6/10/26: Putin Assassination Attempt, Bernie Candidate Wins In CA, Cuba Preps For US War

Summary

Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar

Episode: June 10, 2026 – Main Topics: Putin Assassination Attempt, Bernie Candidate Win in California, Cuba & U.S. War Tensions

---

Episode Overview

This episode of Breaking Points covers three deeply consequential—and often underreported—global and domestic political stories:

• The alleged assassination attempt on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Western media’s silence on the event.
• The insurgent win of a Bernie Sanders-backed candidate in California’s Insurance Commissioner race and its significance for anti-corporate policy.
• The rising U.S.–Cuba tensions and broader Latin American political developments, with a focus on U.S. military posturing and migration trends.

Co-hosts Krystal Ball and Ryan Grim, joined by Jane Kim and independent journalist Juan David Rojas, provide analysis, reporting, and firsthand insights.

---

1. Putin Assassination Attempt: Fact, Fiction, or Western Blind Spot?

Segment starts: [02:26]

Key Points & Timeline

• Story Origins: In late 2025, Vladimir Putin claims Ukraine attempted to assassinate him and his family with a swarm of drones on his compound in Valdai.

  • Trump publicly affirms Putin’s story, referencing a direct phone call. Western coverage wanes quickly.
  • “Since then, we’ve heard almost nothing about it. We wanted to walk through this wild story that has just kind of evaporated from Western press attention.” – Ryan Grim [02:26]

• Timeline & Details:

  • December 29, 2025: Trump, standing next to Netanyahu, says:
    • “I heard about it this morning. You know who told me about it? President Putin... It’s no good. Don’t forget… this is not the right time to do any of that.” – Trump (as cited by Ryan Grim) [04:46]
  • Subsequent denial: WSJ and others suggest “Ukraine didn’t do this, didn’t happen.”
  • Trump’s backtrack: "We don't believe that happened anymore." [06:19]
  • Putin retaliates by offering up drone wreckage, invites the U.S. ambassador to inspect evidence.

• Narrative Contest:

  • Zelenskyy labels it fabrication, accuses Putin of derailing a possible peace deal.
  • Putin counters, says Zelenskyy aimed to sabotage peace via escalation.
  • Debris and drone flight maps shared by Russia—unclear Western response.

• Western Intelligence Discrepancies:

  • CIA briefed Trump it didn’t happen; Trump changes tack, yet physical evidence is offered by Russia.
  • Bivens (former Moscow Times editor) raises the possibility that “the CIA is giving false briefings to the president.” [10:31]
  • “I don’t know if people have quite understand the fire that we’re playing with here.” – Ryan Grim [11:41]

Insightful Moments & Quotes

• "Putin, just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean you’re wrong." – Ryan Grim [03:52]
• “At some point, if you do launch 91 drones, it’s going to leave some evidence behind.” – Ryan Grim [10:10]
• “All presidents lie. Putin lies a lot. But in this case, he’s turning over the material itself for us to examine.” – Ryan Grim [10:03]
• “What information is getting to the president? That’s extremely important.” – Crystal Ball [11:16]

---

2. Bernie-Backed Progressive Jane Kim’s Win in California

Segment starts: [13:38]

Key Points & Discussion

• Who is Jane Kim?

  • Progressive, endorsed by Bernie Sanders for California Insurance Commissioner; running on "insurance for all" with a strong anti-corporate message. [14:06]

• Why does the Insurance Commissioner Matter?

  • Oversees $3.3 trillion in insurance, excluding managed health care.
  • Responsible for consumer protection across auto, home, disaster, and more.

• Kim’s Platform & Achievements:

  • No insurance-industry donations.
  • Lowering costs by capping “excess profits and CEO pay.”
  • Proposes public, nonprofit disaster insurance & expanded low-cost auto options.
  • “We ran on the message of a more affordable California... champion of consumers and not a lapdog for billionaire corporations.” – Jane Kim [16:13]
  • Won across the state—including Republican and rural counties.

• Problems in Current System:

  • Required to carry insurance for basic living—rates up, claims fought, coverage canceled.
  • “This industry is doing quite well... the narrative that they’re going bankrupt is just simply not true.” – Jane Kim [16:13]
  • Only ~49 cents of each premium dollar paid out in claims; rest to shareholders, advertising, reserves.

• Reform Proposals

  • Rate freezes when consumers file claims.
  • Interest paid to consumers for delayed/denied claims.
  • Capping profits by mandating higher claims payout ratio (e.g., 65% for home insurance).
  • Use excess public funds for wildfire/flood resilience.

• Challenging Losses/Waste

  • Single-payer disaster insurance modeled after NZ, France, Spain.
  • “Private insurance prices risk. We would take a portion of that revenue and actually invest it in making us collectively safer.” – Jane Kim [23:20]
  • Allowing payouts for relocation rather than rebuilding in high-risk disaster zones. [25:54]

Notable Quotes

• “We want a fair and level playing ground... this office should be the champion of consumers and not a lapdog for billionaire corporations.” – Jane Kim [16:13]
• “If your home does burn down, you can take the insurance you get and instead of rebuilding, you’re allowed to use it to move and buy another home.” – Jane Kim [28:28]
• “It’s one of the most important jobs you may have never heard of that really sits at this incredibly interesting intersection around economic fairness, wealth inequality and climate injustice.” – Jane Kim [28:58]

---

3. U.S., Cuba, Latin America: War Drums & Political Shifts

Segment starts: [31:40]

Immigration, Asylum, and Enforcement

• On-the-ground experience: Juan David Rojas discusses working as a social worker with unaccompanied minors and his recent reporting.

  • Most new arrivals during "Biden surge" are economic migrants, not fleeing violence.
  • “The vast majority of these asylum claims are economic migrants… only a small minority are fleeing direct persecution.” – Juan David Rojas [32:29]

• Enforcement Trends & Critique:

  • Fewer interior deportations under Biden than Obama/Trump (Obama ~200k/year, Trump ~100k, Biden ~50k).
  • “Once you get into the country, you don’t get deported.” – Rojas [33:14]
  • Overly lax enforcement creates backlogs, crowding out legitimate asylum-seekers.

