← The Jim Acosta Show
The Jim Acosta Show
Chicago Teens Ben and Sam Who Track ICE plus Epstein Survivor Attorney Arick Fudali
00:47:58
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- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
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B
Welcome to the Jim Acosta show. And we are just a little more than one week away from the deadline for the Trump administration to begin producing the Epstein files. Remember, folks, Congress passed a law. Trump signed it. It's now the law of the land, even though one was not needed. And just today, two Democratic senators have requested a review of how the administration is handling the release of the files. And needless to say, folks are worried this will not be on the level. Let's discuss with Eric Fudali. He is an attorney for a number of Epstein survivors. Eric, great to see you. Thank you very much for coming on the program.
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C
Thanks for having me on, Joe.
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B
Yeah, no problem. And let me just ask you just to start off, because I thought it's very interesting. Senators Schiff and Durbin, they have basically requested an expedited independent review of the DOJ and FBI handling of the Epstein files. And what do you think of that? Is that, does that sound like a good idea to you?
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C
I think it's a great idea and I'm glad they did that. You know, I haven't been able, and I don't think anyone should be, you know, trusting this administration with how they've handled Jeffrey Epstein. And frankly, I haven't been able to trust any administration with how they've handled Jeffrey Epstein. He got special treatment his entire life and he continues to get special treatment beyond the grave. So, yeah, absolutely. You know, Donald Trump certainly made a very sharp 180 as to how he was handling the disclosure of these files. For a long time, months and months, he was seeming going to great lengths to keep these files private, to keep them away from the public. Then all of a sudden, as the, it seemed like he was sort of going to be not going to have so much control over that. He shifted quickly. And I am a little concerned, I am a little worried about what is actually going to be revealed. There's a couple clauses there in the law that could allow for, you know, shenanigans, for lack of a better word. So I'm really glad that, that this, these lawmakers are doing this to put, to make as much exposure and make this as transparent as possible to ensure that we get the true files, the real files and all of the files.
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B
Right. And we should note, I believe it's December 19th. That'll be one month since the signing of that act into law. And so that means we're about a week and a day. I think we might start a countdown clock or calendar or something like that next week just to keep the pressure on because it seems to me they don't want to release these files and they're trying to figure out some wiggle room as to how they can get around that. Maybe they'll say, well, we're doing an investigation into X, Y and Z and so that therefore we can't do it. But Eric, there's also been concerns, and I'm wondering how some of your clients feel about this, that there's been a scrubbing of the files that Trump's name will be redacted throughout the files. There were those emails that came out like a month ago that the oversight committee Democrats produced that showed Trump's name repeatedly through those emails that involved Epstein and Ghisaine Maxwell and so on. Your concern, your client's concern about how those files are going to come out when they come out?
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C
Yeah, absolutely. We're very concerned. You know, again, this is not an administration who has been, you know, trustworthy on a lot of issues. But specifically this Jeffrey Epstein issue, I mean you have to remember Ghislaine Maxwell as we sit here today, is in a minimum security resort style prison. You know, last I heard, getting special meals and playing with puppies. You know, that's a convicted child sex trafficker who was sort of magically transferred to this minimum security prison as soon as she gave a very helpful description of what happened to Donald Trump's Department of Justice. So yeah, there are some shady things going on and I'm very concerned and my clients are concerned that we're never gonna see this true picture clearly. There's been efforts to hide it clearly for months and months. There's been a campaign to sway congresspeople to not vote to release these documents. There was the months long delay to swearing in a Democratic congressperson who was gonna be vote. I mean everything has been suspicious about how this has been handled dating back decades. I'm even to the 90s. The Alex Acosta deal in 2008, Jeffrey Epstein's, you know, suicide, you know, once he was in federal custody on suicide watch. Everything has been so suspicious that I'm unfortunately, I'm not optimistic that we're going to see anything revelatory, anything we're seeing on the 19th. And I think it's going to, the fight's going to continue.
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B
You think they're going to pull a fast one?
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C
I think they're going to try, absolutely. I mean I think like you said, like you prefaced a little bit earlier, I am would be very unsurprised if now there's this magical Investigation that for some reason they've been sitting on for the last few decades because they've had these files for a very long time. Jeffrey Epstein's been dead for a very long time now. You know, I don't know what new information would. Would require them to now open up a criminal investigation that they weren't, you know, prior, you know, doing so. Prior. So, yeah, I, I am expecting something to happen that will at the very least stop from the full unredacted, other than the, The. The victim's names files being released.
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B
Yeah. And, Eric, you were, you were telling me before we got started that you represent, I think you said, 11 survivors, only one of whom has come out somewhat publicly or has a name that's come out publicly. What's it been like for your clients?
