1 00:00:21,359 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: Well, here we are. How are you happy? Happy Friday 2 00:00:25,039 --> 00:00:30,000 to you. Welcome to the Big Podcast on this twenty no, 3 00:00:30,239 --> 00:00:33,640 make that the nineteenth day of December, Year of Our Lord, 4 00:00:33,719 --> 00:00:36,439 twenty twenty five. My name is Tom Sullivan. Trying to 5 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,439 rush things. I mean it's coming fast. Next week is 6 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:43,520 going to be a blur. But so we have a 7 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,920 lot of updates for you today and as much as 8 00:00:48,039 --> 00:00:50,520 this may be a lot of what you already know, 9 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:56,520 since we spent the last week dealing with Brown University 10 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,679 and the search it was who done it sort of thing, 11 00:01:00,799 --> 00:01:05,159 the search for the bad guy, and last night they 12 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:11,120 got him cornered in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, 13 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:16,040 and he took his own life, which was not surprising 14 00:01:16,159 --> 00:01:19,760 to me once I saw what they had, but it 15 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,840 was I don't know. They may make a movie out 16 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:28,519 of this thing. The guy forty eight year old guy 17 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:33,200 from a Portuguese national but he's lived in he has 18 00:01:33,239 --> 00:01:38,480 an address in Miami. But he was a former student 19 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:44,760 at Brown University. I mean he's forty eight. He think no, 20 00:01:44,879 --> 00:01:48,200 it was like two thousand and one. He was so 21 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,000 twenty four years ago. He was in his twenties and 22 00:01:52,079 --> 00:01:57,519 he was a PhD student in physics, and so he 23 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,959 knew about that building. And it reminds me of the 24 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:08,560 Idaho stabbing story with Brian Kolberger, a PhD student. So 25 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,599 just because you're smart doesn't mean that you're not criminal. 26 00:02:13,599 --> 00:02:15,759 So yeah, no, By the way, this guy had no 27 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,840 criminal record in the US. He entered the United States 28 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,759 in two thousand on a student visa. He went to Brown. 29 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,560 He was taking his PhD in physics and did not 30 00:02:27,759 --> 00:02:33,759 complete the course. He dropped out, but he must have 31 00:02:33,879 --> 00:02:38,960 stayed because he became a permanent resident in twenty seventeen. 32 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,159 I presume that meant he got his green card in 33 00:02:42,159 --> 00:02:47,319 twenty seventeen. So the other weird part about this is, 34 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,039 remember they said, oh, no, there's no there's no relation 35 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,039 between the shooting at Brown University and the shooting of 36 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,560 the professor at MIT. And I kept saying this past week, 37 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:03,759 it's only forty nine miles. I googled it from Providence 38 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:08,000 to MIT. I mean, it doesn't take even forty It 39 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,159 takes forty five minutes to drive up there. And I so, 40 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,560 how can you quickly dismissit? Well, it turns out where 41 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:17,560 it was tied in and that the professor who was 42 00:03:17,599 --> 00:03:22,879 shot and killed in the hallway of his condo building, 43 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:30,159 was a fellow student from the nineteen nineties in Portugal. 44 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,879 They took classes together. He must have been a teenager. 45 00:03:35,159 --> 00:03:40,400 So you've got this guy obviously he's holding I don't know, 46 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:45,240 some kind of grudge. I mean, I think if you, 47 00:03:45,599 --> 00:03:50,280 if you have a few years of on earth, there's 48 00:03:50,319 --> 00:03:52,840 going to be somebody that does something wrong to you. 49 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,639 I've had my share. I'm sure you've had yours. But 50 00:03:56,759 --> 00:04:01,120 I don't worry. I don't dwell on that. You got 51 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,240 to move on with your life. If somebody did you wrong, okay, fine, 52 00:04:05,319 --> 00:04:09,560 move on. But this guy apparently never forgot whatever the 53 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,840 slights were against him back when he was a teenager 54 00:04:14,319 --> 00:04:18,399 and then when he was in his twenties. We'll never 55 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:25,399 know why he did the shooting at Brown. What did 56 00:04:25,439 --> 00:04:31,360 those innocent young people do to him, other than maybe 57 00:04:31,399 --> 00:04:35,519 they represented to him what he was at that point. 58 00:04:36,079 --> 00:04:42,439 We'll never know. But you just got to wonder, did 59 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,439 he find out at forty eight years of age that 60 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:51,800 maybe all of his dreams and aspirations aren't coming true, 61 00:04:51,959 --> 00:04:58,959 and that they have. He's mad and so he's gonna 62 00:04:59,079 --> 00:05:01,000 take it out on the ki that are trying to 63 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:07,199 achieve success in getting educated with good degrees from a 64 00:05:07,199 --> 00:05:11,319 good university. And then whatever this professor at MIT. I mean, 65 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:13,759 did he look at the professor and say, why, gosh, 66 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:18,560 that guy's a professor at a prestigious university and I'm 67 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:23,959 not We'll never know. Let's start with the Attorney General 68 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:29,399 of the State of Rhode Island, who kind of a 69 00:05:29,439 --> 00:05:32,120 crusty guy during the week, but now that they caught 70 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,079 the guy, all of a sudden, he seems a lot friendly. 71 00:05:35,319 --> 00:05:38,279 Heres here's some of his comments from last night. 72 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,879 Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of unknowns with respect to motives. 73 00:05:42,319 --> 00:05:44,360 I mean, I think that the real issue here is 74 00:05:45,519 --> 00:05:47,639 the key was to identify this person, as we talked 75 00:05:47,639 --> 00:05:50,480 about yesterday. I think there are other answers that are 76 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,399 coming in terms of why Brown. I think that is 77 00:05:54,439 --> 00:05:58,120 a mystery. I think there may be something going on 78 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,439 in Massachusetts that I'm not flowly familiar with because we're 79 00:06:01,439 --> 00:06:02,839 working just angle. 