00:00:00
The US is actively discussing uh a
00:00:02
potential offer to buy Greenland. I
00:00:04
mean, they're not just murdering US
00:00:06
citizens. They're very busy on other
00:00:07
things.
00:00:14
Hi everyone, this is Pivot from New York
00:00:16
Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast
00:00:17
Network. I'm Cara Swisser. Scott
00:00:20
Galloway continues to be under the
00:00:23
weather, so I brought in two more
00:00:26
amazing co-hosts. We've got Audi
00:00:28
Cornish, host of CNN This Morning and
00:00:30
the podcast The Assignment. Uh, and Bill
00:00:33
Cohen, one of my favorite people to talk
00:00:35
about business because there's a lot
00:00:36
going on there, author and founding
00:00:38
partner of Puck. Welcome, Audi and Bill.
00:00:41
>> Hey.
00:00:42
>> Hey. Great to be here.
00:00:43
>> Thank you.
00:00:44
>> So, I had nothing to do with Scott's
00:00:45
disappearance. Yeah.
00:00:47
>> Not that I haven't wanted to be on the
00:00:48
show a lot. Like, I've been waiting with
00:00:50
this quarterzip just so that I could be
00:00:52
a part of the dialogue.
00:00:53
>> Quarter zip.
00:00:54
>> I did. And I was like, are we talking
00:00:56
business?
00:00:57
>> Yeah. Um, no.
00:00:59
>> So, I'm sure Scott's fine. I didn't do
00:01:00
anything to him at all.
00:01:01
>> No. Okay. All right. You were trying.
00:01:02
Yes. That would be a really good show of
00:01:04
like trying to take down a co-host.
00:01:07
>> Like a Nancy Carib
00:01:09
on, Bill.
00:01:10
>> I do, but I don't have a Warner Brothers
00:01:12
Discovery quarter zip.
00:01:14
>> I wore that for you. I got this from
00:01:16
David Zoff
00:01:17
>> himself.
00:01:18
>> I technically did as well.
00:01:20
>> Yeah, exactly. Yeah, he gives them out.
00:01:22
He dresses I'm going to say this
00:01:24
honestly. He dresses I told him he
00:01:25
dressed like a lesbian and he sent me
00:01:27
this.
00:01:28
>> Only lesbians can say that. I opt out. I
00:01:30
unsubscribe.
00:01:31
>> Unsubscribe. Um but yes, there a it's
00:01:33
actually a fantastic vest. I have
00:01:35
>> You look great in it.
00:01:37
>> Thank you. It's really comfortable and I
00:01:38
wear it all the time. And uh my son this
00:01:41
morning uh said, "Oh, that's the uh
00:01:43
Scooby-Doo people." So I guess
00:01:46
>> that is of all the things
00:01:47
>> of all the things.
00:01:48
>> That's such a
00:01:50
for
00:01:52
Yes, exactly. We're going to talk about
00:01:53
that and I really enjoyed your stuff,
00:01:55
Bill, but we've got a lot to get to
00:01:57
today. Um, so we're going to dig in.
00:01:58
There's a lot of news and the first one
00:02:00
obviously is the fatal shooting of a
00:02:02
37year-old woman in her car by an ICE
00:02:04
agent in Minneapolis and sparking n
00:02:07
outrage and protests again. Uh, the
00:02:10
woman, Renee Nicole Good, uh, was a US
00:02:12
citizen, a mother of of three, and a
00:02:14
poet. She's was not under any kind of
00:02:17
investigation, according to law
00:02:18
enforcement officials. Homeland Security
00:02:20
Secretary Christy Gnome uh said Good was
00:02:23
quote stalking officers in attempting an
00:02:25
act of domestic terrorism. What a
00:02:26
heinous person she is. And Minneapolis
00:02:29
Mayor Jacob uh Fry called that [ __ ]
00:02:32
and told ICE to quote, "Get the [ __ ] out
00:02:35
of Minneapolis." Uh President Trump
00:02:37
weighed in on True Social and once again
00:02:39
blamed the radical left. Um he did an
00:02:43
interview just where where the reporters
00:02:45
from New showed it to him and he sort of
00:02:47
walked it back. Uh but he he didn't
00:02:50
precisely. Um and of course they're
00:02:52
doubling down Tom Hman for a second was
00:02:54
reasonable and he got the memo that
00:02:56
they're supposed to call this woman a
00:02:58
radical terrorist. Um I want to get both
00:03:00
your takes here, but first let me share
00:03:02
Scott Galloway's thoughts on this which
00:03:04
he texted me last night. I'm horrified.
00:03:07
History shows politics uh becomes a
00:03:09
blood sport. A nation's light begins to
00:03:11
flicker. uh uh Adam Nuome Whitmer
00:03:15
Shapiro should announce candidacy this
00:03:17
week and say if elected we are going to
00:03:19
have the equivalent of the Nermberg
00:03:20
trials. There needs to be a reckoning to
00:03:22
start the stain of corruption,
00:03:24
insurrection and bigotry dems are such
00:03:26
[ __ ] wimps. That was from Scott. Um
00:03:29
the words of Scott Galloway, ladies and
00:03:30
gentlemen, from his sick bed. Audi, I'll
00:03:33
start with you. What do you make of what
00:03:34
we're seeing? You reported on it all
00:03:36
morning on your show on CNN, your
00:03:38
morning show. So talk a little bit about
00:03:40
and you've covered this kind of stuff
00:03:42
many times.
00:03:43
>> I have. And I mean talk about grim. Like
00:03:46
I think this woman had dropped her kid
00:03:47
off at school like a six-year-old. Um
00:03:51
and so many people right now wherever
00:03:54
they fall on the political spectrum feel
00:03:57
a kind of helplessness like wait a
00:03:58
second am I really where where I thought
00:04:01
I the country would be? And so if you're
00:04:04
one of those people and you decide well
00:04:06
I'm going to go out somewhere. I'm going
00:04:08
to do something. I'm going to be
00:04:09
present.
00:04:10
>> Um, and kind Yeah. protest. And I'm not
00:04:15
saying she definitely was protesting,
00:04:16
but just the idea that you are in mortal
00:04:19
danger now, uh, in these scenarios, I
00:04:23
think is pretty terrifying. Also the
00:04:26
setting, it being Minneapolis, it being
00:04:28
this many years after the death of
00:04:30
George Floyd, it being in a place where
00:04:33
protests went for a very long time and
00:04:35
in fact other protesters were killed,
00:04:37
like it can it can spin out into
00:04:40
something else. And then lastly, the
00:04:43
fact that this whole operation, you
00:04:45
know, almost 90% I think 87% of the
00:04:49
Somali in the state are naturalized
00:04:53
citizens. They are legal. So now you are
00:04:56
really trying to find one and two and
00:04:58
three people and you have a city that is
00:05:02
prepared. You'll look on your TVs in the
00:05:04
next day or two and see some protesters
00:05:06
wearing their gas masks already because
00:05:09
they have seen this movie before a kind
00:05:10
of militarized um response from law
00:05:13
enforcement.
00:05:14
>> So can I ask you one other question? The
00:05:16
response from the Trump administration
00:05:17
immediately was trying to spin it. Of
00:05:19
course, Christy Gnome had put on
00:05:20
whatever hat she had that day and
00:05:23
started to spew lies. And then the
00:05:24
videos, all of them were very much
00:05:27
different, including Fox News
00:05:29
commentators commenting on, well, she
00:05:31
was turning away from the ICE person,
00:05:33
not, you know, the there he she was
00:05:34
trying to hit him. She's obviously
00:05:36
dropped her kid off from school. There's
00:05:38
very little known.
00:05:39
>> I mean, look, if there's one thing we
00:05:40
know how to do as Americans is, uh,
00:05:42
scrutinize a video of a law enforcement
00:05:45
involved killing. Uh, I think we had a
00:05:47
fair amount of practice at that. We have
00:05:49
not had practice doing that with a white
00:05:51
mother, you know, of a couple kids. And
00:05:54
I think this has looked very shocking
00:05:56
for people and familiar in ways that
00:05:59
feel very sort of dark. The
00:06:01
administration's whole stance on this
00:06:03
entire process has been always double
00:06:05
down, always triple down, never give any
00:06:07
ground. Um because they feel they have
00:06:10
not just uh some kind of moral
00:06:12
authority. They'll evoke this mandate
00:06:15
you hear over and over on these cable
00:06:17
news panels. this is what people voted
00:06:19
for. Um, I'll just wrap up by saying we
00:06:23
don't matter what the TV news says or
00:06:26
commentators. People have eyes and they
00:06:28
have social media. And I have watched
00:06:31
all of these ICE enforcements and
00:06:32
arrests and protests on social media
00:06:36
where people offer their own commentary.
00:06:39
And I think that is having way more
00:06:41
impact than the administration would
00:06:43
like to think. They want to think it's a
00:06:45
Democratic governor somewhere saying
00:06:46
something that's rhetoric that make
00:06:48
people say f ICE. Uh check the hashtag,
00:06:51
you know, it it's not run certainly by
00:06:53
any Democratic uh messaging operation.
00:06:56
>> Right. Right. So, Bill, I want to bring
00:06:57
you one of the things that I'm watching
00:06:58
though is a lot of suddenly business
00:07:01
people, well-known people, the head of
00:07:03
the guy who runs Jeopardy spoke up.
00:07:05
Right. And just I just was noticing Paul
00:07:07
Graham, who I think you know, he was the
00:07:09
head of Y Combinator, um wrote, "Ice
00:07:12
just shot and killed a woman in
00:07:13
Minneapolis, a US citizen. How long
00:07:14
before we say enough is enough?" Elon
00:07:17
Musk responded, "Uh, she tried to run
00:07:19
people over." And Paul wrote back and
00:07:21
Paul is I wouldn't call him a liberal by
00:07:23
in fact, he's somewhat irritating on
00:07:25
many levels. Um uh she didn't. Uh no,
00:07:28
she didn't. Here's the evidence. She's
00:07:29
turning the wheel the front wheels of
00:07:31
the car to the right away from the ICE
00:07:32
officer on her left. She was trying to
00:07:34
run him over. or why would she turn in
00:07:36
the other direction? Um there's Do you
00:07:38
think Bill because a lot of the you
00:07:40
haven't heard, you know, word one from
00:07:43
any tech people on any of this or any
00:07:46
business people on this stuff?
