February 2, 2026 • 24 mins
(February 02, 2026)
Tech titans and foreign dignitaries among the powerful men named in the Epstein files. California waits for a star to emerge in the 2026 race for governor. More than 1 in 3 teen boys are gambling, and this is the surprising gateway. Tiny Imperial could be home to state’s biggest data center.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Bill Handle here on a Monday morning, February. The second
couple things before we dive into the question, is Nil
Savedra in that pile of documents that was released by
the by the Justice Department. Probably not, but it's a
great question.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
A couple of things I want to share with you.
First and foremost is if you miss any segment of
this show, and we do some fun segments, just go
to the podcast, go to the iHeartRadio app and we
podcast the entire show, segment by segment. So if you
miss something, just dive in because some segments are terrific
(00:48):
and some segments are even more terrific.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
What a shocker? Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Also, ask Handle anything we need your phone calls, and
every Friday at eight thirty, I answer those questions because
you want to humiliate me. And the way you do
it is you go to the iHeart Radio app during
the show starting at five am, wake up call till nine,
and then you go to the iHeartRadio app and you
hear this show, the Bill Handle Show broadcast, click on
the microphone in the upright hand corner and record one
(01:15):
of your questions, which Neil chooses the real good ones,
and I answer.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
On the air.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Now, three million documents have been released by the Justice Department.
I mean, that's a lot of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein,
and foreign dignitories and tech titans and politicians and all
kinds of very powerful men make appearances in this trove,
(01:44):
and all of them have denied doing anything with his
sexual abuse of girls and young women. Now Here is
the problem with some of them. Some of them say
that their friendship with Epstein, and Epstein was friends with
everybody or even developed friendships. They have maintained that it
(02:04):
was all done before two thousand and six, when publicly
Epstein was well rat it out, if you will, for
having sex with underage girls. And so there's pre two
thousand and six and post two thousand and six, and
there is the line post two thousand and six.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
It has problematic.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Certainly post twenty nineteen gets really problematic, because that's when
Epstein went to jail for a year. Sarah Ferguson, for example,
who was the wife of Prince Andrew. She is in
the emails, and she was broke, asked him to pay
some bills that's Epstein and asked for advice before going
(02:53):
on the Oprah Show. On top of that, Prince Andrew,
he seems to be sort of the poster child of
the personalities that were involved in Epstein. He's going to
have the hardest time denying that. I mean, there was
an interview that he did I think was at sixty
(03:14):
minutes and he straight out denied it. I've never met
this woman. I don't know who she is. And of
course that infamous photo and this we're talking about.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Guthrie, the young lady who.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Wrote the book, committed suicide and was trafficked by Epstein.
There's a picture of Andrew holding her his arm around
her waist. Everybody is smiling. And I don't think anybody
who disbelieves that Epstein is so involved in all of
this that the King, King Charles has basically booted Andrew.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
No longer royal title.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
He can't be called he cannot be called a prince anymore.
He is now Andrew Booby to his friends and family,
no longer has title. Got kicked out of that house.
Did you see that house? He was on sixty rooms
paid for by the government staff like crazy hot and
(04:15):
cold running valets and maids and cooks and all of that.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Tell you who else is involved in all of this?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Not involved in any of the sexual escapades, I think
the only and by the way, even Andrew was not charged.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Nobody was charged.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And does that mean that the government, the DOJ has
simply ignored that and swept it under the wrong.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
No.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I don't think so, because this was during Biden where
this information came out. It was during Obama where this
information was public. No one has been charged. But I'll
tell you who is part of that group. And these
are just famous ones. Keep in mind, there were hundreds
(05:02):
of people that these files, the Epstein files talk about
and relate to, And of all these hundreds, I think
the only one close to criminality, as I said, is
the former Prince Andrew, who is the brother of Charles who.
By the way, did you know that Prince Andrew is
(05:22):
a legitimate war hero. During the Falkland Wars, he flew
a rescue helicopter in combat I mean being shot at
because he was in the Royal Navy or the Royal
Air Force at the time, and so he took quite
a spill, to say the least in terms of a reputation,
(05:43):
and so the issue here is the names that came
out of those of the Epstein files, and part of
the issue are dates. Two thousand and six is a
very big date because that's when the investigation started about
Epstein and his assaults, rapes, trafficking of minors. Twenty nineteen
(06:06):
he went to prison for a year, So it's post
twenty nineteen. Pre twenty nineteen really is the magical dates.