80 00:06:05,319 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: So then he talks a little bit about how they 81 00:06:07,639 --> 00:06:09,680 finally closed in on the guy. 82 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,399 Speaker 2: We found records with the help of the FBI and others, 83 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,360 that that was his storage area. So he rented a 84 00:06:17,399 --> 00:06:21,759 car in Boston he drove it. We were able to 85 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,079 find that car, and in New Hampshire we were able 86 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:26,959 to find evidence in the car from looking at it 87 00:06:26,959 --> 00:06:30,399 from the outside that connected this individual to our crime 88 00:06:30,439 --> 00:06:34,639 scene here in Rhode Island. Killed himself inside the storage unit, 89 00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:39,439 and the firearms were found at his in the area 90 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,279 of his thigh and in the area of his feet. 91 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:47,319 We are confident that this is our target and that 92 00:06:47,439 --> 00:06:53,639 this case is closed from a perspective of pursuing people involved. 93 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,879 Speaker 1: In Yeah, they got their guy, but there's a million 94 00:06:57,079 --> 00:07:00,000 questions that are going on the president of the university. 95 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:05,120 He's being quizzed about about how they do a sloppy 96 00:07:05,199 --> 00:07:08,560 job there on security. Paul Morrow, who's been up in 97 00:07:08,639 --> 00:07:10,639 Rhode Island all week ways in. 98 00:07:10,959 --> 00:07:13,079 Speaker 3: All right, let's go to motive right now. The most 99 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,040 that we have is it seems to me to be 100 00:07:15,199 --> 00:07:19,040 some bitter, blind sort of striking out at places that 101 00:07:19,079 --> 00:07:21,800 he blamed and people that he was perhaps jealous of. 102 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,480 It looks to me like this is a guy who 103 00:07:24,519 --> 00:07:26,959 hit a portion of his life in midlife that he 104 00:07:27,079 --> 00:07:29,120 started realizing that a lot of what he expected of 105 00:07:29,199 --> 00:07:31,920 himself wasn't going to happen. He goes back to this 106 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,199 issue of this MIT professor that he likely had a 107 00:07:36,199 --> 00:07:39,279 connection of some sort too in Portugal. He reportedly lost 108 00:07:39,279 --> 00:07:42,920 a job in Portugal. Maybe he blamed this guy. But 109 00:07:42,959 --> 00:07:45,920 the whole thing feels to me like a sort of petulant, 110 00:07:45,959 --> 00:07:48,920 sort of revenge tour by a guy who was leading 111 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,519 a slipping down life. And I'm sorry to give it 112 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,720 such a prosaic motive, because when you see something so horrible, 113 00:07:55,319 --> 00:07:58,560 you expect there to be more. But unfortunately, very often 114 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,439 when we get these things this and terrorism cases and 115 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,600 things like that, stalking cases, very often it comes down 116 00:08:04,639 --> 00:08:06,800 to ground level things where you just shake your head 117 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,279 and say, boy, you thought that was the solution. And 118 00:08:09,319 --> 00:08:10,839 I fear that at the end of the day, that 119 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:11,839 might be all we get. 120 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,839 Speaker 1: So the question then looks at Brown University, and not 121 00:08:16,879 --> 00:08:20,519 only Brown, but I'm sure that I would hope. I'm 122 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:25,920 not so sure that every collegiate administrator around the country 123 00:08:26,519 --> 00:08:28,680 is going, you know, maybe we should have a meeting 124 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:33,399 and go over our security on our campus, because Brown 125 00:08:34,279 --> 00:08:37,440 just doesn't seem to get it. 126 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,279 Speaker 3: So Brown, unfortunately for them, is going to become representative 127 00:08:40,279 --> 00:08:43,559 of higher education here because this is not a unique circumstance. 128 00:08:43,639 --> 00:08:48,799 They really let their security posture slip. These higher education institutions, 129 00:08:48,879 --> 00:08:52,440 they don't even have the defenses against a school shooter 130 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,720 that we see these days in high school and grammar schools. Furthermore, 131 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,840 there is something called the Cleary Report, which is mandated 132 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,519 by Congress that colleges have to put out relative to 133 00:09:03,519 --> 00:09:05,960 their crime numbers. Now, I got to go to something 134 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,720 that is just really discomfiting. In twenty twenty three, Brown 135 00:09:09,039 --> 00:09:14,200 reported in their Cleary Report twenty rapes on campus, twenty 136 00:09:14,279 --> 00:09:16,919 rapes at one school on campus and on think a 137 00:09:16,919 --> 00:09:19,279 lot of the public knows that these Cleary reports are 138 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,799 out there, But when you consider that you have that 139 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,840 level of criminality in one year, you got to say 140 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:27,399 to yourself, where would the better security protocols? Where was 141 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:32,279 desynchronization between the campus police and Providence PD. My understanding 142 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:34,639 is that's not a new issue up here. They better 143 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:37,159 take a hard look at their protocols in response to 144 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:39,320 a crisis, and they better figure out how to get 145 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:41,639 on the same page. Because it's a relatively small town 146 00:09:41,639 --> 00:09:43,799 and the idea that they had to build this thing 147 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:45,799 from the ground up when it happened, and I don't 148 00:09:45,799 --> 00:09:47,720 even know what they say that had to happen, because 149 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,759 we saw what happened over the weekend. There was some 150 00:09:49,919 --> 00:09:53,279 slippage at the edges of the task force here relative 151 00:09:53,279 --> 00:09:56,159 to that lead took to covertry. They lost valuable time. 152 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: And another parts of this story that's fascinating. I've heard 153 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,639 too different versions of it. But the guy that they 154 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:08,840 put out a camera had had video and photos of 155 00:10:08,879 --> 00:10:12,600 a guy that they said is not a person of interest, 156 00:10:12,639 --> 00:10:16,159 but he may have had some sort of interaction with 157 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,960 the person of interest. They said, we don't know who 158 