WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.060 Welcome to the deep dive. We are jumping straight 00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:06.299 in today because we have a stack of sources that 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:09.400 are well, they're incredibly dense. They really 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:11.919 are. We've got material covering everything from, 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.240 you know, stunning legal reversals to some really 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:17.859 high stakes political messaging. And global security 00:00:17.859 --> 00:00:21.679 discussions where the United States is conspicuously 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:24.109 left out of the room. on purpose. Right. And 00:00:24.109 --> 00:00:26.350 this all happened just as many of you were probably 00:00:26.350 --> 00:00:28.589 trying to pause for the holiday. It's a classic 00:00:28.589 --> 00:00:30.969 deep dive scenario, isn't it? You have this critical 00:00:30.969 --> 00:00:33.909 information that just gets buried under all the 00:00:33.909 --> 00:00:36.929 noise and frankly, the bad timing. So what's 00:00:36.929 --> 00:00:39.409 our mission today? I think we have to cut through 00:00:39.409 --> 00:00:41.770 that static. We're going to give you the strategic 00:00:41.770 --> 00:00:44.450 high points, the most significant implications 00:00:44.450 --> 00:00:47.030 of all this legal and political chaos. And connect 00:00:47.030 --> 00:00:49.810 how these sort of domestic fights are directly 00:00:49.810 --> 00:00:52.549 impacting our global standing. So let's jump 00:00:52.549 --> 00:00:54.350 right in with the news that broke in Washington, 00:00:54.409 --> 00:00:57.429 D .C., the shooting incident. It was a horrific 00:00:57.429 --> 00:00:59.509 incident. Two National Guard members were shot 00:00:59.509 --> 00:01:01.729 just a few blocks from the White House. Both 00:01:01.729 --> 00:01:04.530 are in critical condition. And these Guard members 00:01:04.530 --> 00:01:06.629 were deployed as part of those high visibility 00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:08.650 patrols in the area, right? That's right. And 00:01:08.650 --> 00:01:11.010 initially, the facts seemed pretty straightforward. 00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:14.890 Mayor Muriel Bowser called the attack targeted. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:17.879 OK, but targeted how? I mean, our sources note 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:20.140 it's not clear if that means targeted at the 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:23.140 National Guard in general, or if these two specific 00:01:23.140 --> 00:01:25.760 individuals were selected for some reason. Exactly. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.120 And the shooter was identified as a 29 -year 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:32.359 -old immigrant from Afghanistan who, at the time, 00:01:32.540 --> 00:01:35.060 was being uncooperative with the police. And 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:37.939 that, of course, immediately spurred a very aggressive 00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:40.239 political reaction. Oh, almost instantly. Donald 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.299 Trump released a six -point statement that basically 00:01:43.299 --> 00:01:46.590 framed this entire incident as an existential 00:01:46.590 --> 00:01:49.269 crisis for national security. His response was 00:01:49.269 --> 00:01:51.689 clearly designed for maximum political impact. 00:01:52.030 --> 00:01:54.170 He called the shooter an animal, the incident 00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:57.950 an act of terror. He used it to claim, this proves, 00:01:58.049 --> 00:02:00.310 and this is a quote, the single greatest national 00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:02.769 security threat the country is facing. And crucially, 00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:05.390 he blamed the Biden administration, alleging 00:02:05.390 --> 00:02:08.409 they let in 20 million unvetted foreign nationals. 00:02:08.569 --> 00:02:11.250 Which led to his announcement that he would halt 00:02:11.250 --> 00:02:14.430 all immigration from Afghanistan and, you know, 00:02:14.669 --> 00:02:17.069 seek to deport Afghans already here. So that 00:02:17.069 --> 00:02:19.430 was the political narrative at midnight. A very 00:02:19.430 --> 00:02:22.689 clear, very aggressive story. It was. But here 00:02:22.689 --> 00:02:25.669 is where subsequent reporting, the actual context, 00:02:25.810 --> 00:02:28.629 just completely upends that entire message. OK, 00:02:28.629 --> 00:02:32.030 so let's unpack this political grenade. The suspect's 00:02:32.030 --> 00:02:35.610 name is Rahmanullah Lakinwal. He arrived under 00:02:35.610 --> 00:02:38.229 Operation Allies. Welcome back in 2021. Right. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.099 But here's the key detail. The Conowall applied 00:02:41.099 --> 00:02:44.340 for asylum. And that application, it was approved 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:46.800 by the Trump administration in April of 2025. 