• Policy Recommendations:

  • Limits and reforms needed—E-Verify for employers, more resources for real asylees.
  • Critique of harsh/sadistic Trump-era enforcement; call for balance.
  • “Deportation should be neither pleasant nor deliberately performative.” – Juan David Rojas [36:54]

Latin American Political Shifts

• Mexico’s Electric Vehicle Move & Broader NAFTA Effects

  • Claudia Sheinbaum launches $5,000 Mexican EV (Ovinia) ahead of World Cup—political optics and industrial policy.
  • U.S. “expats” migrating to Mexico; debate over language (“expats” vs “migrants”).

• U.S.–Cuba Escalation & Migration

  • Multiple high-profile U.S. official visits to Cuba have stoked war/invasion fears.
  • Juan: “I think we’ll probably see strikes of some sort or a Maduro operation. Who knows? Maybe even a full invasion.” [40:49]
  • Cuba’s shrinking population blamed on mass emigration during Biden era. Nicaragua briefly let Cubans cross visa-free en route to the U.S. [41:42]

• Policy Lessons

  • “If you don’t want to have millions of people coming here… we shouldn’t go about wanton intervening in all these countries. It’s completely counterproductive.” – Juan David Rojas [42:03]

• Elections Across the Region

  • Winds shifting left in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, and Brazil—often surprising patterns (e.g., rural left-wing base with socially conservative values).
  • Example: Peru’s near-tied election, rural left base champions candidate promising pardon to Pedro Castillo.
  • “In South America, the rural votes are more left wing sometimes... their base is rural... socially conservative, economically left wing.” – Juan David Rojas [43:24]

---

4. Memorable Moments and Notable Quotes

• On Media & Trust:

  • “I turned off news altogether… it’s the rage bait. It feels like it’s trying to divide people.” – Juan David Rojas [00:12]
  • “We got clear facts. Maybe we could calm down a little.” – Ryan Grim [00:19]

• On Institutional Bias:

  • “This is the only place where you can find honest perspectives from the left and the right—that simply does not exist anywhere else.” – Crystal Ball [02:03]

---

Important Timestamps

• [02:26] — Putin assassination attempt chronology and media silence
• [06:19] — Trump backtracks on Putin drone story
• [10:03] — Analysis on Russian evidence & CIA briefing credibility
• [13:38] — California Insurance Commissioner race: Jane Kim’s win and implications
• [16:13] — Jane Kim elaborates on policy aims and anti-corporate stance
• [23:20] — Proposal for single payer, publicly run disaster insurance
• [28:28] — Structural insurance for relocation in high-risk areas
• [31:40] — Juan David Rojas on U.S. asylum, enforcement, and Cuba policy
• [40:49] — U.S. military tensions with Cuba
• [43:24] — Political swings in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, and the unique dynamics of rural leftism

---

Summary Takeaway

This episode navigates the news Establishment ignores: the serious global risk raised by underreported events like the Putin assassination attempt, how policy and media often mislead even presidents, and the power of insurgent, populist political movements (from Jane Kim in California to leftist rural bases in Peru). Migration, U.S. intervention, and Latin American elections are not just headlines, but dynamic interlinked forces. Breaking Points offers candid, often uncomfortable truths and makes the stakes clear for listeners—on both foreign and domestic fronts.

Transcript

[Jane Kim]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I turned off news altogether.

[Ryan Grim]

I hate to say it, but I

[Crystal Ball]

don't trust much of anything.

[Juan David Rojas]

It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people.

[Ryan Grim]

We got clear facts. Maybe we could calm down a little.

[Juan David Rojas]

NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the Facts.

[Ryan Grim]

Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America.

[Commercial Voice]

What's up, y'?

[Crystal Ball]

All?

[Commercial Voice]

Summer's got a different tempo. Everything's a little looser, brighter. One plan turns into another. You hear something, you stay a little longer. Next thing you know, you're somewhere you didn't plan to be. It's those in between moments. That's where the ideas hit. Conversations stretch out. Little memories sneak up on you. Sometimes it's just about what's in your hand. That color, that chill. The new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks. Guava and passion fruit flavors with mango pineapple flavored pearls. Yeah, that feels like summer before you even taste it. Funny how one small stop becomes the best part of the day. Start your summer rhythm with Starbucks. Try the new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and safeway now through June 23rd. Shop for you. Save days and get great savings on all your favorite personal care Essentials and earn 4 times points. Shop in store or online and save on items like Head and Shoulders shoulder shampoo, Pantene shampoo, Tresemme Conditioner, l' Oreal hair dye, Tresemme Hairspray, and Aussie Miracle Curls and earn four times points to use for future savings on groceries or gas. Offer ends June 23rd. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Crystal Ball]

Hey, guys, Sager and Crystal here.

[Jane Kim]

Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election and we are so excited about what that means for the future of the show.

[Crystal Ball]

This is the only place where you

[Ryan Grim]

can find honest perspectives from the left

[Crystal Ball]

and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else.

[Jane Kim]

So if that is something that's important to you, Please go to BreakingPoints.com, become a member today and you'll get access to our full shows unedited ad free and all put together for you every morning in your inbox.

[Ryan Seacrest]

We need your help to build the

[Crystal Ball]

future of independent news media and we

[Ryan Seacrest]

hope to see [e-mail]

[Ryan Grim]

at the end of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine had tried to assassinate him and his family. Donald Trump confirmed that he believed that this had happened. Since then We've heard almost nothing about it. We wanted to walk through this. This wild story that has just completely kind of evaporated from Western press attention. Matt Bivens, in his substack the Hundred Days, wrote about it recently and put this first element up on the screen. This is a. The whole. The whole piece is worth reading. But we'll.

[Crystal Ball]

Former editor of the Moscow Times, I believe.

