12/17/24: Eyewitness UFO Reports, Ro Khanna Debunks Dem Election Cope, CNN Admits Syria Viral Hoax

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Good morning, everybody. Happy Tuesday. Have an amazing show for everybody today. What do we have, Crystal? Dean, we do. Lots of interesting developments out there in the world. We are going to update you on the quote-unquote drone situation in New Jersey. And very excited to get to talk to Rich McHugh, who is a fantastic journalist. We've actually known him for quite a while. He helped Ronan Farrow break the story about however he wants, Dean. He is now over at NewsNation. And it's been all over this drone story. He's probably done the best reporting on it. So he's going to join us for an update this morning, really looking forward to that.

We have Ro Khanna back in the studio to talk about the Democrats and whatever's going on with them. It looks like Pelosi was successful in blocking AOC from being chair of the oversight committee. There's a lot to talk to there. And Ro also had a fantastic op-ed that we want to get his reaction to about money in politics and how Democrats can move on from their big donor era. We also have some updates for you on that.

very weird and very fake feeling CNN, Syria, prisoner rescue video. We now know the identity of this individual, although a lot of questions remain about just what the hell was going on there. So break that down for you. We also have a deeply troubling story out of California. An open AI whistleblower was found dead. We will tell you what he was saying, what he was warning about, and the circumstances surrounding his death.

I'm taking a look at Bernie Sanders' warning about American oligarchy, and Sagar is talking about Japan. What reflections on your trip give us a little preview. Just why it's the greatest country in the world. Why it challenges all the foundational myths of the United States and what a real great society should look like, and why we should aspire to be more like the Japanese and not the reverse. Why do I have a feeling like I'm going to disagree?

Uh, you never been. How would you know? You know, that's one of those that you have to see it to believe it. You have to understand and what it's like to feel absolute physical peace in a major metropolitan area, something basically impossible in the United States of America and basically the entire Western world. So perhaps it's what we can see from them. And if you're interested in the obesity crisis, safety, public safety, American innovation, theories of capitalism. They have like a massive birth rate crisis and that way kind of big problem over there.

You know what? As with all things throughout the centuries, they figured it out and I have faith in them. They should not listen to us. We should listen to them. The other one. Okay. All right. Well, I will listen with an open mind and we shall see. It has universal healthcare. You should be happy about that. Okay. Let's talk about the drones, shall we? We've got a little bit of an update here. President-elect Donald Trump is alleging a massive government cover-up. Let's take a listen.

Can you comment on the drones that are flying around the New Jersey ports? It seems like the American people have a big distance. The government knows what is happening. Look, our military knows where they took off from. If it's a garage, they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went. And for some reason, they don't want to comment.

And I think they'd be better off saying what it is, our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense. I can't imagine it's the enemy because it was the enemy that blasted out, even if they were late, that blasted.

something strange is going on for some reason they don't want to tell the people and they should because the people are really, I mean they happen to be over Bedminster. They're very close to Bedminster. I think maybe I won't spend the weekend in Bedminster. I've decided they can't sell my trip. Have you received an intelligence briefing on the drones? I don't want to comment on that.

All right, so he doesn't want to comment on that. Yeah, that was actually a good follow-up from our reporter. That's a fantastic follow-up. Hey, you know, you get these intelligence briefings now. You want to share anything with us on? No, I'm not going to comment. Exactly right. Now, when he says a couple of things like, we know where the drones took off, we know what they are, et cetera, but they don't want to know, is he speaking from an informed position or not? Remember, as the president elect of the United States, you get the full presidential daily briefing, the same one that Joe Biden would receive in the Oval Office. Could he be making stuff up? Maybe. I don't think so.

No, bullshitting. On this one, I mean, he's been specific about a couple of things. So recall the Ukraine casualty numbers. The Ukrainians freaked out about that, by the way, because he was like, a million people have died. Meanwhile, Zelensky's like, oh, actually, it's 75,000 people have been killed. It's like maybe at a zero and it's somewhere near the accurate number. So he's talked about that. He's talked previously about some previous military things and others. So I actually think this one might be with the intelligence program. Well, then he's part of the Congress.

If he knows the answer, and he's just not telling us, because he got an intelligence briefing, then he's not wearing a camera. Well, he's not the president yet. So, you know, maybe he doesn't have any thoughts. I know. He really holds to those rules and norms of the presidential transition. I have no idea. All right. All I'm saying is, I will take it seriously because he is the incoming president. He is very skilled at like jumping on a public sentiment.

And that's what I see in this. I kind of doubt that he got any special information in his briefing. Like I said, if he did, then okay, come out with it. Like tell us what's going on. I think he's just like, seize this is a moment. Seize this is a thing that's going on. And as he is very skilled at doing sort of jumps on it and positions himself in an advantageous way. That's all I see going on here.

Look, it definitely could be true. In fact, I kind of hope that's true because then you can get into office and you can tell us what's actually happening with it. But regardless, what we do know is that it in New Jersey, people there are just fed up, the governor is fed up, the state and local officials in terms of all the lies that are being propagated.

by the federal government. Just yesterday, we got another update on the lies from the White House, from the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said that was absolutely nothing to worry about. Don't worry. And actually, Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, so clearly somebody, at least with some authority, spoke out against this, let's take a listen.

Here in New Jersey, resident, have you seen any drones? Yeah. Two mornings ago, over my house at 6.15 in the morning, saw them myself, sort of my wife. And so, yeah, they're there. And I've been traveling around New Jersey as I normally do all week. And I can't tell you the number of people who have come up to me concerned about it. And that is the- Is this a mass hysteria of some sort? Well, here's why, George. Because of answers like the secretary just gave. They're not answering the questions.

