WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.419 Welcome to the deep dive. This is where we take 00:00:02.419 --> 00:00:04.540 a whole pile of information, articles, notes, 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:07.559 research, and really boil it down for you. We're 00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:09.919 after the key insights, the surprising bits, 00:00:10.099 --> 00:00:11.960 the things you need to know. And our mission, 00:00:12.060 --> 00:00:14.640 as always, is to get you up to speed quickly 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:17.519 on some really complex stuff happening right 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:20.019 now. Yeah, today we're looking at, well, a whole 00:00:20.019 --> 00:00:22.440 web of things. Political moves, court cases, 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:25.260 big changes in the media world, even global trade. 00:00:25.469 --> 00:00:28.230 It's a lot to connect. Absolutely. The sources 00:00:28.230 --> 00:00:30.649 are all over the place. Legal filings, news reports, 00:00:30.929 --> 00:00:33.310 analyses. We're going to try and pull those threads 00:00:33.310 --> 00:00:35.649 together for you. And there are some, frankly, 00:00:36.070 --> 00:00:38.750 unexpected links, like how trying to suppress 00:00:38.750 --> 00:00:42.250 a story might actually backfire or what happens 00:00:42.250 --> 00:00:44.850 when all the obituary writers at a major paper 00:00:44.850 --> 00:00:47.009 suddenly quit. It tells you something. It really 00:00:47.009 --> 00:00:49.429 does. OK, where should we start? Let's kick things 00:00:49.429 --> 00:00:52.609 off with the Epstein files. This story, it's 00:00:52.609 --> 00:00:54.899 just... keeps evolving. Right now, a lot of focus 00:00:54.899 --> 00:00:57.060 is on Ghislaine Maxwell, who's in prison down 00:00:57.060 --> 00:00:59.759 in Florida. And there's this idea, especially 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:01.320 circulating on the right, that she's the one 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:04.719 who holds the key, the Rosetta Stone to the whole 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:07.500 Epstein network. Exactly. And the thinking goes, 00:01:08.019 --> 00:01:10.280 she might be willing to say what's, well, what 00:01:10.280 --> 00:01:12.000 Donald Trump wants her to say. In exchange for 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:14.459 a pardon, right, there's, she's given Deputy 00:01:14.459 --> 00:01:17.900 AG Todd Blanch a list, maybe 100 names. That's 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:22.219 the rumor. Mostly elites. that the base dislikes 00:01:22.219 --> 00:01:24.640 maybe a few minor Republicans thrown in to make 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:27.040 it look, you know, balanced. But this creates 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:29.659 a huge problem for Attorney General Pam Bondi 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:32.000 and Blanche, doesn't it? What if Maxwell's testimony 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.420 is all they have? Yeah, I mean, will a grand 00:01:34.420 --> 00:01:37.879 jury indict based just on her word? If not, the 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:40.239 backlash from the base could be intense. They'll 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:42.480 want answers. It really is high stakes, sort 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:44.260 of a game of chicken, you could say. Totally. 00:01:44.659 --> 00:01:47.439 Does Maxwell demand a pardon right now? Maybe 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:50.140 post -dated. Or does she threaten to expose Trump 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:52.739 if she doesn't get one? Which carries its own, 00:01:52.739 --> 00:01:55.480 uh, grim risks given the history surrounding 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:58.239 this case. That idea she could be suicided. It's 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.159 a chilling undercurrent. It is. But what if there's 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:03.900 other evidence? This brings us to that birthday 00:02:03.900 --> 00:02:05.939 book. Uh, yes, the one The Wall Street Journal 00:02:05.939 --> 00:02:09.159 reported on. Which Trump denies exists. But Brad 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:13.180 Edwards, a lawyer for many victims, says, no, 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.900 it's real. Epstein's estate lawyers have it. 