April 3, 2025 • 26 mins
(April 03, 2025)
Neil Saavedra is in for Bill while he is out on vacation. ABC News national correspondent Steven Portnoy speaks on Trump privately indicating Musk will step back from administration soon. California aims to limit taxes on military retirement income. ABC News crime and terrorism analyst Brad Garrett speaks on the so-called burglary tourists striking again but this time armed and with the family in the home. Companies are ignoring privacy laws and no one is stopping them.
Neil Saavedra is in for Bill while he is out on vacation. ABC News national correspondent Steven Portnoy speaks on Trump privately indicating Musk will step back from administration soon. California aims to limit taxes on military retirement income. ABC News crime and terrorism analyst Brad Garrett speaks on the so-called burglary tourists striking again but this time armed and with the family in the home. Companies are ignoring privacy laws and no one is stopping them.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listenings KFI AM six forty the Bill Handles Show
on demand on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
App KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Good Thursday morning to you, Neil Sevadra behind the mic today.
Bill Handle will be back on Monday, and our family,
our morning family will be whole, and Amy, Will and
Cono and me still in Right now, We're going to
(00:27):
bring on Stephen Portnoy, ABC News national correspondent there in Washington.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Stephen, good morning, Well, good morning you.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
So it's always a pleasure to talk to you. In
this particular case, we are talking about Trump. What are
the odds but and his little buddy Musk. So what's
going on?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Is he staying? Is he not staying?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Some people thought Musk was going to be a permanent
site there and his nose picking son there in the
Oval office, but that may not be the case.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Well, look, I think at a certain point everyone understood
that Elon Musk was not going to be working in
the White House because he had essentially a clock running
on his service as a special government employee. It's only
one hundred and thirty days that a person can serve
in that kind of role. And this is I think
day seventy four of the Trump term, so there's certainly
(01:23):
a finite date. I think it would have been the
end of May when the clock runs out. But yesterday
there was a series of reports that indicated that perhaps
Elon Musk's departure from the White House might be accelerated.
A couple of weeks ago, the President was asked about
whether Elon Musk would stay or go, and he said
something like, you know, he has a couple of businesses
(01:44):
to run, and you know, at a certain point we
all understand he has to go back to that. The
President was asked in the Oval Office some time ago
whether DOGE would continue without Musk, and he didn't give
a definitive answer. He said, well, I guess we want
to see or.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Maybe it'll end.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
But the issue really is has Elon Musk rubbed cabinet
secretaries the wrong way as he rubbed members of the
Trump inner circle the wrong way? And is he increasingly
becoming too politically toxic to the MAGA brand.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
You know, I got to tell you, Neil a weird statement.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Well, look as I look up at the big board
here and I have screens all over my office, I
see that the Dow Jones Industrial Average as we speak
is now down one thousand, four hundred and sixty four
points today in the first forty minutes of trading. That
is cutting against the President's popularity. Yesterday he announced the
tariffs that he says will bring liberation to America and
(02:41):
invigorate American manufacturing and bring a golden age to the country. Well,
if you own stock, so many Americans do, you're looking
at it quizzically. How is this in my interest? And
if you are watching, you know the fact that tens
of thousands of government employees have been laid off is
Elon uk stands on a stage with a big grin
(03:02):
and a chainsaw. You wonder what it's all really for
and who it's helping. But of course Elon Musk was
brought to Washington with the mission to identify fraud and
waste in the federal government. And Republicans will publicly and
privately tell you that they're glad that someone is looking
(03:22):
into this massive behemoth of a federal government where we
spend more than four trillion dollars every year. We spend
much more money than we have than we raise in taxes,
for sure, and someone ought to take a look and
identify the waste and cut here, and cut here and
cut here. Oh but don't cut there, because that particular
program is very important to me and my constituents, a
(03:43):
Republican might say. And when you hear things such as
these DOGE staffers are going into these secret systems, that
the people who have guarded those systems for years are
very nervous about these young people, and are they trustworthy?
As I see now, the Dow is down fifteen hundred points.
(04:05):
So all of this is part of a piece. Not
to mention the fact. And forgive me for bouncing around
like a little bit of a ping pong ball here,
But you had on Tuesday night in the state of
Wisconsin an open seat for the state Supreme Court in Wisconsin.
