insulated from the political cost of all the rest of them. You really do need the GOP behind you to be able to win. So I think what I did take away is no Democrat's gonna vote for him. I don't think so. No, and Letterman was a possibility, but afterwards he came out and was like, I don't know anybody can vote for that dude after that. And he also voted against Heg Seth.

he's interesting guy talks a big game goes to the lake in riley thing and all of that still votes against uh... all the trump nominees so it's like who are you do like what are we doing here uh... brandon senator from whom uh... Jerusalem okay uh... one other thing i wanted to mention here cuz you're talking about the political pressure nicole chanahan who was rf k jr's running mate who was billionaire uh... by dint of her marriages uh... she uh... came out and said that she would use her billions

to primary anyone on the Republican side who didn't vote for RFK Jr. And she specifically threatened, I don't think that this really has any particular impact, but she threatened Raphael Warnock of Georgia and said, like, oh, I gave you lots of money before, and that's the only reason you won, which I don't know if that's really, I mean, I know she did give money to a super PAC that supported him previously, but in terms of the Democratic context,

a Nicole Shanahan-backed primary challenge against a Democrat is not going to get very far. And in a general election, there's going to be tons of money going up against him anyway. But in the Republican context, that could be a real threat. And so this has become the norm of individual, Elon Musk did it before, threatening with regard to nominees and with regard to the spending bill, like if you don't do what we want you to do, I'm going to fund a primary challenge against you.

So, these billionaires are also being used to enforce discipline within the Republican pro-Trump coalition. So, that's another piece of what's going on here. Just the last comment on the abortion piece, because I do think that is important, just so people know.

In the wake of Roe versus Wade being overturned, actually, aren't the number of saugard that the number of abortions have actually gone up? Yes, ma'am. And the reason, primarily, is because of Miffa Purston, which is used very early in pregnancy for an abortion. And even if you live in a state that's extremely restrictive, most people have the ability to get that somehow through the

mail. And so there was a court case that went all the way up to the Supreme Court, if I'm not mistaken, saying, oh, the FDA wrongly approved this, and it's not really safe. And the court was like, we're not going to go and second guess the FDA. That's their job, is to evaluate the safety and efficacy. There are some 40 around studies that indicate if a person is, in fact, safe to use in this manner.

But this has been a primary goal. It was in Project 2025. It's been a primary conservative goal to get control of the FDA so that they can say, oh no, actually we don't think it's safe. And this would have a massive, massive impact on women's reproductive rights.

Oh, it's the biggest question mark on abortion. Yeah, I don't think any, and no one on either side of the debate would deny that. That's why they're so laser focused on it and why it's, you know, was so noteworthy and important that RFK Jr. in this hearing said, I will look at the safety of that and I will follow Trump's lead on that, which is a, you know, major goal of the pro-life movement. So even though he has personally been pro-choice, he's trying to reassure Republican senators that he will also

set his sights on rolling back use of the paper stone which like i said will have a a tremendous in my view very negative impact if that is in fact well i will have a big impact no matter what and that's why uh... that was one of the big you know kamala uh... campaign points there correctly in my opinion in terms of what the power of the federal government can be on this just very last thing when uh... i had to get this in here senator michael bennett uh... whenever he was really against uh... rf k jr was like did you really say that lime disease was uh...

genetically engineered in a lab as if it was some sort of conspiracy theory. By the way, I thought everyone who, everyone knew this, but can we please put my tweet up by there on the screen just so people can understand this. Lyme disease is probably a lab leak, and I'm explaining it to people very clearly here. If you're watching and you can see this, Lyme disease originated in old Lyme, Connecticut in the 1970s, which just happens to be mere miles away from Plum Island, the US Army,

bio-weapons lab that was studying insect spreading bio-weapons, specifically with ticks in the 1960s. Just so everyone knows, a lot of people actually have been suffering from Lyme disease through research of the tragedy and really of how decimated they are, find themselves across books like Lab257,

and others. But it really is sad because what's happened is that in the Cold War, we had these literal Nazi scientists and others who were brought under from Operation Paperclip to study bio-weapons that we could inflict on the Soviet Union, specifically via insects

to estimate them, not kill them, but just cause chaos through this bacteria. This lime bacteria is exceptionally rare. One of the dunks on the lab leak theory is like, oh, they found it in OTC, the Iceman. It's like, yes, it's traditional gain of function. You take a rare bacteria, you bring it to a lab, you try to weaponize it, you try to increase the infection, the infection.

the vector, the way that it will cause disease. And, you know, there are millions of people now in America, specifically in New England, who suffer from Lyme disease. There are multiple offshoots and others. It causes devastating consequences. I actually know somebody who suffered Lyme disease for years. It's really never been the same.

since then. So yeah, it's really unfortunate. Lyme disease is probably lab leak. Ebola 2014 was a lab leak as we covered here on the show with Ryan Grimm. COVID was a lab leak, so we need to figure this stuff out. And tying it to RFK Jr, that's the one thing, at least I hope, that we cut.

Well, let's cut all those. We need to cut that NIH gain of function budget to zero. And we need to do some actual transparency on all this crap that we've been funding and hopefully shed a lot of these labs down who clearly don't have safety protocols or anything. So it's really sad because a lot of Lyme people reached out to me saying, thank you for highlighting this because we've been suffering now for so long and there's still the insurance companies fight them on Lyme disease. The doctors don't believe a lot of the people who suffer of Lyme disease. It's one of the most devastating conditions.

