November 22, 2024 • 22 mins
Robach and Holmes cover the latest news headlines and entertainment updates and give perspective on current events in their daily “Morning Run.”
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Morning Run with Amy and TJ an iHeartRadio podcast. Good
Friday morning, everyone, and welcome to Morning Run. Yes it
is Friday, November twenty second.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm Amy Robox and I'm TJ. Holmes and on the
run this morning. All of our phones were going off.
Yesterday a flurry set off by a couple of stunning,
back to back breaking news stories.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
First, Matt Gates abruptly withdrew his name from consideration to
be Trump's attorney General. Trump had another ag nominee within
hours of that announcement.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
And then the other shocker nobody seemed to see coming.
Jesse Smolette's conviction for planning a racist, homophobic attack on
himself was.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Overturned, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahoo is now a
wonted man after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Also, first it was Deli meat, then it was onions,
Then it was the carrots. Now it's the ground beef,
the latest food to be recalled for E. Coli and
that potentially tainted meat koltz fiel Be in restaurant freezers.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Shame, shame, shame. One airline is hoping to embarrass you
into sticking to your own boarding group.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Also this morning, he spent six million dollars for a
banana duct tape to a wall. He says, now he's
gonna eat it. We have an update on what is
the funniest and most frustrating story of the day on
this Friday.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I know you can't wait to dig back into that one, TJ.
All right, But first up on our run we head
to DC, where Matt Gates is out Pam Bondy is in.
A head spinning turn of events yesterday set off when
Trump's pick for Attorney General, Gates abruptly quit, pulling his
name out of consideration.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Then in just a matter of ours, Trump announced that
Pam Bondy, the former Florida Attorney General, is his new pick.
Bondy is considered a so called Trump loyalist and has
worked as a lawyer for him for years after serving
as a prosecutor, and the Florida.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Aging Republicans are said to be breathing a sigh of
relief with this new pick, and don't at this point
think she will face the same type of enormous challenges
that Gates would have faced. Still, Gates's decision to withdraw
his name from consideration came as a surprise. First, he
was all smiles in his meetings with senators just yesterday
on Capitol Hill. And then second, Trump had publicly stood
(02:17):
by him despite all of the fervor over Gates's alleged
sexual misconduct.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Then he made the announcement himself yesterday on X that
he was stepping away, and I quote, I had excellent
meetings with senators yesterday, Gates says. I appreciate their thoughtful
feedback and the incredible support of so many. While the
momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was
unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the
Trump Vans transition. There is no time to waste on
(02:44):
a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle. Thus I'll be withdrawing my
name from consideration to serve as Attorney General.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Up until the announcement, Trump had personally been calling lawmakers
to try and secure support for gates confirmation. So then
what happened to make Gates suddenly withdraw now?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Well?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
According to CNN, they called Gates team for comment on
new reporting they had that a seventeen year old testified
she had sex with Gates on two separate occasions, and
less than an hour later, Gates withdrew his name.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, that was a detail that had not been out
there publicly just yet. The president elect said in a
statement that he appreciated Gates' recent efforts to seek Senate approval,
and that withdrawing was gates choice, not Trump's choice. Trump
wrote that Matt has a wonderful future and I look
forward to watching all of the great things he'll do.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
The House Ethics Committee decided this week not to release
its findings from its three year investigation into those alleged
sexual misconduct allegations, among other things. However, many senators believe
the details from that report would eventually have become a
public during confirmation hearings. And the question is will it
become public at all anymore? Because now, yes, one of
(03:55):
the questions was jurisdiction, because he's a former congressman, So
what jurisdiction did they have over him? Now is a
former Attorney general nominee, So is there any reason to
release the report?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
There seems to be a trickle trickle trickle. Well, I mean,
it's Washington and all eyes and everybody's hunting this thing down.
You assumed those details were going to come out. Maybe
some of them are starting to like we just saw here,
but it was pretty incredible just boom and to hear
CNN explain the story. The reporter they called said we're
going with this in an hour, and they didn't call
(04:27):
back and say, okay, we're going to give you a comment.
He just withdrew. So something happened to where they knew
this was an uphill fight and probably didn't have the votes.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, and not having the votes is probably a huge
part of it, I think most even though in a
Republican controlled Senate, it was pretty clear that he was
not going to get to that fifty mark. And then
the question is what happens to his House seat that
he just re won and just vacated a lot of questions.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
After all this, he could still end up being one
of their colleagues on Capitol Hill because he did resign
from Congress. However, he won his seat, so that means
the seat he resigned from is actually his again in
January because he was re elected to Congress. So legally speaking,
they say he can go right back to serving in Congress.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
He can go right back, but if he becomes a
House member again, then that report is sure to be released,
so he just probably has to decide if he has
the stomach for it or not.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Some this is probably not the last time we were
going to be covering something related to Matt Gates, is
what we're trying to say. But let's move on to
the other big story yesterday that had all the breaking
news alerts going. This was former Empire actor Jesse Smolette.