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:18.620 That's fascinating. So House Democrats want it, 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:21.139 but they can't subpoena it. Right. But House 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:24.800 Republicans could. And the worry is maybe they 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.199 make sure it can't be found. And you have to 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:30.340 think, Epstein's 50th birthday party. That was 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:32.439 probably a big event. Lots of people might have 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:35.060 seen Trump's card. Which could just blow up any 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:37.120 claims Maxwell might make, yeah. But even beyond 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:40.939 the book, there are the videos. Oh, right. The 00:02:40.939 --> 00:02:42.939 Department of Justice itself mentioned thousands 00:02:42.939 --> 00:02:46.219 of videos in a court filing. July 8, 2019, page 00:02:46.219 --> 00:02:48.360 9. Thousands. I mean, think about that. If a 00:02:48.360 --> 00:02:50.479 neutral party, someone with a strong stomach, 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:52.719 actually watched those. That could be far more 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:55.300 valuable, more definitive than any single person's 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:56.879 testimony, couldn't it? Absolutely. It could 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:59.120 change the whole narrative. Which, speaking of 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:01.379 narratives, Politico put together a timeline 00:03:01.379 --> 00:03:03.819 showing how this has all shifted. Right. Starting 00:03:03.819 --> 00:03:06.759 back in January with Cash Patel vowing to expose 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:10.379 connections. Then Pam Bondi in February claiming 00:03:10.379 --> 00:03:13.080 she had a client list on her desk. Trump's name 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:16.300 reportedly surfacing in files in May. And then 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:19.219 fast forward to July. Trump suddenly denying 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:21.719 everything, calling it a hoax. Right after the 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:24.120 Wall Street Journal reported on that body birthday 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:28.199 card. And then he sues. The WSJ and Rupert Murdoch 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:30.639 over it. It's quite a sequence. It really highlights 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:32.780 that phenomenon, doesn't it? The Streisand effect. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:34.800 Trying to suppress something just draws more 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:36.840 attention. Like that South Park episode years 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:39.319 ago, making Trump look like a buffoon with Satan. 00:03:39.740 --> 00:03:41.900 It just got people talking more. Same principle, 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:43.879 maybe. Could be, the more you try to hide something. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:46.479 Okay, let's pivot to some broader political maneuvers. 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:49.159 We're seeing some interesting uses of executive 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:52.639 power. Reminds me a bit of Nixon and impoundment. 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:54.719 Can you refresh us on that? Sure. Impoundment 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:58.000 was basically Nixon refusing to spend money Congress 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.860 had already approved. It led to a law specifically 00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:03.680 banning that practice. Okay, so that's illegal 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:06.719 now. But Trump seems to have found a workaround. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:09.120 Sort of a legal trick, yeah. Make a bipartisan 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:11.400 deal to fund the government. Get everyone on 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:13.740 board. And then use these things called rescission 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:16.100 bills to cancel the parts the Democrats wanted. 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:19.160 Exactly. And those rescission bills only need 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:22.180 50 Senate votes plus the vice president. So Republicans 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:24.480 can legally back out of the deal they just made. 