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah, Matt, Very serious reporter. And stitch together this timeline, which is quite wild. It's December 28th, and so a lot's going on. Then you're starting to have the protests in Iran. Trump is meeting with Zelenskyy and also with Netanyahu in Mar? A Lago and also capturing Maduro, like, so tons. And plus, it's the end of the year. Nobody's paying attention.

[Crystal Ball]

Right.

[Ryan Grim]

Everybody's checked out. I was skiing, as a matter of fact.

[Crystal Ball]

Literally checked out.

[Ryan Grim]

Literally checked out. I mean, I was checking in, but checked out. So it's easy to miss an attempted assassination of the head of a superpower or major nuclear power.

[Crystal Ball]

The government is trying to downplay it.

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah. So what happened? So we put up D2 here, which is relevant. We'll come back to this. So Putin has ordered CCTV to be turned off around him because the US and Israel, or Israel appeared to use this in their assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei and others. So Putin, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean you're wrong. So on December 29, Trump was asked about a claim that Putin had just made, that Ukrainian drones had swarmed his family's compound in an attempt to assassinate him. And here's what Trump said standing next to Netanyahu on December 29.

[Commercial Voice]

The strike.

[Jane Kim]

The alleged strike on Putin's residence could scuttle the peace.

[Commercial Voice]

Yeah, I don't like it. It's not good. I heard about it this morning. You know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it early in the morning. He said he was attacked. It's no good. It's no good. Don't forget, you know, the Tomahawks. I stopped the Tomahawks. I didn't want that. Because we're talking about, you know, it's a delicate period of time. This is not the right time. It's one thing to be offensive because they're offensive. It's another thing to attack his house. It's not the right time to do any of that.

[Ryan Grim]

So then a couple of days later, put up D4. Wall Street Journal and others report that, actually, we didn't do this. Ukraine didn't do this didn't happen. So Trump was then asked about it again on Air Force One.

[Jane Kim]

You said that you were really very angry with the Ukrainian President Zelensky, if he was the one who conducted that strike on Putin's residence.

[Commercial Voice]

I don't believe that strike happened.

[Jane Kim]

Right. So Putin had said in that phone call to you that that strike happened. You came out and said that, and you believed Putin. There was some criticism.

[Commercial Voice]

There is something that happened fairly nearby, but had nothing to do with this.

[Jane Kim]

Why did you believe Putin in that moment and then go say that about Ukraine?

[Commercial Voice]

Nobody knew at that moment. I mean, that was the first I heard about it.

[Crystal Ball]

So why not?

[Commercial Voice]

He said that his house was attacked. We don't believe that happened, as you know now that we have been able to check. But that was the first we ever heard about it. We just hope that Russia and Ukraine get it settled. You know, it's costing us nothing. In fact, we make money.

[Ryan Grim]

So if you had a hard time hearing that, it's Trump saying, we don't believe that happened anymore. And so Putin says, okay, hold on a second. You think it didn't happen? We can roll D5 here. He released video of what he says, and what he says are Ukrainian drones that crashed in the forest. They released also kind of a flight map that showed, I think, 91 drones that they counted that moved from Ukrainian positions to this. This compound where the f. Putin's family was apparently staying and offered. And they met with the American ambassador and said, you want to. You want to. You want to look at them? Go ahead. You can. You can. You can study them yourselves. Like, we shot down a bunch of these. Some of these crashed. Like, here they are. We didn't hear. We don't know if the CIA ended up obtaining some of these or not. Zelenskyy at the time called it a fabrication. He said Putin is trying to blow up the peace deal that Zelenskyy and Trump were talking about in Mar? A Lago. Putin said, no, Zelenskyy is actually trying to blow this up.

[Crystal Ball]

Right.

[Ryan Grim]

Zelenskyy has now taken a different tune. In June 4th. On June 4th, he wrote a letter to Putin filled with a bunch of what might as well be expletives. Put up D7 here. He writes in this letter. This is Zelensky. We often hear that you are comfortable with this war. Of course, not in those cases, when it comes to the security of your residence in Valdi or your parade in Moscow, your own life is valuable to you. Valdi is where the compound was, where his, where his family was staying, and where Putin says that they tried to kill him. He was asked. So also recently, a drone, which may have been Ukraine or may have been Russian, we're not sure yet. I think went into Romania and it crashed into the top of an apartment building. And it injured, I think a grandmother and her grandson was something like, burns on their arms are okay, but it was scary, you know, hit a building. New York Times wrote about this big, giant Western coverage, like this errant drone that hit this NATO country. We need to do war about this. And so Putin was asked about this drone and in this press conference, and we'll play this for a second. But what he basically says is, okay, like, let me see the drone. Yeah, we'll study the drone. And you can just look at the drone and then you can figure out if it was Ukrainian or Russian. He's like, either way, it was a mistake.

[Crystal Ball]

So us People could look at the drone.

[Ryan Grim]

You just go ahead and look at the drone. And he says, just like we did with the drones that tried to kill me, that we turned over the drones. So role D8 here, the same is happening here, has happened here.

[Juan David Rojas]

And until we receive some objective data,

[Ryan Grim]

like the data that we handed over

[Juan David Rojas]

to the representatives of the American administration,

[Ryan Grim]

the data and the debris of the

[Juan David Rojas]

drone that hit the residence of the Russian president. So we gave the findings, if we

[Ryan Grim]

receive this data from them, and then we can share our estimates of what happened. So not to say that Putin doesn't lie. Putin obviously lies. All presidents lie. Putin lies a lot. But in this case, he's turning over the material itself for us to examine,

[Crystal Ball]

assuming, I mean, sure, I guess it could have been tampered with. But yes, he's saying then you could examine whether it's been tampered with.

[Ryan Grim]

And you can just like, look at the, like here, here's, here's a drone. We say it's crashed in the forest here. Yeah. Like, you know, here's our chain of custody. Like, I guess you can always just disbelieve everything, but at some point, like, if you do launch 91 drones, like, it's going to leave some evidence behind. Right.

[Crystal Ball]

We also have the preexisting evidence that the President at first seems to believe Putin.

[Ryan Grim]

Right.