He is no longer a convicted felon.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
The Illinois Supreme Court threw out his twenty twenty one
conviction for lying about an alleged hate crime. Two years earlier.
Smollette was found guilty for faking a racist and homophobic
attack he actually did it to himself, and then lying
to police about how it happened.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Initially the charges were first brought against him, the state's
attorney agreed to dismiss the charges if Smollette paid a
ten thousand dollars fine and did community service. That was
the deal. Okay, this was supposed to be over. But
then the details of that deal were made public and
there was a huge public outcry because so many folks
(06:14):
said Smollette was getting a sweet celebrity deal.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
So that's when a special prosecutor was enlisted to reinstate
those charges, and Smollette was ultimately convicted of felony disorderly
conduct for falsely reported the non existing crime. Smolett's attorneys
have maintained that the conviction was a violation of his
Fifth Amendment rights, and the state Supreme Court agreed. The
court said it is fundamentally unfair to allow the prosecution
(06:41):
to renig on a deal with the defendant when the
defendant has relied on the agreement to his detriment.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Now, the court acknowledged that a lot of folks were
upset with the original resolution and believed it to be unjust,
but said it would be even more unjust if the
state was not bound to honor its agreements. Smollette was
sentenced to five months in jail. He served six days
before he was released on appeal, and his legal team
thanked the Supreme Court there and said they restored order.
(07:08):
We have to make clear the conviction was thrown out.
They made no determination about his guilt or innocence. This is,
I guess, kind of a technicality, but essentially saying you
can't make a deal with a guy and then go
back on it. He never should have been tried that
second time.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Correct, And I think the problem is a lot of
folks believe he never should have been given that sweetheart deal,
but he was given it and he did accept it.
And so to the Supreme Court's point, what type of
system do you have in place if a prosecutor or
if basically the state of Illinois says that they will
do something and then they when they hear that people
(07:45):
are upset about it, they take it away. That doesn't
seem to be fundamentally legal or fair.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And he's still at this point. He has always said
he is not guilty of any of this, but no
determination has been made here about his guilt or innocence.
And the state that the folks that prosecute him, made
that point that this has nothing to do with any
anything we did wrong or any suggestion of misconduct on
our part. This is a technicality, and it's hard to
(08:13):
argue with it.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
No, it is hard to argue with it. I wonder, though,
what this will do to his already diminished career. I
don't it doesn't seem like it's not as if he's
been exonerated. Yes, so I guess that's the point. He
has not been exonerated. He's just now no longer a
convicted felon.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Just kind of a big deal.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
It's definitely a big deal. He and Trump might be
able to know why why it's Friday. Can just exchange
stories and kind of commiserate. That's all all right. Next
up on the run, we have yet another recall involving
possible E. Coli contamination. So far, fifteen people in the
state of Minnesota have been sickened. I get this, the
(08:49):
exact same strain of E. Coli that was found in
the onions in McDonald's quarter pounders just a few weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
What the hell is going on? We talked about one
hundred and seventy thousand pounds of fresh and frozen ground
beef products that have been recalled. Now, the products were
shipped to restaurants around the country. There's some concern that
some of this ground beef is still in the refrigerators
and freezers of restaurants all over the place.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
It was the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture and Health that
first noticed a link between the reported illnesses and ground
beef from a distributor out of Detroit. So they tested
a ground beef sample from Wolverine Packing Company and found
that yep, it contained the same strain of bacteria linked
to the McDonald's outbreak.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
USDA has the list of affected products and labels. They
warned that the strain is potentially deadly, especially to children
under five and older adults. If you're experiencing any symptoms,
you do need to seek medical attention as soon as
you can. I just every week, certainly, but for months
and now it seems like we've been dealing with a
recoll like serious and deadly outbreaks.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It's concerning because as the consumer, there's nothing really you
can do to prevent it. You just have to be
aware of what the symptoms are, which is fever's, stomach cramping, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea,
all of those things that are associated with some sort
of E. Coli contamination. But that's tough because the onus
is on you then to make sure you seek medical
attention because it can be serious.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
All right, Well, well stay with us on this Friday
when we come back and continue our run. The Israeli
Prime Minister on our wanted poster and one airline is
going to embarbrash you into sticking with your boarding group.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Welcome back everyone on our morning run. Next up, Benjamin
Netanyahu is a wanted man. The International Criminal Court issued
an arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister, accusing him
of crimes against humanity.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
That warrants were also issued for the former Israeli Defense
Minister as well as the Hamas military chief, all for
the same crimes. They're all accused of human rights abuses
and war crimes tied to the year long conflict in Gaza,
which has killed and estimated forty four thousand people.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
The court said the warrants for Netanyahu and the others
was for quote, crimes against humanity and war crimes, including
the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare,
and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other
inhumane acts. They also suggested that the men are criminally
responsible for intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Well. Israel responded and responded strongly to all this, saying