Elon Musk traveled there and spent more than twenty million
dollars of his own personal fortune to help the Republican
backed candidate, Judge Brad Shimmel win that open seat. Judge
(04:28):
Shimmel was defeated by ten points. Elon Musk comes around
and he says, well, I always expected he would lose, Okay,
But how much of it was a function of the
fact that Elon Musk himself is, as I say, a
toxic brand, motivating Democrats to come out in a race
where they otherwise might not have even known there was
an election.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It's a weird time when you have someone like this,
a civilian, non elected, who gets almost and he's always
been in the limelight, but it gets almost as much
attention as the new president.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
You've got people.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
You know, daily on the news being seen keying tesla's ramming.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
It's like a quad or some weird vehicle.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I saw one person ramming the side of a Tesla,
and we're seeing this every single day. It's hard to
not see that as toxic in one way or another.
I mean, just from basic marketing, that's an issue, and
to his brand, Tesla, as well as to the American
brand and the brand of Maga or whatever else is
under the hat.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Well.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
I think there's a difference between salesmanship and marketing and innovating,
inventing things and engaging in the art of politics.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
There truly is a difference.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
And there's a disconnect, and not every inventor is necessarily
going to be an excellent politician.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, and it's and he's you know, I guess in
the invent inventing role you kind of want someone sort
of crazy. You know, that's it's not the first time
in Tesla Edison. Uh, these types of things where you
got Edison at one point killing an elephant to prove
(06:21):
that he had the better design for electricity, oh way
back when I mean there, when it comes to that,
I guess it's okay to be a little nuts, but
we don't particularly like people that are nuts in positions
of power like this, so I can see where it
rubs people the wrong way. It's just an odd thing
(06:41):
that came that was odd to begin with, and now
coming to kind of what seems like maybe an abrupt
less than halfway through the one hundred and thirty day
special government employee time limit. Does this feel the energy
to you, Steve Stephen Rather, does it feel like it's
it's going to end real soon?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
It's hard to know.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
The Vice President was on Fox and Friends earlier this
morning and JD. Vance said that after Elon leaves, he's
going to remain a friend and an advisor of both
me and the President. He's done a lot of good things,
say JD.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Evans, But of.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Course he's going to continue to be an advisor, and
the work of Doge is not even close to done.
The work of Elon is not even close to done.
But it seems as though everyone is looking at this
as a sort of the end of of Elon Musk's
formal service in government. Exactly when it ends remains to
be seen, but it's going to end. That's the clear
(07:38):
indication we're getting here. And the White House would tell
you that was the beginning, that was the plan from
the get go, and this is all a bunch of
talk that's unnecessary. But the reality is Elon Musk is
politically unpopular now. He has done damage to his own brand.
That's it's I think that's fair to say. I'm trying
to be objective in my analysis, as I always am.
(08:01):
I always try to be, and you look at just
the antipathy that now has arisen around his involvement in
politics and the position that he's taken that he needs
to know, chop some heads in the federal government with
his chainsaw and cut things quickly. But as his critics
would argue recklessly and ultimately, you know, when a certain point,
(08:26):
at a certain point in American politics, when a brand
becomes too toxic, it is time to move on.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Well, we shall see how much longer it lasts. It
sounds like it's not going to hit that one hundred
and thirty day special government employee time limit, but we
shall see. Stephen Portnoy, ABC News national correspondent there in Washington.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Always a pleasure Stephen to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
You can find him also on social media at Stephen
port Noy. Thanks skin ser, Thanks you all righty, I
have a good day. There A real pleasure. I like
his analysis and insights, and it's always a pleasure to
talk to Stephen Portnite.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
He's one smart cookie, Yeah he really is.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
But you could just I can hear his brain working
and his reasonability. And I'm a sucker for reason. I
just I like people who can see through things. And
you can tell, yes, he's aware of all the he's
seeing everything, but he's still filtering it to give you
the clean, unadulterated information like that. It's been said that
(09:31):
societies can be judged on how they treat their most
vulnerable members, the elderly, children, disabled, you know, minorities, marginalized groups,
all of these things. And I can't argue with that,
I think that that is very true. It's it's like
loving your enemies. It's very easy to love the people
(09:52):
that you love. The growth comes from being able to
push ourselves past those those basics and grow right. So,
having said that, there is something that rubs me the
wrong way, and that is how I see here in California,
(10:14):
because this is where I live, how we treat veterans,
and that to me falls into that same category. These
are people that have given their time.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
With the possibility at least.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Of losing their life, limbs all kinds of things. Their
mental health seems to be one of the things that
is given up the most. And I was blown away
to learn that California does not have certain and benefits
(11:01):
for veterans and you know, the retired military.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
That other states do.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
After at least eight tries in the legislature, California may
finally join every other state in providing at least some
tax exemptions for military retirement income. The whole argument here
is obvious. This will help veterans stay in the state,
(11:36):
you know, contribute to skilled workforce, all of these things.