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:27.980 Wow. So what can Democrats even do? Well, that's 00:04:27.980 --> 00:04:30.339 the dilemma, isn't it? They could refuse to vote 00:04:30.339 --> 00:04:32.920 for the initial funding bill, risk a government 00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:35.860 shutdown. Which is always risky politically. 00:04:36.220 --> 00:04:38.540 Explaining rescissions is kind of inside baseball 00:04:38.540 --> 00:04:40.860 for most voters. Or they vote for the bill and 00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:43.529 just get As some are saying, stabbed in the back 00:04:43.529 --> 00:04:46.589 again. Meanwhile, some Republicans, like Senator 00:04:46.589 --> 00:04:49.430 John Kennedy, are saying, hey, this is the only 00:04:49.430 --> 00:04:51.689 way we actually cut spending. It's a powerful 00:04:51.689 --> 00:04:54.509 tool, and it definitely strains the whole appropriations 00:04:54.509 --> 00:04:57.009 process. And speaking of straining systems, what 00:04:57.009 --> 00:04:59.170 about these immigration judges? Oh, that's quite 00:04:59.170 --> 00:05:03.009 something. Since January, 100 out of about 700 00:05:03.009 --> 00:05:05.670 immigration judges have been fired. 100? That 00:05:05.670 --> 00:05:09.519 seems unprecedented. It is. And these judges 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:12.459 are Department of Justice employees. The attorney 00:05:12.459 --> 00:05:15.360 general can fire them at will. No reason needed, 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:17.360 officially. We're hearing stories, right? Like 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:19.759 Jennifer Payton, a supervising judge. Yeah, top 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.259 performance reviews, then fired with a three 00:05:22.259 --> 00:05:25.100 -sentence email. She thinks she was on a watch 00:05:25.100 --> 00:05:28.639 list maybe for not being cooperative enough with 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:31.720 the Trump agenda, possibly after she gave Senator 00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:34.319 Dick Durbin a tour. And in another judge, Carla 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:36.860 Espinosa. Fired while she was delivering a verdict. 00:05:37.149 --> 00:05:39.230 She pointed out how many women and minorities 00:05:39.230 --> 00:05:42.009 were being let go. She thinks her dismissal was 00:05:42.009 --> 00:05:44.509 because she released a man who was later proved 00:05:44.509 --> 00:05:47.430 to have been framed. So the judge is still there. 00:05:47.649 --> 00:05:50.230 Must feel. Very threatened, according to reports. 00:05:50.410 --> 00:05:52.810 Uncertain. Which has got to affect how they approach 00:05:52.810 --> 00:05:55.149 cases, you'd think. It feels like a pattern, 00:05:55.410 --> 00:05:58.720 maybe? This focus on loyalty extending to nominations 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.699 too, like Jeanine Pirro for US Attorney for DC. 00:06:01.939 --> 00:06:03.759 Right, that's one of the most powerful prosecutor 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:05.800 jobs in the country. And her qualifications. 00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:08.079 She was a DA in Westchester County, yes, but 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:10.300 also lost or dropped out of several political 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:13.000 races. Her main qualification, it seems, being 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.319 cited is just unflinching loyalty to Trump. She 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:18.759 spread claims about the 2000 election, talked 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:21.040 about prosecuting the lawyers who prosecuted 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:24.379 Jan 6 rioters. And yet the Senate Judiciary Committee 00:06:24.379 --> 00:06:28.370 advanced her nomination. 1210 party lines. Even 00:06:28.370 --> 00:06:30.649 though she refused to fill out the standard questionnaire 00:06:30.649 --> 00:06:33.370 or appear before the committee? Correct. It really 00:06:33.370 --> 00:06:35.629 signals a shift, prioritizing that allegiance 00:06:35.629 --> 00:06:37.850 over the traditional vetting process. OK, let's 00:06:37.850 --> 00:06:40.170 zoom out a bit to the wider political landscape. 00:06:40.649 --> 00:06:42.670 How's Trump doing in the polls? Well, there's 00:06:42.670 --> 00:06:45.230 a new Gallup poll out. His approval among all 00:06:45.230 --> 00:06:47.649 adults is down to 37 percent. That's actually 00:06:47.649 --> 00:06:50.269 his lowest point since taking office again. This 00:06:50.269 --> 00:06:52.290 poll was taken right after the BBB bill passed. 00:06:52.589 --> 00:06:55.470 37 percent. And what about independence? That's 00:06:55.470 --> 00:06:58.129 often a key group. Just 29 percent approval among 00:06:58.129 --> 00:07:00.610 independents. That has to be pretty concerning 00:07:00.610 --> 00:07:02.829 for his team. How does that compare historically? 