Trump Vowed Epstein Truth—Now His Team Plots Damage Control Behind Closed Doors at JD’s 8/7/25

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh, thank you all. It is a very exciting day.
It is Albert's birthday today. Everyone I know Gilbert is
who I'm talking about, Albert Alberts. You seem ageless to me,
but it's very exciting to have another trip around the sun.
I'm not asking you to tell us how old you are,

(00:23):
but I will tell you that somehow the word of
your birthday leaked out. And the only reason that I
even know about it. I'm embarrassed to say, but I
like to you know, I lead openly with my embarrassment
and my humiliation. I see it in the chat. I
see it all over the chat.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
I also saw it in the chat. I was very impressed.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
How do the people in the chat? And I will
give them mad ass credit, people like Alison Blake who
says happy birthday Albert and his sunny good morning, to
the remarkables Mark Thompson Show fans, Happy birthday Albert. I
think tanneth Row was the first one in with a

(01:03):
birthday wish to you this morning album.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, I thought that was the first one I saw.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
So now you don't know these people personally. You're not
putting out some newsletter that has your birthday information on him.
I'm astounded by this. I really am quite impressed Tanneth
Rowe and Alison and all those who have recognized Albert's
great birthday. Kim has memorialized it on this day with

(01:35):
this with her balloon background. Yes, it's quite quite extraordinary. Sam,
How are you anyway? Albert? Quite lovely, Albert. You are
our birthday guy, and you're working on your birthday. I
love working on my birthday. I think there's nothing like
working on your birthday. It's great to me making a
little money on your birthday. Jim Slayton a five dollars

(01:57):
super chat saying happy birthday Albert and Albert. H Albert
has helped me with that. Albert, what is that Albert has?
Thank you? Yeah, yeah, I'll take it. Okay, Albert, thank you.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
But I found, you know, everyone's saying happy birthday on
Albert's Facebook page. I found a picture of baby Albert. Oh,
so cute is that Barney? Yeah, it's very cute. It
is baby Albert.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
In a Dan Marino jersey and a Barney. At the
same time, I was conflicted. I loved only two things
in the world and Barney.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yeah, I love that. I love that you're a Marino fan, right, I.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Love football in general.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
I had a Bret far I had a and my
parents encouraged it, so shout out that I loved it.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Very very cute, very cute kid. He's grown up to
be a cute adult. We didn't know it was your birthday,
but now that we know. In the rich tradition of
this show, nothing you get nothing special balloons, you know, yeah, balloons.
And then after the show, my demands to get the
breakout videos done, and tonight screw up the podcast. I

(03:13):
know you're on your way to some birthday party, but
let's try to stay focused in tagala. Is that tell?

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, it's in tagall. It's a very traditional way of
saying but thank.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
You, Trevor. Trevor Starr in Hollywood. Albert will read it
so that.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
I don't from wow wow.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Very impressive. Yes, nicely done Albert, and nicely done Trevor.
Very smart audience we have. Speaking of which, I got
some emails. I think I have received a lot of
positive letters. Let me take a look at the email.
And I got an email from Australia, didn't I Kim.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
You did get an email from Australia. They said they
can't believe the healthcare system here. It's ridiculous.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yeah, they were talking about the fact that in Australia
there are none of the charges for health care that
we have here, and I'm looking for it now.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
The hell is going on in the United States of America.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
I'll put it right at the top. Hold on here
it is Oh, thank you, it's a coming.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
The fact that most of the world has a better
healthcare system than do we. That doesn't mean that you
aren't capable of getting some of the greatest, if not
the greatest healthcare here if you have money. But access
to healthcare here is certainly something that is limited if
you don't have money. And hello, Mark, this is again

(04:46):
from our pale in Australia. Donald Trump is a great
source of amusement in Australia. It's sad to think Americans
don't elect people that won't give you cheap medicines. As
a pensioner here, I pay no more than five dollars
US for a prescription. Healthcare is free. Hearing that you
could go bankrupt if you have a health problem is insane.

(05:10):
Your large corporations rip you off. I can buy an
unbranded iPhone here in Australia from China for about one
hundred dollars US. He says doesn't have all the apps,
but a lot of the apps for them are free.
Cloud storage is free up to several gigabytes. Your political
system is rigged so super wealthy people get to have

(05:31):
their say only. We have compulsory voting here. By the way,
I'm not a fan of compulsory voting, but it's a
longer conversation. You shouldn't be forced to vote. You don't
want to vote, don't vote, but you shouldn't be prevented
from voting, and voting should be made very very easy.
Your political system is rigged so super wealthy. I'm sorry.
We have compulsory voting here and donations are restricted, with

(05:54):
more restrictions to come. Even if you are incompetent, you
could be elected sheriff, judge, et cetera. Masked agents would
not be tolerated in Australia. America is headed toward fascism.
Love your Show and ps. Fox News here is considered
a propaganda channel as well.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
So what I mean, all that is true, but what
I heard there is complaint, complaint, complaint about America and
how great Australia is, which is probably true. But is
there anything wrong with Australia, because I don't think that's
a balanced email, like you suck and we're great, that's
what it sounds like.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
No, I think, to be fair to him, he's agreeing
with a lot of the various things that we talk
about here on the show. We talk about healthcare, we
talk about access to voting, We talk about the problems
with our political system awash in money and how that's
essentially corrupted the system. We talk about Trump, and he's
speaking about the fact that they view Trump as both

(06:49):
a joke and also as an authoritarian figure rising toward
a fascism. I guess I read the note as a
way of him saying, yeah, we know we're watching you
from over here, and we agree with a lot of
what you guys say on your show. And by the way,
here in Australia, these things are different and that's a
sign of life better. He's not saying everything is great

(07:10):
in Australia. I really didn't get that from from him,
but I yeah, would you like to apologize?

Speaker 3 (07:17):
I would like to apologize. Would you like to apologize
for what you've done?

Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (07:21):
I think I'm starting. I'm sorry being a little too
critical and judgy today.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, I just I mean, we expect you to be
critical and judgy, but I thought that was a little hard. Yeah,
one step over the line. Yeah, I mean, I think honestly,
when you read an email like that, you see how
others in other countries that feel in a way bonded
to us, bonded by language, bonded by cultural similarities, are

(07:46):
lamenting the fact that America has slid into this place.
I think he's actually sharing our pain in a way,
and I'm not just rationalizing, and I'm really I'm seeing
that from more and more of my friends who are
living in different countries and sort of have an international perspective.
They're seeing a real radical change in America and they're

(08:07):
kind of saying, yeah, this is really awful. You guys
are getting farther away from a system of equality then
we thought you'd ever. You know, we never thought you'd
drift this far. Oh my god. Harry Magnet says, I'm
here at seven minutes after and you started. How dare
you start on time without telling me? I know, Harry,

(08:28):
thank you for the super gen Yeah, we tried to
get the show off on Time Today in the kind
of bizarro but yet relevant category I'm going to get
to just to give you a sense of things. The tariffs,
these chaotic, ridiculous tariffs that have no basic sound economic underpinnings,

(08:52):
hatched by a president who doesn't understand the economy. He
only understands publicity and the media machine. And clearly that's
way more than you need to know to become president.
You just need charisma. Sometimes it would appear in this case.
I mean, I wouldn't consider Joe Biden a charismatic figure,
but he rose from the ashes of a Trump administration

(09:13):
everyone had become disaffected with. But Trump too brings same
deal charisma and an ability to ride the media machine
and the propaganda machine of Fox News Channel and the
what do they call it, the manosphere, you know, the
bro down podcast world. He rode that into the White

(09:34):
House with flim flam. I mean, it really was a
con you know, talking about all these guys are conned.
And they even say it. Joe Rogan says it. I
can't believe I was taken in. I can't believe I
believed it. I mean I can't either. Man. It was
the clunkiest con I'd ever seen. You'd already lived through
it once. Anyway, I mention it because the tariffs do

(09:57):
go into effect today, and again they're not underpinned by
sort of any kind of sound economic strategy. We'll talk
about it in hour two. Markets reacting, plans for the future.
We'll get to all of that an hour two. Bottom
of this hour. In just a few minutes, Liz Oyer
joins US. She is a former US pardon attorney. Her
story is great, She's brilliant, and she does a wonderful

(10:22):
job of explaining so many legal issues that are confronting
the US government right now and the American people, as
it's put the American people in large measure, and chunks
of the American people Democrats, those who consider themselves dissenting voices,
those who speak out for Palestinian rights, those who are academics,

(10:42):
those who work in the law but don't fall into
the GOP camp. All of them now are on adversarial
footing with this government and this administration. So Lezawyer, I
think explains that really well. But where it's really interesting,
because she's the former US a pardon attorney, is with

(11:03):
a pardon hatching potentially for who Gallaine Maxwell. There's clearly
a deal in the works. I mean, you send Todd
Blanche your personal attorney, now he's number two of Justice.
You send him down to meet with Gallaine Maxwell. Then
she's moved to a minimum security prison, a club fed

(11:24):
where they don't allow any inmates who have any kind
of convictions around a child molestation and sexual.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Assault.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
Thank you. I'm always trying to like dance around it.
I mean, it's really gross what this woman was convicted of,
not accused of, convicted of, and so Glenn Maxwell has moved.
It's unprecedented. And now you've seen at that prison they've
had to up security around her. So was paying more
federal dollars to move her there. That was a huge

(11:58):
bone thrown to her, a huge favor. Why something in
that back and forth, something in this negotiation that's been
ongoing with Glen Maxwell is designed to exonerate President Trump,
to somehow wipe the stench of Jeffrey Epstein off of him.
That's the whole game. And so Liz Oyer can speak

(12:22):
to what will be the likely outcome and the very
real potential that Glenn Maxwell will get at pardon at
the end of the Trump turn.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
You know what's crazy about what you just said is
Trump is claiming yesterday he said this that he had
not been briefed about what Blanche and Maxwell spoke about
in their meetings. He says he has no idea why
she was moved to a minimum security prison camp in
Texas from a federal prison in Florida. Do you really

(12:52):
think this micromanaging guy was not briefed on what went
down in those two conversations and has zero idea why
she was moved to a prison camp. No, it's unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
Well, I mean you can speak to how micromanaging he is. Right,
you were talking to me off the air about the
fact that there was a firing at the FBI over
the reluctance to release information about FBI agents who are
investigating j sixers and protesters. There isn't that, right, Kim.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
That is correct. The former acting head of the FBI,
his name is Brian Driscoll. They called him the drizz
He was dragging his feet, would not pass over information
about the names of agents who participated in the January
sixth investigations, would not give that information to Trump, and

(13:48):
so he's fired. Now we don't know if that's specifically
the reason, but we do know that he served as
acting director of the FBI in the first weeks of
the Trump administration, and he'd resisted the demands to pass
over the details on the agents who again participated in
the January sixth investigation. So his final day on the

(14:09):
job is Friday, and they're not really talking about why
he's been fired, but out he's out in.

Speaker 1 (14:16):
You know, mad respect to him for standing up. So
many are not and I understand so many or not
because they have kids, they have spouses, they have families,
they have livelihoods that they're trying to protect. But what's
happening is in a real abomination. I mean, some people
have to stand up, and clearly he did, but it
cost him. His cost him it's job. And here's the

(14:37):
sucky part of that is because of this retribution, we're
losing a really valuable person who could provide security to America.
Listen to this guy's history. He's been at the FBI
for more than twenty years, international counter terrorism investigations.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
He's worked in New York. He commanded the bureau's hostage
rescue team, served as the acting director in charge of
Critical Incident Response Group, which deploys manpower and resources to
crisis situations, was named acting director. I mean, this guy
is no snooze. You know, he's the real deal. And
so you get someone who has this much experience and

(15:17):
could help America in this way and at a federal
agency like the FBI, and he's out because Trump is
sad that he didn't get the list of agents. Come on,
what's really good for America here? Because it's not what happened.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
Well, it's not what's good for America anymore. And Trump
really has claimed ownership of America and he owns these
agencies he's put to loyalists in We talked about it
a bit yesterday and the day before. And the thing
that you're suggesting here is something that I've mentioned as well,
which is you have a you know, you're talking about
how you're giving up the kind of great service and

(15:52):
a brilliant public servant when you fire this guy because
you won't give you the J six FBI connection. But
the reality is you're doing that across the board. You're
getting rid of everyone of competence and you're replacing them
with loyalists. And you see it. I suppose in you
can I mean, you can spin the wheel, you can
go cash Patel, I mean, who couldn't find the bathroom

(16:15):
at the FBI before he got the job. Chelsea Gabbert,
who's head of the intelligence community, and she's also you know,
goose stepping to whatever Trump wants. And of course Pete
Hegseth Pete Hexth is a total incompetent and has proven
his incompetence in the private sector and has been thrown

(16:37):
out of charities associated with veterans' works, and now he's
running the Pentagon and all he is is a pretty
face and all he does is is shoot videos. He's
absolutely of no value when it comes to what you're
talking about, which is America. But he's of value to
Trump because he'll go out there and sing from the

(16:57):
same hymnal that Pam Bondy is singing from. And that's
another example. So yeah, it's just a shame. It's yet
another example of losing a great public servant. In the
case of the example that you are providing, the one
that's most contemporary, and you know that guy will be
replaced with some loyalist.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
We're getting rid of the people who do the real
work in America.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
I'm wanting also to note that ICE has picked up
a ICE has picked up a high profile agent. Dean Kine,
who played Superman, has announced that was the TV show
Lois and Clark. Yeah, he is signed up to join

(17:42):
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE in order to support
Donald Trump, the federal law enforcement agency now aggressively ramping
up immigration raids. As you know, since the President has
returned to the White House and speaking on Fox News,

(18:02):
which is where all the loyalists go to make their
big announcements about how much they love the president and
his agenda, Dean kan said that he decided to join
ICE after sharing one of their recruitment videos on his
Instagram account. I'm actually a sworn deputy sheriff, Dean Kaine said,

(18:24):
and a reserved police officer. I wasn't part of ICE,
but once I put that out there and you put
a little blurb on your show he was talking to
Jesse Waters, it went crazy. Dean Kaine said, So, now
I've spoken with some officials over at ICE, and I
will be sworn in as an ICE agent asap, he
said to Jesse Waters asked what inspired him to join

(18:46):
Kin said, this country was built on patriots stepping up
whether it was popular or not and doing the right thing.
I truly believe this is the right thing. He added.
We have a broken immigration system. Congress needs to fix it.
But in the interim President Trump ran on this. He
is delivering on this. This is what people voted for,

(19:06):
this is what I voted for, and he's going to
see it through and I'll do my part to make
sure it happens. That's the former Lewis and Clark star
Dean Kane.