they reject the arrest warrant quote with disgust and called
the charges anti Semitic and absurd. So what does this
mean now? So does this mean that BB is going
to be hunted down and taken away in handcuffs. Not
exactly right.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So, first, the International Criminal Court does not have a
police or military force to go chase down bib or
any other suspects. Number two, the United States and Israel
are not members of the International Criminal Court sochechnically, they
don't even have jurisdiction over Israel. And there is a
line of thought, however, that if NETANYAHUO travels to another
(12:09):
country that is a part of the International Criminal Court,
that then he could theoretically be taken into.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Custody theoretically, And the court argues that legally, if he
travels to another country that is a member of the
International Criminal Court, that country would be in violation of
their obligations, legal obligations if they do not arrest and
take him into custody. Now we have seen I think
Putin has traveled to places. They also have accused him
(12:38):
of war crimes or clearly arrested war for him. But
he has traveled to some places, and the Court says,
if he travels to your country and you're a member
of the International Criminal Court, you need to arrest him.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, but what happens if you don't or you're afraid
to which that would be totally understandable.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Then whether they're gonna do fine. It seems like this
there's not a lot of weight behind it, but symbolically
it's a big deal, and that it's set off a
really big back and forth and fight about why make
this move and what member countries are supposed to do
with it now, But it's interesting, there's a rest ward
for Israeli prime.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
It's interesting. But the problem is, to the point you
just made, what is the intention of having a law
or a rule if it cannot or will not be
enforced symbolic Perhaps what all that does is just piss
people off.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
And that's where we are right now.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Okay, well, happy Friday everyone. Next up on the run,
let's lighten things up. We have a banana update for you.
This one made me smile for days now. So we
told you yesterday about the piece of art called Comedian,
which is a banana duct tape to a wall that
sold it southerebe's for more than six million dollars. Well
(13:46):
we now know who purchased it.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It's a cryptocurrency billionaire. Justin Sun is the name. He paid.
Yes for the banana and the duct tape, but he
was actually paying for the certificate of authenticity to tape
his very own own banana to the wall and call
it comedian. You get with us all we're saying here.
It's not an original, it's an original thought.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You're buying a concept.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yes, yes, that's the right about it. You bought an idea,
So there you go. He was in a battle with
six others who wanted this thing. He claimed it with
the highest bid, and he used cryptocurrency to buy it.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
All right, here's what he had to say about his
win quote, I believe this piece will inspire more thought
and discussion in the future and will become a part
of history. I am honored to be the proud owner
of this iconic work and look forward to its sparking
further inspiration and impact for art enthusiasts around the world.
And here's my favorite part of his statement. He let
(14:43):
everyone know. Yeah, he's going to eat the banana. He says,
in the coming days, I will personally eat the banana
as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place
in both art history and popular culture.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Please keep going. I don't even know. I'm so frustrated.
I don't want to read this thing.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
And here I just this is, you know, my two cents.
He can actually continue to eat the bananas on his
wall as they ripen, because it's not going to change
the value of his investment. As we were describing it
being really more of a concept or an idea than
an actual physical item because banana's rot. So the banana
on display in Sotheby's wasn't even included in his winnings.
(15:21):
He actually was given the duct tape and instructions on
how to install the banana properly. It has to be
installed at a certain height, et cetera, et cetera. And yes,
he received the most important part this certificate that guarantees
when he puts up a new banana each and every
time on his wall, it will be considered that original
(15:42):
work of art. Comedian.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I have a few questions. Do you have to have
a particular canvas to put it on right any wall?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
No?
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Really, is you just put it on any wall? In correct?
Speaker 1 (15:53):
I think? Well, I think the instructions might say it
needs to be a blank wall. It has to be
like one hundred and thirty centimeters from the floor. I
don't remember what the exact but there is a measurement
and like a way to put the duct tape on
the banana. It's like slightly askew. And they give you
the instructions and when you follow them, then it's considered
the original part.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I assume the tape has to be a certain length
of those kinds of ye questions. Okay, can it be
a plantain?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
No? I think it needs to be a banana? Yeah,
but thanks for checking?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
How far does it have to be ripened?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Like?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
How yellow? Does it get too brown? What do you do?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I think you need to replace it?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Does it say nothing? Else? Is just a piece of tape.
He can walk around with this in his pocket. He
could stop at an airport as he's waiting for his flight,
and if there's a white wall, he can display Comedian
right there anywhere.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I guess possibly, yes, I mean theoretically, I like that
word today. I think you probably could if you have
a measuring tape and you can like actually put it
in the place it's supposed to be sure?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Last question? Could this be valued at six million dollars?
Without social media? What I mean is became some kind
of a sensation that people were talking about, and it
got going and it was trending in all of these things.