Yeah, it's very strange symptoms too. That's why I mean, and so then they just don't want to do anything for it. Move, you're on your own. Sager did get community noted on this. No, they took it off, they took it off. Oh, they took it off, I was going to say. I looked at it. I mean, it's not conclusively proven, but the... It's not a hundred percent coincidence. Yeah, exactly. That's right there. So, I'll give them that one. It's just like the drugs, the drugs turning the kids' trans, not going to give you that one. Chemicals, chemicals. H-I-G, oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, chemicals turning. What, you think birth control chemicals in our water that's zero effect?

The HIV not causing AIDS, not going to give him that one either. So yeah, there was a lot there going on. There's a lot of shit in our water. Nobody even knows what the hell it is. Reverse osmosis, folks. If you can afford it, you should do it. Highly recommend it. All right, let's get to Tulsi Gabbard. I got one forgotten who runs this valley. Time to remind them. Yellowstone fans, step into the Yellowstone universe. Our family legacy is this ranch. When I'm a protector of my life,

Hosted by Bobby Bones, the official Yellowstone podcast takes you deeper into the franchise that's captivated millions worldwide. Explore untold behind-the-scenes stories, exclusive cast interviews, and in-depth discussions about the themes and legacy of Yellowstone. You know, the first guns to settle this valley fighting was all they knew.

Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the ranch. Welcome to the Yellowstone. Bobby Bones has everything you need to stay connected to the Yellowstone phenomenon. I look forward to it. Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go to work.

I'm so sick of hearing men talk about women's basketball. If only there were a professional WNBA player with her own podcast, I could listen to. Hey, this is Lixie Brown, WNBA player and professional yapper. And this is Mariah Rose. You may know me from spilling the tea on hoops for hotties on TikTok. And we've got a new podcast full circle. Every Wednesday, we're catching you up on what's going on in women's basketball and not just in the WNBA, but with athletes unlimited, unrivaled and college basketball.

We've got you with analysis, insight stories, and a little bit of tea. I know you guys have seen a lot of former and current basketball players telling their stories from their point of view, and I just think it's time for the girlies to tap in. We want to share all of the women's basketball stories that you won't see anywhere else. Tune in to Full Circle, an iHeartWomen's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Each week, we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyello, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter, and their plus one, their ride or die, as they share stories never heard before about their remarkable journey.

Listen to my legacy. On the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. This is my legacy. At the same time speaking of confirmation, we've got a lot of news concerning Tulsi Gabbard, who is up today for her confirmation hearing. And we're getting a taste of what some of the Republican attack against her will be. Let's go ahead and put this up there on the screen. Quote, at Gabbard's confirmation hearing, Edward Snowden may loom

large. So a lot of very pro-national security state Republicans have been very upset with, quote, Tulsi Gabbard's past support for Edward Snowden, while in Congress, Gabbard introduced legislation that would have offered a bipartisan whistleblower protections for people like Snowden, accused of violating the Espionage Act. She actually co-sponsored that legislation with Matt Gates that called on the charges against Snowden to be dropped.

Now, since she will be the DNI, there are a lot of questions whether she is according to them, is somebody who would compromise national security. So, for example, just a taste, Susan Collins said, Mrs. Snowden's disclosures have jeopardized all the people who are helping us. They say, one of my greatest concerns is how she views Edward Snowden in the light of the resolution that she co-authored with Matt Gaetz, calling all criminal charges against him.

which were serious and involved high class formation to be dropped. So that is the taste, but Susan Collins is just one of many people who share these views. For example, Senator Tom Cotton, who is the chairman of the Intelligence Committee.

has called Snowden a traitor. You continue on down the line. You've got people like Mitch McConnell. You've got James Langford, who said that he was, quote, spoken with gabbard about Snowden. And he said that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has a responsibility to make sure that we don't have our secrets leaked out. So this is in addition this Snowden thing to the Section 702 about face that she has already made.

Right. On FISA and on spying. So I think you said it. They always attack you for the worst thing. And that's the only good reasons to put Tulsi in here. And she's like, they're forcing her to change. I mean, and listen, she has her own will. She's making her own decisions here as well. But yeah, that report from the New York Times says that she's expected to distance herself and say that she believes Mr. Snowden's disclosures hurt the intelligence community and national security. We have always said, and Glenn Green one always makes this point.

If what Snowden revealed had truly hurt National Security Year or compromised our soldiers or intel assets in the field, we would all know about it. They would have screamed that to the high habits a million times. They've never provided any evidence of that. Something that Tulsi Gabbard knows and has no doubt said and pointed out herself. But now, in an attempt to appease the hawks on the Republican side, she's going to do this about face and be like, oh, Snowden, so bad actually, and 702.

We got that all cleaned up, no worries whatsoever, so that's where we are with her. There was one Senate aide who told The Washington Post, they're not even sure she makes it on a committee. So I don't know if that's true, I don't know if that's what's going to happen, but I do think that

Her confirmation is certainly the most imperiled and the most in danger of failing because you will definitely have no Democrats vote for her whatsoever. Fetterman certainly wouldn't be, you know, he's the one who would be most likely to cross over and he's like a belligerent insane hawk. So he's not going to be down with her either.

Well, I've got the list in front of me. You've got Tom Cotton, so that's probably a no. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know. You know, Cotton said something that was kind of open to her. He was like, oh, well, we have our disagreements. But, you know, I don't know. He said something that was like a little bit conciliatory towards her.

uh... he said i support her okay last night he was on fox there support her lead i look forward to working with her okay so that's good to see that the chairman uh... you've got james reesch from idaho that's needs can be a weirdo uh... susan collins that she's already probably a no john cornin total national security state hawk jerry moran dot i don't know much about him like for he's the guy who already got a flip on seven oh two so he'll probably vote for mike rounds same thing he's

Wildcard, Todd Young, also Wildcard, and Ted Buddle probably vote for. Well, and this is to vote around a committee. You're looking at a committee, and so if every Democrat votes against her, they only would need one more Republican to join the Democratic vote on a committee. I think you can still get a committee, a floor vote with an unfavorable report out of committee. I think you can just look at that. I'm not sure.