[Crystal Ball]

And just one quick point on my end, Bivins points out, he says, in summary, in recent days, both Zelenskyy and Putin have again referenced an attack on Putin's home and family carried out by US supported Ukrainian drones. This is the same attack that Trump initially believed in but then scoffed at after the CIA formally told him it never happened. But it clearly did happen when. Which suggests Bivens says that the CIA is giving false briefings to the president. So that then becomes germane when you're thinking about Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and all of these other places, China, Taiwan, around the world where we're in hot conflicts or potential hot conflicts about if John Ratcliffe and his CIA is under odni, outgoing odni, and Tulsi Gabbard, where we know there are conflicts seemingly between ODNI and CIA, what information is getting to the president that's extremely important. And obviously right now we should mention Ukraine is saying that missiles hit a military plant really far inside of Russia. So all the way like 560 miles from the front line, according to BBC.

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah, I guess Tulsi Gabbard, ODNI, maybe she can come on the show now that she's retired. She can talk about this assassination attempt attempt like I, I don't know if people have quite understand the fire that we're playing with here.

[Crystal Ball]

Yeah, I'm going to send a comment request actually on this right now because.

[Ryan Grim]

Excellent.

[Crystal Ball]

All right.

[Ryan Grim]

Get them to report back.

[Crystal Ball]

Let's do it. Next up, Jane Kim.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Summer is here and the sun is out. Make sure you take care of your skin this summer now through June 23rd. Shop for you, save days and get great savings on all your favorite skincare Essentials and earn 4 times points. Shop in store or online and save on sunblock from Neutrogena Sun, Bum, Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat and Coppertone. And earn four times points to use for future savings on groceries or gas. Offer ends June 23rd. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Jane Kim]

I turned off news altogether.

[Ryan Grim]

I hate to say it, but I

[Commercial Voice]

don't trust much of anything.

[Juan David Rojas]

It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people.

[Ryan Grim]

We got clear facts. Maybe we can calm down a little.

[Juan David Rojas]

NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the Facts.

[Ryan Grim]

Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America, Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message

[Jane Kim]

for everyone paying big wireless way too much.

[Ryan Grim]

Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Jane Kim]

of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only then full price plan options available taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail]

[Ryan Grim]

One of the least discussed but perhaps most important races in California that was decided recently may have been the one for insurance commissioner. There will be two Democrats that will move into the general election. One of them, Jane Kim, had the endorsement of Bernie Sanders and was running on a platform of insurance for all. And we're going to talk about what exactly that means. But first let's start with a little bit of the message that she ran on to finish first in this top two.

[Jane Kim]

I'm Jane Kim. I'm running for insurance commissioner to fight for us and I'm not going to take a dime from the insurance companies. I'm running to make insurance available for everyone, to lower costs right away by capping excess profits and CEO pay and to write a plan to guarantee health care for every child in California.

[Ryan Grim]

Joining us now is Jay and Kim, one of the top two finishers for insurance commissioner. Ben Allen, state senator was the second. I believe he's welcome to join as well. But Jane, thank you so much for being here.

[Jane Kim]

Thank you for having me.

[Ryan Grim]

So we wanted to talk to you because insurance is one of these and this is not health insurance. Correct me if I'm wrong, maybe there's some relation. Yeah.

[Jane Kim]

So this Office oversees the $3.3 trillion industry and it regulates all types of insurance but managed health care plans.

[Ryan Grim]

Right. So we wanted to talk to you because insurance is one of those things that is not talked about very much although it, everybody has to think about it whenever they're making any serious decision. They think about it when they get their, when they get their bill every month. And it's right at the intersection of basically everything, climate, earthquakes, natural disasters and the ability fires, fires and the ability to kind of continue a functioning human civilization. It's that important. Yet it's that under discussed California as we think about it over here is fairly corporate dominated. And so I'm curious how you managed to on a kind of anti corporate camp with the anti corporate campaign, how you managed to kind of break through what was the message that you were bringing that was able to kind of get get beyond the clutter that's usually thrown up by the insurance industry to make sure that they control this critical position.

[Jane Kim]

So just this office was created in 1988 by the voters of California to be the backstop between 40 million Californians and this trillion dollar industry, and this industry is an industry that is doing quite well. In 2024, property casualty insurance netted $170 billion. And so this narrative that they're going bankrupt is just simply not true. Meanwhile, we are required to have insurance to drive to work or to school, to own a home or to open a business or a nonprofit of any kind. And the system is failing, rates are going up, they're canceling our coverage. And even if we have insurance, they fight our claims every step of the way. We ran on the message of a more affordable California and that this office should be the champion of consumers and not a lapdog for billionaire corporations. And this message resonated across the state of California. We ran on a platform talking about new ideas, at least to the US A single payer home disaster home program guaranteed for all that is publicly run and nonprofit. We talked about expanding our already existing low cost nonprofit auto insurance program and Medicare for Kids. And as you can see from our results, we're plus eight in the top two. We didn't just win in San Francisco, which is my backyard, which we're plus 18. We also won 18 in Los Angeles county, where my main opponent resides. And we're in first place in Republican and rural counties across the state of California, which has showed that Californians are tired of the status quo and they want to see someone who's going to champion a more affordable California.

[Crystal Ball]

I think you made such an important point that you're required to have insurance to operate and to complete basic functions in the state of California and of course in other states. So can you tell us a little bit more about what you would be able to accomplish in this role? Like what, what's possible? What gives you hope that you could actually do should you be elected?

[Jane Kim]

Yeah, so this, this is an executive office that regulates this industry. And by the way, there's zero federal oversight of insurance, which is also really interesting. So it's regulated by the 50 states and, and it has this outside say on who gets to build wealth in this country.

[Commercial Voice]

Right.

