1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,360 Speaker 1: Hey, guys, thanks for listening to Breaking Points with Crystal 2 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: and Sager. We're gonna be totally upfront with you. We 3 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: took a big risk going independent to make this work. 4 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: We need your support to beat the corporate media CNN, Fox, MSNBC. 5 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: They are ripping this country apart. They are making millions 6 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: of dollars doing it to help support our mission of 7 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: making all of us hate each other, less hate the 8 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: corrupt ruling class more support the show. Become a Breaking 9 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: Points Premium Member today, where you get to watch and 10 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: listen to the entire show ad free and uncut, an 11 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: hour early before everyone else. You get to hear our 12 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: reactions to each other's monologues. You get to participate and 13 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: weekly ask me any things, and you don't need to 14 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: hear our annoying voices pitching you like I am right now, 15 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: So what are you waiting for? Go to Breakingpoints dot 16 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: com become a Premium member today, which is available in 17 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 1: the show notes. Enjoy the show, guys. Things not going 18 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: so well right now for the Biden administration. Everybody knows that, 19 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: so they know exactly who to go to. They're not 20 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: trying to make things better for you. They're trying to 21 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: go to the people who tell tell you about how 22 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: things actually are. Let's put this up there on the screen. 23 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: The White House is quietly trying to reshape economic coverage. 24 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: So the White House is who is not happy with 25 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: the news media's covers of supply chain, has been working 26 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: behind the scenes trying to reshape coverage in its favor. 27 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: Senior White House officials and admin officials have been briefing 28 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: major newsrooms over the past week. The officials have been 29 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: discussing newsroom trends pertaining to job creation, economic growth, supply chain, 30 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: and more. The basic argument has been made is that 31 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 1: the country is in much better shape than it was 32 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: last year. I'm told the conversations have been productive, with 33 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: anchors and reporters and producers getting to talk with officials. Now, 34 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: this type of stuff happens all the time. I'm not 35 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: going to sit here and pretend that I didn't participate 36 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: in many of them under Trump. But here's the thing. 37 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: Under those because I was in the room, there was 38 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: a lot of skepticism from many of the reporters, including myself, 39 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: whenever we would be told lies by the Trump officials. 40 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: Here in this case, with the fact that I can't. 41 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: I have no inside knowledge exactly how these go, but 42 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: we know that the media is much more likely to 43 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: take spin, you know, from the establishment Democrats and more. 44 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: But two at that time, every time that we would 45 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: do these types of meetings, it would leak constantly to 46 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: CNN and elsewhere, so other people knew that it was happening. 47 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: Actually support that. I think it was a good thing 48 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: this case, there's not a lot of details about these 49 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: high level meetings between the senior White House officials and 50 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: the media, and this just highlights how big of a 51 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: problem it is to have a cozy media that does 52 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: not have a lot of skepticism in these things. The 53 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: fact that they're saying have been productive, you know, have 54 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: been healthy conversation, all this stuff that's just code for 55 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: I'm accepting your bs and possibly letting it bleed into 56 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: the coverage. Well, I think that, you know, the really 57 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: effective maneuver here vis a vis the liberal press is 58 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: the column that Data Milbank that I did a monologue 59 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: on that use this opique magical algorithm to argue that 60 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: Biden's coverage at times has been more consistently negative than Trump. 61 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,679 Speaker 1: Right ergo, you're causing democracy to end, and I think 62 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 1: a lot of these reporters are very susceptible to that argument. 