Um, it's, I thought they had, I thought they had to go through the committee first before you could bring them to the floor. They testified before the committee, but it's like we're a port. So sometimes like a piece of legislation will be unfavorably voted out of committee, but it'll still be brought. This is parliamentary nonsense that I have no idea about. So please keep that in mind. But, uh,

Yeah, that's where we are right now with Tulsi Gabbard. If you want to taste again of the campaign against her, you've got the Wall Street Journal editorial board, the voice of Mitch McConnell. Let's put this up there on the screen. Tulsi Gabbard, Edward Snowden is intelligence. Does the US really want a director of national intelligence who excuses mass leaking of secrets? So you can see there, they mentioned specifically Senator Tom Cotton's past reservations about her, and they also talk about

quote-unquote, the damage that Snowden had done as a result of the leaks, but it's parroting a lot of the national security state concerns against her. And so I think you're going to get a real taste of what happened against RFK Jr. So with the Democrats, it's going to be all Assad all the time. It's all going to be like, why did you meet with Assad? You know, all this 2013 rehash.

about that. Apparently, there's some story questions about her cult connection. It's been a subject recently as well. There's a lot of chatter in Washington about Hezbollah. I'm not really quite sure yet what it's about. They say a story is coming about some of her alleged connections to Hezbollah. I believe it when I see it, I guess.

uh, for what that is, then Snowden. That's why the story is being implanted. 702 and Snowden. So those are the top four things. But yeah, I would say she's the only one who I'm given like a 50% shot. She's got the lowest chance in my opinion. That doesn't mean I still think she won't get confirmed. I think she probably will, um, because Trump and

Trump and JD have really made it, you know, I mean, look with RFK and with Tulsi and HEGSAT, they have rammed these people through committee and they have made it like a real zero in against the folks. But you only need four and you've got three wild cars already. So you really only need one, one person to flip. Yeah, I think. Who is like a traditional person.

McConnell, Murkowski, Collins would vote against her. Almost certainly. Pretty sure. So then you can only lose one more and with the number of national security hawks that are on the Republican side. Yeah, it's definitely perilous. According to Chad GPT. Yes. You are correct.

Regardless of the committee's vote, the nomination can proceed to the full Senate for consideration. The Senate Majority Leader scheduled the nomination for debate and a final confirmation vote. So traditionally, it has to go from the committee and they have to issue a positive referral, but it's not absolutely required. So that's where that stands. Yep, there you go.

Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Each week, we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyello, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter, and their plus one, their ride or die, as they share stories never heard before about their remarkable journey.

Listen to my legacy on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is my legacy.

I'm so sick of hearing men talk about women's basketball. If only there were a professional WNBA player with her own podcast, I could listen to. Hey, this is Lixie Brown, WNBA player and professional yapper. And this is Mariah Rose. You may know me from spilling the tea on hoops for hotties on TikTok. And we've got a new podcast full circle. Every Wednesday, we're catching you up on what's going on in women's basketball and not just in the WNBA, but with athletes unlimited, unrivaled and college basketball.

We've got you with analysis, insight stories, and a little bit of tea. I know you guys have seen a lot of former and current basketball players telling their stories from their point of view, and I just think it's time for the girlies to tap in. We want to share all of the women's basketball stories that you won't see anywhere else. Tune in a full circle.

and I Heart Women's Sports Production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. I remember once forgotten who runs this valley. Time to remind them. Yellowstone fans, step into the Yellowstone universe. Our family legacy is this ranch. When I'm protected with my life.

Hosted by Bobby Bones, the official Yellowstone podcast takes you deeper into the franchise that's captivated millions worldwide. Explore untold behind-the-scenes stories, exclusive cast interviews, and in-depth discussions about the themes and legacy of Yellowstone. You know, the first dozens to settle this valley fight was all they knew.

Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the ranch. Welcome to the Yellowstone. Bobby Bones has everything you need to stay connected to the Yellowstone phenomenon. I look forward to it. Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Let's get to the Medicare section. Yeah, sorry. I'm, I'm, I'm like R of K. I don't know the difference. Not a vote for you. It's a secretary either. To be honest, the difference is honestly kind of difficult to understand sometimes. Like Medicaid and in terms of the individual programs, not the senior care. Oh, of course.

Yeah, but you're talking about the way the funding works and the programs themselves. Sometimes I'm like, well, you know, there's provisions under Medicare that sometimes overlap with Medicaid, like in terms of the, there's like Medicare advantage, but then there's Medicaid plans for people who are born under Medicaid. But sometimes you can be covered by Medicare too. I was trying to research into it. It's actually like, for me to wrap my head around it, I'm like, this is a behemoth.

I feel confident if you were up for HHS. That's fair. You would do that homework and you would be ready to know the difference quite clearly. I'm just thinking as a layman, you know, just entering into this, I was like, oh, you know, it's actually kind of complicated. I had no idea. All right. Let's get to the.

funding freeze or whatever the hell has been going on which by the way continues to be a question so ryan emily did great job covering this with jeff stein who is all over the case when they issued this original memo very broadly wording saying freeze all federal funding except for things that go directly to individuals and they name specifically social security and medicare but not medicaid

And as I said before, the wording was very broad, so they said freeze all federal funding effectively so we can assess whether or not these different programs match the standards as laid out by Trump's various executive orders against green energy and DEI and whatever else he issued.