Well, he said that he said that they're monitoring it. They haven't seen any unusual activity and they need more authority. Let me say so that I agree that they need more authority.

But to not say that this is not, to say this is not unusual activity, it's just wrong. I live in New Jersey my whole life. This is the first time that I've noticed drones over my house. And I was in a restaurant in Monmouth County on Friday night, had people at the bar coming up to me and saying, Governor Murphy won't tell me anything. The president won't tell me anything. Do you know? Well, I don't know, but I will tell you this.

I think this is what happens in our society now, George, because we're used to having things so rapidly. If you don't fill that vacuum, then all the conspiracy theories get filled in there. So you've got people like Congressman Jeff Van Drew saying there's an Iranian mothership off the coast of New Jersey. Absolutely not true.

There you go. That's he's actually said it well, which is that in our current environment where you have videos going around, where you have multiple news reports. We're going to talk to Rich just here in a little bit. He himself witnessed many of the drones. By the way, the drone situation has now gone across the entire country. Actually, even global Germany is now reporting.

drone problems. We talked about right Patterson Air Force Base, which was just closed yesterday. The audio of that confirms their own freak out for what's happening. There've been multiple other incidents across the entire East Coast. And yet despite this, the NSC spokesperson, John Kirby, let's put this up there on the screen, he says and continues to say, oh, all of these just don't worry about it. It's commercial drones, it's hobby drones, it's law enforcement drones, it's planes, it's helicopters, it's stars that people have mistook for drones. Now,

Look, is it true that some people have mistaken these? Absolutely. You know, you had, what was it, the governor, Larry Hogan, is that his name? Who mistook the stars for drones? Okay, not spending a lot of time stargazing. It's planes or it's hobbyist drones, but you know, whenever it comes to the hobby, the commercial drones and others, it doesn't make any sense for them to be flying at night specifically because that's not how, first of all, they're not allowed to, but also there's some various different ways to enforce that.

In terms of the law enforcement drones, well, maybe, but, you know, if you listen to the law enforcement people themselves, they say every time our drones get close to one of these so-called drones, those drones are able to go away. They don't have a heat signature. They're able to, quote-unquote, go dark, as the governor said. Planes, I mean, as I said, literally yesterday, it's very easy to say what is a plane and what's not that's up in the sky. Any one of us can open a flight-aware or any of these other apps and look up immediately and identify.

what a plane is, its tail, its file, et cetera, for its route, where it's going. So their explanations just continue to not make any sense, and they continue to obfuscate whatever the truth is. But the more that this continues, the more full blown cover up that it continues to look like. Yeah, I mean, they continue to be very evasive in their answers.

And obviously the sightings continue and the questions remain. So one thing that I had seen is what New Jersey just like loosened up their policy, allowing civilian use. That's one sort of innocuous explanation that's been put out there. So I mean, I do think that's part of what's going on is some of the things that people are seeing are like commercial aircraft and

civilian drones and they just now are paying attention and this drone usage rule has been loosened up or whatever. But there have been enough people with some credibility and knowledge that have seen things that I'm convinced that's not the whole of what's going on. Exactly.

So with that being said, let's speak to one of those people who I consider to be quite credible, Rich McEw was an incredible reporter and journalist, as I said before. And, you know, it's demonstrated a lot of, I would say, courage in the field of journalism has taken on stories even when it was uncomfortable and inconvenient in mainstream press. He's now a reporter for news nation. He's been on the ground in New Jersey.

Reporting out, he had his own sighting of what dozens of these drones while he was there reporting. He spoke to local law enforcement as well. We played some of this on the show yesterday. So let's go ahead and get to that. What's up, everybody? I'm named Burketer to tell you about a new podcast, my hard podcast in the National Hockey League. It's NHL conscriptive with Kirk and Demers. Hey, I'm Jason Demers, former 700 game NHL defenseman turned NHL network analyst and boy, oh boy, does daddy have a lot to say?

I love you, by the way, on NHL Network. We're looking forward to getting together each week to chat and chirp about the sport and all the other things surrounding it that we love, right? Yeah, I just met you today, but we're gonna have a ton of guests from the colliding worlds of hockey, entertainment, and pop culture. And you know what? Tons of back and forth on all things NHL. Yeah, you're just gonna find out we're not just hockey talk. We had all kinds of random stuff on this podcast, movies, television, food, wrestling, even the stuff that you wear on NHL now.

You wish you could pull off my short charts, Verki. That's sure to cause a ruckus. Listen to NHL Unscripted with Birkin Diverse, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Decisions Decisions, the podcast where boundaries are pushed and conversations get candid. Join your favorite host, me, WZWTF and me, Mandy B. As we dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often taboo topics surrounding dating, sex,

and love. That's right. Every Monday and Wednesday, we both invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, we share our personal journeys navigating our 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engage in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations.

From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that will resonate with your experiences, decision decisions is going to be your go to source for the open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections. Tune in and join the conversation. Listen to decisions decisions on the Black Effect podcast network, iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Joining us now is investigative correspondent for News Nation, Rich McHugh, highly respected journalist. It's great to see you, sir. Thank you for joining us. Great to see you both. Could be back here with you. Absolutely. All right. So, Rich, you did a report that we played on our show yesterday where you were credulous of these drone sightings. You said to yourself that you were skeptical going in. Why don't you just break down a little bit of what you saw and some of the further reporting that you've done since you did that segment?

