Trump Trade Mess vs China: Swiss Edition…Also, India & Pakistan on Edge 5/7/25

Finally, after all kinds of posturing about whether trade negotiations would or would not be happening, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he will start talks with China Saturday in Switzerland. On Fox, Bessent admitted China has been the missing piece as the rest of the world comes to the U.S. to make trade deals. In this case, the U.S. is going to them -meeting in Switzland because the Chinese team is traveling through Europe. Political analyst on presidential historian John Rothmann will join to talk trade and politics. “It’s the Planet, Stupid!” with Belinda Waymouth takes us to China where an EV battery revolution is underway.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, oh, thank you ladies and gentlemen. The you're too
you're too kind. It's as though somebody just keeps thrusting
me a pause button. I mean that's the way I feel.
It's incredible. The Wednesday recorded audience, my favorite recorded audience.

(00:21):
Albert is here today, everyone, and I'm excited, as are you.
Kim is here, git chit, have your act together or
Kim will come down hard on you. Yes, I'm looking
forward to a big show today. We've got John Rothman
bottom of the house. I also have a bunch of news,
some of which will make you smile, some of which

(00:44):
will horrify you, So it will all fall in between
those extremes. Also some male male from people who love
us and male from people who love us. But they'd
like to see the I love you but my favorite email,
so we have one of those today. Also, I will

(01:06):
visit with you the meeting between Donald Trump and the
Canadian Prime ministry yestory, which we did touch on, but
we haven't talked about it with Rothman. And Mark's lighting
looks a little better today, thank you. Well, it's not
a I don't know day to day on the lighting
or anything. Good morning, Karen Q. Come on, Karen Q.

(01:31):
I will tell you that I will have my first
cup of Coachella Valley Coffee as we meet today. So
delicious Coachella Valley Coffee dot com. Oh my god, I'm sorry,
but I can't just have one. I must have another.

(01:56):
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And when you go there you get tea, spices, freshly
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(02:18):
our discount code mark T and it will lift you
into a discount ten percent. It's for an elite group
of participants. You are among them. Mark T is the
discount code. Use it at checkout and enjoyed. Mark Thompson Show.

(02:39):
All right now with Albert on the case, I will
everything okay in your life, Albert, I haven't seen you
in a bit a commission. It's been I feel like
it's been a week or so.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
No, everything's good.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
The Shark's got the second overall pick and the Giants
won a crazy extra inning games four. They scored fourteen.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Runs against the Cobs, was it Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
Against their cubs. It's like you think it's an extra
innings game. You win by one or two. They won
by a lot. So yeah, very exciting times in my life.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
I know you aren't you Catholic?

Speaker 3 (03:10):
I am, Yeah, And I'm hoping for a Filipino pope.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
There's a real chance of a Filipino pope. That's exactly
what you're right.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, if we get the Filipino Pope, I don't know
what the Philippines will be like. It will be very exciting.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah. You think they'll do kind of like what the
City of Detroit does when they win a championship and
they'll just go nuts, or.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Whenever a Canadian team loses in the Stanley Clup playoffs,
i'll just tear it apart. Yeah, I think it'll be
a celebration. I think it'll be exciting. And I heard
they opened up a Jolly be a fast food, a
Filipino fast food chain in like in Vatican City.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
What is that true?

Speaker 3 (03:47):
That is true unless Instagram is lying to me. But
I will believe that it's true, and I believe that
it's a sign. So well, I'm not looking for the
smoke from the Vatican. I'm looking from this smoke from
the fried chicken fryars.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
You know, in the movie Conclave, which a lot of
people saw and should see. It's a really good movie.
They have the vote for a new pope and it's
what's going on now. But they have it in these
very kind of luxurious surroundings and they're very colorful and
very you know, telegenic, photogenic. But if you actually go

(04:25):
to the Sistine Chapel, there is a small chamber, small
ish chamber, I mean, obviously has to accommodate all of
those cardinals and stuff, but it's not some expansive room,
and it's really pretty barren. I mean, it's not actually
the way it was represented in the film, at least
when I was there ten years agoing not everybody can
see it. I got this special tour. I think I've

(04:46):
mentioned it to you before, you know, before the Vatican opened,
you know, before the doors were open to the public,
and it was through a connection. It was it's kind
of a funny story. I won't tell the whole story now,
but it was a connection through Oprah Winfrey, believe it
or not, And so I'm thinking, oh my god, I
got to tip this guy a jillion dollars for getting
us in there. But he had access to everything.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
And who is having that conversation?

Speaker 2 (05:08):
So are you a friend of Oprah?

Speaker 1 (05:10):
What? Well? I don't want to make a big deal
out of it. I mean, you Phil, no is the answer.
But I knew somebody was a friend of Oprah. So anyway,
the point is that I went into this room and
it's not this plush environment. In fact, the toilet there,
I mean, I mean to talk about it, but this
is where they vote for the pope. There is a

(05:31):
little bathroom, as you can imagine, and as I recall,
it's like this wood toilet seat, and that all the
benches that they sit on there would also And I
was talking to the guy who was giving me the
tour and I said, why, you know, it just seems
like this is a kind of a spartan room, and
he said, they don't want the guys to hang out.
They don't want them just you know, partying, you know,

(05:54):
sitting back shooting the breeze. They want them to vote
and get out. And so the surroundings are deliberately a
little less luxurious, and so when you watch the movie Conclave,
it's all luxury, but in reality, at least ten years ago,
it was the way that I just described. So anyway,
good luck, Yeah, no Prada gold toilet? Like is that

(06:17):
Trump Tower? The best of luck from this show to
the Filipino Pope. I hope that happens and that would
be really exciting Mark Thompson's show. Also, I wanted to
pick up a couple of things. I have a loose
ends and they relate to we like to start with

(06:40):
a lighter story occasionally I'll get you then then i'll
get you the get you the email and the lighter
story from the Pope. Yeah, right, it really is. I
told you it's the full breadth on this program. So
there is a place in San Francisco, California, the city
from which we come and birth to this show. This

(07:05):
place is called the Gold Club. Is that what it's gone?

Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah? The Gold Club?

Speaker 1 (07:10):
Okay, were you familiar with it already? Is it a
strip club or what is it?

Speaker 2 (07:14):
It is a gentleman's club. It's a strip club. Yeah,
and they it's it. That's what it is. And it's
been more than five years ago it was named the
best Tech lunch for people in San Francisco, because you know,
when you go out to lunch in San Francisco, even
if you work there, you're gonna pay a lot of

(07:34):
money for lunch. It's just an expensive city. And so
this is a place where workers can go for lunch
and get a cheap buffet, all you can eat style thing.
And so it became. It was in this national magazine
and it became a thing.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
Now this cheap lunch to which Kim refers is a
five dollars buffet with apparently this terrific chicken. Isn't that right.
It's got some kind of.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah you get chicken, you get or a rotating side,
you get some fruit salad.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah. Yeah, And it's really five dollars. It's five bucks,
and it's every Thursday. And it closed down for the
because of the pandemic. And now like maybe three weeks
ago they brought it back. Yeah, it was a five
year break. Yeah, and they're just listening. Albert is showing
you the sumptuous chicken offerings and the rice peel off sides.

(08:31):
But Albert show and look at that. There they are
the buffet attendees manning the buffet. That's the line. Look
at that. This is a line that goes halfway down
the block to get into this Gold club.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Hey, five dollars lunch. I don't care where it is everyone.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
I can't really tell because the car is driving by,
but it looks to me like there's not a lot
of tech entrepreneurs on that line.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
And really, the five dollars is your her to get
into the club. You happen to get brunch in there,
but you also get free entertainment. Mark.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Oh, that's so they're they're really a semi nude women
or something like that.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Huh, chicken and dancing.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
Doesn't get Yeah, go for the wing, stay for the breast.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
And that's what I'm talking about. That's why Albert is
so wonderful. And uh it's Albert. Thank you. Now. Is
there anything else out of out of the magnificent city
of San Francisco that I need to pay attention to? No?
All right, good? I uh I thought the other story

(09:38):
that was worth noting was the fact that Linda McMahon,
the Secretary of Education in this country. Now she sends
a letter to Harvard. You know, this administration is pulling
university funding across the board to various universities that have

(09:58):
DEI programs. That seems also those that fall into the
category of fostering anti Semitism, et cetera. It's a very
I think, tortured reason that they do this, But they are,
in my judgment, putting the squeeze on any number of institutions,
academic institutions, legal institutions, media institutions, et cetera. But that's

(10:21):
a broader conversation. But the reason I mentioned it now
is she sent a letter to Harvard, and Harvard responded
to Linda McMahon's letter sent to them by annotating and
correcting all of the mistakes that she made, grammatical and
other You can see them here.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
So I have to tell you, I don't think Harvard
responded with that. I think it's a meme.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Oh, I don't.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Think Harvard actually took the red pen to her letters.
And beautiful and whoever came up with this is awesome,
But I don't think this was the actual response. But
it's hilariously funny.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
Well that's why you're here to check our work. Make
sure it really is funny. You can see they look
at tents, they look at I mean, it really is.
You can see it.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
Yeah, perhaps that Ms McMahon, the Secretary of Education, might
need some more education.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
So even though Harvard didn't do it, somebody did it
to point out all of the different problems with the email,
and so there it was, okay, good stuff. The other
thing I wanted to by the way, ten dollars what
is that? A ten dollars super chat from Terry k
for Albert's line? What was the line again, Albert?

Speaker 3 (11:45):
Oh, go for the wings, say for the breasts?

Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yes, there you go right anyway, Big shout out Terry
ten dollars super chat for noting that. And finally, let
me just get to the the emails for the day,
because we received a lot of positive letters. There was
the following, Hi, Mark, love your show. You and the
crew are helping to keep me sane. Maybe I missed it,
but would you please explain how I can make a

(12:09):
donation to the spring kuching We're in the middle of spring.
Can changes are big spring fundraisers? Is it through the
Patreon monthly donations or I would love it. Sometimes you
could discuss during the show how to do the super
chats also, or even make comments during the show so
we can participate in real time. I am very opinionated
and would like to contribute. Keep up the good work, Gale.

(12:33):
Now Albert, will you take this one. I mean it's
pretty straightforward. I think superchats and super stickers you can
find them at the bottom, I believe of the comment
when you're when we're live, go ahead, you can see.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
Yeah, like during the there's a live chat. I'm trying
to pull it up as I as I sweek there's
a live chat and you could there's a plus sign.
You just hit the plus sign and you could add
a donation to your comment, or you can even to
simply comment. And if you're just active in our chats,
we do read regular chats as well.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, yeah, well you can feel free to, you know,
make a comment without having to donate to the show.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
Is a sign or is it a heart with a
dollar sign?

Speaker 1 (13:10):
Heart with a dollar sign? I think is if it's
after the live show it but Albert's got it up
there now it is.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
It's right next to the plus sign. Actually, it's all
show your support.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
So there's a heart, there's a dollar and dollar sign,
and then there's a yeah plus time. Yeah, so not everything.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
Not everybody really wants to talk about money all the time, Mark.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
No, exactly, in fact to the so, so the ends
are on sprinklet chain, is you through Patreon or PayPal
and their click throughs to both all our videos.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
We're really getting high up there. Look at that.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
Very impressive, sir, very impressive. So the other email I
got related to h received a lot of positive letters today.
I was listening to the podcast in my car on
my way home and was initially on board with Kim's
comments about how the people that attend people attended the

(14:11):
met gala were over out of touch because it was
also over the top, you seem to enjoy that. I
was going to get to that, Kimry, but because we've stopped,
let me just say Kim didn't make the comment. Teacher
Laurie made the comment. She's a regular in our chat,
and she was saying, it's tone deaf to have this

(14:35):
over the top celebration, you know, as jillionaires walk the
red carpet in these gowns that cost so much money,
et cetera. It's just this conspicuous consumption, which is at
odds with a lot of the struggles that Americans are
having also in this tense time, economically, et cetera. Is
this really not tone death? She was making that comment.

(14:59):
Neither or neither used to say neither went for neither
this time, okay, I think either or either is okay?

Speaker 2 (15:08):
I think so.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
But neither of us, Kim or myself made any comments
about it. But then we kind of respecting teacher Laurie
said yeah, you know, I guess it's not. But then
she goes on this person who wrote the letter, her
name is Mary. I am disappointed that neither one of
you did your homework because then when I watched the view,

(15:33):
I found out that they raised over thirty million dollars
for the Metropolitan Museum and the Black Nandy movement was
a way of black empowerment. Aul Sir, Yes, Kim did
mention this, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (15:45):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, I did mention the black I read the definition
of black dandyism. We talked about how it is empowering
and how they've taken a form of dress to use
for empowerment.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
So we just drive that we did talk. Jim, how
are you you.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Mentioned the thirty million dollars. I'll give her that.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
That's correct. We didn't, and I feel like that was
to be fair to marry kind of a key part
of it. Hey, guys, I understand they're over the top,
but they raised a ton of money for the Metropolitan Museum.
She says, also, just as an aside, I love, love,
love your takes on politics. You're brilliant and smart and witty.
Why couldn't she just stop them?