So yesterday, after creating a whole disaster and the Medicaid payment portals being shut down and, you know, domestic violence shelters and addiction programs and meals on wheels and head start and all these programs calling their senators and the representatives freaking out like what is going on, they decided to completely rescind that memo. So let's put B1 up on the screen. This is the memo rescinding the original memo.

However, then the White House press secretary came out and said, well, the first memo is rescinded. However, the funding freeze still applies for the programs that are in contradiction of

President Trump's executive orders. So continued confusion. Effectively, Jeff Stein summed it up. We can put this up on the screen as how this timeline all went down. This is B2. He says, do I have this right? What am I missing? Since your question. From the White House on Monday, OMB memo will implement full federal pause on grants, including but not limited to. And that was the language from the original memo here.

including but not limited to those that violate Trump executive orders on DEI, clean energy, trans-related programs. Then on Tuesday, White House issues Q&A saying the pause only applies to dollars that violate Trump executive orders. The White House press secretary says it's a limited freeze that will not affect individuals' benefits but major disruptions at Medicaid housing assistance and elsewhere. Wednesday, the OMB office's management of budget formally resins the Monday memo

White House Press Secretary says on Twitter that the freeze on spending that violates executive orders remains in effect. We can put up that statement from Caroline Levin. She says this is not a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. That's confusing, confusing to me at least. Why? And any confusion created by the court's injection, the president's executive orders on federal funding remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously

implemented, put B-5. Guys, skip ahead to B-5, the judge, what was just ruled. So this has already gone to two judges at this point. The first one said, this is not going to affect. We're putting an immediate freeze on this, on the freeze going into effect. Another judge weighed in yesterday and said they will grant the restraining order, saying the withdrawal of the hugely ambiguous OMB orders, only a distinction without a difference based on comments by the president's press secretary.

So it is still a bit of a jumble and very confusing and continues to be put on pause by, you know, at this point, multiple judges who've taken a look at this. And Sagar, this is some major Trump 2017 vibes. This is major Trump 2017 vibes. There's a portion of our audience, which is shocking, was actually either in high school or younger.

Whenever Trump was the first president, so if you all want to know what covering the first administration was like, this is what it was. It was like orders, and then they were rescinded, and people didn't know what was happening, and then there was chaos, and then there was a judge, and now we're back too well. This is still in effect, except it's not- But it's also not in effect. Yeah, welcome to Donald Trump's America. This is what it's always like. Hope you're all enjoying the next four years.

Producer Max says he was 16 when all this was going on last time. I worked on the show was 16. I mean, I've met people who are like 22 who watch the show. So I'm like, hold on a second. I was like, so how old are you when Trump was there? They're like, what am I? Often questions is, so you were born after 9-11. That's always a crazy one. And then it's like, do you remember anything about Obama? And they're like, no, not really. I wasn't really.

So this is the Trump era. That's the thing that they most remember, which is kind of crazy. But the point is that this is a lot what it was like. This is also what I would say is what really caused him to become more unpopular the first time around you. Look, I mean, governance is an art. It's difficult. It's one of those things which is maddening with bureaucracy. And it's one of the reasons why I always tell people we were going to cover buyouts. So maybe we can mention some of this in here.

Look, for all the talk of run the government, like a business, like what do we learn from this air traffic control thing? It's not a business. It's a life and death stakes sometimes. Like if you flash the workforce at Twitter and sometimes your DMs crash, which happens to me all the time, who gives a shit? Nobody died. No one cares. Right. When you flash the stock goes down. Let's say you have a company, a stock goes down and employees lose their job. Tragic, not downplaying it.

not the same as a plane crash. And this is what I always point to, where the Byzantine nature of the United States government, and specifically of the welfare state, is such where it is both maddening, ineffective, bureaucratic, stupid, bloated, overpriced, et cetera, and is one of the most beloved programs in the entire United States. So don't screw with it. This is one of the main lessons that Obama learned in 2009,

with obama care and all that is and i remember being some of the st party protests uh... those are my first acts of journalism in a way why are you all out here and i was off my medicaid hands-off my medicare we were like well you know it doesn't but it didn't matter like the idea that you were even screwing with old people's health care

It's dual cent people into a rage. Same here. You don't screw with Medicaid. And watching the hearing had no clue how many babies are born in this country, literally on our medical 40%. That's nuts of all of the babies in the United States were being born.

under the Medicaid program. I'm not to mention the number of people of disability, et cetera, who are affected by this, all of the hospitals and the doctors, our whole Watch RFK debate, our healthcare system is screwed up enough as it is, having to worry about reimbursement of care or all of that while that's going on as a nightmare. So it was a one day thing, but it's a taste of if you screw this type of stuff up, you really only get one shot.

I'm not sure it was a one day thing because at least according to Jeff Stein's reporting, there continue to be a lot of, you know, local programs funded by a federal grant. Well, I'm talking about Medicaid. Oh, the Medicaid. Yeah. So all the Medicaid portals were shut down in all 50 states. Those are back up.

But there continue to be, I mean, questions about what the state of affairs even is right now, what the White House actually wants people to be doing or not doing within all of these federal agencies. What the press secretary said in her very first briefing was like, oh, well, if you have a question, just like, you know, Russ Vogt's line is open, who's not even confirmed at OMB, by the way. And I think part of the reason they decided to rescind this first memo was because he is up, I believed him.

tomorrow, his hearing start. And I'm sure this was throwing his potential confirmation into a little bit of chaos as well, just because, listen, it doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat, like every single senator and representative was fielding calls from the Head Start program, the Meals on Wheels program, the Domestic Violence program, like all the addiction recovery programs, all sorts of, you know, veterans' homelessness, all of these programs say, what the hell is going on? Like, are we going to get our funding or not?