So what you have is these huge names, all of
them denying that it was any wrongdoing, and there's no
proof that there was.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Nobody has been charged.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
But in the case, the most interesting one, of course
is Donald Trump. He was mentioned more than one thousand times.
Now he's the biggest player, and this guy is the president,
so you would imagine he would be and he did
have a relationship with Donald Trump, I mean with Epstein,
but it doesn't seem to be anything even approaching the womanizing.
(06:47):
We saw video of Trump and Epstein with a bunch
of women, but that's how many videos do you have?
How many pictures you have with Donald Trump involved with
taking pictures with women? I mean, everybody who's a womanizer,
never a youngster, never anybody as a minor.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
So let me go through some names that are part
of these files.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
How about a guy named Elon Musk who shows up
at least a few times email exchanges between twenty twelve
and twenty thirteen. Again, this is before twenty nineteen when
Epstein went to prison. And I don't even know if
that first investigation was public. Certainly the criminal complaint was,
(07:33):
and certainly him going to jail. Who was a plea
bargain in which Epstein got away. He got a slap
on the wrist effectively. So Epstein and Muska discuss visiting
Epstein's Caribbean island compound.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Not clear if the visits took place.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Musk has maintained he repeatedly turned down Epstein's overtures, his invitations,
and posted in twenty twenty five Epstein tried to get
me to his island.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
I refused.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Richard Branson a lot of emails Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Record,
that's Branson. In a twenty thirteen exchange, Branson invites Epstein
to his Caribbean island and I think it's Necker Island
and hosts conferences and it's just a private.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Island owned by somebody in this case.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Branson in another message, this is must suggesting that Epstein
rehabilitate his image by convincing Bill Gates to tell the
public how Epstein had been a brilliant advisor to him.
Gates and had more than learnt your lesson regarding Epstein
and has done nothing against the law. Since that is problematic.
(08:46):
But again this is just Branson noting this that he
was in trouble, Epstein was in trouble, and say here's
what you can do again, any allegation wrongdoing? No Donald
Trump over thousand we talked about that and a lot
of uncorroborated stories.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The Department of Justice.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Man, did they come out and come up with the
stories that the FBI were told the tips and said,
this absolutely is these are uncorroborated at all. Bill Clinton
occasionally flying on Epstein's private jet, having Epstein visit him
at the White House. Clinton denies any knowledge of Epstein's wrongdoing,
(09:28):
and Clinton's President of Clinton's representatives say that the former
president broke off all relations with Epstein during the first
round of criminal charges in twenty two thousand and six,
and the file includes photos of Clinton other famous people
that Epstein kept in his home in New York. Messages
(09:49):
investigators received from members of the general public demanding to
know why Clinton wasn't being investigated. Stephen Tish, New York
Giants co owner, meant more than two hundred times. In
one exchange in twenty thirteen. The subject line is Ukrainian girl,
and Epstein encourages Tish to contact a particularly woman pro
(10:12):
or civilian. Tish asks. Tish, by the way, is the
inheritor of the Loews Corporation. He is a beneficiary. Casey
Wasserman is one and he was the president. He is
the president of the committee for the twenty twenty eight
Summer Olympics. Emails with Epstein and Julaane Maxwell, who we know.
(10:38):
I think the most interesting one is Howard Lutnik, who
is now the Commerce Secretary, visited Epstein's private island with
his family at least once. And here's what he said
prior to these emails going out. He said that he
(11:03):
cut ties with Epstein decades ago, and he called him gross.
The problem is is that there are emails after that
that clearly show.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That Lutnick and Epstein continued.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
An email relationship, and the Commerce Department comes back, doesn't refute.
It simply says Lutnick had limited interactions with Epstein and
the presence of his wife and has never been accused
of any wrongdoing.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Completely deflects.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
The issue of the timing of the timing of the email.
Sergey Brinn, billionaire co founder of Google. Steve Bannon, who
we know. So the list goes on. These are just
a smattering of the big time names. And again there
is I want to point this out, especially in the
(11:59):
case of Donald Trump, there is no allegation of any wrongdoing.