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C
It's been. It's been really, really tough. You know, they. This is, you know, and I keep going back to this. You know, this is nothing new for them. Being wronged by the Department of Justice or the FBI or law enforcement or an entire administration is sort of par for the course for these survivors. They've been going through it forever. You know, you look at this sort of sham FBI investigation in the 90s, and as I said before, going all the way up to the 2000s and the sweetheart deal, and then, you know, Epstein's finally arrested and then he's able to kill himself. Then Ghislaine Maxwell's finally convicted, and then she's moved to a minimum security prison. I mean, it's just one thing after another for them. They think the files are going to be released, then they're held back. You know, it's been like three steps forward, you know, a hundred steps back for these survivors for so long. You know, the Rosa client that you mentioned, she was brought trafficked over here from eastern Europe in 2009 when she met Jeffrey Epstein, had Alex Acosta done his job, done what his duty was, and not ignored all the victims, not ignored all the survivors, and given Epstein the punishment he deserved. Rosa would not have been sexually abused by Epstein. She would have a completely different life now. She wouldn't be a survivor. She shouldn't have to be a survivor. So, you know, I hate saying it, but the survivors are just used to being wronged at this point. They'd love this story to end. They'd love real exposure, they'd love real accountability. And I think most of all, at this point, they'd love real closure because they just haven't been able to get that.
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B
And based on what you know about your, your client situation. Does Donald Trump have something to worry about if these files come out?
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C
Yeah, well, I mean, I can say this, you know, I don't, I'm not aware of any, you know, allegations against Donald Trump. But the only thing I can say is that there's got to be a reason. Common sense would suggest that there is a reason that Donald Trump has been working very diligently, it seemed in the past to keep these files private while he campaigned and said he would no problem releasing the files. He had his like weird influencers holding up those binders if you're right, MAGA influence, like, we got the files. The head of the Department of Justice was saying we're gonna bamboni. We got the files, they're on my desk. And then nothing, Silence. They just didn't release the files. And you know why? There's no question that Donald Trump was involved in with Jeffrey Epstein. I mean that is public news. That doesn't mean that is public knowledge. All seen that video of them like dancing Leery. Yeah, you know, it's gross. So you know what the reason that Donald Trump has worked so hard to protect these files, I don't know. But obviously there's a reason or else he wouldn't have done it because the easiest thing for him to do and the easiest for him to make this a non story would just be released them. So one would think, and one would common sense would suggest that the release of the files would be a bigger story than not releasing them and because that's sort of the gamble he's been going with.
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B
Well, and I think he's also said, and I think Marjorie Taylor Greene said recently, I think the 60 Minutes that Trump said to her, well, a lot of people could get hurt. I mean he's obviously not thinking about the survivors when he says that, but he's talking about maybe high profile people that he knows. And we have seen, you know, Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard come out recently and say, you know, I'm ashamed of what I did. I'm pulling back from public speaking engagements and that sort of a thing. And you know, I mean I, I think most people feel like who cares as long as survivors names are kept out of the public domain, you know, let the chips fall where they may.
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C
I absolutely agree. And I think, you know, Donald Trump is perhaps underestimating the intelligence of the media and the public. You know, if the files are released and they see someone in 1998 did a business deal with Jeffrey Epstein, no one's going to assume that that person had any other further involvement. Right. You know, but if these files do release and do show that people were, you know, on these islands, there's maybe even perhaps allegations against them, conversations. You know, everything we see that's released is so dark. I mean, we're talking about the birthday card that we saw, some of the emails that were released with Jeffrey Epstein. I mean, these were certainly very depraved and, you know, sort of really dark scenarios that were playing out. You know, even as this video is playing. It's like one of the most hot. You know, there's no people in this, but it's so haunting.
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B
It's terrible. This video from the compound.
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C
Yeah, it seems like there's like villains layer and you can imagine, and I at least hope, you know, the public is seeing this and can imagine like the fear and the isolation and the power Epstein must have had, you know, over his survivors, you know, on this island. But, you know, I think that's a great point. You know, the public deserves a right also, you know, if someone was, was involved with Jeffrey Epstein in a certain degree after 2008, you know, I have a lot to say about what Alex Acosta did in 2008, but the one thing he did do is he made Jeffrey Epstein a registered sex offender. He was wearing an ankle bracelet. So. And that was public knowledge. So if you are a high profile person who continued to associate closely with Jeffrey Epstein After 2008, I think questions should be, should be raised about what you were doing with him and why you continue to be involved with someone who is now a convicted or, you know, a registered sex offender.
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B
And don't you think, I mean, you know, maybe this is because it hits close to home for me as a former White House reporter. Don't you think some of the White House reporters over there should be asking Donald Trump, what were you doing with Jeffrey Epstein? I mean, over all these years, you know, writing in his birthday book, associated with, with him at these parties and so on. I mean, it seems to me there's a lot that he has not addressed that he has not answered for. Whether he did something wrong or not. We don't know.
