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Freddie Prinze Jr.
This is an iHeart podcast.
Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford
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Crystal Ball
Restrictions may apply we're breaking down SummerSlam, the biggest party of the summer on Wrestling with Freddie. From our bold picks to storyline breakdowns, we will discuss who walks out with gold, who shocks the night and which matches steal the show we call the winners, the upsets and the chaos to expect. Plus whatever swerves nobody saw coming. Listen to Wrestling with Freddie as part of the Mike Kultura Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford
I'm Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford, host of.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast. I know how overwhelming it can feel.
Sagar Enjeti
If flying makes you anxious.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
In session 418 of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, Dr. Angela Neil Barnett and I discuss flight Anxiety. What is not normal is to allow it to prevent you from doing the thing things that you want to do, the things that you were meant to do.
Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford
Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Hey guys, Sagar and Crystal here.
Sagar Enjeti
Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
This is the only place where you can find honest perspectives from the left and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else.
Sagar Enjeti
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, un edited ad, free and all put together for you every morning in your inbox.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
We need your help to build the future of independent news media and we hope to see you@breaking points.com Good morning everybody. Happy Monday. Have an amazing show for everybody today. What do we have, Crystal?
Sagar Enjeti
Indeed we do. A lot of interesting things happening in the world. So Trump fires the statistician who gave him jobs report numbers that he was not too happy about. So we'll talk about those numbers and also the fallout from that firing. Trump is also contemplating a Ghislaine Maxwell pardon and she has been been moved to a cushy Club Fed in Sager's hometown.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
That's right. Town that I was born in.
Sagar Enjeti
He's got all the lowdown on that one.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
I'll try, I'll try to get some inside scoop on her and Elizabeth Holmes relationship. I'll try to report back.
Sagar Enjeti
In addition bunch of updates with regard to Israel but we had Mike Huckabee, Steve Witkoff and Mike Johnson all visiting Israel so we have some updates there. They are issuing an ultimatum to Hamas as the starvation continues. TikTok is installing a former IDF sensor on their platform as the all out assault on on campus free speech continues from the Trump administration. Tim Dillon making some pretty, I would say very incisive comments about Barry Weiss's Free Press and the reason that she is garnering the valuation for her company that she has been able to quarter billion dollars. Yeah okay. We've got a lot to say about that one. Having a little bit of knowledge about media companies and what their actual value is. So we'll dig into that. And we also have a fantastic guest, Jasper Nathaniel who has been relentlessly focusing on what is going on in the West Bank. Of course, while all of our eyes have been on Gaza, understand the project of annexation. He says in the west bank it's basically complete. And you'll recall this was a key campaign promise from Trump directly to Mariam Adelson who gave him $100 million and they are making good on that pledge to her. So a lot to get to there. But we also considered just blowing out the whole show so Sager could express his extreme disgust for two hours at the Rose Garden. I wanted to potential in the gilded ballroom also that's being desperate.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
I desperately wanted to go off but one day perhaps that I will. I'll have a guest on from the White House Histor association or something. These are things that absolutely zero buddy, zero other people care about but are deep.
Sagar Enjeti
I'm sure you're right about that.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
I hope so. Listen, I would hope that Americans have a veneration for aesthetics, for history, for the way that our White House should look to the world and to not turn it into a Mar a Lago or Saudi Arabian style estate. But you know, I don't know, I've started to give up in terms of that. But perhaps you're right. Perhaps you're right.
Sagar Enjeti
Yeah. The book of Rose Garden is just like it just is grotesque.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Maybe we can negatively polarize liberals into caring about some of these things because they hate Trump. I'm fine. You know, it's a big tent. It's a big tent and I welcome anybody else in there. Before we get to that, we do have the show available on Facebook. Now apparently that was something some people are asking. So we've got links down in the description. You want to share it there on Facebook, if you're active on the platform, go for it. It is available there. And before you know as well we have the show, of course, breakingpoints.com where you can support us monthly and yearly memberships has been tremendously help. You guys saw our interview with Alyssa Slotkin meant massively viral. It's one of the most viral things that we've done in quite some time. Our interview just followed later on by the Gaza Humanitarian foundation, the whistleblower, the former Green Beret and Aguilar. Similarly, I've received a ton of feedback and just inbound in terms of people who have had that. So our ability to do these newsmaking interviews is entirely propped up because of our premium members. So breakingpoints.com if you are able to help us out. If you can't do that, no worries. Just remember, subscribe to this YouTube video and or if you listen to a podcast, take your favorite episode, send it to a friend. It's tremendously helpful to us with that. Let's start with the economy. As Crystal said. So Donald Trump, the president has now fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Go and put this up there on the screen. Removing the official quote, overseeing jobs data after a dismal employment report. So you may ask what the hell is going on here? And so all of it stems back to a report on first Friday after a new BLS report on jobs which showed some precarity in the US Economy as well as some previous revisions. And so this is a big question. It showed just 73,000 jobs added last month. 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than had previously been estimated. Quote, the report then suggested the economy had sharply weakened during Trump's tenure. A pattern consistent slowdown with economic growth during the first half of the year and an increase in inflation during that appear to reflect the price pressures created by the President's tariffs. So who was this person? She was nominated by Biden in 2023, became the commissioner of the BLS in 2024. January of 2024. They usually serve four year terms. The Senate confirmed her 86 to 8. J.D. vance did vote yes. In case anybody is wondering, much of this is about these revisions. And just to explain a little bit behind this, because I think it's actually fair for people to be like, how does this all happen? The bls, the census and all of this, they're not the most efficient agencies, and in some ways it's almost difficult to blame them. You are trying to get a full survey of the US Economy using statistical sampling and all of these very outmoded ways. Now, the census in particular is the most outmoded because it's constitutionally mandated the way that they do it. And in fact, there was an effort to revitalize and change the way that the BLS conducts its employment data. Would anyone like to tell me what happened to that agency in that effort? Oh, right. It was fired by Hartford Lutnick in his first week while he was in office. And so that's what happened over at the bls. Just in case anybody's wondering, the ability to actually modernize the data was dosed within the first week of the Trump administration.
Sagar Enjeti
Very efficient. Way to go, guys.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Yes, very efficient. So that now we have inefficient data. But people are like, how does this continue happening? And again, it's largely because the snapshot that they get after that month, after more accurate payroll data and other comes in, causes revisions. This happened during the Biden administration. It's now happened during the Trump administration. The wild swings are actually more reflective of the wild and changer nature of our economy. I'm not defending the numbers themselves. I agree. It's ridiculous that we don't necessarily have such a quick snapshot at the same time. So, you know, 330 million people, 50 different states, it's the biggest economy in the history of the world. It's not Lichtenstein. It's not so easy to just be like, oh, how much money did we make today?