There are no photos like Andrew. They have one of
Andrew just came out and he's there's a gall on
the floor and he is over her and it is
just I mean, yeah, and they have the clothes on
and everything, but it's just absolutely disgusting. As far as Andrew,
(12:20):
do you have any doubt that Andrew knew these underage girls.
I think he specifically asked for underage girls. So he
is done. So it's no longer Prince Andrew. I still
think he gets a house that Charles gives him as
opposed to being kicked out. He got kicked out of
the big one with sixty rooms, and now he has
(12:41):
a smaller home. But I still think he has staff.
I still think he's being treated like a prince.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
The race for governor is coming up, and for the
first time in twenty five years, we don't have a
charismatic character candidate that's breaking out, no clear front runner,
and keep in mind we're five months before the June
primary election. Dan Schnorr, a political communications professor who looks
(13:10):
at this, says, this is.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
The most wide open governor's.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Race we've seen in California in more than a quarter
of a century, and no precedent in the modern political
area here in California for a campaign that is this crowded.
Why well, voters are undecided or they're coalescing behind a
bunch of different prominent candidates, and so no candidate has
(13:34):
a really huge front runner status. Katie Porter, former representative,
leads the pack with twenty one percent of respondents. Okay,
Former US Health and Human Services sucre Harry Javier Besserra.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I know him, we do. It's a big name. Former
news commentator Steve Hilton, who was on Fox. No idea
who he is? He has fourteen percent. Riverside County Sheriff.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Chess Bianco yeah, I know who he is, but I
don't know anything about him. The point is there is
nobody there. We've had big name personalities Arnold Schwarzenegger, eBay billionaire,
Meg Whitman who ran and lost, Jerry Brown who ran
and won. He's a son of Governor Pat Brown. Gavin Newsom,
(14:23):
of course, huge name. He vaulted into the national spotlight.
Actually he's become I would even argue the front runner
on the Democratic side right now for the presidential run.
He won big time in twenty eighteen and twenty twenty two,
and there was a recall at him that he wiped out,
and so he's got some creds in terms of voter backing.
(14:47):
And so Porter said, Look, we've had celebrity governors. We've
had governors who are kids of other governors. We've had
governors who look hot with slick back hair and barn jackets.
What the hell's a barn jacket? I have absolutely no idea,
and certainly Newsome wears them.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I guess in California right.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Now is the center of a lot of stuff coming
out of the Trump administration, the detention and deportation of
illegal migrants. That's overshadowed the gubernatarian race. We had the
wildfires and again the immigration raids. We've got that battle
(15:32):
about redrawing congressional districts. On top of that, names that
would instantly get major, major recognition just said no. Kamala Harris,
Now I'm not going to run. Alex Padillo. Senator Alex
Paddeo said no, I'm not running. Attorney General Rob Bonta,
(15:53):
who has sued the Trump administration more than any other
attorney general in the country.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
He said no.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Rick caruse So, who ran for mayor, very well known,
he said no. So the critical question is who the
donors are going to decide to back, because California is
not only the most populous state in the United States,
and the economy you've heard many times, were the fifth
(16:20):
largest economy on the planet relative to countries. Only four
countries have bigger economies than ours, and there are forty
million people, and it gets really expensive to run for
governor or any statewide ballot measure. And so either people
(16:42):
have to be billionaires and use their own money Rick Caruso,
Meg Whitman, or have incredible name recognition and a donor base.
Because they're going to need well hundreds of millions of
dollars to run for governor, and so the donors have
to be contacted, and there is front runner. There is
nobody out there at this point. So you got the
(17:05):
Democratic and Republican conventions approaching Republicans no one's paying attention
to because it won't be a Republican. But it's unlikely
that a Democrat is going to be able to get
the nod at the convention at this point because so
many candidates are in there now. The other thing that's
happening is, here's what the party does. There are some
(17:27):
Democratic candidates who don't have much money, little name identification,
and they're gonna be pressure to drop out, saying here,
whatever donor base you have, move it over to this candidate,
and also your endorsement. Not that it's going to do anything.
It's going to be an interesting race, to say the least.
(17:48):
And is Gavin Newsom going to be the kingmaker here
who he endorses?
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
People are split pretty widely in terms of looking at
Gavin U. I'll tell you where everybody, every single person
agrees is he's got great hair and he slicks it down.
