1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,400 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Front on your smart sneaker 2 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:12,639 Speaker 1: every morning to hear the latest episode. Just say play 3 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: the news from the Australian. From the Australian, here's what's 4 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: on the front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Friday, August nine. 5 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: Medical experts are calling for Australia to overhaul its plastics regulations. 6 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,560 Speaker 1: New research indicates there are chemicals in some plastics which 7 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: are linked with the development of autism. That's a big 8 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: health story with implications for all of us. Breaking now 9 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: on the Australian dot com dot AU. Disability service providers 10 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: say they're going broke because of a multi billion dollar 11 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: accounting problem with the National Disability Insurance Scheme. They say 12 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: the NDIS is underpaying the providers who look after Australia's 13 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:14,399 Speaker 1: most needy people. There's a new player in American politics. 14 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: The former high school football coach Kamala Harris has picked 15 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: as her new vice president. He's a straight talking Midwesterner 16 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: and the gun lobby hates him. Today we meet Tim Walls, 17 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: a social studies teacher, a high school football coach, and 18 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: once he became a prominent Democrat politician. Tim Walls was 19 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: a hunting, fishing, gun rights advocate. I'm Tim Walls. You know, 20 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: growing up hunting taught me a lot. 21 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 2: About responsibility and respect, lessons I hope to pass on 22 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 2: to my kids. I'm proud to stand with the NRA 23 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 2: to protect the rates of sportsmen and gun owners. 24 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 3: Until this, Oh my god, Oh my god, oh my god, 25 00:01:58,640 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 3: we're still shooting. 26 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: Shooting animate. 27 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 2: They scored this that we have actual to the shooter 28 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 2: in room three two. 29 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:13,399 Speaker 4: One five three two sustained automatic gunfire at the concert. 30 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 3: Fifty nine now dead, more than five hundred injured. 31 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 1: The most deadly massacre of civilians by a loan shooter 32 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,519 Speaker 1: in the United States is sorry. History of gun violence. 33 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: The twenty seventeen Mandalay Bay massacre in Las Vegas. It 34 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: turned Tim Walls away from guns. 35 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 2: The time for hiding behind thoughts and prayers is long gone. 36 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 2: What we need is action, and we need it now. 37 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 2: So here's what's going to happen. Here's what's going to happen. 38 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 2: We've got gun safety bill on the table, and we're 39 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 2: going to get it passed and. 40 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: I'm going to sign it. He donated all the money 41 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:57,399 Speaker 1: he'd ever received from the NRA, the most powerful lobbying 42 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: organization in the States to charity. After the Parkland High 43 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,799 Speaker 1: School massacre in twenty eighteen, Walls had a confronting conversation 44 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: with his daughter op walk up like. 45 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,519 Speaker 2: Many of you did five weeks ago, and Debt said, Dad, 46 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 2: you're the only person I know who's an elected office. 47 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 2: You need to stop what's happening with this. I'll take 48 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:17,239 Speaker 2: my kick in the butt for the NA I spent 49 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 2: twenty five years in the army, and I. 50 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:24,239 Speaker 1: Hunt As governor of Minnesota. He dramatically tightened gun restrictions, 51 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: and now he's Kamala Harris's running mate. He welcome the 52 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: next Vice President of the United States, Tim Wall. There's 53 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: been lots of speculation that Kamala Harris would choose a 54 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: straight white Midwestern dude to reassure the voters. Well, she did, 55 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: But Tim Walls is more complex than the cliche might suggest. 56 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 2: Some of us in here are old enough to remember. 57 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 2: I see you down there, I see those all white guys. 58 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:04,559 Speaker 2: Some of us are all remember when it was Republicans 59 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 2: who were talking about freedom. It turns out now what 60 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 2: they meant was the government should be free to invade 61 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 2: your doctor's office. 62 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: On the keystone issue of abortion rights, something the Democrats 63 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 1: are pinning their hopes on this election cycle. Walls is 64 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: loud and proud in Minnesota. 65 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 2: We respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make, 66 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 2: even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves. 67 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 2: There's a golden rule, mind your own damn business. 68 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: Wolves is derided by the Republicans as a political wed 69 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: of vean, someone who can't be trusted. The Democrats say, 70 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: over a long career in the federal House of Representatives 71 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,919 Speaker 1: and in state politics, he's just changed his mind. Wolls 72 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: hits all the progressive notes from the Democrats' dreams in 73 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: an accent that's meant to tell you he's not part 74 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: of the East Coast liberal elite. 