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C
Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah. And we don't know. We don't know what his involvement is. And again, I, I have no information beyond what's, you know, public on base, you know, on their interactions or their involvement with one another. But yet there would. We'd all like to see more accountability. We'd all like to hear more information, more Exposure. And that's what's so frustrating about this is like every little piece of information that's been provided, every document just leads to like a thousand more questions about, like, what is the. Who is the dog that didn't bark? What does that mean? You know, exactly what is the context of all this? What is, what is Donald Trump allegedly talking about? Like these secrets and his birthday? Like, what is going on here? You know, it seems like for the emails there's just, it just begs more information and it seems like every single release begs me, requires more context and more release. And I wish the administration would just take the stance, like, you know what, take it, take the files, see them. Let's make sure the, the survivors are not, are not named, make sure those are redacted. But the public. And I think the other thing that's forgot is the survivors deserve to know. They want to know what sort of investigations were going on. They haven't seen these files. They don't know what sort of dirt was pulled, who was involved, who knew what was going on with them. I mean, they really. And they're the sort of the forgotten party. They deserve full exposure. And I think the public and the media at this point, when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, really, we deserve full exposure at this point. Enough of the secrets, and I'm sure.
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B
You saw this, that earlier this week there's a federal judge in Manhattan ordered the release of grand jury investigation materials related to Epstein. Before that, there was a similar request that a judge granted in the case of Ghislaine Maxwell. In terms of what we can expect to see out of that information, if the administration abides by those orders, do you think we'll see much of, of that much out of that? What do you think?
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C
Yeah, it's hard to tell, but I certainly hope so. You know, I think there is a chance, you know, grand jury materials are usually pretty kept pretty secret. So this is sort of remarkable and very encouraging that these judges are considering and even granting the release of these files. It's hard to tell what's in there. I mean, especially Ghislaine Maxwell. I mean, we know all the evidence that came out in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial. I don't believe there's going to be too much in there because there was a full.
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B
People forget that was a full case.
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C
There was a, I mean, I was there. There was a full criminal trial with very robust defense and witnesses and, you know, famous witnesses and a lot of names listed, you know, very high profile names listed, you know, on the flight reports and the flight logs. I mean, there's a lot of information out there. Everyone knows who Epstein associated with. So there's also a little bit of, like, confusion and frustration on my part. And the survivors, like, there's so much information out there that the public and seems to sort of ignore for some reason is, you know, clamoring for more. I think there needs to be a lot more, but, like, there's a lot we can surmise from what's out there. But I hope that this reveals more and doesn't, again, just create more questions than answers.
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B
And just finally, if Trump were to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, how do you think your clients will respond to that?
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C
It would be one of the more appalling acts Donald Trump has ever done, if not the most appalling act Donald Trump has ever done. I think it would be re. Victimizing. I think it would be catastrophic for these survivors to see the, the one human being who has actually ever faced accountability for Jeffrey Epstein's crimes to be, for her sentence to be committed, for her to be pardoned, and for, I mean, there's no. For Trump to do that. There would be no other explanation other than he is pro sex trafficking. I mean, there's, there's no, There is zero reason for him to do that. She was tried with a, a jury of her peers. It was a full trial. She had a very robust defense team. You know, she. That would be appalling. And frankly, if that happened, anyone who continued to support Donald Trump after that would have a lot of explanations about their character, because that would be, I think, in a, in what's been a lot, a series of appalling acts, I think would be the most appalling thing he could possibly do.
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B
I couldn't agree more. Eric Fudali, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time. Keep us posted if anything comes up. But we really appreciate your expertise on this, and I hope your clients, they get something out of this. I mean, it's just. They've waited too long.
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C
Yeah.
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B
So thanks for what you do.
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C
Appreciate that, Jim. Thanks for having me on.
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B
All right. Thank you, Eric. Really appreciate it. Want to switch gears because there was another big story happening in Washington today, and that is the DHS secretary, Kristi Noem. She was up on Capitol Hill today taking questions from members of the House Homeland Security Committee. And I just want to just start a little bit by, in this next segment showing what took place during this hearing, because at one point she was asked whether any U.S. citizens and service members have been deported as part of Donald Trump's mass deportation operation. And she said, no, that's not the case. But let's. Let's watch this and move on to the next.
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D
Terry, veterans have you deported.
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C
Sir, we have not deported U.S. citizens or military veterans.
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D
I don't believe you've served in the military. I haven't either. But I think you and I can agree that as Americans, we owe everything to those who have served our country in uniform, particularly those who have served in combat. Do you agree with that, sir?
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B
I believe that people that are in.
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C
This United States, that are citizens, have legal status here.
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A
Those.
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D
Madam Secretary, we are joined on Zoom by a gentleman named Sejun Park. He is a United States army combat veteran who was shot twice while serving our country in Panama.
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B
Incredible.
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D
You know, struggle with ptsd.
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B
And Department of Homeland Security Secretary herself does not understand who is being deported, who's being removed from the country, who's being snatched off the streets. There's. If the person at the top of the department doesn't get what's going on, it just goes to show you that this is. This has been sort of a Keystone Cops act that we've been seeing playing out on the streets of US Cities all across the country. Let's. Let's turn to our next subject, and that is these deportation rates. Let's bring in some very special guests to talk about this. Dan Ming is a correspondent, former correspondent with Vice News. He's now with the news movement. He's also joined by Audrey Lemon, I hope I said her name correctly. And her sons, Ben and Sam. Audrey, did I get your name right or did I get it completely wrong?