Have you noticed that does he use bear grease to
slick down his hair? And I don't know the answer
(18:17):
to that. Looks like it doesn't it.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
I think it's the same slobber that comes out of
his mouth when he talks that comes up and over right,
what's bear grease? You know?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
It's grease from bear. It's you cook bear up and
the grease that comes out, it's like bear fat. It's
like chicken fat. Instead you use bear fat. It's like schmaltz.
You can look that up. Okay, Okay, look up Schmaltz.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
No, no, I'm looking up bear grease. Oh yeah, I
think Schmaltz is much better. Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Moving on to teenage boys gambling, and this has become
a big, big deal. There's new research from common Sense
Media nonprofit and that finds that gambling is a lot
more common among adolescent boys than their parents realize. And
how do they get into it Video games that's the
most frequent way. In more than one in three boys
(19:18):
from eleven to seventeen say they have gambled in the
last year. This is a survey of more than one
thousand boys across the US, and a lot of these
boys encounter gambling like mechanics before they ever place a bet,
a traditional bet.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
And here's the scary part.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
It is they don't gamble with money per se, although
quickly moving into that and the games.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Some of the games you.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Do pay money for additional characters, but you're not gambling.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Except what the study says is that this is a.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Gateway to gambling, and it's a real game way, unlike
marijuana that was always deemed a gateway to hard drugs.
I remember my dad when he caught me smoking when
I was a teenager, and he literally thought, as I
put the joint down, I pick up a syringe full
(20:17):
of heroin and injected directly into my eyeballs. It can
do cocaine before or after you did pop? Oh way after.
I didn't start doing cocaine. No, you know what was
the gateway drug? The bar exam was my gateway drug,
taking the bar because I was working full time taking
(20:38):
the Bar review course, and it was so I had
to stay awake because I was up for twenty hours
a day.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
But anyway, different story.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
In any case, this gambling business is really problematic in
this story. This study shows early exposure kids are sensitive
to rewards, risk taking, peers, influence.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
That's what these games are about.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
And even though no money per se changes hands, what
this is is a precursor.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
It teaches the boys.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
How to gamble without gambling, and so the move into gambling,
the move into spending money is a very easy.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Shot, and boy, the numbers prove it out one.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
So most by the time they're actually gambling gambling have
already spent real money because the systems don't look like
gambling to the kids. But they rely That's how sophisticated
it is. They rely on the same psychological hooks, chance, anticipation,
(21:46):
and reward. These are not just games that are thrown
up there. People who develop these big games are in
fact very cognizant of what they're doing. And again the
boys are saying, now, the ads don't push them to
gamble because a lot of ads on top of.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
What they're looking at.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I mean, you have ads from sports betting and video
game gambling and online gambling and casino games.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
These are casino games.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
These are just thrown at you peer to peer, and
traditional games are there. I mean, fan duel, DraftKings, bet
MGM are used constantly and it's interspersed and they're designed
to get guys kids gambling, and parents don't really realize
it because it becomes a slippery slope.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Oh, it's just a game.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
My daughter plays these games and she buys characters to
dive deeper into the games. And when I go, why
would you do that? It's just a game. Oh no,
I can play it more in a more sophisticated way.
I can play it longer, I have more avenues, they
have different ways of doing it. Dad, can I use
(23:03):
your credit card? So I am not overly thrilled with
those games. I see these credit card bills now, the
average adolescent it's only fifty four dollars a year is
what they spend, which is still real money, but you
add that up, it becomes real money. And it's these
games are designed to get young kids or young adolescent boys,
(23:27):
particularly into the gaming world, and they're just starting to
realize how crappy that is. And again, that's the Internet
on the other side, that's the evil part of the Internet.
The Internet is the greatest thing that ever happened in mankind.
It's going to go down as literally one of the
greatest influence that humanity has ever had. Fire is one
(23:52):
the wheel is another computers, and I think the Internet
and computers are going to be combined historically. But can
you imagine that's the importance of this stuff. And then
you have the negative. You have the body shaming where
people kill themselves. You have AI where we don't know
what the truth is anymore. On the Internet, we have
(24:14):
conspiracy theorists. I've said many times it used to be
the only way you ever listened to a conspiracy theorist
is outside of your office building, some guy with a
bullhorn screaming on the corner. That was your conspiracy theorists.
