10/14/24: Biden Sends 100 US Troops To Israel, 'Burned Alive' Hospital Patients Struck By Israel, Trump Campaign Directs Elon To Ban Critics, Gretchen Whitmer Apologizes After Dorito Video,
36:58 Share

This election season, the stakes are higher than ever. I think the choice is clear in this election. Join me, Charlemagne Tha God, for We The People, an audio town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris and you, live from Detroit, Michigan, exclusively on iHeartRadio. They'll tackle the tough questions, depressing issues, and the future of our nation. We may not see eye to eye on every issue, but America, we are not going back.

Don't miss this powerful conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris. Today at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific on the free iHeartRadio app's Hip Hop Beat Station. In California during the summer of 1975, within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before. Tried to assassinate the President of the United States.

One was the protege of Charles Manson. 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nicknamed Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer, this season on the new podcast, Rip Current. Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeart True Crime Plus, only on Apple Podcasts.

Besides being comedians, we love to help.

Guys, bring us your queries. They could be personal questions. They could be serious. They could be lighthearted. But know this. We are here for you. Yeah, you can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts or on the iHeartRadio app.

Hey guys, Ready or Not 2024 is here and we here at Breaking Points are already thinking of ways we can up our game for this critical election. We rely on our premium subs to expand coverage, upgrade the studio, add staff, give you guys the best independent coverage that is possible. If you like what we're all about, it just means the absolute world to have your support. But enough with that, let's get to the show.

Okay, so a lot going on, a lot that's very disturbing. We're going to get to that with regard to the latest Israeli strike on Gaza. But I wanted to start with this. You can put this up on the screen. Latest numbers are that 67 people were wounded. These were all soldiers wounded Sunday after a drone struck an IDF base in Gaza.

in Israel. This was a Hezbollah drone strike. You also had a number of people, four, who I believe were killed. So you've had a significant number of casualties here. And part of what is so significant here is that this drone was able to get through their extensive

anti-missile defense systems. So Iron Dome failed, and they're looking into why that happened and how this was able to get through. Apparently there was another drone that attempted to get through as well. They were able to intercept that one, but this one was successful. The Army, they say, is investigating why no sirens are sounded and why interception attempts failed, as well as the drone's route.

In addition, earlier in that same day, 28 IDF soldiers were wounded by anti-tank fire in two separate incidents in Lebanon.

We can put up on the screen this image of the cross-border attacks because I just don't want people to get a false impression here. So obviously, Hezbollah has been firing back, but it's still a very one-sided conflict overall. It's very unbalanced towards the Israeli side. You have 12,000 roughly combined cross-border attacks.

9,891 of those were Israeli attacks on Lebanon. You've had 2,163, which were Hezbollah and others attacks on Israel. Total combined deaths, 1,562 of those, almost all of them were Lebanese people, 1,529, just 33 Israelis killed in these cross-border attacks.

Nevertheless, are obviously incredibly significant in terms of Israeli sense of security. They've been sold by their leadership class that the way for them to be safe and to be able to return to northern Israel towns that have been evacuated since October 7th is through

war, is through bullets and guns and missiles and drones and bombs. And they also, you know, I think really thought they degraded Hezbollah to the point that it was probably just going to kind of fall apart. Assassinated in Israel, you had that massive pager and walkie-talkie attack in Hezbollah showing here that they still have a lot of fighting power and still have an ability to strike within Israel. Important though, I really want to emphasize the fact that

You know, Hezbollah here striking a legitimate military target. And I think a lot of people should ponder the fact that the military that we're backing, which we're about to talk about in a minute, the IDF, the one that we're shipping the bombs for, just attacked a hospital with a tent city of refugees filled with

patients and children and women, and the ones that we call terrorists are attacking legitimate military targets and going after soldiers. Well, what I think it highlights is more the lack of security and the ability for them to actually penetrate IDF defenses. And it just is the same thing where, look, yes, you can wipe out Nasrallah and all that, but everything you kept saying here.

here. Hezbollah is a much more capable force. Also, I want everybody to understand how much that this is the preview of what warfare looks like in the 21st century. This drone hitting a cafeteria, this has been going on in Ukraine now for three straight years. And that's exactly how they've been able to kill a ton of Ukrainians, to kill a ton of Russians.

There are so many horrible drone videos out there of them just following people. So the point is that this type of warfare is exactly the way that they're trying to get around traditional weapon systems, rockets, missiles, and all that, penetrate it very, very small and still be able to really cause significant amounts of damage. This is one of the very deadly incident inside of Israel for the IDF.