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A
I'm. You're really close. Lumen.
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B
Lumen. Lumen. I'm sorry. And I apologize to the suns there. They're probably like, ah, how could you screw that up? But sometimes guys like me screw it up, too. And, Dan, great to have you on, too. Thank you so much.
- [16:51]
E
Thanks, Jim. Thanks for having us.
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B
Really appreciate it. And I. I guess one of the reasons why, you know, the big reason why I wanted to have you on is, you know, you guys are in Chicago, the Lumen family, you're in Chicago, and. And you've been seeing this just ridiculous situation unfold, horrific situation unfold in the streets of Chicago and the outlying communities for what, the last five or six months now. Right. And you took it upon yourselves to start tracking ISIS movements. And can. I want to show some video of this in just a moment, but can you talk about that? And to the Lumen Family, if mom wants to go first, then the sons that would be. Maybe do it that way. Or if one of the sons wants to go first, that that's fine too.
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A
Do you want to start? Well, our family became involved in September when a friend notified us, alerted us to the fact that a whole van of workers was taken in our hometown. So we responded and through that got involved in community patrols. There are a lot of people in Chicago involved, so many amazing people who are wanting to keep our neighbors safe. And as we're seeing the data roll in, we're seeing that, yeah, DHS is not being trut. They are claiming that they're taking criminals off our streets and they're not. The vast, vast majority do not have a criminal record. And an even smaller percentage, only a tiny fraction, have a violent criminal record. And so our family is all about constitutional rights and due process. We would want that for ourselves. We would want that for our neighbors as well. And so we got involved in order to peacefully resist and yes. Track, Track ice, film, document as much as possible.
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B
Now, I, you know, go ahead, Ben or Sam, I was just going to.
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F
Say since like, yeah, September 15th, it's just been hours out in our car filming everything we can. I, over Black Friday, bought a hard drive that has more space because I was running out of space to store all of the footage. It's just been. Yeah.
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C
Months.
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B
And what has the experience been like out there on the streets watching all of this? Because I want to show some of the video in a moment and Dan's great work. But what's. What has it been like for you, Ben and Sam going out there? Because I, you know, Audrey, I, I would think, I mean, I'm a parent and I would say. I'm not sure I would say to my teenage kids, hey guys, why don't you go out there and track ice? This sounds like a great idea, but I. Kudos to you. I mean, I, to me, it's, it's. It's an amazing testament to like, public citizen action and. But anyway, to the suns there, guys, what was. What's this experience been like?
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F
It's. It's definitely been terrifying. I mean, it's federal agents who we see break the law consistently all the time. So there's always a lot of fear behind that. But also just getting to know the community and getting to know the people that are impacted by this and getting to know other patrollers and everybody who's just fighting for this. Cause everybody's there because they care about their neighbor. And that's been awesome. Yes. It's terrifying. Yes. It sometimes feels very hopeless when you see somebody arrested in front of you, and now the family doesn't even know where they are, and we can't get contact. That's. That's terrible. But, I mean, you get to meet so many amazing people, and there's.
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E
It's.
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F
It can be pretty awesome sometimes it's terrible circumstances, but everybody there is there because they love people, and it's so cool.
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B
I know what you mean because I. I lived in Chicago many, many years ago. Don't want to say how many because it'll date me. But, Dan, you did great work advice. You've done great work here. I think it's phenomenal that the piece that you put together on. On this family. But it. I wonder if you can pick up on the conversation there, because my sense of Chicago is. When I saw that Donald Trump wanted to do this Apocalypse now thing on Chicago, I was like, you were messing with the wrong city. Because people in Chicago, they love their city. They. It's like. It's almost like another country. I will tell people all the time, it's like another state, another country. It's just the people there are amazing, and they stick up for one another.
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E
Yeah, exactly. I mean, we. I wanted to document that are mobilizing in response to these raids, and we saw it a little bit in Los Angeles over the summer. But I think that things really got organized once Operation Midway Blitz, which the Trump administration calls it, started in the Chicago area. And, you know, I was getting tons of videos on my social media feed from these rapid responders, and I wanted to follow a group and just happened to be connected with Ben and Sam. Not seeking a story about two teenage brothers doing this. It just kind of organically, we were connected.
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C
Right over here.
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B
Yeah. And let's watch a clip here, because I want to watch it with the sound up if we can re rack it and play it, because it's great stuff. And the video you guys got is turn block the vehicle.
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F
In any video. Sam.
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E
Ben and Sam Lumen are teenage brothers in the Chicago suburbs.
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F
Okay, watch out. Make sure you're not blocking the vehicle at all.
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E
They spend their mornings tracking ICE agents.
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B
Buckle on.