Sure, so I was absolutely skeptical before starting on this like I kind of didn't even pay attention to the story because I thought it was just a bunch of wing nuts in New Jersey with drones stirring up something. Then I started looking at it and I talked to I interviewed the sheriff of Ocean County.

and his drone team and talk to them about what they saw, talk to the drone operator about what he saw when they put a drone up. You know, he was saying things like this thing that with this drone that we encountered was much bigger than ours and they have an industrial grade drone. And it didn't have a heat signature. I didn't know what a heat signature was, but apparently that's a thing. So like they can track drones with like, you know, heat

And so he was emphatic that this thing did not have the normal kind of, it was not giving off the normal heat. So there's all these things, then there's all these sightings in the communities, Monmouth County, Ocean County. Residents I talked to were saying, look, we're seeing these things overhead, like no doubt about it. One resident told me he looked up and he saw something.

like 80 to 100 feet above his house. He said it was so close. He said, I screamed at it, get the heck out of here. There's mayors all throughout this state that are saying, look, pay attention to us. They just had a meeting yesterday with the White House saying, look, enough of the gaslighting. So from my own personal perspective, normally you don't see stuff around here. Last Thursday night, after I'd met with the Ocean County Sheriff's,

My cameraman and I, we got reports that there was all sorts of sightings in Monmouth County, so we raced to Monmouth County. There were sightings in Red Bank, like these look look like these things were low flying over the over the city and over east by Earl and in Middletown. And so we started seeing this and

You know, I was like, I'm used to flight patterns. I'm used to like, I know where this area and I know what's what and what normally flies overhead. These look like a mix between helicopters and something else because they were flying so low. And so we started filming them.

You know, to be honest, I've kicked the tires on our reporting and I've asked CIA, former CIA drone specialist, I've asked the CEO of a drone company, currently the respected person, I've asked an aviation expert of 43 years, military, you flew in the military and it was a commercial pilot. I asked all of them, former CIA drone specialist said, I think they're drones.

The drone CEO said they're not drones. You got your filming planes. I think those are planes. And the aviation expert, the pilot of 43 years, is I think they're drones. So the bottom line is we don't know. Reporting this is like we really don't know. And reporting this is the experience I equate to is like reporting in a fun house. It's like you look over here and there's a little bit of truth here and a little bit of truth there, but like you're trying to make sense of it all.

I think when you boil it down, I think there's room for both. I think there's a lot of stuff actually happening. I think there's real drone activity happening in New Jersey and these other states, as evidenced by the reports you're getting out of these military installations. There's incredible, you know, people on these bases at Earl, here nearby, and Picatinny are saying, we are seeing these. And so that is the real issue and the fact that the federal government, up until

you know, three a couple days ago was saying, you know, there's really no credible, you know, credible instances of drones flying over these air spaces. Well, now

They're kind of backpedaling on that and saying, well, there are, but they're not really something we're concerned about. And that doesn't make sense to me as a reporter. It's like, if you get anywhere near these military installations, you can't. The most sensitive thing ever. So there's a disconnect from the messaging that is coming from the federal level. And that's what's alarming.

Can you tell me a little bit more about how local law enforcement is thinking about this? Are they fearful? Are they nervous? What's the energy? And do they have any theories about what is going on? Do they have any advice for residents about how to think about what is happening?

I talked to Sean Golden. He's the mayor or the sheriff of Monmouth County yesterday. I went in. He is the one who's kind of like, I don't want to say like, you've been at the forefront of this, but he has since the end of November. And now he has a heat map on kind of like the brain room inside of his sheriff's office and thousands of sightings since December 2nd. And it's pretty wild to see it. So he's tracking them. He's logging everything. He's directing everybody to the federal government. He is actually

calling for laws to be enacted, which I believe is smart. He says, look, with planes, you have the FAA, and we can see on these open-sourced websites, you can track them, you know, like on flight aware or whatever, you can see every plane that's going on. With drones, we don't have that, and there should be a requirement

that you can, through GPS, track at least where the controller of the drone is, so we can weed out bad actors and then try and figure out what's going on, because right now it's just an unregulated Wild West. The Sheriff of Ocean County, I talked to him, he has the drone team. They're actively looking for this stuff. This is the Sheriff who told me this story about a police officer in their district

was on the beach and called 911, which is something remarkable in itself, a police officer calling 911.

you know, seeing 50 of these things come off the ocean. And I heard that and I was like, come on, like 50 of these things come off the ocean. And she's a sworn officer. They put out the drone to go look for this. They called the FBI. They called the Coast Guard. They say the Coast Guard put out their boat and they reported back that 13 of these things followed their boat in. So,

I can't imagine a sheriff and Coast Guard are making that kind of claim up. So how are they going about it? I think they're just saying be vigilant. Try not. If you see one of these things, don't necessarily call 911. If you see something in your convinced of it, then take action. Here's where you can call.

Wow. Interesting. Yeah, Rich, last question for you is just in terms of what does your gut feeling think in terms of all of the theories that are out there, of course. So we were talking a little bit about four. There's UFO theories that are around this. There's a viral quote unquote nuclear theory. In terms of your reporting at least, or there's just what you said is that a lot of these as they loosened up some of their drone regulations and people are just having some fun. Having, you know, you said, kicked the tires of those. What do you think?

I think it's a combination. I think it's complicated. I think it's a combination of things. I think, number one, there is something going on here with drones. No doubt about it. People are seeing it. Mayors are seeing it. Like the sheriff's office are seeing it. They're military installations. They're seeing it. I think in talking to Sean Golden, the sheriff, he's like, look, I believe a lot of these sightings probably are planes that people are now staring up and looking at the sky and maybe mischaracterizing.