[Jane Kim]

I mean you can't drive to work without auto insurance. You can't own a home or open a business, as I ment. And as was mentioned earlier, it sits at this very interesting intersection of this, what everyone is feeling, the wealth inequality, climate disaster and fairness. Ultimately, what people want is they want a fair and level playing ground. And this is what this office can do. It regulates industry, sets the ground rules for how property and casualty industry plays in the state of California, the most populous state in the country. There's a couple things that I have talked about. One, one of the biggest fights is around claims. And we're seeing this whether you live in the Palisades or in paradise. And so one, I want to freeze your rates when you file a claim. You shouldn't be penalized for using the business that you've been paying into, often for decades. Second, I want them to pay you interest every day. They deny, delay, or underpay a valid claim. That is actually a big part of their business strategy. Their main business is not really insurance. It's they're banks. They take our premiums and they vest it in the bond markets. By the way, they're huge institutional investors in fossil fuel, which is driving climate disaster. And then they cancel coverage on the homes destroyed by it. So they try to keep their money in their float for as long as possible. So I also want to create a financial disincentive from doing that by having them pay you interest. The other is that we want to really cap their profits. And that's something that the insurance commissioner can do in the rate setting. You know, aca mandates that 85 cents of every dollar we pay in premiums goes back into paying claims. I think we should do the same for home insurance, maybe at 65 cents a dollar, not even as high, or an auto insurance at 75 cents a dollar. And making sure that. And by the way, currently in California, it's roughly around 49 cents of our premium dollars go back into paying claims and make sure that they're not spending it just on shareholders, CEOs and Super bowl ads.

[Ryan Grim]

So what? That's wild. So of every dollar that goes into the insurance industry in California, 49 cents comes back in claims. What's the other 51 cents go to? Now, presumably, if I'm going to steel, man, let's say the insurance industry argument, they'd say, well, for disaster insurance, they don't hit every year. So we need to build up massive reserves so that when they do hit that we can pay them off. So maybe you would need to stretch that out over a longer time horizon than one year. But like what? So what are they? Where's that other 51 cents going? How much is going to that reserve and how much is going to profits or to kind of the operations required to keep their cash flow business going?

[Jane Kim]

Okay, so let me start with their business model. So part of their revenue is of course, our premiums. And by the way, at least in the last few years, our premiums have outpaced what they have paid in claims, despite, at least in California, some of the biggest fire claims payout in history. Two, they take our premiums and they invest it in what they call their float. So they invest it in the bond market or fossil fuels. And so all of this is a part of their revenue model and they're doing exceedingly well. Every billionaire invests in insurance. It makes a ton of money. And so when I say 65 cents to a dollar, we're just talking about the premium revenue. And so the remainder goes to their shareholders, it goes to CEO pay, of course, some of it goes to their reserves, it goes to their advertising. And what this office can do is that it can shine a light in terms of mandating that we understand where our dollars are going. And by the way, this message resonated in Tuolumne county and Nevada and El Dorado, which are more rural areas of California. And it did well in Republican counties like San Diego, Riverside, and in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Paul's insurance industries don't treat you differently because you're a Republican. Everyone is feeling fleece by the insurance industry and they see their rates go up, they see their coverage get canceled, and then they hear about how much money these industries are making. And one example I'll just give is in April Traveler, which is in the top 10 of property casualty industry, announced that they did so well just in the first quarter of 2026, they had 2.2 billion in excess capital. What did they do with it? They didn't provide discounts or refunds to their policyholders. They didn't invest back in the communities that they had profited from in the form of resiliency and fireproofing and flood proof, which would collectively make us all safer. They gave it all to their shareholders. And one of the reasons why I'm proposing a single payer, nonprofit, publicly run disaster insurance program guaranteed for every homeowner in California is that I want to claw back some of those premium dollars that we're already spending and have them stewarded by the public. We would invest those premiums as well. And when we have excess capital like New Zealand, we would invest it back into floodproofing and fireproofing and resiliency. And so there are two ways to lower your risk. Right? Because ultimately that is what is driving up the cost of insurance. If you want to make insurance affordable and available, you have to actually address risk. Private insurance, market prices, risk. And so we would take a portion of that revenue and actually invest it in making us Collectively safer. While the private insurance market reduces their risk by canceling coverage on what they consider their sickest homes or their homes with pre existing condition. And by the way, this is not our idea. This is modeled after what we see in uc. France and Spain also have a form of a publicly run disaster insurance for all program. Canada very interestingly has single payer auto insurance in some of their provinces and they also use excess capital to invest in roads and filling potholes because they know that that also will reduce risks in the future.

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah, there seems to be some real parallels there between the arguments for single payer health care as well. That the government would then be incentivized to do preventive medicine and to invest in clinics and other in primary care to try to make it so people go to the ER less which is also then better for society. People don't want to get sick, people don't want their houses to burn down. I would imagine that one of the criticisms or the questions that you get, this is the thing that occurs to me is okay, but what about that house that's in the area that has burned down six times in the last 10 years or whatever?

[Crystal Ball]

That's a very real. Yeah, I was just gonna add, I randomly did a long investigation to nfip, the National Flood Insurance a while back. And it's what Ryan is saying is a real thing, at least with the nfip, is that you have a house that keeps getting rebuilt like 20 times in some cases in a very dangerous flood zone, which it's not just a problem for the rates, it puts people's lives at risk. So sorry Ryan, to interrupt, but no,

[Ryan Grim]

I think Emily and I have the same question. If you have a publicly run, if you have a public option or a single payer system, how do you make sure that the public isn't helping somebody, you know, build a house on stilts every year?