Sagar Enjeti
Or something.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Right? So this is a very inefficient system. But part of the thing is, and it has bedeviled presidents since all time. But I am laying it out, I'm trying to, as fairly as possible to say the revisions themselves, while wild and crazy, are not necessarily inconsistent with the wild and changing nature of all of our economic policy over the last Two.
Sagar Enjeti
Years if I could build on that. So, in addition, in the same way that there is a lower response rate to polls, making it more difficult to poll what they rely upon for the core of the data that they collect to compile these jobs numbers is surveys that go out to businesses and also public institutions, et cetera. And so the response rate has gotten lower over time. And so initially, when they report those numbers out, it's not like they've gotten all of their survey data back. So revisions, they always do revisions. That's nothing new. The extent, the size of these revisions is no doubt notable. And I think the things that I saw pointed to are, number one, this is just sort of like, you know, the quality of the data is degrading over time. That's number one. Number two, as Sagar was pointing out, a lot of actually, the later survey results to come in were from public institutions, public sector institutions, and they had taken a segment job hit because of doge and because of all the cuts in government spending, et cetera. So that may have added to it. And then number three, just the fact that the economy is so topsy turvy right now, all of the late survey data that came in after the original numbers all pointed in a more negative direction, whereas typically, it'll be sort of mixed, you know, what's coming in after the fact. You know, some of it will be more up, some of it will be more down, so more or less even out. So that's, from my understanding of reading into it, why there was such a significant revision on these particular jobs numbers. And, I mean, it does just kind of make a logical sense when you think of how all over the place Trump has been with the tariff policy in particular, that that would make it more difficult to be able to ascertain exactly what the impacts are and why businesses would perhaps drag their feet in sending in their own information to the government.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
See, I feel foolish because we were selected as part of the business survey and I completed it promptly, even though it was a pain in the ass, to be honest.
Sagar Enjeti
Were we really. I didn't do that.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
I told you that y. We were part of the.
Sagar Enjeti
We were.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
I think we were part of the annual survey. And yeah, it was. Honestly, it was a huge pain. So I understand why business owners out there don't want to do it. But thank you for podcast representation to the United States government.
Sagar Enjeti
There we go.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
For including breaking points in your. In your survey. But with all of that being said, here is Donald Trump for his explanation for why he wanted to Fire the bls. Let's take a listen. Why did you fire that of the.
Crystal Ball
Bureau of Labor Statistics?
Donald Trump
Because I think our numbers were wrong. Just like I thought her numbers were wrong before the election.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
These after going forward.
Donald Trump
Why should anyone trust the numbers? And if you are, you're right. No, you're right. Why should anybody trust numbers? You go back to election, election day, look what happened two or three days before with massive wonderful job numbers, trying to get him elected, or her elected, trying to get whoever the hell was running. Because you go back and they came out with numbers that were very favorable to Kamala, okay? To trying to get him elect, trying to get her elected. And then on the 15th of November or thereabouts, they had an 8 or 900,000 overstatement reductions right after the election. It didn't work. Because you know who won, John?
Sagar Enjeti
I won.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
So that's what the new Trump administration line here is. Here's White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett kind of talking more about that, that 800,000 revision that came after Joe Biden withdrew from the race, but it was before the election, actually. Let's take a listen. There was 800,018. 818,000 revision, making the Joe Biden job record a lot worse. That came out after he withdrew from the presidential campaign. There have been a bunch of patterns that can make people wonder. And I think the most important thing for people to know is that it's the president's highest priority that the data be trusted and that people get to the bottom of why these revisions are so unreliable. So again, I mean, much of this as you, so you laid it all out, is also apparently Covid destroyed the response record and all this. I'm not, I don't want to sit here and defend BLS or any of this data, CPI data, all of it. It is very spotty. People have accurately criticized it for years, but it's kind of what we have. And so from that, of course, it has tremendous impact on the overall US Economy. Projections for business investment, for the Federal Reserve, for the way, of course, that people make investment decisions. The S&P5, the stock market, by the way, reacted terribly to those jobs numbers, possibly why you see why President Trump fired that person. But let's go and put this up there on the screen and just shows here the actual revision for where it looked from the original numbers and where they came down to. Now, obviously, if you're the president and let's say in April, you have a pretty decent number, as you can see there, over 100,000 and then you see a revision down dramatically after so called Liberation Day may not be so good for you actually. And in fact those two months after Liberation Day which were the most volatile during tariffs, of course now show a revision dramatically down. And even a modest increase from that point forward is probably more because of the, you know, the pause that we saw in the majority of the tariff policy. Of course, August 1st, just a couple of days ago, a number of other tariffs did go into effect. It is remaining unclear. But the point actually that I wanna make is that beneath the surface this was all happening. No matter what's going on with all of the bls, there's all kinds of other data out there. It's also hilarious to me watching Republicans be like, see the GDP numbers are good. I'm like, hey, the GDP numbers were good under Biden. Does anybody think the economy was good? We're talking about the s and P500. The S& P was at an all time high as of a couple of days ago. And you know, the S and P had two record years under Biden. Did the economy get better under Biden?
Sagar Enjeti
Right.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
No, I mean, I think, you know, and this is where the disconnect between everyday living conditions. We're gonna do this in a little bit. We're gonna talk about poor job growth and others that come to the so called blockbuster parts of the economy. And one of the major insights is that AI spending in particular is responsible for so much of our current GDP growth. But that again is not the US economy. That's not manufacturing, that is not jobs or people who are working at lower wages. That has no impact whatsoever on your ability to purchase a house. There's a big chart going viral right on the right about the average 30 year old and the ability to buy a house and all of that. It still remains one of the most fundamental questions really of our time.
Sagar Enjeti
But the point is not only on the right. That's going viral by the way. Oh good, I'm glad it's very much in my timeline.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
I want it to go everywhere. Everyone should be aware of it. Everyone should say, hey, what the hell is going on here? I was actually just looking at a current forecast. Even with all of this too late Powell stuff. Even with the Federal Reserve cut, the forecast for a 2025 interest rate is like 6.25%. That's still double what it was just five years ago. Are we ever going back to 3? Probably not, but 4 or 5 would be n certainly can save people thousands and thousands of dollars whenever they're trying to do that so you can just look at the carrying cost, the purchasing price. Home prices still remain very, very high. Market is a disaster. Interest rates and all of that are a problem. That's the numbers to me that matter. As long with wage growth, the S and P doesn't matter at all.
Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford
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Crystal Ball
It's the biggest party of the summer. WWE SummerSlam is here and wrestling with Freddie is all over it. We're talking wild matches, big surprises and our boldest predictions yet. From celebrity showdowns to the chaos inside a steel cage, we're breaking down every match and calling who we think walks out on top. This card is loaded from Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Rhea, Ripley and Tiffy, just to name a few. This lineup is ready to tear down the house. We'll give you our unfiltered takes, honest debates, and you already know, a ton of laughs along the way. We're covering the upsets, the wild returns and the championship moments. Nobody expects we'll get into the matches that steal the show, the storylines that explode, and those oh my God, did that just happen moments that make SummerSlam legendary. Don't miss it. Listen to Wrestling with Freddie as part of the Mikeultura Podcast Network. Find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Mark Lombardo
What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on Earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you.
Mark Lombardo
Shock Incarceration also known as boot camps, are short term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
The first night was overwhelming and you don't know who's next to you and we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything.
Mark Lombardo
Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sagar Enjeti
Let's just stick on the firing of the BLS commissioner. Like, it's deeply disturbing. Obviously, they had no issue with this lady when she was. When the jobs numbers that were coming out, they thought benefited them. And in fact, part of why Trump was so hard hit by these revisions is because, first of all, it really does complete the picture. I mean, there was a lot of weirdness in the economy of like, okay, debt levels are at, Consumer debt levels are at an all time, inflation ticking up. You see consumer confidence is quite low. Like, you see all these negative signs. But then the jobs numbers are hanging in there. It's like, how is that happening? And now it's like, okay, now it kind of all makes sense. Yes, the economy is just as bad as people feel that it is. This fills in the blanks. So prior to this moment, when these negative jobs numbers comes out, Trump had no issue with her. So, I mean, it just is really clear he didn't like the numbers. So he's firing the lady who put out the numbers now, just so people understand. And maybe this is a little comforting. He makes it seem like she just gets out like a pen and pad and is like, here you go, this is what. No, she actually doesn't even know what they are before the announcement happens. Now there are, and it's not like just a one plus one, there's all sorts of statistical modeling and analysis that goes into this. And what I was reading is that there are all these little micro decisions that you could sort of push in one way or the other that over time could influence the job numbers one way or another. So the next person that they put in, who was this lady's deputy, by the way. So this is another, like career official. This is not someone who, you know, didn't like, put Jeanine Pirro in there or something like that. She's busy now. She's been confirmed for her other job. But in any case, this is a career statistician. Another, like, longtime career bureaucrat who's been put into this position. But if you're her or him, I'm not sure, male or female, if you're anyone else throughout the government, you've got this in your head now. Like, if I give the President some news that he doesn't, like, my ass is grass, like, I'm gonna get fired. So does that impact the way that you go about your job? Does it impact those little micro decisions that get made about how this statistical model is created? I think that the comment Trump made there where he said, why should anyone trust numbers? Was very revealing. And, you know, I mean, it harkens back to stop the steal. It harkens back to his fundamental ability and desire to reshape reality to his liking and to destabilize reality. I mean, it really is a very postmodernist presidency where it's like, what even are facts in reality? And so this is just sort of the logical endpoint of a man in an ideology that really doesn't actually care about what the facts and the reality are. He cares about what's going to serve his personal interests at any given time. So this is sort of like a classic, I guess, like cult leader technique or tactic. The more that you can just sort of create and assert your own reality, obviously, the more power you're going to have over your followers, the people that believe you. So, you know, I think it's. It's also significant in terms of Trump's psychology and the way that he approaches power.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
And we have a super cut here of Trump previously talking about how much he liked the BLS numbers. Let's take a listen.
Donald Trump
The numbers were much better, as you know, than projected by the media. In three months, we have created 350,000 jobs. Think of that. A lot of jobs are being created. That's what happened this morning.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
That was before the revisions, but now let's go and put the next one up there on the screen. A6 journal actually did a very good job here, and I'll just read directly from them. Job market data gets revised every month, but rarely are the revisions as negative as the ones in Friday. Now, what they say is that the last time there was such a large revision to the change over employment was In April of 2020, the height of the pandemic. Quote, worryingly, revisions have been consistently negative in 2025. The Labor Department now lowering its initially reported job count every month, month through June. So what happened? Monthly payroll came from the Labor Department's BLS statistics. The BLS has a voluntary monthly survey of 121,000 businesses and government agencies that employ 26% of all non farm employees. It extrapolates the responses to produce estimates for the whole workforce. In a typical month they will hear back from 60%. However, an economist said that the collection rate in June was just 59.5%. So that's part of the problem. Government agencies were then overrepresented amongst US payrolls to the BLS establishment survey. Then the revision to May and June were due to public schools which employed some 110,000 fewer people in June than BLS believed at the time. But quote, the late responses from other industries all skewed negative. After incorporation of all of these weaker numbers, weakness was then spread back through May due to a statistical methodology called concurrent seasonal adjustment. And most of the revision in May is due to the quote, routine recalculation of seasonal factors. Again, I do not to want want to cape for this insane system. I am just telling you that is the way it has always worked. And you should always of course believe, take some a grain of salt for any of these things. Because snapshot statistics are always wildly inaccurate, at least in my opinion from the overall economy. Even the GDP numbers, you really have to dig deep on them and they get revised all the time as well. Last part here, let's put this up there on the screen. This was an interesting statement statement from the previous commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics who actually was nominated and served under Donald Trump in 2017. He says, quote, today President Trump called into question the integrity of the employment situation report that the BLS released. He accused the commissioner of deliberately reporting false numbers to reflect poorly on the administration. Quote, this baseless, damaging claim undermines the valuable work and dedication of BLS staff who produce the reports each month. This escalates the unprecedented attack on the independence and integrity of the federal statistical system. The President seeks to blame someone else for unwelcome economic news. The Commissioner does not determine what the numbers are, but simply reports what the data shows. The process of obtaining them is decentralized by design to avoid opportunities for interference. And they use the same proven, transparent, reliable process to produce estimates every month. Every month the BLS revised Prior 2 months Employment estimates to reflect slower arriving more accurate information. So that's what we have from somebody who was literally nominated and worked from Trump previously. By the way, can I just say this, Mr. Lutnick, please undo the commission to modernize the BLS statistics and let's do that. Except the problem is now you're gonna be tainted by the fact that they fired the current BLS commissioner, and then the business community and others are gonna say, I'm not so sure about this. Who really knows what the numbers are? And in fact, perhaps that's parted by design is if you have uncertainty within the numbers, then nobody can firmly trade or make decisions based on them. But to be honest, we're worse off for it because lack of confidence in those numbers. I know this all sounds very squishy, but we are the capital of the global empire, the world's reserve currency, our Federal Reserve and other. I mean, literally all of our monetary policy decides the fate of the globe. And I don't even think that that's really an exaggeration. Well, that's the type of stuff they make their decisions on. I'm not saying it should work that way, but it does. It has immense impact for our economy. Stock market firing, et cetera. And so lack of confidence within that. It's just one more step down, in my opinion, in a batter action. And so with that, I don't know. I don't know how this will work out. Maybe it could be fine, but it doesn't look good.