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:50.400 Wow. Yeah. It's a stunning political self -destruct 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:52.800 moment. Because the entire premise of his attack, 00:02:53.219 --> 00:02:55.780 that this was a failure of the current administration's 00:02:55.780 --> 00:02:58.419 vetting, it just completely collapses. It completely 00:02:58.419 --> 00:03:00.699 collapses. The irony is just, it's palatable. 00:03:00.979 --> 00:03:03.039 The very administration leveling the criticism 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:05.199 is the one that gave the approval. So that makes 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:07.379 exploiting the story politically almost impossible 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:09.620 for him, right? I mean, is there any way for 00:03:09.620 --> 00:03:12.080 him to pivot? Could he argue the delay in vetting 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.259 was the problem, or blame it on people he left 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:17.280 behind? He could try, but it's so much harder 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:20.560 to deliver that clean, decisive message. The 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:22.580 sources we're looking at suggest the story is 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:24.979 already fading fast, and it's precisely because 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:27.819 the narrative got so messy. And there's another 00:03:27.819 --> 00:03:30.360 problem for him, too. The victims were National 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:33.060 Guard troops deployed as part of his D .C. occupation. 00:03:33.569 --> 00:03:36.590 That's an uncomfortable connection. It is. For 00:03:36.590 --> 00:03:38.750 the political narrative to stick, you need simple 00:03:38.750 --> 00:03:41.110 villains. And when your own administration is 00:03:41.110 --> 00:03:43.949 tied to the approval, well, the villain becomes 00:03:43.949 --> 00:03:47.409 a lot more complex. A truly fast and sharp reversal. 00:03:48.169 --> 00:03:50.270 And speaking of stunning reversals, let's pivot 00:03:50.270 --> 00:03:52.550 to the legal landscape, which delivered maybe 00:03:52.550 --> 00:03:55.469 the biggest shock of the holiday. The complete 00:03:55.469 --> 00:03:57.669 collapse of the Georgia election interference 00:03:57.669 --> 00:04:01.229 case. This was the big one, the sprawling RITO 00:04:01.229 --> 00:04:03.669 case. That's the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt 00:04:03.669 --> 00:04:05.870 Organizations Act for anyone who needs a reminder, 00:04:06.229 --> 00:04:08.370 usually used for, like, the mafia. Right, for 00:04:08.370 --> 00:04:10.590 organized criminal enterprises. And this case 00:04:10.590 --> 00:04:13.629 involved Trump and 18 co -conspirators. It all 00:04:13.629 --> 00:04:15.889 started to derail, you might remember, when DA 00:04:15.889 --> 00:04:17.769 Fannie Willis and her boyfriend were removed 00:04:17.769 --> 00:04:20.230 from the case. So that brought in Peter Scandalakis 00:04:20.230 --> 00:04:23.949 to either take it over or wind it down. He chose 00:04:23.949 --> 00:04:26.740 to wind it down, recommending dismissal. And 00:04:26.740 --> 00:04:29.339 Judge Scott McAfee accepted. This is where the 00:04:29.339 --> 00:04:32.480 legal analysis gets highly contested, to put 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:35.699 it mildly. Skinalakis's justification for dropping 00:04:35.699 --> 00:04:38.360 the case really stretched the concept of benefit 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:40.879 of the doubt to its absolute limit. He suggested 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:43.439 that Trump's call to Brad Raffensperger, the 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:47.519 one asking him to find 11 ,780 votes, could be 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:51.180 seen as a as a polite inquiry. A polite inquiry. 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:53.540 It's an astonishing phrase. It really is. A polite 00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:55.399 inquiry is what you do when you ask a waiter 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:57.660 about the specials for the night. It is not what 00:04:57.660 --> 00:04:59.680 a sitting president does when he's asking a state 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:01.800 official to overturn an election result by a 00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:04.220 specific number. And it also just completely 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:06.279 ignores Raffensperger's own account of the call 00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:09.040 from 2021. It does. Raffensperger wrote, the 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:10.620 president was asking me to do something that 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:13.100 I knew was wrong. I mean, it's... Very clear. 