Today you just describe John Cobel you are a rude bastard.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
That's so true, well said.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
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 listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Bill Handle here on a Monday morning, February. The second
couple things before we dive into the question, is Nil
Savedra in that pile of documents that was released by
the by the Justice Department. Probably not, but it's a
great question.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
A couple of things I want to share with you.
First and foremost is if you miss any segment of
this show, and we do some fun segments, just go
to the podcast, go to the iHeartRadio app and we
podcast the entire show, segment by segment. So if you
miss something, just dive in because some segments are terrific
(00:48):
and some segments are even more terrific.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
What a shocker? Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Also, ask Handle anything we need your phone calls, and
every Friday at eight thirty, I answer those questions because
you want to humiliate me. And the way you do
it is you go to the iHeart Radio app during
the show starting at five am, wake up call till nine,
and then you go to the iHeartRadio app and you
hear this show, the Bill Handle Show broadcast, click on
the microphone in the upright hand corner and record one
(01:15):
of your questions, which Neil chooses the real good ones,
and I answer.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
On the air.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Now, three million documents have been released by the Justice Department.
I mean, that's a lot of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein,
and foreign dignitories and tech titans and politicians and all
kinds of very powerful men make appearances in this trove,
(01:44):
and all of them have denied doing anything with his
sexual abuse of girls and young women. Now Here is
the problem with some of them. Some of them say
that their friendship with Epstein, and Epstein was friends with
everybody or even developed friendships. They have maintained that it
(02:04):
was all done before two thousand and six, when publicly
Epstein was well rat it out, if you will, for
having sex with underage girls. And so there's pre two
thousand and six and post two thousand and six, and
there is the line post two thousand and six.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
It has problematic.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Certainly post twenty nineteen gets really problematic, because that's when
Epstein went to jail for a year. Sarah Ferguson, for example,
who was the wife of Prince Andrew. She is in
the emails, and she was broke, asked him to pay
some bills that's Epstein and asked for advice before going
(02:53):
on the Oprah Show. On top of that, Prince Andrew,
he seems to be sort of the poster child of
the personalities that were involved in Epstein. He's going to
have the hardest time denying that. I mean, there was
an interview that he did I think was at sixty
(03:14):
minutes and he straight out denied it. I've never met
this woman. I don't know who she is. And of
course that infamous photo and this we're talking about.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Guthrie, the young lady who.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Wrote the book, committed suicide and was trafficked by Epstein.
There's a picture of Andrew holding her his arm around
her waist. Everybody is smiling. And I don't think anybody
who disbelieves that Epstein is so involved in all of
this that the King, King Charles has basically booted Andrew.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
No longer royal title.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
He can't be called he cannot be called a prince anymore.
He is now Andrew Booby to his friends and family,
no longer has title. Got kicked out of that house.
Did you see that house? He was on sixty rooms
paid for by the government staff like crazy hot and
(04:15):
cold running valets and maids and cooks and all of that.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Tell you who else is involved in all of this?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Not involved in any of the sexual escapades, I think
the only and by the way, even Andrew was not charged.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Nobody was charged.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And does that mean that the government, the DOJ has
simply ignored that and swept it under the wrong.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
No.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I don't think so, because this was during Biden where
this information came out. It was during Obama where this
information was public. No one has been charged. But I'll
tell you who is part of that group. And these
are just famous ones. Keep in mind, there were hundreds
(05:02):
of people that these files, the Epstein files talk about
and relate to, And of all these hundreds, I think
the only one close to criminality, as I said, is
the former Prince Andrew, who is the brother of Charles who.
By the way, did you know that Prince Andrew is
(05:22):
a legitimate war hero. During the Falkland Wars, he flew
a rescue helicopter in combat I mean being shot at
because he was in the Royal Navy or the Royal
Air Force at the time, and so he took quite
a spill, to say the least in terms of a reputation,
(05:43):
and so the issue here is the names that came
out of those of the Epstein files, and part of
the issue are dates. Two thousand and six is a
very big date because that's when the investigation started about
Epstein and his assaults, rapes, trafficking of minors. Twenty nineteen
(06:06):
he went to prison for a year, So it's post
twenty nineteen. Pre twenty nineteen really is the magical dates.