[Jane Kim]

Yeah, so this is a big problem throughout the state of California. Because of our terrain and the size of our state, our geography, we experience almost every type of disaster, climate, disaster that you can imagine, mudslides, floods, fires. And one thing that we have been thinking a lot about is that we would want to guarantee disaster insurance for existing homeowners. And keep in mind, right, many of these homeowners moved into these parts of California long before they became wildfire distress zones. In fact, what we call the WUE, the wildfire urban interface has grown 111% since 2011. The wildfire regions moved into neighborhoods and areas. In many ways we don't want to penalize these homeowners, many of whom are actually working class and middle class homeowners, not just wealthy vacation owners in the Palisades, in Tahoe. They have nowhere else to go. California is such an expensive state. There are very few places for them to relocate and move into. We would want to make sure that we covered folks and made sure that people aren't bankrupt or destitute. We wouldn't want to cover new developments in the WUE because we wouldn't want to give developers that type of incentive that they would get covered in case a disaster hit knowing that they are building in a wildfire zone. But we have a very big problem across the country because as I mentioned, the WUI has expanded 111%. So even if you live in a safe zone today, you may not in five or 10 years. And so it's going to take way more than just insurance as a tool for us to become more resilient as a country. We actually have to take on fossil fuels. So we keep talking about how homeowners and the public is going to pay for these disasters and we haven't yet talked about how we're going to hold fossil fuels accountable and also our dependent on fossil fuels as well. We have to make polluters pay and we need to, we need to revamp our land use and our building code as well to become more resilient. But, but the one other idea that we are considering is allowing structural coverage to be used for relocation and replacement. So if your home does burn down, you can take the insurance that you get and instead of rebuilding that, you're allowed to actually use it to move and buy another home.

[Ryan Grim]

Oh, because currently you have to spend it right there.

[Jane Kim]

Yes, yes.

[Ryan Grim]

So that's a great idea.

[Crystal Ball]

Exactly.

[Jane Kim]

If you have insurance and your burn down, the only thing you can do with that money is rebuild.

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah, right. No, it's a no brainer. Come on, come on. California and everybody else should do this and everybody else.

[Jane Kim]

Right? It's not just California. I mean Texas, Florida, Nebraska. Actually the biggest claims payout is wind and hail.

[Ryan Grim]

Fascinating. Fascinating. Jane Kim, one of the two Democratic nominees for insurance commissioner in California. Thank you so much for joining us.

[Jane Kim]

Thank you so much for having me uncovering one of the most important jobs you may have never heard of that really sits at this incredibly interesting fascination around economic fairness, wealth inequality and climate injustice. And really excited to be in this race for this office. Thank you for having me on.

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah, look forward to having you back. Whenever you come back on assuming you do become the commissioner, it will be in difficult situations, no doubt, but interesting ones that, that we have to grapple with as a, as a country and a society. So glad somebody's thinking about it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and safeway. Now through June 23rd. Shop for you. Save days and get great savings on all your favorite personal care Essentials and earn 4 times points. Shop in store or online and save on items like head and shoulder shampoo, Pantene shampoo, Tresemme conditioner conditioner, l' Oreal hair dye, Tresemme Hairspray, and Aussie Miracle Curls and earn four times points to use for future savings on groceries or gas. Offer ends June 23rd. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Jane Kim]

I turned off news altogether.

[Ryan Grim]

I hate to say it, but I

[Crystal Ball]

don't trust much of anything.

[Juan David Rojas]

It's the rage bait.

[Jane Kim]

It feels like it trying to divide people.

[Ryan Grim]

We got clear facts. Maybe we could calm down a little.

[Juan David Rojas]

NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the Facts.

[Ryan Grim]

Let's move forward from there.

[Juan David Rojas]

NBC News reporting for America.

[Commercial Voice]

This is Rob Gronkowski from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules. And talk about a perfect partnership. I'm here to tell you about protecting your end zone with dude Wipes. If you're still wiping with toilet paper, you need to listen up. Dude wipes are a wet, extra large flushable wipe that leave nothing behind in your behind because they are wet and we all know wetter cleans better. Unlike dry wiping with toilet paper, dude wipes clear instead of smear. Goodbye dingleberries. Goodbye itch and irritation. Plus, if you take gronk sized grumpies or as I like to call them, Gronkies baby wipes won't do. You need extra big dude wipes to handle the job. And they come in different scents and pack sizes, including a single use on the go pack that you can take wherever you go for that home field advantage. So don't fumble the ball with toilet paper, stop being an A hole to your B hole and start using Dude Wipes. Available on Amazon and major retailers nationwide. Dude Wipes Best clean, Pants down.

[Crystal Ball]

We're joined in studio this time by friend of the show Juan David Rojas. He's an independent journalist. You can find his writing all the time over at Compact. He had a big, big story about his work kind of as a social worker with people who had come during the Biden surge and were making asylum claims and want Some big takeaways from the piece we want to talk about. Claudia Sheinbaum. We want to talk about some different things happening around Latin America. Pete Heixeth is actually at Guantanamo Bay today. But let's start just with some of the big picture takeaways that you had through your time spent actually working in this capacity with people who are trying to make asylum claims, who are trying to be here in the United States as long as possible during the Biden years. What did you find out?

[Juan David Rojas]

Yeah, so I worked as a social worker with what are called UCs, unaccompanied children. Those are minors under the age of 18 who come to the border without parents or legal guardians. And so they're, like, held in a shelter and released to what are called sponsors, typically family members, but not always. Sometimes distant relatives and sometimes even people who they're not related to in the slightest.

[Crystal Ball]

We should mention, by the way, people may be familiar with us from a huge New York Times story on Javier Becerra, who is making the runoff in the California governor's race, going to be against Steve Hilton. This is a huge, huge piece of baggage that Javier Becerra now comes in, because while you were working in this capacity, the New York Times did a deep dive on how many UCs ended up unaccounted for. So go on.