Sagar Enjeti
I mean, it does hearken back to the Soviet Union, where it was like, they didn't want to convey negative results to the leadership, so they would just make stuff up, and then you're unable to actually plan. And there was also a sense of like, oh, we're in this competition with the U.S. we don't want to expose any of our dirty laundry, so we want our public facing numbers to look really good. And, yeah, what happens is then no one can make good decisions, no one can plan. There's no sense of trust in anything that's coming out of the government, and it's not a good place to be. So this is part and parcel not only with Trump's reality distortion, it's also with the way that he has made even the baseline assumption that the government should be a sort of neutral entity. He has thrown that out the window. And that might be one of the most revolutionary things that he has done. And I mean that in a negative way in this context, since coming back into power. And that's not to say that there weren't government agencies that were politicized in the past, but those were considered scandals and one offs with the, you know, the assumption that when treating, you know, tax designations and certainly BLS jobs numbers, that these things were being crafted by bureaucrats who were meant to be approaching it in a politically neutral manner. This will come up again when we do our free speech conversation about the all out assault on the University system over quote unquote anti Semitism. Trump has decided to use all of the federal government as a political weapon and explicitly politicize every single agency as much as he possibly can and so this also fits in that direction where he has taken the federal government.
Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford
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Crystal Ball
Biggest party of the summer WWE SummerSlam is here and wrestling with Freddie is all over it. We're talking wild matches, big surprises and our boldest predictions yet. From celebrity showdowns to the chaos inside a steel cage, we're breaking down every match and calling who we think walks out on top. This card is loaded from Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Rhea Ripley and Tiffy, just to name a few. This lineup is ready to tear down the house House. We'll give you our unfiltered takes, honest debates and you already know a ton of laughs along the way. We're covering the upsets, the wild returns, and the championship moments. Nobody expects. We'll get into the matches that steal the show, the storylines that explode, and those oh my God, did that just happen moments that make SummerSlam legendary. Don't miss it. Listen to Wrestling with Freddy as part of the My Kultura Podcast Network. Find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast podcasts.
Mark Lombardo
What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on Earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you.
Mark Lombardo
Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short term, highly regimented correctional program programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
The first night was overwhelming and you don't know who's next to you and we didn't know what to expect. Expect in the morning nobody tells you anything.
Mark Lombardo
Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
So let's get to a bigger economic story. This is one again, part of the reason why the numbers, or at least other numbers that we can look to are painting, you know, kind of a dire picture. And everyone's, you know, on the tariff thing initially the Trump and MAGA response was look at all of these panic ins. They were wrong. The job numbers are fine, the GDP numbers are fine and then the job numbers get revised and everybody's very silent right now. Everybody's actually a bls, a BLS scholar in terms of the way chamath I'm looking at you. Let's go and put this one up there on the screen from the Financial Times. Well, this is Federal Reserve bank data from Atlanta says quote, wage growth for the lowest paid quartile of workers, people earning roughly less than $806 a week slowed to an annual rate of 3.7% in June, down from a peak of 7.5% in 2022 when post pandemic labor shortage in industries such as hospitality were most acute. Wage growth has also slowed for higher earners, but to a lesser extent, pay for the top 25% is up 4.7% in the year to June and for overall workforce by 4.3%. Those in the highest quartile earn more than $1,800 per week. But the figures come after the president office corps sacked the head of the country's labor statistics agency. But this data, which links again to the Federal Reserve bank of Atlanta just says that the lowest paid workers are suffering a sharper slowdown in wage growth than their richer peers. And obviously not only is this an inequality problem, but really I think it is a story of where you can always see both patterns of political like basically economic precarity always leads to some sort of political radicalism. Much of that has been MAGA in the past, don't forget, many of these people actually did vote for Donald Trump. I'm not gonna say the vast majority, but lower quintile, it's not an insignificant of people who actually voted for Trump who are making less than $100,000 per year. And obviously, when we broadly look at kind of where that is going for wage growth, what you want to see is wage growth continue to actually go down. So you want the percentage increased to always be at the lowest quintile and up from there to the middle class. So the problem that I see here is that it's like poor people are getting poorer compared to their rate, richer compatriots. And also that you see the way that the economy is now currently structured, which we'll get to in a little bit around AI and others, is vastly accruing to the top 5 to 10% of the public. It's an American story now of what, the last 25 years. But it is just getting worse.
Sagar Enjeti
And that's the problem, I would say, even. I mean, the AI boom is really, I mean, top 1%, top 0.1%. I mean, the consolidation of the wealth that is likely to be achieved through the AI revolution is going to be more uneven than I think, anything we've ever seen in history. And so when you have this poor wage growth at the bottom, you know, bottom quintile here, it means that in many instances, they're not keeping up with inflation, so it continues falling further and further behind. And then when you think of how much housing costs go up, education costs go up, health care costs go up, you know, if you look specifically at those baskets of goods that really make up that sort of stable middle, you can see how people are just screwed and hopeless. And yeah, it is going to fuel political radicalization. I mean, I think probably nothing has been more destabilizing to this country than the vast inequality, level of inequality that has exploded, especially since like, you know, 80s 90s timeframe, when we had the embrace of neoliberalism by both parties. And so, you know, we're living through the consequences of that. And the really dire warning here is that it is about to very likely get much, much worse.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Yeah, and that fits actually with this next one. Let's go and put the next one, please, up on the screen. This is actually probably even more troubling. This is about the unemployed Americans enduring longer job searches in a cooling market. And what they say is that, quote, number of people unemployed for at least 27 weeks now tops 1.8 million with one person saying, quote, I'm considering myself semi retired at this point. And this fits with some of those job numbers earlier. Job seekers are out in the cold this summer, especially ones who have been hunting for a while behind. Headline grabbing top line numbers in the jobs report is a striking piece of data. The number of people unemployed for at least 27 weeks is now nearly 2 million, the highest level since 2017, not counting the pandemic unemployment surge. The median length of unemployment in the US has ticked up from a seasonally adjusted 9.5 weeks to 10.2 too just last month. Job hunting highlights a significant undercurrent in a labor market jolted by tariffs and cautious businesses. And the latest numbers show job growth has been sluggish for months while the unemployment rate at 4.2% remains low by historical standards. This is always the issue with unemployment rate. I remember this during 2012 when Obama would be like, look, we dropped the unemployment rate. And actually one of the ways that Romney was correct, he's like, yeah, but that's because a ton of people are dropped out of the labor force and are just not working anymore. That's, that's bad, right? Especially if they don't have any money and they're descending into poverty, losing their house. Same problem that we see here. So the more people that drop out of the labor force or are not seeking work or are seasonally adjusted for longer periods in unemployment, considering themselves like semi retired. I mean one of the people we're talking about here is like a 46 year old person years ahead if they want to, and if they don't have the finances to continue work. I would also say that you're going to continue seeing this for college because we've had a full summer now of graduation and from what I've heard, and some of the data backs this up as well, new graduates are having a very tough time, mostly because a lot of both you have cautious businesses and second, a lot of entry level work is bullshit. And you know what is really good at bullshit? AI like in fact I was talking with somebody who works in consulting and they were like, you know, a lot of the early grunt work is just familiarization and you take minutes of meetings and, and you do stuff like that and you schedule, et cetera. Guess what? Microsoft Teams with OpenAI is really good at that. You know, they don't need you anymore and they don't necessarily wanna need to add somebody pay healthcare benefits. So you have those two things that come together over a summer and it's a big question For a lot of these new graduates, what are you gonna do and how's that gonna work?