Speaker 3 (19:17):
Truth justice in the American way. I wonder if he's
gonna wear his Superman suit and a mask covering his
face to arrest people.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
I mean, he called the latest Superman film woke after
James Gunn, the director of Superman, called Superman an immigrant.
How woke is Hollywood going to make this character? Is
what Dean Kaine said.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
He was good as Superman, and then he did a
few Hallmark movies and he hasn't done much else so
and he just moved to Nevada. And maybe he's so
maga that Hollywood can't handle it. But he's maybe he
needs the money because he can't get hired for movies now.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
Well, here's the story with Dean Kane and ICE agents. Generally,
you know, you get a fifty thousand dollars bonus if
you come out of law enforcement. They have a lot
of money. You know, they got forty five billion dollars
of just turbo charging their ICE budget. And so they're
offering all of these great incentives. They'll pay for your
college education, they'll mean all of the things that would

(20:16):
associated sort of with military service they are now folding
into becoming an ICE agent. Plus it's much better money
fifty thousand signing bonus. So you've got Dean k We've
got a picture of him here. He's put on some weight,
as all of us do, maybe as we get a
little bit older. He's not quite as super as he
used to be. He's more Man than Superman. And as

(20:36):
you said, Kim, he's been doing a lot of Hallmark movies.
He did, like you know, it's pretty actually entertaining to
look at the movies. He did, like five Christmas movies
for a Hallmark. So I was saying to my friends
who are really connected to show business. I was saying
to them last night when the story broke, I said, Gosha,
I just can't believe he needs the money. I mean,

(20:58):
he's got to have tens of millions of dollars or
at least ten million or whatever it is. I can't
believe that he doesn't need a fifty thousand dollars. And
they said he doesn't have any money. Yeah, And I
don't know whether that's true or not, but I think, well,
look at all these Hallmark movies that he's doing. And
they said, those harmarked movies. You don't pan you a
thing those Hallmark movies are They pay so little. The

(21:19):
overall budget for one of those Hallmark movies maybe four
hundred thousand dollars. So think about it. They've got that
whole crew, all the other stars. So how much the
Dean kne makes Because I'm trying to explain in my mind,
I mean, are you that big a zealot, Dean Kane,
that you have to you know, you want to roast
these people who are in this country and working to

(21:42):
support their families. I mean they're working in jobs that
are completely innocuous and completely help the economy. You know,
everything We've talked about it before, healthcare, childcare, agriculture, slaughter houses.
I mean, these are not places that are doing any
harm to the economy. And I might also mentioned these
are not violent criminals. They're not connected to gangs. This

(22:04):
is none of what Donald Trump promised. So anyway, I'm
Overdean Kine and good luck with your career as an
ICE agent. And speaking of ICE pulled this game in
Los Angeles. They have federal agents using a Penske truck,
a rental truck in this immigration Raiate well Mark, it's

(22:27):
a great plan. The immigration raid was it. Are these
the M sixteen guys or M fifteen guys, or the
gang guys or the trace whatever they are, These are
the violent, angry criminals that are here to destroy America. No,
they're day workers. At a home depot in Westlake, which

(22:49):
is a suburb of Los Angeles. Federal agents using a
Penski rental truck during an immigration rate at home depot
took several people into custody yesterday. The immigration rate happened
just before seven am. As there they're lining up trying

(23:09):
to get work. The Department of Homeland Security not confirming
how many people were taken. They blocked off a portion
of the parking lot started indiscriminately grabbing whoever they could,
said one witness. Wow, they took people out here trying
to make money and trying to survive and trying to
work and take care of themselves. The witness said. One

(23:29):
of the people who was taken is the sister of
a street vendor who was helping her set up a
food stand in the morning. That street vendor said that
the agents ran over to them but only took the sister.
She added that her sister has been in the country
for thirteen years and has children and has never had

(23:51):
any problems with law enforcement. A witness said that he
was waiting for someone to load his truck at the
home depot when he saw the moving van pull up,
and that's when some people looking for work approached him.
We were right there talking and after that it just
happened so fast. They opened the back and everybody started running.

(24:13):
The video is wild. We're showing it to you now.
All these I guess these are ice agents. That says
police on their uniforms. Of course they're all masked, and
they pour out of the truck like it's some great operation.
The reality is it's a It's a total waste of

(24:37):
time and money. So you go after day workers at
home depot. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. No
wonder you wear masks. You're despicable. So just hang out,
wait for Dean Kane to join you. I'm sure he
won't wear a mask. He'll be covered by media. And

(24:59):
that the idea, the way Christy nom has carpet bombed
television and radio with all these spots, and look at us,
look at all these illegals. What we've gotten here, We're
doing the work that you put us here in Washington
to do. It's just awful, it really is. Chaplain Fred
says high Mark and Kim. That was so illegal by Ice.

(25:22):
Penske should sue Ice as well as the people who
got arrested. Was so humiliating. I don't know if it's illegal, honestly,
I mean, you can rent a Penske truck and you
know it's part of a federal operation or I don't
know that it's illegal. But I can certainly understand your
outrage and thank you for the super chat, Chaplain Fred.
I did get some good news, and before I get

(25:45):
to our distinguished guest bottom of the hour, I wanted
to Mark Thompson show. I got good news about a
millionaire trophy hunter gord to death on safari. I love it.
A millionaire Big Game mark, how can you say that?
That's so heartless. If you think stalking Big Game and

(26:13):
going after Big Game on safari because you paid all
this money, if you think that is something that should
be celebrated with any kind of legitimacy, then you and
I just disagree. I'm glad this guy lost his life.
I said it there. A millionaire Big Game counter has
been killed by a buffalo that he was stalking while

(26:35):
on safari in South Africa. Asher Watkins, fifty two, of Dallas, Texas,
struck and gored by the charging cape buffalo on Sunday,
killed him instantly. Watkins frequently shares photos. Can you see them,
Albert you?

Speaker 3 (26:53):
I want to see them?

Speaker 1 (26:54):
Nikes. Yeah, he's photos of birds and animals that he's
killed on social media. He holds up these these huge
cats that he has killed.

Speaker 3 (27:03):
That's like the Trump brothers did too, right you, They're
pictures of them in Africa holding up these animals.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
It's horrible. It's with deep sadness and heavy hearts we
confirm the tragic death of our clients and friend, Asher
Watkins said. Hunter Hans Vermoc, who is the spokesman for
the Vermoch Safari. This is a devastating incident and our
hearts go out to his loved ones. Well, it is sad.

(27:30):
There's one sad part of this millionaire trophy hunter being
gored to death by buffalo on safari. It's sad that
he can't come back to life every day and be
gored all over again. Oh wow, I said it. He
is dung. To me, he is slime, he is scum,

(27:50):
and he got karma in the moment.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
Isn't that part of the whole. I don't know. Appeal
of this to people is the adrenaline rush and the
danger that is brought by these hunts, and that you know,
you it's you against the animal. Well, if you're putting
yourself in that situation, there's a real chance that you
might not come out of it.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
So it's not really you against the animal. When you've
got guns and you've got all these telemetry and you've
got all these ways you can track, this isn't a
fair fight. A lot of these guys go over there,
these jillionaire professionals. They come out of the world of medicine,
you know, about the dentist from Minnesota. Remember him. Yeah,

(28:36):
he tracked a lion in a restricted area and killed
the lion and then dragged the lion to an area
that was unrestricted so that he wouldn't get nailed for
having killed the lion in the restricted area. These are
not good people. No, so sorry, but glad he's gone now.

(29:07):
I'm sure I'll take a little abuse for on that note,
Thompson Show, we are moving on. Yes, thank you very much.
All right, this is a wonderful crew. I love being here.
It is Albert's birthday. And you'll tell me when Liz
Zawyer gets here, I think, oh she here now, Okay,

(29:29):
good boyd Liz Oyer here just in the nick of time. Yeah,
you know, I'm so impressed with our next guest. Just very,
very difficult to oftentimes navigate all of the different i'd say,
fire hose of legal issues confronting America and confronting us

(29:51):
as Americans, and the way that this administration has gone
in and turned the law on its side, weaponized the
You're seeing the way in which the DOJ is increasingly
doing the work of the president, but not for the
American people, for the President himself. I mean, the most
recent example is Todd Blanche, number two of Justice, going

(30:12):
down and meeting with Gallaine Maxwell, and she's transferred to
this minimum security facility, and it would appear that there's
a deal in the work. So it is so exciting
to welcome in our next guest. She joins us. I
don't know where Liz Oyer is. I think she's in Washington.
I presume she served for the Department of Justice as

(30:33):
the US Pardon Attorney and she was overseeing the office
of the Pardon Attorney there, and her backstory is fascinating.
I'll get into it a little bit in a moment,
but I love the reducto she does on so many
complex legal issues. Please welcome Liz Oyer.

Speaker 5 (30:51):
Everyone, Hello him Mark, thanks for having me on your show.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
Oh, we're very excited to have you here. And boy,
this is your moment. First of all, do you mind
if I spend a beat on why you left Justice?
It's amazing, really, the story of mel Gibson is my recollection. Right. Yes,
you're dealing regularly as the US Pardon Attorney with all

(31:19):
of these different requests for clemency and restoration of certain
rights like gun rights. Isn't that what the mel Gibson
thing was about.

Speaker 5 (31:26):
That's what that was about, which I'll note is not
typically what the pardon attorney does. But that's what was
going on at the beginning of this administration.

Speaker 1 (31:34):
And so they wanted the restoration of mel Gibson's gun rights,
and you were pushing back on that or just questioning
as to why are we doing this?

Speaker 5 (31:45):
That's right. I was being asked to make a recommendation
that he should get his gun rights back. He lost
his right to own a firearm when he was convicted
of domestic violence, and.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
That was enough to create an adversarial relationship between you
and the administration.

Speaker 5 (32:03):
Well, mel Gibson is apparently a friend of Donald Trump,
and Trump made him an ambassador to Hollywood at the
beginning of his administration, and mel Gibson's attorneys wrote a
letter to the Justice Department saying, he's a friend of
Donald Trump. He wants to buy a gun, he's not
able to do so legally because of this criminal conviction.
Please restore his gun rights. And it was told to

(32:27):
me that I should make that recommendation to restore his
gun rights, and I wasn't able to do that. Nobody
told me why I was fired. But I was fired
just a few hours after I've communicated to the leadership
of the Justice Department that I was not going to
be able to recommend that mel Gibson get his gun
rights back.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
You didn't feel that all ambassadors from Hollywood should have
a gun, Liz.

Speaker 5 (32:50):
You know, domestic violence is a really serious issue, and
there's a lot of data out there that shows that
domestic abusers are much more dangerous to their victims when
they're so from my perspective, this was a pure public
safety issue, and the fact of his relationship with the president,
the fact that he'd made a number of famous movies,
which were cited in this letter from his attorneys, did

(33:13):
not move the needle away from the core issue, which
is that it's dangerous for people with domestic violence histories
to own guns. So on that basis, I couldn't make
that recommendation despite his relationship with the President, and a
few hours later I was escorted out of my office
by security.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
It's from that sound legal perspective that you bring so
much of your analysis. And before we get to the
analysis of what's happening with Gallaine Maxwell and the potential
pardon which seems to me clearly in the pipeline. Tell
me about the culture of the Justice Department and what
you experienced. You really brought it to life when you said,
you know, they escorted me out of the building. There's

(33:55):
a certain almost brutality to a lot of this now
that I think is deliberate.

Speaker 5 (34:00):
Yeah, it's a very different culture than it was just
six months ago. I was a career employee, meaning that
the intent was that I would serve under any president,
and the majority of the workforce in the Justice Department,
they're people who are career employees, people who've served under
all different administrations, and they're valued for their expertise. So

(34:23):
typically the political leadership would rely heavily on the career
experts because they're the ones who can tell them this
is dangerous, this is a good idea, this is a
bad idea. Here where the fault lines lie. But this
administration very quickly made clear that they were not interested
in that type of independent expertise. They came into office

(34:43):
with a political agenda. The agenda is being pushed down
from the White House. It doesn't seem like the Attorney
General has her own agenda. It seems like she is
there for the sole purpose of executing the president's political agenda,
and anybody who provides advice or takes positions that stand
in the way of accomplishing those political objectives is not wanted.

(35:05):
Those people are very quickly marginalized, either reassigned or fired,
and that's what happened in my case. I'm not alone.
There are a huge number of career experts who have
been sidelined through reassignment or firing since this administration started,
and it has created a very dangerous environment within the
Department of Justice where the people who remain are afraid

(35:27):
to speak up and decisions are being made about serious
matters of public safety without the benefit of knowledgeable experts.