[Juan David Rojas]

Yeah, it became a political issue. So I was a case manager. And so basically, like, my job is once, like, these kids were released to sponsors, you have to check on them, make sure that they track their immigration hearings, get, like, pro bono attorneys, you know, have a roof over their head, stuff like that. And, you know, this piece took me a really long time to write. It was really hard to write. It's a very delicate issue. And I wanted, like, people from both sides of the aisle to take, like, the right things out of it. And that New York Times piece you mentioned, I can thankfully say that during my time, there was only one case that I cited in the piece of a minor who went like, he just ran away and couldn't find him. And anyway, you can go into that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's another thing. I worked in South Florida, the Miami office of this agency, sort of Cubans, Venezuelans. Yeah, yeah. South Americans, et cetera. And. Well, you know, the thing about one of the main things for on left of center that I wanted people to take out of the piece is that, you know, there's this idea typically that it's like, oh, you know, if you come here to arrive at the border, like, you know, you must Be really desperate, you're fleeing violence, stuff like that. That is the case. But in my experience, and this is also reporting that has been done, the vast majority of these asylum claims are economic migrants during the Biden surge. Exactly, exactly. Yeah. So, yeah, And I worked in 2022, 2023. I've had a circuitous professional career. Journalism was kind of an accident, but. But yeah, yeah, you know, in my experience, these were all very hardworking, loving families, but in my experience, again, it was a small minority of people. The other, you know, were like, fleeing persecution from the Ortega dictatorship, the Cuban regime, violence from gangs. The rest wanted, typically just to work in the US Send money to families. And some of them, to be fair, also wanted to go back. And that's another complicated aspect of this, that because, like, you know, you like, come here either illegally or solicit asylum, then going back to your country sometimes becomes difficult. But essentially for on, like the right side of the aisle, like, I try to be very compassionate and talk about, like, some of these stories, even like, people who, like, didn't have, in my opinion, legitimate claims of asylum. These are good people. They're not all criminals. On the other hand, the issue I saw under Biden was there was just no enforcement once people were inside of the country. And you look at the data, deportations inside of the country, interior enforcement in Obama's first term was like 200,000 a year. Then by Trump's first term, it was like 100,000. Then by Biden's term, it was 50,000. Basically, once you get into the country, you don't get deported. So, you know, and there's like debates about this that, oh, a lot of people were deported at the border. Inside of the country, not so much. And the problem with that is you get this insane backlog of asylum claimants, and that hurts actual asylees because you have so many economic migrants crowding out people with legitimate claims. And so my perspective is there needs to be limits. I consider myself a social democrat, an old school Social Democrat. And in the olden days, social Democrats were more restrictive on immigration. Yeah, not because, like, immigrants are bad or anything like that. It's just there needs to be limits to these things. Just like you want to have controls on capital, there needs to be limits on immigration, thoughtfully. And same thing with like deportation. A critique I would have. What I've seen now under Trump is like, you just have these deliberate. This deliberate abuse. What I find to be gratuitously sadistic policies. People are detained for like a year on end I have a line in the piece that's like, deportation should be neither pleasant nor, like, deliberately performative. And like Kris Kobach, former attorney General of a Kansas Republican, he stressed that the best way to do this is to have a national regime of E verified on employers, meaning you punish employers for contracting illegal labor. And that would be a lot more efficient than having an $80 billion ICE.

[Crystal Ball]

Yes, it would. Well. And the economic conditions of these countries, whether it's Cuba or Venezuela, is extremely relevant to our incursions into those countries. Continuing under the Trump.

[Juan David Rojas]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Ryan Grim]

Yes, indeed, when we destroyed Mexico's kind of agricultural economy, we sent a massive wave in the 90s of Mexican migrants northward. Mexico now doing much better. There's a lot we want to get through with you. So to move to Mexico real quickly, we could put up F1 here. Walk us through what, Claudia?

[Juan David Rojas]

Oh, I saw that. Yeah.

[Ryan Grim]

Claudia Sheinbaum was celebrating the launch of this $5,000, you know, electric vehicle. This van, if you're not watching it, kind of as Mac Mac described it, kind of looks like a little airport shuttle. I would love to have one of these guys, though, to tool around the neighborhood. 5,000 bucks.

[Juan David Rojas]

Yeah. It reminds me of, like, the smart cars, right?

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But speaking of social Democrats, so what's going on with Mexico's kind of EV industry is this. Are we headed to a place where the U.S. is going to just be making, you know, 50 to $60,000, you know, gas guzzlers, while the rest of the country, while the rest of the world is just driving these five to $10,000 EVs? Like, how long is that going to last? What. What is. What is going on here?

[Crystal Ball]

And she's doing this on the eve of the World Cup. We should mention as well, Mexican games games in Mexico on Thursday. Lots of anxiety about potential violence, yo. And girl had a good piece on that and the kind of tensions. So there's politics in there, too.

[Juan David Rojas]

Totally, Totally. Yeah. The. That I believe it's called the Ovinia. And it's not very fast. I think it's top speed. Doesn't look fast. Miles an hour. And so, like, some of the opposition have said that, oh, it's basically just a glorified scooter. But I mean, yeah, that could reasonably get you around in, like, some big cities. Like, that's a flagship that the Mexican government had. They wanted to have their own Mexican manufacturer.

[Ryan Grim]

Is there a Chinese partnership? Like, what's the.

[Juan David Rojas]

I don't think so. I think it was. It was pretty Mexican made Now, there's a ton of Mexican EVs in China and a lot of anxieties of that. If they'll ever be let into the US and you mean Chinese. Chinese EVs in Mexico that will be let in. And. And actually, you guys bring that up with nafta. That's a good point. Like, Mexican immigration, for instance, has gone down. All immigration to the US has gone down a lot. Actually, reverse at this point, I think. Yeah, there's even a lot of people that are going back. NAFTA destroyed way more Americans going to Mexico. That, too. Expats. Yeah. Something like 2 million.

[Ryan Grim]

Why do we call them expats and not migrants? Well, are they not migrants?

[Juan David Rojas]

That's another story.

[Ryan Grim]

We try to use language here, like, equally. So, yeah. American. U.S. migrants.

[Crystal Ball]

U.S. migrants.

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah. Well, Pete Hegseth in taking Mexican jobs, laptop jobs that Mexicans won't do.

[Crystal Ball]

Pete Hegseth in Guantanamo Bay today, becoming another U.S. official to visit the island of Cuba. In recent weeks, raising all kinds of anxieties, of course, among the skeptics of a potential US intervention. Now, you've followed this very closely, Juan. So with Hegseth now making the trip, Radcliffe has made the trip, you're reading the tea leaves. What's your expectation about what could come in the days and weeks ahead?