Another one is, let's underscore the U.S. commitment to this. Not nearly enough people are understanding the gravity of what has now been announced by the Biden administration. Let's put this up there on the screen. U.S. is going to deploy 100 troops to operate an advanced anti-missile system in Israel amidst high tensions.

What we are talking about is the THAAD missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. I was actually pretty familiar with that. I covered a lot of it with respect to South Korea. It is one of our most advanced anti-missile defense technologies.

And it is one of those that is, you can see it actually in front of you on the mobile trucks. It makes it very easy to deploy and all that. But the point is, is that if you think about this system and why it's so important, is it is physically incapable to run it without American soldiers on the ground. It's one of the reasons why

The Ukrainians have been begging America for a THAAD system basically since the beginning of the war. And we're like, no, we're not going to do it because we'd have to put our own guys on the ground. But now think about this. Not only would we have our guys operating an anti-missile defense system, but what do you think the number one target of a drone or any of these other places is going to be? It's that. And so that means we're putting our people in an extremely high risk situation. And nobody in the U.S. political establishment is saying a damn word about it.

Joe Biden promised there would be no troops that boots on the ground, you know, for the defense of Israel. Well, already that was a lie with the whole Gaza pier situation. It was a lie previously whenever three of our guys were killed in that Jordanian Syria insane raid, which are in the drone attack, which still nobody's ever answered any questions.

about, but this is the most direct intervention by the United States. It also just increases, it also shows you, the Israelis brag about arrow three and arrow two and all of that. But when it comes down to it and there's some worries with Iran, what are they doing? And they're like, hey, we need FAD.

What does that tell you? It shows you that their missile defense technology, which we pay for and build, is still not all that operable. And they need some of the highest level of U.S. defense to keep them where they're at. But worse, I think, is that it gives them the ability. They can do whatever they want now. You know, you can go and hit a nuclear site if you want to. Now you've got Big Daddy America and 100 U.S. soldiers who are defending you. This is basically an insurance policy for the coming massive strike on Iran that will happen.

And that's why I'm scared because now our people are the ones who are in danger. - That's exactly right. And you're so right to point out too that, listen, our boots are already on the ground because we have 40,000 people in the region and it's a regional war. And if you think it's not, just look at all of the countries that are being bombed right now. Like you're deluding yourself if you don't think that those soldiers are already at risk. But with regard to this move specifically,

you know, we're getting these reports that Biden talked to B.B. and he doesn't want him to strike Iranian oil infrastructure. He doesn't want him to strike Iranian nuclear sites. But then you're giving him all the protection in the world so that he can operate with impunity and not bear any of the costs. So again,

obviously Bibi is gonna do exactly what he wants because you are not using any leverage. In fact, you're doing the opposite of that. You are enabling this behavior because they will not bear any of the cost. Instead, we're putting our soldiers' lives at risk and putting this expensive system into the region. It's just from a policy perspective, it's utterly, utterly insane. But that's where we are.

And the total lack of any discussion, debate, controversy around this is astonishing. You know, it's utterly astonishing what we stand on the precipice of and how little care, concern, discussion, debate there is in the United States Congress or certainly on the cable news airwaves. At the same time, we wanted to make sure and bring you this. The Israelis struck back.

UN peacekeepers, these Irish peacekeepers who, you know, this UN peacekeeping force has been in southern Lebanon for quite a long time. And the Israelis told him, you need to leave. And they said, no, we're going to hold our posts like we have an important mission. You don't get to tell us when we're going to leave. So we're going to stay. So Benjamin Netanyahu, you can put this up on the screen. It was in Hebrew. So I'll just read some of the translation here.

He demanded that these forces be evacuated from, removed from South Lebanon immediately. He says that they're going to be used as human shields by Hezbollah. He says specifically, I appeal to the UN Secretary General, your refusal to evacuate UN IFIL soldiers has turned them into hostages of Hezbollah.

So we all know when the Israelis break out that human shield language, that means you're a target. That means we are not going to care whether you live or die. In fact, if anything, we're happy for you to die. It wasn't long before we got this. Irish troops, quote, accounted for after reported Lebanon strike. UN sources told Reuters that Israeli troops opened fire at 3

at three positions held by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Thursday. This United Nations interim force in Lebanon has been there since 1978. It's meant to monitor hostilities, helps to ensure humanitarian access to civilians. And they put out a long thread on Twitter on Thursday morning saying that two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF tank

fired its weapon towards an observation tower at their headquarters, directly hitting it and causing them to fall. It said their injuries are not serious, but they do remain in the hospital. They also fired IDF soldiers on a UN position in another town, hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering and damaging vehicles in a communication system.