00:07:48
>> Yeah, I I think we may be reaching a
00:07:51
tipping point on that. uh to use a
00:07:54
phrase that a lot of business people can
00:07:56
understand. I think um this is obviously
00:07:59
the inevitable outcome of the wider
00:08:02
Steven Miller agenda uh which is heinous
00:08:06
in almost every respect. And you know
00:08:09
and you'll have to remember that Steven
00:08:10
Miller's grandparents were immigrants
00:08:12
and if uh his policies were in place for
00:08:17
them uh you know maybe they never would
00:08:19
have come to this country. Grocking
00:08:21
Steven Miller will be a year a decades
00:08:24
long thing for future historians. But go
00:08:26
ahead.
00:08:27
>> Absolutely. I mean this guy is
00:08:29
completely out of control. Witness the
00:08:31
uh interview he gave to Jake Tapper the
00:08:34
other day uh which was happened to be
00:08:36
about Venezuela. But the same kind of
00:08:38
arrogance and hubris applies here. Uh so
00:08:42
I mean these situations are p powder
00:08:44
kegs uh you know bringing in highly
00:08:47
militarized uh you know ICE officers
00:08:50
into neighborhoods and rounding up
00:08:53
people who should never be rounded up.
00:08:56
You know so it seems so unamerican to
00:08:58
me. I don't think this is what we voted
00:09:00
for at all.
00:09:01
>> But why why have businesses remained
00:09:03
largely silent
00:09:04
>> because you know it it doesn't
00:09:06
>> during George Floyd. Well, I mean, first
00:09:09
of all, it see that seems like a
00:09:11
lifetime ago, you know, the reaction to
00:09:13
George Floyd. I mean, people have
00:09:15
whatever gotten with the program. Uh, I
00:09:18
remember, uh, having a dinner a few
00:09:20
months ago with the CEO of a tech
00:09:23
company, uh, Cara, who you probably know
00:09:25
well, who I asked this exact thing. Why
00:09:28
are you not speaking up more, uh, uh,
00:09:31
profoundly about what's going on here?
00:09:33
No, because it doesn't affect my
00:09:34
business. uh what affects my business
00:09:36
is, you know, my shareholders, my
00:09:38
creditors, my employees. Uh you know,
00:09:40
this doesn't affect what Donald Trump is
00:09:42
doing, what the regime is doing doesn't
00:09:44
affect me. It's not my business. I'm
00:09:46
going to stay out of it even though it's
00:09:49
totally reprehensible and that these
00:09:51
people should be speaking up.
00:09:52
>> Mhm.
00:09:53
>> I mean, why have FU money if you're not
00:09:55
going to speak up and use it?
00:09:57
>> Yep. Yep. Absolutely. I mean, it'll be
00:10:00
interesting. Last thing, a Where do you
00:10:01
imagine this going now with these
00:10:03
videos? I mean, it was really
00:10:05
interesting the New York Times interview
00:10:06
because it looks like he was like, "Oh,
00:10:08
yeah, I guess not." Will they continue
00:10:09
to double down? What is the Because, of
00:10:12
course, it takes away from their
00:10:13
Venezuela capers, which we'll get to in
00:10:15
a second. It takes away from their
00:10:16
Greenland capers.
00:10:17
>> I'll be honest, it depends on what
00:10:18
happens next. I mean, you'll notice my
00:10:20
eyes are kind of going like this every
00:10:21
few minutes is because right now there
00:10:23
is this kind of images of what looks
00:10:25
like a standoff and uh between
00:10:28
protesters who are like linking arms and
00:10:30
then you have uh this is the state of
00:10:33
the country we're in right now. I'm like
00:10:34
are these National Guard? Are these
00:10:36
police? Are these ICE police? Like who
00:10:38
am I even looking at? And is this even
00:10:41
how you do crowd control? Is this how
00:10:43
you enforce things? And I just want to
00:10:45
add one more thing here.
00:10:48
the the ramp up that we are witnessing
00:10:51
of this law enforcement agency that is
00:10:54
not structured the way the others are
00:10:56
does not have it's unaccountable in such
00:10:59
profound ways and I think that I will be
00:11:04
very curious if people feel like they
00:11:06
voted for that cuz when I hear the
00:11:08
manosphere and the podcast bros kind of
00:11:11
be like I don't know man I don't know if
00:11:12
you should be I can't believe they're
00:11:14
doing this I can't believe they're doing
00:11:15
that to me that's now reached the stage
00:11:17
where the average person does not
00:11:19
perceive this as just a mass deportation
00:11:23
of criminals. I do think that horse has
00:11:25
left the barn. It's now do they think
00:11:28
that what's being grown in their name um
00:11:32
that they as voters should step in and
00:11:33
somehow try and stop it or make their
00:11:35
displeasure known
00:11:36
>> that the which they are have been doing.
00:11:37
I mean Gustapo wasn't what we voted for.
00:11:39
I guess that's go ahead.
00:11:42
>> I mean I just think we're living sorry
00:11:44
uh through an era of unaccountability.
00:11:46
There's no accountability for ICE.
00:11:48
There's no accountability for Venezuela.
00:11:50
There's no accountability for ripping
00:11:52
down the east wing of the White House.
00:11:54
There's no accountability for re uh
00:11:57
describing what happened on January uh
00:12:00
6th in on on the White House website. I
00:12:03
mean, every day there's uh an example of
00:12:06
bad behavior that would normally be
00:12:09
unacceptable. In my lifetime, uh it
00:12:12
would be completely unacceptable for our
00:12:15
our our politicians to act this way. And
00:12:18
yet, uh they do it with impunity and
00:12:20
there's never any accountability.
00:12:22
>> But there is a lever, just no one's
00:12:24
pulling it. I mean, I hear Scott talk
00:12:25
like this all the time, but the business
00:12:28
community seems to have walked away from
00:12:30
the awakening
00:12:32
>> and a bunch of them went, "That really
00:12:34
went too far, don't you think?" And so,
00:12:36
they don't give a [ __ ] Like honestly, I
00:12:40
genuinely feel like they are going on
00:12:43
yachts and building up fortresses for
00:12:46
themselves and they no longer feel
00:12:47
actually engaged with the country in a
00:12:50
lot of ways. And I don't say this as
00:12:51
some like raving liberal. I'm just like
00:12:53
they are absent. They don't yank funding
00:12:55
from things. They don't get advertising
00:12:57
from things. They go to every dinner
00:12:59
they have at the White House. Like I
00:13:01
don't know what the business community
00:13:03
>> I think they do. I think they do give a
00:13:04
[ __ ] I I think that they prefer not to
00:13:07
be the nail that sticks up that gets
00:13:09
this madman's attention and then puts
00:13:12
them in the crosshairs and they have to
00:13:14
deal with some, you know, analogous
00:13:18
event that uh that they didn't want to
00:13:20
have to deal with because they spoke up.
00:13:21
So, I think they do care.
00:13:24
>> Renee Good took a risk. Billionaires
00:13:26
won't. And I'm confused.
00:13:27
>> Yeah. All right. Well, that's a good
00:13:28
point. Yeah. Go ahead.
00:13:29
>> That's why I say if you've got a few
00:13:31
money, why aren't you using it?
00:13:33
>> Yep. Yep. I I have to say I'm with Audi
00:13:35
on this one. It's like they could This
00:13:37
is not hard. None of this is
00:13:38
particularly hard and it doesn't affect
00:13:39
your own
00:13:40
>> midterms are coming up. You can throw
00:13:41
around all your Free Amendment money,
00:13:43
you know, First Amendment money then.
00:13:45
Yeah. Will they? I'm not holding my
00:13:47
breath.
00:13:47
>> Well, now we're going to talk about
00:13:48
Venezuela. Here are some of the
00:13:50
highlights of the story since our last
00:13:51
episode. President Trump will meet with
00:13:53
oil industry executives on Friday at the
00:13:55
White House after saying the US may
00:13:57
subsidize the company's efforts to
00:13:58
rebuild in Venezuela. In other words,
00:14:00
the taxpayer will pay for it, which he
00:14:02
estimated would take 18 months. Uh,
00:14:04
probably just made that up. On
00:14:05
Wednesday, President Trump said US
00:14:07
control of Venezuela could last for
00:14:09
years. The president has withdrawn the
00:14:11
US from 66 international organizations
00:14:13
and treaties, including climate groups.
00:14:15
The US seized two oil tankers, including
00:14:17
a Russian flagged vessel linked to
00:14:20
Venezuela in the North Atlantic. The
00:14:23
national security leaders have said the
00:14:24
administration does not plan to use
00:14:26
ground troops in Venezuela. Of course,
00:14:28
in related news, the US is actively
00:14:30
discussing uh a potential offer to buy
00:14:32
Greenland and hasn't ruled out military
00:14:35
uh action. I mean, they're not just
00:14:37
murdering US citizens. They're very busy
00:14:39
on other things. Um so, Bill, start. How
00:14:42
do you suspect these oil executives will
00:14:43
be responding in this meeting? Um
00:14:45
because it's it's a dicey situation for
00:14:47
them no matter what, and the price of
00:14:49
oil, of course, is not as high as they'd
00:14:51
like it to be,
00:14:53
>> right? So, how do you respond to this
00:14:56
rampant imperialism? Uh, if you're a CEO
00:14:59
of a of an oil company that might or
00:15:01
might not benefit from this imperialism,
00:15:04
uh, I think that the economics of the
00:15:07
situation do not necessarily lend itself
00:15:08
to these companies wanting to go in
00:15:11
there. Uh, it's going to take billions
00:15:14
of dollars to apparently fix up the
00:15:16
refiner,
00:15:17
>> which they also had lost previously,
00:15:19
right? whatever sunk sunk money
00:15:22
different companies whatever uh you know
00:15:25
okay so you give them a heads up early
00:15:27
that you're doing this cuz he loves to
00:15:29
court their favor uh but I don't think
00:15:32
this is nearly going to be nearly as
00:15:34
smooth and as easy uh it never is first
00:15:36
of all look what happened in in Iraq and
00:15:38
that was supposed to be over in 10 days
00:15:40
right
00:15:41
>> and good for oil companies similar words
00:15:43
actually
00:15:44
>> right similar words didn't work out that
00:15:46
way and I don't see this working out
00:15:47
that way either besides car we are net
00:15:50
exporters of oil. Now, why why do we
00:15:52
need more oil from Venezuela? I mean,
00:15:57
this is just this crazy uh hubristic uh
00:16:02
uh ugly uh American behavior that I
00:16:05
thought we would have learned from over
00:16:07
the decades of doing similar things,
00:16:09
especially in Latin America. And and I'm
00:16:11
not I mean obviously if you're the CEO
00:16:13
of one of these oil companies, you get
00:16:14
invited to the White House by a madman,
00:16:16
you know, you go and you listen to what
00:16:19
he has to say. But I think as an
00:16:20
economic matter, it's going to take a
00:16:22
long time before they, you know, raise
00:16:24
their hands and say, "Oh, yes, me too. I
00:16:26
want to get in here and, you know,
00:16:27
extract this oil because
00:16:29
>> even if they get a freebie from
00:16:30
taxpayers, if he's able to do that at
00:16:32
all, right, which is
00:16:33
>> yeah, we don't know the mechanisms about
00:16:35
how this will work." Also, Bill, I was
00:16:37
wondering in the era of this kind of
00:16:39
Trump administration
00:16:42
trans transactional foreign policy and
00:16:45
transactional business policy, can
00:16:48
>> everything's a transaction.