So there's some of that going on. I think that the narrative coming out of the government is helping fuel that because people don't have answers. If I had to guess after talking to these sheriffs and seeing the messaging coming out of the White House and federal officials, I think they know far more than they're letting on. I think if I'm going to be a betting person,

The government knows exactly what this is. These are our own, you know, these are not foreign bad actors because I truly believe that if they were foreign bad actors, we'd be stopping it. And messaging is like,

Uh, we acknowledge that this is happening, but it's not a harm to you people. Well, it's like that, that's a irresponsible statement to put out unless you know something more. Correct. Yeah. Very true. Well, Rich, um, it's always great to see you're like, you're like the forest gump of reporting. Always get on this. True. Incredible story, historical moments, et cetera. So, um, we're really grateful for your time this morning. Thank you. Thank you. Good to see both. Yeah. Same to you.

What's up, everybody? I'm Nate and Berk here to tell you about a new podcast, my hard podcast in the National Hockey League. It's NHL Unscripted with Berk and Dimmerse. Hey, I'm Jason Dimmerse, former 700-game NHL defenseman, turned NHL network analyst, and boy, oh boy, does daddy have a lot to say? I love you, by the way, on NHL Network. We're looking forward to getting together each week to chat and chirp about the sport and all the other things surrounding it that we love, right? Yeah, I just met you today, but we're going to have a ton of guests from the colliding worlds of hockey, entertainment,

pop culture. And you know what? Tons of back and forth on all things NHL. Yeah, you're just gonna find out we're not just hockey talk. We had all kinds of random stuff on this podcast, movies, television, food, wrestling, even the stuff that you wear on NHL now. You wish you could pull off my short shorts, Berkey. That's sure to cause a ruckus. Listen to NHL unscripted with Birkin Diverse, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Decisions Decisions, the podcast where boundaries are pushed and conversations get candid. Join your favorite host, me, WZWTF and me, Mandy B. As we dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often taboo topics surrounding dating, sex,

and love. That's right. Every Monday and Wednesday, we both invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, we share our personal journeys navigating our 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engage in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations.

From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that will resonate with your experiences, decision decisions is going to be your go to source for the open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections. Tune in and join the conversation. Listen to decisions decisions on the Black Effect podcast network, iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

So we are fortunate to be joined this morning by Congressman Rokana here in the studio. Always great to see you in person. What was that coming in? See, sir. Interesting Democratic Party news going on that we wanted to pick your brains on. So guys, if you could put B4 up on the screen here, we'll start with this. Alexandria Acasio-Cortez has been trying to become ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, which is a significant role.

And one that she seemingly based on her past work would be relatively well suited for. Reporting is that Nancy Pelosi decided she would rather have Jerry Connolly, who was relatively aged and also suffering from cancer. In that position, yesterday in the steering committee, he was able to win that vote.

Now, typically, my understanding you can correct me if I'm wrong is usually the way the steering committee votes is the way that the whole caucus votes. So this is likely a defeat for AOC. Do you think that she still has a chance to get this position? What do you make of this sort of, you know, backroom dealing to block one of the young rising members of Congress for an older, more establishment figure?

I don't agree with that. Right after this, I'm going to vote in the House caucus. I'll be voting for AOC for a couple of reasons. One, she was the vice chair. She's done the work. She comes very well prepared. Two, the whole committee in the minority is about getting out in the media and being an effective communicator.

We don't have that many effective communicators right now in Congress in these leadership positions. But she's going to be an underdog. I don't understand, you know, why the steering and policy committee's recommendation has so much weight and then someone explained it to me. Everyone wants to get on their committees and the steering and policy committee basically determines what committees you go on. So if you go against them, you may be screwing yourself for your committee position.

And one of the biggest complaints I heard about AOC, second hand, was that she had endorsed in primary challenges. God forbid you endorse against an incumbent in our party. And I've said, we should have competition just because you're an incumbent doesn't mean that you're guaranteed that seat.

But this is where you're seeing that those who are willing to question the system shake things up that that doesn't go well when you want to try to be in leadership. I'm glad you brought that up because there was actually reporting that as part of her attempt.

to come ranking member of House Oversight, she was willing to agree not to back primary challengers against incumbent Democrats, which I think is, you know, I mean, I think it's extraordinary to begin with, because as you point out, it's important to have that Democratic choice.

I think it's been part of her brand. Obviously, she came in challenging a long time in terms of Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley. You also came in in a Democratic primary challenge. And so I thought it was extraordinary that she was willing to give that up. But I also thought it was extraordinary that she was willing to give that up. And they still were like, not good enough. We still won our guy, Jerry Connolly.

yeah i i don't think we should give it up and let's say someone was challenging uh... member congress on the iraq war that's how i start i lost that race but wouldn't you want to have incumbents challenged if they voted for the iraq war yes yes uh... and

And this is where the lesson for progressives is we're not going to build power just by making compromises. We've got to get more of our folks elected. Now, the fact that you got to 27 is pretty remarkable, but we'll see what happens in the House caucus.

So the reason you're here is in this context of like future of the Democratic Party. What is this all about? So we have a hilarious element here. Can we put what does it be one please up on the screen from the Atlantic? They write, maybe Democrats didn't do so badly after all. The party's debate about reinventing itself after the election has gotten more complicated. They talk about some of these retcon positions and others you've been a part of this conversation. So we're curious for your reaction to that and whether is this how your colleagues feel and generally about this theory of change

and where things go from here under Second Trump administration, what do you make of an argument like this?