Speaker 2 (16:25):
But no, which one you use Mark Thompson.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
But but I am really worn down by the plea
for money. I understand you need to do it, but
it doesn't have to really take most of the first
hour just saying Mary, well, I respect, as you know,
and feel the audience. Not only do I respect them,

(16:52):
but I feel like they have agency, they have their
stakeholders in this show. So, especially if you're someone who
donates to the show, comes to the show regularly, I
really respect your opinion, but I Kim and Albert will
tell you this. I take everybody's opinion maybe too seriously,
you know, And so we always struggle to not make

(17:14):
it like a telethon. So if you'll notice, if you're
with us for a lot of the time we've been
on the air, we've gone through hills and valleys on
this because typically when things are going well, I may
lay off. I've had entire days where I haven't even
mentioned a fundraising at all. I'll mention, smash the like button,
but I don't go through the whole fundraising thing. We're

(17:34):
in a legitimate crisis right now, which is the only
reason I think maybe it's getting additional emphasis. But even so,
and thank you Ron Cook for the supersticker twenty dollars
superstick It's really cool of you tell Mary I will
sponsor her five dollars. Darryl Leffler, Wow, fifty dollars with
these super chicks out because of our fiscal crisis. Thank you, Daryl.

(17:56):
That's super generous. We really have no choice but to
come to you and say, hey, here's our situation, and
to hope that you can help sustain us. So I
don't want it to be obnoxious. And we were talking
before the show. I'll try to segregate it so that
we keep a lot of the content free of it.
And you'll note when we do long form interviews. I
talked with David K. Johnston yesterday for forty minutes. Now

(18:18):
I never interrupt that forty minutes with a pitch for money, right,
and we'll talk to John Rothman you know, for twenty
or thirty minutes maybe, and during that twenty or thirty minutes,
I never pitch for money, so but I do understand
how it can be a little much, and I don't
like doing it. It's the one thing when we came
to this platform that I told everybody. I told you
right here on the air that I hated it because

(18:39):
I'm used to radio and television we're ad supported. I
don't ever pitch money. I just worry about content, but
here it's a different story. Wes, thank you for the
five dollars supersticker too, and thank you for the feedback.
And I always welcome it and we'll always try to
integrate your thoughts into decision making that we do here.
Nancy Boyd with a twenty dollars supersticker, big show, a

(19:00):
big shout out. Yeah, and I thank you all for
responding to the call, which is kind of I wouldn't
say a desperate one, but an urgent one. We are
in a situation and I'll explain it in greater detail
in the weeks ahead, but we'll wrap this up, you know,
hopefully before too too long, so that we can try

(19:21):
to kind of get back to Magnetic North from a
fiscal standpoint, but that's kind of where we where we stand.
How do we donate without using third party apps? You donate, well,
you can if you send us an email, I can
send you an address where you can, and some people
have done that. In fact, I want to kind of
collect that those people and give them a shout. I'm

(19:42):
I'm behind on my shout outs, believe it or not.
I know it seems like we do a lot of them,
but so many through Patreon and PayPal. But if you
send me an email at the Mark Thompson Show at
gmail dot com, I'll send you back an address where
you can send a check or something if you're more
comfortable with that. It's the Mark Thompson Show at Gmail.
But the easiest, i think, almost frictionless way to contribute

(20:04):
to the show is superstickers and super chats while we're
on the air, and of course Patreon and PayPal. Under
all of our videos there are live links and you
click on them and you go right to Patroon and
PayPal and you can help the show that way. So
thank you everyone. We'll keep quiet about donations until after

(20:26):
some time with a Rothman and then I'll hit you
with another request, but this is from someone else that
will remain unknown. Franco Franco, thank you for a five
dollars super chat. Good stuff, Franco, thank you. Like that name.
Franco Franco feels like it's a name of one of
those guys who'ld be voting for the pope. You know,

(20:47):
I don't know got a sense of that. Have you
been to the Vatican before? Albert feels like you should
go to the Vatican. That's it, I think, a tour
of institution and a place that every Catholic should should.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
Hit and not no, but I need to make my
way over there.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
So at the Vatic, I'll tell you one thing that
we'll move on. At the Vatican, they have a all
jokes must be taken seriously, seriously, says Harry Magnu. Thank
you for the seven dollars super chat. At the Vatican,
they have a Mosaic College I think, or Mosaic University.
I feel like it's called Mosaic College or Mosaic University.
It's right alongside Saint Peter's and we got a tour

(21:28):
of that. And the interesting thing about that, first of all,
they're all artisans of the highest level. But there's only
one person who can do the image of Christ. They
don't let anybody do that. You can't show up as
an internship and work on that. No, it's considered sacrosanct,

(21:49):
and so it is Sacrosanc's a ding word, and it's
given to only one person. And we were there hoping
that we'd see this guy, and we're about to leave,
and as we're leaving, the guy comes in and he's
just this normal looking dude. There. It is, Thank you, Albert,
very well done. Is it's the Mosaic Studio. I thought

(22:12):
that was going to call it the studio? Okay, yeah,
but anyway, I hope for you a chance to see
the Vatican. It's really quite quite impressive.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
I have a very short little Vatican story. My husband
was in the Marines and they went to Italy and
he was there in the throng of people to see
the Pope who was unexpectedly walked out and was shaking hands.
I guess there's a gate and a fence, and he
was shaking people's hands at the fence and my husband

(22:45):
was standing and his group of Marines were standing next
to a group of nuns and he lifted the nun
up so that she could touch the hand of the pope.
And then she leans down and you know, like get
on my hand so you can touch the pope the hand.
So there's this big marine and this little nun and

(23:06):
she lifts him up so he can touch the pope's
hand too, And I just thought that was really cute.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
That is a great story. I love that. Wow, that's
really cool. Those kinds of stories are terrific. I really
do love them. And this pope who just passed away,
Francis was clearly, you know, as popes go, pretty transformational,
with a real sense of sustainability. He was a friend
to animals. I think that's what we got the name

(23:32):
Pope Francis in part, and it was a Francis Francis
of Assisi And anyway, the whole world of the papacy
and the Vatican, it's uh, it's fascinating. It's controversial, but
I recommend it to all Catholics certainly if you can
do it. It's right there in Rome, so it's a

(23:53):
pretty good hang. Anyway. Rome's not a bad place to visit,
So I check it out if I were you. So
Mark Thompson show. I wouldn't go now because it's a
little crowded right now. Yeah, when they announced that Pope thing,
it gets to be a little crowded.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
But he took down cell phone service in this whole area.
They zapped it, so you can't make any phone calls.
You can't outside, but inside the Vatican area and in
the right around that spot, the cell phone service is dead.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
I'm just a few minutes away from adjoining John Rothman,
who joins us on Wednesdays regularly. I wanted to mention
one thing about the meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister
and yesterday. I'm glad that you're here today, Commission, because
he went through a thing. And I think you'll notice
this as a Donald Trump reflexive move, and that is

(24:44):
he clearly doesn't know much. He doesn't know much, I
think about economics, he doesn't know much about world diplomacy.
And I say, doesn't know much. It's almost as though
he doesn't know anything. I mean, when he was explaining
the Declaration of Independence, he was saying, it's a doc
document of love and it's a you know, it was
a weird kind of listening to a kid who you

(25:06):
know hadn't done the reading. You know, I've been saying
that for since we've been dealing with Trump. Trump reminds
me of a guy who hasn't done the reading and
still has to stand up in front of the class
and talk about things, and he just kind of riffs
and says stuff. So even on something as simple as Canada,

(25:26):
he starts riffing with this, you know, Canadians are great.
I know Canadians. My mom had Canadian friends and then
and this is why I like that Albert is working today.
He starts talking about the fact that the Canadian hockey
player for the Capitals just broke a record and he

(25:47):
is someone who's top of the game and really reminds
us of how the excellence that is associated with Canadian hockey.
Now he's talking about this guy, Alex Ovechkin, right, Albert.

Speaker 3 (26:03):
Yeah, And he's quoted here saying, I love Canada. I
have a lot of respect for the Canadians. You happen
to have a very very good hockey player right here
on the Capitols. He's a big, tough cookie. He just
broke the record and he's a great guy. And he
happened to be born in Moscow.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
So he didn't say that, but say that he's a great,
great guy. No one said anything but Ovechkin is Russian, Okay,
he is black. Canadian is not Canadian. So even on
that he was it was a bit tortured. But the
other thing he said during this meeting, and then I'll
get into some heavy politics with Rothman. But the other

(26:39):
thing he said and noted the border between Canada and
the US is he talked about the fact that the
border is just sort of this straight line that somebody
drew between Canada and the US. And I'm sure many
of you were thinking, as I was a straight line

(27:01):
between Canada and the US. Yeah, that's so this short
I thought told the story. Well. It was sent to
me by a friend of the show, Anthony Davis, and
I love it because it really points up the ridiculousness
of the straight line comment and how Trump clearly hasn't
really even looked at a map of the US and

(27:25):
Canada and the border go ahead, Albert.

Speaker 5 (27:28):
Between the United States and Canada is one of the
strangest borders in the world, not just because of its length,
but also because of the unusual situations that happen along it.
First Windsor is a city in Canada located south of Detroit.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
What's special is that.

Speaker 5 (27:43):
This is the only Canadian city where you have to
go north to reach the United States. Another interesting situation
is the town of angle Inlet in the state of Minnesota.
The US town surrounded by Canada on one side and
a lake on the other. Residents here have to cross
the border every day to go about their life lives.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
But this is not the only case.

Speaker 5 (28:02):
In the state of Washington, there's also the town of
Point Roberts, a place in a situation no different from
angle Inlet in Minnesota. They have to travel forty kilometers
every day and go through two border checkpoints to go
to work. Another interesting thing is in the town of Stanstead.
The border runs exactly down the middle of this road
and the houses on both sides of the street belong

(28:24):
to two different countries. But the strangest situation is in
the town of Darby Line, where some houses are built
right on the border. Imagine waking up in Canada and
brushing your teeth in the US. The border between the United.

Speaker 1 (28:36):
There it is. Yeah, so you realize that's hilarious. Yeah,
I had no idea. That's awesome. Yeah, and Mexico's the
same way. Mexico's not a straight line border. I mean this,
but you're dealing with someone who, you know, we talk
about low information voters. This is a low information leader.
He has no sense of the stuff he's talking about.

(28:59):
I mean literally not. And he hatched the Alcatraz thing,
as we find out, because Alcatraz was running on television
that Saturday night, and so he comes up Sunday with
the idea, we should bring Alcatraz back. Yeah. And then
John Voight talked him up the beatdown that Hollywood is taking,
and he talked about tariffs on foreign films. This is

(29:19):
a John Voight championed project. Voight a big Trump supporter,
and Trump comes through with the notion hasn't been instituted yet,
that there should be tariffs on foreign films, on films
produced outside the US. So, again, I think all of
these things reflect critical and super consequential decision making, but

(29:44):
decision making that's made based on very little information because
there isn't a lot of information in that head of
his So does that home on both borders have dual citizenship?
As CC rider, That's a.

Speaker 2 (29:55):
Great question, really good question.

Speaker 1 (29:57):
It's a really good question. Somebody should reach search that,
like you, cec Ryder, why don't you read? All right?
I got to get to my to my pal John
Rothman in the show let me do the Mark Thompson Show.
This guy's a presidential historian, author, lecturer, and our former
colleague at KGO Radio. He joins us on Wednesdays, John Roffman,

(30:21):
Hi John.

Speaker 4 (30:22):
Happy to be with you and welcome back. And he
was the big news this morning. What's that Donald Trump
is going to announce they're changing the name of the
Persian Golf to the Arabian Golf. That was announced moments ago.
And as you may know, Donald Trump is on his
way next week to Saudi Arabia.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
So well, yeah, make this stuff up, you know when
it comes to that, just because you started there, it
is more than a little bit on display the utter
corruption associated with the deals made with Abu Dhabi, with
the flux of money. It's one point two billion, I

(31:02):
think it was, and maybe even north of that number.
That was crypto purchased by the UAE, and it was
purchased on the platform that the Trump family owns. So
it's like a coinbase type thing. Think of it like
Charles Schwab, that's where you trade stocks, where you trade

(31:23):
crypto on this platform, that's like that. It's I think
it's called liberty. We've never had such corruption. I mean,
it's just it's an extraordinary thing.

Speaker 4 (31:32):
It makes Sherman Adams in the eyes our administration, who
left because of Vaikuna Coat. It's just it pales in comparison.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
Yeah, I mean, it really is redefining a kind of
open corruption. Even in the first Trump administration, there was
a patina of the shall we say, distancing himself from
the family business. Family's run business. I don't have anything

(32:01):
to do with it. Yeah. Now there's none of that.
And we knew in Trump one Season one he had
the hotel, he had the resorts. Those were all ways
in which you can money himself. He did through the
Secret Service. He continues to do that.