An IDF drone was observed flying inside the U.N. position up to the bunker. And in addition, peacekeepers at that position reported the firing of several rounds which emitted smoke. Despite putting on protective masks, 15 of those peacekeepers suffered effects including skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions. After the smoke entered the camp, the peacekeepers are receiving treatment. So IDF is concerned.

Firing on and gassing, apparently, UN peacekeepers now. And, you know, the silence from the United States of America and the rest of the supposedly committed to human rights West is absolutely deafening. Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous, isn't it? It's also just funny because if you think about the way that we would respond, let's say, if this was a country called Russia...

Well, then things fall apart now, don't they? Can you imagine? Of course I can. I already know because we've seen it. Look at all these, look at the number of times that the way Biden and all of them talk about, oh, the United Nations is spoken out against the Ukraine invasion and all that. So if you're Russia also, what's the lesson from this? Like, yeah, we can just do whatever we want. They're like, don't mean anything.

If you're China, if you're any of these people, you're like, look at these. These people are a joke. They're like, all these international institutions mean nothing. I mean, the entire basis of their theory of the international rules-based order and all that is being undermined here. Also, again, I just can't get away from the cost. That costs a billion dollars. Plus, we have $100, 100 people who are put in harm's way. The general back of the napkin math is it takes $1 million per year per soldier to keep them deployed abroad. So

That's 100 mil, and then you add in another bill. They're like, okay, 1.1 billion here just to make sure that they can do whatever they want to Iran, not to mention the billion dollars we just fired off in more. Why should we pay this bill? Why is this worth it? For what possible reason? And then the damage to the overall U.S. image is just ridiculous now at this point. Oh, I mean, what can you even say at this point? There's a thing.

Things that we're about to talk about this, things that would have been a controversy a year ago now just happen and no one even notices. I mean, remember there was a whole propaganda campaign around justifying the invasion of one hospital. Now hospitals just get bombed. Schools just get bombed. Refugee shelters just get bombed. UN peacekeepers, okay? And now we're bombing the hell out of Beirut and dropping 86,000

2,000 pound bunker buster bombs to get one dude slaughtering civilians who are not Hamas, have nothing to do with Hamas, etc., etc. And it's just like a shoulder shrug.

I don't know. I mean, it's so incredibly dark. And it is also totally clear that the most nihilistic, most cynical analysis of Israeli plans for genocide, ethnic cleansing, regional war with Iran, dragging us into it, the most cynical analysis that occurred on October 8th turned out to be

100% correct, if not sort of understating where we'd ultimately head. This election season, the stakes are higher than ever. I think the choice is clear in this election. Join me, Charlemagne Tha God, for We The People, an audio town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris and you, live from Detroit, Michigan, exclusively on iHeartRadio. They'll tackle the tough questions, depressing issues, and the future of our nation. We may not see eye to eye on every issue, but America, we are not going back.

Don't miss this powerful conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris. Today at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific on the free iHeartRadio app's Hip Hop Beat Station. Hey, it's Mike and Ian. We're the hosts of How to Do Everything from NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Each week we take your questions and find someone much smarter than us to answer them. Questions like, how do you survive the Bermuda Triangle? How do you find a date inside the Bermuda Triangle? We can't help you.

but we will find someone who can. Listen to the How to Do Everything podcast on iHeartRadio. How do you feel about biscuits?

I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot, the Rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the Biscuits. I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? The Boone County Rebels will stay the Boone County Rebels with the image of the Biscuits. It's right here in black and white in print. They lion.

An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him to talk to me about the mascot switch. As a leader, you choose hills that you want to die on. Why would we want to be the losing team? I'd just take all the other stuff out of it. Segregation academies. When civil rights said that we need to integrate public schools, these charter schools were exempt from that. Bigger than a flag or mascot. You have to be ready for serious backlash.

Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I've previewed this. Absolute trigger warning for the images I'm about to show you, but there is a horrific IDF strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip because while this is all going on with Hezbollah, they continue to completely annihilate the Gaza Strip and, you know, exterminate civilians.