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F
Here we go. Our position in this is to get that initial filming. You show up with cameras, and they're gone. We have other patrollers that are gonna monitor their direction. The biggest thing right now is I don't know where they went. When we have a lot of responders out there, it makes it difficult for ICE to operate because we're constantly getting the location of their vehicles. So they have to spend their day kind of dodging us instead of committing these illegal arrests, because they know the cameras will be there whenever they get.
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B
Out of their car.
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F
And getting the names of anybody being arrested is really helpful because if we don't get the names of these people, then they just disappear and they're gone. They're very unpredictable and violent. So always I'm trying to keep an eye on what they're going to do and be one step ahead of them. Everybody get in your car and follow.
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E
Follow them.
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B
Becca, wait for more vehicles.
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C
Now back at all.
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E
How did you guys get involved in this? Patrolling?
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F
It was a morning in September.
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B
My mom turned my light because I was gonna ask Ben and Sam, like, this looks a little risky. I mean, it looks like it could be, you know, could get a little, you know, a little messy. What do you. Maybe I should be addressing this to Mom. What do you think about that? Because I'm worried watching this. I think it's great that they're doing it, but as a dad, as an overprotective dad who worries too much, I'm like, are they going to be okay? Your thoughts?
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A
It's terrifying.
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B
Yeah.
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A
At the same time as I have, I think I said this in the movie, too. There are so many people around the United States right now who have to carry this fear every single day. And they know that there's the possibility that they will be taken away or a member of their family will be taken away. And what. What they start out with in the morning might be quite different in the evening. And they carry that day in and day out. And I. I am a US Citizen. We are white. You know, we have a privilege there that. That sometimes I think we ourselves fail to recognize. But America, its founding principles give due process for all. Its founding principles give all of these rights to us, no matter our legal status. And a lot of these people have lost legal status by Trump's pen. You know, 675,000 people have lost temporary protective status by nothing that they have done, no action that they have taken. And so I'm proud of my sons. Am I scared? Absolutely. Every day. I don't think I would choose to do it any other way. They want to do this, and I'm not going to stop them.
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F
There's been a lot of conversations about just, like, how can we do it the most safe way? So a big part of what we do is just, like, we're there to document and. And do everything the legal way. Because that's what, that's all we want. We want things to be done the legal way. So we're there.
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B
It's really journalism, what you're doing. It's citizen journalism, essentially.
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F
It's journalism. And then, you know, people like Dan show up and they're able to use their skills to edit it and get it out there. But, yeah, it's, it's just trying to document. And we've been, we've been pulled over and boxed in before by a couple agents in Elgin. And yeah, your, your future definitely flashes in front of your eyes when there's three cars surrounding your vehicle and somebody pounding on your window and taking your phone.
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B
They've been rough with you guys.
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C
Yeah. What?
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B
They've been rough with you guys?
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F
Yeah. There was a time in Elgin where we were, I think we were behind them like maybe 200, 300ft and we were filming. They had been at, like, the town hall building staging. And so we, we were documenting everything they were doing. And then at one point they turned around and they followed us and then turned their lights and sirens on. One guy got in behind our car. One guy kind of pulled in front, and then one got into the neighbor's yard, like, jumped the curb and blocked us completely in. He jumps out of his vehicle and pounds on the window. And then we're grabbed out of the vehicle. Our phones are taken, we're not allowed to record, and we're being threatened to arrest, be arrested. And then I look over and Sam's held against the car with his hands behind his back by another agent. And it was just like, oh, my gosh. So, yeah, that's, it's definitely terrifying. We try to be as educated as we can about all the legality of it. Obviously, there's a lot of gray area when you're fighting against the federal government that doesn't like to follow the laws of the federal government. And that's terrifying. But I, I, I can't not be out there now, especially after seeing, seeing what I've seen. I, I can't. I have to be out there.
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A
And the data is rolling in and it's rolling in saying, look, they're not actually arresting criminals.
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B
They're not arresting criminals.
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A
We're not okay with that. And we can fight back non, violently. We are citizens of the United States. This is America. This is democracy. We are actively living out what should be democratic freedom.
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B
Yeah. And Dan, what drew you to this family, to this story?
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E
So basically what happened is I was in Chicago on a reporting trip, and I wanted to follow rapid responders in some form. So I connected with a community organizer named Cristobal Cavazos, and he lead something called the People's Patrol. He started a group of patrollers, and I said, could you put me in touch with any of your patrollers? And he connected me with Ben, and I was texting with Ben for about a day, and Ben agreed to let us follow. Before Ben revealed, he's like, oh, by the way, I'm a teenager. My brother and I are teenagers, but our parents are okay with this. So the first thing I did was I said, can I talk to your mom? Like, I'm going to need to talk to your parents on the phone just to make sure they're okay with us following. So it really did happen organically.
- [28:06]
B
Incredible. And I mean, just. I mean, I think the folks understand because we've all seen the social media videos in our feeds and so on, and it is absolutely horrifying what we've witnessed over the last several months. But, Dan, what is it like being in Chicago right now covering this stuff? Because, I mean, some of the videos in your story that. In the news movement story that you did, you know, we're seeing some of those very infamous citizen videos where people being thrown down to the ground, you know, knee in the back, and people are screaming, he's a citizen. He's a. I mean, it's just. It's been bananas.