Speaker 4 (32:13):
But and don't forget the new clubs that are being opened,
particularly in Washington, where you can for a half a
million dollars join their exclusive club and have access to
everything you want.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
I mean, it's half a million dollars right to join.
John is exactly right. It's called the Executive Club, and
it's run by Donald Trump's son. So the self dealing
and self enrichment in this administration is on display on
a level really unprecedented. I know we have a bias,
but it really is unprecedented.

Speaker 4 (32:44):
Well, you know, Mark, the reason I volunteered to serve
on the Mark Thompson Program, which I heartily endorse, is
because of all the perks I get I watch it.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
We need to send him some perks I don't know,
but the UH and the gold card you want us
John Rothman UH shadow producer Calvin waw And says gold
card for citizenship too. Yeah, I mean there is that
whole you know, selling citizenship and citizenship in this country
and for those who have a lot of money has
always been more accessible than for those who don't have

(33:19):
as much money. But now we're in a weird situation
with American citizenship. For sure.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
Corrupt.

Speaker 4 (33:25):
Your word was corrupt. It is the most corrupt administration
in American history, and it will be so recorded in
my judgment.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
So take me to as you. I'm going to hit
you with a couple of polls here in a second
that I think reflect the fact that the mood in
America has turned on Trump a bit. But before we
get too, you know, jacked up on that. I see
a lot in right wing media, and I've even come

(33:53):
from a red state recently in the last week, and
you see the the ghost fear that they operate in
is very different. And they are still raw, raw, raw Trump.
So those things that enrage us center left, if you will,
they don't enrage the rest of the country. Give me

(34:14):
a state of the state as you see it now
in terms of priorities and those things that I think
economics is going to leapfrog everything here in about three
weeks to a month. But I want I'm curious as
to your impressions.

Speaker 4 (34:26):
Well, first of all, with deep regret, I hate to
tell you that the old signal eight to ten am,
which was kgo and is now KSFO. If you want
to hear an example of the defense of Donald Trump
every minute of the day, that's what you listen to.
And for somebody like me who suffers from low blood pressure,

(34:47):
it works miracles, but it is astounding. There's just no
words to describe the feeling that I have. You asked
about the economic situation. Just take a look at the
port of Los Angeles. You are in Los Angeles, take
a look Mark at what is happening in the Port
of Los Angeles. It is an unmitigated disaster, and yet

(35:10):
Donald Trump seems determined to carry on.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
Well, deliveries are down by a third, just to put
a specific on it.

Speaker 4 (35:17):
Yeah, right, and so you know what, can you say?
The ultimate decision will be made by the American people.
And I can't wait for the midterm elections because if
I believe in the American people, and I know you
and I have differed on this, but I do believe
in the good judgment of the American people, I expect
the Republicans to be clobbered.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
In no, well, I think they are techno political water.
I don't have much faith in the good judgment of
the American people because the good judgment of the American people,
as you put it, gave you Donald Trump to begin with,
and they gave you Donald half a second time. Okay,
well that was sufficient in numbers.

Speaker 4 (35:50):
So well, I'm hoping that the other half will strike
back at the polls. Can I make a quick comment then,
about the question of the courts. It is clear that
everything comes down to two justices of the United States
Supreme Court, Amy Cony Barrett and the Chief Justice John
Roberts in those two individuals' hands will determine whether or not,

(36:15):
by a five to four vote, the Trump administration is stopped.
All lower courts are citing against Donald Trump at this point,
and one can only hope the Supreme Court will come through,
as I hope they will.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
Yeah, there's a lot of hope being hung on this
court that you would have I recoiled from I think
in the past. And I don't mean just you literally,
but I mean one would have. This is a court
that's stacked with conservative judges. They made their first order
of business rolling back row and yet now we sort

(36:49):
of have to look at them as you know, daddy,
daddy rescue me. I don't know. I mean, you've got
a highly politicized court. It is true that Trump has
so gone after the legal system and the courts that
it's quite possible that the justices on the Supreme Court
will break back against him. It does appear like there's

(37:10):
some of that happening already. So maybe that's well placed hope.

Speaker 4 (37:13):
And none of the question is whether Donald Trump will
defy the Court. And I think that is really going
to be when you talk about a real constitutional crisis
that would be a real, genuine crisis. Although although some
who are listening at this moment may disagree with me,
I believe we're in a constitutional crisis.

Speaker 1 (37:29):
Now, Yeah, I mean I hear that phrase a lot.
I think you're absolutely right. I mean I go a
step further. I think you have essentially almost a completed coup.
And that doesn't mean it's irreversible, but it does mean
that you have a president and his functionaries that are
operating completely independent of any kind of general institutional guardrails, Congress,

(37:52):
the judiciary, and the rule of law. And one of
the things that has brought people, investors, businesses, and students
the world to America is our respect for the rule
of law. There is an equality that no one's above
the law. That is something that we I mean, you
and I know that if you've got money, you've got

(38:13):
a better chance at work in the legal system than
if you don't have money. But the general notion of
working within the legal system has always been underpinning the US,
hasn't it absolutely one hundred percent?

Speaker 4 (38:24):
You go back and you take a look. I just
finished rereading John Sirica's book for the Record, and John Sick.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
Remind everybody who John Sirica was.

Speaker 4 (38:33):
He was the judge in the key component in the
Watergate cases, and he has a whole section in his
book about the question of executive power. And if anything,
what this court must do is to uphold the Burger
Court's judgment that there are limits to a president's power.
We have yet to see that happen, but I find

(38:56):
it extremely distressing. And may I tell you I am
a big fan of the Constitution. And when the President
of the United States stated on Meet the Press that
he would ignore the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution due process,
that is a violation of the thirty five word oath.
Do you remember the words, I do solemnly swear that
I will faithfully execute the office of President of the

(39:17):
United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect,
and defend the Constitution of the United States. That is
clearly not what Donald Trump said on Meet the Press.
And I don't know if Albert has the clip, but
it is one of the most And I hate to
ask for such things.

Speaker 1 (39:32):
You shouldn't. I'd warned you about I warned him against
asking for clips, Albert, and still he asks for clips.
The guy called himself, Albert.

Speaker 4 (39:42):
Here's his ding word for I am.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
I am incorrigible. Yes, all right. I wanted to ask
you about just related to the rule of law. I
wanted to ask you about sanctuary cities and going after mayors,
governors of states, etc. Who don't play ball with Ice
and who defy these orders when it comes to rounding

(40:08):
up illegal immigrants, people who are undocumented in this country
and are in sanctuary cities and states to protect them. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (40:16):
It's look, we have states, we have cities that are
sanctuary cities.

Speaker 1 (40:20):
Donald Trump is threatened to cut them off.

Speaker 4 (40:22):
I can tell you that there is blowback on it
and push back on it. But that's what Donald Trump
has instructed Pam Bondy, the Attorney General of the United States,
to do, and that is what she is pledged to do.

Speaker 1 (40:34):
He is within and so with Pam Bondy as the
top of justice in America, he is within his rights.
Trump is to withhold these funds, these federal funds to.

Speaker 4 (40:46):
I don't think he's within his rights. I think, in fact,
he's withholding funds. And that's what many of the court cases.
You may want to go through a list of the
court cases which Donald Trump faces some two hundred of them.
I really believe that it is unconstitutional for a president
to rule by executive order or to make these kinds
of decisions. Look what he's done in terms of budgets.

(41:07):
Do you know that not only is FEMA a critical
part of our structure in terms of disaster, but Donald
Trump is cutting FEMA. Donald Trump is cut I mean
you name the department. He calls it Government Economy. I'm
convinced there will be blowbacked, there will be moments when
things cannot be covered. And let me make one other
quick comment about Social Security. Have you tried to call

(41:30):
a Social Security office lately? You can't do it. And
if you tried to make an appointment to go in
and visit at the Social Security office. The cuts they've
made in Social Security doesn't abolish the program, doesn't prevent
the checks from going out each month, but it obstructs
the ability of the American people to access what is
going on in Social Security and how they may or

(41:52):
may not benefit. The absurdity and may I add the
word obscenity to what Donald Trump is doing. Just astounding.
One other example, Noah, the Weather Control System administration. Just
wait until there's a real weather disaster. They are not
equipped to handle that. And we all understand that. And

(42:13):
you know, I don't want to get off on everything, but.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
Look, well, just just because it devetails with that, I
would say that you know what they're doing with the
Forest Service and National parks, in the dustrial parks, they
are taking away the monitoring systems associated with air quality
and that's critical in terms of building a network of
data about what's happening in the national parks and everywhere. Yeah,

(42:38):
it's nuts.

Speaker 4 (42:40):
So when you when.

Speaker 1 (42:40):
You tell these these are not expensive programs, by the way,
certainly that I mean FEMA is FEMA costs some money,
but the others do not, and it should. That's the
job of the federal government.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
What is the job of the government is.

Speaker 4 (42:51):
To protect the people who need the most help, who
are the most vulnerable.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
And did you hear.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
Again, by the way, Diamond interrupt you, But you're so
right about this, John just said, even those who would
fall into maybe and I know this is like a
cool thing to say you're a libertarian these days. I
don't think people even really realize many of them who
say that, what that means. But even if you consider
yourself sort of in that libertarian camp. The one thing
government should is for or one of the things, I mean,

(43:18):
prosecuting a war or defending military this kind of thing.
But as John says, when there's a national disaster, a
catastrophe of some kind, it's too big to be handled
by individuals who you know, put together some group of
communities to handle it. That's what the federal government is
there for. That's what why the creation of FEMA was

(43:39):
so critical and has done so much for so many
states that have been affected.

Speaker 4 (43:44):
I also point out that there are mass resignations in
the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department. And if
you really want to understand individual liberty and the effectiveness,
well that's it. It's right there. And so when I
look at all the things rolled back by Donald Trump,
being well eliminated by Donald Trump, one can only hope

(44:06):
that the courts will react. But now I want to
be very clear, the people opposing Trump are winning in
the lower courts. They're even convincing judges nominated put on
the court by Donald Trump. But it will all boil
down to the Supreme Court of the United States. And
when you know that Alito and Thomas are solidly in
the Trump area, and you have three liberal justices of

(44:30):
the Court who vote routinely against him. What you are
going to have is two Justices Amy Coney Barrett and
Chief Justice John Roberts, who may determine the future. And
then comes something even more interesting to me, the fact
that Jade Vance, the Vice President of the United States,
and Pam Bondi, the Attorney General of the United States,

(44:52):
and the Solicitor General of the United States are all
talking about refusing to obey the court. And one of
the things that I learned during the Watergate period, which
I know is ancient history for a lot of people,
is even Richard Nixon was unwilling to defy the courts,
and the reason he fell in the end. If he

(45:13):
had simply said, I'm not going to give you the
tapes up yours, why he would have remained president or
been impeached and removed from office.

Speaker 2 (45:21):
But did you know.

Speaker 4 (45:23):
That we had a vote in the United States Senate,
a tie vote. Jd Vance broke the tie on the
question of tariffs. All you have to do is understand
how tariffs work. To understand that the tariff has to
be imposed by Congress. It can't be imposed. It shouldn't
be able to be imposed unilaterally by the head of

(45:44):
the executive branch. Well, can you believe the United States Senate,
on a vote of forty nine to forty nine, abdicated
its responsibility in this regard?

Speaker 1 (45:58):
May I tell you? And the reason, the reason that
he is able to just because you brought this up.
The reason he's able to do it is he declared what.

Speaker 4 (46:06):
He declared a state of national emergency, right, And let
me assure you there is no national emergency.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
That's the other plate. It's so weakly concocted exactly, of course.

Speaker 4 (46:15):
I mean, this becomes to me it's adulteration of what
the American political system is. And I hope that I'm right.
I hope that in the end the Supreme Court acts.
But if they don't, this has been a dramatically different

(46:36):
United States of America, a dramatically different interpretation of the Constitution.
And we haven't even gotten yet to the fourteenth Amendment,
where I want to remind you that Donald Trump is
now saying that he wants the idea of birthright citizenship eliminated.
And I can only tell you all you have to
do is read the words. If you are, in the
words of some conservatives, a strict constructionist or a liberalist,

(47:02):
the meaning is clear. And one other quick observation. I
know we talked during the campaign about Project twenty twenty five.
Everything that Project twenty twenty five has asked for they
have gotten, and Donald Trump denying that he had even
read the report was ludicrous during the campaign.

Speaker 1 (47:22):
But just take a look. I mean, they're charts. Oh,
I believe that he didn't read the right I believe
that he didn't read Project twenty twenty. Oh No, I
don't think he's I don't think he's read the outside
of an envelope. I mean, I don't think the guy
reads it all. Oh, you can't. But you see, I
think he's aware of it. I think he's okay with that.
He's in bed with them, and he's turned over the
keys to the administration, essentially to Project twenty twenty five
agenda related items. But I don't believe that he read

(47:43):
nine hundred pages of Project twenty twenty five. He read
nine pages of it.