63 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: Oherhaps and you know, like they would actually buy into 64 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: this notion of, oh, we shouldn't be too critical of 65 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: Biden because you don't want to bring Trump back. And 66 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: that is so emblematic of the rot in the media 67 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: that has It was long there, but it really was 68 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: revealed by the Trump years where they were more interested 69 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: in how do we defeat Trump than how do we 70 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: tell the truth about what's going on? And oftentimes, look, 71 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: there was plenty of you know, bad things that you 72 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: could say and reveal about Donald Trump, but they also 73 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: always chose to focus on the things that would shore 74 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: up some other power center. So it might be negative 75 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: about Trump, but it would shore up some other center 76 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: of power. So I do think think that if the 77 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: Biden people are making the case, even with a wink 78 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: and a nod, that basically like, listen, your coverage is 79 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: going to lead to Donald Trump coming back into the 80 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: White House. I do think a lot of these journalists, sadly, 81 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: will be very susceptible to that when you know the realities, 82 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: they should be telling the truth, and lord knows, we 83 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: have a million criticisms of the way that they cover 84 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: of course the economy and you know, foreign policy and 85 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: all of these things. But you know, the problem with 86 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: their coverage isn't that it's too mean to Biden. Problem 87 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: with their coverage is that it doesn't consistently enough challenge 88 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: power centers, whether it's the President of the United States 89 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: or the Republican Party or Wall Street or fossil fuel 90 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: industry or corporations or any of those things. That's the 91 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: real issue with media coverage. And something tells me that 92 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: just telling them, like you need to cover us more 93 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: nicely because otherwise you're going to get Trump, isn't going 94 00:04:57,320 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 1: to fix that problem. No, not at all. And that also, 95 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: you know that that is very important to point out 96 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,159 Speaker 1: the fact that they really do believe that they have 97 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: to work on par with democracy, and that they're very 98 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: susceptible to these arguments and getting in there and getting browbeaten. 99 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: I mean, under Trump, they would have scoffed at it, 100 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: they would have leaked it, they would have shown that 101 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: they didn't believe it. But under Biden, they're very, very 102 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: susceptible to these types of things. So pay attention, you know, 103 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: I mean, what did you point out about Katie Turr 104 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: getting caught just reading democratic spin from Andrew Cuomo's aids 105 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: straight off on the air, getting texts live from cuomo 106 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: Aids and then reading that spin right there. How do 107 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: you know for sure that's not happening in the coverage 108 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: of the news media whenever they're meeting with the Biden 109 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: ad min officials. I mean, one of the ways I 110 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: always know this is anytime they do a story about 111 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: Kamala Harris, they go some people close to the vice 112 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: presidents say that this is a reaction of sexism and racism, 113 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: and always like, I know this, people are you know 114 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: that's not real. You don't have to just put that 115 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: in there. You're doing it because of bullying and because 116 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 1: you feel like you have to. That's the truth. Yep. 117 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: So we'll watch the coverage to see if the tenor 118 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: of it changes. I mean, again, I would love for 119 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 1: coverage to change in certain ways. But the problem with 120 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: the coverage is not that it's being too nice to 121 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: Joe Biden. That's like a ridiculous, silly way of looking 122 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: at this. Absolutely all right, guys, thanks for watching. We're 123 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 1: gonna have more for you later. We'd reported previously. Actually 124 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: I think I did a monologue on a deep dive 125 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: the New York Times had done into a massacre of 126 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: civilians in Syria. It's perpetrated by a group called Task 127 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: Force nine. The secretive classified group was operating in Syria 128 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,039 Speaker 1: that was authorizing a lot of the drone strikes with 129 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: very little oversight. That particular strike had been reported to 130 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: the Inspector General, but nothing ever came of it. The 131 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: strike zone itself was completely bulldozed and demolished, and the 132 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: final report on the incident, which watchers at the time 133 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: had thought instantly was a war crime, was so whitewashed 134 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: it didn't even mention the strike. So now the New 135 00:06:57,839 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 1: York Times, un let's put this tear sheet up on 136 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: the screen, has gone even further and found that that 137 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 1: was far from a one off, isolated incident. Here the 138 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: headline is civilian deaths mounted as secret unit pounded isis 139 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: an American strike cell alarmed its partners as it raced 140 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: to defeat the enemy. So here they have more details 141 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: a bud about just how common these strikes were and 142 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: how civilian deaths mounted year after year after year. So 143 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: you would think that as you're operating in an area 144 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: that you would gain better intelligence, that you would find 145 