00:07:03.329 --> 00:07:06.149 Well, his second quarter in 2017 was 39 percent 00:07:06.149 --> 00:07:08.829 the worst first term Q2 since World War Two. 00:07:09.290 --> 00:07:11.829 This year's Q2 average is 40 percent, which makes 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:14.629 it the second worst. And are there specific issues 00:07:14.629 --> 00:07:17.050 where support is dropping? Yeah, Gallup shows 00:07:17.050 --> 00:07:19.269 dropped since February, March on almost everything. 00:07:19.550 --> 00:07:22.970 Foreign affairs, the Middle East, economy, trade. 00:07:23.230 --> 00:07:27.050 immigration, Ukraine, and the budget deficit 00:07:27.050 --> 00:07:30.209 down a whopping 14 points. Interesting. And even 00:07:30.209 --> 00:07:31.769 with those numbers, he's already looking ahead 00:07:31.769 --> 00:07:35.149 to 2026. Oh, deeply involved. He knows a Democratic 00:07:35.149 --> 00:07:38.149 House in 2026 probably means more impeachments. 00:07:38.470 --> 00:07:40.189 So he's trying to shape the battlefield early. 00:07:40.490 --> 00:07:43.829 Exactly. Pre -selecting candidates, endorsing 00:07:43.829 --> 00:07:46.730 early to avoid messy primaries, often picking 00:07:46.730 --> 00:07:49.670 very Trumpy candidates, even if they might have, 00:07:49.670 --> 00:07:52.779 you know, candidate quality issues for a general 00:07:52.779 --> 00:07:54.560 election. I mean, telling incumbents not to run 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:56.779 for higher office. Right. Ordering people like 00:07:56.779 --> 00:08:00.100 Zach Nunn in Iowa, Mike Lawler in New York, Bill 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:02.519 Huizenga in Michigan to stay in their House seats 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:04.220 even if they might have had a decent shot at 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:06.459 governor or Senate. And pressuring sitting senators 00:08:06.459 --> 00:08:08.759 to run again. Yeah. Folks like Joni Ernst in 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:11.360 Iowa, Susan Collins in Maine. Even though polls 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.939 show like 70 percent of Maine voters think they've 00:08:13.939 --> 00:08:16.560 had enough of Collins, he wants her to run. What 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:19.579 about Texas? That Senate primary looks tricky. 00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:21.860 That's the conundrum, isn't it? You've got the 00:08:21.860 --> 00:08:24.879 long -serving incumbent, John Cornyn, a pretty 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:28.459 standard Republican. Versus Ken Paxton, who is 00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:31.279 very Trumpy, but comes with a lot of baggage. 00:08:32.460 --> 00:08:36.080 Impeachment scandals. Major candidate quality 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:38.320 problems, potentially. But he could still win 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:41.120 a primary. Trump, interestingly, hasn't endorsed 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.580 anyone in that race yet. And North Carolina. 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:45.940 He seems to have played a big role there. Definitely. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.460 He basically pushed the incumbent Republican 00:08:48.460 --> 00:08:51.179 Tom Tillis out of running again, which seems 00:08:51.179 --> 00:08:53.799 strategically odd given how often incumbents 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:55.879 win. And then Laura Trump decided not to run. 00:08:56.100 --> 00:08:58.539 Yeah, possibly because internal polls showed 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:01.340 the likely Democrat, former governor Roy Cooper, 00:09:01.899 --> 00:09:05.360 would soundly beat her. So Trump quickly endorsed 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:07.759 Michael Watley, the former RNC chair. Right. 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:09.919 Lots party experience, but never held elected 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:12.700 office himself. And everyone expects Roy Cooper, 00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:15.679 the popular two -term former governor, to jump 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:17.740 in for the Democrats. So that's shaping up to 00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:20.820 be a huge, expensive race in a key purple state. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:24.220 OK, let's shift gears completely now to the media 00:09:24.220 --> 00:09:27.299 world, specifically national investigative reporting. 