Speaker 4 (47:47):
I think the point is that he is following an agenda.
And how do I know that's right? We learned many
years ago that what you do is you judge a
candidate for president by their advisors, by the people around them,
And that's what we have done in every administration, which
isn't always accurate, but it's pretty precise. And all the
key figures in Project twenty twenty five now have critical

(48:08):
roles in the Trump administration, and that to me is
absolutely unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
Well, one of the great authors of Project twenty twenty
five is Russ Vote, who runs OMB and obviously management budget,
which is incredibly a powerful I want to share this.

Speaker 4 (48:24):
You're right, OMB is one of the most powerful positions
in government.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
Yeah, people don't realize it because it's sort of like
this what less shimmering kind of institution, but it's extremely
All the funding for the US goes through OMB. This
is interesting from a polling standpoint, and I know polls
are something that people both rocoil from and also embrace.

(48:48):
I'd suggest it's important to look at polling, particularly that
it's done well from respected pollsters. And also i'd say
voting is a kind of polling. So you know, before
everybody craps all over Poles, let me just share this
with you. And this is from g Elliot Morris, who
is a statistician who does a substat called strengthen numbers

(49:12):
that I read. In the twenty twenty four election, Donald
Trump gained a surprising edge from an unlikely group, Americans
who typically don't vote. According to a New York Times analysis,
these low turnout voters backed Trump by a double digit margin,
flipping the script from prior years when non voters leaned Democratic.

(49:33):
This wasn't just a quirk of the horse race. Polls,
campaign operators, analysts, post election surveys all pointed to the
same conclusion. The less you followed politics, the more likely
you were to vote for Trump. Now that he's president,
something shifted. New polling shows that the very voters who
powered Trump's return to office are now abandoning him. John

(49:56):
And if that trend holds, it could upend assumptions about
how much campaign messaging and elite discourse really matter, because
it turns out to people who don't read the New
York Times, don't watch the Sunday shows, and don't care
about the policy details still care when the economy sours
and their lives get harder. You're absolutely right, and the

(50:17):
latest polling shows that those people who showed up for Trump,
are not supportive of his economic agenda. These are the
cracks in the armor that is the Trump movement that
brought him to power for a second term.

Speaker 4 (50:32):
But you understand, Donald Trump doesn't care. He can't run
for reelection.

Speaker 2 (50:36):
This is it.

Speaker 4 (50:36):
And he, by the way, finally came to the conclusion
he can't run for a third term. Thank god. It
wouldn't have made any difference if he'd wanted to, he couldn't.
But the point is he feels himself to be above
the law. And I want to be crystal clear, I
was only two years old when the twenty first Amendment,
when the twenty second Amendment rather was passed on two

(50:57):
term limits. I've always opposed term limits, and this is
exactly the reason why I oppose term limits, because what
you now have as a president who doesn't give a
damn and whose power is unchecked, and this, to me is.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
Well, what I would say, John, is that the political
damage spills over to those people who legislatively have to
face their constituency. The Congress has to and so the
more toxic. And I'm not saying he's toxic yet, although
you know, oh, I think he's toxic. Yeah, I think
it depends what you talk to you, but that toxicity

(51:29):
does begin to bleed out onto much of Congress.

Speaker 4 (51:33):
Sure, and that's going to affect whether the Republicans can
control the House and Senate. But less people don't realize this.
Even if the Democrats take control of the House and Senate,
their power will be limited because they won't have large majorities.
This is not going to be like the landslide of
sixty four or the landslide of Well, you can choose

(51:54):
your year. It's a very interesting thing. So in terms
of opposition to Donald Trump, we really have to rely
on the courts. And this vote in the Senate, which
I referred to just a few minutes ago, forty nine
to forty nine with the jd Vance breaking the tie,
demonstrates the unwillingness of Republicans at this point, at this

(52:16):
point in time, to cross Donald Trump.

Speaker 1 (52:20):
Yeah, it's I think it's interesting to take the temperature
of the water at different points in this administration. We're
only a little over one hundred days in and the
one thing I would really underscore is that the effects
of these tariffs we have not felt yet. What you're
feeling through the economy is anxiety about the tariffs. The

(52:44):
tariff effect everyone is roughly aware of, but in fact
Trump commenting on you know, it's going to be a
leaner Christmas and all, don't forget those dolls, don't forget
those dolls, dolls, pencils, et cetera. But the effects of
his tariff policy that will be felt in about a month,

(53:06):
certainly within ninety days, there will be dramatic effects. Sure.

Speaker 4 (53:10):
And one of the things you talked about the Canadian
Prime minister and I found it fast and to listen
to Carneie in the context of that discussion when he
made a statement clearly and precisely that Canadians can't be bought.
And I think this is something that we need to understand.
And Donald Trump, I hope, is getting a real lesson

(53:31):
in that.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
I hope. Well, he is used to everything being transactional
AGA And can I say Carney said, hey, we're not
a condo building, Okay, you can't buy us, And yeah,
I thought he made it graciously, but he made the
point firmly, firmly.

Speaker 4 (53:47):
I want to say something about foreign policy, just for
a moment, because I know we're running out of time.
I resent the fact that I don't have more time
on your program, but I wanted to be clear about
what is happening now between India and Pakistan, two nuclear
powers who now confront each other with constant escalation the

(54:09):
Indian sub continent were it hit with a nuclear conflagration,
the implications by the way, conflagration is a ding word.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
That's true. Thank you, I love myself IDENTIFI go ahead.

Speaker 4 (54:20):
Yes, that would be a catastrophe, not just for the
people of India and Pakistan, but I want to remind
you that it would also be a disaster environmentally, although
it's clear Donald Trump doesn't give a tinker's damn about
the environment. So I'm pointing this out. I used to
kid people when I get talks. In fact, I'm giving
a talk this afternoon, and I'll use this line so

(54:43):
those who are listening, I apologize, Kashmir is more than
a sweater.

Speaker 1 (54:48):
Yeah, okay, I'd lose that line from your speech if
I were you. Ah hey, but it just you. One
of the cornerstones of Rothman is he likes those plays
on words. Can you, without getting too deep into it explained,
I mean, this is a tense relationship between Pakistan and
India and always has been right disputed territory, and neither

(55:13):
really wants to see it escalate to the kind of
nuclear confrontation that you've referred to.

Speaker 4 (55:18):
I agree that's how Nixon in nineteen seventy one was
able to master that confrontation. That's the last time there
was a major blow up, and if you read Nixon's memoirs,
he describes it very clearly. But we don't know the
leadership of Pakistan today. We don't really understand their fanaticism
and how they could react. This is a very serious moment,

(55:43):
and I'm amused by the fact that it is not
getting the headlines that it ought to be receiving, because
when you have two nuclear powers facing off against each
other with no real restraints, potentially you have a real issue.
So when you stop and thinking about Nixon wants said
to me, he said, John, seventy percent of a president's

(56:03):
time is devoted to foreign policy. And one of the
things where Donald Trump deserves a grade, and I think
it's a failing grade, is on foreign policy. Whether it's
Canada or Greenland, or whether it's the Panama Canal, or
whether it is what's happening now. So I'm throwing these
things out just for people to think about. And it's

(56:24):
true that Trump uses a scattergun approach. Oh oh, I
forgot Alcatraz because of course I here in San Francisco
and Alcatraz is right out the window, and we understand it.
I've been to Alcatraz, believe me, on numerous occasions, not
as a convict or a criminal, but I can tell
you that I've interviewed people who were in prison at Alcatraz.

(56:49):
I've interviewed people who were prison guards. The idea of
bringing back Alcatraz is the most ludicrous, ridiculous And did
you understand what happened? This is to me, what did
the National Park Service say, Oh, if the President orders it,
you know, we're willing to do everything we can to
implement what the president says. I don't want a government

(57:12):
which responds to a president in that fashion.

Speaker 1 (57:15):
Well, that was absolutely the government you've got, whether you
want it or not. And you're right. And this is
the point I made the other day when he made
this absurd notion come to life after having seen Alcatraz,
the movie to which he referred. He didn't refer to
the movie, but he referred to you know, no one's
ever escaped from Alcatraz. I don't do a Trump impression.

(57:37):
I wish I did, But he said, you know, one
guy they haven't been able to find. They found his
tattered clothing which Shark bites. That was from the movie.
That's in the movie. He's clearly seen the movie. So
all I'm trying to say is he has these bizarre notions.
But then what you just described is the thing that
I think applies not to just this Alcatraz thing, but

(57:58):
it applies to everything you could even find it. In
Trump won his first administration, it's everybody scrambles to actually
get an action plan for whatever bizarre utterance he's come
up with. So in this case, it's Alcatraz and reconstituting
it and reopening it. In Trump won, it was that ridiculousness.
About two million people voted in the election in I

(58:20):
think was at Vermont or Maine or whatever from they
were illegal immigrants and they voted to Caligilfornia.

Speaker 4 (58:27):
He said there were three million illegal immigrants California. And
he appointed a commission to be chaired by Mike Pence,
and of course it met once and that was it.
A quick word about Mike Pence. I am not a
fan of Mike Pence. I have to tell you I
listened to his interview on CNN the other night, which
I thought was catastrophic on many levels policy wise. But

(58:50):
he deserved the Profiles and Courage Award from the John F.
Kennedy Library. And some of you will recall that in
the aftermath of January sixth, I suggested two names for
the Profile Encourage Award. One was Liz Cheney and the
other was Mike Pence. And I have to tell you,
in that regard, everybody meets a moment. Mike Pence met

(59:10):
his moment and will go down in history as someone
who had the courage to stand up and say it.
And although he's mild in his criticism of Trump today,
he was very clear about what happened on January sixth,
And if you read his autobiography, So Help Me God,
he makes it very clear. And that's because Mike Pence,

(59:31):
whatever you think of him, respect to the Constitution and
his oath of office, I wish I could say the
same for Donald Trump.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
As we finish up, because we're over time, I wanted
to get a quick sense of what's happening with the
Georgia senatorial race. Brian Kemp, who is the Governor's not running.
He's decided not to run. That's exactly right. So you've
got John Ossoff and he may be up against mar

(01:00:00):
Or to retailer Green for that.

Speaker 4 (01:00:01):
I hope that happens because I am convinced Osoff would
be re elected.

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
And so that is something that Republicans look at quite
anxiously because the reality is that that Camp might have
had a chance, but it's likely that Green does not.
I mean that to be the case.

Speaker 4 (01:00:22):
And Osoff has been a pretty good senator, to be
very honest with you, So we just have to see
how these things go.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
But just just remind us why that's important, because of
the control of the Senate. Control of the Senate exactly.

Speaker 4 (01:00:34):
And I regret that you and I well, maybe we can,
through your good offices on election night. Of course that's
more than a year away, sit down and really analyze returns.
We've had that pleasure before and I hope we have
it again.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
That'd be great. John podcast is the word I'm looking for.
Guest is available every day. It's called around the political world.
But John Rothman and find him also on the Voice
of San Francisco, The Voice s F dot Org. Look
for it under podcast John love you, see you be you,

(01:01:09):
always be you, John, Always be you. That's the word
I have for you today. Thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:01:15):
I'll see you next week and keep up the good work.
And he may not mention contributions, but I am all right.

Speaker 6 (01:01:25):
Mark Thompson.

Speaker 1 (01:01:34):
Things in the one time killing.

Speaker 6 (01:01:38):
I don't know what a one time killing is. I
don't have a looking up.

Speaker 7 (01:01:43):
I was fortunate everyone I worked with made me better
at my job.

Speaker 1 (01:01:48):
I'm from regular stock. Why a liar? You pass five?
You are a couple of artists and you on.

Speaker 3 (01:02:02):
We'll do it a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:02:03):
I can go on write and I will do it lot.

Speaker 2 (01:02:09):
My words upset so many people, and you let them
on a show.

Speaker 1 (01:02:18):
I love them.

Speaker 4 (01:02:18):
In your a.