But if we didn't have the ability for it to
go worldwide, it was just in this gallery here, in
that gallery there, and people scratching their heads. It just
(17:12):
became something we buzzed and talked and even laughed about.
Is it still a valuable piece of art without social media?
Speaker 1 (17:18):
As long as it was drawing crowds in the display,
then there's value to it. Maybe not six million dollars,
but it was originally, by the way, valued at one
hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Then it was valued at
about a million dollars, and then really the value is
what someone's willing to pay, and apparently at six point
two four million.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Two dollars a pound. I give bananas two dollars a pound.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
You're not understanding art, TJ. All right, our final leg
of the run. This is this is also a favorite
story of mind. Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday
travel rush, American Airlines has officially implemented new technology to
stop line cutting.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
We're talking to you. You know, folks, know who you are.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
You might be among them who try to board the
plane early before your assigned group.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Okay, so get this now the gate agents and the passengers,
you're all gonna hear an audible sound. There's gonna be
an alert kound of that goes off if someone scans
their boarding pass prematurely, and anyone who tries to sneak
on a little faster is going to be sent back
and asked to wait their turn.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
As a rule follower myself, I applaud this. But for
those who don't, shame, shame, shame. Yes, we are talking
game of throne shame. The technology is now being used
in more than one hundred airports across the US. There
are plans to bring it to all of them, but
the airline says the initial response from customers and their
employees has quote exceeded our expectations. One of the anticipated
(18:49):
benefits of the technology cutting down on, oh, you know them,
the crowds of people who gather and hover near the gate,
trying to figure out what line they want to get in,
how they get their way quickest up to the front.
You know how confusing and congested that can get. Well,
there's a term for these folks. Did you know that?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Teaj This first time I heard it was in this
story gate lice. You want to be gate lice. That's gross.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
It's gross, but it's kind of like accurate.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Uh well, yeah, I didn't know that was the term.
But American is thrilled to have this in place. They
plan to fly more than eight million people over to
the Thanksgiving holiday, so this is something you are going
to notice. I think this is a great idea. It
takes some of the pressure off of the gate agents
to have to tell somebody, Noe, you gotta go go back,
your group is not ready yet, and then it often
it can start a confrontation. Everybody's frustrating the airport usually,
(19:39):
so this takes some weight off themselves.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
And look, I understand the reason why everyone tries to
get on the plane first is because you know, they
always run out of the overhead space, and so when
they run out of the overhead space, you have to
check your luggage. It creates a lot of problems. So
a lot of folks are like, Hey, I'm gonna try
to get in early because I want my luggage to
be with me. I get that there are ten boarding
groups American airlines, so if you know you're anything past five,
(20:03):
you know your bag's not getting on that plane.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
But here's the thing. Airlines are fixing a problem that
they created. When you start telling people we're gonna charge
you to check your bag, now everybody. Some people love
to keep their bags with them, and that's fine, but everybody,
you see how people got a stuff stuff in it's
saved twenty five or fifty bucks or checking we're checking
in a bag. They put us in this position to
where we're scrambling. Oh, I gotta get that overhead space.
(20:26):
And now they're trying to solve a problem they created. Okay, fine,
but to embarrassed. I can'tnot wait. We don't fly American much. No,
I just want to go past some American gates. Now,
you know what I want them to do.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Find a way to implement this on on when you're
trying to make a turn and people in like highways
try to cut you off. They go in the line
and then you can't make the turn and it backs
everybody up. You could have some way to embarrass those folks.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I would love that.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Wow, line cutters are annoying.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Okay, we we should turn this to a segment. Rope says,
gotta be Friday. Folks on this. I hope you don't
have any beef hope you have a great, great Friday.
But as you go about your day and then until
your weekend, there's something we like you to consider, and
it is our quote of the day.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
We need to know the difference between the fears that
keep us alive and the fears that keep us from living.
This came from your file, TJ. I didn't look to
see who said this.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Do you know this one didn't have a name attached
to it is I'm assuming it was my pastor and
something I wrote down one of us sermons. But I
love it. Yes, there are healthy fears. There are healthy
fears of certain things that you should have. A fear
of traffic and right you don't walk out. That keeps
you alive. But what are you scared of getting your
heart broken? Are you scared of maybe being rejected and
(21:41):
not getting the job. But what are the things that
you are feared that keep you from doing something that
is you living?
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, fear of failure, I think is probably one of
the biggest things that hold holds people back and holds
all of us back. And I think it's just I
always said this fear either cripples you or motivates you.
And to know the difference between you know, what is
real and what is presumed is a big difference.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
You know, take that one with you this weekend. We
need to know the difference between the fears that keep
us alive and the fears that keep us from living.
I hope you do some good living to this weekend, folks.