I think we have to make a distinction between, could we have won this election by a couple of points, or can we win back 26 or 28? Of course we can, versus a long-term problem for the Democratic Party. Let me talk about that long-term problem. We've been losing working class votes, white working class votes, African American working class votes, Latino working class votes. You've gone on Ohio from President Obama carrying it by five points, they're carrying it by three points, so it's losing it by eight points, they're losing it by 11 points.

points. Anyone looking at the data has to say, okay, even if we can win in 2026 because Trump does something really dumb, this is not what the Democratic Party coalition, and we've got to, in my view, get back to the FDR coalition on economic populism, economic liberalism, whatever you want to call it, I call it a new economic deal, which says we're going to raise Americans' wages, we're going to guarantee people healthcare when they're really upset that healthcare is being denied, we're going to bring

business leaders, labor leaders, all together to industrialize America and left out places and be the party of economic renewal. It seems that we have the elements in our different parts of our party, but we've got to be bold with standing up for these policies.

Just to follow up on that, we can put, I believe it's B1B, this New York Times tear sheet up on the screen, which has some of the specific quotes here. It's the New York Times version of the same sentiment Democrats argue that the 2024 election actually had its bright spots. And a quote a little bit, they say, you hear some party leaders and their allies talk. Democrats had plenty of November victories to be proud of, Jane Harrison.

Chair of the DNC wrote a memo to party members last week pointing to down ballot triumphs, declared Democrats beat back global headwinds that could have turned this squeaker into a landslide. Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, wrote in a statement recently that his caucus had, quote, defied political gravity.

So when you're in these internal House Democratic caucus meetings, is this the sentiment you're getting or is there a sense of we have to do some significant reforms and changes? Is it divided? What does that breakdown look like?

It's not that. I mean, this is PR. I understand, you know, if you're leading and you have a bad result, you're obviously going to look for the bright spots. But the reality is people know that we've got to have a much stronger economic message, that we've got to channel anger of people. That doesn't mean, okay, let's just invent villains, you know, in a caricature way. It means why are people upset?

You know, why are they upset that jobs have gone offshore? Why are they upset that corporate greed and insurance companies are denying insurance claims? Why are they upset that billionaires are determining political elections and speak honestly about it?

You can speak honestly about it in a suit. You can speak honestly about it in a hoodie. You can speak honestly about it in eloquent language or cursing. That's not the point. It's not stylistic. It's substantive. Are you willing to speak truth about the condition most people find themselves? So you've talked about, Pat, that's one of the reasons you wanted to come on here to talk about not taking PAC money and others. You're trying to project a new vision of what that party could look like. So what is that in your view?

Well, the DNC should make some very basic commitments, no super PAC money in Democratic primaries. If there is a super PAC clearly affiliated with the candidate, the DNC and elected official leaders should endorse against the candidate affiliated with the super PAC. Let's not take corporate PAC money in the DNC. That's just getting back to what we had in 2008 under Obama when he ran saying, I'm not going to take PAC money or a lot of his money.

Let's get behind the main initiative that passed in Maine 70% regulating the amount people can give to super PAC. So you couldn't get Elon Musk or Bill Gates giving $50 million to a super PAC. You can only give $3,300. That passed about 70% of the vote. Why is it the Democratic Party saying we're going to have a 50 states strategy? We're going to run the Maine ballot initiative in every state.

You know, we're going to run into that question. Well, they make a lot of money. Because there's a lot of people. There's a lot of super PAC money on the Democratic side. Yeah, more. Yeah, yeah, that's right. And as you know, Congressman, you know, a lot of what the party selects for at this juncture is not necessarily political skill or aptitude or a vision. It's who can raise the dollars. That has become an important, maybe the central litmus test for aspiring Democratic candidates.

So for people who've come up in that system, that's their primary skill, are they going to be willing to go in this direction?

Well, if they want to win, they will. And it's not just a matter of winning. It's a matter of can we actually govern, right? 70% of people in this country want fundamental economic transformation. Only 20% trust the federal government to do that. Why is that? Because they see politicians spending most of their time raising money. They see these elections being dominated by super PACs. And they don't think that people in the government, in Congress, have a vision

looking out for them. So if our party doesn't reform these basic things, we're never going to earn the trust of the American people to actually get our agenda through. And you're absolutely right, though, but the first question when someone's running for Congress that people ask is how much can they raise?

I know, I ran for Congress. That was the first question I got. It's probably got worse since then, too. Yeah, absolutely. And now it's, how much can you raise and who are your key super PAC allies? Not what is your platform? Are you for increasing the minimum wage? Where do you stand on Medicare? What do you think are the big issues? No. I mean, those are the issues that matter to voters, but we're just selecting a terrible criteria in what it takes to get to elective office. Yeah, which is

Which means that you're going to end up primarily with people who come from wealth or are connected to wealth and it creates very little class diversity in the Congress. Absolutely. What is the democratic theory that you're hearing about how to act under the Trump administration? So the first time around

The theory was Trump is an illegitimate president. We're just going to treat him as like resistance, et cetera. Kind of worked 2020. This time around, it's different popular about mandate. This was just a general exhaustion with a lot of this. So what are the fights inside? Like what are the fights that you're going to pick with Donald Trump and the incoming administration to position yourself, not you yourself, but the party for 26 and for 28.

Well, there are two different schools of thought. One is we've got to revitalize the resistance. There are some people who say, look, we've got to resist more. We've got to resist stronger. And the other school of thought is we've got to focus more on what we need to do, how the Democrats are going to govern, what we are going to do on economic issues, on different issues around the country. I'm in the second camp.