Sagar Enjeti
Yeah, no, I mean, I used to work in government consulting when I first came out of college. And the first thing I did was work on like a help desk for, you know, it was the US Federal courts when they would have issue with their energy enterprise software. And the other thing I would do is just, is like, yeah, spreadsheet jockeying, like, you know, analysis of this or that and compiling in the data and create a presentation. Like that's exactly the sort of thing AI can do. And for many of these companies, even if they haven't fully implemented AI, they're looking at the landscape and they're figuring out how. So they're reluctant to bring in those new hires, those entry level individuals, not only because of the insanity of the, you know, tariff regime all over the place, but also because they're trying to figure out, okay, how can I use AI to render these people irrelevant? And you have CEOs out there who say they're very excited to be able to lay people off. They're very excited to work with robots instead of human beings because they don't take sick days, they don't require vacation, they don't organize labor unions. So that's very, you know, I think those factors are really going to play into the unemployment rate among new college graduates. We're also at a point now with these jobs numbers where we can start to assess. Assess, okay, the stated goals of the tariff regime versus the results. And one of the stated goals. There were a variety of stated goals. That's always been sort of all over the place. But one of the stated goals was to bring back manufacturing jobs. And over the past, in the past three months, every single month, we have lost manufacturing jobs. So there you go. Most of the job growth that did occur was actually in healthcare because we have a population that's getting older. So that's where most of the job growth came. And effectively, in every other sector, you've seen job losses over the past three months. So that's not exactly what was sold as the promise of the new golden era, the new golden age for America and the rebirth of American manufacturing, in reality, we're going in the polar opposite direction. And that is actually different from under Biden. There was an improvement in manufacturing jobs gains through the industrial policy of the Infrastructure act and the CHIPS Act. So not a good sign there for the direction that we're heading in.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Yeah, exactly. And last piece here, can we put please a 11 on the screen. This is kind of the thing I was flagging about GDP and AI. So you can look here from Derek Thompson. I Love this graph. AI CapEx, as in capital expenditure, now accounts for a larger share of GDP than basically any technology since the railroad in the 1800s. Basically it's a mini wartime economy. He says, but the guns are chips and the tanks are databases. 1.2% of all infrastructure. Capex as a percent of US GDP is now literally AI data center. Also, there are some crazy stories across the country right now that I encourage everybody to tune into. I'm talking about people who live near metadata processing centers that can't get water anymore because of COVID or people who live near data centers are seeing massive spikes in electricity prices. I mean, it's crazy that let alone the fact that farmland and all these other things all of a sudden have wildly different valuations because people are willing to come in and they're like, oh, no zoning regs or any of that. I can build whatever the hell I want here. We're talking about massive big data centers on top of that. So look, if we don't get some cheap and abundant energy, AKA nuclear, anytime soon, this is gonna be be a serious problem. And of course, what's the investment timeline on that? It takes 10 years to get a reactor online. I don't see a single progress, by the way, despite some promises on that. And so in the interim, oh my God, if you're living in Texas and you're on that sole power grid, good luck folks, because you're going to see some on top of the deregulated market down there, plus all those data centers. It's going to be brutal. Not on top of the 110 degrees reheat during the summer. It's bad.
Sagar Enjeti
Between with the water and the power, you know, who's going to get prioritized?
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Yeah, of course it's not going to be you.
Sagar Enjeti
It's going to be these AI data centers, you know, with these multibillion dollar investments. And, you know, they're their bet. We talked about this last week with that Sam Altman Theo of on Interview. Their bet is that they don't completely suck up all the resources and the electric, you know, the energy before AI figures out how to do like fission energy or something. That's basically their bet is that they can build these things out fast enough and develop the AI quick enough that it's gonna just miraculously solve all of these problems for us. I mean, it feels like more of a religious faith than a science to be honest with you.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Yeah, it's dangerous stuff out there.
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Crystal Ball
Biggest party of the summer. WWE SummerSlam is here and Wrestling with Freddy is all over it. We're talking wild matches, big surprises and our boldest predictions yet. From celebrity showdowns to the chaos inside a steel cage, we're breaking down every match and calling who we think walks out on top. This card is loaded from Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Rhea Ripley and Tiffy, just to name a few. This lineup is ready to tear down the house. We'll give you our unfiltered takes, honest debates and, you already know, a ton of laughs along the way. We're covering the upsets, the wild returns and the championship moments. Nobody expects we'll get into the matches that steal the show, the storylines that explode and those oh my God, did that just happen moments that make SummerSlam legendary. Don't miss it. Listen to Wrestling with Freddy as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network. Find us on the iHeartRadio radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Mark Lombardo
What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on Earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you.
Mark Lombardo
Shock Incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short, short term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
The first night was overwhelming, and you don't know. And we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything.
Mark Lombardo
Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
All right, let's get to the Epstein story. Trump continues to keep the door open for his Ghislaine Maxwell pardon. He says, I'm allowed to do it. We know you're allowed to do it. The question is, are you gonna do it? Let's take a look. Is clemency on the table for her in exchange for testimony?
Donald Trump
I'm allowed to do it, but nobody's asked me to do it. I know nothing about it. I don't know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it. I have the right to give pardons. I've given pardons to people before, but nobody's even asked me to do it.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Nobody's questioning that. It's not true. Nobody's asked you to do it. Ghislaine's Maxwell's team has certainly asked you to do it. We're going to get to that in a second. But before we do, we have course have to play this clip of Trump. Will you pardon Diddy and listen to the justification he gives? Let's take a listen. Sean Diddy Combs, Right. Would you consider pardoning him?