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:23,240 this guy is. Here's a photo of him, and guess 159 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:27,919 what he came forward. He actually sent had sent to 160 00:10:29,279 --> 00:10:35,399 the Providence Police on an email that basically said, check 161 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:41,320 out this Reddit post about the fact that there's this 162 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:43,519 one guy that you might you might want to take 163 00:10:43,519 --> 00:10:47,320 a look at this one car. And so that caught 164 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:50,919 the attention of the investigators. But then they put out 165 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,240 the photo the video of this guy, and it turns 166 00:10:54,279 --> 00:10:57,240 out he came forward right away. His name is John, 167 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,279 don't know a last name. The two different reports are 168 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:06,039 One is that he was a janitor that worked at 169 00:11:06,279 --> 00:11:14,080 Brown University and ran into the shooter in the basement 170 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,000 in a bathroom in the basement, and kept and saw 171 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:22,799 him around the university buildings a number of days, basically 172 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,240 casing the place. And so he confronted him, and the 173 00:11:26,279 --> 00:11:31,960 guy the shooter said to John basically, buzz off, buddy, 174 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:37,279 leave me alone. Quit harassing me. So he shows up 175 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,440 to the police. He says, yeah, I happened to be 176 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,000 the guy who sent the Reddit post to you, and 177 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,000 I happened to have a conversation with this guy in 178 00:11:46,039 --> 00:11:49,600 the bathroom. Now, the other story is he's not a janitor. 179 00:11:49,639 --> 00:11:52,720 He's a homeless guy and he lives in the basement 180 00:11:53,399 --> 00:11:57,720 of the university building, the engineering building where the shooting was, 181 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:01,759 which brings up another question about if he is, how's 182 00:12:01,799 --> 00:12:05,200 the security about letting a homeless guy live in your 183 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,039 basement without knowing about it? In any case, so he's 184 00:12:09,159 --> 00:12:12,279 the one who broke open the case because he said 185 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:17,159 I watched him. I followed him out of the basement, 186 00:12:17,279 --> 00:12:20,240 out of the bathroom, onto the street, and he went 187 00:12:20,279 --> 00:12:22,480 down the street and he kept walking around. I kept 188 00:12:22,519 --> 00:12:25,720 following him. That's when he told me quit harassing me. 189 00:12:25,759 --> 00:12:28,720 But he says I basically hid and watched him, and 190 00:12:28,759 --> 00:12:31,759 he got in this particular car. Here's the make and 191 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:36,639 model and the license number of the car. That is 192 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:41,360 what broke open the case to find this guy. Now 193 00:12:41,399 --> 00:12:44,200 they had a car. They found out it was a 194 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:48,519 rental car. That found out from the rental company. They 195 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,519 had a photo of the guy in the lobby of 196 00:12:51,519 --> 00:12:54,600 the rental company renting the car. So now they had 197 00:12:54,639 --> 00:12:58,320 a photo, they had a car, and they had license 198 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:02,840 plate readers that triggered that the car had crossed from 199 00:13:02,879 --> 00:13:06,799 Massachusetts into New Hampshire. And that's how they found him 200 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:13,120 last night, all because of this janitor slash homeless guy. 201 00:13:13,159 --> 00:13:15,639 I don't know which one it was, didn't really matter, 202 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:19,519 but a little more from Paul Morrile. 203 00:13:21,639 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know that goes to something we were 204 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:25,840 talking about all week where we were saying, it doesn't 205 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:29,919 happen necessarily be something as high level as a school shooting. 206 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,480 But with no security, what are you asking for. You're 207 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,759 asking for burglaries, You're asking for people that are just 208 00:13:34,799 --> 00:13:37,399 going to trespass on the grounds can be much more 209 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:41,840 commonplace and average harassment that you're asking for. And in 210 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,039 this case turns out the homeless guy ends up being 211 00:13:44,039 --> 00:13:46,000 the hero. But the fact that he could live in 212 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,440 the basement of this place and apparently nobody knew just 213 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:49,840 goes to what was going on here. 214 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, So back to the Attorney General of Rhode Island, 215 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,919 he was asked last night, he said, does this janitor 216 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,799 homeless guy qualify for the fifth the thousand dollars award? 217 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,360 And the Attorney General said, it sure looks that way 218 00:14:05,399 --> 00:14:08,840 to me. He's got my vote. So maybe this guy 219 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,879 will get fifty grand for his efforts in being alert 220 00:14:12,919 --> 00:14:17,960 and turning in what he saw. And I'm sure the 221 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:23,320 shooter who apparently the highly educated guy, very smart guy. 222 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:25,600 I mean, we talk about how crooks are stupid, this 223 00:14:25,759 --> 00:14:28,879 guy not. I mean, he did went out of his 224 00:14:29,039 --> 00:14:32,039 way to make sure that he was not in the 225 00:14:32,159 --> 00:14:37,320 view of cameras on the university. He knew where there 226 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,200 were no cameras. He in the rental car. He also 227 00:14:41,679 --> 00:14:44,960 it had Florida plates, but he found some other plates 228 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:49,240 from Maine and swapped those plates onto the car, the 229 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,440 rental car that he had. So, I mean, he was 230 00:14:51,639 --> 00:14:56,759 very astute as to how to keep from getting caught. 231 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:00,600 And even with all of his smartness and all of 232 00:15:00,639 --> 00:15:03,120 the work that he did to make sure that nobody 233 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:09,080 knew who he was. He still met his end last night. 234 00:15:10,159 --> 00:15:12,960 Let's go back as quickly to what Paul was talking about. 