00:05:13.379 --> 00:05:15.420 So is that level of benefit of the doubt normal 00:05:15.420 --> 00:05:18.120 in a huge right to your case? Or is this, you 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:20.279 know, unique because the defendant used to be 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:23.120 president? The documents suggest this interpretation 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.819 was motivated less by legal precedent and more 00:05:25.819 --> 00:05:29.379 by. Let's call it political necessity, specifically 00:05:29.379 --> 00:05:32.459 avoiding years of constitutional battles. Ah, 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:36.019 the immunity question. Exactly. Scandalakis pointed 00:05:36.019 --> 00:05:39.019 to the Supreme Court's decision on absolute presidential 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:41.939 immunity. He basically argued that if he went 00:05:41.939 --> 00:05:44.439 forward, the appeals would drag this thing into 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:48.439 2029, 2030, maybe even 2031. And his argument 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:50.620 was that such a massive delay wouldn't serve 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:52.980 the citizens of Georgia. Right. So in essence, 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:55.939 the defense strategy of delay, delay, delay worked. 00:05:56.420 --> 00:05:59.319 The delay itself became the mechanism for acquittal. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:01.939 Justice delayed is justice denied. But the sources 00:06:01.939 --> 00:06:04.040 also point out that Scandalock has had another 00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:06.490 option, didn't he? A very clear alternative. 00:06:06.930 --> 00:06:09.029 He could have removed Trump as the central defendant. 00:06:09.269 --> 00:06:11.250 He's the one who triggers all the immunity issues 00:06:11.250 --> 00:06:13.550 and just proceeded with prosecuting the other 00:06:13.550 --> 00:06:16.490 18 co -conspirators. But he chose not to prosecute 00:06:16.490 --> 00:06:18.910 anyone. He chose not to. And meanwhile, what's 00:06:18.910 --> 00:06:21.449 Trump's immediate reaction? He monetized it. 00:06:21.649 --> 00:06:24.129 He immediately started selling more merchandise 00:06:24.129 --> 00:06:27.350 with his Fulton County mugshot, turning the legal 00:06:27.350 --> 00:06:30.149 chaos he'd just escaped into a financial asset. 00:06:30.610 --> 00:06:33.250 It's the strategy, isn't it? Every legal problem 00:06:33.250 --> 00:06:35.670 becomes a political or financial opportunity. 00:06:36.750 --> 00:06:39.069 But what about the other state cases? Well, the 00:06:39.069 --> 00:06:41.290 overall picture is messy. There was a setback 00:06:41.290 --> 00:06:44.350 in Michigan. The case against the fake electors 00:06:44.350 --> 00:06:47.149 there got tossed out. The judge ruled they were 00:06:47.149 --> 00:06:49.269 basically stooges who didn't know their actions 00:06:49.269 --> 00:06:51.689 were illegal. But Nevada is still on. The Nevada 00:06:51.689 --> 00:06:54.470 case is proceeding. Yep. The state Supreme Court 00:06:54.470 --> 00:06:56.980 settled a jurisdictional fight. So that case 00:06:56.980 --> 00:06:59.560 can move forward in Las Vegas. And Arizona's 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.220 stalled. That case has 18 defendants, Giuliani, 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:05.759 Meadows. It's stalled because the AG is appealing 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:08.040 a judge's ruling to send it back to the grand 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:11.120 jury. The judge felt the initial indictment didn't 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:13.139 explain the electoral count act well enough. 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:15.680 So even there, you see these technical delays 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:18.040 just compounding. It really does seem like the 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:20.060 momentum in these cases has slowed way down. 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:22.779 That's a good way to put it. OK. Shifting gears 00:07:22.779 --> 00:07:25.129 to straight up political messaging. Yeah. which 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:27.750 is all about optics. We saw a couple of massive 00:07:27.750 --> 00:07:30.709 unforced errors this week, own goals. The first 00:07:30.709 --> 00:07:33.050 one was about the Affordable Care Act subsidies. 00:07:33.470 --> 00:07:35.730 Yes. When Trump was asked if he would extend 00:07:35.730 --> 00:07:38.029 the current Obamacare subsidies, the ones that 00:07:38.029 --> 00:07:40.389 keep insurance costs down for millions of people, 00:07:40.449 --> 00:07:43.350 he said very clearly, I'd rather not. That is 00:07:43.350 --> 00:07:45.750 just a staggering quote. It's like he handed 00:07:45.750 --> 00:07:48.149 the opposition their entire midterm election 00:07:48.149 --> 00:07:51.180 script for free. It's a huge political gift. 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:53.519 If those subsidies lapse, millions of Americans 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.060 will see their insurance premiums spike maybe 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:58.459 overnight. And the Democrats will just run endless 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:01.300 ads with that five word quote, I'd rather not 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:03.839 and blame him directly for rising health care 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:05.819 costs. And it won't even matter if a compromise 00:08:05.819 --> 00:08:08.680 bill passes or if costs rise for other reasons. 