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: more ways to protect the civilian population, which of course 146 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: is our responsibility. It was a little legal ward star 147 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: with but as our responsibility in any war zone. Instead, 148 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: what they found is that every year the strike cell 149 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: operated I'm reading from the piece, the civilian casualty rate 150 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: in Syria increased significantly. It's according to a former Pentagon 151 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: and State Department advisor who was one of the authors 152 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: of a two twenty eighteen Defense Department report on civilian harm. 153 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: That individual who's viewed the Pentagon's classified civilian casualty data 154 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: for Siria, said the rate was ten times that of 155 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: similar operations he tracked in Afghanistan and of course not 156 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: known for doing a great job preventing civilian harm in 157 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: Afghanistan as well, but Syria in large part because of 158 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: the secret cell Talent Anvil, which was part of this 159 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: Task Force nine, because of the way that they went 160 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: about doing business on a daily basis. What they found 161 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: is that over the years, because there were more restrictions 162 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: on actually offensive strikes, what they would do is they 163 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: would justify everything anything they wanted to do as a 164 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: defensive strike. Quote, there were far fewer restrictions for defensive 165 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: strikes that were meant to protect Allied forces under imminent 166 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: threat of harm. So Talent Anvil began claiming that nearly 167 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: every strike was in self defense, which enabled them to 168 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: move quickly with little second guessing or oversight, even if 169 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: their targets were miles from any fighting. Two former task 170 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: force members said, some of the people that they talked 171 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: to here talk about like the sort of dehumanizing aspect, 172 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: like people going in day in and day out on 173 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: this Talent anvill and you know the amount of civilians 174 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: who were killed, they just became numb to it. They 175 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 1: detail one attack in particular where they just they had 176 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: almost no intelligence about who was where in terms of fighters, civilians, 177 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: et cetera. They guessed that there were probably They came 178 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: in for the day saying like we want to drop 179 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: a bunch of bombs. I mean literally were like, that's 180 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: our goal. Let's fight a lot of targets. They found 181 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: one building that they guessed had a lot of fighters. 182 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: They drop a gigantic bomb on it, and in the 183 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: rubble they see children, women streaming out. And not only that, 184 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 1: but that footage, you know, has never come out into 185 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: the public. There has been no accounting for the amount 186 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: of civilians killed there and no reckoning whatsoever with that 187 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: one strike. So it just begs the question of how 188 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: much else are they hiding, how many civilians were killed 189 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,320 Speaker 1: that we will absolutely never know about. And just to 190 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: show you how sort of intentional this is, they would clash. 191 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: The members of this talent anvil team would clash with 192 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 1: Air Force intelligence teams and try to pressure them to 193 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: justify a strike even when there was no evidence that 194 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: it would in fact be defensive, saying, you know, trying 195 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: to pressure them into seeing a weapon that wasn't really there, 196 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,680 Speaker 1: or seeing some sort of indication in the footage that 197 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: could give them a fig leaf of justification for this 198 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: defensive strike. And then the other thing is all of 199 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: this drone strike footage, I mean, all of it is recorded, 200 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: but one person who looked at a lot of this footage. 201 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: Every time after the strike, they would pull away the 202 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: camera so that you couldn't see the fallout of who 203 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: ultimately whether it was women or children or non combats, 204 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: who ultimately was impacted. And time and time again it 205 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: was like a wind gust would hit the camera. They 206 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: would intentionally move away so that you wouldn't have a 207 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: record of exactly who and what they killed. So this 208 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: is just you know, mass cover up that we're just 209 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: now learning about, even more deadly to civilians than what 210 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: was done in Afghanistan. This is which is so ridiculous 211 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 1: about all of this is that it's all this infighting, 212 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: bureaucratic clashing. Nobody voted for any of this. Zero There 213 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: was zero civilian oversight period about what's happened. They are 214 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 1: allowed to operate in secret because we allow them to. 215 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:41,679 Speaker 1: I mean, look, they were operating in Syria, which is 216 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 1: a sovereign nation last time I checked. You're supposed to 217 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: have to authorize after the US Congress, but they're operating 218 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: and justifying it under the two thousand and one Authorization 219 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 1: of Use of Military Force, and everyone in Congress is like, yeah, whatever. 