We always appreciate you running with us.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
So I'm t J and I'm Amy Robot. Have a
wonderful weekend, everyone,
Morning Run with Amy and TJ an iHeartRadio podcast. Good
Friday morning, everyone, and welcome to Morning Run. Yes it
is Friday, November twenty second.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm Amy Robox and I'm TJ. Holmes and on the
run this morning. All of our phones were going off.
Yesterday a flurry set off by a couple of stunning,
back to back breaking news stories.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
First, Matt Gates abruptly withdrew his name from consideration to
be Trump's attorney General. Trump had another ag nominee within
hours of that announcement.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
And then the other shocker nobody seemed to see coming.
Jesse Smolette's conviction for planning a racist, homophobic attack on
himself was.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Overturned, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahoo is now a
wonted man after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Also, first it was Deli meat, then it was onions,
Then it was the carrots. Now it's the ground beef,
the latest food to be recalled for E. Coli and
that potentially tainted meat koltz fiel Be in restaurant freezers.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Shame, shame, shame. One airline is hoping to embarrass you
into sticking to your own boarding group.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Also this morning, he spent six million dollars for a
banana duct tape to a wall. He says, now he's
gonna eat it. We have an update on what is
the funniest and most frustrating story of the day on
this Friday.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I know you can't wait to dig back into that one, TJ.
All right, But first up on our run we head
to DC, where Matt Gates is out Pam Bondy is in.
A head spinning turn of events yesterday set off when
Trump's pick for Attorney General, Gates abruptly quit, pulling his
name out of consideration.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Then in just a matter of ours, Trump announced that
Pam Bondy, the former Florida Attorney General, is his new pick.
Bondy is considered a so called Trump loyalist and has
worked as a lawyer for him for years after serving
as a prosecutor, and the Florida.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Aging Republicans are said to be breathing a sigh of
relief with this new pick, and don't at this point
think she will face the same type of enormous challenges
that Gates would have faced. Still, Gates's decision to withdraw
his name from consideration came as a surprise. First, he
was all smiles in his meetings with senators just yesterday
on Capitol Hill. And then second, Trump had publicly stood
(02:17):
by him despite all of the fervor over Gates's alleged
sexual misconduct.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Then he made the announcement himself yesterday on X that
he was stepping away, and I quote, I had excellent
meetings with senators yesterday, Gates says. I appreciate their thoughtful
feedback and the incredible support of so many. While the
momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was
unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the
Trump Vans transition. There is no time to waste on
(02:44):
a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle. Thus I'll be withdrawing my
name from consideration to serve as Attorney General.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Up until the announcement, Trump had personally been calling lawmakers
to try and secure support for gates confirmation. So then
what happened to make Gates suddenly withdraw now?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Well?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
According to CNN, they called Gates team for comment on
new reporting they had that a seventeen year old testified
she had sex with Gates on two separate occasions, and
less than an hour later, Gates withdrew his name.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, that was a detail that had not been out
there publicly just yet. The president elect said in a
statement that he appreciated Gates' recent efforts to seek Senate approval,
and that withdrawing was gates choice, not Trump's choice. Trump
wrote that Matt has a wonderful future and I look
forward to watching all of the great things he'll do.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
The House Ethics Committee decided this week not to release
its findings from its three year investigation into those alleged
sexual misconduct allegations, among other things. However, many senators believe
the details from that report would eventually have become a
public during confirmation hearings. And the question is will it
become public at all anymore? Because now, yes, one of
(03:55):
the questions was jurisdiction, because he's a former congressman, So
what jurisdiction did they have over him? Now is a
former Attorney general nominee, So is there any reason to
release the report?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
There seems to be a trickle trickle trickle. Well, I mean,
it's Washington and all eyes and everybody's hunting this thing down.
You assumed those details were going to come out. Maybe
some of them are starting to like we just saw here,
but it was pretty incredible just boom and to hear
CNN explain the story. The reporter they called said we're
going with this in an hour, and they didn't call
(04:27):
back and say, okay, we're going to give you a comment.
He just withdrew. So something happened to where they knew
this was an uphill fight and probably didn't have the votes.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah, and not having the votes is probably a huge
part of it, I think most even though in a
Republican controlled Senate, it was pretty clear that he was
not going to get to that fifty mark. And then
the question is what happens to his House seat that
he just re won and just vacated a lot of questions.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
After all this, he could still end up being one
of their colleagues on Capitol Hill because he did resign
from Congress. However, he won his seat, so that means
the seat he resigned from is actually his again in
January because he was re elected to Congress. So legally speaking,
they say he can go right back to serving in Congress.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
He can go right back, but if he becomes a
House member again, then that report is sure to be released,
so he just probably has to decide if he has
the stomach for it or not.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Some this is probably not the last time we were
going to be covering something related to Matt Gates, is
what we're trying to say. But let's move on to
the other big story yesterday that had all the breaking
news alerts going. This was former Empire actor Jesse Smolette.