235 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,679 Twenty rapes in one year on Brown campus. It's a 236 00:15:17,679 --> 00:15:23,000 small university, it's a postage stamp campus. It's not very big. 237 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:28,320 There's only seven thousand students at Brown, and you got 238 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:34,799 twenty rapes in that small postage stamp neighborhood. Anybody doing 239 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:36,720 anything about it? And that's the other thing. There is 240 00:15:36,759 --> 00:15:40,720 a I've only seen him once. He's basically hiding, but 241 00:15:40,799 --> 00:15:45,360 there is a Brown University police department, and the guy 242 00:15:45,399 --> 00:15:48,720 who's the chief of that got fired from some other 243 00:15:49,039 --> 00:15:55,320 university for I think unqualified. And he's also had two 244 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:59,360 votes against him by the police officers of Brown University 245 00:15:59,759 --> 00:16:02,919 that they have no confidence in him. So the security 246 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:08,480 situation that Brown has been a mess. And now you've 247 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,559 got two dead students, nine that were shot and wounded. 248 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:19,279 It shouldn't have happened. And the other thing about the cameras, 249 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:24,840 I'll tie in one other story, Nick Reiner. The way 250 00:16:24,879 --> 00:16:27,799 they found him was by the pings on his phone, 251 00:16:27,799 --> 00:16:32,120 which the guy in the shooter in New Hampshire apparently 252 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,679 kept switching SIM cards, so that they could not figure 253 00:16:35,679 --> 00:16:38,080 out where the phone was. He was very smart about 254 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,279 all that didn't pay off in the end. But back 255 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,279 to Nick Reiner, the way they got him was the 256 00:16:44,279 --> 00:16:47,960 pings on his phone. But also there was a gas 257 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:53,519 station that had cameras that were one hundred times better 258 00:16:53,559 --> 00:16:59,840 than Brown University cameras a gas station. So Brown has 259 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:03,679 a has a lot to work on, and it does 260 00:17:03,759 --> 00:17:08,079 make you wonder how many other universities are just like that. 261 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,960 So they've got this great academic reputation, but boy do 262 00:17:13,039 --> 00:17:17,319 they look like they've got a shoddy security system. So 263 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,680 since I'm crucifying her, might as well get the university president. 264 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,400 They asked her about, Well, now that the guy's been 265 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,960 caught and he's dead, what do you make of your 266 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,519 security system here? Madam President. 267 00:17:30,559 --> 00:17:32,839 Speaker 4: We're going to have to look back and say, you know, 268 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,160 we don't know how this person got in. We don't 269 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,240 know when they came in. We do know that the 270 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:42,720 building was unlocked that day for exams, and that's something 271 00:17:42,759 --> 00:17:44,680 we're going to have to coming into. Well, look at 272 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:46,839 everything that is done that. I do not think a 273 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,440 lack of cameras in that building it had anything to 274 00:17:50,519 --> 00:17:52,720 do with what happened there, There. 275 00:17:52,599 --> 00:17:56,400 Speaker 1: You go, university president, she doesn't think the lack of 276 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:00,119 cameras had anything to do with what happened. No, I 277 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,680 mean the guy was obviously casing the place to find 278 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:06,519 out where there were no cameras, So it did make 279 00:18:06,559 --> 00:18:10,119 a difference. This guy was smart and he worked around 280 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,279 the system. But the point is they should have had 281 00:18:12,319 --> 00:18:18,359 cameras to catch basically all of their property. John skoll Is, 282 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:24,599 a former FBI guy. Is analysis of this is as follows. 283 00:18:24,279 --> 00:18:25,839 Speaker 5: Well, I think the first question you have to ask 284 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:27,960 is what was the motive? What was the motive to 285 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:30,720 conduct an attack at Brown? And then what was the 286 00:18:30,759 --> 00:18:33,680 grievance he had against his former classmate and the professor 287 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,559 at MIT. So I think those are real questions that 288 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,279 investigators are trying to piece together. And this is now 289 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:42,400 a global investigation. You have not just the New England area, 290 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:44,279 but you also have what's going on in Portugal and 291 00:18:44,279 --> 00:18:49,200 then any other family friends, associates around the US that 292 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,359 they are looking to get in front of. So I 293 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:53,119 think it's tough to judge that, to be honest with you, 294 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,359 I mean, they had a lack of information that this 295 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,880 person was clearly trying to evade law enforcement. The lack 296 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,720 of security cameras in that building is a problem, and 297 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,680 the lack of security cameras on that street are a problem. 298 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:06,839 I think what we really have to focus on here 299 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,440 is the importance of the relationship between the law law 300 00:19:09,519 --> 00:19:12,400 enforcement and the public. Had it not been for this tipster, 301 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,799 the law enforcement is still looking for him, and likely 302 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,000 he is going out of the country, as reporting has 303 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,359 had him had a plane ticket for Thursday night. So 304 00:19:22,519 --> 00:19:25,400 I think that's what needs to focus on, is the 305 00:19:25,519 --> 00:19:29,319 relationship between the public and law enforcement and how important 306 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:29,960 tips are. 307 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,079 Speaker 1: Yeah, so the guy apparently did have a ticket for 308 00:19:33,319 --> 00:19:36,799 last night, and don't know where he was going, probably 309 00:19:36,839 --> 00:19:40,920 from Boston, maybe back to Miami where he has in the address, 310 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:44,680 or maybe he was going to Portugal, but regardless, he 311 00:19:44,759 --> 00:19:47,440 was going to be out of the area. And then 312 00:19:48,319 --> 00:19:51,480 