220 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: The reason that you read this stuff is because people 221 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: leak against each other. Some of it might come an 222 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: Inspector General's report. It's supposed to come out in hearings 223 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: before Congress. They're supposed to have actual oversight, I mean, 224 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: the lack of public interests and really just the inertia 225 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: through which they've allowed to develop all of these different 226 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 1: processes where they can do whatever the hell they want, 227 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: justified after the fact and more has made it a 228 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 1: you know, is the war actually being fought well? Period? 229 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,240 Speaker 1: Is it working? That's a real question. B Democracy has 230 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: no input on it, and it's just empowered the green 231 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: machine in terms of being able to do whatever the 232 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: hell they want. They can have splinter way you know, 233 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,959 Speaker 1: circuits and more. And I just that's how I look 234 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: at it. It's like, when I read this stuff, I'm like, 235 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: who are you to be making these massive decisions and 236 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: justifying there's no civilian oversight whatsoever. It's very possible the 237 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,679 Speaker 1: Trump administration didn't even know about what was happening. They 238 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:49,359 Speaker 1: were just like, yeah, go do it. The Obama administration 239 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: before them, the Biden administration. Currently. Unless you actively try 240 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: to stop the machine when it's rolling on, then you're 241 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,680 Speaker 1: going to find out real quick about some of the 242 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: stuff that's actually happening. And most people just want to 243 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 1: look the other way because they don't want to get involved, 244 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: and a lot of people pay the price. The real 245 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,200 Speaker 1: question is did it even work? I mean, did it 246 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: work all that well? That's the question, right, I mean, 247 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: is ice is gone? Yeah, I mean, who had what 248 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: to do with it? They're gone for now. Will it 249 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: actually have any impact in the future? Could have there 250 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: have been a different strategy that we're pursued. You're not 251 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:23,679 Speaker 1: going to hear any of that get debated in the 252 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:26,199 Speaker 1: public square. It just gets relegated to the back. It's 253 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: a it's not like the media cares until after the fact. Yeah. 254 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 1: So I want to give Biden credit for one thing, 255 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: which is that drone strikes have dropped precipitous. That's right 256 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:36,559 Speaker 1: to the Biden administration. Of course, they were very high 257 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 1: under Obama, they escalated even further under Trump, and he 258 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: has scaled them back dramatically, although those numbers don't include 259 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: a picture of what's going on in Afghanistan, which is 260 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 1: a whole other story. But yeah, I mean what the 261 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: New York Times is documenting here is, first you have 262 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: an illegal war that the public that there was never 263 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: any public accountability or public vote on whatsoever. And then 264 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: you have atrocities as standard operating procedure and what appears 265 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: to be an intentional cover up by the Pentagon and 266 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: the military brass who buried any evidence of wrongdoing to 267 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: the point of you know, I mean, this strike that 268 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: the New York Times looked into, there's no record of 269 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: that happening at all, not in the publics, not in 270 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: the public sphere. May be buried somewhere, you know that 271 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: we'll never see the other one that they dug into 272 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: as well, it was the same thing. There was a process, 273 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: an investigation triggered, and that one it was just happenstance 274 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: because the sort of regular military operators had a drone 275 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: circling as well, so they were able to observe the 276 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: whole thing, which is why there was a documented record 277 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 1: of what happened there that triggered an investigation. And that 278 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: one was also completely covered up though by the end. 279 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 1: So even when there was documented footage and an investigation 280 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: launch and people who were watching it thought right away 281 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: this is a war crime, ultimately the area's bulldoze, so 282 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: you can never see what happens, and the end report 283 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: doesn't even mention the strike. That's how degraded and you know, 284 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: papered over all of this was. So it's extraordinarily disturbing 285 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 1: what's being done in your name, with your taxpayer dollars, 286 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: and with zero oversight or accountability or you know, or 287 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:31,280 Speaker 1: public justification, No votes were taken, nobody was, you know, 288 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: on board with doing this, and yet here we are 289 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: committing war crimes that are getting covered up and only 290 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: exposed years after the fact. Yeah, that's right, all right, guys, 291 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: thanks so much for watching. A lot more for you later. 