75 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 2: When Vice President and I talk about freedom, we mean 76 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:08,839 Speaker 2: the freedom to make. 77 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 1: Your own healthcare decisions. 78 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 2: And for our children to be free to go to 79 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 2: school without worrying they'll be shot dead in their classrooms. 80 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 2: By the way, as you heard, I was in the 81 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 2: best shots in Congress. But in Minnesota, we believe in 82 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 2: the Second Amendment, but we also believe in common sense 83 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 2: gun violence laws. 84 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: It's only been a few days since Walls was named 85 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: as Harris's running mate, and he's already on the attack. 86 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: One person firmly in his sights Donald Trump's running mate JD. Vance. 87 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 2: Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland. 88 00:05:55,800 --> 00:06:00,479 Speaker 2: JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon 89 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 2: Valley billionaires, and then wrote a best seller trashing that community. 90 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: Come on the crowd at Walls's debut speech to the 91 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:13,919 Speaker 1: Democratic faithful in Pennsylvania. Loved Walls's shtick, and there was 92 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: one line in particular that brought the house down. 93 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 2: And I gotta tell you, I can't wait to debate 94 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 2: the guy. That is, if he's willing to get off 95 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 2: the couch and show up so. 96 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 4: You see what I did there. 97 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: If you didn't see what he did there, then this 98 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 1: moment needs a bit of explaining. You might need a 99 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: coffee for this one. Soon after JD. Vance was nominated 100 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: as Trump's running mate, someone put out a tweet saying 101 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 1: there was a very strange passage in the first edition 102 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 1: of Vance's autobiography, Hillbilly Elegy. It said that on pages 103 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: one nine to one point eight one, Vance wrote about 104 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:05,719 Speaker 1: having well carnal relations with a couch. Those aren't the 105 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: words that we used by the way, you get my drift. 106 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: Of course, there's nothing like that in Hillbilly Elergy, which 107 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: was actually a lyrical exploration of poverty and what it's 108 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: like to be an outsider. This couch stuff is completely 109 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: made up. It's ridiculous, but the Internet being the Internet, 110 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: people ran with it. The fake story was all over 111 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: social media, Instagram, TikTok x, even Fox News referenced it. 112 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 2: It seems like the Republicans are getting a big ged 113 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 2: Vans should. 114 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: I say couch sized? Wake up hod he or didn't he? 115 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: It got so weird that the Associated Press released a 116 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: story with the headline no, JD. Vans did not have 117 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: sex with a couch, But the horse was out of 118 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: the gate, and the fact Wolls invoked it crystallizes something 119 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: Wolls brings to the Harris campaign. He's a little bit 120 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: daggy dad, a little bit vicious political street fighter. He's 121 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: rolling out a line. The Democrats have been working hard 122 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: since Kamala Harris stepped up as candidate. 123 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 2: Just an observation of mine that I made. I just 124 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 2: have to say it. You know it, you feel it. 125 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 2: These guys are creepy and yes, just where its hell JD. 126 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: Vance hasn't dignified the couch thing. Why would you? But 127 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: he has returned fire and it's Wolls's military history. He's 128 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: coming after coming up next things get even more personal. 129 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,839 Speaker 1: And if you're interested in the US election, make sure 130 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: you subscribe to The Australian. You'll never miss a moment 131 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: with all the latest news and analysis. We're at the 132 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,319 Speaker 1: Australian dot com dot au and we'll be back after 133 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:12,319 Speaker 1: this break. Jdi Vans is doing a press conference. He's 134 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: talked about law enforcement, his policies, the usual campaign trial stuff, 135 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: but the press aren't so interested in that. 136 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 4: Last night, doctor Wallt suggested that because of your height, 137 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 4: league education and your Silicon backing, your political career and 138 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 4: tho yourself are part of the elite water. 139 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: A reporter asks Vance to respond to Walls's digs about 140 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: his Yale education and Silicon Valley patronage, the very elite 141 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: Vance is so vocal about taking down. 142 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 4: Well, look, I came from a family where nobody in 143 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 4: my family had ever gone to law school. I grew 144 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 4: up in a poor family. The fact that Tim Waltz 145 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 4: wants to turn it into a bad thing that I 146 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 4: actually worked myself through college and made something myself. To me, 147 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:56,319 Speaker 4: that's the American dream. 