So many people there, we have no idea what the death toll is at this point. And in the course of attacking this hospital, they lit on fire a tent camp filled with refugees, including many, you know, innocent men, women and children and patients who were hooked up to IVs, many of whom had just fled and were trying to get treatment from a syringe.

school that was bombed that was being used as a shelter that was recently bombed by the idea. So let's kind of put these images up on the screen. So again, these images profoundly disturbing. Here you can see the strike on the hospital complex and the resulting fire.

You know, it was a real judgment call whether include the images you're about to see in the show because they are so horrifying These are people who you know are being burned alive inside their tents suffering severe burns and injuries But you know, we felt like it was important to show what your taxpayer dollars are funding Drop site actually pulled out some of these images. This is someone being engulfed in flames and

who is hooked up to an IV. As I said before, this is a hospital where many people were receiving treatment after an Israeli bombing of a school-turned-shelter. I'll go ahead and tell you the Israelis claimed that this was, you know, a Hamas-

Command and Control Center, a justification, of course, that they've used for destroying effectively the entire Gaza Strip at this point. We also know that they have told everyone to leave northern Gaza, but then also are firing upon people who are trying to leave northern Gaza. So there's just literally nowhere that is safe.

safe in the Gaza Strip. Of course, we know many times that people have gone to the supposed safe zones only to be bombed, drone struck, all of those things. So just the latest horror that, like I said before, I think early in the conflict, this would have ignited a news cycle, would have caused a significant discussion, debate,

Israelis would have had to come on and spin and do their full Hasbara. And now, you know, New York Times mentioned it, but that's about it. That's about as far as it will go. And these scenes of daily horror just sort of fade into the background at this point. In addition, we can put D8 up on the screen as well. We've got just more images of the destruction in northern Gaza, just to, you know, add to the point of this.

This is what is ongoing. So supposedly, you know, northern Gaza, this was where they originally had invaded and, you know, massive devastation. These are families that are sheltering. And in the background, you can actually hear bombs being dropped or tanks firing. You can hear the violence outside. And these children are cowering and wondering if they're going to escape with their lives. Let's put the next piece up on the screen here. In addition to the violence, no food.

has entered northern Gaza this month. So in all of October, it's now October 14th, no food has entered whatsoever. CNN opines putting 1 million people at risk of starvation. And of course, Israel's blocking this aid from coming in. They track that in August, you had about 700 aid trucks enter northern Gaza, already wildly insufficient. In September, only 400.

And now in October, according to the World Food Program, no food trucks have entered northern Gaza. And Bibi Netanyahu is actively floating, starving that population in order to try to starve Hamas. Like,

This is as blatantly horrific an atrocity as you can possibly imagine. It's the definition of collective punishment. And none of us can claim we didn't know because it's happening all in front of our eyes. Many of the bakeries in northern Gaza have been shut down for days at this point because they have no food, no fuel, no flour, no ability to produce bread, which has become like the staple foodstuff.

food item for Palestinians in Gaza. So even as we continue to watch what's happening with Hezbollah and with Iran and all these other things, the atrocities in Gaza just continue apace and if anything, escalate. Yeah, what the Israelis have decided to do is basically declare war on all fronts. So you have Hezbollah, you have Lebanon, you also have the Gaza stuff that is ramping up.

But really what you're watching is the total survival of Bibi Netanyahu and also of explicitly ditching any sort of mentioning of the remaining hostages inside of Israel, which I'm still waiting just to see if there will be any sort of domestic pushback. We had that story about those IDF soldiers who were like, we won't fight if it's not about the hostages. But I think he's pretty successfully moved it now from this. And when you move past the hostages, then nothing really is restraining you from doing whatever you want.

either in Gaza and Lebanon or anywhere else, because now it's about some bigger project. And remember, we still have not yet seen the Israeli retaliation on Iran, which people say could come any day now. And I would be a fool if I didn't think it would be politically calculated as well, you know, to come at the maximum point of impact for politics here in the United States. Yeah. And I mean, now they're just openly talking about ethnic cleansing. Like it's not even hidden below the surface. Like it's just openly floating plans of escalation.

effectively a final solution here because they've decided that there is no possibility of peaceful coexistence. They've decided absolutely any ends is justified. They've decided that their own safety and security can be secured through bombing and guns and starvation and annihilation and weapons. And I don't think that that's true.

Even if you don't care about the human cost, which is moral outrage of unconscionable levels.