This comes from Assembly Member James Ramos has introduced for
just him for the third time, a bill that would
allow veterans to exempt up to twenty thousand dollars of
their federal pension if they make under one hundred and
(11:56):
twenty five thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Now the bill has changed a little bit.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
He narrowed his bill from last year that sought an
exemption to exempt a veteran's full retirement income. But I
you know, how can we not do anything in everything?
The fact that we have homeless people in the streets
(12:23):
is horrible. The fact that veterans on the street homeless
is deplorable is It is such a mark, I think,
and a scar on the morality of the United States
(12:45):
to not do everything in our power to take care
of our veterans.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Some are in better shape than others. I get that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
We're talking about some that makes one hundred and twenty
five thousand dollars a year. I get that, But it
doesn't matter to me. You have one point four million
veterans living here in California, and out of those, one
hundred and forty one thousand received military retirement income. Another
(13:17):
twenty six thousand Californians receive survivor benefits. And it's the
least we can do, so I hope to hell that
we figure a way to get this.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Moving.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
And the fact that California is late to the game
finally with the hopes of joining every other state.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Is an embarrassment.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
So fingers crossed on that one right now. I want
to bring to the table Brad Garrett, ABC News Crime
and Terrorism and now analysts there in Washington to talk
about these so called burglary tourists. Good morning, Brad. Can
(14:07):
you hear me there you are, sir, Thank you. Just
a slight technical issue. So in a time where we have,
let's illegal immigrants coming over the border, more are being deported,
we have this nagging issue with some that are getting
(14:31):
these visiting visas, tourism visas from places like Ecuador, Peru, Colombia,
Chile coming here for the sole purpose of breaking into homes,
stealing fencing, the items, and going home.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
And that's correct.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So the latest one, and it seems to be they're
hitting you know, sports figure and stuff like that. Latest
one was an armed gunman that broke into former Seattle
Seahawks player Richard Sherman's home.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Tell us a little bit about.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
That, Okay, So I don't know, we don't know anything
about the mister Sherman's home invasion as far as who
did it or are they part of these folks coming
from South America that you described, But I will tell
you it's a little bit his home invasion does strike me.
(15:27):
It's a little bit different. You have mister Sherman's gone
that his wife and kids are home, and you in
the CCTV video you see basically three guys dynamically charge
it looks like to me through a screen of an
open window into the house, guns drawn have on masks,
(15:52):
sort of terrify mister Sherman's family. I don't think harm
anybody rob the place and then leave, but it sort
of opens up the bigger picture of if they are
part of these South Americans who come up here to burglarize.
You know, this has become really a pretty large problem.
(16:13):
It's so big that the FBI now are involved in
these cases across the country and they've had some success
both in Los Angeles and in Tampa, Florida, as well
as some other locations of taking down a number of
people that are part of these groups that expressly come
here as you described, to commit these burglaries. And they
(16:37):
have many times, but not always targeted professional athletes a
because they tend to make a lot of money. They
live at expensive houses, and they tend to buy expensive
items like designer purses and expensive jewelry, watches, etc. And
they can also tell if they're not home. It's strictly
(16:57):
based on their schedule playing a game today, you know,
either home or away. Either way they're not at home.
And so as a result they target those houses and
have had some success. I think the group that LAPD
with help captured recently, they had committed over thirty home robberty.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
So you know I had said earlier through visa tourism visas,
but there are some loopholes like the visa tourist waiver program,
and some of them will use that when you say
things like they break in and they're taking stuff. You know,
cash is one thing very easy. It's it's in its form,
in its usable form. But pers's jewelry and the like
(17:44):
have to be turned over somewhere, they have to be sold,
they have to be liquidated. They you know, something into
money that can be passed somewhere else. So they have
to have an inner working system here in the States
to let's kind to make that work. So are these
(18:06):
partners in crime that are locals here or are they
people from you know, from South America and South American
countries that have come here and set up these stations.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Do we know that at all?
Speaker 5 (18:20):
Well, that might be a combination of both. I don't know,
but I do know in a recent article I read
in a reference to LAPD working these type of cases
that they have found literally warehouses full of stolen goods,
I mean all the way to the ceiling that you
know have been They've purchased stuff from these South American burgers,
(18:44):
I'm sure, as well as other folks that are stealing stuff.