00:16:49
>> Yeah. So, you can't do a no strings
00:16:52
attached situation with the Trump
00:16:53
administration, even as an oil company,
00:16:55
I would think, right? Like, if they're
00:16:57
going to not like even Nvidia has to
00:16:59
give a slice, so like why wouldn't you?
00:17:01
And our company starting to be wary
00:17:04
about that.
00:17:05
>> Totally. I mean there's I mean he said
00:17:07
he's going to you know seize the oil
00:17:10
that has apparently been you know ours
00:17:12
and locked up apparently and he's going
00:17:14
to sell it on the market and control the
00:17:18
proceeds of that sale. I mean he's got
00:17:21
his fingers in all these pies. It's this
00:17:24
ultimate grift. You know the Center for
00:17:26
American Progress has got a website now
00:17:28
that tracks the grift. It's nearly $2
00:17:30
billion since January uh since he was
00:17:33
inaugurated. This is another part of the
00:17:35
grift and and and I'm always uh very
00:17:39
concerned about, you know, you have
00:17:40
these big uh exogenous events you like
00:17:43
going into Venezuela or or what happened
00:17:45
in Min Minneapolis. What's what are they
00:17:48
doing? What are they trying to deflect
00:17:50
from? All right. Uh is it is it the
00:17:53
rewriting of January 6th? Is it Jeffrey
00:17:56
Epstein? Is it, you know, Graph? I mean,
00:17:59
taking down the east wing of the White
00:18:01
House, the $400 million ballroom. I
00:18:04
mean, what kind of crazy thing is he
00:18:06
trying to distract us from? It's wag the
00:18:09
dog, it's Orwellian, and you know, we're
00:18:12
just again, there's no accountability
00:18:13
for an oil executive going to that
00:18:15
meeting. What I I I have talked to two
00:18:18
of them and they're like, "This is not
00:18:20
good for us. The price of oil, you know,
00:18:22
they I mean, economically, it's kind of
00:18:24
insane.
00:18:25
Why are you going to invest billions of
00:18:26
dollars trying to extract oil in
00:18:29
Venezuela when we're already net
00:18:30
exporters of oil? I don't I don't
00:18:32
understand.
00:18:33
>> In an easier situation, right?
00:18:35
>> I mean, the potential there is huge,
00:18:36
right? Like they're sitting on the
00:18:38
reserve. It's just does this
00:18:40
administration have the attention span?
00:18:42
Is the country willing to do what it
00:18:45
takes to secure a long-term investment?
00:18:49
I mean, no one has the appetite for a
00:18:51
very long list of things for the reasons
00:18:53
you guys everyone has said, which is
00:18:55
like the ghost of Iraq and and that
00:18:58
whole conversation just haunted foreign
00:19:01
policy.
00:19:02
>> So many others. I mean, why are we I
00:19:04
mean, what what if the reverse situation
00:19:07
were happening? I mean, honestly, what
00:19:08
if Venezuela came in, kidnapped Trump
00:19:11
and Melania, took them off in Venezuela,
00:19:13
and then started saying, "Okay, now we
00:19:15
own Exxon, Chevron, you know, and and
00:19:18
all the Kono and all the other oil
00:19:21
companies and we're just going to
00:19:22
extract all the oil because we we want
00:19:24
to. I mean,
00:19:25
>> I have to Cara, I want to raise
00:19:27
something with you and get your point of
00:19:28
view, which is that there's a lot of
00:19:30
people who would say all the Trump
00:19:32
people really do is overt versions of
00:19:35
things that the US has always done
00:19:37
covertly. So, the long list of Latin
00:19:39
American regime change and
00:19:41
interventions, I I'm just going to pick
00:19:43
a date and go back to like 51 or
00:19:45
something. Um, now the only difference
00:19:47
is they just do it, right? And instead
00:19:49
of us playing this like absurd game with
00:19:52
Donald Rumsfeld about oil and whether
00:19:54
it's the oil and whether it's not and
00:19:55
then Jim Baker is like, "Oh, it's
00:19:57
definitely I mean just nonsense." Now we
00:19:59
just have people saying the thing
00:20:01
>> they saying it's oil.
00:20:02
>> Yeah. And like is there something to be
00:20:04
said for a like you're addressing
00:20:06
everything more directly? And number
00:20:09
two, what is for Democrats? What's their
00:20:11
response? What are you going to tell a
00:20:13
Venezuelan expat? like, well, we really
00:20:15
want that dictator to stay because we
00:20:18
don't like the way they're doing this.
00:20:20
>> Well, as as many people point out,
00:20:21
Maduro is a is an autocrat and a very
00:20:24
tyrannical one, right? It's not like I
00:20:26
think his own people knifed him in the
00:20:27
back. That's my my take on the whole
00:20:30
thing is is a Deli who looks harmless
00:20:32
but is not in any way.
00:20:34
>> She was head of the intelligence correct
00:20:36
department at one point and she was head
00:20:38
of the oil. Like that regime is still
00:20:40
there. They're violent. They're
00:20:41
repressive. They're turning on each
00:20:42
other. And if you're a Democrat, do you
00:20:44
just say, "But uh actually he needs to
00:20:46
come to Congress appropriation something
00:20:48
something when you have all these people
00:20:50
in the country saying we needed the
00:20:52
help. Maybe this maybe we want to thank
00:20:55
Trump for doing this."
00:20:56
>> They do. They do. I mean, but that it's
00:20:58
hardly pointful who he's not he's not
00:21:00
the president of Venezuela, so who
00:21:01
cares? He it's not his job.
00:21:03
>> I mean, I think a lot of Venezuelans in
00:21:04
Florida do like I think
00:21:06
>> expats who have left, right? They're a
00:21:08
very different group of people and
00:21:09
people there. I just did a a long uh
00:21:11
podcast with some historian uh David
00:21:14
Sanger and some others about this and
00:21:16
one of the things that was interesting
00:21:18
to me was that there's a real rift
00:21:20
between the people who 25% of the
00:21:23
population left and the people who were
00:21:24
there and you know there's a whole there
00:21:27
again not our country not our problem
00:21:29
>> but we saw this with the Cuban community
00:21:30
and the Cuban Republican community right
00:21:33
like uh Democrats lost that community
00:21:35
for decades after and now the secretary
00:21:38
of state is basically the product of
00:21:40
that political lineage Right. Exactly.
00:21:43
Which is why they're focusing on Cuba
00:21:45
next. And but one of the things is I
00:21:47
think would you cringing in plain sight
00:21:49
is what you're asking about. They're
00:21:50
crimeing in plain sight. I do think
00:21:52
there are one of the things the response
00:21:55
was in the no one's ever done this. I'm
00:21:56
like hold the hold my beer. Yes they
00:21:59
did. Panama. Yes they did. Haiti. Yes we
00:22:02
did. Iraq. Iran. Like Chile. Like yes we
00:22:06
did. And except what Donald Trump is
00:22:08
doing is not saying oh it's a democracy
00:22:11
thing. Oh, it's because of this. He's or
00:22:14
it's because of political prisoners or
00:22:16
it's because he's just saying, "Yeah,
00:22:17
it's the oil." And then you have Howard
00:22:19
Nutnik who seems to be in a bathroom
00:22:20
piping up at the minerals like like
00:22:23
that. I don't think and I think actually
00:22:25
the Trump administration has made when
00:22:27
people point to his grift, they go,
00:22:29
"Well, he's doing it transparently."
00:22:31
Like, so cramming in plain sight is
00:22:34
better and it's on a scale that's
00:22:35
unprecedented. That's really the more
00:22:38
interesting part of it. Um, but it's
00:22:40
still it's still stupid. Like I don't
00:22:42
know what else to say. It's stupid as
00:22:43
Bill pointed out because of the price of
00:22:45
oil is going to come down, crashing down
00:22:47
presumably,
00:22:48
>> right? I mean, did he really think this
00:22:49
through? I mean, you know, the oil
00:22:51
executives will go to this meeting, but
00:22:53
to get them to invest billions of
00:22:55
dollars to refine or get that oil out of
00:22:59
the ground and sell it into a market
00:23:00
where the price of oil is low,
00:23:02
relatively speaking, and we're already
00:23:04
net exporters of oil. Why are they going
00:23:06
to do that?
00:23:08
think that
00:23:10
you can't even get a guarantee from the
00:23:11
government that they'll secure the
00:23:12
workforce that would do this. I mean
00:23:14
there there's been there is no day two
00:23:17
>> uh why are we invading another country
00:23:21
kidnapping their president so we can
00:23:23
take their natural resources.
00:23:25
>> Yeah, it does happen with the shoeer on
00:23:27
the other foot. I I think there might be
00:23:29
a little bit of
00:23:30
>> the old if Obama did this. We're sort of
00:23:32
way beyond if Obama did this kind of
00:23:34
thing. But in related news, speaking of
00:23:36
which, um, speaking of minerals and
00:23:39
things we want there and and
00:23:40
strategically indeed important place,
00:23:43
Greenland. Um, now from what I
00:23:45
understand from this panel I did, we can
00:23:48
go to Greenland right now and put as
00:23:49
many bases on it as we want. We could
00:23:51
put 300 bases. We had 16 17 bases there.