I don't think you secure safety and security by breeding hatred for your state and your government and your people throughout the entire region that you're going to continue to have to live in. So in any case, that's the latest horror for you. And, you know, I'm sorry, in a sense, to have to show you those images. But as I said before, I think it's important that we continue to look at what our government and

And our taxpayers, what is being done in our name, make no mistake about it, those horrific images of patients being burned alive in tents, that's being done with the United States of America's name written all over it. So horrifying, just utterly horrifying.

This election season, the stakes are higher than ever. I think the choice is clear in this election. Join me, Charlemagne Tha God, for We The People, an audio town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris and you, live from Detroit, Michigan, exclusively on iHeartRadio. They'll tackle the tough questions, depressing issues, and the future of our nation. We may not see eye to eye on every issue, but America, we are not going back.

Don't miss this powerful conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris. Today at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific on the free iHeartRadio app's Hip Hop Beat Station.

Once again, we find ourselves in an unprecedented election. And with all that's happening in the lead up to the big day, a weekly podcast just won't cut it. Get a better grasp of where we stand as a nation every weekday on the NPR Politics Podcast. Here are seasoned reporters dig into the issues that are shaping voters' decisions and understand how the latest updates play into the bigger picture. Listen to the NPR Politics Podcast on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. How do you feel about this, kids?

I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot, the Rebels, into something everyone in the South loves, the Biscuits. I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? The Boone County Rebels will stay the Boone County Rebels with the image of the Biscuits. It's right here in black and white in print. They lion. Yeah.

An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him to talk to me about the mascot switch. As a leader, you choose hills that you want to die on. Why would we want to be the losing team? I'd just take all the other stuff out of it. Segregation academies. When civil rights said that we need to integrate public schools, these charter schools were exempt from that. Bigger than a flag or mascot. You have to be ready for serious backlash.

Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're going to turn down some domestic politics. So Crystal, what are you taking a look at? Well, in J.D. Vance's recent interview with the New York Times, he refused on five separate occasions to say that Trump lost the 2020 election. This, of course, comes on the heels of his similar refusal to admit that Trump lost on the debate stage when he was asked directly by Tim Walz. Both times, he claimed that

company's handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story rendered that election unfair and invalid. Let's take a listen to what he had to say. In the debate, you were asked to clarify if you believe Trump lost the 2020 election.

Do you believe he lost the 2020 election? I think that Donald Trump and I have both raised a number of issues with the 2020 election, but we're focused on the future. I think there's an obsession here with focusing on 2020. I'm much more worried about what happened after 2020, which is a wide open border, groceries that are unaffordable. Senator, yes or no?

Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election? Let me ask you a question. Is it okay that big technology companies censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, which independent analysis have said cost Donald Trump millions of votes? Senator Vance, I'm going to ask you again.

Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election? Did big technology companies censor a story that independent studies have suggested would have cost Trump millions of votes? Senator Vance, I'm going to ask you again. Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election? And I've answered your question with another question. You answer my question and I'll answer yours. Now, this is a wild answer to begin with, of course. I say this

This is someone, by the way, who objected to the censorship of the Hunter laptop story, still does object to the censorship of the Hunter laptop story. You can go back and roll the tapes if you want to check that that is true. The notion though, that because a tech company didn't handle something the way you wanted it to, an entire election is null and void and the votes of over 150 million people rendered invalid, that is frankly insane. But that's the marker that JD Vance and many others have laid down.

What do we make now of this? The New York Times is reporting that the Trump campaign coordinated with billionaire Elon Musk to censor reporting on the J.D. Vance vetting dossier on Twitter and to suspend the account of journalist Ken Klippenstein on that platform. Now, Twitter justified this suspension by claiming that Ken had violated the rules of the platform by failing to redact personal details like J.D. Vance's address.

It was always pretty clear, though, the real motivations here were political, had nothing to do with this supposed doxing. First of all, Ken actually sought to comply by going ahead and redacting those personal details and re-uploading the dossier, but to no avail. More to the point, though, one of the primary complaints that Elon had about the previous Twitter management and part of his rationale for buying the company was their censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

However, that story had far more personal details of private individuals, by the way, including credit card details, nude photos, than the J.D. Vance dossier, which only included a few easily Google-able items. In other words, there is no consistent standard by which the Hunter Biden info would be allowed, but the J.D. Vance info would be blocked. The motivation was politics, pure and simple, as is now confirmed by the New York Times.