00:09:27.620 --> 00:09:30.860 Which is so incredibly important and concentrated, 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:33.019 really. It's kind of amazing when you think about 00:09:33.019 --> 00:09:35.960 it. Only four U .S. newspapers have over a million 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:40.360 subscribers. USA Today, Washington Post, Wall 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:42.820 Street Journal, New York Times. And less than 00:09:42.820 --> 00:09:45.659 8 % of American adults subscribe to any of them. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:48.639 So pretty much all the deep national investigative 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:51.840 work relies on those four. Plus the wire services 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:55.289 like... AP and Reuters. Which means if one of 00:09:55.289 --> 00:09:58.090 those big four starts to falter, it's a really 00:09:58.090 --> 00:10:00.649 big deal for, well, for how we understand what's 00:10:00.649 --> 00:10:02.570 happening in the country. And there are signs 00:10:02.570 --> 00:10:04.129 of trouble at the Washington Post, aren't there? 00:10:04.230 --> 00:10:06.590 There are. And maybe the strangest sign, the 00:10:06.590 --> 00:10:08.990 real canary in the coal mine, is the obituary 00:10:08.990 --> 00:10:11.610 desk. Right. The head obit writer, Adam Bernstein, 00:10:11.769 --> 00:10:13.710 left for the New York Times. And then basically 00:10:13.710 --> 00:10:16.110 everyone else on the desk quit except one junior 00:10:16.110 --> 00:10:18.629 person. It's highly unusual. And obit writers, 00:10:18.629 --> 00:10:21.169 they do unique work. They write these detailed 00:10:21.169 --> 00:10:24.269 life stories, often including, shall we say, 00:10:24.549 --> 00:10:27.669 unsavory details about powerful people. That 00:10:27.669 --> 00:10:30.149 can only be published after they die, so no lawsuits 00:10:30.149 --> 00:10:33.330 or complaints. Exactly. A posterbituary was like 00:10:33.330 --> 00:10:36.529 the ultimate DC status symbol. But if the whole 00:10:36.529 --> 00:10:39.490 experienced team leaves... Does it mean future 00:10:39.490 --> 00:10:43.029 obits get sanitized? Or just copy pasted press 00:10:43.029 --> 00:10:47.090 releases? We lose that critical, sometimes uncomfortable, 00:10:47.169 --> 00:10:49.750 historical record. That's the concern. It signals 00:10:49.750 --> 00:10:52.049 something deeper might be wrong at the paper. 00:10:52.149 --> 00:10:54.309 So what is going wrong? Is it about the owner, 00:10:54.549 --> 00:10:57.009 Jeff Bezos? Well, after initially being hands 00:10:57.009 --> 00:10:59.830 off, he seems to be interfering more. Famously 00:10:59.830 --> 00:11:02.289 vetoing the planned Kamala Harris endorsement. 00:11:02.389 --> 00:11:05.289 Which reportedly cost them 250 ,000 subscribers. 00:11:05.350 --> 00:11:07.570 Yeah. Part of a half million drop since 2020. 00:11:07.750 --> 00:11:09.809 That's what's reported. And then his directive 00:11:09.809 --> 00:11:11.889 that the opinion section should push personal 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:14.309 liberties and free markets, basically, be libertarian. 00:11:14.450 --> 00:11:16.190 Which probably didn't sit well with a lot of 00:11:16.190 --> 00:11:17.990 their traditional readership. Likely led to more 00:11:17.990 --> 00:11:20.070 cancellations, yeah. And we've seen a real exodus 00:11:20.070 --> 00:11:23.370 of top talent. Big name opinion columnists leaving. 00:11:23.870 --> 00:11:26.789 Dan Balls, Jonathan Capehart, Ruth Marcus, Jennifer 00:11:26.789 --> 00:11:29.759 Rubin. Others too. JVL with the bulwark summarized 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:31.820 some of the internal issues, right? Yeah, he 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:34.519 pointed to the high -profile exits, putting someone 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:37.500 seemingly unqualified in charge of opinion, the 00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:40.019 publisher William Lewis killing his own third 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:43.700 newsroom idea, and Lewis getting caught basically 00:11:43.700 --> 00:11:46.940 lying about key events like editor Sally Busby's 00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:49.720 departure. So the argument is this interference 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:52.179 from Bezos and Lewis is driving talent away. 00:11:52.409 --> 00:11:54.789 And hurting the post's ability to actually be 00:11:54.789 --> 00:11:57.429 a top newspaper, yes. They also have some odd 00:11:57.429 --> 00:12:00.129 legacy structures like two separate opinion sections. 00:12:00.330 --> 00:12:01.990 All right, a holdover from the past that doesn't 00:12:01.990 --> 00:12:04.370 make much sense now, it makes it harder to adapt, 00:12:04.590 --> 00:12:06.710 needs real strategic leadership. And some of 00:12:06.710 --> 00:12:08.330 their big innovation projects haven't worked 00:12:08.330 --> 00:12:12.129 out. ARC, that content system. Ripple, the idea 00:12:12.129 --> 00:12:14.830 of reprinting outside writers. Yeah, Ripple especially 00:12:14.830 --> 00:12:18.090 seems odd now with AI generating so much content. 