Donald Trump
Well, he was essentially, I guess, sort of half innocent.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Yes.
Donald Trump
I don't know what, they still in jail or something, but he was celebrating a victory. But he seems, I guess it wasn't as good as a victory, probably. You know, I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great and seemed like a nice guy. I didn't know him well, but when I ran for office, he was very hostile.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
He said some not so nice things about you, sir.
Donald Trump
And it's hard, you know, like you, we're human beings, right. And we don't like to have things cloud our judgment. Right. But when you knew someone and you were fine and then you run for office and he made some terrible statements. So, I don't know, it's more difficult. It makes it more. I'm being honest, it makes it more difficult to do.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
But more likely a no for Combs.
Donald Trump
I would say so.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Okay, got it. And some of it is about nasty things for Trump. That's the.
Sagar Enjeti
I mean, it's just wild that he just out and out and it's like, well, he didn't support me, so I don't think I'll probably give him a part. Like, it just is so naked. He doesn't even pretend that, oh, he was unjustly prosecuted? No. It's like, well, we used to be friends, but then he said some nasty things about me. So I don't know, I'm not really feeling that way. It's just insane. And there's a bunch of new reporting, too, for the New York Times about just like, the brazen corruption, including the payoffs, the bribes, in order to secure these pardons. And people around Diddy are trying to work the system right now, trying to get in with various MAGA figures and pay off whoever they need to effectively to try to secure this pardon. I mean, this is just the way this is White House functions. It's crazy to see.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
So with that and the Ghislaine story, let's continue. Let's put this up there on the screen. Ghislaine Maxwell has now been moved to, quote a cushy new Club Fed prison as she pushes for a deal to tell all on Epstein. That prison is in Bryan, Texas, the town I was literally born in. And it is a minimum security prison camp. For those of you not familiar, these prison camps are like the lowest level security in the federal state. They barely even have, like, fences or security measures. Like, there's photos of Elizabeth Holmes running around the track just to show you people, like, photographers can get close enough to take pictures of Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos woman who is in the facility now. There's a lot of actually open questions about how she even got this. Number one, she wasn't supposed to be transferred. Ghislaine was previously housed at a Federal Correctional Institute low security prison, which is traditionally what you're supposed to do with sex offenders. Sex offenders are not supposed to be moved to federal prison camps because it's a privilege to be able. So it's an open question for why the BOP felt the need to transition.
Sagar Enjeti
It's not an open question.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
I'm just saying, though.
Sagar Enjeti
I mean, who we know, why?
Freddie Prinze Jr.
All right, FOIA guys, by the way, FOIA people out there, let's get some records. This is all out, you know, should be there in the open. Who ordered it? You know, was it the head of the bop, the Department of Justice? In exchange for what? Because this all gets to. What is the deal being struck here between Ghislaine and the Trump administration in these extraordinary ordinary proffer sessions or whatever, where she's naming some 100 individuals who are those individuals? To what end are you naming these people? The Ghislaine Maxwell team obviously is saying, we want our whole conviction thrown out. They're trying to appeal to the Supreme Court. Will the Justice Department fight her on that? That's still an open question. So listen, I mean, this is all very sketchy behavior because if the door is now open to a point, pardon, and let's say she comes out and she has a lot to say, but none of it is about Donald Trump. Can anybody really trust, you know, that this is legitimate? And see, that's the problem. This is why you need a independent special prosecutor, somebody with no skin, like actual political skin in the game to ensure that this stands up to some sort of legal scrutiny. Because if this lady walks free, it will be one of the craziest things I've ever seen in my life.
Sagar Enjeti
Yeah, it's disgusting. She's a monster.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
And she shouldn't even be in this prison.
Sagar Enjeti
No, not at all. I mean, she should, shouldn't be there. By the way, typically these sorts of transfers are done by U.S. marshals. It was done directly by Bureau of Prisons officials instead. So just, you know, another anomaly here. But no, I mean, we can all see what's happening. It's happening right in front of our eyes. They had that meeting, you know, there were those leaks to the Wall Street Journal which may have come from Ghislaine and her team about the birthday book and whatever. Then immediately the Todd Blanche meets with Ghislaine and lo and behold, next thing you know, she's getting moved to this cushy, like, I mean, listen, I don't think being in federal prison is ever like, really some vacation the way it's portrayed. But the places that they portray as like, Club Fed, this is the type of place, right? It's the best you can get within the federal prison system. Not saying that that's like a great experience for anyone anyway, but you know, that session, that proffer session was not just about, about, okay, what do you have on other people? Cuz I don't think Trump cares about what you have on other people. What he cares about is what do you have on me? What do you have on me? And the fact that she had enough to apparently at least secure this little nice transfer for herself over the protocols. Like, she should not have been transferred. She was not actually eligible to be transferred. They had to make an exception for her to get this transferred. Means she had something that made him nervous enough that like, okay, well, let's at least go this far and then we'll see if she actually gets the pardon if the federal government stops fighting her appeal at the Supreme Court. But I think we can all see what's happening, like what's happening on the surface level and interpret what is going on behind the scenes.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
It's just more sketchy than anything else, especially whenever you have Trump continuing to open the door for a pardon. So yeah, that's where we are all currently at. Ghislaine is sitting pretty in the federal prison camp system and the so called Club Fed. Let's go ahead and go to the next one please. Let's put it up there on the screen. The FBI has redacted Trump's name now in the Epstein files. This is from Jason Leopold. Jason Leopold, just so people don't know, is really one of the preeminent kind of FOIA reporters of our time. If anybody recalls on this Epstein story, story, I previously referenced the CIA inspector general who was covering up sex crimes and pedophilia. That was all because really of Leopold's work through a tremendous amount of FOIA victory that he had actually over the CIA and eventually getting his hands on those documents. So what he was able to find in the report is basically how they were redacting Trump's name along with, by the way, several other names. Be nice to know who some of those people were. But officially it's the redaction that is from. He was able to learn through foia. Not only that, but the order itself came down from this current administration. And it's one too where in a certain way I think they may he was his. They were really their own worst enemy. Because what happened prior, based on everything I've read now so far in the open record, is these 100,000 documents were scattered all over the government. Nobody had actually compiled them together. So Kash Patel and these other people were like, all right, put it all together. And then slowly but surely they're like, eh, you know, Trump is in here. So it starts to float up to the White House as of two months before the memo comes in. And then the order at some point, you know, gets a hey, let's go ahead and miss you redactions, et cetera. And somewhere around that time of redaction and knowledge by Trump that his name is in there, that is when the infamous memo comes out from the administration of nothing to see here killed himself. We will do no more further releases. And look, you can draw your own conclusions. And again, part of the reason why I think this is such a Foolish decision by the administration. Is that what's happening now? Are all of these leaks from inside of the doj? The birthday book, it only came from two places. Came from the FBI or came from Ghislaine. I still think it came from the FBI because they haven't released the letter. And the only reason not to release the letter is because it's scanned. And they haven't even acknowledged in the street down in the 50th paragraph or so that the scans of the book are available in the Epstein files. And that's one of the ways that you'd be able to get it. But similarly with some of the other letters that they didn't release of Bill Clinton and others, same thing they referenced scans being made of that. Of course it could be available to Ghislaine's legal defense team. So you know, that's certainly possible as well. But if you look at other stories, like at the New York Times, the scans of the book where Trump wrote to Epstein in 1990, same thing, it's a scan, it's not a picture of the actual book. And they say again, if you read further scans of the book are available in the Epstein file. So it's just open season in terms of leaks on the administration. And he's currently the only story on it and it could be 150 other stories. But you know, I guess he's scared of whatever that story is or you know, is just doing a stupid job at covering up. He can answer that problem at any time by actually releasing it and killing this entire story. But that's what they, they've chosen not to do.