Now, since that New York Times reporting, Musk actually reinstated Ken, potentially due to legal concerns actually, but the underlying material continues to be suppressed.

So to everyone on the right who cried foul on the laptop, and especially to those who claimed that its censorship constituted election interference sufficient to nullify the results of 2020, what say you now? Is this also disqualifying election fraud? Is it also a Constitution-ending threat to free speech? Because the irony here is that the thing that they accused Jack Dorsey and prior Twitter management of, which was running the platform in a way that favored Democrats,

That is now being done openly and explicitly by Musk, one of the richest men in the world, except not for Democrats this time, but for Republicans. Not only by suspending Ken and banning links to the J.D. Vance dossier, but by engineering Twitter's algorithm to boost pro-Trump messaging, and by using Elon's own account, which is in everyone's feed, whether they follow him or not, to promote right-wing propaganda and sometimes deranged conspiracy theories.

But Musk's election influence goes far beyond Ken Klippenstein and even far beyond Twitter. Elon is, after all, Donald Trump's largest supporter by dollar figures and by campaign involvement. Now, we don't fully know how much money Musk has put in, but Trump is bragging that the number is around $500 million. Half a billion dollars.

But that is actually, even that, just the beginning of Musk's support. We all know he jumped for joy at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. What you may not know, though, is that he has effectively moved to Pennsylvania full-time to run a turnout operation on behalf of Trump in the critical swing state.

According to the New York Times, Musk is, quote, personally steering the actions of a super PAC that he has funded with tens of millions of dollars to turn out the vote for Mr. Trump, not just in Pennsylvania, but across the country. He's even proposed taking a campaign bus tour across Pennsylvania and knocking on doors himself in part to see how his money is being used.

They went on to quote a historian of the ultra-rich saying that the level of funding and the direct involvement here from Musk is without precedent in modern history. And Musk, of course, he's no disinterested actor. His companies profit to the tune of tens of billions of dollars from federal government contracts. In fact, according to Politico, he is among the largest Pentagon contractors.

Tesla and SpaceX alone received over $15 billion of our tax dollars just last year. In other words, Musk is one of the deep state's top beneficiaries and allies.

Elon also happens to be at war right now with the federal government on a wide variety of fronts. So SpaceX is fighting with aviation regulators to loosen their rules. It's also at war with the nation's body governing labor relations, that's the NLRB, over the illegal firing of workers. In fact, contrary to Trump's new union-creorious approach, Elon is seeking to have the entire National Labor Relations Board deemed unconstitutional and dismantled, an outcome which would be tantamount to a death sentence for unions.

SpaceX is also in conflict with the EPA over wastewater discharges in Texas. Meanwhile, Tesla has been sued for discrimination by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over claims of racism and illegal retaliation.

Were Trump to win, Elon could well be in a position to influence these regulatory and enforcement decisions. After all, Trump has already promised him a plum government gig should the former president return to the White House. Trump has said he would put Elon on top of a government efficiency task force, which would give him potentially all sorts of power to squeeze his competitors and further fatten his own coffers.

There's a lot of fat in government that you would want to slow down. Incredible fat. So what agencies would you want to shut down? Well, let me have you ask another person that, because I'm going to have Elon Musk. He's

He is dying to do this. You know, he's a great business guy, actually. You think of him for science and rockets, and every time I think he's telling me about a new screw that was developed, he's developed a new screw. Screws are difficult, and it's made out of titanium, and it's so exciting. But you know what? He's a great business guy, and he's a great cost-cutter. You've seen that. And he said, I could cut costs without affecting anybody. So he will be in the Cabinet?

Not in the cabinet. He doesn't want to be in the cabinet. He just wants to be in charge of cost-cutting. We'll have a new position, secretary of cost-cutting, okay? Elon wants to do that. And we have incredible people. He's running a big business. You know, he can't just say, oh, I think I'll go into the cabinet. You know, other people can. He can't. But Elon's a little bit different in that sense. And besides that, I want him to send the rocket up to Mars. He said...

He's made me a promise he'll get to Mars before the end of my administration, which will be long before, hopefully, China or Russia. So that's the official campaign position that's been floated, not to say nothing of the favors that Elon could curry with Trump himself or the giant tax breaks that Trump is promising to all billionaires.

As the wealthiest man in the world with business interests across a range of industries, maybe no one stands to gain or lose more, depending on the administration, in power than Elon Musk. A point he actually joked about recently with Tucker Carlson, remarking that if Trump loses, he is...