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
I love it. It's our Wednesday show. Good conversation with Rothman.
Thank you for being here. Everybody, smash that like button
if you would, and also your iron rods. I promised
you that we wouldn't mention it. And so this is
my mention for the second hour, that we're in the
middle of spring katching this channel desperately in need of
your help. So it's our spring fundraiser Spring Katching brings

(01:02:45):
Louise Robinson in with a supersticker and a big shout
out to you. Louise, Thank you, very generous of you.
The ten dollars supersticker really does help, as does the
twenty dollars supersticker from Joan Quigley. Joan Q, thank you
really really cool of you for jumping on board. It
is a it's a it's an effort. Carla Morris with

(01:03:05):
a fifty dollars superstick or coming out, Carlin Morris, thank
you so very cool. Carla, thank you, my dear, really
really cool. And Scott Rittenberg. I'm still searching for an
RV so we can get the Mark Thompson show mobile.
You can be the max headroom of the twenty first century,
Live long and prosper I love that idea. It was

(01:03:27):
a wild idea, but I love that idea. I'd love them.
You know, we talked about that at KG or remember Albert,
when Bart was auctioning off or selling their decommissioned Bart cars.
We talked about buying one. They were ten thousand dollars apiece,
and I even said I'll buy one with my own

(01:03:50):
money and we'll put it up somewhere, but there was
nowhere to put it like. There was no like back
lot at KGO, this is the radio station that we
were working at, there was no Well. I thought it
would be a great place to set up a studio
and do a whole thing. They're really heavy, so it's
not easy to transport. Oh, we didn't really get it
off the off the chalkboard because of just a limit

(01:04:11):
on space. But I love the idea of a mobile unit.
Great idea, Mark, Kim Albert and Toni. You're also great
at what you do every day. Keep the show going,
Vilma and og theist you for that super chat. Thank you, Vilma,
really appreciate it. Kaisuke Warner, how about a twenty dollars
super chat big shot, supersticker and Kaisuki. I hope I'm

(01:04:33):
saying it right. That is a super cool name. We
love the names on this show, so Kisuki very very cool.
Thank you for that. Gwen Roberts for a five dollars
super chat. Thanks all y'all, she said, big shot out,
big shout. Yeah. Really. Mark been with kg O since

(01:04:54):
nineteen eighty six, says Jack. Jack. I always said government
is a racket and politicians are our racketeers. Jack Jack
with a twenty dollars super check cannot argue sadly. I'll
just say this because I think that's true on some level,
and maybe on multiple levels. But we need some system

(01:05:17):
by which we are governing a almost ungovernable kind of state.
I'm talking about the state of the nation, and so
we need to have some faith in government, which is
why rule of law is such an exciting thing. I mean,
if you can really adhere to a rule of law,

(01:05:40):
then America can be a place where everyone really does
have a chance. I think one of the scariest things
that's happening right now is undermining the law, flipping the
bird to the law and just doing what you want
to do because of the great power of the executive,
which has been, as we know, conferred even greater power
from the Supreme Court. I'll show it with a twenty

(01:06:01):
dollars superstick. I'm on, Vivian, She's an og great to
have you and supporting the show. Vivian, you are always
there for us. CBD, come on with a superstition shout,
I love my CBD.

Speaker 2 (01:06:13):
Can you let him finish their Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:06:15):
Well, I literally love my ce Harry Magnan, that was
a bart idea that never got off the tracks? Is
that right? Is that a play with words never got
off the track? I get it, I get it. Thank
you Harry, seven dollars. I appreciate that. Chaplain Fred a
fifty dollars super chat. Here's what he says. Good morning, Mark,

(01:06:37):
Kim and Albert. Just want to show my support for
your show. Mark, thank you for having such great guests.
I always am listening and trying to interact during the show,
but I get so busy with my patients. Well that's
really cool that you would listen at all when you
have patients to attend to and chaplain Fred. You are
someone who has really stepped up for us in recent months.

(01:06:59):
And I so appreciate the fifty dollars super chat here
I say thank you. Says so so much.

Speaker 4 (01:07:05):
Mark.

Speaker 1 (01:07:05):
Do you have a company PO box or can we
send you a check to KFI and they con forward
it to you. This is from CCU Rider. The answer
is we do have a company PO box. If you
send me an email, I will send it back to you.
So the email is the Mark Thompson Show at gmail
dot com. You have to put the the in there
The Mark Thompson Show at gmail dot com. Anyone who

(01:07:28):
would prefer to send a check and get us money
that way as part of our Spring Kutchain fundraiser, do
it through The Mark Thompson Show at gmail dot com
and I will send you back an address if you
prefer that. If that's easier than PayPal and Patreon, please
do it that way The Mark Thompson Show at gmail
dot com. Big shout out to all of you who

(01:07:50):
have helped have helped us through this period. It's a
critical period and I really appreciate everybody, yes stepping up. Keim,
I'd love to get some news in if I could,
I'm ready, and then I'll get to some additional shocking
stories that are coming out of the Washington d C.
I mean literally Washington DC. You've got ice agents rating

(01:08:12):
these high end restaurants in Washington. It's really kind of
a weird look. You know, there's a sense that Ice
agents are almost the They almost have a Gestapo like
tactic and style. And I'll give you some of the
specifics on that when I when I share that story
with you, But right now, I'd like to get some

(01:08:33):
news from Kim and then we continue.

Speaker 2 (01:08:36):
Smashing that like but with your iron rock.

Speaker 1 (01:08:38):
I do need a quick cup of coffee before the
I made just a quick pour over today. I made
like they're just the individual pour over cups because I
was kind of gonna heart this a lot going on.
I got the cat who's you know, not doing well,
and poor Courtney's just gotten out of a medical so

(01:09:00):
I've got you know, it's like everybody everything here is crazy.
But I must tell you this coffee.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
Sometimes it's all it takes.

Speaker 1 (01:09:09):
It just takes the coffee makes it an you. You
can have a coffee cup just like mine. That is
to say, a cup of coffee just like mine. You
can have it from our coffee sponsor, Coachella Valley Coffee
dot Com. Use Mark Tilla checkout for a ten percent off.

(01:09:30):
All right, that is it Kim's news and we continue
Mark Thompson Show, The Mark Thompson Show.

Speaker 2 (01:09:44):
On The Mark Thompson Show, I'm Kim McAllister. This report
sponsored by Coachella Valleycoffee dot Com. Well, the Pope Watch
was on. There are thousands of people today that crammed
into Saint Peter's Square. They were looking for any sign
of smoke to come out of the Sistine check Apple's chimney.
The election of the new Pope, as you know, will
be signified by white smoke, unsuccessful votes by black smoke.

(01:10:08):
And we saw today thick black smoke rising from a
chimney installed in the sixteen chapel, signifying that the first
vote to elect the new Pope was unsuccessful. They are
done for the day and the voting resumes tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:10:21):
I wonder how they choose the guy who does the smoke,
Like is that like a is that like a key,
like draft pic situation?

Speaker 2 (01:10:29):
You know, job, it's you've got to be well trained
on the white versus black smoke.

Speaker 1 (01:10:33):
Task, certainly, and you've got to get that right. I
don't want a lot of problems, like get the black
smoke up the right away so we can all get
out of here. Don't screw it up right anyway. Maybe
someone can research that can.

Speaker 2 (01:10:43):
Interesting rates will stay unchanged. Interest rates will stay unchanged.
In the Federal Reserves announcement, It cites recent economic reports
that have sent mixed signals on the state of the economy.
Inflation remains above the Central Banks target of two percent. Also,
about four and ten Americans say the United States is
currently in a recession a forty percent of US. The

(01:11:06):
latest poll from the economist Yugov found an uptick from
thirty percent, which was previously reported in early February. Despite
the increase, the figure is still lower than the fifty
percent who have the same view in late twenty twenty
two and the early days of twenty twenty three. The
poll also found thirty five percent of respondents disagreed with

(01:11:27):
recession claims, twenty five percent were not sure when asked
about that topic. President Trump says he wants the fighting
between India and Pakistan to stop, speaking from the White
House to do it. Yeah, please stop. Wasn't it You
just pick up a phone and d.

Speaker 1 (01:11:43):
A contractor annoy?

Speaker 2 (01:11:46):
You just call India and Pakistan, please, he says.

Speaker 1 (01:11:49):
Lab writer correct me to India. Please.

Speaker 2 (01:11:52):
Yeah, I'd like to talk to the bomb dropper. The
United States, he says, has great relations with both countries,
and he'll step in if he is asked to. Tensions
between the neighboring countries intensified, coming after India's military launched
strikes against Pakistan in response to a militant attack in
Kashmir last month. Former President Biden is suggesting that he

(01:12:16):
doesn't think an earlier decision to withdraw from the twenty
twenty four race would have changed the outcome of the election.
I think we have video of this interview as well.
Albert President Biden ended his campaign in July of last year.
During a new interview with a BBC, Biden was questioned
about criticism on not stepping aside sooner. He says, I

(01:12:36):
don't think it would have mattered. He also had some
comments about Vladimir Putin and Russia and the world order.

Speaker 1 (01:12:43):
Not sure how Albert has gone to the little producers room.
I think that's right.

Speaker 2 (01:12:47):
Heah, we'll move forward. The head of the Homeland Security
Department would like the death penalty after a migrant smuggling
boat crash. Boat was carrying about fifteen people when it
sized off the coast near San Diego Monday, killing three people,
including a fourteen year old boy and his ten year
old sister. They were reportedly lost at sea. The US

(01:13:09):
Attorney's Office charged five Mexican nationals allegedly behind that smuggling operation,
and again the Department of Homeland Security, Christy Nome, would
like the death penalty in this case. The Trump administration
is reportedly planning to send some undocumented immigrants to Libya
that according to NBC News, which cited US officials with

(01:13:32):
knowledge of the matter, the deportation flight could happen as
earlier as this week. Libya's government of National Unity says,
wait a minute, We're not working with the United States
on deportations, and they are rejecting the use of the
country as a destination without their knowledge or consent. The
last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US
was working on finding other countries that would take these deportees. Finally,

(01:13:56):
some movement in North Carolina, Republican Jefferson Griffin is conceding
the North Carolina Supreme Court race after months of lawsuits
he was trying to get a lot of votes thrown out.
Griffin accepted defeat to Democratic incumbent Alison Riggs on Wednesday.
This comes after a federal judge ruled against Griffin's legal

(01:14:17):
challenges to thousands of ballots and ordered the state's election
board to certify those results. Andrew Cuomo plans to run
for mayor of New York City, but he will do
it as an independent Democratic governor of New York State
announced the move Tuesday, saying he'll run as an independent
regardless of whether he wins the Democratic primary. This as

(01:14:39):
current mayor Eric Adams is also running as an independent
and sip Democratic primary. Apparently, I have.

Speaker 1 (01:14:48):
Been too familiar with people. Yeah, I wouldn't run on that.
I wouldn't make that a campaign slogan. I'll just show
you I've been too familiar with people.

Speaker 2 (01:14:59):
Governor to almost is currently pulling first in that primary.
You imagine you've got Cuomo versus Adams. What a bunch
of choices for you. I do hug and kiss people casually.

Speaker 1 (01:15:13):
Yeah, of course that's the best way to hug and
kiss people. By the way, he's not as fool that way.
Do it casually?

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
Who you vote for? The groper or the fraudster?

Speaker 1 (01:15:21):
We don't know, legend well the problem if you. So,
here's the way I do it. I take out all
the corruption and uh, sexual harassment, and I look at
who's governing better. You have to, I mean that's where
I start, anyway, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:15:40):
And.

Speaker 1 (01:15:42):
Criminal no, uh, who's best at criming?

Speaker 2 (01:15:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:15:47):
Maybe do it that way. I don't know, that's a great.

Speaker 6 (01:15:50):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:15:52):
Hug and kiss people casually, Yeah, sometimes I'll I'll look
at the old or maybe I'll be served up to
the old family feud, like the original family feud from
the seventies. Yeah, there was this guy, Richard Dawson was
the host. You know, he's a British guy, really great,
very charming, you know, and he used to kiss on

(01:16:13):
the lips. I know all of these women who were
contestants on the show Families. It is really now and
I look at it. It's totally creepy and awful and gross.

Speaker 2 (01:16:22):
And it was normal back then before.

Speaker 1 (01:16:25):
They were hoping that they that he would kiss them.

Speaker 2 (01:16:27):
Ew.

Speaker 1 (01:16:27):
He met his wife on that show, by the way,
Richard Dawson. So anyway, yeah, pretty crazy. Anyway, My point is,
if you're a hugger and kisser, maybe you know sadly
your decade was some time ago no longer.

Speaker 2 (01:16:42):
A Los Angeles City Council committee is advancing a plan
to increase pay for hotel and airport workers. The plan
calls for boosting the workers minimum wage to thirty bucks
an hour by twenty twenty eight. There are residents in
one Bay Area community here near San Francisco up their
own money to try to ward off burglars some residents

(01:17:03):
in the town of Arnda have pooled their money to
purchase their own license plate reader camera outside of their
homes to protect the neighborhood. The residents there tell KGOTV
that the two cameras they bought can cover two hundred
families by taking pictures of every vehicle that drives up
and down their roadway.

Speaker 1 (01:17:23):
So Arnda is in the East Bay kind of of
San Francisco, and I was going to say, it's they've
got a few dollars those residents, don't they in Arnda?

Speaker 2 (01:17:33):
Yeah, yeah, Yeah, it's enough scale community.

Speaker 1 (01:17:35):
It's tough scale community. So it's kind of the thing
that a lot of upscale communities are doing in even
parts of San Francisco. I think they put together private security,
and you know, they're kind of taking matters into their
own hands in a way. They've set up their own
governments within the overall government. So just as we talk
about government and we talk about law and order and

(01:17:56):
this sort of thing, it's interesting to see communities take
matters into their own hands. I mean, it's kind of
like the neighborhood Watch, but on another level with the technology.

Speaker 2 (01:18:08):
Famed Motown singer Smokey Robinson being accused of sexual assault
by former employees. Four women, all employed as housekeepers, submitted
a fifty million dollar lawsuit on Los Angeles Superior Court
this week.