He is no longer a convicted felon.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
The Illinois Supreme Court threw out his twenty twenty one
conviction for lying about an alleged hate crime. Two years earlier.
Smollette was found guilty for faking a racist and homophobic
attack he actually did it to himself, and then lying
to police about how it happened.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Initially the charges were first brought against him, the state's
attorney agreed to dismiss the charges if Smollette paid a
ten thousand dollars fine and did community service. That was
the deal. Okay, this was supposed to be over. But
then the details of that deal were made public and
there was a huge public outcry because so many folks
(06:14):
said Smollette was getting a sweet celebrity deal.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
So that's when a special prosecutor was enlisted to reinstate
those charges, and Smollette was ultimately convicted of felony disorderly
conduct for falsely reported the non existing crime. Smolett's attorneys
have maintained that the conviction was a violation of his
Fifth Amendment rights, and the state Supreme Court agreed. The
court said it is fundamentally unfair to allow the prosecution
(06:41):
to renig on a deal with the defendant when the
defendant has relied on the agreement to his detriment.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Now, the court acknowledged that a lot of folks were
upset with the original resolution and believed it to be unjust,
but said it would be even more unjust if the
state was not bound to honor its agreements. Smollette was
sentenced to five months in jail. He served six days
before he was released on appeal, and his legal team
thanked the Supreme Court there and said they restored order.
(07:08):
We have to make clear the conviction was thrown out.
They made no determination about his guilt or innocence. This is,
I guess, kind of a technicality, but essentially saying you
can't make a deal with a guy and then go
back on it. He never should have been tried that
second time.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Correct, And I think the problem is a lot of
folks believe he never should have been given that sweetheart deal,
but he was given it and he did accept it.
And so to the Supreme Court's point, what type of
system do you have in place if a prosecutor or
if basically the state of Illinois says that they will
do something and then they when they hear that people
(07:45):
are upset about it, they take it away. That doesn't
seem to be fundamentally legal or fair.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And he's still at this point. He has always said
he is not guilty of any of this, but no
determination has been made here about his guilt or innocence.
And the state that the folks that prosecute him, made
that point that this has nothing to do with any
anything we did wrong or any suggestion of misconduct on
our part. This is a technicality, and it's hard to
(08:13):
argue with it.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
No, it is hard to argue with it. I wonder, though,
what this will do to his already diminished career. I
don't it doesn't seem like it's not as if he's
been exonerated. Yes, so I guess that's the point. He
has not been exonerated. He's just now no longer a
convicted felon.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Just kind of a big deal.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
It's definitely a big deal. He and Trump might be
able to know why why it's Friday. Can just exchange
stories and kind of commiserate. That's all all right. Next
up on the run, we have yet another recall involving
possible E. Coli contamination. So far, fifteen people in the
state of Minnesota have been sickened. I get this, the
(08:49):
exact same strain of E. Coli that was found in
the onions in McDonald's quarter pounders just a few weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
What the hell is going on? We talked about one
hundred and seventy thousand pounds of fresh and frozen ground
beef products that have been recalled. Now, the products were
shipped to restaurants around the country. There's some concern that
some of this ground beef is still in the refrigerators
and freezers of restaurants all over the place.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
It was the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture and Health that
first noticed a link between the reported illnesses and ground
beef from a distributor out of Detroit. So they tested
a ground beef sample from Wolverine Packing Company and found
that yep, it contained the same strain of bacteria linked
to the McDonald's outbreak.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
USDA has the list of affected products and labels. They
warned that the strain is potentially deadly, especially to children
under five and older adults. If you're experiencing any symptoms,
you do need to seek medical attention as soon as
you can. I just every week, certainly, but for months
and now it seems like we've been dealing with a
recoll like serious and deadly outbreaks.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
It's concerning because as the consumer, there's nothing really you
can do to prevent it. You just have to be
aware of what the symptoms are, which is fever's, stomach cramping, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea,
all of those things that are associated with some sort
of E. Coli contamination. But that's tough because the onus
is on you then to make sure you seek medical
attention because it can be serious.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
All right, Well, well stay with us on this Friday
when we come back and continue our run. The Israeli
Prime Minister on our wanted poster and one airline is
going to embarbrash you into sticking with your boarding group.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Welcome back everyone on our morning run. Next up, Benjamin
Netanyahu is a wanted man. The International Criminal Court issued
an arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister, accusing him
of crimes against humanity.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
That warrants were also issued for the former Israeli Defense
Minister as well as the Hamas military chief, all for
the same crimes. They're all accused of human rights abuses
and war crimes tied to the year long conflict in Gaza,
which has killed and estimated forty four thousand people.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
The court said the warrants for Netanyahu and the others
was for quote, crimes against humanity and war crimes, including
the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare,
and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other
inhumane acts. They also suggested that the men are criminally
responsible for intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Well. Israel responded and responded strongly to all this, saying