Sagar Enjeti
Yeah, well, and at this point it's really too late because like you said, you could never trust what came out of them from them at this point. Like there's no way that you're gonna be able to get some sort of full accounting from these people because they've invested a whole lot in a cover up. And we're gonna cover the also some video irregularities too. In that video that they really cuz remember when they put out the memo the he killed himself. Nothing to see here. We're moving on. Case closed. Prince Andrew, you're vindicated. When that memo was went out, the only proof that they offered was this video evidence which was supposed to demonstrate conclusively to all of us that no, there was no funny business on the night that Jeffrey Epstein was killed. It was just a series of unfortunate incidents where the cameras were not functioning and the guards were asleep. And here's the video and let's all move on.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Right. Okay, let's get to that then. So CBS News actually did a great job. They did almost 10 minute investigation, investigation into this. And they compiled some of the stuff that we've talked about here, about the camera angles and others. But they did a very good job of showing some of the graphics. And they brought in some more metadata analyses to show both a third person that's available and visible in the video actually down in the background. And just to debunk how preposterous the one released by the DOJ is, let's take a listen.
Mark Lombardo
CBS News has reviewed the tape and this is what it shows. The primary entrance is here. The pathway from the entrance to the stairs is completely out of view of the cabin camera, leaving ample room for someone to enter unseen. This is the last time Epstein is believed to have been seen on camera. But we don't see him walking up the stairs to his cell. Bongino also said none of this video was doctored. It was the original raw footage from the camera.
Crystal Ball
We're gonna give the original.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
So you don't think there were any shenanigans.
Mark Lombardo
But a review by multiple video forensic experts found several indications this may not be raw footage. For example, at 11:21pm A cursor appears briefly indicating the video may have actually been a recording of a computer screen. Experts told CBS News the video's metadata, which tracks how a file is created and changed, shows it's made from two clips edited together. Then at 11:58pm the video suddenly jumps to midnight and the aspect ratio shifts.
Sagar Enjeti
And every night should have the same minute missing. So we're looking for that video to release that as well, showing that a minute is missing every night.
Mark Lombardo
But a government source familiar with the probe told CBS News the FBI and other agencies are in possession of a copy of the video. Video that records with no interruption.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Well, what do you got? All right. I mean, it's pretty convincing to me, don't you think?
Sagar Enjeti
Funny how they never released that video showing, oh, every night the same minute is missing. We're gonna get that to you. Still waiting on that one.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
We talked about it. It's like, it is theoretically possible that some 1990s era system does that, but then you're gonna have to release a lot of evidence. And as, I mean, again, the metadata there doesn't lie, as they show. They also have this record. It's like, what are we doing potato quality now from the government where we're gonna record our photos. He's like, what are we doing here?
Sagar Enjeti
You know, I mean, it's just, that's.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
The boomer est move I've ever heard.
Sagar Enjeti
The degradation in this government to not even be able to do the basics of an effective cover up saga.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
I thought about that during Venezuela.
Sagar Enjeti
What have we come to? What have we come to?
Freddie Prinze Jr.
I kept thinking about that during the whole Juan Guaido thing. I'm like, what? We can't even do a coup?
Sagar Enjeti
Can't even do a coup. It's our own best South American coup.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
And just kill him and put the guy on the thing. We don't need to write, recognize some fake government. All right, let's all just do it properly.
Sagar Enjeti
I don't know if you saw this as well. I think it was from CBS too, because they did the most thorough analysis. There's also a part where you see mystery figure in orange.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Exactly, yes.
Sagar Enjeti
Which is also really significant because they claim, oh, there's no one in this video. And then there is. That appears at a certain point and I think another outlet had reported sources indicating that, no, this whole, oh, there's always a minute missing thing is just bullshit. That's just not true. And not to mention this camera angle and this is part of what CBS is pointing out, doesn't even show what they purport to show. Like they claim that this, if, you know, if you have your eyes on this camera, this means no one could go in or come out of this cell without you seeing it there. And that's also just not true. So the way they portrayed the video was a lie. The explanation that, oh, this is raw footage and this hasn't been altered, that's a lie. The idea there was no other figures in the film, that's a lie. The missing minute thing, that's a L. So you're like, okay, well, so what are you hiding here? Given that this is the only piece of evidence, like it's completely legitimate for people to parse this minute by minute, since the only piece of evidence that the government has put out to back up their claim that there was nothing to see there, nothing untoward happened on the night that Jeffrey Epstein, quote unquote, killed himself. And lo and behold, we've now got increasingly a lengthy list of inconsistencies and question marks and lies about this one video they put out.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Yes, that's exactly right. And finally, B6, please. What do we have here? From the Maxwell prison, the new prison in Texas, quietly, that she's been transferred to prohibits cameras and recording devices, very few surveillance and footage, no public visibility they moved her into a facility where transparency is actually significantly reduced quote banned by design right as she starts cooperating with the doj. So let's see.
Sagar Enjeti
Good luck Ghilline.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Let's keep our eyes open, shall we? Down in my hometown of Bryan, Texas.
Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford
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Crystal Ball
We're breaking down SummerSlam, the biggest party of the summer on Wrestling with Freddy. From our bold picks to storyline, bricks, breakdowns, we will discuss who walks out with gold, who shocks the night and which matches steal the show we call the winners, the upsets and the chaos to expect. Plus whatever swerves nobody saw coming. Listen to Wrestling with Freddie as part of the Michael Tura Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford
I'm Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford, host of.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
The Therapy for Black Girls Podcast. I know how overwhelming it can feel.