Speaker 1 (01:18:21):
I do hug kill. This is way worse than hugging
and kissing.

Speaker 2 (01:18:28):
I love their allegations sexual assault, false imprisonment, creating a
hostile work environment, so it goes well beyond the hugging
and kissing. The lawsuit also names the eighty five year
old's wife, Francis Robinson, as well, again four housekeepers on
that one. And lastly, the streaming giant Netflix today announcing
a major overhaul of its homepage. It's going to be

(01:18:49):
the first redesign since Netflix unveiled the current homepage back
in twenty thirteen, so it'll be interesting to see how
it looks. They also are announcing they'll start test generative
AI boosted search and a TikTok like vertical video feed
on mobile phones. Netflix says these changes will be at

(01:19:10):
first small tests and so not all Netflix users will
receive the tools, kind of beta testing in certain areas,
and then they'll do a larger undertaking if that's successful.
So we're getting some Netflix changes coming.

Speaker 1 (01:19:23):
Up this by the way that just on the question
of Hollywood tariffs, Netflix may be very much caught in
the gears of that because a lot of their production
is overseas. There's a lot of production across the board
that's overseas. We talked about the other day. I mean
all the Marvel movies, half of them are they're mixed
in London, they're shot in London, or they shoot scenes

(01:19:45):
from Mission Impossible in you know, in Abu Dhabi or wherever.
I mean, you're gonna have to, I think, find your
way through all of that. As usual, Trump makes these
kind of reflexive utterances and doesn't really think it through.
One hundred percent tariff on movies not produced in the
US that'll have wide ranging effects and it's going to

(01:20:07):
affect way more than just a handful of projects, and
it's going to do a lot of damage. And I'm
hoping that a lot of production comes back to Hollywood,
but honestly that that ship sailed, and the efforts that
have been made to bring production back to Hollywood have
been pursued by the Governor of California. You know, he's
trying to institute many of the tax incentives that have

(01:20:30):
been provided by states like Georgia and and by communities
north of the border Vancouver. You know, in British Columbia
you can shoot for a fraction and produce films for
a fraction of what you can in this country. So
there is a real problem here. But the idea that
there's just one hundred percent tariff, it's typically a shallow

(01:20:50):
policy from a guy who is shallow. Doesn't he goes
identify as a problem or what he precedes as a
problem and then just as well just throw an a one
hundred percent tariff on it. So could very much affect Netflix.
In fact, after that announcement, there's stock drop precipitously, so
will precipitously as a dangler. We'll see, we'll see.

Speaker 2 (01:21:08):
I do a breaking news story that just popped up
on my screen, and this is that three former Memphis
police officers were today found not guilty in the Tyree
Nichols murder trial. They were charged with beating Nichols to
death back in twenty twenty three. The whole thing was
caught on video and became a national story. Again, the

(01:21:29):
three officers found not guilty on all charges. So that's
some breaking news as well. This report is sponsored by
Coachella Valley Coffee dot Com. Mark is loving the coffee today.
I've got I'm double fisting it. I've got both cups
filled with the vanility. Yeah, I'm so excited. I've got
upset for the whole reason that this place is fun.

Speaker 7 (01:21:53):
All organic does Yeah, it is all organic. Go for it,
Kim makes my life better. Check out the tasting notes
on the website. They've really taken some time and they're
very creative. It's Coachella Valleycoffee dot Com is the website,
Coachella Valleycoffee dot Com.

Speaker 1 (01:22:10):
The cold brew. We have a cold brew working right
now on the counter. They send you the cold brew.
It's not just coffee that you throw ice in or whatever.
It is special coffee with instructions on how to do it.
And it's it's simple, but they do take the time
to add to They are offering these instructions as to
how to brew your cold brew. And it's really really great.

(01:22:33):
And on the tea side, it's loose leaf, it's it's bagged,
it's whatever. But the cold brew, we're getting to that
time of the year, so you may really enjoy that
as well. I love a hot cup of coffee in
the morning. But I will tell you hot or cold,
it is delish, good stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:22:52):
O Valleidcoffee dot com. And you've got the exclusive Mark
Thompson Showed discount ten percent off. There's Albert checking it
in the code box right there. You click in Mark
te no spaces and boom, ten percent off. A couple
of days later, your box arrives and it's always such
a great day when that happens. I'm kim McAllister and
this be the Mark Thompson Show, The Mark Thompson Shows.

Speaker 6 (01:23:27):
Mark Thompson Pull a bull. They're in the one time killing.
I don't know what a one time killing is. I'm
going up.

Speaker 1 (01:23:40):
That's not fake, that's real. I've never heard of.

Speaker 6 (01:23:46):
Something like that.

Speaker 3 (01:23:47):
There is nothing in our history that white compares to this.

Speaker 5 (01:23:51):
No way.

Speaker 1 (01:23:51):
They never put something like this together that I've ever
seen it. We've never seen anything like it before.

Speaker 2 (01:23:56):
Have you ever seen anything like this?

Speaker 1 (01:23:57):
I've never seen anything.

Speaker 6 (01:24:00):
We'll try ignore you, We'll do it.

Speaker 3 (01:24:03):
Line, We'll do it. Line my words.

Speaker 6 (01:24:10):
So many people.

Speaker 1 (01:24:18):
Love it. Our Wednesday Show. Thank you for joining us.
We are a live show on the East Coast for
two to four set your watches and phones and other
devices on the West coast. It's eleven to one. Thank
you for being with us and around the globe. I
got a an email from Finland, I think or it
was a comment from Finland. So a shout out to

(01:24:39):
Finland from Asgard. No, that's he's Norway. Oh so this
is Finland. They are close to each other, but they're
separate countries. That's right. Finland has Lapland, you know, that's
where Santa supposedly lives. Sure, and yeah, and I remember
being in Finland. I remember being in Finland and they

(01:25:03):
tell you, you know, you should do this one thing
that's touristy, you know, which is to have your picture
taken with this, you know, someone is like a reindeer
and a Santa guy. It's very touristy. But they said
you really have to do it. So I was in Lapland.
I remember being incredibly jet lagged. It was exhausted. And
I go to this place where the guy is and

(01:25:24):
I remember he looked more jet lag than I was,
and like they just woke him up for this picture.
And I don't even remember the reindeer. Maybe there was
one there, but it is again. I think that's the
mythology around around Finland. So a lot of people in
the chat recognizing there's a big Hogan's Heroes because Richard Dawson,

(01:25:48):
who hosted Family Feud, Yeah, came out of he was
in Hogan's Heroes and a lot of people. Yeah, the
rev says Hogan Hogan to get out of my office.
You know, it's interesting. I know nothing was the Yeah,
that's right, was Schultz's thing. Yeah, it's interesting just on

(01:26:10):
Hogan's Heroes. This is will appeal to maybe twelve people
who remember that show but or who liked Hogan's Heroes.
It was a prisoner prisoner of war camp. It was
not a concentration camp or it took place. It was
a prisoner of war camp. That was a really important distinction,
I guess at the time. And all of the German

(01:26:32):
officers were played by people who had fled Nazi Europe
to come to this country. It was really wild. I
didn't know that at the time, but I did a
deep dive on Hogan's Heroes one day and it's fascinating.
You can go look up the guy who played Schultz,
look up the guy who played who was the Commandant Clink,

(01:26:56):
you know, and Clink's father was a fan. There is
on the right. Klink's father was a famous conductor musician.
And that's the guy who played the SS officer Hey
Duck like this. He had this very and he also
was what's his name, Bulk Caarter or something Bolt Carter.

(01:27:20):
So all of those guys who are playing Nazis, they
all fled Nazi Germany and Nazi Austria and Nazi Europe.

Speaker 2 (01:27:27):
Which is interesting that people that went through that and
had such close contact of what happened there would be
I would have such a sense of humor about it,
would be able to turn around years later and do
a show like this is it was a comedy.

Speaker 1 (01:27:42):
Yeah, that's exactly right. And they were just great. But Johanniodel, now,
thank you for the five dollars. A super chat, my friend,
appreciate that. Big shout out to you. And apparently last
night on Colbert there was an interview with Father Guido Sarducci.

(01:28:03):
This is from Uncle Russ, Father Guido Sarducci. For those
who don't know, probably many of our listeners and viewers
do know Father Guido Sarducci. He was an early SNL contributor.
His name is Don Novello in real life and he
lives in Marin County in the Bay Area. We came
out of the Bay Area this show, so I always
like to a tip of the hat to Bay Area

(01:28:26):
folk who did and it was really a great area.
That's what Father Guido's Arducci looks like now. And I'll
have to go check out the interview. We can't run
it for you here because we'll be demonetized. But that's
just he was terrific on SNL. He used to be
on the Weekend Update news regularly, and of course with

(01:28:46):
a new pope about to be chosen, he is very
much of the moment and I love that don Novello.
I spent I think we had dinner one night in
San Francaca. Just a lovely guy. You know, many many
years ago, hung out with him one night. What is
the pink there? He is? That's the that's what Father
gidows or does she looked like in the you know,
the golden years of SNL, the early years of SNL.

(01:29:11):
What does pink smoke signal? Says Michael D.

Speaker 2 (01:29:14):
I don't know, I don't don't think anything.

Speaker 1 (01:29:16):
I don't think pink smoke is part of the part
of the plan.

Speaker 2 (01:29:18):
Black or white. That's all you got, right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:29:23):
The anything else here, you're.

Speaker 2 (01:29:27):
Gonna have to look it up. Colors of papal smoke. Yeah,
black and white, that's it.

Speaker 1 (01:29:32):
Uh, Dan Ashley interview soon, maybe ask Calvin Wan. Yeah,
we haven't checked in with Dan Ashley in a while.

Speaker 2 (01:29:41):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:29:42):
Kats and Jam says, when your brain trust for Hollywood
is John Voight, Mel Gibson and sliced alone, this is
the kind of deep reflection that you get. Yeah, Kats
and Jam is right. We're not really we're not really
getting top advisors in any way and in any arm
of government. We have rank amateurs everywhere. Look who's running

(01:30:02):
the Department of Defense. I mean, David K. Johnston made
the point so beautifully yesterday. You got a guy who
was a captain. I mean, this is not I mean
that's leaving aside drinking problems, sexual assault, all the rest.
But it's a it's a troubled place Washington because there

(01:30:23):
are really no smart people around to push back on
this president or even offer him anything. But you know,
high fives, great idea, mister President. Oh wow, I wish
I was as smart and handsome as you are, mister president.
So pretty crazy. I don't I did promise you one story.

(01:30:45):
Let me go, and then I want to get to Belinda.
Because it is Wednesday. We like to check in on
environmental stories. But this out of Washington, d C. You
know where I grew up, and it's always interesting. I
get a lot of magazines and publications out of Washington.
Mark Thompson show. Ice agents are targeting DC restaurants. Millies

(01:31:06):
and Poop Tella are among the restaurants to get a
visit today. This is from the Washingtonian. Immigration and Customs
enforcement agents began targeting DC restaurants yesterday Tuesday, in what
is shaping up to be one of the city's most
high profile examples yet of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

(01:31:27):
Millis in Spring Valley, Poopa Tella in DuPont Circle, Chef
Jeff's in Northwest Chang Chang Downtown, and Ghostburger in Shaw
are among the many businesses that immigration officials have visited.
They're looking for I nine forms verifying employment eligibility, and
there have been no reports of detainments at any of

(01:31:49):
these restaurants so far. Millies Caters to an affluent upper
Northwest Washington. Crowd eight or nine agents, some in plain clothes,
others with uniforms and guns swarmed the restaurant just as
it was opening for lunch. They all came in all

(01:32:10):
of the public entrances as the same at the same time,
says owner bau Blair. The general manager met the agents,
who provided a notice of inspection and asked to question employees.
The manager said that they couldn't, and they did not
push back. They asked for I nine forms the restaurant
keep securely at the corporate office, not at the restaurant.

(01:32:34):
The quote. They made it pretty public that they're coming
back to the restaurant to collect the farms, which is
pretty unnerving to the staff, obviously, says the group's CEO,
Marisa Casey. She says she's asking them not to come
back to the restaurant because the documents are not kept there.
We don't want them to go back to our restaurants
and scare everybody, she says. They're not worried, she says,

(01:32:59):
for their own sake, but they're worried for their business.
We were under the impression that they were focusing on
trying to find criminals, said the manager of the restaurant.
This is just a whole new level of harassment to
our hard working, law abiding employees. You know, this reminds
me of what they used to do to black owned

(01:33:19):
businesses in this country. They used to go in and
check for something, just a general check of some checking licenses,
all the rest. But they come in with all these
police officers and law enforcement people. In this case it's
ice agents. They come in with nine agents for a restaurant.
I mean, it's clearly designed to shake people up, but
it has a horrible chilling effect on business. But this

(01:33:43):
is the new world we're living in. I mean, these are,
in my judgment, Gestapo like tactics. And I really hate
to always default in any way to that Third Reich
thing because I think that's used a lot. But you know,
this is stormtrooper type stuff. So that's what's happening in Washington,
d C. Even at high end restaurants there. They are, well, Albert,

(01:34:05):
really great job of hustling this video. So look at
that the restaurants just opening, all these people are there.
This is again top tier restaurant in Washington. So as
these immigration policies find their way to court. There are
other ways to have a chilling effect on hiring employees

(01:34:27):
who can anyway have even the shadow of doubt around them.
Ice and Homeland Security agents going into DC restaurants, and
essentially this is an intimidation tactic. That's the manager of
the restaurant that Bo Blair, the owner of this place, Millies,

(01:34:48):
what the.