292 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 1: Big developments between the US, Iran and Israel over the 293 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: potential re entry into the Iranian nuclear deal. As always, 294 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 1: great friend of our show, doctor Trita Parsi, joining us 295 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: to discuss Doctor Parsi, thank you so much for coming back. 296 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: We really appreciate it. So we've seen some new developments here, 297 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: tensions between the United States and Israel. Let's put this 298 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: up there on the screen in terms of squabbling over 299 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: the Iranian nuclear deal and re entry. You said on 300 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: our previous show Rising that the US really did not 301 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: have a long period of time in order to enter 302 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: that deal. Biden has now almost been in office for 303 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,359 Speaker 1: nearly a year, and we still have seen lagging developments. 304 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: What are the latest and where do you think we 305 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: are in terms of our ability to get back into 306 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: the Iran nuclear deal. So talks are continuing right now 307 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: in Vienna, and they're apparently making enough progress to be 308 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: able to continue the talks, but we are in a 309 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: bad situation. It's become increasingly difficult with the new Iranian 310 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: government coming in, which is much more hardline. Some key 311 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: issues have proven to become even more difficult to resolve 312 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: the longer the time has passed, because some of the 313 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: sanctions relief that the Iranians are being promised will likely 314 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: not have any effect economically on them, because even if 315 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,160 Speaker 1: sanctions are lifted, European companies are not likely to go 316 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 1: into the nuclear deal until they know who the president 317 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: is in the United States twenty twenty five, because they're 318 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 1: not in the mood of going back into devony economy 319 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,520 Speaker 1: and then being kicked out again by US sanctions. That's 320 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: already happened twice and it's been extremely costly for them. 321 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: And all of this comes back to the fact that 322 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: perhaps it would have been much better if Biden had 323 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: just moved quickly during his first couple of weeks in office, 324 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,919 Speaker 1: if not during his first couple of days, and just 325 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: go back into the deal and then settle these details 326 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: later on once the US had re established its membership 327 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: in the JCPA and re established its moral authority to 328 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: be able to speak on this because it was once 329 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: again a member of it. But that partly did not 330 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: happen because the Biden illustration decided to see if they 331 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: could instead move closer to Israel and some of the 332 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: GCC states and create a united front with them instead 333 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,359 Speaker 1: of quickly moving back into the JCPO itself. Well, and 334 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,200 Speaker 1: that is in fact the subject of your latest piece 335 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: at Responsible state Craft. You write, Biden's efforts to appease 336 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: Israel on Iran have failed on all fronts. It's not 337 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,919 Speaker 1: the nuclear deal that's the problem for Tel Aviv, but 338 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,120 Speaker 1: the very idea that Washington and Tehran would reach any 339 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: detent at all. Yes, because I mean, this is what 340 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: was so surprising with Bider's earlier strategy. The Biden team 341 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: should have already learned that when it comes to this issue, 342 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: thinking that there's a way of being able to square 343 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,440 Speaker 1: the circle in which the Israelis fear any agreement between 344 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: the United States and Iran, partly because it will improve 345 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: USC round relations in the United States, will shift its 346 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: focus elsewhere and actually make it easier for the United 347 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: States to leave them, at least militarily, partly because they 348 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,919 Speaker 1: believe that they themselves will continue to have tensions with Iran, 349 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:45,160 Speaker 1: but now without the automatic support of the United States 350 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: that those issues are not easily overcome, and the United 351 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: States essentially had to make up its own mind. Is 352 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:53,920 Speaker 1: it going to pursue its own interest in preventing a 353 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 1: nuclear bomb in Iran? Or is it going to be 354 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:00,720 Speaker 1: deferring to Israel and its desire to keep the States 355 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: in the Middle East militarily. So when the sacified