00:23:55
We closed 16 of them. So we have every
00:23:58
right to be in Greenland from a 1950s
00:24:01
treaty. So we don't even have to
00:24:03
>> Yeah. 51
00:24:04
>> 50 like we don't have to do anything. We
00:24:07
can just open all those things and like
00:24:09
squat I guess squat in Greenland. I
00:24:11
think that's the way I think that's the
00:24:13
technical term for it. Um so what what
00:24:16
happens but but it has created this this
00:24:19
NATO crisis existential crisis um
00:24:22
especially if he does something milit
00:24:25
with the military rather than just offer
00:24:27
to buy it. Uh thoughts first Audi and
00:24:30
then Bill.
00:24:31
>> Oh no I want to hear Bill first. I'm
00:24:32
kind of curious
00:24:33
>> economically is is it a good is it a
00:24:36
good deal?
00:24:37
>> Look, he he he he doesn't care uh as
00:24:39
he's proven for years, it doesn't care
00:24:41
about NATO. So, if he's provoking uh
00:24:44
confrontation with NATO and a way to get
00:24:46
out of NATO, okay, fine. Or maybe it's
00:24:50
bluster. And I mean, do we need to buy
00:24:53
Greenland? As you said, we can do
00:24:55
already or allowed to do what we want.
00:24:57
is just another example of this crazy
00:25:00
wacky uh uh imperialistic behavior that
00:25:04
is so unbecoming and you would think
00:25:05
that we would have learned from our past
00:25:08
mistakes in this area and it makes
00:25:10
people hate us and resent us which is
00:25:13
part of the reason we got a 9/11
00:25:15
situation is that hate and resentment uh
00:25:18
around the world and he's fmenting it
00:25:20
without any accountability. Uh and to
00:25:23
what end? I mean, again, if you if
00:25:25
there's a treaty that says we can
00:25:26
already put bases there and we haven't
00:25:28
done it, well, why not just do that? Why
00:25:30
are we provoking uh a confrontation with
00:25:33
one of
00:25:34
>> He wants to be the first US president to
00:25:37
expand territory since whoever it was.
00:25:39
Yeah,
00:25:40
>> that's that is to me the
00:25:42
>> So, he wants to do this his version of
00:25:44
Louisiana purchase, does he?
00:25:46
>> Yes. Yeah. Yeah. He could he wants his
00:25:49
face on Mount Rushmore? He wants his
00:25:51
face on the coin.
00:25:51
>> On a coin. Yeah. He's building his $400
00:25:54
million uh ballroom. I mean, this guy
00:25:59
>> never going to get built. I'm just
00:26:00
telling you, never going to get built.
00:26:01
That's my That's my feeling. My thoughts
00:26:03
is that, you know, I think it's baffling
00:26:05
for all of us because he tends to uh
00:26:07
first of all, his ideas of foreign
00:26:09
policy are often frozen in particular uh
00:26:11
vintage, right? It's like he really does
00:26:14
just care a lot about tariffs. He thinks
00:26:16
that's the way to do it. So tariffs it
00:26:19
is you know um resources and
00:26:22
transactional uh I think Google called
00:26:24
it transactional predation of resources
00:26:28
he sees himself as doing like what China
00:26:30
is doing or something like that. Now, of
00:26:33
course, it's very different. It's very,
00:26:35
very different. And it's often, as you
00:26:37
mentioned, Bill, um, undermining our
00:26:40
allies. And I think that it is very,
00:26:44
it's very difficult to watch in real
00:26:46
time the postworld war II world order
00:26:49
and systems be not just chipped away,
00:26:53
but kind of kicked in the knee. And
00:26:55
maybe like retirement.
00:26:57
>> Yeah, you can go. Maybe like retirement
00:27:00
it was always a myth you know like maybe
00:27:01
it was never going to last more than 50
00:27:03
to 80 years but we are witnessing the
00:27:05
falling apart of something that doesn't
00:27:08
mean that something else can't be
00:27:09
rebuilt in its place but uh for sure I
00:27:12
think that it might be baffling to the
00:27:14
average person because you're like why
00:27:15
are we suddenly talking about Greenland
00:27:18
and you can say that almost every week
00:27:20
why are we talking about X why are we
00:27:22
talking about
00:27:22
>> let me just add in one of the Greenland
00:27:25
certainly is a strategic and there are
00:27:27
minerals to be whatever that kind of
00:27:29
stuff.
00:27:30
>> Under a lot of ice.
00:27:31
>> Under a lot of ice. By the way,
00:27:33
Greenland isn't green and Iceland isn't
00:27:35
ice. Um I I'd like to point that out.
00:27:37
>> Thank you for that.
00:27:38
>> Anytime. Anytime. Um but to me, the best
00:27:42
economic thing to do from a business
00:27:44
point of view is to help Ukraine because
00:27:46
that is a country if it was renovated,
00:27:49
they have high technical expertise. Uh
00:27:51
we would we would speaking of US
00:27:53
benefiting economically that's our best
00:27:56
economic bet to get
00:27:57
>> that's like the one thing we won't do
00:28:00
the Russians out and create a very
00:28:02
vibrant technologically forward
00:28:06
we would make a lot of bank there versus
00:28:09
a Greenland or a Venezuela or anywhere
00:28:11
else to me if that's your criteria is
00:28:14
what's the best deal to me Ukraine is
00:28:16
the best deal from an if you're just
00:28:18
going to be that venal of
00:28:20
>> Can I raise one more thing that's sort
00:28:21
of baffling to me. You have a generation
00:28:24
of Republicans in MAGA world, whatever,
00:28:27
who were against the Forever Wars. You
00:28:30
have Navy Seals in Congress now,
00:28:31
lawmakers. They're there because they
00:28:34
were against Forever Wars. They were
00:28:36
against our actions abroad and
00:28:38
interventions, and they hate the
00:28:39
neocons, and they're kicking dirt over
00:28:41
Dick Janie's grave. And I don't
00:28:44
understand them right now. I don't know
00:28:46
if this is going to be like the fiscal
00:28:48
hawks who just sort of like squirm away,
00:28:51
you know, and don't say anything about
00:28:52
what he's doing. But when it comes to
00:28:54
foreign policy, the far right that is
00:28:58
against interventionism
00:29:00
has lost on every single argument. Like
00:29:02
whether it's Iran, whether it's
00:29:03
whatever, like he doesn't care what they
00:29:06
think about that. There are people green
00:29:07
has been talking about it. Mass there's
00:29:10
>> well she
00:29:11
>> resigns like leaving never gives zero fs
00:29:14
anyway like Rand Paul I mean it's sort
00:29:17
of the same handful of people right
00:29:19
>> and I legit it's like
00:29:22
>> Lindsey Graham has gotten his wings
00:29:23
again right
00:29:24
>> um and all those people who allegedly
00:29:27
didn't want intervention are oddly
00:29:30
silent in these moments.
00:29:32
>> Uh Bill, last question here. Um, is
00:29:34
there any economic goodness to this
00:29:38
>> of trying to, you know, buy Greenland?
00:29:40
>> I mean,
00:29:42
>> for again, first of all, it's it's it's
00:29:44
it's
00:29:45
so unattractive
00:29:47
>> the way he's going about it and doing
00:29:49
what he's doing. Are there economic
00:29:50
benefits? There might be, Cara. How how
00:29:53
the hell are we going to know? I mean,
00:29:55
how do we know right now whether there
00:29:58
might be economic benefits? First of
00:29:59
all, what I mean is if a client came to
00:30:01
you and said, "I want to buy Greenland."
00:30:02
What would be the thing as an investment
00:30:04
banker you would do?
00:30:06
>> I want to buy Greenland. Are you out of
00:30:07
your [ __ ] mind? Oh,
00:30:09
>> okay. That's
00:30:10
>> going to piss off one of our best allies
00:30:12
to try to obtain this, you know, block
00:30:15
of ice, you know, that may have
00:30:17
strategic value. And if it's like
00:30:18
strategic defensive value, we are, as
00:30:20
you said, we already have the right to
00:30:22
put bases up there. Why do we close 16
00:30:24
of the 17? Let's open them again or
00:30:26
whatever it is. If if if it's if it's
00:30:28
like controlling the Arctic and being
00:30:30
having a policy matter and a national
00:30:32
defense issue. Yeah. Okay. I get that. I
00:30:34
get that. But what you want to mine for
00:30:36
minerals under
00:30:38
>> a mile of ice. Yeah, that might work.
00:30:40
Maybe, you know, with global warming, of
00:30:43
course, that's not an issue anymore.
00:30:44
We're not we're not warming up anymore
00:30:46
apparently. So, it's going to be like
00:30:48
many millennium before we get under that
00:30:50
to a client like that.
00:30:51
>> You know, I'm curious. I hope that's the
00:30:54
way I was speaking last night. One
00:30:56
thing, Bill, I think there's so much
00:30:58
foreign policy uh action that I think
00:31:00
when you look at say the Abraham Accords
00:31:02
for the Trump administration, they feel
00:31:03
like if you can get people doing
00:31:05
business together, that inherently
00:31:08
creates the um environment for peaceful
00:31:12
interaction that the money is what is
00:31:14
going to make those things work, not
00:31:17
arbitrary red lines in diplomatic
00:31:19
conference rooms. Maybe, but it's just
00:31:22
been a graft for the Trump
00:31:24
administration and the Trump family.
00:31:26
It's all been about graft. It hasn't
00:31:28
been about opening up.
00:31:30
>> Grift, but Graph, too. All right. When
00:31:33
we get uh we're going to take a quick
00:31:34
break. We come back. Uh maybe Bill's
00:31:37
Bills and my favorite topic, Warner
00:31:39
Brothers rebuffs. Paramount again. No
00:31:41
surprise. I'm back with Audi Cornish and
00:31:43
Bill Cohen. Warner Brothers Discovery
00:31:45
has rejected Paramount's latest buyouted
00:31:47
offer, urging its shareholders to stick
00:31:48
with Netflix. Warner Brothers said
00:31:50
Paramount's bid was not superior to the
00:31:52
72 billion Netflix offer for its studios
00:31:55
and streaming businesses. The board also
00:31:56
flagged the uncertainty risk around
00:31:58
Paramount's offer, saying it would
00:31:59
effectively be a leverage buyout, the
00:32:01
largest in history. This comes after
00:32:03
Larry Ellison stepped in to personally
00:32:05
backs stop Paramount's offer with a $40
00:32:07
billion equity guarantee. And just a
00:32:09
little while ago, Paramount reaffirmed
00:32:10
its $30 a share allcash offer for Warner
00:32:13
Brothers. No more bill. um you've done a
00:32:16
lot of reporting on this and let me just
00:32:17
add in how Versent also Versant is what
00:32:21
I like to call it um like Quasant uh
00:32:23
factors in all of this. Comcast
00:32:25
completed a spin-off of Versent this
00:32:26
week which includes MS Now, CNBC and
00:32:29
other networks. Versent shares closed
00:32:31
down 13% on their first day and now down
00:32:33
29% for the week. Although that is index
00:32:36
funds repurposing themselves according
00:32:38
to many investors and I think that's
00:32:39
correct. All well, Paramount has been
00:32:41
arguing that Warner's cable channels
00:32:43
stub are worth around a dollar a share.