So what you have is these huge names, all of
them denying that it was any wrongdoing, and there's no
proof that there was.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Nobody has been charged.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
But in the case, the most interesting one, of course
is Donald Trump. He was mentioned more than one thousand times.
Now he's the biggest player, and this guy is the president,
so you would imagine he would be and he did
have a relationship with Donald Trump, I mean with Epstein,
but it doesn't seem to be anything even approaching the womanizing.
(06:47):
We saw video of Trump and Epstein with a bunch
of women, but that's how many videos do you have?
How many pictures you have with Donald Trump involved with
taking pictures with women? I mean, everybody who's a womanizer,
never a youngster, never anybody as a minor.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
So let me go through some names that are part
of these files.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
How about a guy named Elon Musk who shows up
at least a few times email exchanges between twenty twelve
and twenty thirteen. Again, this is before twenty nineteen when
Epstein went to prison. And I don't even know if
that first investigation was public. Certainly the criminal complaint was,
(07:33):
and certainly him going to jail. Who was a plea
bargain in which Epstein got away. He got a slap
on the wrist effectively. So Epstein and Muska discuss visiting
Epstein's Caribbean island compound.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Not clear if the visits took place.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Musk has maintained he repeatedly turned down Epstein's overtures, his invitations,
and posted in twenty twenty five Epstein tried to get
me to his island.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
I refused.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Richard Branson a lot of emails Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Record,
that's Branson. In a twenty thirteen exchange, Branson invites Epstein
to his Caribbean island and I think it's Necker Island
and hosts conferences and it's just a private.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Island owned by somebody in this case.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Branson in another message, this is must suggesting that Epstein
rehabilitate his image by convincing Bill Gates to tell the
public how Epstein had been a brilliant advisor to him.
Gates and had more than learnt your lesson regarding Epstein
and has done nothing against the law. Since that is problematic.
(08:46):
But again this is just Branson noting this that he
was in trouble, Epstein was in trouble, and say here's
what you can do again, any allegation wrongdoing? No Donald
Trump over thousand we talked about that and a lot
of uncorroborated stories.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The Department of Justice.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Man, did they come out and come up with the
stories that the FBI were told the tips and said,
this absolutely is these are uncorroborated at all. Bill Clinton
occasionally flying on Epstein's private jet, having Epstein visit him
at the White House. Clinton denies any knowledge of Epstein's wrongdoing,
(09:28):
and Clinton's President of Clinton's representatives say that the former
president broke off all relations with Epstein during the first
round of criminal charges in twenty two thousand and six,
and the file includes photos of Clinton other famous people
that Epstein kept in his home in New York. Messages
(09:49):
investigators received from members of the general public demanding to
know why Clinton wasn't being investigated. Stephen Tish, New York
Giants co owner, meant more than two hundred times. In
one exchange in twenty thirteen. The subject line is Ukrainian girl,
and Epstein encourages Tish to contact a particularly woman pro
(10:12):
or civilian. Tish asks. Tish, by the way, is the
inheritor of the Loews Corporation. He is a beneficiary. Casey
Wasserman is one and he was the president. He is
the president of the committee for the twenty twenty eight
Summer Olympics. Emails with Epstein and Julaane Maxwell, who we know.
(10:38):
I think the most interesting one is Howard Lutnik, who
is now the Commerce Secretary, visited Epstein's private island with
his family at least once. And here's what he said
prior to these emails going out. He said that he
(11:03):
cut ties with Epstein decades ago, and he called him gross.
The problem is is that there are emails after that
that clearly show.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That Lutnick and Epstein continued.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
An email relationship, and the Commerce Department comes back, doesn't refute.
It simply says Lutnick had limited interactions with Epstein and
the presence of his wife and has never been accused
of any wrongdoing.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Completely deflects.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
The issue of the timing of the timing of the email.
Sergey Brinn, billionaire co founder of Google. Steve Bannon, who
we know. So the list goes on. These are just
a smattering of the big time names. And again there
is I want to point this out, especially in the
(11:59):
case of Donald Trump, there is no allegation of any wrongdoing.
There are no photos like Andrew. They have one of
Andrew just came out and he's there's a gall on
the floor and he is over her and it is
just I mean, yeah, and they have the clothes on
and everything, but it's just absolutely disgusting. As far as Andrew,
(12:20):
do you have any doubt that Andrew knew these underage girls.