They go there and the fence that they get cash
for it. And typically the folks in South America will
go and use a fake passport, go to a local bank,
set up a bank account, and then send the money
back to whatever country they came from, and then if
(19:07):
they don't get caught at some point, they'll go back home.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Wow, now you say this mo on this latest one
the Seattle, the Seattle Seahawks former player Richard Sherman's home
with the gun involved and.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Family there.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
From what my knowledge is in my memory of these
they normally were second story type burglars where they would
come in via the second story because unfortunately a lot
of people don't put their security systems on higher floors,
assuming that that's not where people are going to come
in through. This is the first time that I heard
(19:45):
that they are breaking into a home with people you know,
actively there and with guns drawn.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Is that something that.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
You know, Yeah, the gun's drawn is unusual. Typically, I
think one of the LAPD commanders made a comment that
it typically the South American groups aren't armed because they
don't want to get caught with a firearm and they
don't want to confront people. They just want to steal
the stuff, get rid of it, take some money, and
go home. So that's why I think this is a
(20:19):
different situation. And clearly, if you go through a window
with guns drawn, you're just I guess knowing or presuming
there's somebody on the other side of that screen, because
you know why, because you make a lot of noise
obviously doing that. Sure so, and a number of these
break ins into the NFL NBA players' houses have basically,
(20:41):
you know, have not been sophisticated, like taking crowbars to
doors and breaking the locks. Or breaking out windows where
they I mean, I think people have watched too many
movies thinking that, you know, everyone is some sort of
slick Thomas Crown Affair type.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Robbers and picking locks in the lane.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
They aren't.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
I mean, these are probably working class folks that are
trying to make more money and they get sent out
to a location.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
And they get in.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
However they can get in, steal and then leave.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, I'm surprised that we haven't nailed more of this,
seeing that people have to come into it and then leave.
Thanks to Brad Garrett, I appreciate your time ABC News
Crime and Terrorism analyst there in Washington. You can find
them at Brad Investigates on social media. Thanks Brad, I
appreciate your time. You're welcome right now. You know, laws
(21:41):
mean nothing if they're not enforced. This paper just like
and we kind of sometimes feel protected because the law
is in place now. Back in twenty eighteen, a lot
of promises and laws were pushed to help us gain
whatever privacy we can on the internet from companies trying
(22:02):
to mine our information and pass along that information to others.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Is it working sort of going in the right direction.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
The problem is, no one is actually enforcing these laws.
We know this because Consumer Reports. They released a study.
They did an analysis, and it came out on Tuesday,
and it's kind of brilliant.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Really.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
They went sort of undercover to test websites and whether
opting out would truly opt you out of having your
information sold or passed along. Now there are different ways
of doing this. They have these opt out forms and
things like that, but in web browsers you can actually
(22:53):
turn them on to automatically tell whatever site you're going to, hey,
don't use my information. So what they did very cleverly
was they configured their computers. They used software to make
it appear that their computers were in California and Colorado,
(23:14):
who have some of the most strict laws, and allow
you to opt out electronically and quickly and easily by
using a web browser or other helpers to do this automatically,
and it tells the websites not to sell or share
your personal information. The interesting thing was they found out
(23:38):
that they still got these pop up ads from the
websites they visited. So they visited like forty some odd websites,
very well known Ford American Eagle Macy's. They went to
these and they opted out. Obviously they didn't want their
(24:02):
information to be passed along, but at least at least
a dozen of the forty websites that they went to
still passed along these bespoke ads based on what they
were looking at. Now ultimately not definitive. I mean you
(24:27):
can say it's a coink and inc. I don't know
how that would be under the circumstances. But they found
that not only did that happen that pushed along, but
they could not find or how many lawsuits or any
(24:48):
of these things that were passed along.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Due to infractions.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
So even if companies aren't complying with these demands to
not share your personal data, no one's basically watching the
law and so it doesn't nothing happens.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
So they say you should. Still it's still worthwhile.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
To make your demand and say don't pass this along.
Some other tips you can do is use web browsers
from Brave or Firefox or Duck Duck Go, because they
can automatically send legally binding orders depending on the state
the tel websites not to share or sell your information.
(25:38):
Privacy Badger is another one software you can download from
the Electronic Frontier Foundation they're a consumer advocacy group rather,
and then the permission Slip app from Consumer Reports themselves
might be one that you want to check out. But
this is you know, I'm not super nuts about this.
(25:58):
I kind of like bespoke app. I'd prefer them to
send me stuff that I'm already interested in personally. I
like to shop, I like stuff, I like tools, things
like that. So that's okay for me under that circumstance.