That doesn't mean you don't push back. I mean, Trump is invariably going to betray certain promises. I think the time to push back is with specifics. Why aren't you raising the minimum wage? Why are you giving corporate tax cuts to have more offshoring of jobs when they have the tax bill? Are you really going to give these tax cuts to the very, very wealthy? But if we just say blanket resistance, we're not going to connect with people on actual things that affect their lives.

Congressman, you were one of the first, I think, politicians to, of course, condemn murder of Brian Thompson, the healthcare CEO, but also say, you know, there's a reason why people are reacting the way they are and why they are so disgusted with the health care, if you can call it that system that we have.

Obviously, we don't have the majorities for Medicare for all, though what you and I would both like to see as the system in this country. But are there areas where you think that we could bite off some chunk of improvement in the healthcare system that would make it less cruel, fewer bankruptcies and less deadly?

Well, you can have two different thoughts simultaneously. Murder is unconditionally wrong, and the healthcare system is irredrievably broken. Yeah. And those are both what we're seeing happening. You know, I'll just give you one statistic. If you have cancer, and many people know someone who's had cancer, the average 42% of cancer patients within two years have lost their entire life savings.

And so many people have denial after denial. And you know what they do? Many times they just don't take the medicine or they don't get the procedure. So one of the simple things we can do is to say, if a doctor prescribes a medicine and if Medicare would cover it, then the insurance, private insurance company should cover it. But just on the front page today of the New York Times is the corruption of the system. If you look at it, it says that private insurance companies

uh, colluded with PBMs to basically get Americans addicted to OxyContin. And they were paying PBMs to say, fill more of the OxyContin prescriptions. It is a corrupt system. And all you have to do is look at the front page of the New York Times. Medicare for all is the answer. I'm tired of people saying it's not politically possible. If there is ever a moment

that we should be pushing that it is right now but how do you square that with what uh... you just said only twenty percent of people say the federal government's all their problems how you can come in some

Well, Medicare is one of the places where people do like, right? Yeah, they like when they pay their bills, but they don't like when being told what to do, rationing care, et cetera. Well, Medicare doesn't cover ration the care. I mean, I think when it, look, there are certain things when it comes to job creation, creating high paying jobs. I do think we need to have a whole of society approach. You need to get business leaders. You need to get technology leaders. You need labor.

One of the great things about FDR is he was basically a conductor. He had all the talent and the politician was just saying, okay, I'm going to mobilize that. But when it comes to Medicare for all, for public health, for people's health care, I think people realize that shouldn't have a for-profit motive, that having the Medicare pay for the coverage makes sense, and then you could have your private doctor.

You can have your private nurses. You can have your private hospitals. It's important to let people know that those are going to be private. Many people don't even know Medicare is a federal program. And they'll say, yeah, I like Medicare. But I don't like the federal government at the same time. Yeah. That's true. Now, that's a great point. Well, Congressman, we always appreciate your time. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for coming. I appreciate all this. Merry Christmas. Good to see you. Good to see you.

What's up, everybody? I'm name Berk here to tell you about a new podcast, my hard podcast in the National Hockey League. It's NHL inscriptive with Berk and Demers. Hey, I'm Jason Demers, former 700-game NHL defenseman, turned NHL network analyst, and boy oh boy does daddy have a lot to say.

I love you, by the way, on NHL Network. We're looking forward to getting together each week to chat and chirp about the sport and all the other things surrounding it that we love, right? Yeah, I just met you today, but we're going to have a ton of guests from the colliding worlds of hockey, entertainment, and pop culture. And you know what? Tons of back and forth on all things NHL. Yeah, you're just going to find out we're not just hockey talk. We had all kinds of random stuff on this podcast, movies, television, food, wrestling, even the stuff that you wear on NHL now.

You wish you could pull off my short charts, Verki. That's sure to cause a ruckus. Listen to NHL Unscripted with Birkin Diverse, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Decisions Decisions. The podcast where boundaries are pushed and conversations get candid. Join your favorite host, me, WZWTF, and me, Mandy B. As we dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often taboo topics surrounding dating, sex,

and love. That's right. Every Monday and Wednesday, we both invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, we share our personal journeys navigating our 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engage in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations.

From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that will resonate with your experiences, decision decisions is going to be your go to source for the open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections. Tune in and join the conversation. Listen to decisions decisions on the Black Effect podcast network, iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

We have an update for you on the CNN situation. They are now admitting that their segment, at least in part, was a complete lie that we showed all of you on Thursday, where you had this miraculous freeing of a prisoner who had allegedly been in the cell for months on end. And even though he'd been there for months and there was no waste in the cell and his nails were perfectly manicured and he actually looked fine and he wasn't pale or didn't show signs of acute malnutrition or of...

hunger or of lacking water for several days. Well, it just turns out that at the very least the name that he gave them is totally wrong. Let's put this up there on the screen. According to CNN themselves, they tracked down some of the people who knew him and they say a man who was filmed by CNN, with the passive language, being released by rebels from a Damascus jail, was a

They former intelligence officer with the deposed Syrian regime, according to local residents, not an ordinary citizen who had been imprisoned as he had claimed. CNN initially found the man while pursuing leads. In a video report, Clarissa Ward and her team, accompanied by rebel guard, came across to sell in Damascus.

had locked, the guard blew off the lock, and the man was found alone inside the cell. When he emerged, he appeared bewildered, questioned by the rebel fighter who freed him. He identified himself as Adel Gurbal from the central Syrian city of homes. He claimed he'd been kept in the cell for three months. However,

His real identity is said to be a lieutenant in the Assad regime, Air Force Intelligence Directorate, Salama Muhammad Salama, a resident of Bayada neighborhood and homes, gave CNN a photograph, said to be of the same man while he was on duty, in what appears to be a government office. Facial recognition then matched him to that role.