it would have been very, very difficult to figure out 313 00:19:51,519 --> 00:19:55,359 who this guy was. If it wasn't for John the 314 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,279 janitor slash homeless guy, they would still be looking for him. 315 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:01,359 There was one guy that drew me crazy last night, 316 00:20:01,559 --> 00:20:04,400 I mean just troth me crazy. They have they they 317 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,839 got the guy. He's dead now. They have the news 318 00:20:07,839 --> 00:20:14,440 conference in Providence, and the one guy who was trying 319 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,720 to control the news conference he had nothing to add, 320 00:20:18,559 --> 00:20:24,759 was Mayor Smiley. And he reminded me of like a 321 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,279 first I shouldn't say that, because first grade teachers are valuable, 322 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,240 but it's not like like somebody that's a principle of 323 00:20:32,319 --> 00:20:38,880 a grade school and had to with literally telling, shouting 324 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,160 over everybody so that he could pick out which reporters 325 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:46,079 were going to get to be able to ask questions. 326 00:20:46,079 --> 00:20:48,759 He was just a he's a control freak and he 327 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:52,039 had nothing to add to this, but he wanted as 328 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,920 the mayor, the politician, to be running the whole show 329 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,920 last night. Remember he's the same guy who said, well 330 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,559 we don't have I remember that they cut the one 331 00:21:01,599 --> 00:21:04,359 person he turned out not to be a suspect and 332 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,880 they let him go, and Mayor Smiley came out and said, Okay, 333 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,000 we got the wrong guy, but don't you worry. Everything's okay. 334 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:14,680 You can be here safe out there that do you 335 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:19,920 know where the shooter is? No, he just came across 336 00:21:20,039 --> 00:21:25,319 annoying to me, but I'm sure he's happy being mayor. 337 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:29,400 Let's go to a different city. Let's go to Minneapolis, 338 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,559 where the state of Minnesota. We told you before about 339 00:21:33,599 --> 00:21:37,920 the fact that there were a bunch of fraudsters getting 340 00:21:38,039 --> 00:21:42,400 state money to the tune of a billion dollars from 341 00:21:42,519 --> 00:21:45,680 the state of Minnesota, most of it going like ninety 342 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:50,640 five percent of it going to Somali organizations that were 343 00:21:50,759 --> 00:21:54,880 using it for well a variety of things. Say, they 344 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,039 have a list today of what it was that these 345 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,359 people that were taking the money, what they were using 346 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:07,079 it for. There were wire transfers to China and wire 347 00:22:07,079 --> 00:22:11,960 transfers to East Africa. They bought a villa in the Maldives. 348 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,039 They had first class planet tickets to Istanbul and Amsterdam. 349 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:23,200 They had stacks of cash that apparently they texted the 350 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,839 transfers to others that were involved in the fraud. They 351 00:22:26,839 --> 00:22:31,759 bought luxury vehicles. One of these organizations that was supposed 352 00:22:31,759 --> 00:22:34,640 to be doing good for people bought a lake front 353 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:38,920 property in Minnesota, and another one bought a designer jewelry. 354 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:43,559 So yeah, and the funds were supposed to be used 355 00:22:43,599 --> 00:22:47,920 for feeding children, for helping recovering addicts find a place 356 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:53,559 to live, for helping disabled adults, one on one therapy 357 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:57,000 for autistic children. What happened was some of the local 358 00:22:57,039 --> 00:23:02,119 businesses found out that like the Autolo a children organization, 359 00:23:02,799 --> 00:23:05,759 that the businesses that were next door to them said, 360 00:23:05,799 --> 00:23:08,480 there's nobody, No children never come or go from this place. 361 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,880 In fact, the place is empty. So Joe Thompson, the 362 00:23:13,079 --> 00:23:17,920 US Attorney for Minnesota, has laid out a number of 363 00:23:18,039 --> 00:23:21,799 new indictments today and the amount of money is north 364 00:23:22,079 --> 00:23:26,319 of ten billion dollars. Not one, but ten billion dollars. 365 00:23:26,559 --> 00:23:28,559 Here's Joe Thompson, the US Attorney. 366 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 6: Minnesotan's and taxpayers deserve to know the truth of the fraud. 367 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:38,279 The fraud is not small, it isn't isolated. The manuitude 368 00:23:38,279 --> 00:23:41,599 cannot be overstated. What we see in Minnesota is not 369 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:46,319 a handful of bad actors committing crimes. It's a staggering, 370 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:54,799 industrial scale fraud. It's swamping Minnesota and calling into question 371 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:57,119 everything we know about our state. 372 00:23:57,559 --> 00:23:59,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, it wasn't just one one group. It was in 373 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,160 dush C real size. They had a big operation going there. 374 00:24:03,319 --> 00:24:07,359 Liz Colin is a journalist in Minnesota who's been reporting 375 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:07,720 on this. 376 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:09,759 Speaker 7: This is what she says, Bill, We've been reporting on 377 00:24:09,799 --> 00:24:12,680 this for years and hearing that the fraud is well 378 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,119 into the billions of dollars in Minnesota. I don't think 379 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:20,720 really surprises anyone here. There was this morning warning months 380 00:24:20,759 --> 00:24:24,119 ago that an iceberg was ahead by First Assistant US 381 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,519 Attorney Joe Thompson. Seems like we're not even hitting that 382 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,519 just yet. I'll be honest. We've visited some recent sites 383 00:24:30,559 --> 00:24:34,920 just within the last week. Still, it seems fraudulent programs everywhere. 384 00:24:35,079 --> 00:24:38,759 Zeroing in on those fourteen Medicaid programs that have now 385 00:24:38,799 --> 00:24:42,519 been flagged, eighteen billion dollars that poured into those programs 386 00:24:42,559 --> 00:24:46,039 since twenty eighteen. Yesterday we heard more than half of 387 00:24:46,079 --> 00:24:51,079 that is likely fraud, perhaps well well above nine or 388 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:55,000 ten billion dollars. But just seeing that explosive growth, I 389 00:24:55,039 --> 00:24:58,119 think you can see these businesses everywhere. In fact, business 390 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:02,039 owners in Minnesota been taking matters into their own hands. 