Speaker 3 (01:34:49):
Hell is going on in the United States of America?

Speaker 1 (01:34:52):
Thank you? Ron gets it. Ron gets it all right.
We continue Mark Thompson Show Wednesdays. We like to take
a moment to check out what's happening on the in
the planet, and on the planet the environment. These are
tough times, but we have someone with us who likes
to concentrate whenever possible, on the good news and finding

(01:35:13):
the good news in it all. That doesn't mean she
exclusively focuses on that, but it is nice to talk
to someone who balances my bleak view of the future.
We do it in a segment we call It's the
Planet Stupid, the Planet Earth.

Speaker 2 (01:35:27):
Some call me Nature.

Speaker 6 (01:35:28):
I am very passionate about the planet Earth, a living,
breathing planet capable of sustaining whatever life forms we see
fit to deposit on it.

Speaker 1 (01:35:36):
The spot judging by the pollution content of the atmosphere,
I believe we have her arm. It's the planet stupid.

Speaker 2 (01:35:42):
No, no, no, it's the planet stupid.

Speaker 1 (01:35:46):
And our guide for it's the planet stupid is Belinda Weymouth,
eco journalist. Right, and hello, how are you.

Speaker 6 (01:35:54):
I'm fantastic and very happy to be here to help
you get balanced. Mark Fixes, I'm the balancer.

Speaker 1 (01:36:02):
Thank you. I do need to be. My bleak pessimistic
view of the future needs to be offset by showing
your optimism. So what do you have for us today?

Speaker 6 (01:36:10):
Well, I've got a couple of stories today. We're going
to get to the fun one about an animal that's
gotten a reprieve because the Chinese have taken it off
their traditional Chinese medicine pharmacopia list for this year. We'll
get to that one very cute, and Albert will have
some pictures for us. But let's start off. This is

(01:36:31):
another story in China, because this is sort of unbelievable
what's happening there with electric vehicles and very importantly charging
electric vehicles, because you know, there's a lot of they
call it range anxiety. You know, it's like your performance anxiety,
but in your car and range anxiety is being addressed

(01:36:53):
with the fast charging and it's supercharging, and China is doing,
you know, going great guns with that. They're super charging
can take an electric vehicle from ten to eighty percent
in fifteen minutes. That's twice as fast as what Tesla
can do. So yeah, mister Trump's best friend does need
to leave and needs to go back to Tesla and

(01:37:14):
get working on some stuff because he is so being
out competed by the Chinese. Now, what they're what they're
doing now is so they're going after commercial vehicles. So
last year more almost half of the big heavy duty
trucks that were sold in China came with this. It's
called battery swapping technology. And it's a real game changer

(01:37:39):
because a big heavy duty truck takes those batteries are enormous,
they take a long time to charge. But if it
could just drive into a station like a gas station
and have the one battery, a depleted battery, swapped out
for a full battery, that is a whole different.

Speaker 1 (01:37:57):
Sure, that's like a pit stop, that's.

Speaker 6 (01:37:58):
Right, It's like a pitstop that takes it text five minutes.
So this is really really a game changer. And it
was good that we showed the taxi first because also,
you know, taxis, buses, vehicles that have a centralized you know,
place that they go to. You know, you know what
their routes are, you know, when they're busy, when they're
going to be you know, need charging. And so they're

(01:38:19):
really looking at ramping this up and the rate that
the Chinese are adopting. I mean also you know Ding Dong,
pay attention, mister Musk. You know, so two decades ago
there were half a million electric vehicles on the road
in China. There are now sixteen million, yeah, and another

(01:38:43):
five million hybrids. I mean, the adoption is, you know,
it's total hockey stick. They are on the upward exponential
growth curve. And then with this battery technology, this is
a huge game changer, you know, and go back to
Tesla again. To his credit, Elon Musk did actually launch

(01:39:06):
in twenty thirteen an battery recharging. He put in ninety locations.
They were between La and San Francisco and then between
Washington and Boston. But ev or electric Tesla drivers didn't
like it. You know, they want to have their own battery.
They want to have their own battery, which they know

(01:39:27):
is brand new, it's at the beginning of its life.
They're not going to be swapping out for a lesser battery.
And this is has been a little bit of a
problem in China because if a taxi driver comes in
and he's got a brand new battery in his car
and it really holds the charge, and he does his
five minute swap and then goes out to do the
rest of his day and he ends up with an

(01:39:50):
older battery that doesn't hold its charge as long. Apparently
these taxi drivers will come back and yell at the
guys who put the not so good ay you know
they replaced the good bet.

Speaker 1 (01:40:02):
And have you ever heard somebody yell in Chinese? It's
not a pretty thing.

Speaker 6 (01:40:06):
No, no, well it's it's not nice to be yelled
at by anyone in any case. But you know, I
suppose if it's in you know, Italian or French, it's
you know, there's a sort of a passion and a
drama to it, but that you know there are there
are plus I'm seeing this.

Speaker 1 (01:40:22):
Let me just let me just address this as you're speaking,
because I've seen it from a couple of people that
major issue not being addressed Chinese EV's are not that reliable.
I don't know about that. I think it really depends
on the brand. I've actually read that there are really
reliable Chinese EV's and then there are also uh some
that are not as reliable. They have as as is

(01:40:44):
being noted today by Belinda, and I think she's referenced
it before. They've really been on the cutting edge. There'd
probably be a lot of EV's from China on the
roads of America or not for the fact that they
are tariffs so already tariffed so enormously.

Speaker 6 (01:41:00):
But yeah, yeah, because they're high end ones, you know,
so deluxe in comparison to it. I mean they live
Tesla in the dirt. You know what they can, what
they're producing, and you know, obviously yes it's not going you.

Speaker 1 (01:41:13):
Know, it depends on the car.

Speaker 6 (01:41:15):
Technology like with all cars. With all cars, there are
quality differences.

Speaker 1 (01:41:19):
Yes, I was reading something from Australia because Australia doesn't
have the tariffs that we have, and of course Australia
is closure and they are the number three cars on
the road in terms of numbers in Australia, and so
there's a lot written in Australia about their dependability, and
it's all about which one you're driving, is what I
was reading.

Speaker 6 (01:41:39):
Yeah, yeah, Well, like with any car, you know, I mean,
a cheap car here that's powered by Guess is going
to be very different to an expensive car. And and
the thing is is, you know, with any new technology
and with any change, there are going to be you know,
growing pains. And there are definitely with this because one
of the things for car manufacture is with you know

(01:42:01):
who the battery is a huge component. Like if you
ever if you have a really good you know, lithium
battery technology, that's a real plus. You know, if your
general motors and you know that your battery is superior
you know, to you know, Toyota or you know other
car manufacturers out there, that's a big deal. And the
car also has to be compatible. It has to have

(01:42:22):
a battery swapping technology that works with the station that
it goes to. But it just is going to be
a game changer. And you know, this is progress and
this is happening, and China is the is going to
be the leader. And so you know, sort of wake
up Washington, because you know, do you really want to
be left behind while you're holding onto a gas nozzle

(01:42:43):
at some you know, I mean gas station. It just
it doesn't make sense. It's idiotic. And I don't know
if you remember back in twenty twenty three, and there
are some great pictures in that second link that I sent,
but about two and three wheeled vehicles, because the majority
of the world, it's not in four wheeled vehicle like
we are. We're lucky. The majority of the world are,

(01:43:06):
you know, on a you know, a two or a
three wheeled motorcycle kind of contraption. This is how billions
of people get around in cities in India, on the
African continent, you know, Indonesia, Thailand, you know, you name it, Vietnam.
I mean in Hanoi last year, you know, we saw
a family of six people on one motorbike. You know,

(01:43:26):
it's unbelievable. And then the pollution these people are dealing
with is awful, and so when they started adopting, so
they're really adopting in India and on the African continent,
you know, Nairobia is going great guns with this motorbikes
which are used as taxis that are doing battery swaps.

(01:43:48):
It's super fast. The battery lasts for a whole day
of work and you're you're addressing emissions, and I have
to point this out, and I know I've done this
a lot, but you know, transport is the biggest way
we can cut our CEO two emissions. Transport is responsible
for twenty percent of the planet warming gases we're putting

(01:44:12):
up into the atmosphere. So dealing with our transport is super,
super important. And when you've got all these countries, you know,
the developing world, you know, going great guns with their
motorbikes and their three wheeled vehicles and adopting electric you know,
I think it's you know, it's a lesson to the

(01:44:33):
rest of us, and it's it's just you know, it
makes sense. It makes sense for human health as far
as you know, cardiovascular, all of those things go our
lungs and then what we're doing to the planet, so
you know, this is this is.

Speaker 1 (01:44:54):
Sure, it makes it makes perfect sense. I just, uh,
it's interesting because I see that three wheel vehicle, and
I reminded when I went to Asia, and it almost
didn't matter what Asian country, there were a lot of those.
They were combustion engines though, and they did smell up
the joint there was a lot of smoke, there was
a lot a lot of exhaust discharge. You're saying that

(01:45:16):
those are now being converted to ev That makes so
much sense. So that because one of the things I
fear in the future for America, because they are rolling
back all of the regulations on toxins and smoke into
the air, et cetera. I mean, that's an agenda item
right away they're acting on. So you're going to see
a lot more, I think, in air quality issues than

(01:45:39):
as you've just sort of emphysema all these other things,
hard cardiac issues. But one of the things that I
really noticed in Vietnam and across Asia was, man, you
can really smell all the time the carbon monoxide. It
is everywhere. It's like it's depressing almost. You can't get
a deep breadth of clear air. And I think there's

(01:46:02):
some American cities that have that problem, depending on where
you are in the city. So I'd love to see
these three wheelers that are slowly being replaced by batteries
get fast tracked, because I think these regions in Asia
would particularly be helped by this.

Speaker 6 (01:46:18):
Yeah. Absolutely, Yeah, Well, we were in Hanoid last year.
I loved hanoid. But I was like, I've got to
get out of here because this air is intense, you.

Speaker 1 (01:46:26):
Know, thank you exactly right.

Speaker 6 (01:46:27):
Yeah, yeah, it's really hard. It's hard to breathe, and
everyone one is on a motorbike or in a tuktok
you know, three wheels, and so yes, it's going to
be a game changer. Look eighteen no sorry, eight million
people die from air pollution, you know, a year, and
this is not going down. So the fact is, and
oh this is a there are two positives also with this,

(01:46:51):
really putting the emphasis on batteries. So you know, we're
always talking about how do we store all the renewable
energy that's made during the day the sun and the
wind when the sun is out and the wind is blowing. Well,
you know, battery storage facilities can be that they can store,
you know, access energy, renewable energy that's being made. So

(01:47:13):
so that is very good. And you there was one
other thing I was with, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So
just just to put it in perspective a little bit.
So in twenty twenty three, Bloomberg they estimated that electric
vehicles and sixty percent of them, you know, these two

(01:47:35):
and three wheeled ones had but also electric cars and
hybrids had dropped oil production by one point eight million
barrels a day because there are that many evs in
the world and that's just with you know, four percent
of transport coming from evs. So imagine as we build
that up, how much you know that is going to

(01:47:57):
you know, affect the demand you know, for oil. And
so I think, I think this is it's just, you know,
it's the way of the future. We know.

Speaker 1 (01:48:06):
It feels like an inflection moment. I agree with you. Yeah, yeah,
by the way, I wanted to because I guess I
you know, I said carbon monoxide, but of course our audience,
smarter than me inlay says carbon monoxide is odorless. Mark,
that's not what you're smelling. I didn't know whatever. It's
the exhaust. I don't know. It's like benzene. I know
you can smell that, you know from Alvahyde. It's a

(01:48:30):
bunch of crap that's in that exhaust. I don't know
what I'm smelling, but you can tell when you're smelling
exhaust and you smell it. It's thick in many of
these Asian cities, so.

Speaker 6 (01:48:40):
Particulate measure that's also you know, coming out of an
exhaust and you know there are plastic and there's plastic
and tie. So the pollution from tires all that stuff,
all of that stuff, Yeah, it's all it's ghastly. And
then also different places have different rules as far as
you know, lead and petrol and things that. I mean,
we're lucky here that we don't have the lead in

(01:49:03):
the petrol you know anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:49:05):
But yes, the cats and Jem says cuts down a
noise pollution too. Yeah, I mean there are a lot
of yes, and that's huge.