And it appears that he was actually in prison as of a month ago because he had been extorting and shaking people down for quote profit sharing from extorted funds with a higher ranking officer. So, okay, at the very least, story is bullshit, right? Three months in jail, nope, he was in prison less than a month ago.

They said he was some heartbroken rebel prisoner. No, it turns out he was an Assad intelligence thug who had been imprisoned for shaking people down maybe according to them. And then his current whereabouts completely unknown. So this raises all kinds of questions.

and it's a total joke and terrible look for CNN because they just broadcast this stuff without a single, they don't check anything, they don't ask anything, they broadcast it live, everybody's reacting to it, Chris, I'm sure you saw this is one of the most extraordinary moments in American television that I've ever seen. I did see it. Normal people are like, this is bullshit, okay? I didn't even come out and say it 100% because you know you never know, Ryan and I, but we were like, well,

It looks fake. You guys are very diplomatic. I watched your section. They were very diplomatic. Like, wow. How do we have a possibility? Internally, I was just like, yeah.

Well, just for people who didn't see your original segment and maybe haven't seen this original CNN segment, let's relive and just in your mind, imagine if you were the story they're selling here is that this man has been in prison for at least three months that he's gone days and days without water. I mean, you can only go a short period of time before you die without water and that he's been hiding under this blanket the whole time, yet he's like,

His haircut looks pretty fresh. The jacket he's wearing is really clean. There's still a lot of questions. So let's go ahead and relive this CNN segment, and then I can tell you a little bit more about what we know on the other side.

OK, you're OK. You're OK. You're OK. You're OK. I might, might. OK, it's water. It's water. After three months in a windowless cell, he can finally see the sky.

so uh you know it went on from there but sees the sky i want yeah and there's a whole emotional scene etc um in any case let's go and put up on the screen cnn was not the outlet that first track down who this individual actually was it was this organization which um calls itself like a syrian fact checker

the headline here updated to CNN, fabricate the story of quote, freeing a Syrian detainee from a secret prison. They are the ones who tracked down the actual identity of this individual and talked to local residents and got the story from them. And according to local residents, he was imprisoned, as you said, Sagar, less than a month. It was due to a dispute over profit sharing from extraordinary funds with a higher ranking officer. So it was the Assad government itself who would imprison their own guy, right?

And then he also was known, allegedly, again, according to local residents, as someone who had murdered and tortured civilians. So not exactly the heartwarming tale that CNN wants you to take away from their original reporting. But the other thing is, so many questions still remain. Because even now that we know the apparent identity of this man and the reason that he was apparently imprisoned,

And the whole setup is still seems really fake. The whole idea that he was in prison for so long that he had no food and water that they just stumbled upon him and miraculously rescued him, et cetera, et cetera, it raises a lot of questions. And it's also just incredible.

Clarissa Ward, she's a long time foreign correspondent. She's been in war zones. This is not someone who is just naively showing up. Certainly she's been in a lot of dicey situations with a lot of people who want to propagandize you and convince you and trick you, etc. So the fact that this was just accepted at face value is really quite wild to me.

Oh, absolutely. She should know better than anybody else. But Ryan was bringing this up and I think it's actually the most important. These journalists, they're not neutral people. As in Clarissa Ward admitted to sounding an email to Ben Rhodes, who was the national security deputy under Barack Obama and was like, I hope that you're happy with yourself because she was upset with him for not bombing the Assad regime.

In 2013, she admitted on the stage to all of this. She literally said on this issue, I'm an activist. And so what happens? We all get carried away. You know, I'm particularly aggravated by this entire situation because you would think that these al-Qaeda guys are the greatest heroes on Earth. And listen, I'm fine with value neutral analysis. I'm openly was fine, not fine, but I said, well, it's preferable to leave Afghanistan and let the Taliban take over.

I know the Taliban is bad. I know a lot of people will suffer. I just don't think we should have anything to do with it. But you basically have two regimes who are now effectively the same. Look at the media treatment of the way that the US pull out from Afghanistan was happened and look at these people. They're like heroes, you know? And, you know, let's check in five, six years from now. Let's see how it works out for the Alawite Christians or for the Druze population.

or the Shia or any of these other religious minorities. Let's see, you know, everybody said, oh Afghanistan's gonna be a harbor of terrorism and all this stuff. Why don't they say the same stuff about Syria? Like somehow they've decided that Assad was worse. And look, he's not a good guy, but you don't have a lot of good options to choose from here.

So that's why I'm just infuriated by people like her and all these other Western journalists who selectively decide who the good guy is and who the bad guy is. And it doesn't even make any sense. It's internal logic is completely contradictory. It's totally ridiculous.

Yeah, I think when we had Jeremy Scahill on, I think he said it well, which is that, of course, there are very good reasons why many Syrians are celebrating these developments. And that means something. And I'm not Syrian. And they deserve to get a chance to run their own country and to have a representative government and to shape their own destiny. And at the same time, while you're holding that thought in your head, you also have to recognize that

The peril is great based on who we know. The new government is comprised of their track record. And also what we've learned through the Arab Spring, what we've learned through our intervention, our disastrous intervention in Libya and other brutal catastrophic misadventures. So I hope that the story turns out differently this time, but jaded enough to be not too optimistic about that.

you should be. And also, you know, for everybody, let the Syrians decide. We decided to be different a long time ago. Syrians didn't get to play a role in any of this. Qatar, UAE, the United States, Iran, Hezbollah, Israel, dare I say. Turkey.