I think he specifically asked for underage girls. So he
is done. So it's no longer Prince Andrew. I still
think he gets a house that Charles gives him as
opposed to being kicked out. He got kicked out of
the big one with sixty rooms, and now he has
(12:41):
a smaller home. But I still think he has staff.
I still think he's being treated like a prince.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
The race for governor is coming up, and for the
first time in twenty five years, we don't have a
charismatic character candidate that's breaking out, no clear front runner,
and keep in mind we're five months before the June
primary election. Dan Schnorr, a political communications professor who looks
(13:10):
at this, says, this is.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
The most wide open governor's.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Race we've seen in California in more than a quarter
of a century, and no precedent in the modern political
area here in California for a campaign that is this crowded.
Why well, voters are undecided or they're coalescing behind a
bunch of different prominent candidates, and so no candidate has
(13:34):
a really huge front runner status. Katie Porter, former representative,
leads the pack with twenty one percent of respondents. Okay,
Former US Health and Human Services sucre Harry Javier Besserra.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I know him, we do. It's a big name. Former
news commentator Steve Hilton, who was on Fox. No idea
who he is? He has fourteen percent. Riverside County Sheriff.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Chess Bianco yeah, I know who he is, but I
don't know anything about him. The point is there is
nobody there. We've had big name personalities Arnold Schwarzenegger, eBay billionaire,
Meg Whitman who ran and lost, Jerry Brown who ran
and won. He's a son of Governor Pat Brown. Gavin Newsom,
(14:23):
of course, huge name. He vaulted into the national spotlight.
Actually he's become I would even argue the front runner
on the Democratic side right now for the presidential run.
He won big time in twenty eighteen and twenty twenty two,
and there was a recall at him that he wiped out,
and so he's got some creds in terms of voter backing.
(14:47):
And so Porter said, Look, we've had celebrity governors. We've
had governors who are kids of other governors. We've had
governors who look hot with slick back hair and barn jackets.
What the hell's a barn jacket? I have absolutely no idea,
and certainly Newsome wears them.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I guess in California right.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Now is the center of a lot of stuff coming
out of the Trump administration, the detention and deportation of
illegal migrants. That's overshadowed the gubernatarian race. We had the
wildfires and again the immigration raids. We've got that battle
(15:32):
about redrawing congressional districts. On top of that, names that
would instantly get major, major recognition just said no. Kamala Harris,
Now I'm not going to run. Alex Padillo. Senator Alex
Paddeo said no, I'm not running. Attorney General Rob Bonta,
(15:53):
who has sued the Trump administration more than any other
attorney general in the country.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
He said no.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Rick caruse So, who ran for mayor, very well known,
he said no. So the critical question is who the
donors are going to decide to back, because California is
not only the most populous state in the United States,
and the economy you've heard many times, were the fifth
(16:20):
largest economy on the planet relative to countries. Only four
countries have bigger economies than ours, and there are forty
million people, and it gets really expensive to run for
governor or any statewide ballot measure. And so either people
(16:42):
have to be billionaires and use their own money Rick Caruso,
Meg Whitman, or have incredible name recognition and a donor base.
Because they're going to need well hundreds of millions of
dollars to run for governor, and so the donors have
to be contacted, and there is front runner. There is
nobody out there at this point. So you got the
(17:05):
Democratic and Republican conventions approaching Republicans no one's paying attention
to because it won't be a Republican. But it's unlikely
that a Democrat is going to be able to get
the nod at the convention at this point because so
many candidates are in there now. The other thing that's
happening is, here's what the party does. There are some
(17:27):
Democratic candidates who don't have much money, little name identification,
and they're gonna be pressure to drop out, saying here,
whatever donor base you have, move it over to this candidate,
and also your endorsement. Not that it's going to do anything.
It's going to be an interesting race, to say the least.
(17:48):
And is Gavin Newsom going to be the kingmaker here
who he endorses?
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
People are split pretty widely in terms of looking at
Gavin U. I'll tell you where everybody, every single person
agrees is he's got great hair and he slicks it down.