391 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,400 We've done some stories about people actually setting up security 392 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,400 cameras rolling on neighboring businesses saying, hey, there's no kids 393 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,880 coming and going from this daycare. There are no adults, 394 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:14,039 you know, going in and out of this adult daycare. 395 00:25:14,079 --> 00:25:15,920 Will someone do something back. 396 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,279 Speaker 1: To Joe Thompson, the US Attorney in. 397 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,920 Speaker 6: His programs that are just entirely fraudulent. These aren't companies 398 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:25,720 that are providing some services but over billing Medicare and Medicaid. 399 00:25:26,039 --> 00:25:28,839 These are companies that are providing essentially no services. They're 400 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,920 essentially shell companies created to defraud the program, create it 401 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,359 to submit on a wholesale level. 402 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not an over billing problem that a lot 403 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,319 of frausters do. They just took the money and provided 404 00:25:42,519 --> 00:25:47,519 zero services. Back to Liz Colin and talking about does 405 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,960 Governor Tim Walls take any responsibility? 406 00:25:52,559 --> 00:25:55,279 Speaker 7: You know, it's interesting He's made quite quite a few 407 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:59,200 maneuvers that are questionable. I would say over these last years. 408 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,319 Now reporting appointing I should say a fraud czar, but 409 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:07,599 he closed at the statewide level an office that investigated 410 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:09,759 fraud for many years or a questions about that. This 411 00:26:09,799 --> 00:26:13,599 has only renewed the call for Governor Tim Walls to resign. 412 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,680 He is currently running for a third term as governor, 413 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,640 but this has really ramped up under his watch the 414 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,839 last seven years, all of this fraud exploding onto the 415 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:26,319 national scene. I think it's said five or six federal 416 00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:30,359 investigations that have now been announced in Minnesota from snap 417 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,480 or welfare fraud. The state doesn't want to give that 418 00:26:32,559 --> 00:26:35,440 over our voter rolls. Minnesota doesn't want to hand that 419 00:26:35,519 --> 00:26:39,960 over to the Feds. Illegal immigrants having commercial drivers' licenses here. 420 00:26:40,519 --> 00:26:43,799 In fact, President Trump saying that Walls has turned Minnesota 421 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,519 into a fraudulent hub of money laundering activity. 422 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: So shouldn't he be held responsible? I mean, if you're 423 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:55,160 the CEO of a company and if somebody's stealing from 424 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,920 you and you don't do anything about it, I mean, 425 00:26:59,319 --> 00:27:04,240 shouldn't I mean no, I know, nothing will. Nobody's ever 426 00:27:04,319 --> 00:27:07,680 held accountable in government, So no, nothing will happen, but 427 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,319 it should should hit. He should be responsible. The buck 428 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,119 stops here. Harry Truman. Put that on your desk, Governor Walls. 429 00:27:16,279 --> 00:27:19,119 It's an amazing story. There was apparently some of the 430 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,319 people that they have charged with fraud are some people 431 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:28,160 from Pennsylvania that heard about how easy it was to 432 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,440 make up some organization and get money from the state 433 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,759 of Minnesota. They went to Minnesota, set up a fake 434 00:27:34,839 --> 00:27:38,480 company and started collecting I don't know how much, but 435 00:27:38,519 --> 00:27:42,279 they got money from the state of Minnesota for a 436 00:27:42,319 --> 00:27:45,240 fraudulent company. They said that it did not exist, it 437 00:27:45,279 --> 00:27:49,000 was just on paper, and they heard about it in Pennsylvania. 438 00:27:49,079 --> 00:27:53,119 So as much as Minnesota is ground zero for this, 439 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,039 I'm sure this is going on in other places in 440 00:27:57,079 --> 00:28:01,920 other states. And speaking of Democrats, there's been a lot 441 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,359 of publicity. The media love to talk about it. President 442 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:10,559 Trump's approval ratings have come way down, and including his 443 00:28:10,759 --> 00:28:14,960 managing of the economy. He was was that was what 444 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:19,400 got him elected, but no, the approval ratings are way 445 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:23,680 way down. People are unhappy the rights of the country 446 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,160 on the right track or wrong track. Wrong track is 447 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,079 way ahead of the right track, so a lot of 448 00:28:28,079 --> 00:28:33,440 people are unhappy. But it's not just the Republicans. The 449 00:28:33,559 --> 00:28:38,000 Democrats are also getting they're head handed to them in 450 00:28:38,119 --> 00:28:42,599 these polls, but the mainstream media is not publicizing it 451 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:48,279 at all. Even Fayez Shakir, who was one of the 452 00:28:48,279 --> 00:28:53,000 top guys working for Bernie Sanders, big Democrat, He's saying, 453 00:28:53,039 --> 00:28:57,160 these Democrats are not doing what they need to be doing. 454 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,519 Speaker 8: I agree with the decision here and no surprise to you, 455 00:28:59,559 --> 00:29:01,519 but hard to be a democratic party when you're not 456 00:29:01,519 --> 00:29:03,680 being democratic and the way you want to be held 457 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,519 accountable by the stakeholders of the Democratic Party. I've long 458 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:08,799 argued and I ran for DNC chair because I felt 459 00:29:08,799 --> 00:29:10,599 like we need to open the doors. Let people in 460 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,279 the challenge right now. Many in the party. Ken Martin's 461 00:29:13,279 --> 00:29:15,599 a nice person, A lot of them believe that we 462 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,119 need to play dead, don't have a vision, don't argue 463 00:29:18,119 --> 00:29:20,920 for anything. Profit off of the fact that Donald Trump's 464 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,599 agenda is very unpopular right now, win all these elections. 