It could go out forever. It's turned into a complete regional proxy. It's like Ukraine. They themselves, they never had a chance to determine their own future. From day one, it became a foreign playground. And they're, of course, the ones who paid with it with their lives. So I feel terrible for them. But now at this point, I mean, yeah, I literally am looking at a thing right now, a pre-recorded video from the new leader of Syria, Al-Jilani. When we build the Islamic caliphate, Christians will pay the jizya under Islamic Sharia.

Okay, if you don't know what that is, it's a tax. So that's what ISIS did too, by the way, whenever they imprisoned sex slaves in Syria. This is what I'm talking about. And these people act like they're heroes. Yes, like, have they, has he changed his tune? I hope so, you know, for the people of Syria, but you can't preemptively be given these people the benefit of the doubt. So I don't know. I just think willful topic, willful tools of propaganda are ridiculous. They did this with Egypt. They did this with Libya. They're doing it now.

with Syria. The track record is bad. So yes, I'm hopeful that for the people of Syria, I actually wish for them. They actually got to decide their own fate. But let's not be naive. Let's not be bad naive. That's exactly right. 14 years now, this has been going on. I think in this situation with this CNN report, I mean, the simplest and most obvious explanation is Clarissa Ward, who should know better.

because she is an experienced reporter, has been to many war zones, has been in these sorts of situations that she allowed her ideology to blind her to the fact that she was being taken for a ride. I actually think that's the most charitable explanation of what

unfolds a year. Let's hope that that's the case. But then you also have to think, you know, it's not just her because she records this and then there's a chain of producers who edit it and executive producers who okay it and, you know, on air house, I believe it was presented originally with Anderson Cooper who accepted as credible when, I mean, the vast majority of people when they saw this immediately were like, this is bullshit.

Yeah. So somehow got through all of those chains and made it to air without any major like caveats of we may, we don't really know what unfolded here, but we're going to show you the story. Okay, that's one thing. Like, but it was presented as if they felt confident that the story they were being fed was the real and accurate truths.

Yeah. And last thing on this, there's often a feeling in the U.S. that, oh, I can't believe how bad things have gotten. No, no, no, no. It's always been this way. As in this 10, 15 years ago, this Clarissa Ward segment, there's no internet, all right? Like there's no Twitter or anything for those people like this is BS. And I was reminded actually of the Dan Rather

uh, the Dan Rather incident. Do you remember this where he was fired from CBS news after they were found, uh, manufacturing a story. Um, and if you think about it, like that was right at the beginning of the blog. This was about Bush and yeah, his National Guard service or whatever it was that. Yeah. I do. My point though is that

It, Dan Rather was a household name in this country, right? He was like Walter Cronkite 2.0 and all of this. And it took the blogosphere to be like, hey, this is BS. Now rewind to Vietnam. So all of the people who have all this nostalgic feeling, I have this Cronkite book behind me, right? People should go and read it because the news has always been fake. It's just that now you know it's fake.

And we have this, we have this theory about, oh, things have gotten worse. It's like, no, no, no. For the very first time, you actually have and can see behind the curtain. Well, Brian Williams, remember me? Oh, yeah. Talking in a helicopter. While he was in a military helicopter in Iraq or something like that. And yeah, it took years for that to ultimately emerge that he just completely made that up. And I think there were several other instances of, we'll call it, fabulism.

Of course from him. There's so many of that led to his ultimate to his downfall, though he was resurrected brought back into NBC. But that's right. Yeah, they put him in 11 p.m. But yeah, that's the other thing is that you lie. Oh, it's fine. You know, no worries. But yeah, I just wanted to put that out there because I see way too many people thinking.

how could CNN ever be like this? And it's like, well, let's rewind to 03 in the Iraq war. How many of these things were you guys seeing out there? I'm like, oh, we've been welcomed as liberators and all that. We just didn't have Twitter to be like, this is bullshit for people in Iraq to be like, no, actually, this is entirely staged by the Pentagon. The whole ecosystem of independent journalists like this Syrian group that are actually going to track it down.

Glenn is the OG of this. He was the first person on the blogosphere with others talking about how anthrax was the anthrax story was fake, Iraq was fake, but he was a lone wolf at that time. So God bless Glenn, shout out to him. He set the stage for all of us. But anyway, it's just a reminder. It's like all this nostalgia about things were in the past. You just didn't know. This was half the stuff that was coming up. Yeah, that's a great point.

What's up, everybody? I'd name Berk here to tell you about a new podcast. It's NHL Unscripted with Berk and Diverse. Jason and MERS here in after playing 700 NHL games. I got a lot of dirty laundry to air out. Hey, I got a lot to say here, too. OK, each week we'll get together and chat with the sport that we love.

Tons of guests are going to join in too, but we're not just going to be talking hockey folks. We're talking movies, we're talking TV, food, and Ennad's favorite wrestling. It's all on Litabla. Listen to NHL Unscripted with Birkin D'Murs and the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Decisions Decisions. The podcast where boundaries are pushed and conversations get candid. Join your favorite host, me, WZWTF. And me, Mandy B. As we dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday and Wednesday, we both invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. Tune in and join in the conversation.

Listen to decisions decisions on the Black Effect podcast network, iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.