they reject the arrest warrant quote with disgust and called
the charges anti Semitic and absurd. So what does this
mean now? So does this mean that BB is going
to be hunted down and taken away in handcuffs. Not
exactly right.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So, first, the International Criminal Court does not have a
police or military force to go chase down bib or
any other suspects. Number two, the United States and Israel
are not members of the International Criminal Court sochechnically, they
don't even have jurisdiction over Israel. And there is a
line of thought, however, that if NETANYAHUO travels to another
(12:09):
country that is a part of the International Criminal Court,
that then he could theoretically be taken into.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Custody theoretically, And the court argues that legally, if he
travels to another country that is a member of the
International Criminal Court, that country would be in violation of
their obligations, legal obligations if they do not arrest and
take him into custody. Now we have seen I think
Putin has traveled to places. They also have accused him
(12:38):
of war crimes or clearly arrested war for him. But
he has traveled to some places, and the Court says,
if he travels to your country and you're a member
of the International Criminal Court, you need to arrest him.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, but what happens if you don't or you're afraid
to which that would be totally understandable.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Then whether they're gonna do fine. It seems like this
there's not a lot of weight behind it, but symbolically
it's a big deal, and that it's set off a
really big back and forth and fight about why make
this move and what member countries are supposed to do
with it now, But it's interesting, there's a rest ward
for Israeli prime.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
It's interesting. But the problem is, to the point you
just made, what is the intention of having a law
or a rule if it cannot or will not be
enforced symbolic Perhaps what all that does is just piss
people off.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
And that's where we are right now.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Okay, well, happy Friday everyone. Next up on the run,
let's lighten things up. We have a banana update for you.
This one made me smile for days now. So we
told you yesterday about the piece of art called Comedian,
which is a banana duct tape to a wall that
sold it southerebe's for more than six million dollars. Well
(13:46):
we now know who purchased it.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It's a cryptocurrency billionaire. Justin Sun is the name. He paid.
Yes for the banana and the duct tape, but he
was actually paying for the certificate of authenticity to tape
his very own own banana to the wall and call
it comedian. You get with us all we're saying here.
It's not an original, it's an original thought.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You're buying a concept.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Yes, yes, that's the right about it. You bought an idea,
So there you go. He was in a battle with
six others who wanted this thing. He claimed it with
the highest bid, and he used cryptocurrency to buy it.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
All right, here's what he had to say about his
win quote, I believe this piece will inspire more thought
and discussion in the future and will become a part
of history. I am honored to be the proud owner
of this iconic work and look forward to its sparking
further inspiration and impact for art enthusiasts around the world.
And here's my favorite part of his statement. He let
(14:43):
everyone know. Yeah, he's going to eat the banana. He says,
in the coming days, I will personally eat the banana
as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place
in both art history and popular culture.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Please keep going. I don't even know. I'm so frustrated.
I don't want to read this thing.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
And here I just this is, you know, my two cents.
He can actually continue to eat the bananas on his
wall as they ripen, because it's not going to change
the value of his investment. As we were describing it
being really more of a concept or an idea than
an actual physical item because banana's rot. So the banana
on display in Sotheby's wasn't even included in his winnings.
(15:21):
He actually was given the duct tape and instructions on
how to install the banana properly. It has to be
installed at a certain height, et cetera, et cetera. And yes,
he received the most important part this certificate that guarantees
when he puts up a new banana each and every
time on his wall, it will be considered that original
(15:42):
work of art. Comedian.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I have a few questions. Do you have to have
a particular canvas to put it on right any wall?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
No?
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Really, is you just put it on any wall? In correct?
Speaker 1 (15:53):
I think? Well, I think the instructions might say it
needs to be a blank wall. It has to be
like one hundred and thirty centimeters from the floor. I
don't remember what the exact but there is a measurement
and like a way to put the duct tape on
the banana. It's like slightly askew. And they give you
the instructions and when you follow them, then it's considered
the original part.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I assume the tape has to be a certain length
of those kinds of ye questions. Okay, can it be
a plantain?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
No? I think it needs to be a banana? Yeah,
but thanks for checking?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
How far does it have to be ripened?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Like?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
How yellow? Does it get too brown? What do you do?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I think you need to replace it?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Does it say nothing? Else? Is just a piece of tape.
He can walk around with this in his pocket. He
could stop at an airport as he's waiting for his flight,
and if there's a white wall, he can display Comedian
right there anywhere.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I guess possibly, yes, I mean theoretically, I like that
word today. I think you probably could if you have
a measuring tape and you can like actually put it
in the place it's supposed to be sure?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Last question? Could this be valued at six million dollars?
Without social media? What I mean is became some kind
of a sensation that people were talking about, and it
got going and it was trending in all of these things.