Have you noticed that does he use bear grease to
slick down his hair? And I don't know the answer
(18:17):
to that. Looks like it doesn't it.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
I think it's the same slobber that comes out of
his mouth when he talks that comes up and over right,
what's bear grease? You know?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
It's grease from bear. It's you cook bear up and
the grease that comes out, it's like bear fat. It's
like chicken fat. Instead you use bear fat. It's like schmaltz.
You can look that up. Okay, Okay, look up Schmaltz.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
No, no, I'm looking up bear grease. Oh yeah, I
think Schmaltz is much better. Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Moving on to teenage boys gambling, and this has become
a big, big deal. There's new research from common Sense
Media nonprofit and that finds that gambling is a lot
more common among adolescent boys than their parents realize. And
how do they get into it Video games that's the
most frequent way. In more than one in three boys
(19:18):
from eleven to seventeen say they have gambled in the
last year. This is a survey of more than one
thousand boys across the US, and a lot of these
boys encounter gambling like mechanics before they ever place a bet,
a traditional bet.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
And here's the scary part.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
It is they don't gamble with money per se, although
quickly moving into that and the games.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Some of the games you.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Do pay money for additional characters, but you're not gambling.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Except what the study says is that this is a.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Gateway to gambling, and it's a real game way, unlike
marijuana that was always deemed a gateway to hard drugs.
I remember my dad when he caught me smoking when
I was a teenager, and he literally thought, as I
put the joint down, I pick up a syringe full
(20:17):
of heroin and injected directly into my eyeballs. It can
do cocaine before or after you did pop? Oh way after.
I didn't start doing cocaine. No, you know what was
the gateway drug? The bar exam was my gateway drug,
taking the bar because I was working full time taking
(20:38):
the Bar review course, and it was so I had
to stay awake because I was up for twenty hours
a day.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
But anyway, different story.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
In any case, this gambling business is really problematic in
this story. This study shows early exposure kids are sensitive
to rewards, risk taking, peers, influence.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
That's what these games are about.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
And even though no money per se changes hands, what
this is is a precursor.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
It teaches the boys.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
How to gamble without gambling, and so the move into gambling,
the move into spending money is a very easy.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Shot, and boy, the numbers prove it out one.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
So most by the time they're actually gambling gambling have
already spent real money because the systems don't look like
gambling to the kids. But they rely That's how sophisticated
it is. They rely on the same psychological hooks, chance, anticipation,
(21:46):
and reward. These are not just games that are thrown
up there. People who develop these big games are in
fact very cognizant of what they're doing. And again the
boys are saying, now, the ads don't push them to
gamble because a lot of ads on top of.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
What they're looking at.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I mean, you have ads from sports betting and video
game gambling and online gambling and casino games.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
These are casino games.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
These are just thrown at you peer to peer, and
traditional games are there. I mean, fan duel, DraftKings, bet
MGM are used constantly and it's interspersed and they're designed
to get guys kids gambling, and parents don't really realize
it because it becomes a slippery slope.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Oh, it's just a game.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
My daughter plays these games and she buys characters to
dive deeper into the games. And when I go, why
would you do that? It's just a game. Oh no,
I can play it more in a more sophisticated way.
I can play it longer, I have more avenues, they
have different ways of doing it. Dad, can I use
(23:03):
your credit card? So I am not overly thrilled with
those games. I see these credit card bills now, the
average adolescent it's only fifty four dollars a year is
what they spend, which is still real money, but you
add that up, it becomes real money. And it's these
games are designed to get young kids or young adolescent boys,
(23:27):
particularly into the gaming world, and they're just starting to
realize how crappy that is. And again, that's the Internet
on the other side, that's the evil part of the Internet.
The Internet is the greatest thing that ever happened in mankind.
It's going to go down as literally one of the
greatest influence that humanity has ever had. Fire is one
(23:52):
the wheel is another computers, and I think the Internet
and computers are going to be combined historically. But can
you imagine that's the importance of this stuff. And then
you have the negative. You have the body shaming where
people kill themselves. You have AI where we don't know
what the truth is anymore. On the Internet, we have
(24:14):
conspiracy theorists. I've said many times it used to be
the only way you ever listened to a conspiracy theorist
is outside of your office building, some guy with a
bullhorn screaming on the corner. That was your conspiracy theorists.
Today you just describe John Cobel you are a rude bastard.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
That's so true, well said.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
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.
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