- [28:41]
E
Yeah. I'm talking to people who are traumatized by what they've seen and just living with the daily fear, like people in the Latino communities in Chicago. I spoke to one man who said that he feels uncomfortable being the only Mexican person in a restaurant now, and he's never felt that way in his hometown before. People are just afraid to run errands. Like, I spoke to another man who was stopped outside a grocery store and asked about his legal status by federal agents, and once he showed them a photocopy of his passport, they let him go. So, you know, we're seeing this kind of racial profiling, which the Supreme Court gave somewhat of a rubber stamp to back over the summer as well. But people are just. They cannot believe what they're having to live with now.
- [29:27]
B
Yeah. And, Audrey, it's scary to raise your kids in a country like this. That's the thing that. That really bugs me and pisses me off, pardon my language, in front of your kids, is that we shouldn't be raising kids in a country like this where they're getting exposed to the government Brutalizing people because of the color of their skin. Like, to me, that is just teaching such a terrible lesson, right?
- [29:53]
A
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. As. As I've taken my kids through history and have shown them, like, one of the important things that I've tried to teach them is be curious, get into somebody else's perspective, get. Listen to other people's stories. And so they're getting to do this on a daily basis and then. And then asking themselves the question, is this the America I want to live in? Is this the future that I want to have and live into? I myself have had to ask myself the question, like, what am I going to tell my grandkids when my grandkids someday come to me and say, like, grandma, what were, what was your family doing when all this was happening? Like, I don't want to have to be silent and say, we didn't do anything. We just watched.
- [30:36]
B
Yeah. And guys, what do you think? Ben and Sam? I mean, you guys, you're not, you're not aware of a country, I guess, without a Donald Trump in the White House. I guess Joe Biden was president for four years, basically in the, in the middle of two Trump terms. But what's it like being a teenager right now and witnessing all this stuff?
- [30:58]
F
I'd say it's very different than what, like, I've experienced with the government. Like, usually they're just kind of there, not very active in your home, like towns doing stuff. Like they are all over, terrorizing people all over the place. And I can't make it a week without noticing them attacking people, and that's insane.
- [31:21]
B
And wearing the masks, I mean, I can't imagine. You know, we see them in D.C. from time to time. They were here a bit, but then they really got deployed into Chicago in a major way, like in LA and New Orleans and Charlotte. But I mean, just to see these guys riding around a lot of times, unmarked cars, masked, it's wild.
- [31:37]
F
Only ever seen one marked car in person.
- [31:40]
B
Wow.
- [31:41]
E
Yeah, I've been, I've been thinking a lot about the mask issue. Just covering this for the last couple of months pretty intensively. It's something that as a reporter, you just get used to federal agents wearing masks, but it didn't happen before. Like, this is something new and there's a way in which things are being normalized now that I think we all would have really questioned a lot more before.
- [32:06]
B
And Audrey, are you hopeful that this is going to make a difference? That this, that, that getting this message out there, making sure that this is Documented that this is something. At least you can do something.
- [32:23]
A
Oh, I hope so. I hope so. I hope so many people see this and just realize, oh, my goodness, not in my country. No, no more. And get involved. Get involved, whether it's patrolling, you know, like my boys are doing, or whether it's calling their congressmen, whether it is lobbying in Washington, if it's supporting immigrant families around you or any. Any family at risk for being racially profiled and arrested illegally, support them. You know, get involved in your community.
- [32:53]
C
Get.
- [32:53]
A
Get to know your neighbors and your community. I really. Oh, if this ended tomorrow, I would be one happy mama, I'm sure.
- [33:03]
B
Well, you should be one proud mama because you've raised some really great guys there. And kudos to you guys. Really great job out there. And just all I ask is, as an overprotective dad, is to stay safe. Please stay safe.
- [33:14]
F
Thank you so much.
- [33:15]
A
Thank you.
- [33:16]
B
Thanks a lot. And thanks to Dan. Ming with the news movement. Dan, where can we find your work?
- [33:22]
E
So the news movement, that's our handle on social media, TikTok and Instagram. And you can find me at Danming on Instagram.
- [33:29]
B
Yeah, it's great stuff. I mean, when I saw this, I was like, this is. This reminds me of the stuff you used to do at Vice and you guys used to bring home all the awards. And this looks like the makings of another terrific piece that deserves a lot of awards. It's really great stuff. All the best to all of you. Really appreciate your time.
- [33:49]
E
Thank you so much.