Speaker 1 (35:35):
When the wave of pardons came through for all the
Jay sixers, wasn't that the warning shot?

Speaker 5 (35:44):
That was the very first day of the Trump administration,
and I, the pardoner attorney, who would ordinarily be involved
in that process, learned about it through a news alert
on my phone, like most other Americans, did not even
have a heads up that that was coming, and that
made clear from day one that my office was not

(36:04):
going to be involved as an independent authority on clemency.
The decisions were going to be made out of the
White House based on political considerations.

Speaker 1 (36:15):
And just for us lay people. Once there's a pardon,
once clemency has been granted, it's irreversible.

Speaker 5 (36:22):
That's right, yep. That there's no way to undo a
grant of clemency once the President decides to issue it.
So all of those January sixth pardons, they're final. And
what's really striking about that group of pardons is that
quite a few of those folks who benefited from them
have already gone back to prison for other crimes. There

(36:42):
are some folks who've committed very serious crimes, crimes involving
sexual exploitation of children. One who engaged in a plot
to attempt to murder several dozen law enforcement agents who
are investigating him, people with all manner of weapons violations,
a woman who was convicted of manslaughter when she was

(37:04):
driving drunk. I mean, very serious types of offenses that
some of these January sixth pardon recipients have already committed
that have landed them back in prison. And that is
attributable in part to the fact that there was no
actual vetting of these folks. One of the things that
the Office of the pardon attorney has done for many,
many years, is vetted candidates for pardon so that there

(37:27):
is a lot of information in front of the president
when he makes a decision, so that an informed decision
can be made about is this person likely to pose
a danger to the public if they are released early
or if they are not held accountable for this crime
and that didn't happen here and the consequences of that
are already evident.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
Yeah, those are the specifics that you'd hope would be
reviewed before any kind of partner clemency would be granted.
And yes, we've noted some of these cases that you've
referred to, but there are a lot of them. I mean,
these are not good people, many of them. Yeah. I
wanted to play a little bit of a liz On
MS to just set the table for our next topic,

(38:07):
which is really the Gallaine Maxwell thing, because it really
is clear that they're circling the wagons around Donald Trump
right now on the Epstein case, and it's frustrating because
the messaging is getting confused. Bondi says one thing, Trump
says another thing, and cash Betel Bongino, et cetera. They're

(38:28):
all so they're trying to get some coherence to their message.
It would seem Albert, do you have that I wanted
to play a little bit of this is this is
Liz on ms Liz.

Speaker 3 (38:37):
Here's here's where I kind of.

Speaker 1 (38:39):
Michael Steel is speaking now for those just listening in
that Washington.

Speaker 6 (38:42):
The Pardon Attorney space and kind.

Speaker 3 (38:45):
Of know what all that all that's about.

Speaker 1 (38:48):
I'm just curious.

Speaker 6 (38:51):
When you talk about a meeting like this and the
principles that are going to be at the meeting, what
does that say to you when you're you knowing the thinking,
the former thinking if you will inside the building, you.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
Know, whether there's Leo or.

Speaker 6 (39:09):
To have this kind of confab and for the vice say, oh,
we're not going to be talking about Epstein, Well, like
the hell you are. Of course you're going to be
talking about Epstein. Your own people are putting that out
on the streets. So I don't understand what they think
we should think of this meeting when we see exactly
what this meeting is trying to do, particularly given that
none of the victims are represented in the conversation.

Speaker 5 (39:32):
So the caps of characters at this meeting is one
of the most interesting things about it. Jd Vance up
until now has not had any role in managing the
Epstein crisis, and the fact that they're bringing him in
suggests that they have now realized, relatedly, that they need
to give Donald Trump a little bit more insulation from
what's going.

Speaker 7 (39:50):
On in the case.

Speaker 5 (39:51):
He was caught in a lie, a pretty big lie
just the other day when he said that Pam Bondi
had never briefed him on the fact that his name
appears in the Epstein files, and that turned out to
be false. So now they are being Donald Trump Donald
Trump exactly.

Speaker 7 (40:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (40:05):
And now they're giving Donald Trump plausible deniability for when
he goes out and talks to the press again about this,
which we know he will, because he can't help himself
by having JD Vance be the intermediary. So then next
time he can say, yeah, Todd blanch did not talk
to me about his meeting with Gallne Maxwell, which is
something that he has said several times in the last
couple of days, because it's now being filtered through JD Vance,

(40:28):
So that's significant. Another thing that significant is now Pam
Bondi seems to be back in the fold. She was
out for a while. She was initially managing this issue
and failed to do so effectively. So Todd blanch was
brought in to take over. And now it's everybody at
the table, which suggests now now they know that they
need to get their stories straight. That's what this is.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
About, right, that they can't get As I was saying,
you just do such a great job of putting the
reducto on it all and bringing sharpness to it. Now.
I understand the meeting has been rescheduled or whatever got
so much media coverage, but it does look like, in
addition to the messaging coherence that they're striving for, there

(41:08):
is a deal likely in the pipeline. I know this
is speculation, but Liz, I mean, it just seems so
clear that something is going on.

Speaker 5 (41:15):
Yeah. So Gleaine Maxwell has already gotten something of a
deal because she has been moved now to a minimum
security prison. And that is really significant because Glainne Maxwell
is convicted of a sex offense. She's convicted actually of
five sex offenses. She's serving a twenty year prison sentence.
Based on the nature of her crime, she is not

(41:36):
eligible to serve her sentence in a minimum security facility
under long standing Bureau of prisons regulations. However, that regulation
has been waived in her case. It's something that can
only be waived at a very high level. Likely the
director of the Bureau of Prisons or his boss, the
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, would have to do that.

(41:58):
So she's gotten a concession, a substantial benefit going to
a nicer, less secure, less restrictive prison than anyone else
with a similar crime could be eligible for, which suggests
that there is a deal that's in the works. Whether
there are more benefits coming her way, we don't know
for sure, but there has been a lot of discussion
about whether she'll receive a pardon, and the fact that

(42:20):
we are even having a conversation about it is really
pretty shocking. There is not one case in history that
I am aware of where someone who is convicted of
a crime involving sexual exploitation of children has received clemency
from the president. It's just the type of crime where
that doesn't happen. It's not considered, and if a president

(42:42):
were to consider it, the first thing that would be
done is consultation with the victims to see how would
they feel if this person were to receive a pardon.
But by all accounts, the victims have not been consulted.
The Justice Department has not been fulfilling legal obligations to
consult with the victims, and that is required by law

(43:04):
as well as long standing Department of Justice policy. So
it's really extraordinary that we've gotten to a situation where
we're discussing this issue on really a daily basis and
she's just committed such serious crimes that have really destroyed
the lives of her victims.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
Oh my god, Yes, we've led to suicide. And the
grotesque nature of these crimes is something that you know,
when you read about it just makes your skin crawl.
I mean, just the stolen lives, you know, and what
you point to when you talk about what might be
in the offing is interesting because you also say the

(43:44):
victims are left out of this, and so they've had
to actually come to media and say, hey, guys, what
about us, What about the details of the Epstein files
that can be released so that the victims get their
day in the media court. They are completely being bypassed.

Speaker 5 (44:03):
Yeah, that's right, and it's having the effect of re
traumatizing them. This is something that career professionals at the
Department would be sensitive to. The Deputy Attorney General and
the Attorney General are not sensitive to. But victims go
through a really trying and traumatic process when they have
to testify at a trial and participate in the legal

(44:24):
process that is required to secure a conviction of someone
who's committed a crime, and they endured all of that here.
They had every reason to believe that Miss Maxwell's conviction
and sentence were final and that they could have some peace.
But it's now all being upended, brought into front and
center of the public conversation, and there's a real possibility

(44:48):
that this conviction will somehow be unraveled by the Justice Department,
the very agency that is supposed to be advocating on
behalf of victims of crime. So it's shocking what is
being done here, and it really defies every norm, every convention,
and longstanding policies of the Justice Department.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
Would the deal that they make in some way already
feeling as though we've heard a thousand FBI agents have
been pulled off of their regular duties. They're going through
the files, they're looking for Trump's name. It would appear
that there's some sort of dry cleaning going on of
these files, and beyond that, what kind of statement or

(45:27):
what kind of deal might there be with Maxwell? Meaning
is it just keep your mouth shut and don't say anything,
or you understand Ms Maxwell that President Trump was never
part of any of this, Right, you understand that, right,
and you're going to, I'm sure, maintain that position which
is truthful. Right? Is that the kind of implied deal

(45:48):
that they make?

Speaker 5 (45:49):
Yeah, there are really two possible things that she could
do for the Trump administration. One is to say that
Donald Trump had nothing to do with the crimes of
Jeffrey Epstein, and two is to implicate other people, people
who are Trump's political enemies or rivals. And she could
do either or both of those things. It seems likely

(46:10):
that she will do at least the first one of
those things. Some information has leaked to the media suggesting
that she may have said to Todd Blanche donald Trump
didn't know anything about Jeffrey Epstein's crimes or something to
that effect. The issue, though, is her credibility. She is
someone who has every incentive to say what Donald Trump
wants to hear at this point because she is now

(46:33):
serving a twenty year prison sentence and is desperate to
get out from under that sentence. Her attorney has made
it clear that she's looking for relief from that sentence.
And Todd Blanche importantly, is someone who got his start
as Donald Trump's personal attorney, representing Donald Trump when he
was not president, and leveraged that into this high ranking

(46:54):
position at the Justice Department. He seems to be proceeding
with the interests of Donald Trump the man and center,
not the interests of justice or upholding the laws of
our nation or serving the American people.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
You know, Liz, everything is so obvious here. It's so
lacks subtlety. This administration. To me, it's like a magician
who doesn't know sleight of hand. Everything is so nakedly clear,
and one of the nakedly clear moments in addition to
the overall movement of the chess pieces again you can

(47:27):
just see it was Albert do you have that from
the Oval Office? The JD Vance statement. I think that
he was saying, you know, Trump's saying, it's all a hoax.
It's all it's over and over all a hoax. And
the more they say, you know, Trump had nothing to
do with this. Trump had nothing to do with this.
Just it's methinks that does protest too much a bit, Albert,

(47:51):
do you have that run in just for a moment.
I think it's just great.

Speaker 5 (47:55):
We're not meeting to talk about the fscene situation, and
I think a reporter reported it a better sources.

Speaker 8 (48:02):
Look, the whole thing is a hoax. It's put out
by the Democrats because we've had the most successful six
months in the history of our country, and that's just
a way of trying to divert attention to something that's
total bullshit.

Speaker 1 (48:16):
Okay, so what you you know? Tim Cook's there from Apple.
I mean it's an economic forum kind of thing. They're
talking about the taroson about on shoring things, and Vance
is talking about the meeting, saying the one thing we're
not going to talk about is thestinc. But it's hilarious.
I mean, if you put it in like an episode
of the Office, it would have fit in perfectly. You know.

(48:39):
I just am astounded by how open this administration is
about everything they're doing. There's no spycraft to any of it.

Speaker 5 (48:47):
You're right. The corruption, frankly is right out in the open.
The types of things that one could imagine being done
in the past, but being done quietly and on the
download are being done right in front of us, and
Donald Trump seems to feel a sense of entitlement to
use the Justice Department to accomplish his personal objectives. One

(49:09):
of the most chilling moments towards the start of the
administration was the day that Pam Bondy escorted Donald Trump
into the Great Hall of the Justice Department to give
an address, and he declared himself in his speech the
chief law enforcement officer in the nation, which is actually
the job of the Attorney General, not the president. And

(49:31):
she stood by his side smiling, and she echoed that,
telling the entire workforce of the Department of Justice, we're
talking about over one hundred thousand people, that we are
all the president's lawyers. That is not true. The attorneys
in the Justice Department, all of the employees in the
Justice Department take an oath to uphold the Constitution. They
are there to serve the American people. But Donald Trump

(49:54):
believes that the Justice Department is his personal law firm,
and Pam Bondy agrees with him, and she's the boss
of all the employees who work there, which puts them
in a very difficult situation on a daily basis.

Speaker 1 (50:06):
Serving the American people is something that's really getting lost
in this administration. Even the People's House, you know, the
White House always was deliberately They deliberately avoided things like
the golden crusted mantle pieces and the thing the palatial
aspects of a reign of a king is something that

(50:30):
they deliberately steered away from. And yet now it would
seem like even those superficial aspects of the Trump administration
reinforce his rise to authoritarianism, is what I would say. Anyway.