If not, we're going to have to lay people off. We can't open our doors. The kids can't come to class, et cetera, et cetera. So truly, both parties were quite concerned about what was going on here, regardless of what they were saying publicly. Now, apparently, as best we know, the backstory here is that, and again, this is very Trump 2017.

The memo was written. Stephen Miller sort of directed that this memo be written. Russ vote writes the memo and puts it out, but without going through any sort of like review process to recognize the fact that, oh, your language in here very clearly indicates all federal grant funding.

is frozen, not just like whatever trends or DEI or whatever stuff they're not happy about. By the way, the $50 million Gazakanum thing was totally incomplete. Bullshit nonsense, just so you know, as an aside. But to your point, Sagar, if we could now put before up on the screen, because this kind of gets to what you're talking about. So if you ask people, should you cut spending? Does the federal government spend too much? Is it inefficient? They'll be like, yes.

But then when you're like, okay, well, what should they cut? Should they spend more on social security or less? They're like, definitely spend more. What about education? Definitely spend more. What about assistance to the poor? Definitely spend more. Medicare, yes, Medicaid, yes. Border security is where you get to 50, 50 military. They're like, we're probably spending plenty there. We're good there in federal law enforcement, same thing. But by and large, if you go down the list of budget items,

when it comes to these programs, they are very popular. So Republicans oftentimes run into this where, you know, in theory, people are like, yes, the government is spending too much, but then when it actually comes down to these social safety net programs,

They do not want to further strip our already threadbare safety net even further and typically the defense budget only ever goes up. So that's not on the table politically, even though actually the American people would probably be most open to cuts there. One other thing I wanted to get to here is we can put B6 up on the screen.

Even though this was chaotic and continues to be chaotic and unclear and not done in an effective way, it's not like it was done haphazardly. The Huffington Post was able to actually get their hands on some internal documents that proved that this was a plan to provoke this constitutional challenge to try to directly challenge what's it called the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

which says that effectively, you know, Congress has to power the purse. If they pass funding, then the executive is obligated to spend it. This was a post-watergate reform. The Nixon administration didn't want to spend money that was appropriated by Congress on something. I can't remember exactly what. And so this was put into place to codify into law. No.

If you, if the Congress appropriates the money, we have the power of the purse, you as executive branch don't get to say like, well, I don't like that program. So I'm not going to spend money on that particular thing, except for rare instances, like if there's some new technological gain that creates efficiencies, then there might be a loophole there, but very, very limited.

as part of Project 2025 and something that Jeff Stein has been telling us about and we've been reporting on here and it's also part of the plan with Doge, they want to challenge that and basically be able to say that Congress's appropriations are just a basically suggestion and then the executive branch gets to be like we like that we don't like that and have

I mean, this would be, this would almost be rendering Congress completely irrelevant effectively, and making it so that the executive branch really has near monarchical powers to do everything that they want. So that was revealed in terms of these internal documents, which many people have been speculating about, but sort of confirmed by Huffington Post. Last thing I'll say, I don't get your reaction to the saga, is Lever News had a good report about just looking at, okay, well, how might the Supreme Court rule?

On such a question, this is a very conservative Supreme Court number. These individuals were put on the bench by Donald Trump. So there's certainly a possibility that even though this has never been the understanding, and it's pretty clear in the Constitution power of the purse with Congress, et cetera, there is certainly a possibility that they would side with the Trump White House on this. But let's put B7 up on the screen. This could end up being relevant. Apparently, John Roberts

Wade in back in a 1985 communique. Wade in on a question. It's, this is classic. David's sort of be able to find this, by the way. Wade in on this very question with regard to whether the executive branch can just, you know, say, no, we don't want to do that. Sorry, Congress. We're not following the law that you passed.

He said that no area seems more clearly the province of Congress than the power of the purse and discouraged going in the direction of questioning that whatsoever. So that could potentially become relevant. I think it's almost certainly that this will end up at some point at the Supreme Court.

not only that justice gorsage is a little much more libertarian much more skeptical of executive power and uh... just a parrot also very much in that camp so there's big ideological divides uh... i'd be curious to get a couple of more usually more of a big state power guy like executive branch they've definitely got thomas

Yeah, Thomas Alito, Kavanaugh, likely to go on the side of the Trump administration. But yeah, you could conceivably see a 6-3 on something like this. Yeah, I'd be curious to see how it breaks down. I asked around and they told me the same thing. They're like, Kavanaugh, or they're said, Gorsuch, Coney Barrett are both.

Big question marks. A lot of it, remember, comes back to implementation as well. This chaos does not help your case because that's something that they've written about often in Supreme Court opinions is that you have to follow the letter of the law and the process. That's what specifically came back to screw them on the census back in 2018 when Justice Roberts ruled against the Trump administration.

He's got a long history of not buying some of this stuff, you know, going all the way back to Obamacare and others like novel conservative legal theories. So they really could have issues before the court with this one. It's all about testing the limits of power. This was very basically laid out by a lot of people incoming in the Trump administration. They want to be able to do as much as they possibly can. And they're trying to get it done early to figure out what they actually can do going forward.

Yeah, yeah, no, that's right. And I will say like Democrats have been utterly pathetic in responding to this time that are generally utterly pathetic and disappointing, et cetera. But it is also true that it is easier to like dismantle, cut and destroy than it is to like build new programs. So, you know, I mean, that's what they're there to with this with the the buyouts that we mentioned, which aren't really buying whatever, put that semantic difference aside. But you know, they're trying to cut some 10%

kind of randomly broad swath of the federal government. All of those attempts to, they've talked about, they wanted to moralize the entire federal workforce. They wanna use these sorts of truly unprecedented, extraordinary powers to just take a hatchet to all sorts of things within the federal government. So yeah, the wrecking ball has arrived and they're doing everything that they possibly can with it. Yep, that makes sense.