But you better believe twenty three and meters all that
stuff that they weren't necessarily deleting your personal information when
(26:19):
you demanded it, and stuff like that ends up. That's
why I would never ever use those never ever give
my DNA to anyone free Well. Top of the hour,
Neil Vader in on the Bill Handle Show, Happy to
Be with You KFI AM six forty heard everywhere in
(26:41):
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show. Catch my
show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am, and
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
You're listenings KFI AM six forty the Bill Handles Show
on demand on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
App KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Good Thursday morning to you, Neil Sevadra behind the mic today.
Bill Handle will be back on Monday, and our family,
our morning family will be whole, and Amy, Will and
Cono and me still in Right now, We're going to
(00:27):
bring on Stephen Portnoy, ABC News national correspondent there in Washington.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Stephen, good morning, Well, good morning you.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
So it's always a pleasure to talk to you. In
this particular case, we are talking about Trump. What are
the odds but and his little buddy Musk. So what's
going on?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Is he staying? Is he not staying?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Some people thought Musk was going to be a permanent
site there and his nose picking son there in the
Oval office, but that may not be the case.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Well, look, I think at a certain point everyone understood
that Elon Musk was not going to be working in
the White House because he had essentially a clock running
on his service as a special government employee. It's only
one hundred and thirty days that a person can serve
in that kind of role. And this is I think
day seventy four of the Trump term, so there's certainly
(01:23):
a finite date. I think it would have been the
end of May when the clock runs out. But yesterday
there was a series of reports that indicated that perhaps
Elon Musk's departure from the White House might be accelerated.
A couple of weeks ago, the President was asked about
whether Elon Musk would stay or go, and he said
something like, you know, he has a couple of businesses
(01:44):
to run, and you know, at a certain point we
all understand he has to go back to that. The
President was asked in the Oval Office some time ago
whether DOGE would continue without Musk, and he didn't give
a definitive answer. He said, well, I guess we want
to see or.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Maybe it'll end.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
But the issue really is has Elon Musk rubbed cabinet
secretaries the wrong way as he rubbed members of the
Trump inner circle the wrong way? And is he increasingly
becoming too politically toxic to the MAGA brand.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
You know, I got to tell you, Neil a weird statement.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Well, look as I look up at the big board
here and I have screens all over my office, I
see that the Dow Jones Industrial Average as we speak
is now down one thousand, four hundred and sixty four
points today in the first forty minutes of trading. That
is cutting against the President's popularity. Yesterday he announced the
tariffs that he says will bring liberation to America and
(02:41):
invigorate American manufacturing and bring a golden age to the country. Well,
if you own stock, so many Americans do, you're looking
at it quizzically. How is this in my interest? And
if you are watching, you know the fact that tens
of thousands of government employees have been laid off is
Elon uk stands on a stage with a big grin
(03:02):
and a chainsaw. You wonder what it's all really for
and who it's helping. But of course Elon Musk was
brought to Washington with the mission to identify fraud and
waste in the federal government. And Republicans will publicly and
privately tell you that they're glad that someone is looking
(03:22):
into this massive behemoth of a federal government where we
spend more than four trillion dollars every year. We spend
much more money than we have than we raise in taxes,
for sure, and someone ought to take a look and
identify the waste and cut here, and cut here and
cut here. Oh but don't cut there, because that particular
program is very important to me and my constituents, a
(03:43):
Republican might say. And when you hear things such as
these DOGE staffers are going into these secret systems, that
the people who have guarded those systems for years are
very nervous about these young people, and are they trustworthy?
As I see now, the Dow is down fifteen hundred points.
(04:05):
So all of this is part of a piece. Not
to mention the fact. And forgive me for bouncing around
like a little bit of a ping pong ball here,
But you had on Tuesday night in the state of
Wisconsin an open seat for the state Supreme Court in Wisconsin.
Elon Musk traveled there and spent more than twenty million
dollars of his own personal fortune to help the Republican
backed candidate, Judge Brad Shimmel win that open seat. Judge
(04:28):
Shimmel was defeated by ten points. Elon Musk comes around
and he says, well, I always expected he would lose, Okay,
But how much of it was a function of the
fact that Elon Musk himself is, as I say, a
toxic brand, motivating Democrats to come out in a race
where they otherwise might not have even known there was
an election.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It's a weird time when you have someone like this,
a civilian, non elected, who gets almost and he's always
been in the limelight, but it gets almost as much
attention as the new president.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
You've got people.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
You know, daily on the news being seen keying tesla's ramming.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
It's like a quad or some weird vehicle.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I saw one person ramming the side of a Tesla,
and we're seeing this every single day. It's hard to
not see that as toxic in one way or another.