and 356 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,160 Speaker 1: chose to do this is surprising because we've already gone 357 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 1: down that path before during the Obama era, and we 358 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 1: know exactly what the outcome will do. Put this in 359 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: the context of the recent Israelly visit to the UAE 360 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: is being heralded as a big geopolitical realignment. What does 361 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: this mean for the US? I mean, is the US 362 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: actually in a better position with this new kind of 363 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: triparthide alliance against Iran. Well, it's interesting both the Trump 364 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: administration and the Biden administration has embraced the Abrams Accord 365 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: and view it as a significant advancement of US interest 366 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: and stability in the region. I'm not convinced by that 367 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:41,159 Speaker 1: at all, to be frank with you, because if we 368 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: continue to divide the region and create these different pacts, 369 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,120 Speaker 1: it will only actually increase the likelihood of a confrontation, 370 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: whereas there is an alternative. The alternative is actually happening 371 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 1: in Iraq. With it back that dialogue in which the 372 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 1: Iraqis have managed to get the Ivanians, the Saudi's, the 373 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,719 Speaker 1: and Marades, the Turks and everyone else to come together 374 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: to actually discuss and resolve their tensions diplomatically. And the 375 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,879 Speaker 1: fundamental difference here is one effort is about creating pacts 376 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 1: in order to organize the region against another state. The 377 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: other one, in fact, that is actually about resolving the 378 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: problems for everyone. It's inclusive and it's not targeting any 379 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: particular state. That's the one I think the United States 380 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: should be supporting much more because it will make it 381 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: much easier for the United States to leave the region militarily, 382 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: whereas the abrams A Court partly is designed to keep 383 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 1: the United States committed to the Middle East militarily. And 384 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 1: so you said that talks are going well enough in 385 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: Vienna for them to continue. What do you expect to 386 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: happen next? What should the Biden administration do next? Well, 387 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:50,120 Speaker 1: I mean, first of all, there's problems on the Iranian side, 388 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: and the negotiations as well. I think they have taken 389 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:57,880 Speaker 1: very aggressive positions, perhaps as a negotiating tactic, but nevertheless, 390 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,119 Speaker 1: the new team doesn't seem to the same skill sets 391 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: when it comes to how do you calibrate an escalation 392 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 1: in order in order to be able to use it 393 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 1: as a negotiation tactic rather than something that actually causes 394 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: the talks to collapse or at least turn in a 395 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 1: very negative direction. But on the US front there is 396 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: also a problem, and the key thing is this because 397 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 1: of internal divisions in the United States and the polarization 398 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 1: that we have seen over the course of the last decade. 399 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 1: This is actually undermined US leverage in international negotiations because 400 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: American promises do not carry the same weight as they 401 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,159 Speaker 1: used to before, because no one trusts any longer that 402 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 1: a promise that a US administration gives will be kept 403 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: by the subsequent administration. This is a major problem because 404 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: countries do not make deals with governments, they make it 405 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: with the nation, the country as a whole. There needs 406 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: to be a norm that agreements that are signed are 407 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: going to be kept. That norm has been completely broken 408 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 1: in the United States, and it's weakened. It's negotiating position. Yeah, well, 409 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:03,960 Speaker 1: we really appreciate you joining us, sir for the update. 410 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: I think it's very important for everybody to keep in 411 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: mind in the security of the world, and we always 412 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,360 Speaker 1: appreciate your analysis. So thank you, Thank you so much 413 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,159 Speaker 1: for having absolutely pleasure, and thank you guys so much 414 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: for watching a lot more for you later. Something that 415 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 1: we try to track really hard here is the expansion 416 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: of the domestic surveillance state. Since January sixth, we've seen 417 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: a secretive postal unit which has been spying on Americans. 418 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 1: We have seen the expansion of the US Capitol Police, 419 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 1: which is not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests 420 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:36,359 Speaker 1: all across the country. Obviously, in terms of what the 421 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,159 Speaker 1: FBI has been doing, both in terms of potentially you know, 422 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,119 Speaker 1: infiltrated staged events, but also in terms of what we 423 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: know already about confidential informants. This latest one is just 424 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,119 Speaker 1: the you know, another drop in the bucket of secretive 425 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: divisions within the US government which have wide spanning surveillance power. 