All right, we will let's get to Jeremy Corbell standing by UFOs.

I'm so sick of hearing men talk about women's basketball. If only there were a professional WNBA player with her own podcast, I could listen to. Hey, this is Lixie Brown, WNBA player and professional yapper. And this is Mariah Rose. You may know me from spilling the tea on hoops for hotties on TikTok. And we've got a new podcast full circle. Every Wednesday, we're catching you up on what's going on in women's basketball and not just in the WNBA, but with athletes unlimited, unrivaled and college basketball.

We've got you with analysis, inside stories, and a little bit of tea. I know you guys have seen a lot of former and current basketball players telling their stories from their point of view, and I just think it's time for the girlies to tap in. We want to share all of the women's basketball stories that you won't see anywhere else. Tune in to Full Circle, an iHeartWomen's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeartWomen's Sports. I've ever once forgotten who runs this valley. Time to remind them. Yellowstone fans, step into the Yellowstone universe. Our family like a senior is this ranch. When I'm protected with my life.

Hosted by Bobby Bones, the official Yellowstone podcast takes you deeper into the franchise that's captivated millions worldwide. Explore untold behind-the-scenes stories, exclusive cast interviews, and in-depth discussions about the themes and legacy of Yellowstone. You know, the first dozens to settle this valley fight was all they knew.

Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the ranch. Welcome to the Yellowstone. Bobby Bones has everything you need to stay connected to the Yellowstone phenomenon. I look forward to it. Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Each week, we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyello, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter, and their plus one, their ride or die, as they share stories never heard before about their remarkable journey.

Listen to my legacy on the I Heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. This is my legacy. Joining us now is my friend Jeremy Corbell to react to some of the news around the New Jersey drones. It's great to see you, sir. Thank you for joining us. Good to see you. Absolutely. Jeremy, we want your reaction here to the White House coming out with a statement on the New Jersey drone phenomenon. Let's take a listen and we're going to get your reaction.

And before I turn to questions, I do have news directly from the President of the United States that was just shared with me in the Oval Office, from President Trump directly, an update on the New Jersey drones. After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons.

Many of these Jones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying Jones. In the meantime, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy. A lot going on there Jeremy. So in your expert opinion, what do you make of this? Yeah, I mean, the explanation is

fundamentally nonsensical. I think we all had high hopes for a new era of transparency. Look, for me, on the UAP topic, but also just on a bunch of topics, we're not seeing it in that statement. Let me just give you a little break down here. The FAA would not approve research flights without communication with facility heads and same with military bases.

did the FAA authorize the ones that buzzed Langley 17 nights in a row? Did they authorize the untrackable drones that infiltrated three US and UK air bases? And that was going on for weeks. Did the FAA authorize flight restrictions

If they originally authorized these drones, it's absolutely nonsensical. And I'll tell you, I get reports from people that are actually guarding these critical infrastructure sites.

What they're seeing through their flier and through their thermal, it's not just traditional drones. And so this is an issue of transparency. We had high hopes. We're not getting it. Remember, these drones were not affected by anti-drone technologists. So these just weren't approved tasks. It's just a blatant flat out line.

Yeah, I mean, research and various other reasons. Like, listen, I'm a skeptic, personally. So I would be open to an explanation that's like, research, and here's exactly what's going on, and here's why it's confusing to people, and here's why the drone detection technology didn't work, and why the flight space wasn't authorized, blah, blah, blah. But I don't think anyone, skeptic, not skeptic, whatever your thoughts are about the situation is going to be satisfied with research and various other reasons.

Yeah, and look, this is not necessarily something that we have to be skeptical about where they come from. This is just a matter of fact that we have unidentified craft that are loitering over sensitive military and nuclear installations and also power stations. So this is something that we should address, face on, and we should be honest about it. It's just that the answer they came up with is absolutely nonsensical, and that's the problem.

especially when you consider all of the authorities involved, the military bases, and that's what I want to talk to you about here, Jeremy. Can you put this answer in the context of all of these other UAP incidents that we have seen over military bases and then the subsequent explanation somewhat, month and a half later, that vague, you know, oh, it was research, it was authorized. Does this fit with the pattern from the U.S. government?

Yeah, it does. And this is something back in 2019 when we had 10 Navy warships, over 100 mile radius, swarmed by over 100 unidentified. And that's where George Knapp and I provided so many different types of footage showing that this is an issue. Everybody on the ships we've spoken with, that we've brought forward. This is something where

You have these incursions. And this has been going on for a long time. You know your history, you guys, you know, the shutdown of nuclear-based shutdowns of airports were not getting truthful answers. And that's what we were all hoping for. Again, this answer is just so nonsensical. It's almost comical if it wasn't a serious issue, you know? Right. What are some of the ongoing transparency issues that you're hoping are going to be resolved ultimately under this administration, Jeremy?

Well, you know that I'm obsessed with the UFO and UAP issues, so I'd like that to be resolved. We tried to do that in Congress a number of times. I think the American public deserves, or not even deserves, it is our right to have transparency within government. And we're just seeing, I hope we're not, but it appears we're just seeing the kind of same status quo.

As things unfold, a lot of promises are made. Remember, back in the day, the Clintons tried to get this information out. John Podesta tried to get this information out. Ground truth on what UAP UFOs are, what they represent to humanity. And we're not seeing that right now. That's a fact.

Jeremy, could you also give us your reaction? It's been some more whistleblowers and others that have come out, you know, government psionics and others. I'm just curious for your take on the matter and how that fits in the broader scheme of whistleblowers coming forward, trying to give information to Congress and to the government. And then at the very same time, we have the White House here with a traditional, obviously BS explanation about the New Jersey drones.