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:11.379 That quote provides the perfect sound bite to 00:08:11.379 --> 00:08:13.420 connect him directly to that pain point. It's 00:08:13.420 --> 00:08:15.399 an indefensible position. And then we have the 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:18.379 vice president, J .D. Vance, with an own goal 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:21.920 that While maybe lower stakes, it just shows 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:24.439 a consistent problem with his messaging. Oh, 00:08:24.540 --> 00:08:27.220 the turkey rant. This is at Fort Campbell, home 00:08:27.220 --> 00:08:29.600 of the 101st Airborne, the day before Thanksgiving. 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:33.320 What? He went completely off script. He asked 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:35.360 the crowd who liked turkey, and then he called 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.480 the people who raised their hands full of shuck. 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:41.539 He did what? Yep. He then argued that nobody 00:08:41.539 --> 00:08:44.240 just randomly roasts an 18 -pound turkey because, 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:46.960 quote, it doesn't actually taste that good. I 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.190 mean... What a baffling communication strategy. 00:08:50.570 --> 00:08:52.029 You're trying to connect with military families 00:08:52.029 --> 00:08:54.509 right before Thanksgiving and you decide to attack 00:08:54.509 --> 00:08:57.820 Turkey. It really highlights how much he struggles 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:00.639 to achieve that genuine regular guy vibe. The 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:02.940 harder he tries to be this edgy populist, the 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:06.159 more removed he sounds from actual people. It's 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:08.259 a perfect bridge to talking about how these failures 00:09:08.259 --> 00:09:10.720 play out in actual elections. We have a very 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.179 competitive special election in Tennessee's seventh 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:16.659 district. Right. TNO7, this is a deep red district, 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:19.120 R plus 10. So it's a great little micro test 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:21.399 of the national mood. And Democrats are feeling 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:23.100 pretty good because they've been overperforming 00:09:23.100 --> 00:09:25.570 in special elections all year. by an average 00:09:25.570 --> 00:09:29.190 of D plus 16. And the latest poll shows that 00:09:29.190 --> 00:09:31.590 optimism might be warranted. The Republican, 00:09:31.789 --> 00:09:35.070 Matt Van Epps, is at 48 % and the Democrat, Afton 00:09:35.070 --> 00:09:38.470 Ben, is right behind him at 46%. And an R plus 00:09:38.470 --> 00:09:42.100 10 district, that's basically a tie. A huge overperformance. 00:09:42.460 --> 00:09:44.960 But Ben, the Democrat, has a major liability 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:47.779 of her own. Some old podcast comments surface 00:09:47.779 --> 00:09:50.179 where she said she hates country music. In Tennessee. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:52.820 In Tennessee. And she also hates, quote, the 00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:55.659 bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, all 00:09:55.659 --> 00:09:58.080 the things that make Nashville apparently an 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:00.799 IT city. Saying you hate country music in Tennessee 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:03.080 is about as close to political suicide as you 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:05.360 can get. Those clips are going to be everywhere. 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:08.379 They will. But even if she loses, how close this 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:10.659 race is tells you a lot about the national - 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.899 atmosphere right now. And the DCCC, the Democratic 00:10:12.899 --> 00:10:15.019 campaign arm, they see this opening. They've 00:10:15.019 --> 00:10:17.639 launched a new $10 million campaign called Our 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:20.179 Power, Our Country. And it's explicitly focused 00:10:20.179 --> 00:10:23.080 on winning back voters of color and rural voters 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:26.100 who they lost ground with in 2024. The strategy 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:28.820 is really specific. It's populist economics, 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:32.580 anti -monopoly, pro -union, and attacking Republicans 00:10:32.580 --> 00:10:35.240 on local issues like rural hospital closures. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:37.120 Right. The whole idea is that the party just 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:39.200 has to show up in these regions again instead 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:41.419 of writing them off. It's sort of a historical 00:10:41.419 --> 00:10:43.820 correction. If you look at the 1964 presidential 00:10:43.820 --> 00:10:47.100 map, rural America was overwhelmingly Democratic. 