465 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: I believe differently. Bernie Sanders believes. 466 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:27,519 Speaker 8: Differently that you have to have a vision, you have 467 00:29:27,599 --> 00:29:29,559 to come forward with saying that you believe in something. 468 00:29:29,599 --> 00:29:31,559 The only way you're going to get there is being 469 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:35,640 accountable to disagreement, having some disagreement within the party healthy. 470 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,319 Speaker 1: Yeah, so he's a Democrat and he's not happy with 471 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:44,799 the Democratic National Committee. Harry Enton, the statistician over at CNN, 472 00:29:45,119 --> 00:29:48,839 he looked at the polls on all of this and 473 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:50,240 this is what he came away with. 474 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,079 Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean, Democrats and the minds of the American 475 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:55,559 public are lower than the dead sea. What are we 476 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,599 talking about here, Well, let's take a look at the 477 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,880 net approval rating for Democrats in Congress, the lowest ever. 478 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:05,400 Look at this overall, they are fifty five points underwater. 479 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,559 They're approval rating is south of twenty percent. It's even 480 00:30:08,559 --> 00:30:11,680 worse when you look at independence, look at this negative 481 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,880 sixty one points. That means that their approval rating is 482 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:18,440 sixty one points lower than their disapproval rating. Quinnipiac has 483 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:21,119 been pulling this question for the better part of the 484 00:30:21,119 --> 00:30:25,119 twenty first century. They have never found Democrats, at least 485 00:30:25,119 --> 00:30:28,480 those in Congress and worse shape than they are right now. Yeah, 486 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,039 what about Democrats on Democrats? So part of the reason 487 00:30:31,079 --> 00:30:34,160 overall is solo is independents are driving it low. But 488 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,720 that's not the only reason it's solo. What about democrats 489 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,279 on democrats? Democrats and that approval rating of congressional Democrats. 490 00:30:41,359 --> 00:30:43,440 I want you to keep in mind they had never 491 00:30:43,559 --> 00:30:48,000 rated Democrats negatively until this year. And right now, what 492 00:30:48,039 --> 00:30:50,319 are we talking about. We're talking about a net approval 493 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,839 rating from democrats. This is democrats on Democrats. Their approf 494 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,000 rating is actually lower, lower than the disapproval rating, and 495 00:30:57,039 --> 00:30:59,720 that is quite the drop from October. I think during 496 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:01,680 the shit down there was a bit of a bloost 497 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,200 for Democrats, right there was a rallying around the flag 498 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:07,119 effect going on. But Democrats did not like how that 499 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,839 shut down turned out. They have returned against Democrats and 500 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,480 Congress and You mentioned Dan Goldman in that intro. One 501 00:31:13,519 --> 00:31:15,839 of the reasons that Dan Goldman is in trouble right 502 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,240 now in a potential primary against Brad Ladner is because 503 00:31:19,279 --> 00:31:22,839 at this point the Democratic base is so upset with Democrats. 504 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:25,079 So even if Democrats take back Congress, don't be surprised 505 00:31:25,119 --> 00:31:27,759 that Dan Goldman ain't there because of numbers like this. 506 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 2: Great, yeah, you know we're talking about it. 507 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:30,519 Speaker 4: You mentioned it. What is this? 508 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,319 Speaker 9: Twenty two to six? That's a twenty eight point decline 509 00:31:33,359 --> 00:31:35,680 falling through the floor. But of course the question is 510 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,279 can Democrats still take take back Congress even with their 511 00:31:38,359 --> 00:31:40,480 ratings as low as this? The answer is yes, But 512 00:31:40,559 --> 00:31:42,799 in my mind it's definitely hurting them. Why do I 513 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:44,759 say that because take a look at the Jeneric congressional 514 00:31:44,839 --> 00:31:47,640 belt with a Republican president at this point. Look, Democrats 515 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,640 are ahead, but they're only ahead by four points. Historically, 516 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,200 that is quite weak. At this point. In the eight 517 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,599 twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen cycles, more than double that at 518 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,799 ten points. The same back during George W. Bush's second 519 00:31:58,839 --> 00:32:01,079 term in office, where you saw, of course, the Democrats 520 00:32:01,119 --> 00:32:03,039 are also hit by ten points. So we're talking about 521 00:32:03,079 --> 00:32:05,400 a lead of less than half what we normally expect, 522 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,279 and I think that's why at this point there are 523 00:32:07,319 --> 00:32:09,359 a lot of Democrats who might be thinking, hey, we 524 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:11,480 can spike that ball in the end zone. But the 525 00:32:11,519 --> 00:32:13,759 numbers at this point say, hold on just a minute. Yes, 526 00:32:13,799 --> 00:32:16,799 you're on your way to a congressional majority, but it's 527 00:32:16,839 --> 00:32:19,240 still a long time. With numbers like this considerably legal 528 00:32:19,279 --> 00:32:22,680 and historically speaking, it might be a tougher road to haul. 529 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,559 Speaker 1: Yeah. So my takeaway from this is if the Democrats 530 00:32:26,599 --> 00:32:30,160 know this is cownipiac, it's the lowest ever ever in 531 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:34,119 their recording history for Democrats. Eighteen percent approval of Democrats, 532 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:39,519 seventy eight percent disapproval. And that's Democrats on Democrats. The 533 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,880 Democrats are fed up with the with the leadership. No, 534 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,240 they don't like Republicans either. Then Republicans, like I said, 535 00:32:46,279 --> 00:32:50,039 Donald Trump and Republicans, they're not getting great numbers right now. 536 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:53,839 But I think people are fed up with both parties. 