148 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: JD. Vans is good at this. He didn't actually dress. 149 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: The accusation is morphed into part of the elite. But 150 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 1: before anyone can follow up, he's on the attack. 151 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 4: When Tim Waltz was asked by his country to go 152 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 4: to Iraq, you know what he did. He dropped out 153 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 4: of the army and allowed his unit to go without him. 154 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 4: What bothers me about Tim Waltz is the stolen valor garbage. 155 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 4: Do not pretend to be something that you're not. And 156 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 4: if you want to criticize me for getting an Ivy 157 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 4: League education, I'm proud of the fact that my mammoll 158 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 4: supported me, that I was able to make something of myself. 159 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 4: I'd be ashamed if I was him and I lied 160 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:30,480 Speaker 4: about my military service like he did. 161 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: Wolls spent twenty four years with the Army National Guard, 162 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: that's the part of the US armed forces made up 163 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: of civilian soldiers. Over that time, he responded to natural 164 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: disasters and deployed to Europe in support of operations in Afghanistan. 165 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: Eventually he rose to the position of command sergeant major. 166 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: Then in two thousand and five, Wolls retired so he 167 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: could run for Congress. This was two months before his 168 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: unit received orders to deploy to Iraq. The stolen valor 169 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: line of attack is compelling, but it might backfire. JD. 170 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 1: Vance went to Iraq, but he wrote in Hillbilly Elegy 171 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,319 Speaker 1: he never saw combat. Instead, he worked as a military 172 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: journalist for the Marines. Famously, Donald Trump received a medical 173 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: exemption from the military for bone spurs in his heel 174 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: during the Vietnam War. That diagnosis has previously come under 175 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:36,080 Speaker 1: serious scrutiny, but Walls's military history isn't the only thing 176 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: from his past under the microscope. Here's a Republican ad 177 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:41,199 Speaker 1: from this week. 178 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 3: What could be weirder than signing a bill and the 179 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 3: law that requires schools to stock tampons in boys' bathrooms, 180 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 3: or weirder than signing legislation allowing miners to receive sex 181 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:58,199 Speaker 3: change operations. Try electing the man who signed those bills 182 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 3: vice President of the States. Enter cheef weirdo Tam Walls 183 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 3: as governor of Minnesota. 184 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: Ooh, the tampons go with me. Last year, Walls signed 185 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: a bill requiring Minnesota schools to supply menstrual products to 186 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: students so far, so unremarkable. But some Minnesota Republicans took 187 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: exception to the wording of the legislation, which said sanitary 188 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: products should be available to all menstruating students in restrooms 189 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: regularly used by students. The Republicans said, shouldn't this be 190 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: about female students and the girls' bathrooms? Maybe the gender 191 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: neutral bathrooms too, Why would you implicitly include boys' bathrooms? 192 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:49,520 Speaker 1: An amendment was drafted, but the original wording remained. Now 193 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: the Republicans are calling Walls tampon Tim. Gender identity is 194 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: a hot political issue in the US, and the Republicans 195 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: sniff a weakness. So will Tim Walls be the next 196 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 1: Vice President of the United States of America. If there's 197 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: something the past decade of global politics has taught us, 198 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: it's that you can't fully trust the polls, but it 199 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: doesn't hurt to have a little peak every now and then. 200 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,680 Speaker 1: With Tim Walls on the Democratic ticket, it's still shaping 201 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,200 Speaker 1: up to be another razor thin election. 202 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,319 Speaker 4: A new poll from PBS News and PR and Maris 203 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 4: shows Kamala Harris with a three point lead over Donald 204 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 4: Trump nationally. That's within the poll's margin of error. 205 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: A number of recent polls indicate there's been a tipping 206 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: point for the first time. Kamala Harris is slightly ahead 207 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:46,439 Speaker 1: of Donald Trump, but there's a long way to go. 208 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: The US election is on November five, but the next 209 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 1: big set piece is the Democratic National Convention, kicking off 210 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 1: on August nineteen. We'll have a team at the DNC 211 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: bringing you all the news twenty four to seven at 212 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: the Australian dot com dot au. Thanks for joining us 213 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 1: on the front. Our team is leat Sannaglau, Stephanie Coombs, 214 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: Kristen Amy at Jasper League, Tiffany Dimak, Joshua Burton and 215 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: me Claire Harvey.