Right. And so that's what we're seeing. What we're seeing is we're not going to get the answers to the traditional means we were hoping, unfortunately, through the Senate, through the House, just through the White House in general, we're not going to get those answers. So how are we? It's going to be on journalism. And that's OK. That's what we're all doing is trying to get to the bottom and core truth on all this. So I'm very hopeful for journalism right now. A lot of people are throwing down. A lot of people are

getting involved with this issue. So we have to do good journalism, no matter what the White House does. Absolutely. So we'll end it there, Jeremy. Thank you so much. And listen, Jeremy, me, us, we tried to warn you, we could do it the easy way. But catastrophic is the way that you guys want to go. So be it, right? I mean, we try to see that.

Yeah, we've tried to give them the option of coming forward of disclosure. They are leaving it to the whistleblowers and the eyewitnesses and others to have to come forward and to force the hand. If that's the way they want to play it, fine. We can continue to fight if we need to. Thank you very much, sir. We appreciate you. Thank you.

Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Each week, we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyello, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter, and their plus one, their ride or die, as they share stories never heard before about their remarkable journey.

Listen to my legacy on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. This is my legacy.

I'm so sick of hearing men talk about women's basketball. If only there were a professional WNBA player with her own podcast, I could listen to. Hey, this is Lixie Brown, WNBA player and professional yapper. And this is Mariah Rose. You may know me from spilling the tea on hoops for hotties on TikTok. And we've got a new podcast full circle. Every Wednesday, we're catching you up on what's going on in women's basketball and not just in the WNBA, but with athletes unlimited, unrivaled and college basketball.

We've got you with analysis, inside stories, and a little bit of tea. I know you guys have seen a lot of former and current basketball players telling their stories from their point of view, and I just think it's time for the girlies to tap in. We want to share all of the women's basketball stories that you won't see anywhere else. Tune in a full circle in I Heart Women's Sports Production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeartWomen's Sports. I go once forgotten who runs this valley. Time to remind them. Yellowstone fans, step into the Yellowstone universe. Our family legacy is this ranch. When I'm protected with my life.

Hosted by Bobby Bones, the official Yellowstone podcast takes you deeper into the franchise that's captivated millions worldwide. Explore untold behind-the-scenes stories, exclusive cast interviews, and in-depth discussions about the themes and legacy of Yellowstone. You know, the first guns to settle this valley fighting was all they knew.

Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the ranch. Welcome to the Yellowstone. Bobby Bones has everything you need to stay connected to the Yellowstone phenomenon. I look forward to it. Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go to work.

Very fortunate to be joined this morning by Peter Bynart. He is editor at large of Jewish Currents. He is author of Bynart No Book on Substack and also author of a brand new book that we can put up on the screen. Being Jewish after the destruction of Gaza, a reckoning. Great to see you, Peter. Thanks a lot.

So my typical first question is what prompted the writing of the book, but I think that much is pretty obvious. But maybe you could start off by talking a little bit about what this period has been like the post-October 7th period has been like specifically for you and for your relationship with the Jewish community.

So, one of the central metaphors in Jewish tradition is of a family, kind of imagined, extended family. We even use the term, you know, Benaeus Raul, the children of Israel, to describe all of us, even though Israel is the name that was given to Jacob after he wrestles with Angel in the book of Genesis.

There's something there, and it's also a family that has imagined family that has been through a lot of trauma, and then experienced another tremendous level of trauma on October 7th, which was really, say for many of us, one of the worst days of our lives. It's very, in those moments, what families want is solidarity and support. But the tragedy to me is that the way in which the organized American Jewish community, Israeli government, asked for that solidarity,

is unconditional support for the brutal oppression of Palestinians and now the destruction of Gaza. So for me, I think the motions that led me to write this book were this struggle to show that I do feel a sense of solidarity and love for people that

and a tradition that is at the center of my life, and yet something has gone profoundly wrong when we take that tradition and that sense of obligation to one another and it becomes an excuse for doing just the most horrifying things to another group of people.

So you talk about how the Jewish community needs a new story. Talk a little bit about what the current story is and what are the problems with that current story and what a new story that may better serve not just the Jewish community but the world at large, what that might look like.

I think Jewish public discourse tends to be dominated by a narrative of Jews as kind of history's permanent virtuous victims. The truth is that Jewish sacred texts actually tell a much more complicated story than that. But that becomes the one I think that is often in the kind of folk, the folk kind of narrative that exists.

And then, so you hear this even in the description of October 7, right, to be clear. October 7 was a horrifying act of violence, including against many, many Israeli civilians. But it gets called a pogrom. So what happens then is you are linking this to violence against Jews in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century, as if basically the Jewish condition is the same, because they're always going to be these

these vicious anti-Semites who are going to try to kill Jews wherever they are, right? Or they people say it's the worst killing of Jews since the Holocaust, right? But the truth is the conditions that exist for Palestinians and particularly Palestinians in Gaza are nothing like the conditions that exist in the Russian Empire in the early 20th century or during the Nazi period because you can't understand European anti-Semitism and violence against Jews without understanding Jews as a legally subordinated group of people.

But in Israel, Palestine, it's the reverse. Jews have legal supremacy. It's Palestinians who are legally subordinate, who live without basic rights. And if you want to understand Palestinian violence, and you want to make sure that it doesn't happen again, that everybody is safer, you have to face that reality of the oppression that Palestinians exist for Palestinians, not to justify, God forbid, what happened on October 7th, but to understand the conditions

so you can ensure that doesn't happen again, which means responding to the desire of Palestinians to be free.