00:32:45
Um, let's talk a little bit about this.
00:32:47
Now, Audi works for CNN, which is
00:32:50
>> Yeah, that's my disclaimer.
00:32:52
>> Is the parent company
00:32:53
>> is the parent company. Um, I am a
00:32:55
contributor to them, but I will be
00:32:57
leaving if if Paramount gets it. So, I
00:33:00
don't and I don't give a [ __ ] Um, so
00:33:02
I'm going to a lot of you may weigh in
00:33:03
as you want. Uh, I am happy.
00:33:05
>> I am literally here to learn on this
00:33:07
front.
00:33:07
>> Okay. All right. Okay. Bill, why don't
00:33:08
you walk us through this and what
00:33:10
happens next?
00:33:11
>> Sure. Well, the the key point that what
00:33:13
just happened was this idea that the
00:33:15
Paramount offer uh at $30 a share is the
00:33:19
deemed by the board of WBD not to be
00:33:21
quote superior at this time. Okay? Cuz
00:33:24
if they did deem it to be superior, uh
00:33:27
whatever that means, that's a sort of a
00:33:29
vague term which comes a lot of judgment
00:33:31
comes into that. uh uh if they did deem
00:33:33
it to be superior, they could break
00:33:35
their merger agreement with Netflix and
00:33:37
turn their attention to the Paramount
00:33:39
deal. They would owe Netflix a breakup
00:33:41
fee of $2.8 billion and then, you know,
00:33:44
we'd have the bidding war would begin
00:33:45
again. Uh so they they did what you
00:33:49
would expect them to do, which was say,
00:33:50
why are we going to you know, we've
00:33:52
we've got this merger agreement with
00:33:54
Netflix. We're happy with it. We think
00:33:55
it's worth more, and uh there's no
00:33:58
reason at this moment to to change that
00:34:01
recommendation. That doesn't mean that
00:34:02
they uh if Paramount uh were to raise
00:34:05
its bid as it sort of indicated that it
00:34:08
uh might do because it said it wasn't
00:34:10
hadn't made its best and final offer but
00:34:12
yet it hasn't done anything beyond $30
00:34:15
yet that they wouldn't change that
00:34:17
recommendation and
00:34:18
>> they did note they would listen. One of
00:34:20
the board members noted that on CNBC
00:34:22
like if they want to lob another number
00:34:24
over, we're happy to take
00:34:26
>> they are in what is called Revlon mode
00:34:29
now of selling they have to sell the
00:34:31
company to the highest bidder. They are
00:34:33
required, you know, by Delaware law
00:34:35
essentially to do that. And that's why
00:34:38
they're constantly re-evaluating this uh
00:34:40
these two bids. And once again, they've
00:34:42
I mean, there's no difference between uh
00:34:45
uh this, you know, the December 4th bid,
00:34:47
final bid that Paramount made of $30 a
00:34:50
share hasn't changed in a month. So, if
00:34:52
if they want to upset the Apple Card
00:34:55
here, they are going to have to raise
00:34:56
their bid. Now, they may not want to.
00:34:57
>> You also had noted these fees of uh that
00:35:00
Paramount wants more control over uh
00:35:03
certain loans and the the there's a lot
00:35:06
of money there. Warner Brothers is
00:35:08
concerned about the uh way that
00:35:11
Paramount would let them operate their
00:35:13
own company between signing and closing.
00:35:16
And since it's like an 18-month process
00:35:18
generally to get this kind of a deal uh
00:35:21
uh regulators approval both in the EU
00:35:23
and here to get it closed, they need to
00:35:26
know that they can operate their
00:35:27
business in the normal course. And uh
00:35:30
Paramount put several covenants into
00:35:32
their proposed merger agreement that
00:35:34
would limit the flexibility that Warner
00:35:36
Brothers has during that period. And
00:35:38
Warner Brothers believes that that would
00:35:40
cost them
00:35:40
>> which Netflix has said no problem.
00:35:42
>> Netflix has said you know do what you
00:35:44
want which is another reason that
00:35:46
they're gone with the Netflix deal.
00:35:47
Netflix also said you know if you don't
00:35:49
take our deal we're going to walk away
00:35:51
which you know put a little gun to their
00:35:52
head and so they you know they went with
00:35:54
the bird in the hand and it at the time
00:35:56
it was the better deal. made total sense
00:35:58
and it still basically makes total
00:36:00
sense. It's a real tossup now because of
00:36:03
the value of this global network stub
00:36:07
the you know part of the business where
00:36:09
Audi works CNN uh is potentially going
00:36:12
to be spun off under the Netflix deal
00:36:15
and so the value of that business is a
00:36:18
spunoff entity comes into play
00:36:20
>> under the Paramount deal they're buying
00:36:22
the whole company so that's a mood point
00:36:24
so you know that's why you're know
00:36:26
trying to judge the value
00:36:27
>> what it's valued at right and certain
00:36:29
people is paying three to five three $3
00:36:32
a share. Now she was $3. Now the
00:36:34
chairman of Warner Brothers Discovery
00:36:36
Board said on CNBC $3 to $5. Uh Morgan
00:36:40
Stanley says, you know, A$150.
00:36:43
Uh the the uh Paramount people say a
00:36:46
$140
00:36:47
>> and there's all debt issues around if
00:36:49
they pull some more debt off it could go
00:36:50
up. If if if uh when they there's what
00:36:53
$15 billion in debt a moment uh at the
00:36:56
moment they're talking about putting $15
00:36:58
billion on Audi's company and you know
00:37:00
is that too much. Is that going to
00:37:02
>> Can you pay for that Audi?
00:37:03
>> Yeah. That's why I'm wearing a quarter
00:37:04
zip. I can afford the full zip.
00:37:07
>> Yeah,
00:37:08
>> but it's not a vest. It's a full quarter
00:37:10
zip. If you really want to pay down that
00:37:12
debt, you may need to wear a vest.
00:37:14
>> Exactly. Uh, so I mean there are a lot
00:37:16
of kind of subtle nuances going on here
00:37:18
which which really puts Paramount, you
00:37:21
know, in a in a bad position to be
00:37:23
honest. Uh, if they really want to win,
00:37:25
they just have to spend more of Larry's
00:37:28
money.
00:37:28
>> Larry's money. He's got to get daddy.
00:37:29
Nepomogle has to get daddy. Pay more.
00:37:31
You know, when this started, did I tell
00:37:33
you not as smart as you think? Like, and
00:37:35
you said they have smart advisors. I'm
00:37:37
like
00:37:38
>> dumb. But I don't think they're
00:37:39
listening to them.
00:37:40
>> No, I think that's part of the problem.
00:37:41
>> Well, cuz still dumb, right? And you can
00:37:43
see that over at CBS. Very dumb. What's
00:37:46
happening there? Like what a way to run
00:37:48
a network right into the wall like on a
00:37:50
day on the daily essentially.
00:37:52
>> We won't get into it, but they suck. Um
00:37:56
so so when is when what happens next?
00:37:59
They have to just raise the price. And
00:38:00
then what is Netflix do? What is and
00:38:02
then there's the whole Trump thing. See,
00:38:04
let me just add one more question.
00:38:06
There's the whole Trump thing which
00:38:07
they've touted their friendship with
00:38:08
Trump, but as far as I'm concerned, he's
00:38:10
a little busy. I don't think he's going
00:38:11
to and he's got limited time before the
00:38:13
midterms. That dragging this thing out
00:38:16
is not good for Paramount because the
00:38:18
closer you get to the election and if
00:38:20
the Democrats take over, they will not
00:38:21
get it through either. They don't they
00:38:23
will lose that ability to control the
00:38:26
process because Trump will be
00:38:28
essentially, you know, left naked
00:38:29
without clothes, right? Essenti with he
00:38:32
won't be able to help his friend Larry.
00:38:34
I'm sure right now he can't help his
00:38:36
friend Larry. I think less and less
00:38:37
every passing day. But your thoughts?
00:38:41
>> Well, everybody's now quote unquote
00:38:43
Trump's friend and uh Larry's his
00:38:45
friend. Ted Sarendos is his friend. You
00:38:47
know,
00:38:48
>> he's played it beautifully, I will say.
00:38:50
>> But he's a, you know, big Democrat. His
00:38:52
wife was ambassador, you know, under
00:38:55
Obama. I mean, so, uh,
00:38:57
>> not sure that matters anymore. No, I
00:38:59
mean everybody, you know, he wants
00:39:01
fieldalty paid to him and if you've got
00:39:03
a big deal that you want to get through,
00:39:05
you're going to pay that feelalty
00:39:06
because
00:39:07
>> except I don't know if he has that power
00:39:09
as much as everybody. I don't think he
00:39:11
will rush to Larry's any he loves to get
00:39:14
involved in this car.
00:39:15
>> Yeah, he's busy with other things now.
00:39:17
He's got
00:39:18
>> seems
00:39:19
he he's he's our most healthy president
00:39:22
ever. He's there's no time. He doesn't
00:39:24
sleep.
00:39:25
>> There's no time. There's no time.
00:39:26
>> I hope you're right. shouldn't be
00:39:27
involved in this. All right. So, so far
00:39:29
I've been right about all of this. So,
00:39:30
as I said to Scott all the time, but
00:39:32
what happens next
00:39:32
>> is that going to be the title of your
00:39:33
memoir?
00:39:34
>> Yes. Yes, I'm right.