I mean, just from basic marketing, that's an issue, and
to his brand, Tesla, as well as to the American
brand and the brand of Maga or whatever else is
under the hat.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Well.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
I think there's a difference between salesmanship and marketing and innovating,
inventing things and engaging in the art of politics.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
There truly is a difference.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
And there's a disconnect, and not every inventor is necessarily
going to be an excellent politician.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, and it's and he's you know, I guess in
the invent inventing role you kind of want someone sort
of crazy. You know, that's it's not the first time
in Tesla Edison. Uh, these types of things where you
got Edison at one point killing an elephant to prove
(06:21):
that he had the better design for electricity, oh way
back when I mean there, when it comes to that,
I guess it's okay to be a little nuts, but
we don't particularly like people that are nuts in positions
of power like this, so I can see where it
rubs people the wrong way. It's just an odd thing
(06:41):
that came that was odd to begin with, and now
coming to kind of what seems like maybe an abrupt
less than halfway through the one hundred and thirty day
special government employee time limit. Does this feel the energy
to you, Steve Stephen Rather, does it feel like it's
it's going to end real soon?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
It's hard to know.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
The Vice President was on Fox and Friends earlier this
morning and JD. Vance said that after Elon leaves, he's
going to remain a friend and an advisor of both
me and the President. He's done a lot of good things,
say JD.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Evans, But of.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Course he's going to continue to be an advisor, and
the work of Doge is not even close to done.
The work of Elon is not even close to done.
But it seems as though everyone is looking at this
as a sort of the end of of Elon Musk's
formal service in government. Exactly when it ends remains to
be seen, but it's going to end. That's the clear
(07:38):
indication we're getting here. And the White House would tell
you that was the beginning, that was the plan from
the get go, and this is all a bunch of
talk that's unnecessary. But the reality is Elon Musk is
politically unpopular now. He has done damage to his own brand.
That's it's I think that's fair to say. I'm trying
to be objective in my analysis, as I always am.
(08:01):
I always try to be, and you look at just
the antipathy that now has arisen around his involvement in
politics and the position that he's taken that he needs
to know, chop some heads in the federal government with
his chainsaw and cut things quickly. But as his critics
would argue recklessly and ultimately, you know, when a certain point,
(08:26):
at a certain point in American politics, when a brand
becomes too toxic, it is time to move on.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Well, we shall see how much longer it lasts. It
sounds like it's not going to hit that one hundred
and thirty day special government employee time limit, but we
shall see. Stephen Portnoy, ABC News national correspondent there in Washington.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Always a pleasure Stephen to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
You can find him also on social media at Stephen
port Noy. Thanks skin ser, Thanks you all righty, I
have a good day. There A real pleasure. I like
his analysis and insights, and it's always a pleasure to
talk to Stephen Portnite.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
He's one smart cookie, Yeah he really is.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
But you could just I can hear his brain working
and his reasonability. And I'm a sucker for reason. I
just I like people who can see through things. And
you can tell, yes, he's aware of all the he's
seeing everything, but he's still filtering it to give you
the clean, unadulterated information like that. It's been said that
(09:31):
societies can be judged on how they treat their most
vulnerable members, the elderly, children, disabled, you know, minorities, marginalized groups,
all of these things. And I can't argue with that,
I think that that is very true. It's it's like
loving your enemies. It's very easy to love the people
(09:52):
that you love. The growth comes from being able to
push ourselves past those those basics and grow right. So,
having said that, there is something that rubs me the
wrong way, and that is how I see here in California,
(10:14):
because this is where I live, how we treat veterans,
and that to me falls into that same category. These
are people that have given their time.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
With the possibility at least.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Of losing their life, limbs all kinds of things. Their
mental health seems to be one of the things that
is given up the most. And I was blown away
to learn that California does not have certain and benefits
(11:01):
for veterans and you know, the retired military.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
That other states do.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
After at least eight tries in the legislature, California may
finally join every other state in providing at least some
tax exemptions for military retirement income. The whole argument here
is obvious. This will help veterans stay in the state,
(11:36):
you know, contribute to skilled workforce, all of these things.
This comes from Assembly Member James Ramos has introduced for
just him for the third time, a bill that would
allow veterans to exempt up to twenty thousand dollars of
their federal pension if they make under one hundred and
(11:56):
twenty five thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Now the bill has changed a little bit.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
He narrowed his bill from last year that sought an
exemption to exempt a veteran's full retirement income. But I
you know, how can we not do anything in everything?