Speaker 5 (50:43):
Yeah, the amount of money that's changing hands and the
trappings of wealth that he is surrounding himself with using
official means is really shocking. The Katari jet is a
good example of it. The Attorney General signed off on
him receiving a gift that is worth a staggering amount
of money from a foreign government that he gets to

(51:05):
keep after he leaves office. This jet that's been described
as a flying palace. The US government is going to
be spending hundreds of millions of dollars retrofitting it for
his use, and then he will get to continue using
it after he leaves office. It's really just a type
of corruption that we have not seen before in this country,

(51:27):
and we're seeing that at so many levels throughout the
Justice Department as well. One of the things that I
have been following that really just it's really just hard
to comprehend is that there are now January six rioters
who have been hired to work in the Justice Department

(51:48):
who are being paid with taxpayer dollars. I posted on
my Instagram today about one of them, and folks can
can find more about this on my instagram, which is oil.
But there's a guy who is on video screaming at
police officers and screaming at other rioters to kill the
police officers as they're being beaten on January sixth outside

(52:11):
the Capitol, who is now working in the office of
the Deputy Attorney General. He is a senior advisor to
Todd Blanche in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.
Which just shows the total disregard for basic norms of
civility in our society. That is corrupting, frankly, the work

(52:33):
of the Justice Department. It's really it should be very
upsetting to all Americans, regardless of political affiliation.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
Sure, I mean, the degradation of the Justice Department is
on full display. Also that example is stomach turning. It's
just horrifying. Is there a way back? It seems as
though all of the guard rails to use the off
expression regarding Trump and you know, his extended reach to

(53:05):
kind of do his dirty work the Justice Department, I'm
talking about, those guardrails are gone. So I'm constantly you know,
we talk about a lot of this stuff on the show,
and some of what you've talked about today, jes these
are real legit revelations, and I'm going to get, well,
what do we do about it? What do we do
about it? And I always feel like, first of all,
talking about it is doing something about it. You've got

(53:27):
to build awareness on the part of the public that
this stuff is going on. So right now, I think,
you know, there's a lot going on just in pointing
it out and turning a light on it. But I'm wondering,
there's no self correcting aspect to the Department of Justice,
is there? Lives? I mean, there's just a reality here
that is associated with their corruption. If they want to

(53:51):
corrupt it, they can corrupt it and make it rotten
to the core.

Speaker 5 (53:56):
There really is no self corrupting mechanism. You're absolutely right.
What they have done is they have strategically and intentionally
removed the guardrails that existed previously in the institution to
make those corrections. Some of the most disturbing firings are
firings of people in jobs that are not well known
but that are important to the integrity of the institution.
For example, the ethics director for the department was recently fired.

(54:21):
That's the person who would tell the Attorney General or
the Deputy Attorney General if they're doing something that violates
federal ethics laws, or if they need to recuse themselves
from a case, or if they need to make a
particular disclosure. That person was fired and to my knowledge,
has not been replaced. Another person who was fired the
same day I was fired, actually is the Information policy director,

(54:43):
the person who ensures that the Department is complying with
the Freedom of Information Act. That is an especially important
law right now because it's what requires transparency and government.
And now the director of that office is no longer
in place, and there is a tremendous backlog of freedom
of information requests with the Department from people who are

(55:03):
just trying to get basic information about what is going
on there.

Speaker 1 (55:07):
Yeah, I'm sure that there's a backlog. I mean, they
really want no information out, and I'm sure the demand
for the information has never been greater. So my last
question to you, or semi last question to you, is
those of you who know the Justice Department so well,
who've worked loyally as public servants, it's not a get

(55:28):
rich job. I mean, working for the government is a
job I think you do out of real public service.
And I know there's great pride in many who worked
at Justice formerly under past administration team and this one
prior to the way it has changed so radically. So
is there this is kind of a question about Washington
and about the afterlife with the administration. Is there a

(55:53):
community building there where I see you all scattered, you know,
but I'm wondering if there is a place, a message board,
a meeting where there is where you and former colleagues
talk about not necessarily strategies, but perhaps just what's going

(56:13):
on and how America is changing.

Speaker 5 (56:16):
There is a great organization that was founded by a
doj alum named Stacy Young, called the Justice Connection, and
it provides resources to those leaving the Justice Department, some voluntarily,
some involuntarily, and that has formed a really strong community
of former Justice Department folks who are invested in the institution,

(56:37):
and I think many of them, myself included, really hope
to be part of the rebuilding process for the Department
in the future. I'm somebody who never really thought of
myself as very political. I was in this, as you say,
for the public service because I believed I was performing
an important service to the public. And I truly believed
that it was a function that had a role under

(56:59):
any administry, that my work would be able to continue
even when the administration changed. And that was just proven
to be incorrect, but it should have been able to
continue it. Really, the Department of Justice is a non
part is an institution, and it's one that plays an
important role that every American should be invested in. It
keeps us safe, protects our civil rights, protects the rule

(57:20):
of law, and it's just it's just one that we
urgently will need to rebuild when we reach the end
of this administration.

Speaker 1 (57:27):
So you do think we'll reach the end of this
administration list.

Speaker 5 (57:31):
It feels like there's a lot of time left, and
I have no idea where we will be in another
three and a half years. Given how much has changed
in the last six months.

Speaker 1 (57:41):
Here is what Kurt asks, and they're just a couple
of questions. Here. Quickly ask Lizy if jd Vance in
the cabinet may actually be discussing Section four the twenty
fifth Amendment. I don't think they're. Well, I mean, I'll
ask you a question. I mean, that's the sort of
the notion that you could remove Trump from office based
on incompetence or based on questionable competence or mental acuity
lapses or whatever. Can you speak to that? Do you

(58:02):
think the meeting, there's any meeting or any conversation around that.

Speaker 5 (58:06):
I don't think so. I don't think anyone in Trump's
cabinet would dare to initiate that conversation.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
Uh yeah, I mean it's also something that you know
here in Libville. And I ever consider myself a truly
super lib I know I'm progressive on certain issues, but
also on others not I think like most Americans, I
think that, you know, we're a mix of things. But
I think there's a reinforcement of oh Trump's really done
at this time, Oh my god, he's gone too far.

(58:33):
And that's legitimately true as it reflected on some of
the things we talked about today. But I'd suggest that
in our own echo chamber, everything seems so outrageous. But
if you talk to people who voted for Trump in
Magaland I talk to a lot of them, they're not,
you know, on some defcon level that would suggest that
they're frustrated with Trump to the point that they want

(58:54):
them tossed out. You know, that's really something we have
to get our heads around, you know, and that's heavier lift.
It would shame well.

Speaker 5 (59:01):
I think that's why it's so important that we bring
to light some of the things that are going on
in the administration that might not be widely reported or known.
My focus is really on shedding light on what's going
on inside the Department of Justice, things that I think
should be concerning to every American. One of the things
that I've been closely tracking is the pardons that have
been granted to date by the President, and setting aside

(59:24):
the January sixth pardons, he has issued a huge number
of pardons to people convicted of very substantial white collar
fraud offenses, and all together, Trump's pardons have had the
effect of forgiving wealthy Americans of over one point three
billion dollars of debts that they owe to crime victims

(59:44):
and to US taxpayers. So they cost the taxpayer and
the victims of crimes over a billion dollars. And Trump
has never explained why he's granted those pardons. They're mostly
to people who are donors and supporters of the president,
including one woman who paid a million dollars to have
dinner with the President several days before he pardoned her son.

(01:00:09):
Things like that are there's just nothing in that for
the ordinary American of any party affiliation. And I think
that everyone should be looking at things like that questioning
why is he doing that, what's he getting out of that?
And what am I getting out of that as a
taxpayer and a voter. And my hope is that if
we continue to shed light on these things that are happening,
that Americans will realize that this administration is not benefiting them.

Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
Now, that's a really polite way to put it. I mean,
i'd say it's this is a lawless administration. It's a
pay to play administration. There should be a for sale
sign out in front of that White House. But I
love your Instagram. I love those moments. Lawyer oil is
where you can find and there bite size, easy to
understand morsels of this abomination that's going on with the

(01:00:57):
Justice Department. And in realize there it is, yeah, underscore oil,
and you've become sort of this internet sensation, haven't you live? Lawyer?

Speaker 5 (01:01:07):
I don't know if I would, I would say sensation,
but I never in a million years thought that I
would have tens of thousands of followers on social media.
I'm on TikTok as well and substack. My substack is
also lawyer Oil, and I'm posting some more in depth
content about not just the Justice Department in general, but
also my own litigation. I am litigating with the Department

(01:01:30):
of Justice over my firing, and I have a number
of different different things going on.

Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
So I love it.

Speaker 5 (01:01:37):
I hope that folks will consider subscribing to the substack
and following me on Instagram or TikTok. That's the best
way to support my work.

Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
I've lawyer dot com is the place.

Speaker 5 (01:01:50):
Lawyer oyer dot com is the way you can reach
the substack. I've kind of dedicated myself for I am
dedicating myself now to what I call defending our democracy,
and it's not very it's not financially lucrative, but it's
where I what I think I need to be doing
right now. And I really appreciate folks following the content
that I'm creating to help keep us informed and engaged.

Speaker 1 (01:02:12):
Yeah, and I just want to make sure that I
get the for many listening on Spotify and on Apple podcasts,
et cetera. It's lawyer oil and there's no is there
a dash in the middle or something or is it
just lawyer oil dot com?

Speaker 5 (01:02:24):
Just yeah, www dot lawyeroil dot com will take you
right to the substack.

Speaker 1 (01:02:29):
Yeah, we've got it on screen lawyer oil dot com.
They'll take the substack. We will become among your supporters.
We're fans, you know, Instagram, TikTok, but we now will
be supporters, financial supporters. I pledge that to you today.
Thank you, of course. I mean, I just think what

(01:02:50):
you're doing is terrific and I love that this conversation
continues in all of these different forums in which you
make yourself available, and I really appreciate you making yourself
available to us today, and I hope we will do
this again. Thank you, Liz.

Speaker 5 (01:03:02):
Definitely, I'd love to join you anytime. Thanks so much for.

Speaker 1 (01:03:05):
Having me on, Mark, Lizawyer everyone, good stuff, good stuff,
Mark Thompson Show. How great is she? I mean, that's
what you want in a public servant, That's what you know.
I grew up in Washington and so many dedicated people,
brilliant people. I mean, Liz Lawyer is brilliant. Just her background,
her education, and they work, you know, tirelessly in government

(01:03:29):
for the people. It's really a job of great pride,
and it's largely unrewarded. As I say, it's not financially beneficial,
particularly to work for the government, as you're aware. And
so I think now her great value is as a
resource as to what's going on in government and what

(01:03:51):
continues to be, as I say, a lawless effort to
degrade this place that will such a great institution, the
Department of Justice. And I'm really delighted that she's doing
that work. And we will will have her on again
and next time urge everybody to follow her.

Speaker 3 (01:04:11):
Next time we have her on, I want to ask
her about because she's a Harvard educated lawyer, I want
to ask her about what's going on at Harvard and
you know, her alma mater, what you know how the
Trump administration wants to stick their fingers in the hirings
and the teachings and all the other things going on
at Harvard, and how all these universities seem to be

(01:04:31):
bending backward to accommodate Trump just so they can get
whatever remains of federal funding to their research institutions.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
Yeah, it's funny. I had that on my list of
things to ask her, and then we just kind of
ran out of time.

Speaker 3 (01:04:44):
Yeah. No, the conversation was great, but let's have her
back on.

Speaker 1 (01:04:48):
We really should. Definitely, I want to get some news
in and then we'll pick up on the other side
with the tariffs. Tariffs now in effect, the chaotic, bizarre,
other worldly tariffs that are untethered to any sort of
economic reality. They are going into effect. We'll discuss them

(01:05:11):
and give them some coherence. Also a special edition of
It's the Planet Stupid Belinda Weymouth with some talk of
what's happening. Good news is what she has and I
have before she comes on, as you might expect some
concerning news out of the EPA, and I'll give you that.

(01:05:32):
That'll be in the last half hour of the show.
Smash the like button if you would it's so important
to us Rush smash it like.

Speaker 3 (01:05:41):
A bush with your iron ride.

Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
The thumbs up. What it does is it helps get
our show served to feeds that otherwise don't even know
we are here. So that is how you can help us,
and it costs you nothing. Please consider subscribing to the
show that is also free. Hit the notification bell and
you'll know when ever there's a new video. We'll drop
the conversation with Liz Oyer as a separate video so

(01:06:05):
you can send it, share it, you put it on Facebook,
whatever you want, and I think that's a great way
to kind of increase the footprint of the show. I'll
remind you it's Albert's birthday, so everybody try to behave
and Albert is We've told him, I mean, it's his birthday,
but you've got to stay focused, buddy, Okay, you got

(01:06:26):
to stay focused, all right, but it is your birthday,
so there's a certain, I don't know, sense of celebration
about everything. There's never been anything like this, yeah, well, well,
never anything like that except for last year and the
year before that and year before that when it was
his birthday. All Right, Kim's news and we continue Mark
Thompson The Mark Thompson Show.

Speaker 3 (01:06:54):
On The Mark Thompson Show, I'm Kim McCallister. This report
is sponsored by Coachella val Coffee dot Com. Oh and
the t's really great too. House democrats who fled the
state to stop a vote on Republican led redistricting efforts
may soon be getting a visit from the FBI. That

(01:07:14):
is because Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the agency is
tracking them down, adding they'll be taken directly to the
Texas state capitol. Democratic lawmakers fled to various blue states,
including Illinois, earlier this week to block the vote. I
guess now they have to really hide out. Huh. The
Texas House is expected to try to establish a quorum
again on Friday, after failing to do so twice this week.

Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
I have just a couple of things to say about this,
but really briefly, one is in the old FBI, I
would have said, this is absolutely ridiculous. It's impossible, this
is just performative. It's theater. There's no way the FBI
is going to cooperate and go track down Democrats who
are in Illinois. Just no way now with this FBI.
I mean again, unmoored by all of the sort of
constitutional restrictions associated with the FBI, the rule of law.

(01:08:01):
Maybe it'll happen, I mean, this really is the new America.
But I'd say still, it's probably a lot of bluster.
I don't see the FBI going to wrap up Democrats.
It would really put us in still darker territory. We'll see.
And the other thing I would say is, huh, funny

(01:08:21):
FBI isn't going after all of those congressional leaders who
walked out of Congress early so they wouldn't have to
vote on the Epstein file release. Just weird about that, Like,
oh my god, how the Democrats are so undemocratic the
way they leave town so that we can't get the
vote on this redistricting in Texas. Yet in Congress, those

(01:08:45):
congress people left town early so that there would be
no vote on the release of the Epstein files. I mean,
and final thing, Republicans have done this very same thing
with Democratic proposals in the Texas legislature, So this is
partly unprecedented.