Sagar Enjeti
If flying makes you anxious.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
In session 418 of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, Dr. Angela Neal Barnett and I discuss flight anxiety. What is not normal is to allow it to prevent you from doing the things that you want to do, the things that you were meant to do.
Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford
Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
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Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar
Episode Date: August 4, 2025
Title: Trump Rages Over Jobs Report, AI Bubble, Ghislaine Sent To Cozy Prison, Mystery Figure In Epstein Tapes
Host/Authors: Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti
Platform: iHeartPodcasts
Overview:
The episode opens with a deep dive into the recent economic report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and President Donald Trump's subsequent decision to fire the BLS commissioner. The hosts analyze the implications of this move on the integrity of economic data and its broader impact on policymaking and public trust.
Key Points:
Job Report Revisions:
The BLS reported that the U.S. economy added only 73,000 jobs in the last month, a significant revision downward from previous estimates. Additionally, revisions showed 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than initially reported.
Trump's Response:
President Trump justified his decision by claiming, "Why should anyone trust the numbers?" [11:37].
Impact on Economic Policy:
The hosts discuss how these revisions undermine confidence in economic data, affecting everything from Federal Reserve decisions to individual investment strategies.
Notable Quotes:
Krystal Ball:
"This is deeply disturbing. Officials had no issue when the numbers were favorable. Now, with disappointing revisions, the backlash is unmistakable." [02:27]
Saagar Enjeti:
"Trump’s actions resemble tactics used by authoritarian regimes to manipulate data and control narratives." [22:43]
Timestamp Highlights:
Overview:
The conversation shifts to the burgeoning role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the economy. Krystal and Saagar explore how AI investments are disproportionately benefiting the top echelons of society, exacerbating economic inequalities.
Key Points:
AI's Contribution to GDP:
AI capital expenditure now accounts for a larger share of GDP than any technology since the railroad era, likened to a "mini wartime economy" [40:11].
Wage Growth Slowdown:
Wage growth for the lowest-paid workers has slowed to 3.7%, down from 7.5% in 2022. Meanwhile, top earners see a 4.7% increase [38:01].
Unemployment Trends:
Prolonged unemployment spells indicate a cooling job market, with nearly 2 million people unemployed for over 27 weeks [35:29].
Notable Quotes:
Saagar Enjeti:
"The consolidation of wealth through AI is more uneven than anything we've seen in history, fueling political radicalization." [34:17]
Krystal Ball:
"AI spending is not translating into widespread economic benefits, leaving the middle and lower classes behind." [40:11]
Timestamp Highlights:
Overview:
A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the controversial transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security facility in Bryan, Texas. The hosts scrutinize the reasons behind this decision and its potential implications for ongoing investigations.
Key Points:
Transfer Details:
Maxwell was moved to a "cushy Club Fed" prison, raising questions about the rationale and legality of this move, especially for a convicted sex offender [45:37].
Potential Dealings:
Speculation surrounds whether this transfer is a precursor to a pardon deal in exchange for Maxwell's testimony on Jeffrey Epstein's activities [49:11].
Government Irregularities:
The transfer bypassed standard protocols, with the U.S. Marshals typically handling such changes, deepening suspicions of impropriety [52:02].
Notable Quotes:
Krystal Ball:
"If this transaction is legitimate, it might lack transparency, making the public question the motives behind it." [50:21]
Saagar Enjeti:
"Maxwell shouldn't have been transferred to a minimum-security facility. It signals favoritism and potential leniency from the administration." [50:22]
Timestamp Highlights:
Overview:
The episode delves into the ongoing controversy surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's tapes, focusing on the recent redactions of President Trump's name and the emergence of a mysterious figure in the footage.
Key Points:
Redacted Names:
Reports indicate that Trump's name, among others, has been redacted from the Epstein files, suggesting an attempt to obscure connections [55:24].
Mystery Figure:
A figure appearing in orange in the Epstein tapes has sparked speculation about undisclosed individuals involved in the case [50:23].
Video Irregularities:
Experts argue that the Epstein tape contains inconsistencies, such as abrupt jumps in timestamps and unexplained shifts in aspect ratio, casting doubt on its authenticity [56:37].
Notable Quotes:
Saagar Enjeti:
"The government's handling of the Epstein tapes is emblematic of their broader strategy to cover up inconvenient truths." [59:01]
Krystal Ball:
"These redactions and irregularities only deepen the mystery, making it harder to trust official narratives." [55:24]
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Overview:
Krystal and Saagar touch upon recent developments in Israel, including visits from prominent figures and the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
Key Points:
Diplomatic Visits:
Mike Huckabee, Steve Witkoff, and Mike Johnson's visits to Israel signify a strategic push against Hamas amid continued starvation and humanitarian issues [02:39].
AI in Israel:
TikTok's installation of a former IDF sensor on their platform indicates heightened security measures and censorship efforts [02:58].
Notable Quotes:
Saagar Enjeti:
"Issuing ultimatums to Hamas is a necessary step to curb the ongoing violence and restore stability in the region." [02:58]
Krystal Ball:
"The integration of former IDF sensors by TikTok reflects the complex interplay between technology and national security in modern conflicts." [02:58]
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Overview:
Throughout the episode, Krystal and Saagar emphasize the importance of independent media and call for audience support to continue providing unbiased perspectives.
Key Points:
Membership Drive:
Encouragement for listeners to become members at BreakingPoints.com to access exclusive content and support independent journalism [02:16].
Subscriber Appreciation:
Acknowledgment of the audience's role in enabling in-depth interviews and high-quality reporting [11:05].
Notable Quotes:
Krystal Ball:
"Your support is vital in building the future of independent news media. Join us at BreakingPoints.com." [02:16]
Saagar Enjeti:
"Independent media played a massive role in the recent election, and your membership ensures we can continue holding the powerful accountable." [02:03]
Timestamp Highlights:
In this episode of Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, the hosts provide a comprehensive analysis of pressing issues including President Trump's controversial dismissal of the BLS commissioner, the burgeoning AI bubble exacerbating economic inequalities, the suspicious transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a low-security prison, and the enigmatic developments surrounding the Epstein tapes. Additionally, updates on the Israel-Hamas conflict and the role of technology in national security underscore the multifaceted nature of current geopolitical tensions. Throughout, Krystal and Saagar advocate for independent media and engage their audience in supporting unbiased journalism to navigate these complex topics.
Notable Timed Quotes:
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