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:49.740 Exactly. These areas weren't inherently Republican. 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:52.279 They can be won back if the message resonates. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:54.580 And the party is also seeing some positive signs 00:10:54.580 --> 00:10:58.039 with Latino voters. A new Pew poll shows 70 percent 00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:00.779 of Latinos nationally disapprove of Trump, which 00:11:00.779 --> 00:11:03.259 is high. But this is the really critical finding. 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:06.509 Fifty five percent. of Republican or lean Republican 00:11:06.509 --> 00:11:08.929 Latinos now believe Trump's policies have been 00:11:08.929 --> 00:11:13.690 harmful to Latinos. Only 25 % said helpful. Wow. 00:11:14.009 --> 00:11:16.129 So even among his own potential supporters in 00:11:16.129 --> 00:11:18.919 that group, there's disillusionment. deep disillusionment, 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:21.600 and that could seriously undermine future GOP 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:23.700 coalition building efforts. All this focus on 00:11:23.700 --> 00:11:26.019 coalitions brings us to a really interesting 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:28.919 internal DNC discussion about using Ranked Choice 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:32.980 Voting, or RCV, for the 2028 primaries. The argument 00:11:32.980 --> 00:11:35.500 for it is that RCV helps you pick a stronger 00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:38.279 general election candidate. Voters rank their 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:42.019 choices. One, two, three. If no one gets 50%, 00:11:42.019 --> 00:11:44.840 the last place candidate is eliminated and their 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:47.159 votes go to the voter's second choice. And the 00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:50.120 goal is to make life harder for extremist candidates. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:53.350 How does RCV do that? because it forces candidates 00:11:53.350 --> 00:11:56.590 to build consensus. A candidate who only appeals 00:11:56.590 --> 00:11:59.309 to a passionate 30 % of the base might win a 00:11:59.309 --> 00:12:02.649 normal primary. But under RCV, if they're everyone 00:12:02.649 --> 00:12:04.889 else's last choice, they can't win. So you have 00:12:04.889 --> 00:12:07.269 to be broadly acceptable to get those second 00:12:07.269 --> 00:12:10.009 and third place votes. Exactly. It weeds out 00:12:10.009 --> 00:12:12.149 the candidates who can't win in November. But 00:12:12.149 --> 00:12:14.309 implementation is a huge hurdle. It's a nightmare. 00:12:14.850 --> 00:12:16.529 Primaries are run by the states, so you need 00:12:16.529 --> 00:12:19.769 to change state laws. And RCV has a mixed reception. 00:12:20.259 --> 00:12:22.759 Some Democrats worry it's too confusing for voters. 00:12:22.899 --> 00:12:25.460 It failed in four states just last year. So the 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:27.860 movement has to start small just in the 15 states 00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:29.440 where Democrats control everything. That's the 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.240 only place it can start. Yeah. Finally, we have 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:33.820 to talk about the shift in global security. This 00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:36.019 is maybe the most consequential long term story 00:12:36.019 --> 00:12:38.799 in the stack. Our allies are openly planning 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.940 for a future where the U .S. isn't a reliable 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:44.500 partner. They're calling it NATO v3 .0. Yeah, 00:12:44.700 --> 00:12:46.860 this discussion really came to a head at the 00:12:46.860 --> 00:12:49.259 Halifax International Security Forum. You have 00:12:49.259 --> 00:12:52.039 leaders from Canada, Europe, Asia, all discussing 00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:56.000 security arrangements that view the US as a potential 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.620 rogue nation. And the topics on the table are 00:12:58.620 --> 00:13:01.980 just. They're unprecedented. Germany exploring... 00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:04.200 building its own nuclear weapons. Closer military 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:06.399 integration, manufacturing weapons within the 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:08.639 allied bloc instead of relying on US suppliers. 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:11.519 It's a direct response to a loss of what we call 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:14.320 soft power. Explain that. Soft power is your 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:16.539 ability to influence others through cultural 00:13:16.539 --> 00:13:19.019 and political appeal, not just military force. 00:13:19.500 --> 00:13:22.159 When the US voluntarily gives up its role as 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:25.419 the stable anchor of global democracy, our allies 00:13:25.419 --> 00:13:27.659 have to make these radical changes to compensate. 