Speaker 6 (01:49:11):
Yeah, the noise pollution is enormous because that's the thing
that people you know in India and Africa, when they're interviewed,
they say, well, I like the ride. It's smoother, it's
less noisy, yeah, and it smells better. So it's it's
good on a lot of different levels. And I think
you know, super charging and then battery swaps, you know,

(01:49:32):
just like you know we're doing you know, house swaps
and car swaps through you know, all these different you
know apps that we have to you know, Ober and
Airbnb and all these things. So let's you know, let's
do it with evs as well, so we can you know,
make this transition, you know, happen, happen quickly. Good for
our health, good for the health of the plane.

Speaker 1 (01:49:50):
I agree, agree, all right, moment please yes.

Speaker 6 (01:49:54):
Yeah yeah. Pangolins. Pangolins. Oh so, these poor little guys.
They are the most trafficked animal in the world, the
number one, and there are these huge bands on trafficking
of pangolins internationally and also domestically in China. But of
course they have been part of Chinese traditional medicine. You know,

(01:50:17):
there's a proprietory and you know, medicine. It's called I
could be pronouncing this wrong, but guiland gee. Part of
me if I'm saying it wrong. But this year the
gueland gee has been seen. Look at that cute little
thing and they take it scales and they use the
scales along with seahorses. They take sea horses as well,
and they make this gueland ge. And of course it's

(01:50:39):
like rhinohorn. It doesn't you know, rhinohorn does not help
you with your you know, business, gentlemen. And the pangolin.
This medicine, gueland gee, it doesn't have a medicinal value,
but it's been part of traditional Chinese medicine for years.
But the big thing is this and nineteen other traditional
Chinese medicines are off their Pharmacopia list for twenty twenty five.

(01:51:04):
So it was released the list, the new list March
of this year. It will come into effect October twenty
fifth of this year, and hopefully, hopefully it will you know,
really have an immediate effect on the trafficking of these poor,
cute little pangolins.

Speaker 1 (01:51:22):
Yeah, it's so sweet that they are sweet and they
are cute. And as I recall, they were blamed for
COVID initially, like the pangolin wet market thing, it was
thought that maybe they were behind it.

Speaker 6 (01:51:36):
Yeah yeah, because they yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:51:38):
Yeah, right sore because they're traded in the wet market. Yeah.
So I'd love to So you're saying that the Chinese
government has officially sort of taken them off the pharmacology
list or whatever.

Speaker 6 (01:51:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. They have this list and it gets published,
I think it gets published republished every year, and this year,
twenty twenty five, they are off the Pharmacopia list with
nineteen other of these you know, proprietory Chinese recipes for medicine.
I can't remember what the or I haven't looked up

(01:52:10):
what the gheelin g is used for, but you know
it's when it's been you know, researched and evaluated. It
doesn't have a medicinal value, you know. So it's like
the poor bears that we talked about, you know, the
black bears that have files stuff done them while they're alive,
and that you know the only thing that helps with goldstones,

(01:52:33):
there are you know, artificial uh you know, equivalents that
we can use. We don't eat to torture these poor bears,
and now we can stop hunting these poor pangolins.

Speaker 1 (01:52:43):
So I love it. That is the good news that
I wanted.

Speaker 6 (01:52:45):
Thank you welcome my pleasure.

Speaker 1 (01:52:48):
I mean sadly, i'll say, because it is my role
on the show to you know, the cold slap in
the face to everyone who gets high on the optimism.
There is a black market for all of this, and
so even though it gets off the list, you can
still get it the same way they do it. They
do it the tigers, you know, pause and all the
other exotic animal nectar that they feel and becomes, you know,

(01:53:14):
to help you with virility and all this other crap.
It's total voodoo medicine, Thank you, Santi that but so
you'll still be able to get it. But but it's
great that it's been it's off the official list, which
I think is really encouraging. So really, I think I.

Speaker 6 (01:53:30):
Think it's really important. And I think the thing is
also is it takes time for the education. You know,
it takes time for the generations of people who really
believed in these traditional Chinese medicines, you know, to be
replaced by generations who don't believe in them and realize
that rhinohorn is just a glutinated hair. It's like a fingernail,

(01:53:50):
you know. And you know, for people in Asia to
understand that elephants die for that ivory, they don't just
take the tusks and leave an elephant, you know, a
whole elephant has to die to, you know, give up
their tasks for your little trinket and ivory. And and
when when people get educated and aware of these things,

(01:54:10):
it does change behavior. So you know, obviously you and
I and a lot of our listeners, we wish the
change was happening faster, you know, and that's understandable. But
the fact that there is change, you know, we have
to focus on the positive right on.

Speaker 1 (01:54:25):
Yes, even my cynical self, I completely agree with you.
Find Belinda across social media Belinda Weymouth w A Y
M O U t H. So grateful for your contributions
here on Wednesdays and.

Speaker 6 (01:54:38):
Thank you totally my pleasure.

Speaker 1 (01:54:41):
That's it's the planet Stupid for today. More it's the
planet stupid.

Speaker 2 (01:54:46):
No, no, no, it's the planet stupid.

Speaker 1 (01:54:48):
Next time only. I'm a Mark Thompson show.

Speaker 2 (01:54:51):
M hm.

Speaker 1 (01:54:55):
Well, I'm very sorry that we have to wrap things up.
I feel like we we've got more to do. But wow,
what a lot of stuff we got to.

Speaker 2 (01:55:05):
Yeah, you knows. I wanted to make sure that we
got to before we end the show. Yes, is the
meeting on Saturday, finally between the United States and China.
But it's interesting that in these trade talks where you know,
there have been claims that, oh, we're talking to China,
and China's like we're gonna We're not talking to the
United States. Finally, their meeting and their meeting in Switzerland.

Speaker 1 (01:55:28):
Yes, Switzerland, it's Swiss.

Speaker 2 (01:55:30):
Miss They're not coming to us, Mark, We're going to them.
We're going to Switzerland. Bescent and crew because it so
happens that the Chinese are going to be headed through
Europe and so they're not coming here. Make a note.
We're going to them for this. I think that puts
US at a disadvantage going in.

Speaker 1 (01:55:48):
You know what puts US at a disadvantage the reality
of the situation. They are our biggest supplier, we are
their biggest client, but they have many other clients, and
they can and already have begun to build an economy
without the US. Now they want to make a deal.
I think that's true, and I think it's very true

(01:56:11):
that we want to make a deal. But the other
huge card they have is what they own our debt.
Without China, we couldn't run up this incredible debt that
we have. So China, if they were to drop American debt,
they would destroy the US economy. I've always felt that

(01:56:34):
the real evolved battles of the future, and I frankly
thought this was the future because I had these thoughts
back in the you know, in the eighties. The way
in which battles will be fought wouldn't be through hot wars.
They would be through economics. They would be through engaging

(01:56:55):
in the world economy. And that's why America and China
really have of upper hands in all of this and
the EU. That's one of the reasons that the EU
bound itself together with all of those different countries. There's
greater strength in the EU as a result of that,
and in the world economy there is a real dominance

(01:57:18):
and a shifting and a constant movement, and that's all
very important. Well China, and I'm not to say that
China hasn't acted as outlaws when it comes to intellectual
property and it comes to many of the ways that
they do business. But to pursue this ridiculous tariff policy

(01:57:40):
on them, it hasn't been thought out. It really was
something that Trump just acted upon in this impulsive way
without thinking about the future. That puts US way behind
the eight ball. And they do have the leverage, as
Kim has just said. And so what's reflected in the
fact that they are meeting in Switzerland is that it

(01:58:02):
is it. It's a yeah in Geneva that yeah, we
are going to them, and we're gonna have to We're
going to end up bowing to them in the end. Now,
I don't think that's the way it'll be represented. I'm
sure it'll be represented here that oh they blinked first. No,
they they really do have a considerable leverage in this
conversation about trade.

Speaker 2 (01:58:21):
The fact that we have to chase them down to,
you know, somewhere in Europe on their travels. It speaks volumes.

Speaker 1 (01:58:27):
Yes, exactly right. So good luck American negotiators. It's got
to be crazy to have to pursue the policies of
this mad king, because these policies are so half baked,
they are so ridiculous, they're absurd, and they represent a

(01:58:49):
kind of economic malpractice. This guy doesn't know what he's doing.
He's been given the world's leading economy and he is
shooting whole in the boat and he can sink it.
So I'll be very interested to see what they actually
come up with. There were some more appointments you saw.

(01:59:12):
Juliani's son got an appointment from the new administration. I say,
the new administration. They're only three months in or whatever.
There's a bunch of again self dealing. We can get
into it tomorrow. One of the things I've got for
tomorrow that's pretty exciting is doctor Paul Offitt. It was
a request from one of you, one of you listeners

(01:59:34):
and viewers. It's a really doctor day tomorrow. I mean,
he is the director of the Vaccine Education Center at
the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and he is an award
winning doctor when it comes to virology, when it comes
to vaccines, he really may be head of the parade.
And I'm looking forward to this conversation. He will be

(01:59:54):
on Live with us and if you have questions, you'll
be able to work those questions in to the texture
of the conversation that'll be tomorrow. And doctor Michael Daniel
is with us tomorrow for Vital Signs, which is his
regular segment on this show. So we've got a lot
of medical stuff tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (02:00:11):
And Doctor City.

Speaker 1 (02:00:13):
It is Doctor City tomorrow. I don't want to leave
anything on the table. Albert, is there anything I need
to attend to before we say goodbye? I recognize you,
Henny O Daar Now, thank you for joining us in
our effort to get hole in the in spring Katching.

(02:00:34):
Marilyn Schneider, thank you for the supersticker for five bucks.
Thank you both. Great to have you supporting us. Big
shout outs to everyone who's made contributions and supports us.
And it's part of our Patroon and PayPal crew. You're
all so great. Jim Eaton says this with a five
dollars super chat. I drove electric buses in Santa Barbara

(02:00:55):
for twenty years and I've seen the technology go from
buses lasting six hours to now lasting ten hours. Yeah,
I think the technology is there. Thank you, Jim. That's
really I mean, that kind of real world story really
brings it to life. You know, I got a Tesla.
This is my second Tesla. I'm getting rid of it
in about three weeks because of the musk thing. But

(02:01:16):
I will tell you the reason I got it a
it's you know, it's an electric car, so it's quick
and nimble and all that sort of thing. But I
got it because of the electric charging network. It's just
so better developed than any other charging network. Now I
think Electrify America has come up to speed, and now

(02:01:37):
there's some other ones coming as well because of the
proliferation of electric vehicles. But the reason I got Tesla
was because they're all impeccably maintained. I'm talking about the
charging networks, and they have fast charging. The quick charging
is a big deal. So it's interesting to see the
industry evolve to handle a couple of those things right,

(02:01:57):
the ways in which that grit is being expanded, and
also the ways in which they are fast charging and
quick charging a lot of these cars and even including batteries.
I think the Lucid goes five hundred miles. So you've
really got a changing face when it comes to electric vehicles.
Jay Leno has a good electric car conversion episode. It

(02:02:19):
can be done easily, low cost, no huge mainframe computer,
really in control of the car after installation, zero sum.
Thank you for that. We should get Jay on the show.
I'll try to get Jay maybe to talk about that
on the show and talk about other stuff. He's really
a great guest. Scott Rittenberg, I want to leave you
out here at the end of the show with a

(02:02:41):
five dollars super chat. I worked at Kinko's and San Rafel.
Father Guido came through one day. Can limited this in
Paopal paper plates. I have an autograph one. Yeah, he's great.
Father Guido Sarducci is so funny. I can't wait to
watch that. I didn't know that he was on with
what Steve called Bart until somebody in the audience told

(02:03:03):
me so. I saw this Greenbeck that the new administration
is stopping the Energy Star program for appliances. You know
the little sticker that says, you know that it's an
Energy Star compliant. There's a lot of stuff when it
comes to the environment, they just do not take this
stuff seriously, and they they're just dismantling everything that I think,

(02:03:26):
you know, really was bringing us up to speed when
it come to when it came to a consciousness about
the environment, and you know, policies that relate to a
consciousness about the environment. What can you do tomorrow? As
I mentioned medical experts from doctor Paul Offitt to doctor
Michael Daniel and Moore. Also the word about DOGE and

(02:03:51):
a new plan from DOGE that you will not like.
It involves your security and your information, personal information at
what may happen to happen to it. It's it's really
a pretty scary scenario. We'll get into that tomorrow as
well other guests tomorrow. Of course, David Katz joins us tomorrow,

(02:04:13):
and I want to thank everybody again for all the
help with spring kitching and keeping our channel on the air.
So After Party Live is next and until tomorrow, if
you would please shadow with your magnificent boys. Stick us out.
I'm Shadow of Stevens for the Mark Johnson Show. Bye
bye him, thank you, I'll bye bye bye, thank you

(02:04:37):
until tomorrow everyone, Bye bye

Speaker 6 (02:05:00):
THETT