[Juan David Rojas]

Yeah, I think we'll probably see strikes of some sort of Maduro operation. Who knows? Maybe they'll even go for a full invasion. I mean, right now, there's like, they basically have all the same assets they had for the Maduro operation, around 10,000 troops. The thing is, Cuba's a lot smaller, has more favorable geography, and, you know, there's a history there in the lobby. I could see them pushing for this. On the other hand, you know, with Iran, that's complicated. And actually tying this to our initial conversation, you know, like, under Biden, it was something like 3 million Cubans left the island, half of which came here, and especially to South Florida. A lot of people that I worked with now, under Trump, if you didn't have such, like, restrictive policies at the border, you'd have, you know, millions of Cubans still coming in. And actually, this is something that went under notice. The Nicaraguan government.

[Crystal Ball]

Yeah.

[Juan David Rojas]

In 2022, they removed visas on Cubans, and that allowed Cubans to just go to Nicaragua and then straight to the U.S. they put visas back on, apparently as a gesture to the Trump administration. Guess it didn't work because they just got sanctioned a bunch. A few days ago, you probably talked

[Crystal Ball]

to people who had Done that. I talked to Cubans who had done that too in Mexico. They said they went through Nicaragua and then right up to the us so.

[Juan David Rojas]

And yeah, and so this is just, to me, logical that, hey, if you don't want to have millions of people coming here, on the one side, yeah, I disagree that, you know, immigration policy should be so lax, especially with asylum, I think there should be a lot of reform. On the other hand, we shouldn't go about wanton intervening in all of these countries. It's completely counterproductive.

[Crystal Ball]

Yes.

[Ryan Grim]

And give us a quick update while we have you on the elections. Elections in Colombia, elections in Peru. Is the Bolivian government going to fall?

[Crystal Ball]

Brazil?

[Juan David Rojas]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a lot in Bolivia. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think the government is going to finish its term, but yeah, maybe support from the US Will help. There's elections right now in Peru and in Colombia. They're still counting votes in Peru. It's like the closest.

[Crystal Ball]

Oh, in la. No, no, Peru.

[Ryan Grim]

Okay.

[Juan David Rojas]

Yeah, yeah. A lot of people pointed that out that Peru counted however many votes, but

[Ryan Grim]

much faster than LA.

[Juan David Rojas]

Yeah, there's like 97. It's 97% of the vote counted and it's like 50.0 something to 49.99 something. So, yeah, these elections, the left is

[Ryan Grim]

up by a little bit.

[Juan David Rojas]

Slightly. Slightly. The problem is the votes coming in now are mainly like super rural, which are in favor of the left, and abroad that are super in favor of Fujimori.

[Ryan Grim]

And I always find it interesting that in South America, the rural votes are

[Juan David Rojas]

more left wing sometimes, it depends. In Peru's interesting because a lot of these leftists, I call them base leftists, they're like socially conservative.

[Jane Kim]

Right.

[Juan David Rojas]

But, you know, economic, economically left wing. And. And you know, this makes sense because their base is rural. And so in like the highlands in Peru, this guy, the current candidate, his big promise was to pardon former president Pedro Castillo. The guy with the hat.

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah.

[Juan David Rojas]

And this guy, like, he was like an evangelical, like pro life, like anti lgbt, super right wing on social issues. And so this, this guy Sanchez is. He's not as like, he, he's a background as a psychologist. And so his track record in Congress was he said he was in favor of like civil unions, stuff like that, but he still like bills himself as like pro life and a man of faith and stuff like that, but is still left wing. And so, you know, the narrative you usually hear is just that it's communism versus capitalism, but it's looking like they're

[Ryan Grim]

doing well in Colombia.

[Juan David Rojas]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It looks like there's this crazy mob lawyer. He was a lawyer for like drug trafficking paramilitaries and former President Uribe who's is currently under trial and so so the left.

[Crystal Ball]

Pardon him. You never know.

[Ryan Grim]

He's a good drug trafficker.

[Juan David Rojas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Crystal Ball]

Yes. Well, Juan, friend of the show, go check him out on social media has a substack as well. I know you're taking some reporting trips to South America and all over Latin America in the days and weeks ahead. So thank you for joining us in studio. It was a pleasure to have you here for the first time you saw the studio.

[Juan David Rojas]

Thanks for having me, guys.

[Crystal Ball]

Of course. Well, that's gonna do it for us on today's edition of Breaking Point. We so appreciate you taking the time to be with us on this Wednesday, Ryan, anything else?

[Ryan Grim]

That's it. That's it. I got nothing.

[Crystal Ball]

Ryan has declared it is over. All right. Well, Ryan and I will see you on Friday. Crystal and Sagar, we'll see you back here tomorrow. Have a great one, everyone.

[Ryan Grim]

Foreign.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway this summer. Stock up on your favorite brands for both you and your home. Now through June 23rd, get big deals on everyday essentials from Procter and Gamble. Shop in store or online for savings on items like Swiffer Power Mop, Febreze Plug warmer, Herbal Essence shampoo, Old Spice 2 in one, Crest Scope toothpaste, Secret Deodorant spray, and Head and Shoulder shampoo. Get these deals before they're gone. Offer ends June 23rd. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details. Here's the truth. You could literally be adored by everyone and then come home and still get completely ignored by your own cat.

[Commercial Voice]

It's classic cat behavior.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But new Shiba Premium Puree is a

[Commercial Voice]

lickable treat that changes all that.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They're protein rich, made with bone broth

[Commercial Voice]

and have the smooth, creamy texture cats

[Ryan Seacrest]

go crazy for, especially when it's hand fed.

[Ryan Grim]

Yeah, it's more than a treat.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's a fast pass to favorite human status. So feed your cat Sheba and go from totally ignored to truly adored in

[Commercial Voice]

just 12 days guaranteed or your money back.

[Jane Kim]

Learn [e-mail] There's a difference between liking a house and actually getting it. Redfin is built to make up that difference and close the gap between finding and owning the home for you. Redfin agents close twice as many deals as other agents. So when you find a home, you love, you're not a step behind when it comes to making an offer. That means less watching great homes disappear and more focus on the one you'll call home. Redfin helps turn saved listings into real addresses. Get [e-mail] own the dream this is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.