Speaker 3 (01:09:02):
Texas is Senator John Cornrian is announcing today that the
FBI did indeed accept his request to track down these Democrats.
So He says that they have said yes to doing
his bidding here.

Speaker 1 (01:09:15):
Well, again, I'll believe it when I see it. I
think there are a lot of announcements made, but as
I say in the New America, I guess it wouldn't
surprise me.

Speaker 3 (01:09:24):
The White House is pushing back on the Kremlins claims
that a meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin has
been secured. ABC News reports no location has been set
and the Russian president must meet with Ukrainian President Zelenski
for this meeting to happen. The Kremlin had said a
meeting would take place in the coming days.

Speaker 1 (01:09:44):
It's tougher and tougher to find a meeting place. Trump
said that he's going to meet with Putin, but it's
very hard to find a meeting place where. You know,
Putin has wanted as a war criminal and there is
an international warrant out if you want to think about
that for him. So Putin's become a problematic figure from
the standpoint of where he can go and where he

(01:10:05):
can meet.

Speaker 3 (01:10:07):
Doesn't Putin have all kinds of precautions taken, because you know,
people try to get rid of him, and so you
know they have to be very careful.

Speaker 1 (01:10:17):
Yeah, wit to take him and his food tasters and
all these other people who are Yeah, you're right, making
sure that nothing happens to him.

Speaker 3 (01:10:23):
President Trumps sweeping tariffs now in effect, import taxes will
reach levels not seen in the country in almost one
hundred years, with more than sixty countries in the European
Union facing rates of fifteen percent or more. In some cases.
A wide variety of products will be hit, ranging from appliances, cars, food, furniture.

(01:10:45):
Guess who's paying for that? That would be you. President
Trump is expected to sign an executive order seeking greater
transparency in college admission practices. According to a senior White
House official, the order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to
broaden the requirements for schools to report admission data. McMahon
is being tasked with revamping the online databases with updated

(01:11:09):
information so that students and parents can easily navigate it.

Speaker 1 (01:11:13):
I mean, I'm sorry, but I mean again, every time
you mentioned a cabinet official and this one's Linda McMahon,
I mean, it's just people who like go to dinner
with Donald Trump or who have you know, shown up
to one of his parties. These are people who are
utterly incompetent. She has no knowledge of the educational system.
She didn't even know what AI was. You'll remember she
was talking about it in that meeting and she was

(01:11:35):
calling it a one and going to get a one.
I mean, it's like this, These people are so profoundly incompetent,
and yet they're in charge of this nation. It leaves
me downcast every day.

Speaker 3 (01:11:49):
Yesterday we were following a story about a shooting at
Fort Stewart in Georgia. We know today that two of
the five soldiers who were shot in that case remain hospitalized.
Brigadier General John Loubis said two of the soldiers are
expected to make full recoveries. One could be released this weekend.
The suspected gunman, an active duty military member, was taken

(01:12:12):
into custody following that attack. Sergeant Cornelius Radford was stationed
at that base and ended up being subdued by his
fellow soldiers. Millions of people in the northern United States
could be dealing with some wicked weather over the next
couple of days. We're talking tornadoes, hurricane force wind gusts,
and hail all possible, with parts of North Dakota expected

(01:12:35):
to be impacted the most today. The severe weather will
threat will ship eastward tomorrow, and then this weekend cities
like Minneapolis, Chicago, and Green Bay might get hit with
storms as well.

Speaker 1 (01:12:48):
President got a kind of guests, you got to kind
of guess now when the storms are coming because the
Weather Service YELLA has been completely gutted, so it's really
a guessing game.

Speaker 3 (01:12:57):
It's a tough set. We'll just report weather every day
and hope we get a right. President Trump wants a
new census that omits illegal immigrants or undocumented immigrants. It's
a wild story from the population count. We're just going
to pretend they're not here, I guess. According to the
president's post, the new census will be based on modern
day facts, figures, and information gained from the presidential election

(01:13:21):
of twenty twenty four. The last census was for twenty twenty.
Another one isn't scheduled for twenty thirty, but he wants
the next census to omit undocumented folks from.

Speaker 1 (01:13:33):
The census is every ten years. He wants to change
it so that, as Kim has noted, it will no
longer register illegal undocumented people in this country. The census
is designed to give you a picture of the demography
of the United States of America, right, so that you

(01:13:54):
know how many illegal undocumented people are in America, a
legal documented people are in America, how many people are
here on green cards, how many people, et cetera. But
it's not just about citizenship. It's about all kinds of things.
It's about age, it's about income. It's the census. It's
designed to give you a representation, an accurate representation of

(01:14:17):
the United States of America. Now, in the perversion of
what is accurate and what is not, since there is
again an ongoing effort to have propaganda decide what America is,
it looks as though the ability of the sense is
to really give you a picture of what America it

(01:14:38):
consists of, will be completely undermined. Now this hasn't happened yet,
but the proposal is on its face absurd. But like
many other proposals that are on their face absurd, it
may happen under this administration.

Speaker 3 (01:14:53):
I'm under the impression that census data is used in
providing funding for different states protective services.

Speaker 1 (01:15:02):
Yeah, precisely, right, exactly, It's not just elections, but for
Trump it's I don't know. I mean, I don't know
what his priority is, but I know he talks about
elections all the time. It's about domination and power. I mean,
it really is. It's about what the dominant demographic will be.
I'd suggest he wants white men to be the dominant demographic,

(01:15:25):
and he wants them to have power that corresponds to
that desire.

Speaker 3 (01:15:31):
The Gifford Fire is still raging on California's central coast.
It has burned more than ninety six thousand acres. This
one fifteen percent contained. The fire has prompted evacuation orders
for hundreds of homes in Santa Barbara and San Louis
Obispo counties. This fire, the largest in California this year
so far, started on Friday afternoon near Santa Maria on

(01:15:54):
the central coast and again continues to burn ninety six
thousand acres. Is at its where it is now.

Speaker 1 (01:16:00):
It makes me so frightened for the coming fire season.
You could say the fire season's year round, but I mean,
I'm talking about the offshore winds that really produce the
kinds of you know, these conflagrations that are devastating. I'm
just I have you know, palpable anxiety about that. PTASs
can understand.

Speaker 3 (01:16:20):
I mean completely understandable. We'll get a load of this one.
A new study suggests the Palisades and the Eaten fires
may be linked with hundreds of deaths. The massive fires
in January killed a confirmed thirty one people in Los
Angeles County. But Wednesday, a research letter was published in
the Journal of the American Medical Association, and it says

(01:16:42):
La County experienced four hundred and forty more deaths than
typically expected between January fifth and February first. The fires
fall within that time period as well, So the study
says the higher number of deaths likely reflects increased exposure
to poor air quality or delays and interruption and health
services that were caused by those fires. I mean, what

(01:17:05):
happens when the fires going and someone's having a heart attack,
You're not going to get an ambulance as quickly, right,
So again, let me just say, that's four hundred and
forty more deaths than typically associated with that time frame
during the period where the fires were going. So how
many people did that fire really kill? Thirty one officially,
but four hundred forty we don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:17:26):
Wow, that's really an interesting way to look at these
things too. We seem to focus and you can understand
why on you know, people who lost their life, you know,
being trapped in a house or trapped in a car
or whatever it might be. But there's a far bigger

(01:17:47):
ripple effect from the fire than was originally is originally
reflected in those statistics. Wow.

Speaker 3 (01:17:54):
Mel Gibson's long awaited sequel to his two thousand and
four film The Passion of the Christ is on the way,
going to go to the Theatre's Mark stand in Line.
Lionsgate confirming this week The Resurrection of the Christ will
be released in twenty twenty seven. It's a two parter,
Part one coming out on Good Friday, part two coming

(01:18:14):
out forty days later on Ascension Day. He's really getting
into the Holy Roller thing, the.

Speaker 1 (01:18:20):
Big Catholic and he's got this. It's this part of
Catholicism that I don't really understand. It's the you know,
it's an extreme part of Catholicism.

Speaker 3 (01:18:28):
It's good because Jim caviz Al needs the work and
he is the Uh. He's expected to return as Jesus.

Speaker 1 (01:18:34):
He was a last gar, right, everybody's happy about Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:18:37):
He's a big gym, he gets a loan money announced.

Speaker 1 (01:18:40):
No open auditions for Jesus. We've got our Jesus.

Speaker 3 (01:18:42):
I'm sure Jesus Jesus is. The part is felled. The
role has been taken.

Speaker 1 (01:18:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:18:47):
In baseball, this is for Albert. Shohai Otani now has
one thousand hits in his Major League baseball career. He
did it with a two run home run in the
third inning of Wednesday's game against the Saint Louis Cardinals.
It was also the starting pitcher, allowing one run on
two hits and striking out as season high eight batters.
He's doing pretty well. Unfortunately, or fortunately for Albert, the

(01:19:11):
visiting Cardinals rallied to beat the Dodgers five to three.
But Otani is now the third Japanese born Major league
player with a thousand hits, joining Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki
Matsui as well.

Speaker 2 (01:19:25):
Wow and e Tiro just inducted to the Hall of
Fame I think just last week and he had a
all in English, which is very impressive, So shout out Eachiro.

Speaker 3 (01:19:33):
Wow also in baseball, and lastly, the first female umpire
in a regular season Major league baseball game will be
standing behind the plate this weekend.

Speaker 1 (01:19:45):
You just.

Speaker 3 (01:19:47):
Her name is Jen Pool, and she'll umpire in three
of the four games between the Miami Marlins and the
Braves in Atlanta that start today. She began her career
as an umpire back in twenty sixteen in the minor leagues.
In twenty twenty four, she became the first woman in
seventeen years to umpire in a spring training game. And

(01:20:07):
now we have her in a regular season.

Speaker 5 (01:20:09):
Maybe don't even play.

Speaker 2 (01:20:13):
I have to say, al right, the other sports have
it too, like NBA have it and the NFL does
have it too, So it's nice to see that. Being
an umpireing baseball probably got to be one of the
toughest spots. But uh, it'll be helpful with Mark's automated
system that he wants.

Speaker 1 (01:20:30):
Yeah, Albert skipped ahead in the movie. That's exactly right.
I'm delighted that she's there, the umpiring in the and
the you can say, I see I'm priing. I watched
the Giants games regularly and I'm seeing so many miscalls.
It's crazy. And they the way the announcers just say,
and I guess they give they call that a ball. Okay,
you know what I mean it's it's a uh. The umpiring,

(01:20:52):
I think is not good and I am all for
robo umps. There shouldn't be anybody man or woman behind
home play calling balls and strike, so they can call
other things related to the game, but not balls and strikes.
But where does that sit there? Alburtcnut review that again,
where where are we?

Speaker 3 (01:21:08):
I think it's implementing the minor leagues.

Speaker 2 (01:21:10):
They just tapped their head and immediately they review it.
And I think they did it in an All Star game,
so answring training. So everywhere except for the major leagues,
it's got.

Speaker 1 (01:21:19):
To be coming. Yeah, that's great. Congratulations to her. She
can now get all the abuse that the male umpires get.
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:21:27):
This report is sponsored by Coachella Valleycoffee dot com. If
you haven't tried the Lions main coffee or tea, which
is the Turmeric Chai, it's really worth trying. I like
the Turmeric Chai tea cold rather than hot. It's kind
of spicy hot. My husband says it smells like Christmas
but cold. I really like it. And you get the

(01:21:49):
benefit of the mushrooms infuse the Lion's Man it's supposed
to bring you mental clarity. So there it is the turmeric.
You say turmeric or turmeric, it hasn't r in it. Yeah,
and it's really really good. I'm really enjoying that tea.
And they also have various other teas. They have the

(01:22:10):
Sun tea, Hibiscus orange Sun tea for summer. I love
the vanilla tea. My daughter really loves the English Breakfast tea.
So many good teas. Mark loves the Okato espresso. Is
that what you're drinking today or are you lions maaning?

Speaker 1 (01:22:27):
I'm lions maaning today, but I'll tell you I am
probably next week going to shift to the Daka roast
just to get back to my roots. But I do
love the Lions man. I can't get away from it.
I'm really into it. I'm surprised just how much I've
fallen in love with this particular blend. So I do
recommend it, and obviously you must use our discount. I

(01:22:49):
want all of our listeners and viewers to get the discount.
You get ten percent off with Mark t in the
discount code, and it's good for anything on the site.
You can. You know, there are people I've seen with
the Coachella Valley mugs. They have Stanley mugs with it.
It's a really cool merch line. So if you'd go
for that, you get ten percent of that also, So

(01:23:10):
definitely use our discount code Mark te at checkout to
get all that stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:23:14):
It's all at Coachella Valleycoffee dot com. I'm Kim McAllister
and this is the Mark Thompson Show, The Mark Thompson Show.

Speaker 1 (01:23:27):
It was great.

Speaker 5 (01:23:28):
I loved it.

Speaker 7 (01:23:30):
How would you have this?

Speaker 3 (01:23:31):
We could try ignoring this, sir, mining You cannot say
you love your country.

Speaker 1 (01:23:38):
Where are my weave smokers at?

Speaker 3 (01:23:40):
Stay at home and get baked right on.