00:12:18.129 --> 00:12:20.200 Why just reprint stuff? It's interesting you 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:22.120 mentioned the bulwark. They seem to be doing 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:25.299 okay. They offer a contrast. They've grown by 00:12:25.299 --> 00:12:27.379 building a community. They're writers, they're 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:29.759 podcasters, they have personalities. People feel 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:31.500 a connection. So maybe that connection's more 00:12:31.500 --> 00:12:34.200 important now than just scale or legacy. It seems 00:12:34.200 --> 00:12:36.580 to be a successful model, fostering that link 00:12:36.580 --> 00:12:38.659 between the creators and the audience, something 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:40.860 the post seems to be struggling with. Okay, one 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:44.379 last quick item before we wrap. This tentative 00:12:44.379 --> 00:12:46.669 trade deal between the US and the EU. What are 00:12:46.669 --> 00:12:49.870 the basics? OK, so it looks like a 15 % tariff 00:12:49.870 --> 00:12:53.490 on most EU exports to the US. That's down from 00:12:53.490 --> 00:12:56.750 the 30 % Trump initially proposed. Steel tariffs, 00:12:56.809 --> 00:12:59.350 though, stay high at 50%. And what does the EU 00:12:59.350 --> 00:13:02.950 give in return? They're committing to buy $750 00:13:02.950 --> 00:13:06.929 billion worth of US liquefied natural gas and 00:13:06.929 --> 00:13:10.090 invest $600 billion in the US, including buying 00:13:10.090 --> 00:13:13.509 military gear. The perception, though, is that 00:13:13.509 --> 00:13:16.769 this was kind of achieve through blackmail. That's 00:13:16.769 --> 00:13:19.330 how some see it, yeah. Trump threatens huge tariffs. 00:13:19.570 --> 00:13:22.090 The EU makes big concessions to lower them. But 00:13:22.090 --> 00:13:23.990 the EU doesn't really get anything back other 00:13:23.990 --> 00:13:25.789 than avoiding the worst case scenario. Tariffs 00:13:25.789 --> 00:13:28.149 are still going up significantly. And a 15 % 00:13:28.149 --> 00:13:30.009 tariff across the board, that could still cause 00:13:30.009 --> 00:13:32.169 problems, right? Inflation. That's the economic 00:13:32.169 --> 00:13:34.649 risk, definitely. Think about Smoot -Hawley back 00:13:34.649 --> 00:13:37.509 in the 1930s. Those tariffs raised rates from 00:13:37.509 --> 00:13:41.129 about 13 .5 % to 20%. Many economists think that 00:13:41.129 --> 00:13:44.269 made the depression worse. And this jump. from 00:13:44.269 --> 00:13:48.090 near zero for many goods, up to 15%. Proportionally, 00:13:48.169 --> 00:13:49.970 it's actually a bigger jump than Smoot -Hawley. 00:13:50.250 --> 00:13:52.490 So yes, the potential for economic disruption 00:13:52.490 --> 00:13:54.629 is definitely there. Something to watch very 00:13:54.629 --> 00:13:57.970 closely. Hashtag tag a tag outer. Wow. OK, so 00:13:57.970 --> 00:14:02.250 we've covered a lot today from the ongoing Epstein 00:14:02.250 --> 00:14:05.299 saga and these intricate political power plays. 00:14:05.580 --> 00:14:07.440 To the judicial appointments, the poll numbers, 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:10.059 the deep involvement in future elections. Right 00:14:10.059 --> 00:14:12.419 through to the struggles at a major newspaper 00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:14.639 like the Washington Post and these big shifts 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:17.000 in global trade. It really is all connected, 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:20.240 isn't it? It forms this incredibly complex, constantly 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.379 moving picture of information, influence and 00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:25.539 power. Absolutely. It really makes you think. 00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:27.539 And maybe that's the final thought for you, the 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:29.840 listener, to take away. In a world where information 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:32.519 can be spun, suppressed or strategically leaked 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:34.649 like never before, And where the traditional 00:14:34.649 --> 00:14:36.570 sources of news are facing their own immense 00:14:36.570 --> 00:14:39.289 pressures, where do you turn? What sources will 00:14:39.289 --> 00:14:41.990 you trust to get that truly deep dive to understand 00:14:41.990 --> 00:14:43.789 the real forces shaping your world?