The fact that we have homeless people in the streets
(12:23):
is horrible. The fact that veterans on the street homeless
is deplorable is It is such a mark, I think,
and a scar on the morality of the United States
(12:45):
to not do everything in our power to take care
of our veterans.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Some are in better shape than others. I get that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
We're talking about some that makes one hundred and twenty
five thousand dollars a year. I get that, But it
doesn't matter to me. You have one point four million
veterans living here in California, and out of those, one
hundred and forty one thousand received military retirement income. Another
(13:17):
twenty six thousand Californians receive survivor benefits. And it's the
least we can do, so I hope to hell that
we figure a way to get this.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Moving.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
And the fact that California is late to the game
finally with the hopes of joining every other state.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Is an embarrassment.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
So fingers crossed on that one right now. I want
to bring to the table Brad Garrett, ABC News Crime
and Terrorism and now analysts there in Washington to talk
about these so called burglary tourists. Good morning, Brad. Can
(14:07):
you hear me there you are, sir, Thank you. Just
a slight technical issue. So in a time where we have,
let's illegal immigrants coming over the border, more are being deported,
we have this nagging issue with some that are getting
(14:31):
these visiting visas, tourism visas from places like Ecuador, Peru, Colombia,
Chile coming here for the sole purpose of breaking into homes,
stealing fencing, the items, and going home.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
And that's correct.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So the latest one, and it seems to be they're
hitting you know, sports figure and stuff like that. Latest
one was an armed gunman that broke into former Seattle
Seahawks player Richard Sherman's home.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Tell us a little bit about.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
That, Okay, So I don't know, we don't know anything
about the mister Sherman's home invasion as far as who
did it or are they part of these folks coming
from South America that you described, But I will tell
you it's a little bit his home invasion does strike me.
(15:27):
It's a little bit different. You have mister Sherman's gone
that his wife and kids are home, and you in
the CCTV video you see basically three guys dynamically charge
it looks like to me through a screen of an
open window into the house, guns drawn have on masks,
(15:52):
sort of terrify mister Sherman's family. I don't think harm
anybody rob the place and then leave, but it sort
of opens up the bigger picture of if they are
part of these South Americans who come up here to burglarize.
You know, this has become really a pretty large problem.
(16:13):
It's so big that the FBI now are involved in
these cases across the country and they've had some success
both in Los Angeles and in Tampa, Florida, as well
as some other locations of taking down a number of
people that are part of these groups that expressly come
here as you described, to commit these burglaries. And they
(16:37):
have many times, but not always targeted professional athletes a
because they tend to make a lot of money. They
live at expensive houses, and they tend to buy expensive
items like designer purses and expensive jewelry, watches, etc. And
they can also tell if they're not home. It's strictly
(16:57):
based on their schedule playing a game today, you know,
either home or away. Either way they're not at home.
And so as a result they target those houses and
have had some success. I think the group that LAPD
with help captured recently, they had committed over thirty home robberty.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
So you know I had said earlier through visa tourism visas,
but there are some loopholes like the visa tourist waiver program,
and some of them will use that when you say
things like they break in and they're taking stuff. You know,
cash is one thing very easy. It's it's in its form,
in its usable form. But pers's jewelry and the like
(17:44):
have to be turned over somewhere, they have to be sold,
they have to be liquidated. They you know, something into
money that can be passed somewhere else. So they have
to have an inner working system here in the States
to let's kind to make that work. So are these
(18:06):
partners in crime that are locals here or are they
people from you know, from South America and South American
countries that have come here and set up these stations.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Do we know that at all?
Speaker 5 (18:20):
Well, that might be a combination of both. I don't know,
but I do know in a recent article I read
in a reference to LAPD working these type of cases
that they have found literally warehouses full of stolen goods,
I mean all the way to the ceiling that you
know have been They've purchased stuff from these South American burgers,
(18:44):
I'm sure, as well as other folks that are stealing stuff.