Speaker 1 (01:23:43):
I'm great to have everybody here. I want to get
into the tariffs quickly, but I want to quickly recognize
that you can always chat with us. Our live chat
is welcoming. It's a chat community that is always welcoming
to others, even those who disagree. So please don't be intimidated.
Jump right on and you can always chat after the show.

(01:24:07):
That is to say, leave comments. We read all the comments.
I see comments that are substantive, and I see comments.
Sometimes I push them onto you, Albert. In fact, maybe
I'll do that tonight. I'll push some stuff onto you.
Some of them are substantive and some of them are
completely superficial. It's such an education as to what things

(01:24:28):
people respond to. So I will give you some of
that a little bit later. Right now, mts is vid
my sanity, says Richard Delemator, who is the hunter s
Thompson of this show. Good morning people. I love you,
says Richard. Wow, well I see your love and I

(01:24:50):
reflected back at you. My friend Nulla Fidian says with
a five dollars super chat. If we don't change directions soon,
we'll end up where we're going. Yeah. I mean that's
a way to say we are headed in a pretty
dark direction. I absolutely agree. Harry says. Question is Gabbard
and intelligence and Oxen Moron. She is a piece of work,

(01:25:12):
that Telsea Gabbard. She really is. And sometimes the animals win,
says a West Theory. In the game of hunting, go
team yah. Yeah to that millionaire trophy hunter who is gored.
Happy birthday, says Jim eating to Albert. Yeah, Albert always

(01:25:35):
gets the love. The kids love their Albert.

Speaker 3 (01:25:38):
Thanks Jim.

Speaker 1 (01:25:39):
Yeah, Jim's Jim's the real thing. Appreciate you all, says Laurie.
Appreciate you, Laurie. Big shout out to Laurie and everybody
who supports the show. Big shout out. Yeah, and supersticker
from DLC Shield. I've never I think, come across the

(01:25:59):
LC before, so welcome DLC Shield. Big shout out to
you out and thank you for the ten dollars supersticker.
That's really cool. We are a crowdfunded show, so I
appreciate all the support. Big Tuna says the remarkables. That's
what people who are devotee of the show are calling themselves,

(01:26:21):
the remarkables. We don't drink the kool aid. We sip
on the truth. Oh that is a cool Yes, yes,
really strong, very strong Big Tuna. That would make a
great T shirt New Mark Merch. Yeah, I I'll bring
it up to the merch board. I think it could
be good. By the way, I encourage you to check

(01:26:43):
out the merch site, there's some cool stuff and some
cool kind of activist T shirts that are also tasteful.
You know, so they don't they don't say f Trump
or something like that. I mean, that's just not really
This is more like what you'll see Make Love Not
Fascism Project nineteen eighty four and a half. I really
like that one, sort of reflecting the Orwellian times we're

(01:27:05):
living in. I love that son born to peacefully resist,
and then there's a born to peacefully resist with the
earth there. I love both of those, really love both
of those, and so on. So check it all out.
They're in different colors, and the knitted cardigan, the bomber jacket.

(01:27:25):
There's a lot of stuff, but I really think I
give Courtney in particular a lot of credit for revamping
our merch site, Get markmirch dot com. She's found a
new merchant. Of course. My personal favorite the socks. Mark
Thompson Show socks are something that you can slip onto

(01:27:48):
your feet and then you know when you want to
show it all if you just pull up that pant
leg a little bit, or if you were in shorts,
you've got it on full display all the time. The
Mark Thompson Show cruise socks again a very popular item.
And Richard Delamator likes the bucket hat. He says, the

(01:28:10):
best bucket hat in the world. So is Mark wearing
the cardigan today? No, not today, not today, but I
will wear it as the as the weather turns I
I didn't know this. Phineas says, I have the same
fire trauma you have. Mark. My relatives died in the campfire,

(01:28:30):
and I how to identify them. Geez, that's about as
good as you can imagine. He that. Wow, that's really rough.
Phineas man, Yeah, we lost our house in a fire
in southern California. But what was just described by Phineas
is another level. Ole Hanson says Trump is about attention,

(01:28:53):
even bad attention, if that is the only thing he
can get. He is a toddler. I do think, as
I've said to you before, he's about the announcement. He
likes pronouncements, he likes the theater of being president, and
a lot of that is the media attention. So there's
there's way more to Trump than that. But mention any

(01:29:14):
Trump hire that has qualified for the job, says Ola Hansen.
It's hard. It's really hard to find one. I mean,
maybe you could go through. I look through the cabinet
and I don't see anybody who would survive the vetting
process of another administration. I don't know. I mean, I
look at I don't want to get heavily into this,
but I look at somebody like Scott Bessant, who knows

(01:29:38):
better than all of this. He knows better, you know,
and yet he's out there slinging this crap every day
on CNBC and MSNBC. I mean, he knows these tariffs
are just incredibly inflationary and they will devolve the American economy,

(01:29:58):
not to mention the political spell. But he's out there
slinging this stuff. I don't know. So they're people of
There're people who know better, but they've checked their morality
and ethics at the door before they come into this administration.
Happy Birthday Commish Louise says, we may root for different teams.
Louise is a Dodger fan, but I will always root
for you in the game of life. Thanks Louis, Yeah,

(01:30:22):
thank you. Yeah, that is a rights to the Dodgers,
Best to the Dodgers. Happy Birthday, Commission, Happy birthday in deed,
So see your soul the Mark Thumpson Show. All right, guys,

(01:30:43):
let's get to let's get to the terrafts quickly. President
Trump saying he's imposing a one tariff on computer chips
that will likely raise the cost of electronics, automobiles, household appliances,
other essential goods. Quote, we'll be putting a tariff on
approximately one hundred percent. We'll be putting a tariff of

(01:31:06):
approximately one hundred percent on chips and semiconductors, he said.
He said it in the Oval Office while meeting with
Tim Cook from Apples.

Speaker 3 (01:31:14):
Tim Cook's like, thanks, we appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (01:31:17):
But if you're building in the United States, there's no charge.
And that's kind of what he was doing there. Cook
was saying, we'll put six hundred billion into doing a
lot of the work here in this country. And again,
Trump is saying that companies that make computer chips in
the United States should be spared this import tax. But

(01:31:40):
I again, I see this all as a system of patronage,
as a way in which Trump will extract concessions. And
some of these concessions just don't make any sense. You know,
we talked about it before. I mean, you know, like bananas,
you know, when we're talking about that yesterday, Like, you know,

(01:32:01):
are you going to get the banana industry power back
up in this because you've got a withering tariff on
those countries that produce bananas. But I mean, if you're
trying to bring them here and onshore the banana industry.
It just doesn't quite make sense.

Speaker 3 (01:32:15):
And then there are other companies who say this is
not feasible for us, and we're just not going to
be able to export to the United States anymore. We're done.

Speaker 1 (01:32:25):
Yeah, I mean, I think there's going to be a
lot of that, And there are other trading partners that
even the European Union is looking for that many of
these Asian countries are looking for. More than sixty countries
around the world scrambling to respond to this latest wave
rich and poor countries warning of job losses as these

(01:32:45):
tariffs up in decades old world trading systems, with rates
ranging from ten percent to thirty nine percent forty and
forty one percent for Switzerland, Brazil and Syria. Yikes, and
they're trying all over the world to scramble. Switzerland saying
it will seek new talks with the US after their

(01:33:05):
last gas mission to Washington failed to stop this thirty
nine percent tariff blow. Taiwan also continuing talks with the
US they have a twenty percent rate imposed on them.
Ireland locked into an EU US deal setting the tariff

(01:33:28):
ceiling at fifteen percent, saying that they're going to publish
a new plan for diversifying their economy that relies heavily
on US multinationals like Intel and Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson.
And despite a last minute reprieve from Trump, Lesoto with
tariffs dropping from fifty to fifteen percent. This is an

(01:33:50):
African nation, it's tiny, and it's impoverished. They're saying they're
already hurting from these tariffs. And by definite and we
talked about this when he first debuted his tariff plan.
You're going to have a terriff imbalance with a small
country like Lesotho because they're just a small population. How

(01:34:11):
could they possibly import more from you than I mean,
you see the imbalance. There's just an asymmetry because of
the population. But the other thing is, you know this
terriff imbalance or the trade imbalance, the points to then

(01:34:32):
produce the tariff. It's crazy, right. You understand that if
you shop at Nordstrom and you use your credit card
there and you buy one thousand dollars worth of stuff
at Nordstrom, and then you go to Banana Republic and
you buy six hundred dollars worth of stuff, there is
there a tariff is there a rather a trade imbalance

(01:34:55):
between you and Nordstrom and you and Banana Republic. No.
I mean, that's where you went and got goods. You
bought those goods, and that is trade. You gave them
something and they gave you something, both at Nordstrom and
Banana Republic. That's what's happening in the world. Trump wants

(01:35:17):
to see goods match and come together, although he doesn't
even really care about that because in the case of Brazil,
they actually import more American products than they export, and
they've got a fifty percent tariff levied upon them because
of Bolsonaro. So he's ready to throw out whatever bs

(01:35:40):
economics apply to the rest of the world. In the
case of Brazil, and in the case of India, he
doesn't like the fact that they're importing Russian oil and
so they have a forty percent tariff imposed upon them.
I mean, this is really Trump wanting to manage the world,
which you can do or try to do, because you

(01:36:01):
have so much power as the American president. We are
such a wealthy nation and so on some level you
can leverage that wealth to the rest of the world.
But it's not a viable way to go about manage
the American economy. And so just see my example. He's
it's lunacy. He's not seeing the legitimacy of existing trade.

(01:36:26):
He's only seeing balance of goods, or what he calls
balance of goods. So in my Nordstrom example, I mean,
you know you tax Nordstrom because they're not offering you
as much as you're offering them, or would you tack?
I mean, where's the imbalance? I don't get it. I

(01:36:47):
don't get it. It's a shame we can't hit Trump
with a thousand dollars stupidity. Tariff, says Luis. Terrors by
themselves are not a policy. They're a tool to be
used within a policy. Yeah, yeah, targeted generally much smaller.
That's where tariffs really begin to have some use. Paul

(01:37:07):
Ryan is saying that the Supreme Court may undo these tariffs.
You know, this tariff business all comes from a declaration
of emergency. We've talked about it here on the show
many times, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan is predicting
there'll be disruptions because of President Trump's wide ranging tariff

(01:37:31):
regime with consequences for financial markets. And these disruptions, he
thinks will be because the legal basis for Trump's country
specific what he's calling reciprocal tariffs. That's what Trump's calling them.
They are lucky to strike striking down that emergency declaration

(01:37:54):
at the Supreme Court level. An appeals court is reviewing
that authority, which Trump invoked through the nineteen seventy seven
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the first president in history
to use that law for tariffs. Ryan is saying, quote,
it's more than likely that the Supreme Court knocks out

(01:38:14):
that law that's being used for these tariffs, which doesn't
have the word tariff in it, then the president is
going to have to go to other laws to justify
those tariffs. There are a bunch of laws, and those
are harder laws to operate within. So he's thinking that
when that happens, the financial markets will again be thrown

(01:38:36):
into a tailspin.

Speaker 3 (01:38:38):
He's still thinking that everything's normal and that the judiciary
isn't in Trump's pocket.

Speaker 1 (01:38:44):
Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, it seems as
though everybody in Washington associated with this administration, and I
include the Supreme Court as an extension of this administration,
is saluting and doing what he wants. A secretary Scott
Bessont just today reinforcing his call to overhaul the Bureau

(01:39:06):
of Labor Statistics. That was the bureau that gave Trump
the revised numbers on employment that he's not happy with.
Bessent is saying that the US economic data is at risk,
pointing to a broader dysfunction in the federal government. This
is what I'm saying, the normalization of the craziness of

(01:39:28):
Trump and complaining that it was a hoax. This person
is politically motivated, the head of the BLS. That's why
I fired her. When we have covered there were at
minimum forty statisticians and economists who went over that data.
It's done in such a specific way. There's no way
the head of the BLS had anything to do with

(01:39:48):
changing that data.

Speaker 3 (01:39:50):
Just because you don't like the numbers doesn't mean they're
not true.