Screwed. It goes without saying, the billionaires buying government to protect their class interests is exactly the sort of thing that anyone actually committed to democracy should strenuously oppose regardless of partisan affiliation. Billionaire political influence, after all,

is nothing new. It knows no political party. Kamala Harris has already raised a billion dollars in less than three months on the trail. Mark Cuban and Reid Hoffman, among others, are using their influence right now to try to shape a future Harris administration's antitrust and SEC enforcement strategies with Lena Kahn firmly in their crosshairs, something we have covered multiple times on this show.

But when you put it all together, no exaggeration to say that Musk is single-handedly testing the limits of how far one billionaire can go to buy an election and remake the government to suit himself and his business's needs.

You can only imagine the level of freak out on the right if this situation was reversed. Now, probably the closest equivalent to Elon on the Harris side is Reid Hoffman. That is the LinkedIn billionaire who has become a top Democratic donor. Donations are not fully transparent in the American political system, so we can't say exactly how much Hoffman or Musk have given, but

But the latest numbers suggest Hoffman has given $7 million to Harris-affiliated PACs. That's a lot of money, but it is pennies compared to the $500 million Musk is supposedly throwing in on Trump's side. Hoffman also doesn't have substantial government contracts. He doesn't run an entire social media platform to benefit Kamala Harris. There is truly no parallel for the influence of a single individual on the Democratic side that comes anywhere close to the staggering influence this election of Elon Musk.

Now back in 2016, you'll recall, Trump ran on draining the swamp. He ran against the corruption of money in politics, famously held himself out as uncorruptible because of his own personal wealth, claimed that he alone could dismantle this corrupt influence peddling scheme because as a wealthy donor himself, he knew all too well how all of this favor trading works.

Now, he's openly celebrating one of the world's richest men, funneling him $500 million, directing crucial components of his campaign, and running a social media giant on his behalf. Musk claims that if Trump doesn't win this election, democracy will be over.

Kind of a preposterous claim given the guy he's backing literally tried to overturn our democratic results and block the peaceful transfer of power last time around. But in truth, even considering the disgrace of January 6th and the fake elector scheme, I actually think it's fair to say Musk himself might represent a more dire threat to democracy. The politics he's pursuing puts the whims of one billionaire oligarch, his ideology, his business interests over the will of the people, putting him in position to run the federal government with the bias and impunity with which he runs

In such a system where money is power, no matter which candidate wins, the people of the country will always lose. And I really think there's been too little... And if you want to hear my reaction to Crystal's monologue, become a premium subscriber today at BreakingPoints.com.

This election season, the stakes are higher than ever. I think the choice is clear in this election. Join me, Charlemagne Tha God, for We The People, an audio town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris and you, live from Detroit, Michigan, exclusively on iHeartRadio. They'll tackle the tough questions, depressing issues, and the future of our nation. We may not see eye to eye on every issue, but America, we are not going back.

Don't miss this powerful conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris. Today at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific on the free iHeartRadio app's Hip Hop Beat Station. ♪

Once again, we find ourselves in an unprecedented election. And with all that's happening in the lead up to the big day, a weekly podcast just won't cut it. Get a better grasp of where we stand as a nation every weekday on the NPR Politics Podcast. Here are seasoned reporters dig into the issues that are shaping voters' decisions and understand how the latest updates play into the bigger picture. Listen to the NPR Politics Podcast on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon-wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon. Our podcast, Hungry for History, is back. Season two. Season two. Are we recording? Are we good? Oh, we push record, right?

And this season we're taking an even bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history. Saying that the most popular cocktail is the margarita, followed by the mojito from Cuba and the piña colada from Puerto Rico. So all of these we have, we thank Latin culture. There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back to the 9th century B.C. B.C.? I didn't realize how old the hot dog was.

Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There was also a hilarious incident that we wanted to spotlight. I'm not sure exactly what it shows us about America, but certainly something. Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan participating in a TikTok trend that was weird, some might say. Let's take a listen. I do need you, don't let me down.