537 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,160 I know they are. I put myself in that camp. 538 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:02,960 But so that's what's going on with the politics on 539 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:06,200 the country today. I think the number one thing driving 540 00:33:06,279 --> 00:33:09,920 people to be unhappy with both parties is the economy 541 00:33:10,279 --> 00:33:13,160 and we got. I've told you before. There's two consumer 542 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,640 attitude checks out there. One of them is the Conference Board. 543 00:33:17,039 --> 00:33:20,960 The other one is the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. Well, 544 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:25,880 that got released today, and the consumer sentiment went up 545 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:34,640 in December, but less than expected, remaining depressed among lingering 546 00:33:34,839 --> 00:33:39,359 affordability concerns according to the survey. So their number, the 547 00:33:39,359 --> 00:33:45,720 index went up one point nine to fifty two point nine, 548 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,640 but they were looking for something much higher than that. 549 00:33:49,839 --> 00:33:53,559 So this is the director of the survey says. Despite 550 00:33:53,559 --> 00:33:57,359 some signs of improvement to close out the year, sentiment 551 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:03,599 remains nearly thirty percent low December of twenty twenty four, 552 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:09,800 as pocketbook issues continued to dominate consumer views of the economy. 553 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:14,320 So the President is on his way tonight. He's going 554 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,039 down to the North Carolina, big purple state, important state 555 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:25,440 to talk about. He's part of the selling of the economy, 556 00:34:25,599 --> 00:34:29,320 selling people on the economy is doing great, no matter 557 00:34:30,159 --> 00:34:33,760 what you think about it. Here's Shannon Breen talking about 558 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:35,199 the President's trip tonight. 559 00:34:35,559 --> 00:34:38,079 Speaker 10: Been a times North Carolina, a purple state. I mean, 560 00:34:38,079 --> 00:34:41,239 it's a big prize and so the President wisely going 561 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:44,679 there to focus his message on the economy, you point 562 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,480 to the inflation number. Supporters of the President will also 563 00:34:47,599 --> 00:34:51,840 say wage growth this year has outpaced inflation nearly every month, 564 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,400 so people should be feeling a little bit more breathing 565 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,920 room when it comes to that. But you guys know, 566 00:34:57,039 --> 00:35:00,480 our polls show this week people are desperately worried about inflation. 567 00:35:00,519 --> 00:35:02,760 They are desperately worried about healthcare, which is why they'll 568 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,840 welcome this announcement on drug pricing. There have been others 569 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:08,440 from the White House as well, but folks at home 570 00:35:08,519 --> 00:35:10,400 say they still aren't feeling it. The White House wants 571 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:12,519 them to know, help us on the way, and the 572 00:35:12,519 --> 00:35:14,239 President will continue that message tonight. 573 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, she mentioned on top of the drug announcement, well, 574 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:21,400 the President had a meeting in the White House today. 575 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:26,480 Several of the largest US and European drug makers were there, 576 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:31,400 and the President announced that Merk, Bristol, Meyers, Squib and 577 00:35:31,679 --> 00:35:38,440 jen Galad gsk Sonofi, Roach's genen Tech nov artists, all 578 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,599 of them are going to be well. They inc the 579 00:35:41,639 --> 00:35:46,599 deal basically to sell their medications for less. And this 580 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,920 I gripe about the tariffs. I don't like tariffs, specific 581 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,760 tariffs focused tariffs at work, and this is one of 582 00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:00,320 the cases where I think it is valuable. And so 583 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:03,960 the majority of the seventeen drug makers that Trump sent 584 00:36:04,039 --> 00:36:07,800 letters to in July saying you know, here come the tariff. 585 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:10,960 We're just going to tariff the bejbs out of your products, well, 586 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:15,400 fourteen of the seventeen have now agreed to drastically lower 587 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,960 their drug prices if they can get out of having 588 00:36:20,079 --> 00:36:24,440 to pay the tariffs. So the tariffs and drug with 589 00:36:24,599 --> 00:36:29,559 drugs is making a difference. One of them apparently, they 590 00:36:29,599 --> 00:36:33,519 are going to be offering a three year grace period 591 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:41,239 for specific drugs that will Yeah, here it is. It's 592 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:46,440 Prista Meyer Squib offering eloquist which is a blockbuster blood 593 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:51,480 thinner drug and a top prescribed drug. They're offering it 594 00:36:51,639 --> 00:36:58,280 for free to Medicare for three years. So drug prices. 595 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,360 President's got the pressure on these pharmaceutical companies were the 596 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:06,199 big market in the world, and he's making some very 597 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:09,960 good progress on that. So that's part of the effort. 598 00:37:10,039 --> 00:37:12,760 And when he goes to North Carolina tonight, he's going 599 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:16,199 to be bragging about that and he should absolutely should. 600 00:37:17,199 --> 00:37:20,280 So Wall Street, let's see how they did today. A 601 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,079 little bit a little bit of a rally going on today. 602 00:37:23,119 --> 00:37:27,199 The Dow up one hundred and eighty three to forty 603 00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:30,719 eight one thirty four s and P up fifty nine, 604 00:37:31,199 --> 00:37:34,840 NASDAK up three hundred and one. The Nasdaq's been autoitaiar. 605 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:38,480 Price of gold up five bucks to forty three sixty 606 00:37:38,559 --> 00:37:42,880 nine at oil up fifty cents fifty six dollars for 607 00:37:43,119 --> 00:37:45,960 a barrel of oil. So that's it for today, that's 608 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,320 it for the week. Thank you for coming by. I 609 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:51,519 have a wonderful weekend. We'll be back on Monday. I 610 00:37:51,519 --> 00:37:52,920 hope you are too. See event