- [33:50]
B
Thanks so much to the Lumens and to Dan. Thanks so much. And, you know, I'm blown away sometimes by, you know, what just individual families decide to do, individual citizens decide to do, and how people are really rising to the moment in this country. I mean, there's a lot to be concerned about. There's a lot to be worried about and depressed about at times. But it really. I hope folks who watch this segment that we just did are inspired by people like Audrey Lumen, who is a one brave mom, to let her sons go out there and do that stuff. And I know the sons are like, oh, no big deal. We can go out there and do this. But for a mom to allow her kids to do that in a safe way and in an effective way like that, it's really inspiring to me. You know, you see, like, this onslaught of inhumanity that Trump has unleashed on Chicago and to see the citizens the way they've responded, it really has been an amazing thing to watch. So kudos to to the, the Lumen family and to Dan over at the news movement for bringing that story to us. Really appreciate it. I want to switch gears and get back to the recurring segment that I've been doing this week, the Earth to Donald segment. And, and one of the things we've been talking about all this week is is he gonna make it? Is he gonna make it? Is he gonna make it all four years? We just is. I don't know. He falls asleep in Cabinet meetings, he falls asleep in the Oval Office. I think we're all sort of aware now that, I mean, if you saw the, the so called rally he did the rally he did the other night where they just like they try to cram as many people behind him behind the stage. It looked like there were people there, but really it felt like it wasn't a very it didn't feel like the old days. Donald Trump, let's just put it that way. And the, the orange makeup just looked really bad. Everything, it just seems to be going downhill for him. And so it is not, I think, unusual that reporters are starting to ask questions. What's going on with the bruises? Why is he falling asleep all the time? So take a look at Caroline Levitt, the White House press secretary, who, as I like to say, she's out Spicering, Sean Spicer. She was asked a question. What's going on with the bruise? I'm so glad somebody asked this question, by the way, because we've been clamoring for this. Please ask the question about the damn bruises. Somebody asked the question today about the bruises on the hands. And let's take a look at how she responded to that. It's been spotted out and about a number of times with bandages on his hands.
- [36:24]
G
Could you please explain what that is about? Secondly, he noted on True Social the other day that he had aced three cognitive tests.
- [36:31]
B
Could you please clarify when those tests took place?
- [36:34]
A
Ms.
- [36:34]
G
I can do that at a later date. I obviously don't have that in front of me. The President has spoken about that quite extensively throughout the years. As for the bandages on the hand, we've also given you an explanation for that. In the past. The President is literally constantly shaking hands. The Oval Office is like Grand Central Terminal. He is meeting with more people than any of you even know about on a daily basis. He's also on a daily aspirin regimen, which is something his physical examinations has said in the past as well, which can contribute to that bruising that you see.
- [37:05]
B
Wow. And if you look at her face, there it's, you can tell the thought bubbles like, oh, shit. I even, I don't believe what I'm saying right now. And Caroline, I'm sorry, nobody is buying that. Nobody is buying what you're selling. The bruising on Donald Trump's hand. I just want to make sure everybody is very well aware of what she just said. Want to underline it, put in italics, put it in bold, change the font size or whatever it is that Marco Rubio is doing at the State Department. I want to make sure people clearly understand what Caroline Levitt just said. She said that the bruising on Donald Trump's hands that we've all been watching and saying, what is that? She says that's from excessive handshaking. Excessive hand. He just, it's like Grand Central Station. First of all, she said Grand Central Terminal, which she meant Grand Central Station. She says it's like Grand Central Station over at the White House. And that's why Donald Trump has so many bruises on his hands that he has to hide with this really bad makeup from CVS and, you know, like, we're just not buying it, Caroline. It just doesn't add up. And she says, well, there's also an aspirin regimen, too. I don't know what aspirin regimen causes bruising on the hands like this. And as I, as I've said many times on the show, it's all about the blending. It's about the blending. But earth to Donald. Earth to Donald. Nobody is buying your excuses for the bruises on the hands. Nobody is buying that you are with it. Nobody's buying it. It is, it is very clear that, that you're covering up something. It's very, it seems clear to me, and this was maybe the clearest example to date, I think today was the clearest example to date, that the White House is engaged in a cover up of Donald Trump's declining health. And as I've said many times on this show, and I'm going to say it again, if Joe Biden were showing up to Cabinet meetings and all of that with giant bruises on his hands and falling asleep, and the White House press secretary had said, oh, that's because he's shaking a lot of hands, everybody would have fallen out of their chair laughing and the media would have gone on a non stop crusade covering it every minute of every hour of every day. And we just don't do that with Donald Trump because he's scared the shit out of the news media. He's given the people in the media the Willies to the extent that they won't even cover what is in front of their face. But you need to, because as the people at Fox, as the fraudulent outrage actors at Fox said repeatedly during the Biden presidency, who's pulling the strings? Who's really the president? The same question needs to be asked of Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Susie Wiles and the people at the Trump White House. Who's pulling the strings? Who's really the president? Who's really in charge over there? Because we're not buying the bruises on the