00:13:27.960 --> 00:13:30.980 Germany building nukes would be a massive repudiation 00:13:30.980 --> 00:13:34.539 of the entire post -World War II order. A massive 00:13:34.539 --> 00:13:37.679 repudiation. And the economic side is just as 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.039 dramatic. They're also talking about forming 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:42.659 a massive free trade zone that would explicitly 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:45.519 exclude the United States. So if Canada, the 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.679 UK, Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia 00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:52.080 all form a single trade and security block without 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:55.899 us. That completely changes the global economic 00:13:55.899 --> 00:13:58.539 structure. It fundamentally alters it. It diminishes 00:13:58.539 --> 00:14:01.139 the dollar's influence. I mean, this is a historical 00:14:01.139 --> 00:14:04.100 anomaly. The world's most powerful country actively 00:14:04.100 --> 00:14:07.139 driving away its most loyal allies. It's a really 00:14:07.139 --> 00:14:08.879 striking contrast when you look at how other 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:11.139 democracies handle these things. Like in Brazil, 00:14:11.700 --> 00:14:13.679 former president Jair Bolsonaro was convicted 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.240 and sentenced to 27 years for blotting a coup. 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:18.120 Right. And he's barred from running for office 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:21.580 until 2030. Now, he gets VIP treatment in prison. 00:14:21.779 --> 00:14:23.779 But the point is, the rule of law responded. 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:27.039 There was accountability, and it was swift. It's 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.100 hard to ignore the contrast with the systemic 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:31.379 delays we're seeing in all the US cases. Very 00:14:31.379 --> 00:14:33.679 hard to ignore. And just quickly, on digital 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:36.200 integrity, ex -Twitter now lets you see an account's 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:38.840 true location. And it's exposing a lot of fake 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:41.340 political accounts. Yeah, like an Ivanka Trump 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:44.940 account being run out of Nigeria, or... Patriot 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:47.360 accounts being traced to Pakistan or Thailand. 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:51.039 It's a start but the challenge is VPNs, right? 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:54.360 Yeah virtual private networks that can mask your 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:57.259 location It's a huge challenge. The sources suggest 00:14:57.259 --> 00:14:59.279 a possible countermeasure would be for platforms 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:01.879 to just block connections from the 10 ,000 or 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:05.679 so known global VPN servers and prioritize content 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.360 from a reader's actual country. Okay, so we've 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:10.779 covered the whiplash reversal on the DC shooting, 00:15:11.299 --> 00:15:13.580 the decay of legal accountability in the Georgia 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:16.700 RIKEO case, and this intense targeted battle 00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:19.240 for voters across the country. I think the major 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:21.820 takeaway is the sheer scale and speed of these 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:24.080 adjustments happening globally. While our legal 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:26.039 system is struggling with the complexities of 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:27.879 presidential immunity, our allies are deciding 00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:29.879 they just can't wait for the U .S. to stabilize. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.419 They're actively building a new world order without 00:15:32.419 --> 00:15:34.720 Washington at the center. So with that in mind, 00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:36.399 and given this intense global discussion about 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:39.480 NATO v3 .0 and a massive economic bloc that intentionally 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:41.779 excludes the United States, we want to leave 00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:44.580 you with this. What would be the real non -military 00:15:44.580 --> 00:15:46.820 cost to the U .S. economy and its influence if 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:49.440 a unified bloc of our closest allies, Canada, 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:52.440 Europe, the UK, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:54.899 actively shifted their economic and political 00:15:54.899 --> 00:15:56.220 power away from Washington.