But if we didn't have the ability for it to
go worldwide, it was just in this gallery here, in
that gallery there, and people scratching their heads. It just
(17:12):
became something we buzzed and talked and even laughed about.
Is it still a valuable piece of art without social media?
Speaker 1 (17:18):
As long as it was drawing crowds in the display,
then there's value to it. Maybe not six million dollars,
but it was originally, by the way, valued at one
hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Then it was valued at
about a million dollars, and then really the value is
what someone's willing to pay, and apparently at six point
two four million.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Two dollars a pound. I give bananas two dollars a pound.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
You're not understanding art, TJ. All right, our final leg
of the run. This is this is also a favorite
story of mind. Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday
travel rush, American Airlines has officially implemented new technology to
stop line cutting.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
We're talking to you. You know, folks, know who you are.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
You might be among them who try to board the
plane early before your assigned group.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Okay, so get this now the gate agents and the passengers,
you're all gonna hear an audible sound. There's gonna be
an alert kound of that goes off if someone scans
their boarding pass prematurely, and anyone who tries to sneak
on a little faster is going to be sent back
and asked to wait their turn.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
As a rule follower myself, I applaud this. But for
those who don't, shame, shame, shame. Yes, we are talking
game of throne shame. The technology is now being used
in more than one hundred airports across the US. There
are plans to bring it to all of them, but
the airline says the initial response from customers and their
employees has quote exceeded our expectations. One of the anticipated
(18:49):
benefits of the technology cutting down on, oh, you know them,
the crowds of people who gather and hover near the gate,
trying to figure out what line they want to get in,
how they get their way quickest up to the front.
You know how confusing and congested that can get. Well,
there's a term for these folks. Did you know that?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Teaj This first time I heard it was in this
story gate lice. You want to be gate lice. That's gross.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
It's gross, but it's kind of like accurate.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Uh well, yeah, I didn't know that was the term.
But American is thrilled to have this in place. They
plan to fly more than eight million people over to
the Thanksgiving holiday, so this is something you are going
to notice. I think this is a great idea. It
takes some of the pressure off of the gate agents
to have to tell somebody, Noe, you gotta go go back,
your group is not ready yet, and then it often
it can start a confrontation. Everybody's frustrating the airport usually,
(19:39):
so this takes some weight off themselves.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
And look, I understand the reason why everyone tries to
get on the plane first is because you know, they
always run out of the overhead space, and so when
they run out of the overhead space, you have to
check your luggage. It creates a lot of problems. So
a lot of folks are like, Hey, I'm gonna try
to get in early because I want my luggage to
be with me. I get that there are ten boarding
groups American airlines, so if you know you're anything past five,
(20:03):
you know your bag's not getting on that plane.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
But here's the thing. Airlines are fixing a problem that
they created. When you start telling people we're gonna charge
you to check your bag, now everybody. Some people love
to keep their bags with them, and that's fine, but everybody,
you see how people got a stuff stuff in it's
saved twenty five or fifty bucks or checking we're checking
in a bag. They put us in this position to
where we're scrambling. Oh, I gotta get that overhead space.
(20:26):
And now they're trying to solve a problem they created. Okay, fine,
but to embarrassed. I can'tnot wait. We don't fly American much. No,
I just want to go past some American gates. Now,
you know what I want them to do.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Find a way to implement this on on when you're
trying to make a turn and people in like highways
try to cut you off. They go in the line
and then you can't make the turn and it backs
everybody up. You could have some way to embarrass those folks.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I would love that.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Wow, line cutters are annoying.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Okay, we we should turn this to a segment. Rope says,
gotta be Friday. Folks on this. I hope you don't
have any beef hope you have a great, great Friday.
But as you go about your day and then until
your weekend, there's something we like you to consider, and
it is our quote of the day.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
We need to know the difference between the fears that
keep us alive and the fears that keep us from living.
This came from your file, TJ. I didn't look to
see who said this.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Do you know this one didn't have a name attached
to it is I'm assuming it was my pastor and
something I wrote down one of us sermons. But I
love it. Yes, there are healthy fears. There are healthy
fears of certain things that you should have. A fear
of traffic and right you don't walk out. That keeps
you alive. But what are you scared of getting your
heart broken? Are you scared of maybe being rejected and
(21:41):
not getting the job. But what are the things that
you are feared that keep you from doing something that
is you living?
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, fear of failure, I think is probably one of
the biggest things that hold holds people back and holds
all of us back. And I think it's just I
always said this fear either cripples you or motivates you.
And to know the difference between you know, what is
real and what is presumed is a big difference.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
You know, take that one with you this weekend. We
need to know the difference between the fears that keep
us alive and the fears that keep us from living.
I hope you do some good living to this weekend, folks.
We always appreciate you running with us.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
So I'm t J and I'm Amy Robot. Have a
wonderful weekend, everyone,
Hosts And Creators
Amy Robach
T.J. Holmes
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