Okay, so what you saw there, that was, what's her name? Liz Plank. That's right, Liz Plank. She's a feminist, whatever, activist, journalist, et cetera, influencer, who was participating in a TikTok video there where Gretchen Whitmer is feeding her a Dorito a la somebody who was participating in communion. This, of course,

invited huge backlash from the Catholic community requiring Whitmer to issue an apology. Let's put this up there on the screen. She says, over 25 years in public service, I would never do anything to denigrate someone's faith. I have used my platform to stand up for people's rights to hold and practice their personal religious belief. My team has spoken to the Michigan Catholic Conference. What was supposed to be a video was

about the importance of the CHIPS Act to Michigan jobs has been construed as something it was never intended to be. And I apologize for that. So that somehow was about the CHIPS Act building semiconductors in the state of Michigan. - I'm not even sure though. - How they got there, I don't get it. - I don't understand. Maybe I'm just old. I don't know. Apparently this is like a TikTok thing. - This was a trend, yeah, that's right. - But the other thing

the chipsack thing might be in like after the fact rationalization I think you're right because when Liz initially posted the video on her Instagram full disclosure I know Liz I used to work with her etc etc um

Um, she didn't say anything about the chips act. She said something like if he won't she will or some something like that Or like I don't know and people in the comments were like, what is this? What does this mean? And then once there started to be this backlash Then she either editor reposted it with something about the chips act So I feel like that may have been like an attempt to clean it up after the fact but I don't know I I

I have no idea. You actually told me, I didn't realize this, that Gretchen Whitmer is kind of big on TikTok? Yes, no, she's very, very, she is TikTok pilled like beyond anyone else. She might be the most like in touch slash on TikTok national democratic politician, as I understand it. She does all of these abortion videos. I guess the thing is, this was like,

- Being in touch with TikTok. - Yeah, too much. - In a way that puts you way out of touch with what anyone else would perceive in watching this video. So I don't know, listen, I'm not religious, so the commune thing didn't honestly come to mind. For me, when I first watched, I just thought like, what the hell, this is weird. - I think I've been to a Catholic mass twice as an attendee, just funerals or weddings or whatever. And even I, I was like, oh no.

So the caption, by the way, actually did try and play into the CHIPS Act. It said, chips aren't just delicious. The CHIPS Act is a game changer for U.S. tech and manufacturing, boosting domestic production of semiconductors to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. Donald Trump would put that at risk, is what the caption reads. So I have, again, no idea why that you would participate in this, especially for a quote unquote CHIPS Act thing.

- For abortion and for the dances, I get it. - I wanna know how this was pitched to her also. - I was thinking the same thing. - I wanna know how this was pitched to her. - Look, take my cringe factor out of it. Like when I see these politicians doing these, how do you say it, the apple dance or whatever, is that Charlie XCX or Chap, I forget, whatever. - That's Charlie, Apple is Charlie XCX. - Okay, so when they do the apple dance, I'm cringing, but I'm like, okay, well, they're talking about abortion, like, you know, whatever.

Not for me. It's clearly to somebody else. When I see Josh Shapiro, he does a ton of TikToks about, again, about abortion with like the blinking eyes thing where he's like, when Republicans want to take abortion away, it's like blink, blink, blink. Again, I think it's cringe, but I understand like the formulation. This, I don't get it. I'm like, how did you get here? It also shows the danger of being, I guess, too online from the Democratic side. And so that's why it's also worth highlighting.

Because we've seen that many times on the Republican side. I guess, I mean, this is the era we live in now, right? I mean, it does go perfectly with the conversation we were just having about podcasts and Rogan and how, if you want to reach this demographic, in some ways...

The Republican side has sort of leaned into Twitter, like Elon's Twitter, as their sort of vibe and energy. And Democrats have sort of leaned into like TikTok as their vibe and energy this election. And, you know, this is some of the fallout of that, I guess. Yeah, that's well said. That's the most substantive point I can make. Well said. All right. We'll see you guys later.

This election season, the stakes are higher than ever. I think the choice is clear in this election. Join me, Charlemagne Tha God, for We The People, an audio town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris and you, live from Detroit, Michigan, exclusively on iHeartRadio. They'll tackle the tough questions, depressing issues, and the future of our nation. We may not see eye to eye on every issue, but America, we are not going back.

Don't miss this powerful conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris. Today at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific on the free iHeartRadio app's Hip Hop Beat Station. In California during the summer of 1975, within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before. Tried to assassinate the President of the United States.

One was the protege of Charles Manson. 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nicknamed Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer, this season on the new podcast, Rip Current. Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeart True Crime Plus, only on Apple Podcasts.

In 1982, Atari players had one game on their minds, Sword Quest.

because the company had promised $150,000 in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared, leading to one of the biggest controversies in 80s pop culture. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of Swordquest. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. Listen to The Legend of Swordquest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.