hands coming from the handshaking. We're not buying that bullshit lie. Caroline, you know, this is like the biggest inauguration crowd size in American history. Earth to Donald. Nobody's buying it. And the other thing that we should point out in our Earth to Donald segment is that even Ron DeSantis, even Ron DeSanctimonious is not buying this idea that there is no, that there is no affordability crisis in this country. Let's put up the Ron DeSantis. Here's the Ron DeSantis to Ron DeSantimonious, as, as Trump calls him. There's some, I don't know who this character is on the Internet said the US Car affordability crisis is worsening. Yes. The price is going up at the grocery store. The price of cars is now starting to go up. Obviously, the tariff issue is, is starting to wreak some havoc for the car manufacturers. And Ron DeSantis, they're tweeting publicly. I guess he's just like, fuck it, I got nothing else to lose here. I'm stuck here as the governor of Florida and I'm not being offered a cabinet job. He says not sustainable. But you know, a stop clock can be right twice a day. And Ron DeSantis, Ron DeSanctimonious in his Desanctimonious way, has, has said it correctly. It is not sustainable. The affordability crisis in America is not sustainable. And the Republicans know this. And maybe Donald Trump knows it too, which is why they've been going around the country trying to redraw all the congressional maps. I mean, one of the many anti Democratic things that he does in this country right now is he goes around trying to redraw congressional maps. Well, this just in. The redistricting effort in Indiana has failed. The Republican lawmakers in the state of Indiana, they have delivered a rare rebuke of Donald Trump, according to the Washington Post. And they have said no thumbs down to redistricting in Indiana. So, you know, it's like that movie Hoosiers Looks like the good guys are going to win here and the bad guys are going to lose. But, you know, Trump knows that the jig is up. He knows that the jig is up. He has again. Earth to Donald Trump. Get out now. Get out now. Maybe that's the message to Donald Trump right now. At the end of this year. You want to make everybody happy in America around the world. Get out now. Leave. Go. Your health is declining. You have mysterious bruises on your hands that, that, that the White House cannot explain. Keep in mind, that explanation from Caroline Levitt is going to be played in every TV station market from here to Timbuktu around the world. And everybody is going to laugh. Everybody is going to laugh at Caroline Levitt saying that Donald Trump's bruises are due to excessive handshake. We have to be careful showing that too many times because it is close to dinner time. And the blending is not good there. The blending with the CVS makeup on the hands is not good there. They need to. The orange on the face needs to go on the hands. I mean, what's up here? The curtains don't match the drapes. Ladies and gentlemen, in terms of the, the way he looks right now, the whole thing does not look right. But to me, the, the message from Earth to Donald Trump should be just get out now. Because even if you can, you know, bullshit the American people about your health until the midterms next year, you're going to get annihilated. A, A tsunami event is, Is building as we speak. If Ron desanctimonious. Remember the, the. There's a new mayor of Miami this week. The. Eileen Higgins became the mayor of Miami. She ran on affordability. There's a massive Cuban American population in Miami, and even the Cubans are saying, we're getting the. Out of here. Even the Cubans are like, lucy, you have some explaining to do. And I'm allowed to do that because I'm. I'm Cuban. Even the Cubans are like, donald, you have some explaining to do. And they voted for Eileen Higgins, a Democrat, to be the mayor of Miami. She ran on affordability. Ron DeSantis, who is the Rhonda Sanctimonious, who is the governor of Florida, sees that and says, maybe I should get on the other side of this. I might want to run for president. This is probably what it is. He wants to run for president in 2028, and he figures, ah, shit, what the hell? I'm going to get on the other side of this and just start kicking Trump in the balls on the affordability issue. And there's a lot. There may not be much to kick, but there's a lot to kick with. And it is because things have become just unaffordable. Grocery prices, you try to get a steak lately. Hamburger restaurants, trying to figure out how do we, how do we pass these prices on to the consumers. A lot of different types of produce going up and now car prices are going up. I just saw this headline earlier today. Car prices are going up. And gosh, can you imagine that? The affordability crisis in America is getting worse when Donald Trump goes around and conducts deportation rates and sweeps up people who are not even breaking the law in this country. He's just grabbing nonviolent brown skinned people. So that is pulling people out of the labor workforce. People are afraid to go to work. They're not going to work and get snatched by ice. They're just not going to do that. And on top of that, he has this goddamn cockamamie tariff policy that of course is resulting in trade wars all around the world and that's going to have inflationary pressures as well. And so Ron Desanctimonious puts it out there and says, not sustainable. Yeah, no shit. Oh, shit. Thank you, Ron. Thank you, Ron to Sanctimonious for that. But Earth to Donald. Earth to Donald. If you want to give everybody a Christmas miracle, if you want Tiny Tim to break out and say, and God bless us, everyone, then it's time for Ebenezer Scrooge McDuck, Donald Trump to bow out, hop on that plane to Riyadh or Moscow or wherever you're gonna go in exile and cut us all a break and get out. Get out now while you can. Because nobody is buying that the bruises on the hands are due to excessive handshaking. And with that, I want to thank Eric Fudali, attorney for Epstein survivors out there. Thank you for the work that he does. Want to thank Dan Ming with the news movement and the Lumen family from Chicago for joining us today. And thanks to all of you for watching. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a good evening. I'll see you next time.