00:39:35
>> Yeah. Uh, look, what happens next is
00:39:37
that the their tender offer is open till
00:39:39
January 21st and they're going to
00:39:41
between now and then go around their
00:39:44
hostile tender offer that Paramount has
00:39:46
made. They're going to go around to the
00:39:47
big shareholders
00:39:48
>> and you noted it was only a small
00:39:49
amount. It was only
00:39:51
>> well so far. But that that's
00:39:52
understandable because there are a lot
00:39:53
of conditions to this deal that are kind
00:39:55
of like they the tender offer can't
00:39:58
happen unless they have a merger
00:39:59
agreement with Warner Brothers. Well,
00:40:01
they're not going to get a merger
00:40:02
agreement with Warner Brothers unless
00:40:04
there's a superior offer. So, uh, you
00:40:07
know, basically people aren't going to
00:40:08
tender, but they are going to go until
00:40:11
maybe the last minute at at most at
00:40:13
best, but they are going to go around
00:40:15
and make this case that their $30 a
00:40:17
share allcash deal is superior to
00:40:19
Netflix because of this business of the
00:40:23
Audi's company not being worth this $3
00:40:25
to5 a share or whatever it's called,
00:40:28
>> which is kind of technical and confusing
00:40:29
to most people, right?
00:40:30
>> Yes. But this is the kind of thing that
00:40:32
these guys get into the weeds about. And
00:40:34
so what is your what what's the next
00:40:36
they raising the price is the only thing
00:40:38
to do, right? Correct.
00:40:39
>> And raising the price to around $34 a
00:40:42
share is the only way for Paramount to
00:40:44
win this thing. Otherwise,
00:40:46
>> the Saudis. What about the There's also,
00:40:48
>> you know, it's Larry's another 10
00:40:49
billion for Larry.
00:40:51
>> Mhm. And
00:40:51
>> that's it's it's you know, a dollar a
00:40:54
share is because it's already
00:40:55
non-economic, Bill. This thing is
00:40:57
already so ridiculous.
00:40:58
>> They've decided that they have to have
00:40:59
it. They've made seven bids. Uh, I
00:41:02
suspect they're going to do it. I
00:41:04
suspect they will raise their offer to
00:41:06
34 and they will win. I hate to, you
00:41:09
know, I think they will end up winning,
00:41:11
but I, you know, it could could be
00:41:13
wrong. I mean, there's no way without
00:41:15
raising this bid that that Warner
00:41:18
Brothers going to change its
00:41:20
recommendation. Not going to happen.
00:41:22
>> I I I don't know about that, but I think
00:41:24
if they do win, they're not going to get
00:41:25
it through. That's too much. The time is
00:41:27
too short. And by that time it will be
00:41:30
the Democrats calling for blood and then
00:41:32
it will be okay.
00:41:33
>> Well, there's also a risk that Netflix
00:41:35
won't get their deal done either,
00:41:37
>> but less I mean that's fine, but it's
00:41:39
not the same thing, right? It's not like
00:41:41
this. I'm the best. Their whole argument
00:41:43
has been I'm the best friend of um
00:41:45
>> Well, right.
00:41:46
>> Stupid argument.
00:41:47
>> Well, it's so transactional. You know,
00:41:50
what is Larry? What have you done for me
00:41:52
this week? Did you donate to my ballroom
00:41:54
this week or not? Did you have you
00:41:57
>> and Ted could do the same thing. A lot
00:41:58
of the stuff Larry can do, Ted can do.
00:42:00
>> Comcast did it which was quite
00:42:02
surprising
00:42:04
but you know everybody is paying filty
00:42:06
now. Uh Cara.
00:42:07
>> So Audi any thoughts? Any thoughts?
00:42:10
>> I know that coming from NPR uh and
00:42:13
coming from like nonprofit like oh what
00:42:16
are we going to do? the politics will
00:42:18
change that I was not fully prepared for
00:42:21
like corporate media and it has been an
00:42:25
education like for sure it's been an
00:42:27
education I think one of the hundreds of
00:42:30
thousands of reasons for me not to
00:42:31
comment on this is kind of for the thing
00:42:34
you guys say are saying which is like
00:42:37
>> we're in the realm of like personalities
00:42:39
and regulation and the government and
00:42:42
and so it's not the same as sitting
00:42:44
around talking about a business deal or
00:42:46
even a hostile takeover. It's kind of
00:42:49
something else. And if you notice people
00:42:52
not speaking up, I mean, A, we can't,
00:42:55
right? Because we're in the middle of a
00:42:56
regulatory issue,
00:42:59
but B, to say it's above our pay grade
00:43:01
is an understatement,
00:43:02
>> right? That's a fair point. That's a
00:43:03
fair point. But, by the way, over at
00:43:05
NPR, they've said, "Fuck you,
00:43:06
government." And they're doing great,
00:43:07
just fine.
00:43:08
>> I had breakfast with NPR host this
00:43:11
morning, and he was like, "We don't even
00:43:13
want to talk about it." Also, the thing
00:43:15
is they've moved on and they're doing
00:43:17
rather well under Katherine.
00:43:18
>> It was always, like I said, it was
00:43:19
always haunting us there.
00:43:22
And now it's like now you got to just
00:43:24
compete in the marketplace. But lucky
00:43:25
for them, they do fundamentally have a
00:43:27
brand people trust.
00:43:28
>> Yeah. Yeah. I think
00:43:30
>> for a president
00:43:32
>> uh for a president to be sticking his
00:43:34
fingers into a individual deal, you
00:43:36
know, is not normal. There are agencies
00:43:41
that are supposed to be at arms length
00:43:43
that deal with these issues and that's
00:43:44
the way it has worked.
00:43:46
>> Yes.
00:43:47
>> But this president likes to
00:43:49
>> get his people often often let me let me
00:43:52
end on this. I have a lot of people like
00:43:55
always go a couple years ago would be
00:43:57
like can you believe he did this? And I
00:43:58
was like I do. I believe it. He's done
00:44:00
it seven times before. Let me tell you
00:44:02
he's he does it see Greenland. See
00:44:05
Venezuela. See
00:44:06
>> that's why Carrie he does have time for
00:44:08
this. He makes time for this kind of
00:44:09
crazy [ __ ]
00:44:10
>> I don't think so.
00:44:12
>> All right. Well,
00:44:12
>> we I just I just this I think they have
00:44:15
taken far too long for this. They could
00:44:18
have done the 34.
00:44:19
>> You are right
00:44:20
>> if they were smarter. But we'll see.
00:44:21
We'll see. And by the way, and if they
00:44:23
don't do it,
00:44:24
>> he is holding a very expensive leaky
00:44:26
Larry has bought himself an expensive
00:44:28
leaky yacht uh that he is going to not
00:44:30
know how to unload because that's
00:44:32
there's no way around it's too small.
00:44:34
But but without doing this, it's only a
00:44:36
six billion only only a $6 billion
00:44:38
equity bet for him. So if he loses
00:44:41
>> But I'm saying he's just a he's just
00:44:43
>> Yeah. No, that's why they're serious
00:44:45
about trying to do it.
00:44:46
>> You know, they know that they're at a
00:44:48
>> they know that they're at a strategic
00:44:50
disadvantage with
00:44:51
>> it. And even with it, still a hobbit.
00:44:53
Anyway, um let's go uh cuz hello YouTube
00:44:56
by the way. All right, let's go on a
00:44:58
quick break. When we come back, Grock
00:44:59
hits despicable new lows. Oh, we're back
00:45:02
with another headline. Elon Musk AI
00:45:04
chatbot Grock is facing criticism from
00:45:06
governments around the world as it
00:45:07
continues to create sexualized images of
00:45:09
women and children. Grock imagine an AI
00:45:12
image generator includes spicy mode that
00:45:14
can generate adult content. Meanwhile,
00:45:16
Musk's XAI says it raised $20 billion in
00:45:19
funding round exceeding the target of 15
00:45:21
billion including from Fidelity. Um just
00:45:24
that just today they're making uh uh
00:45:26
filthy images of the woman who was
00:45:28
killed in Minneapolis. Um the European
00:45:31
countries are are losing their minds.
00:45:33
You haven't heard word one from Sundar
00:45:35
Pachai at at Google or um Tim Cook at
00:45:39
Apple who would have should have been
00:45:40
tam is supposed to be against the law.
00:45:44
So you two you're you're you're you're
00:45:47
soiling yourselves in public by not
00:45:49
doing anything about this. That's my
00:45:51
point of view. But why this funding
00:45:53
round suggests investors don't care
00:45:54
about these issues? I'd love each of you
00:45:56
to weigh in. Bill, you first on uh on
00:45:59
what's happening here.
00:46:00
>> As a great American once said, uh Cara
00:46:04
uh X is a Nazi porn bar. And so yes, it
00:46:08
was. Thank you. Uh and it certainly is.
00:46:12
It certainly is. And this is just
00:46:14
another example of it. Uh but look, from
00:46:17
a business point of view, uh XAI and the
00:46:20
merger between XAI and X saved X, right?
00:46:24
It saved uh Fidelity's investment in X
00:46:27
as well as Larry Ellison's and Mark
00:46:30
Andre's and uh you know uh and other
00:46:34
friends of Elon's uh so I guess and the
00:46:37
banks who were about sitting on $13
00:46:40
billion of of loans that they might lose
00:46:43
a lot of money on. Uh so that merger uh
00:46:47
uh saved the X deal which you know got
00:46:50
to give I guess uh Elon credit for
00:46:52
devising and conceptualizing that and
00:46:55
now he's raising $20 billion at a what
00:46:59
$350 billion valuation or whatever it
00:47:01
is. I mean, uh, you know, I guess from a
00:47:05
purely business point of view, Cara, you
00:47:07
have to admire, uh, Elon's ability to,
00:47:12
uh, make, uh, chicken salad out of
00:47:14
chicken [ __ ] And you've got to admire,
00:47:17
I guess, the fact that suddenly he's now
00:47:19
worth, you know, $700 billion because of
00:47:23
SpaceX, etc., going public. I mean, so
00:47:25
the guy knows how to make money for
00:47:28
himself. A trillion dollar pay package
00:47:30
out of Tesla. uh his old pay package was
00:47:33
reinstated by the courts. I mean, so all
00:47:36
right, on one level, you have to kind of
00:47:38
admire that if you're an American who
00:47:41
believes in sort of Darwinian
00:47:42
capitalism. On the other hand, you know,
00:47:45
you expect Elon Musk, and you know this
00:47:48
better than anyone, to to eliminate
00:47:51
these images and go, you know, whole hog
00:47:54
on trying to reduce the Nazi porn bar
00:47:57
aspect of what he's created here. So why
00:47:59
haven't this is cease samp this is this
00:48:03
is porn of children like I I think he
00:48:05
would utterly allow porn of women. I
00:48:07
think he's he's a misogynist. So that's
00:48:09
sort of that's water under the bridge
00:48:11
for him so to speak. But with children
00:48:14
this is something that usually sets off
00:48:15
a firestorm a problem. Any reason why
00:48:19
they're like fine with c Sam? I mean, I
00:48:22
mean, again, does Elon Musk uh like to
00:48:25
do the right thing when it comes to
00:48:27
these things, or does he just like to
00:48:29
claim it's free speech and, you know,
00:48:31
whatever? Let it let it ride. I mean,
00:48:34
you know, he reinstated uh Trump. you
00:48:36
know, you know, I I don't I I wouldn't
00:48:41
uh lose sleep or or hold my breath
00:48:43
thinking that Elon Musk is going to do
00:48:45
the right thing here, but but you know,
00:48:46
he might do that one simple basic thing
00:48:49
that is so obvious that has to be done.