Speaker 1 (01:39:53):
Yeah, And so that's the latest. And the head of Intel,
the ce is being targeted by the White House. He's
saying that the CEO of Intel should resign. So when
you have the president and I'll tell you why he

(01:40:14):
wants the head of Intel to resign in a second,
when you have the president pointing to someone who is
CEO of a major company, demanding the resignation. That company
is now in the crosshairs of the White House. And
what happens to the stock It goes way down. And
that's what's happened today. We'll come back to that in
a second. Intel shares tumbling after President Trump set in

(01:40:38):
a social media post that the chip maker's CEO needs
to resign. He said, quote, the CEO of Intel is
highly conflicted and must resign immediately. Well, if anybody knows
about highly conflicted, it's Donald Trump. Everyone. Yeah, he is
a walking conflict of interest, he said. There is no
other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention

(01:40:58):
to this problem, he said. He made the post after
Tom Cotton, the Senator, sent a letter to the Intel chairman,
Frank Yery, expressing concern over the CEO's investments and ties
to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese
Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army. Cotton specifically calling
out his recent leadership of this company within a connection

(01:41:27):
to China's National University of Defense Technology, and that's a
violation of US export controls. So when the President points
to this CEO, what you end up with is the
very real possibility that the stock dropped. It did, And

(01:41:49):
you could also say that, knowing that that CEO is
going to be called out by the President, that you
can now buy Intel stock. Trump can reverse field and
that Intel stock will go back up and you've kind
of played the bounce. The reason I mentioned that is
there's a lot of that going on in this administration.
You'll remember at the beginning when he said we're going

(01:42:10):
to impose these tariffs at midnight tonight, the stock market
fell off a cliff right then you could buy into
that market, and he goes, you know what, We're going
to do a ninety day pause, and all of a sudden,
the stock market shoots up two thousand points and if
you play that bounce, you became wealthy overnight. There is

(01:42:30):
no legitimacy to so much of what the administration does
that this could be falling into the same category. So
in any case, Trump is calling for the CEO of
Intel to resign and with that we wait for the
effect of these tariffs. I think that Wall Street has
baked in a bit of this. We look at the

(01:42:52):
stock market. It's not the only indicator of anything, but
it does give you an indication of the way the
business community is viewing all of this, and I think
at least earlier. I haven't been watching it since we've
come on, but earlier the market seemed to be kind
of unremarkable in its reaction. You know. Anyway, that's a

(01:43:15):
bit about tariffs, and we will update all of that
Mark Thompson Show, Vicky and Salsalito before we get to
the environmental news. Thanks for another great show, and don't
walk back on your anger at that. Ash Er the
hunter guy, thank you very much for backing me up.
I know there's going to be a lot of blowback.
How could you do that? That's disgusting. I'm not going

(01:43:36):
to watch your show anymore whatever, I get it, but
I mean, I just there's right and wrong, and what
that trophy hunter is doing is wrong, and I believe
that trophy hunting is wrong. So the I had an
environmental story and where is it? I hear it is.
Thank you. I'll share this with you before we get

(01:43:57):
to it's the planet stupid. There is a NASA scientist's
satellite that has cost American taxpayers a lot of money.
I think, Kim, I want to say it was like
I feel like it's like seven hundred million dollars or
something for what. The Trump administration has asked NASA employees
to draw up plans to end at least two major

(01:44:19):
satellite missions, and if the plans are carried out, one
of the missions would be permanently terminated because the satellite
would burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

Speaker 3 (01:44:28):
What that's what happens.

Speaker 1 (01:44:31):
The data the two missions collect is widely used, including
by scientists, oil and gas companies, and farmers who need
detailed information about carbon dioxide to determine crop health. They
are the only two federal satellite missions that are designed

(01:44:52):
and built specifically to monitor planet warming greenhouse gases.

Speaker 3 (01:44:57):
Don't worry about it. We're not eating plants and agriculture
stuff anymore because there's no one to pick the crops.

Speaker 1 (01:45:04):
Oh there is.

Speaker 3 (01:45:04):
We don't need the weather in order to plan the crops.
All of this is just we don't need any of
it anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:45:11):
Both missions, known as the Orbiting Carbon Observatories, measure carbon
dioxide and plant growth around the globe. They use identical
measurement devices, but one device is attached to a standalone satellite,
while the other is attached to the International Space Station.
The standalone satellite would burn up in the atmosphere if
NASA pursues those plans to terminate the mission. The uh,

(01:45:39):
the the insanity of this. Do you understand it's already
up there, it's already funded. I don't understand, like there's
no fiscal policy associated with this that is served. These
missions were funded and so now they're looking at what
And this is what I always talk to you about,

(01:46:02):
NASA announcing it will consider proposals from private companies and universities. Yeah, yeah,
that might fill in the gap. So that is the
latest in Trump Land when it comes to the environment.
But that's not everything. There is good news in some
of the news around the environment, and we do it

(01:46:25):
every week in a segment we call It's the Planet Stupid,
the Planet Earth.

Speaker 5 (01:46:31):
Some call me nature. I am very passionate about the
planet Earth, a.

Speaker 4 (01:46:36):
Living, breathing planet capable of sustaining whatever life forms we
see fit to deposit on.

Speaker 8 (01:46:41):
It spot judging by the pollution content of the atmosphere,
I believe we have her on.

Speaker 1 (01:46:45):
It's the planet stupid. No, no, no, it's the planet stupid.
Our guide for It's the planet Stupid. Eco journalist Belinda Weymouth. Hi, Belinda, Hi,
are you love that you bring some good news occasionally
to this grim scene when it comes to planetary health.
And one of the things you're touching on, as I

(01:47:07):
understand it, is the effort to save a lot of
coral from the bleaching process that seems to be an
epidemic with the coral around the world.

Speaker 4 (01:47:17):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, So this is happening on the Great
Barrier Reef. So these Australian oceanographers are down there and
what they're doing is they are using boats taking salt water,
pressurizing it and then vaporizing it by sending it out
through hundreds of tiny little nozzles and yep, that's what

(01:47:37):
they're doing. They're creating a fog and then they have
these misters on the back of the boat and that
sends out two more streams of mist, and then the
three of these trails of water in the atmosphere then
form this blanket and they are going to put it
over strategic parts of the Great Barrier Reef, the most

(01:47:59):
important and ecologically to help cool it down and to
shade it in the hot summer months because as we know,
reefs as particularly tropical reefs. You know, we have deep
sea reefs and cold oceans that are not doing nearly
as badly as what's happening to our tropical reefs. And

(01:48:20):
the Great Barrier Reef has basically halved in the last
thirty years.

Speaker 7 (01:48:24):
So this is really really crunch time for it.

Speaker 4 (01:48:27):
And what's really interesting is so this apparatus was developed
you'll be sort of I mean, it was developed by
a group here in California and it's now being used
in Australia.

Speaker 7 (01:48:38):
Geoengineering has gotten.

Speaker 4 (01:48:40):
A really Yeah, there are the Aussie guys on the
deck of their one of their vessels pointing their fabulous
water vapor up into the sky.

Speaker 1 (01:48:48):
Yeah, it looks like one of those snow guns you
might see, the area type.

Speaker 7 (01:48:54):
Yeah, it's it's really like that.

Speaker 4 (01:48:55):
Like there's not enough snow, will make snow, so there
aren't enough clouds, we'll make clouds.

Speaker 7 (01:48:59):
And what's what's really interesting about this.

Speaker 4 (01:49:01):
Is so a lot of clouds have big water drop
droplets and there aren't a lot of them, and what
this strategically does is make very small water droplets. And
so when the water droplets former cloud and that's what
happens when water vapor condenses on any kind of particles
that are in the atmosphere, so dust, you know, sarch, pollution, pollen.

(01:49:23):
But when you have tiny, little droplets, it means there's
a lot more surface area to be reflective and to
reflect the radiation from the sun back up into the atmosphere.
So the tininess of the droplets is what's really key.
And here's the thing that's interesting. So geoengineering has had
a very very bad wrap, you know, in the nineteen
nineties when people started talking about it and they knew

(01:49:45):
we were heating up the atmosphere and we needed to
do something, and geoengineering basically means changing the planet.

Speaker 7 (01:49:51):
A lot of scientists said, no, no, no, no, no, you
can't do that. There could be repercussions. But here's the thing.

Speaker 4 (01:49:56):
Mark we've human beings have already changed the planet, you know,
many times over. I mean the place to see hunter gatherers.
We hunted and ate all the megafauna. I mean practically,
I mean the saber tooth tiger, of the giant sloth
that used to be here in America.

Speaker 7 (01:50:11):
Do you see them anymore? No, they're gone.

Speaker 4 (01:50:14):
The wooly mammoth, it's gone. So we did that, and
that had an impact on the climate. And then we've
already geo engineered. The atmosphere is at the point where
it's super super hot, and I sent over that craft
to you, Tony to show, you know, so we were
sort of more or less you see, it's jag and
it goes up and down, but we stayed you know,

(01:50:36):
around two hundred and seventy parts per million of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere pre the Industrial Revolution, and then
since then it's gone bonkers, and particularly you know this century.
In twenty thirteen, we went for the first time above
four hundred parts per million and now we're you know,
well above the you know, the four hundred parts per million.
So that's geoengineering.

Speaker 7 (01:50:57):
We did that.

Speaker 4 (01:50:58):
And so what these are Australian you know, oceanographers are doing,
I think is geo engineering.

Speaker 7 (01:51:04):
That is positive.

Speaker 4 (01:51:05):
And the other thing that's really positive about it is
that they are talking to all the stakeholders, you know,
the rangers and the people who look after the various
parts of the Great Barrier reef. It's not like the
people who wanted to take commercial jetliners filled with sulfur
particles up into the atmosphere to start spraying that everywhere

(01:51:25):
to act as a blanket to stop the sun's radiation
coming in. Or there were a couple of people who
were like, oh, we're going to put iron into the
ocean and cause an algal bloom, a huge algal bloom
that will suck in all the co two. You know,
and you've got to do it with you know, politicians, governments,
the local people who live in those areas. They have

(01:51:47):
to agree to this. And this is what these guys
are doing, which is really different. And while there are
still scientists who are saying, hey, you shouldn't be messing
with nature, they're doing this on a very targeted, small scale.
So you go to a really important you know, there
are three thousand different reefs that make up the whole
system of the Great Barrier reef. Just to give people

(01:52:09):
an idea of how big it is, it's the size
of Italy.

Speaker 7 (01:52:13):
It's huge. Wow, they're never going to about to protect
all of it. But but you know, I've explained before
on the show.

Speaker 1 (01:52:19):
You know I can't believe it. Yeah, they seem like
grim times, but you've done it. You can find Belinda
Weymouth across.

Speaker 4 (01:52:26):
Social Meda halved in the last thirty years, so this
is really really crunch time for it. And what's really
interesting is so this apparatus was developed you'll be sort
of I mean, it was developed by a group here
in California and it's now being used in Australia. Geoengineering
has gotten a really There are the Aussie guys on

(01:52:46):
the deck of their one of their vessels pointing their
fabulous water vapor up into the sky.

Speaker 1 (01:52:52):
Yeah, it looks like one of those snow guns you
might see the area type.

Speaker 7 (01:52:58):
Yeah, it's it's really like that.

Speaker 4 (01:52:59):
Like there's not a snow will make snow, so there
aren't enough clouds will make clouds. And what's really interesting
about this is so a lot of clouds have big
water dropult droplets, and there aren't a lot of them.
And what this strategically does is make very small water droplets.
And so when the water droplets former cloud And that's
what happens when water vapor condenses on any kind of

(01:53:22):
particles that are in the atmosphere, so dust, you know,
sort pollution, pollen. But when you have tiny little droplets,
it means there's a lot more surface area to be reflective.
And to reflect the radiation from the Sun back up
into the atmosphere. So the tininess of the droplets is
what's really key. And here's the thing that's interesting. So

(01:53:43):
geoengineering has had a very very bad wrap, you know
in the nineteen nineties when people started talking about it
and they knew we were heating up the atmosphere and
we needed to do something. And geoengineering basically means changing
the planet. A lot of scientists said no, no, no, no, no,
you can't do that. There could be repercussions. But here's
the thing. Mark we've human beings have already changed the planet,

(01:54:03):
you know, many times over. I mean the place to
scene hunter gatherers. We hunted and ate all the megafauna.
I mean practically, I mean the.

Speaker 7 (01:54:12):
Saper tooth tiger and the giant sloth that used to
be here in America. Do you see them anymore? No,
they're gone.

Speaker 4 (01:54:18):
The wooly mammoth, it's gone. So we did that and
that had an impact on the climate. And then we've
already geo engineered. The atmosphere is at the point where
it's super super hot. And I sent over that graft
to you, Tony to show you know, so we were
sort of more or less you see, it's jag and
it goes up and down, but we stayed you know,

(01:54:40):
around two hundred and seventy parts per million of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere pre the Industrial Revolution, and then
since then it's gone bonkers, and particularly you know, this century.
In twenty thirteen, we went for the first time above
four hundred parts per million and now we're you know,
well above the you know, the four hundred parts per million.

Speaker 7 (01:55:00):
So that's geoengineering. We did that.

Speaker 4 (01:55:02):
And so what these Australian you know, oceanographers are doing,
I think is geoengineering.

Speaker 7 (01:55:08):
That is positive.

Speaker 4 (01:55:09):
And the other thing that's really positive about it is
that they are talking to all the stakeholders, you know,
the rangers and the people who look after.

Speaker 7 (01:55:17):
The various parts of the Great Barrier reef.

Speaker 4 (01:55:19):
It's not like the people who wanted to take commercial
jetliners filled with sulfur particles up into the atmosphere to
start spraying that everywhere to act as a blanket to
stop the Sun's radiation coming in. Or there were a
couple of people who were like, oh, we're going to
put iron into the ocean and cause an algal bloom,

(01:55:39):
a huge algal bloom that will suck in all the
co two, you know, and you've got to do it
with you know, politicians, governments, the local people who live
in those areas. They have to agree to this. And
this is what these guys are doing, which is really different.
And while there are still scientists who are saying, hey,
you shouldn't be messing with nature, they're doing this on

(01:56:02):
a very targeted, small scale. So you go to a
really important you know, there are three thousand different reefs
that make up the whole system of the Great Barrier Reef.
Just to give people an idea of how big it is.
It's the size of Italy. It's huge. They're never going
to about to protect all of it. But you know
I've explained before on the show. You know, tropical coral

(01:56:25):
reefs are very very important. You know, they provide the
livelihoods of one billion of the people on Earth. You know,
you've got the Coral triangle. So you've got the Great
Barrier Reef. Yes here on the northeastern off the northeastern
coast of Australia, and then above Australia you've got one

(01:56:46):
called the Coral triangle, and that's Northern Australia, Indonesia, Papua
New Guinea, team or less, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines,
Malaysia and all the people who live around that coral reef.
They are getting their livelihood in you know, the fish
that they fish out of it and they sell. And
then also it's their source of protein. So the health

(01:57:08):
of these coral reefs is super important and why it's bleaching. Yeah,
there's the coral triangle. I've written about this before. It's
an amazingly important You know, we've got seven sea turtles
in the world, six of them live in the coral triangle.