426 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:56,640 Speaker 1: So let's put it up there on the screen now. 427 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,439 Speaker 1: This Yahoo News story is called Operation Whistle Place in 428 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: what whistle pig inside the secret CBP unit with no 429 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,640 Speaker 1: rules that investigates Americans. Now, a lot of this came 430 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:13,439 Speaker 1: to light because of an investigation into a journalist, Ali Watkins. 431 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 1: Ali Watkins, you guys might remember, she was a BuzzFeed 432 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: news journalist then who worked at the New York Times, 433 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: who was actually revealed to have been sleeping with one 434 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,480 Speaker 1: of her sources on Capitol Hill and getting tip offs 435 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,480 Speaker 1: of classified information in terms of Russiagate and majorly benefited 436 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 1: her career. Now, it turns out, though, that the investigation 437 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,680 Speaker 1: into Ali Watkins and the eventual source that she had 438 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: been sleeping with was actually run by a Customs and 439 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 1: Border Patrol Protection division. Now inside that division quote few 440 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: rules and routinely using the country's most sensitive databases to 441 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:57,800 Speaker 1: obtain travel records, financial and personal information of journalists, government officials, 442 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: congressional members, their staff, NGO workers, and others. As many 443 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,359 Speaker 1: as twenty different journalists were investigated as part of the 444 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: division's work, which actually led to referrals of criminal prosecution 445 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: against some of the agents that were involved in the case. Now, 446 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,440 Speaker 1: of course, they were never indicted and charges were never 447 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: actually pursued against them. But what's fascinating to me is 448 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,520 Speaker 1: that the eventual referral of criminal process, and a lot 449 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: of the transcripts and stuff that have come out crystal 450 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,119 Speaker 1: is that there are all sorts of these secret little 451 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: divisions that we have no idea about. When you think CBP, 452 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 1: I think the border and the TSA. You know, I'm like, yeah, whatever. Well, 453 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,440 Speaker 1: they have something called the National Targeting Center which was 454 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 1: created after nine to eleven to quote identify potential threats 455 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 1: crossing the borders. But that also gives them access to 456 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 1: all of these different databases that they can get used 457 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 1: once you arrive here in the United States, and then 458 00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: they can use their access for a lot of these 459 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: things in order to pursue and get information about you 460 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: without a warrant necessarily of a wide spanning database of 461 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,199 Speaker 1: who exactly that you are, and you can including your 462 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: cell phone records and your emails as well. Yes, that's 463 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: that's exactly right. And you can see in the details 464 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: of this story how dangerous it is these aggressive leak investigations, 465 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: which in this instance really literally add no rules to 466 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: constrain their behavior and what data they ultimately accessed. The 467 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: details of this are really crazy. First of all, I 468 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 1: should say Ali Wattkin swears that she did not get 469 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: information from the man siously who happened to be what 470 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: he was, like a high level high member on a 471 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:46,159 Speaker 1: select Senate intelligence committee. Okay, I want to put just 472 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: want to put her side of the story out there. 473 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: But according to this report and the one dude whose 474 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: last name is Rambo, who they focus in on in particular, 475 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: who was doing most of the digging on Ali and 476 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: then some of these other journalists, this started not as 477 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: a leak investigation, but it started because he wanted some 478 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:14,400 Speaker 1: friendly journalist allies to focus on trafficking. Okay, So then 479 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,640 Speaker 1: he starts to look into Ali Watkins because she's kind 480 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: of the IT reporter of the moment, and he thinks 481 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:21,719 Speaker 1: this is all according to him, He thinks she has 482 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,679 Speaker 1: very popular, has cachet subscribe? Yeah, I think she has cachet, 483 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 1: and that she could be an ally on this thing 484 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,919 Speaker 1: that they're working on with regard to trafficking. So he 485 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,160 Speaker 1: starts then just vetting her, in his words, which means 486 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:41,119 Speaker 1: pulling data on her from every database that they keep, 487 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:47,360 Speaker 1: including ultimately some that are highly controversial that can capture 488 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 1: not just you know, your travel data or things that 489 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: you might be able to potentially you know access, but 490 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 1: things like what you're actually messaging. He sees that she's 491 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: traveling to different countries alongside this guy that's the staffer, 492 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: James Wolf. He starts to put it together of like, oh, 493 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: they're having a relationship and oh, you know, she's a 494 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: journalist and he's on this committee. And then it turned 495 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: he gets the FBI involved, and it turns onto this 496 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:22,199 Speaker 1: wholesale onslaught, not just with Ali but with other journalists 497 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,719 Speaker 1: as well, And yeah, I mean, the whole thing is 498 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: extraordinarily bizarre and extraordinarily troubling. Some of the things some 499 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:33,880 Speaker 1: of the details in here are also quite interesting, which 500 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: shows just the mental gymnastics and inconsistencies that people oftentimes hold. 501 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 1: Which is that Ali and this guy Ogunna's last name 502 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:50,119 Speaker 1: is Rambo. He scheduled a sort of clandestine meeting with 503 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: her to feel her out and try to figure out 504 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: if he was right about this relationship, and he set 505 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,359 Speaker 1: it up she thought he was a potential source. They 506 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: end up going to a bar. He's drinking whistle pig 507 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:05,360 Speaker 1: whatever is that bourbon? I don't know anyway, That's why 508 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 1: I which it ends up being operation, was like I 509 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: should know this having living in Kentucky. But anyway, afterwards, 510 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,360 Speaker 1: she is freaked out because he keeps her there for 511 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:21,119 Speaker 1: like four hours. They're talking and she's super spooked about 512 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 1: like what the hell was that and what was going on, 513 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,920 Speaker 1: and she suspects he used a fake name, which he did, 514 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: so she went back to the bar and was able 515 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 1: to pull his credit card receipt that had his real 516 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:37,640 Speaker 1: name on it and figure out who he was. And 517 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: the funny part, the part that's like shows people's inconsistency 518 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:43,959 Speaker 1: and how they think about things, is he was so 519 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 1: outraged by the invasion of his privacy that she had 520 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: pulled this credit card slip and figured out his name. Meanwhile, 521 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: he's pulling everything, travel records, what she's doing, who she's 522 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: sleeping with, her family, I mean, he pulled her family mangers, 523 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: all this stuff, and yet he's he's super outraged and 524 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: can't believe that she went and, you know, pulled this 525 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: credit card receipt to try to figure out who this 526 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: creepy dude was, who kept her there for four hours, 527 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 1: pushing her for all this personal information and seemingly knowing 528 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: already a lot of personal information about her. But the 529 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: bigger picture here is how many other government agencies do 530 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: we not know about that? Obviously, Like when I found 531 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 1: out about Post Office, I'm like, your job is the mail? 532 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 1: What are you doing? And because there are very few 533 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,080 Speaker 1: guidelines that are put into place with this unit, then 534 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: if there's no rules, then you can't break the rules. 535 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: So there was nothing you know, that they could really 536 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: do about this. The agency tried to punt it off 537 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: like this was all this one guy, he was a 538 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: rogue actor, et cetera. And what he you know, intimates 539 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: and indicates with what he's saying here is that this 540 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: was this was a larger scale operation. He wasn't the 541 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: only one. It was fully sanctioned by, you know, his superiors. 542 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: The FBI was brought in, they were involved, they were 543 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,800 Speaker 1: aware of what was going on as well. So very 544 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: ugly and very troubling story. No, I think it's absolutely 545 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: indicative of a much larger, bigger unit, you know, within 546 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 1: the Customs and Border Patrol. And it's very clear that 547 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: there is some really sketchy stuff going on that they 548 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: have the ability to just run anybody they want willing 549 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: nearly through their databases, even if they don't you know, 550 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:30,760 Speaker 1: have cause necessarily in this case, he's like vetting reporters, 551 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 1: see if she'd be good to leak to, And he's like, oh, 552 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: let me look at her travel records. Yeah. You know, 553 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: it's like you shouldn't be able to pull all of 554 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 1: these types of information based, you know, with nothing, and 555 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,200 Speaker 1: yet there's no oversight. He was referred for criminal prosecution. 556 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 1: He was never prosecuted. It's just, you know, how much 557 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,520 Speaker 1: of the stuff you never even heard hear about. Yeah, 558 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: that's the real question. That's exactly right. That's the really 559 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:53,840 Speaker 1: disturbing part. All right, all right, guys, thanks for watching. 560 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: One more for you later