00:48:52
Meanwhile, leaving the rest of the Nazi
00:48:54
porn bar to thrive. So,
00:48:55
>> yeah. Audie, thoughts? Uh, I'm curious
00:48:58
about the people who, you know, like the
00:49:02
first lady or or Ted Cruz who were so
00:49:06
touting the take it down act, you know,
00:49:08
which was supposed to um allow people a
00:49:11
chance to take down non-consensual
00:49:13
images, sexualized images, and Marcia
00:49:17
Blackmer.
00:49:18
>> Marcia Black. Yeah. Again, it's one of
00:49:20
those moments where you're like, do do
00:49:21
you actually care about this or do you
00:49:22
not care about this? The other thing I
00:49:24
think about is there's this weird
00:49:26
collision course between the very
00:49:28
muddied aspect of AI and that culture
00:49:31
which says onward no matter what and a
00:49:35
pretty broad-based not quite a moral
00:49:37
panic yet but very much something
00:49:39
brewing among parents and in school
00:49:42
systems where they're like ban phones
00:49:44
and we're Australia we're saying kids
00:49:47
can't even be on there. We're on a
00:49:49
collision course and sometimes it feels
00:49:51
like the industry their plan is just to
00:49:53
outra us. Build all the data centers.
00:49:56
You can make this thing your make your
00:49:58
born bot quickly. Just do it all while
00:50:00
Trump is okay with it.
00:50:01
>> Um and and then people can't really stop
00:50:04
you.
00:50:04
>> Yeah. That is policy for everything by
00:50:07
the way.
00:50:07
>> Yeah. And Amazon and taxes. Uh
00:50:09
>> but it's not 1995. Nobody is looking at
00:50:12
the industry and being like well they do
00:50:14
have our interests at heart and they
00:50:16
might cure cancer. No one is saying
00:50:18
that. Everybody is just like, I want to
00:50:20
throw my phone out the window. I hate
00:50:22
this. I'm not on socials anymore. I'm a
00:50:24
teen in a lite club. Like the backlash
00:50:27
is real and I'm very curious about going
00:50:30
forward if that turns into a political
00:50:33
action so to speak. Is there a candidate
00:50:34
who represents that?
00:50:35
>> I will speak to that. I think the CS Sam
00:50:38
stuff is going to kill them. They're
00:50:39
going to there this is not this is not a
00:50:42
this is where it stops. And you've
00:50:43
noticed that that Google settled with
00:50:45
the parents of Unchhater AI. Uh I don't
00:50:49
know what the settlement is and I did
00:50:50
interview uh that mother and I've
00:50:52
interviewed I'm I'm
00:50:54
>> I'm I've been interviewing a lot of
00:50:56
these parents because it's a big issue
00:50:57
since 2023. I've been doing it. Yeah.
00:51:00
And but at a certain point it won't be
00:51:01
settlements, right? It'll be you know
00:51:03
what, maybe we're going to have this
00:51:05
conversation with the public in public.
00:51:08
>> I'm not sure why she
00:51:09
>> No, I'm not. This is in no way have
00:51:11
decision parents. But I'm saying this is
00:51:14
how movements start. I
00:51:15
>> I think the reason Google settled is
00:51:17
because they are not protected under
00:51:19
section 230 on this one. And their
00:51:21
arguments were not ultimately if this
00:51:24
stuff gets out. It's very ugly for them.
00:51:26
And I wish one of the parents would just
00:51:28
say, you know what, I'm going to just
00:51:30
take you to court. It's just expensive
00:51:32
for them. It's exhausting. Their child
00:51:33
has committed suicide. Um, but the same
00:51:36
thing with these imagery that it does I
00:51:38
think there there is a group of people
00:51:40
that will not settle and they will try
00:51:43
everything to settle because so much of
00:51:45
this stuff is so heinous and also what
00:51:48
you once you what what I had is one of
00:51:50
the parents read the dialogue and when
00:51:52
any parent hears it you're like put
00:51:54
those people in jail and so to me
00:51:57
they're headed for a per walk is what I
00:51:59
feel like it's they're in this in this
00:52:01
issue and it's well beyond what
00:52:02
Australia is doing but they're going to
00:52:04
get a backlash like you've absolutely
00:52:06
never seen.
00:52:07
>> Yeah. So, where does that affect at one
00:52:09
point Elon Musk? You know what I mean?
00:52:11
Like that's what I'm curious about is
00:52:13
like
00:52:13
>> I don't think he is like
00:52:14
>> do you think it's because it just
00:52:16
becomes the gutter? Like this is the red
00:52:18
light district of the internet. He runs
00:52:20
it and
00:52:21
>> and because a lot of you know if you've
00:52:23
noticed the the internet is becoming
00:52:25
less and less useful. I think people
00:52:27
using it the AI slob they're it's really
00:52:30
becoming less and less useful. And so
00:52:32
the promise was this would be more
00:52:33
useful and a lot of AI absolutely is. I
00:52:36
just think there's no business in child
00:52:38
porn. There's no business in from now
00:52:41
until 200 years from now.
00:52:43
>> Why why aren't this should be an issue
00:52:44
for federal regulation, right? Regular
00:52:47
regulators. But you'll never get the
00:52:49
Trump administration to do the right
00:52:50
thing. They they preferred to do the
00:52:53
wrong thing
00:52:54
>> purposefully to, you know, own the libs,
00:52:57
so to speak.
00:52:57
>> But is it just the Trump administration?
00:52:59
I mean, Cara, I feel like you and I have
00:53:00
talked so many times about 230 and how
00:53:03
lawmakers are just very reluctant to
00:53:05
step on the walked away industry.
00:53:07
>> Yeah, I talked to it from two I'm like,
00:53:09
let's leave 230 aside because that's a
00:53:10
complex much more complex thing when
00:53:12
this h when the when I started
00:53:14
interviewing these parents back in 2024.
00:53:17
Um, I called 10 legislators. I'm like,
00:53:19
can you please [ __ ] listen to this
00:53:20
and do something about it? And they're
00:53:22
like, uh, I hadn't heard of it. Like,
00:53:24
and I was like, get on it. Like, get the
00:53:26
[ __ ] on this. Like, I can't do anything.
00:53:28
And I think, you know, and then
00:53:29
unfortunately the people that get on it
00:53:31
are are you sort of have have um you
00:53:34
know, they they're trying to kill a fly
00:53:35
with a with an anvil, right? Like
00:53:37
there's there's a way to do this. This
00:53:39
is illegal. There are already laws in
00:53:41
place about these things.
00:53:42
>> Yeah. But they don't really understand
00:53:43
the technology.
00:53:44
>> I would prosecute XAI. That's I would
00:53:46
just like time to pro if there was a
00:53:48
very ambitious prosecutor out there. I
00:53:51
don't care if it is conservative or
00:53:53
>> you're gonna prosecute the 700 billion
00:53:55
dollar man.
00:53:56
>> Yes. Yes. for for child
00:53:58
>> the Trump administration.
00:53:59
>> No, I I would do a state. I do one of
00:54:02
the one of the big states, you know,
00:54:03
just like in order to have people
00:54:05
talking about it, right? Because he's
00:54:07
the one I would go for because he's the
00:54:08
biggest and the most villainous.
00:54:10
>> He's the most villainous. Anyway, we'll
00:54:12
see what happens here. But let me just
00:54:13
say I'm going to I I look, it's mostly
00:54:16
Elon Musk's fault because he doesn't
00:54:17
give a [ __ ] Um obviously he brought
00:54:19
back Andrew Tate and others who are just
00:54:21
heinous creatures. Um but ultimately
00:54:24
Sundar Pachai and Tim Cook, you're
00:54:26
soiling yourself in public by letting
00:54:28
this continue. You're supposed to
00:54:30
>> When you say by letting you mean not
00:54:32
speaking out, not coming up with
00:54:33
counter.
00:54:34
>> They took down took down a lot of that n
00:54:37
that that January 6 stuff pretty quickly
00:54:39
when it looked when I did that one
00:54:41
interview with the guy from whatever
00:54:42
that site that was used for planning. Um
00:54:45
they they've acted before on the app
00:54:47
store, but this is child porn and you
00:54:50
own this both of you. I'm sorry. Anyway,
00:54:53
uh they they're in a position to stop
00:54:54
it, like for at least speak out against
00:54:56
it or temporarily stop it and get him to
00:54:59
do something about it. Anyway, uh one
00:55:01
more quick break. We'll be back for
00:55:03
predictions. Okay, Audi and Bill, uh
00:55:06
let's hear some predictions. I will go
00:55:08
last.
00:55:09
>> You will go?
00:55:10
>> I shall go last. Who wants to go first?
00:55:12
That's not fair.
00:55:13
>> Okay, I'll go I'll go first. I I have
00:55:15
two predictions. Cara, one is that I I
00:55:20
do think uh AI valuations are going to
00:55:22
return to Earth in 2026, the latter half
00:55:26
of 2026. Uh not that AI uh isn't a
00:55:30
valuable tool like the internet is a
00:55:33
valuable tool, but just like with
00:55:35
internet 1.0, you know, you slap, you
00:55:38
know, com at the end of you know, uh a
00:55:41
company going public and it's suddenly
00:55:42
everybody falls over themselves to
00:55:44
invest. That's where we are now with AI.