Speaker 7 (01:57:24):
I mean, it's really important.

Speaker 4 (01:57:26):
And all juveniles go to coral reefs too mature. So
whether they're sharks or whether they're smaller fish, they go
to a coral to a coral reef, they mature before
they go out into the deep ocean. And as I
said at the beginning, the Great Barrier Reef, half of
it has been destroyed in the last thirty years because

(01:57:48):
as the ocean heats up, the coral bleaches.

Speaker 7 (01:57:51):
Now how does it bleach? So coral is made from calcium.

Speaker 4 (01:57:56):
Carbonate and it has this really cute little photo synthetic
algae and they have a symbiotic relationship. It's called zoosanthelly.
I've told you this goes before. I just love it's name,
zoos anthelly. It lives in the little holes in the
coral and it produces the food. But what happens when
the ocean gets too hot. The zoos anthelly goes kind
of nuts. It makes too much oxygen. The coral structures

(01:58:19):
like what's going on, and it expels all the zoosanthelli
so it loses its color. It and when they do
this iridescent they can do iridescent current colors when they
expel the zoos anthelly, and that can be like a
sunscreen like oh help help, I need protection, and also
a warning sign that something's going wrong for the coral.

(01:58:40):
The other thing that's happening is we have worse storms,
and the storms affect the coral. And the coral you
know offshore of a mainland is you know, helps mitigate
the force of a storm as it comes ashore. So
you want robust and healthy coral reefs. But the other
thing is is that all the co two that's going

(01:59:01):
into the ocean is mixing. Is basically the CO two
mixes with the water molecule and it takes one of
the hydrogens and it takes the oxygen and it makes
an acid and the acidicness of it is making it
harder for the calcium carbonate, both of the.

Speaker 7 (01:59:20):
Coral and of mollusks.

Speaker 4 (01:59:22):
So c shirt you know, our you know, muscles and oysters,
they're finding it harder to make the shells because of
the acidification. So we really need to protect coral reefs.

Speaker 1 (01:59:32):
I have.

Speaker 7 (01:59:32):
I made myself clear, you.

Speaker 1 (01:59:35):
Have, And I thought you actually make a really good
point that we're already geoengineering the atmosphere inadvertently. Yeah, so
some modern pullback would be nice.

Speaker 7 (01:59:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:59:51):
And the thing is is that obviously, you know, I
mean I bleed on and on about this every week.
You know, what we really need to be doing is decarbonate,
but that's not happening fast enough. So we need to
pull every every lever that we have. And this lever
is you know, it's small, but it's mimicking what nature does.

(02:00:12):
And you know we already use cloud seeding and agriculture,
you know, we do that so that you know, crops
can get rain and there's less uh hail, So they
do that in Australia, they do that here, and in
the US, they do it in China. And because these
guys are doing it sort of carefully and mindfully, they're

(02:00:36):
going slowly. They know that it needs to be you know,
scaled up at a you know, a vast rate you know,
needs to be. They need to got to make more
of these clouds. They need to use renewable energy to.

Speaker 7 (02:00:50):
Drive it.

Speaker 4 (02:00:50):
Right now it's you know, coming from oil based energy,
and they know that's you know wrong. But the thing
I like about it, you know, I use this term,
you know, the low tech you know, high impact. It's
not exactly low tech, but they're not using any synthetic
chemicals apart from the the fuel that they're using to
drive the ships. They're not creating a ton of pollution,

(02:01:13):
you know. Mainly, what it's doing is creating something that helps.
And because they want to do it in small, targeted areas,
you know, not the entire you know size of Nally
you know, Great Barrier Reef, which would take you know,
eight hundred different cloud making stations. Their idea is to
target specific very important ecological reefs and to try and

(02:01:36):
you know, save them.

Speaker 1 (02:01:39):
It's exciting. So is there any early indication as to
how this is going or is it so early?

Speaker 4 (02:01:45):
Well, this, this particular.

Speaker 7 (02:01:51):
Day was they said, their most successful day.

Speaker 4 (02:01:53):
And as they were in the boats leaving it, they
could look back and they could see the clouds that
they had created was still, you know, sitting above the ocean.

Speaker 7 (02:02:02):
So that was a really good sign.

Speaker 4 (02:02:03):
Because this is the other thing, and I don't think
I already said this, that the little water droplets, they
they defy gravity. Like when you have a cloud that
has big water droplets, they're heavy, they turn into rain
and they you know, so the water just you know
goes join goes and joins the other water in the ocean.
But if you have little droplets, that cloud, you know,

(02:02:24):
cover will stay longer. And and the idea is is
that you would get a ranger in different parts of
the you know, the islands that make up you know,
the coral atols around the reef, to be out in
a pezel her boat on a hot summer's day and
creating these clouds to protect.

Speaker 7 (02:02:41):
You know, particular area of the reef.

Speaker 4 (02:02:43):
And and like I said, you know, these these tropical reefs.
They're so important, you know, the health of the ocean
is so important. Tony asked me if that was AI
generated because it looks so good.

Speaker 1 (02:02:54):
It does look good, and so this is the this
is these are the water droplets to turn the cloud
like a fire.

Speaker 7 (02:03:00):
Yeah, this one's a yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:03:03):
Yeah yeah, so low lying the water vapor that you
can see fog and then when it gets higher up,
its clouds and the ideas that you know, will you know,
join the clouds make all cloud cover.

Speaker 1 (02:03:15):
And it's exciting. I mean, it's you know that there
is a technology that there is a science and a
strategy to maybe save as you say, a targeted area
anyway of the Grape Arier reef. Wow.

Speaker 4 (02:03:27):
Yeah, yeah, I think, look, you know, we just have
to do everything that's smart and this just you know,
and we just have to be smart about this stuff.

Speaker 1 (02:03:34):
And so yeah, there was a story about the Defense
Department and all the the Noah and Hurricane information going
away and they weren't going to post their website anymore,
and it was all part and parcel, it seemed, of
the effort to erase from government websites any climate information
and even weather information. Can you apparently that's changed now

(02:03:57):
the government has decided they're going to post it. Imagine
after all, or some portion of it. Can you speak
to this, yeah, can.

Speaker 7 (02:04:03):
You believe they've had an about face.

Speaker 4 (02:04:05):
So what happened was in June, Noah had to come
out and say, hey, we're not going to share our
important data anymore from our satellites. It used to just
be available online so any scientists who wanted to look
at it for forecasting weather, for keeping tabs on how

(02:04:25):
much ice is melting in the Arctic, which is really
super important to know how quickly you know climate change
is actually happening. And they said, no, that's it. It's
going to be gone by the end of Jude. You know,
no can do.

Speaker 7 (02:04:37):
And people were a ghast.

Speaker 4 (02:04:39):
I mean, the National Weather Service, how are you going
to bottle predict because because the thing about the satellites
that are being used, so they're from the Defense Department,
and this program was actually started back in nineteen I
think is it sixty two or sixty nine, and they
put these twelve satellites up and they have these special microwaves.

Speaker 7 (02:04:56):
They can see through clouds.

Speaker 4 (02:04:58):
They can see the surface of the Earth night and day,
which is super important because what they can do because
they can you know, they have this ability, is that
weather forecasters can go on and see the data, how
high are the waves, what is the surface wind speed
coming across the ocean, what is the direction of that
wind speed, so they could predict this is going to

(02:05:19):
be a hurricane category four, No, this is only going
to be a three. Now it's gone up to a
four again, you know, and this is how quickly it
will make landfall.

Speaker 7 (02:05:27):
This is vital and particularly here.

Speaker 4 (02:05:29):
So the first about face was they said, you know what,
that will let this information be available until the end
of July peak hurricane season, and that I think also
would have been I'm sure that you know, Trump's base
would have been like because a lot of them live
in very hurricane prone states, you know, think of Florida.
I mean, that's it's crazy for.

Speaker 1 (02:05:49):
That, the Gulf states across the border.

Speaker 7 (02:05:53):
Yeah exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah exactly.

Speaker 4 (02:05:56):
So they said, will we'll keep it available till the
end of your light and then last week, a couple
of days before the end of the end of July,
they said, actually, we will keep it going to the
end of the program.

Speaker 7 (02:06:10):
And the end of the program actually ends at the
end of September next year. But what's happening.

Speaker 4 (02:06:16):
Is because because those satellites and the data processing centers
that you know, collates the data and then make it,
you know, put it into a digestible form for scientists
and everyone to look at, they're getting outdated. So they've
been launching more up to date satellites. Is one going up,
there's one with that went up I think in twenty
twenty four. There's another going up in twenty twenty six.

(02:06:40):
I think they have to keep making this information available
because we are getting worse storms and we do need
to be able to have this information so that we
can prepare, so that we can be as safe as possible.

Speaker 1 (02:06:53):
Well, there's a lot of the business community that depends
on this. There are fisheries that depend on it. There
are a bunch of business communities on the Golf. As
you said, I mean, so if you care only about
the oil industry, which sort of is where the administration
has its heart, there are plenty of oil rigs and
plenty of oil interests. I mean, these refining areas are

(02:07:16):
down there along the Gulf coast. It's say, you know,
so they're hurricane vulnerable, I guess, is the point. And
so that information is critical even just to those businesses.

Speaker 4 (02:07:26):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely. So this was a good about face.
I mean it was you know, no one could believe
when they first said where you know, we had this information,
but we're not going to share it. You know, those
days are over, I mean why that's.

Speaker 1 (02:07:38):
The idea also, you know, although it seems like a
quaint one now, because all of the things and institutions
in Washington are supposed to be owned by the people,
and the people are supposed to have access to a
lot of it. Some of it they can't have access
to for national security reasons, et cetera. But those are
the people's satellites. The taxpayers pay for them, the data
that comes down for climate, for weather, et cetera. You're

(02:08:00):
paying for that information and the government shouldn't suppress it,
you know, So for a philosophical agenda, for any other reason,
that's great to have that coming back. Well, you've not disappointed.
You brought us some good news. I can't believe it. Yeah,
they seem like grim times, but you've done it. You
can find Belinda Weymouth across social media. Weymouth is w

(02:08:21):
a y m O U t H. We really love
our time with you, so thank you for making time
for us today. I appreciate it. Blendwymouth. Everybody that's it's
the planet stupid for today. More it's the planet stupid. No, no, no,
it's the planet stupid next time only. I'm a Mark
Thompson show. I loved it. A little good news, yeah,

(02:08:45):
a little jump in the middle. All right, Hey, I
wanted to welcome to our Patreon community. Uh, Frederick, Frederick Kang,
come on, here's a big shout out, thank you for
joining us. I get these little kings on my phone
when somebody joins our Patreon community, and so I give

(02:09:08):
you the big shout out. Yeah. And also to Richard
Richard Sandovel, come on, big shout out to you. Thank
you for your monthly supporter of the show. Where you
are crowdfunded. So appreciate the crowd that does fund. Really,
we're on the air because of our Patreon and PayPal supporters.
I also want to go through PayPal. I will and

(02:09:30):
mention those who have jumped on board there. There are
many people who have been longtime PayPal and Patreon supporters,
and you're the reason we're here, and we want to
update the scroll with everybody's name. We do it monthly
to include all of you. So thank you so very much.
If you want to support, if you want to join
that community that supports us, the Mark Thompson Show dot com,

(02:09:52):
go to that web address, the Mark Thompson Show dot com.
You can click through the Patreon our PayPal, but you
don't even need to do that. Under all of our
vid there are Patreon and PayPal links that will take
you right to the areas that you can sign up
and be part of our community. So really do appreciate that.
I'd like to, you know, give it a mention every

(02:10:13):
show quickly. On Albert's birthday, I say this in the
I know We're late, but Luis says for a five
dollars super chat. The Ice Capades now playing at the
Home Depot, Swap meets Ken Signias and a Taco Stand
near You, starring stupid man himself, Dean Kane, not a

(02:10:36):
Dean Cane fan, and Dean is now embraced the darkness
of arresting people who are looking for day work and
who are celebrating their kinsinneria or their high school graduation.
Calvin Wong, the shadow producer of the show, says blatant
criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, witness tampering. Oh, that's on

(02:10:57):
the Blanche meeting with Gallaine Maxwell. If you want to
know more about that, If you missed any part of
it the first hour of the show, we talked about
it with former pardon attorney for the US, Lizawyer. She's
brilliant and wonderful. That was a great conversation. In the

(02:11:18):
new Trump era, says Uncle Jim ninety nine, the new
Trump era census population in California excluding illegals is eleven thousand,
seven and eighty I get it. I get it. Yeah.
And Bob Handing ninety one, how about it? Twenty five
dollars super chat for Albert. Hats off to Mark and

(02:11:39):
Kim for the show. And say it again Albert for
me in the Tagallo Molly guyan catta on. It's Molly what.

Speaker 2 (02:11:47):
Molly guyan catta one?

Speaker 1 (02:11:49):
I love it, Molly guyan catta one. Yes, well, Albert
of Malligayan catdo on to you and Bob Handy thank
you so much for that. Love to you, Albert, have
a great day.

Speaker 3 (02:12:00):
The Albert I by Albert.

Speaker 1 (02:12:02):
I'm Shallow of Stevens by the Mark Johnson Show, Bye Bye.
The After Party Live is going on the After Party
Live channel Max, My Albert n Show Your day, but
get your work done first. Still tomorrow, Bye bye

Speaker 6 (02:13:06):
Baas

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