They go there and the fence that they get cash
for it. And typically the folks in South America will
go and use a fake passport, go to a local bank,
set up a bank account, and then send the money
back to whatever country they came from, and then if
(19:07):
they don't get caught at some point, they'll go back home.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Wow, now you say this mo on this latest one
the Seattle, the Seattle Seahawks former player Richard Sherman's home
with the gun involved and.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Family there.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
From what my knowledge is in my memory of these
they normally were second story type burglars where they would
come in via the second story because unfortunately a lot
of people don't put their security systems on higher floors,
assuming that that's not where people are going to come
in through. This is the first time that I heard
(19:45):
that they are breaking into a home with people you know,
actively there and with guns drawn.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Is that something that.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
You know, Yeah, the gun's drawn is unusual. Typically, I
think one of the LAPD commanders made a comment that
it typically the South American groups aren't armed because they
don't want to get caught with a firearm and they
don't want to confront people. They just want to steal
the stuff, get rid of it, take some money, and
go home. So that's why I think this is a
(20:19):
different situation. And clearly, if you go through a window
with guns drawn, you're just I guess knowing or presuming
there's somebody on the other side of that screen, because
you know why, because you make a lot of noise
obviously doing that. Sure so, and a number of these
break ins into the NFL NBA players' houses have basically,
(20:41):
you know, have not been sophisticated, like taking crowbars to
doors and breaking the locks. Or breaking out windows where
they I mean, I think people have watched too many
movies thinking that, you know, everyone is some sort of
slick Thomas Crown Affair type.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Robbers and picking locks in the lane.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
They aren't.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
I mean, these are probably working class folks that are
trying to make more money and they get sent out
to a location.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
And they get in.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
However they can get in, steal and then leave.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, I'm surprised that we haven't nailed more of this,
seeing that people have to come into it and then leave.
Thanks to Brad Garrett, I appreciate your time ABC News
Crime and Terrorism analyst there in Washington. You can find
them at Brad Investigates on social media. Thanks Brad, I
appreciate your time. You're welcome right now. You know, laws
(21:41):
mean nothing if they're not enforced. This paper just like
and we kind of sometimes feel protected because the law
is in place now. Back in twenty eighteen, a lot
of promises and laws were pushed to help us gain
whatever privacy we can on the internet from companies trying
(22:02):
to mine our information and pass along that information to others.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Is it working sort of going in the right direction.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
The problem is, no one is actually enforcing these laws.
We know this because Consumer Reports. They released a study.
They did an analysis, and it came out on Tuesday,
and it's kind of brilliant.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Really.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
They went sort of undercover to test websites and whether
opting out would truly opt you out of having your
information sold or passed along. Now there are different ways
of doing this. They have these opt out forms and
things like that, but in web browsers you can actually
(22:53):
turn them on to automatically tell whatever site you're going to, hey,
don't use my information. So what they did very cleverly
was they configured their computers. They used software to make
it appear that their computers were in California and Colorado,
(23:14):
who have some of the most strict laws, and allow
you to opt out electronically and quickly and easily by
using a web browser or other helpers to do this automatically,
and it tells the websites not to sell or share
your personal information. The interesting thing was they found out
(23:38):
that they still got these pop up ads from the
websites they visited. So they visited like forty some odd websites,
very well known Ford American Eagle Macy's. They went to
these and they opted out. Obviously they didn't want their
(24:02):
information to be passed along, but at least at least
a dozen of the forty websites that they went to
still passed along these bespoke ads based on what they
were looking at. Now ultimately not definitive. I mean you
(24:27):
can say it's a coink and inc. I don't know
how that would be under the circumstances. But they found
that not only did that happen that pushed along, but
they could not find or how many lawsuits or any
(24:48):
of these things that were passed along.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Due to infractions.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
So even if companies aren't complying with these demands to
not share your personal data, no one's basically watching the
law and so it doesn't nothing happens.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
So they say you should. Still it's still worthwhile.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
To make your demand and say don't pass this along.
Some other tips you can do is use web browsers
from Brave or Firefox or Duck Duck Go, because they
can automatically send legally binding orders depending on the state
the tel websites not to share or sell your information.
(25:38):
Privacy Badger is another one software you can download from
the Electronic Frontier Foundation they're a consumer advocacy group rather,
and then the permission Slip app from Consumer Reports themselves
might be one that you want to check out. But
this is you know, I'm not super nuts about this.
(25:58):
I kind of like bespoke app. I'd prefer them to
send me stuff that I'm already interested in personally. I
like to shop, I like stuff, I like tools, things
like that. So that's okay for me under that circumstance.
But you better believe twenty three and meters all that
stuff that they weren't necessarily deleting your personal information when
(26:19):
you demanded it, and stuff like that ends up. That's
why I would never ever use those never ever give
my DNA to anyone free Well. Top of the hour,
Neil Vader in on the Bill Handle Show, Happy to
Be with You KFI AM six forty heard everywhere in
(26:41):
the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show. Catch my
show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am, and
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
The Bill Handel Show News
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