00:55:46
It's ridiculous and uh it will come down
00:55:49
to earth and a lot of people will lose a
00:55:51
lot of money which is always I think uh
00:55:54
justice to some extent. Not that AI
00:55:56
won't be incredibly valuable tool as it
00:55:59
already proves is proving to be and will
00:56:01
become more so in the future. And the uh
00:56:04
second prediction is uh one of my
00:56:06
favorites which is that Hakee Jeff will
00:56:08
be a year from now the speaker of the
00:56:11
house
00:56:11
>> if not sooner. Yeah, more and more
00:56:13
people are talking like that. Frankly,
00:56:15
it's sooner the better as far as I'm
00:56:17
concerned.
00:56:17
>> All right, Audie. Well,
00:56:19
>> well, just to give you a sense of how
00:56:21
it's going. So, my staff made this at
00:56:23
the end of the year meme of me. These
00:56:25
are these are mouse pads, which they
00:56:27
come in bulk. So, if anyone wants to buy
00:56:30
one,
00:56:30
>> that
00:56:32
is fine. Like
00:56:33
>> our merch. Um, and a likeness of me that
00:56:36
was startlingly accurate. Uh, cuz every
00:56:38
day there's been something. I would say
00:56:41
that uh this is maybe more a wish. I I
00:56:45
predict there will be a movement of
00:56:48
human verified social media apps that
00:56:51
someone is going to find a way to tap
00:56:54
into the market of people who want to
00:56:56
avoid AI uh slop and imagery. And I was
00:57:00
thinking of this when I saw Adam Miseri
00:57:02
of Instagram do this big carousel little
00:57:04
essay where he was basically saying like
00:57:06
Instagram as we know it is going to be
00:57:08
pretty much dead under this scenario and
00:57:10
here are the things you need to think
00:57:11
about. And the first thing I thought is
00:57:13
there's going to be someone who makes an
00:57:15
app that somehow is human verifiable and
00:57:19
that people are really going to want
00:57:21
that.
00:57:22
>> Yeah. Yeah. Or else get off. I mean
00:57:24
there's a trend among young people of
00:57:25
getting off completely
00:57:26
>> because as you said if it's not useful
00:57:29
>> Yeah. then you just you can't find your
00:57:31
way to it in the day. Tik Tok is useful
00:57:33
for people right now because it's TV to
00:57:35
them. They are being entertained by this
00:57:37
thing on a loop. But if they're no
00:57:39
longer entertained because what they're
00:57:40
seeing is uh an algorithm owned by, you
00:57:44
know, uh the government's friends or
00:57:47
just AI slop and by slop I mean
00:57:50
everything that is just generated for
00:57:53
generating sake. Why? Fortunately, the
00:57:57
head the head of Roku, who's a really
00:57:59
smart guy, Anthony Wood, um, founder and
00:58:02
CEO, did say that he thought there was
00:58:04
going to be an AI movie hit, AI
00:58:06
generated movie hit. He's always talked
00:58:08
about the back end, and I think he's
00:58:10
completely right. Um, when I interviewed
00:58:12
the head of runway, same thing. There's
00:58:14
a lot of back-end efficiencies about to
00:58:16
be imposed upon Hollywood and that will
00:58:18
be helpful for their business. Um, but
00:58:22
uh, but make the move when it moves into
00:58:24
content, it's a really different thing.
00:58:25
And one of the things the runway CEO
00:58:27
suggested is that instead of labeling
00:58:29
AI, we label real.
00:58:31
>> Yes.
00:58:32
>> Because it's smaller.
00:58:33
>> Very much so.
00:58:34
>> So this is like
00:58:35
>> that's that's my prediction as well. So
00:58:36
you're telling me the wind is at my
00:58:38
back. Wind is at your back. I know
00:58:40
nothing about business, but I'm ready.
00:58:42
>> All right. I will I will do this. I
00:58:44
think time is running out for Trump and
00:58:46
the desperate there. Listen, he's very
00:58:48
active and vibrant like an old man in a
00:58:50
my mom's in a in a senior facility.
00:58:52
There's always one guy who's just loud
00:58:54
and fast and moving around. And listen,
00:58:56
that's where we are with this guy. And I
00:58:58
think he's he's much sicker than people
00:59:00
realize.
00:59:00
>> Oh, this is a health prediction. I
00:59:02
thought this was a political. He's not
00:59:04
going to get all this stuff done. Like
00:59:05
he's got there's too much stuff
00:59:07
happening and not enough lackis. I know
00:59:11
it sounds crazy, but even the lackey are
00:59:13
probably lacking at this point. And so
00:59:15
when when I saw that Susie Wilds
00:59:17
interview, I'm like, the rats, they
00:59:19
getting ready. Um I as I told Scott,
00:59:22
I've I've meeting with Trump people a
00:59:23
lot and they all are asking for pardons.
00:59:26
They're all like getting ready for the
00:59:28
inevitable,
00:59:30
>> right? They're getting ready for
00:59:32
>> ready for those
00:59:32
>> for them. And so
00:59:33
>> that's different from saying there's no
00:59:35
after cuz he plans to stay. Like I hear
00:59:37
you making a prediction that's
00:59:39
different.
00:59:39
>> I'm going to as Scott says, biology is
00:59:42
undefeated. Um and nobody, you know, I'm
00:59:45
not sure who's less charming, Don Jr. or
00:59:47
JD Vance, but they as I as I said about
00:59:50
Vance, he's the cyber truck of
00:59:51
politicians. Um, but one of the um It's
00:59:55
true.
00:59:55
>> It took me a be You're like, "Of
00:59:57
course." Yes. Correct.
01:00:00
>> Yes. Uh but that's why I talk about the
01:00:02
ballroom. I I think it is there's also
01:00:04
some legal stuff happening to slow it
01:00:06
down quite a bit. It's everything that
01:00:08
gets slowed down is a problem. Whether
01:00:10
it's the Paramount deal, whether it's
01:00:12
the ballroom, and I think, by the way,
01:00:14
FYI, they do need a ballroom at the
01:00:16
White House, having covered it. There's
01:00:18
nowhere to there, as odd as it sounds,
01:00:19
>> it's always a bunch of tents.
01:00:21
>> It's a bunch of tents, and there's small
01:00:22
rooms. They really are people, and the
01:00:24
offices are small. It's really quite fun
01:00:27
to go there, but at the same time,
01:00:29
you're like, what a shitty office this
01:00:30
is. Um, and so there needs to be some
01:00:33
renovation. Just the way it was done
01:00:35
was, of course, awful, but I don't think
01:00:38
you're going to get the huge ballroom. I
01:00:39
don't think he's going to get what he
01:00:40
wants and I think the gold leaf is going
01:00:42
to come down and that and they will have
01:00:45
a they will have a decent better side to
01:00:48
it and that's okay. Um but but the big
01:00:52
one isn't going to happen. I'm I'm sorry
01:00:54
to say he's not going to get his a Trump
01:00:57
uh triumph triumphal arch either. So
01:01:01
>> is he going to get his face on Mount
01:01:03
Rushmore or on the coins?
01:01:04
>> I don't care. Do you care?
01:01:05
>> The coins might happen.
01:01:07
>> He can have the coins. I don't care.
01:01:08
Like at a certain point you're like,
01:01:09
"Yeah, give him a coin. Why not?" Like I
01:01:12
>> none of us mentioned the 250 year
01:01:15
anniversary. I mean, we are about to see
01:01:18
uh
01:01:19
>> I think propaganda is actually the the
01:01:21
safest word to use definitionally here,
01:01:24
Car. I'll defer to you because that's
01:01:26
your area of expertise. Um because it's
01:01:29
going to be
01:01:30
>> the the country's birthday in his frame.
01:01:35
>> That's right. just completely in the
01:01:37
context of him
01:01:38
>> which is well done stakes and
01:01:41
>> you know it's a USC octagon it's
01:01:43
whatever I mean just uh something
01:01:46
>> yeah something that could be very sort
01:01:49
of academic and a little sleepy and
01:01:51
history nerd in another year is going to
01:01:54
be something else
01:01:55
>> yeah I just think I don't care ahead go
01:01:57
for it old man it's your last harrah go
01:01:59
for it
01:02:00
>> I don't give I'm not going to get mad
01:02:02
about those things anyway so we'll see
01:02:03
about that but it's time Tik Tok as they
01:02:06
say. Anyway, I really appreciate it. But
01:02:08
let me just read this. We want to hear
01:02:09
from you. Send us your questions about
01:02:11
business if you don't agree with me or
01:02:12
Bill or Audi or whatever is on your
01:02:14
mind. Go to nymag.com/pivot to send a
01:02:16
question for the show or comment or call
01:02:18
8551 pivot. Again, that is the show.
01:02:22
Thank you so much. Audi and Bill came on
01:02:25
at the last minute and I really
01:02:27
appreciate it. It was incredibly
01:02:29
substantive and really helpful for
01:02:30
people because right now the news
01:02:31
>> total honor to meet you this way. This
01:02:33
is so cool. Thank you. You had a great
01:02:36
job together, too. You had a nice
01:02:38
rapport, the two of you. Anyway, uh we
01:02:40
And the thing is the last show was uh
01:02:42
Brooke Hammerling, uh Stephanie Rule and
01:02:44
Don Lemon, and all they talked about was
01:02:46
speaking of gay porn, uh the heated
01:02:48
rivalry, so this was a little different.
01:02:50
>> All right. Well, ask me back to this
01:02:52
show. I don't want to have to like harm
01:02:53
Scott every time I want to come back.
01:02:55
>> Don't you worry. Absolutely. Both of you
01:02:57
have been valued contributors to a lot
01:02:59
of my podcast, and I really appreciate
01:03:00
it. So, please watch, listen to, and
01:03:03
read all the amazing work they're doing
01:03:04
at CNN and Puck. Uh, Audi has the
01:03:07
morning show. Uh, Bill has a must must
01:03:09
readad
01:03:11
column that is so helpful to me in
01:03:13
understanding these things. Um, anyway,
01:03:16
thanks for listening to Pivot and be
01:03:17
sure to like and subscribe to our
01:03:19
YouTube channel, which is doing rather
01:03:21
well, I have to say. Uh, we'll be back
01:03:23
next week and I will read us out.
01:03:25
Today's show is produced by Lara Neon,
01:03:27
Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie
01:03:29
Anderdot engineered this episode. Manolo
01:03:32
Moreno edited this video. Nishhat Curwa
01:03:34
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01:03:36
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01:03:40
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01:03:41
Magazine and Vox Media. You can
01:03:43
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01:03:44
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01:03:46
We'll be back next week for another
01:03:48
breakdown of all things tech and
01:03:50
business. Scott, come home.