You have a quote in here, you say, treating a state as a God is a very frightening endeavor. It confers upon mortals a level of veneration that we do not deserve and will always abuse. Leibowitz called it the essence of fascism. How did support for the state of Israel, not just, you know, broadly the state of Israel existing, but even the specific policies, effectuated by an extremely far right, I would say fascist government under BB Netanyahu,

How did that get tied up so much with Judaism to the extent that, you know, the ADL and other groups, the definition that the U.S. government is working with now, will say that if you criticize this state, you are actually yourself anti-Semitic.

You know, I don't think I really understand. I don't think I know the answer to that question. And because, but I think it's actually a global thing that's happening now. When I look at the way some white evangelical Christians in Trump's talk about the United States, it's used to be almost a parallel in which

that in Trump's America, it seems, Trump's support seems to me, if you don't have an American passport, if you don't have the right documentation, you are worthless. Your life is meaningless. The worse the state is all that matters and whether you have citizen, anything. I mean, I'm not an expert on Christianity, but my understanding is that Christianity has a message about the universal dignity of all human beings irrespective of what passport you have, right?

And I think something parallel has happened in much of the organized American Jewish community, in which Judaism's message of the universal dignity of all human beings, because Torah does not start with a story of Jews. According to Jewish tradition, Adam, Eve, Noah, the first characters in Torah are not Jews. They're universal human beings, and they are symbols of the infinite value of all human life. And yet, what happens when we talk about Israel

And Gaza is that the first thing that's demanded is that people accept Israel's right to exist. Jewish tradition does not think in terms of states having rights to exist. It thinks in terms of human beings having rights to exist. States are mere instruments for the protection of human life. And if they do a really terrible job of protecting the lives of the people under their control, they should be reimagined, recreated, and yet

Instead, it's inverted. So the lives of the children of Gaza and the other people of Gaza are considered not to be precious, but the right of the existence of the Israel as a Jewish state with a certain political system is considered sacrosanct. And to me, that's idolatry.

It's funny you make that connection because I was thinking about that same connection too in the context of the freak out over what the Bishop had to say about mercy for migrants, mercy for LGBTQ people and how there was such a vociferous reaction against that from the right. Obviously, the president was upset and JD Vance was tweeting about it and it was a subject of prime time programming on Fox News, et cetera.

Even though, listen, I'm also not a Christian, but I do have reading comprehensive skills, and I have a basic understanding of Christianity, and I know that, you know, humanity for the foreigner is kind of the key theme throughout the whole thing, even the Old Testament, New Testament, Jesus Christ, like whoever you want to look at, that is a key message. And I think Tim Alberta has done, he's, I think, probably done the best job writing about this connection.

But I really, it did actually help me to understand also the societal process that has gone in on within the state of Israel. And I think, you know, more broadly with many exceptions, but more broadly within the stridently, you know, Zionist Jewish community.

that has led to this place where the state itself is sacrosanct, and that that is put above even the religious texts that are supposed to be so central. That really did kind of hit home for me as well.

Thanks, thanks. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting if you look at Jewish religious thinkers in the early decades of Zionism, there's a great fear, actually, of nationalism, of secular nationalism, that secular nationalism actually doesn't, that secular nationalism will undermine and threaten

that kind of ethical principles in Judaism. And I think that's exactly what's happened, that nationalism has become a religion, not just nationalism, but ethno-nationalism has become a religion. And you see it in the United States, you see it among Jews, you see it in India, right? Where Hindutva kind of has become a version of Hinduism or a place

Hinduism in which basically the rights of Muslims now are considered to be something that doesn't need to be respected because this is a Hindu nation. It's a very dangerous thing that I think is happening globally. Yeah, I think that's a really important point. I did want to ask you a little bit about some current events and Elon Musk in particular because it certainly directly relates to your book.

I mean, you know, this is a person who has shared and spread the quote-unquote, great replacement theory, which is brazenly anti-Semitic. He had to go and, like, pay, you know, do penance with the ADL and go on the strip to Israel, et cetera. But routinely, you know, his algorithm on Twitter boosts, my feed is filled with a bunch of Nazis constantly, like amplifying their talking points, goes now and speaks to the far right German

AFD party, absolutely reactionary, did what sure looked to be, in my humble opinion, like a Nazi salute twice on Inauguration Day. And yet, the ADL, which is supposed to be the arbiter of what is and what is in anti-Semitism, comes out and is like,

Just an awkward gesture. We understand tensions are high. Just an awkward gesture. And not just them. BB Netanyahu himself comes out and says, Elon's a friend of the Jew. I mean, how do we explain this whitewashing of Nazism directly from the organs that are supposed to be, you know, repelled by such an ideology?

Well, first of all, it's just sheer cowardice, which we're seeing. There's an orgy of cowardice happening across American institutions, right? People are afraid of Elon Musk and they're afraid of Donald Trump. So that's just, I think, one broader thing which is happening, which is the ADL is doing as well. But it's also because

The struggle against a certain kind of bigotry, in this case anti-Semitism, has been profoundly corrupted by the equation of a struggle against bigotry with the defense of a state. And indeed, with the defense of a state that itself is practicing state-sponsored bigotry, right, Israel's own leading human rights organizations say that Israel is practicing apartheid.

that you can't be an anti-bigotry organization if you define your mission as defending a state that's practicing bigotry, right? And so, you know, I sometimes imagine what would happen if the NAACP defined its struggle against anti-black bigotry as also including the defense of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Sudan, and a bunch of other African governments, right? They would be lobbying accusations at progressives all the time who were criticizing these governments for their human rights abuses.

It would completely distort and undermine their effort against anti-Black racism. And this is really what's happened with the ADL and other American Jewish organizations since the 1970s when they redefined themselves as Israel Defense organizations.