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9/14/26: Houthis Take New Strait, Lebron Games Gambling Ads, Midterms

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9/14/26: Houthis Take New Strait, Lebron Games Gambling Ads, Midterms

A major geopolitical crisis is unfolding in the Middle East, as Houthi forces in Yemen seize key military assets and control the Bab el-Mandeb strait, disrupting global oil flows and pushing fuel prices to record highs. This has triggered severe inflation, with U.S. gasoline and diesel prices rising sharply—gas at $4.31 and diesel at $6.23—leading to widespread consumer distress and a sharp downturn in the stock market. The situation is compounded by strategic vulnerabilities in Saudi oil infrastructure and growing evidence of Iran’s ballistic missile production, supported by Chinese intelligence and targeting data. Meanwhile, a surge in gambling is sweeping across the U.S., with celebrities like LeBron James and Spike Lee promoting prediction markets, many of which operate as fronts for traditional sportsbooks. These platforms, including Polymarket and Fandall, are found to be structurally identical to conventional betting, with over 60% of revenue derived from parlay bets, and are linked to insider trading risks. The financial and social toll is significant, with growing evidence of predatory gambling and economic hardship, especially among working-class Americans. The crisis is being exploited as political leverage, with Iran targeting the U.S. economy ahead of the 2024 elections to amplify public discontent. Amid this, bipartisan skepticism grows over the military’s readiness and transparency, while polling reveals deep public anger over inflation, the economy, and Trump’s economic policies. In a separate narrative, survivor testimonies from abduction and control highlight the resilience of individuals facing trauma, while the show underscores a broader cultural shift toward normalization of gambling and misinformation in media. The report concludes that a combination of geopolitical instability, financial manipulation, and political misdirection is creating a fragile economic and social environment in the U.S.

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This is an I Heart podcast, guaranteed human, didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast. Here's what you missed. There should not be a single law enforcement agency that does not have body cameras. It's real. Black farmers have been under attack. This is just the latest example of them just slapping DEI on anything. It's raw. And I'm sitting here going, they are playing y'all for fools. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the Black Information Network. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the I Heart Radio App Apple podcast. Oh, wherever you get your podcasts. The new NFL season is here. And you should be listening to NFL Daily as we march along to Super Bowl 61. It is in the name NFL Daily. You'll have fresh content in your feed every day, all season long. That game winning drive, maybe it's Herbert, maybe it's Gino, maybe it's my homes. We'll have the highlights. If Fernando Mendoza or any of those rookies are ballin' out, we'll break down the tape. 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We rely on our premium subs to expand coverage, upgrade the studio, add staff, give you guys the best independent coverage that is possible. If you like what we're all about, it just means the absolute world to have your support. But enough with that. Let's get to the show. Turning now to the Houthis and the shocking developments in the Middle East. Let's go ahead and start with some of the video that's come out of Yemen, where you can see Houthi forces that are seizing US military assets that were sold or given to Saudi Arabia. Here you see similar, I mean, a lot of these guys walking around in sandals, the AK-47s, hanging out on the beach, marching down the street, all of this would all be funny if it were not dramatically funded by the United States, the Saudi military, a total and complete collapse that has been accompanied by a huge strategic disaster for Saudi Arabia and for the US, which is total seizure and control now of the Bob Al-Mandeb straight. Let's put C2 up there on the screen. It has now been completely confirmed. Red Sea Nations watch as Houthis sees the entire Bob Al-Mandeb straight. It is an economic bottleneck now for Egypt, security risks for Sudan, for Somalia, and leverage for Eritrea, for Djibouti. You have a lot of African nations where this has dramatically changed the maritime bottleneck effectively giving them veto power over whatever they want. This comes on the heels of a genuine shocking situation for Saudi Arabia because it's not the fact that their forces, back forces collapse in Yemen. It's that this is combined now with the damage to the East West pipeline. Let's go ahead and put C4 please on the screen just to show you all. Initial estimates coming out, 4% of the entire global oil supply is now taken off of this Saudi pipeline, this already happened after Saudi Arabia admitted it had exported less oil than at any time since 1990 and they say they will run out of oils as stocks for exports. If it doesn't restart major pipeline within days, the current estimate that is coming out of Saudi Arabia is apparently weeks for this pipeline, which means that they will have to dial down the amount they pump out of the ground, which is very, very difficult to start back up. Obviously, lot going on, but you have initial damage previously to a ramco to the pipeline. This is a genuine choke point, which is happening and all of it is reflected in the current price of oil as we are currently recording, it's running $109, a barrel at Brent Crude. Let's see where we at in terms of our national average, $4.31, gallons up 30 cents already just in the last two weeks or so, and diesel right now, my God, current average diesel $6.23 a gallon, it was $6 last week, it'll be 7, it'll be 7 pretty soon. Wow, that is extraordinarily dire. It does feel like, who is it that has a famous quote, the market will remain irrational longer than you can still sell it? I think it's an apocryphal one. Anyway, and it has felt a bit like that because we've been watching the, even with more oil and gas getting out of the straight of four moves, it's still not what it was. So of course, for a long time, we were talking to Rory, like, what is going on here? How come the market is not reacting more to the state of affairs? And there were all sorts of cushions that were in place. You had China, which dramatically reduced their buying. We had our strategic petroleum reserve that we were drawing. They were able to use this East West pipeline to get more barrels out of the region via the Bob Bell Mondob Street as well. And so now it feels like all of those previous pieces, which cushioned the blow, are falling away. And Trump's ability to market manipulate just through job owning has also seemingly fallen away. I mean, he is openly admitting now gas prices are not coming down before the midterms. Right. And who knows when? They will come down. He leaves that part down. He claims that as soon as the midterms are over, then things are going to go back and the war is going to be over. There's no explanation of how or why that would happen, exactly. But in any case, now you have obviously the seizure and the successful offensive by what we call the West the Houthis. You have East West pipeline struck by the way, not by the Houthis. It appears by Iraqi militias aligned with Iran. You have China re-entering at a higher rate. Obviously our strategic petroleum reserve has already been drawn down. So the situation is looking fairly dire, which is why you see those gas prices, those are barrel oil prices ticking up and up and up. And by the way, the overall stock market is down related more likely to the AI conversation we were having, obviously. >> Well, it's funny you bring that up, I'm about to have to say that, I go, this could be, I mean, I know lots of, this could be it. But let's say you have unilateral tech slowdown, which is propping up the entire U.S. economy. People start to wake up to, as I, I mean, look at my genuine reaction to diesel, going to $6.23 a gallon this morning, it was six last week. >> And that was a record high. >> That was the all time high, I'm like, $6.23 a gallon. Let's combine that with San Diego, put C5 on the screen here. We are reaching things we didn't even know was possible. A California gas station has now hit $9.99 and 99 cents a gallon with San Diego customers who are now giving themselves solace that it literally cannot get worse, other than $9.99 because of the way, apparently, that the sign is. >> Yeah, the signs only have three digits, so you can't go to $10. >> You actually just can't go to $10. So that appears to be the limit of what they're allowed to charge you for now. I'm sure a sign guy will fix that next week before the diesel price is going to resolve. That's where we're at. So you get crushing consumer sentiment, there was inflation reading that came out, I think, on Friday, the University of Michigan survey was disastrous. You've got $4.31 a gallon gasoline. I don't even know what it is in California, is it six bucks yet? Yes, $6 exactly this morning, $6 a gallon right now in California, $6.23, gas diesel, national average. I mean, that combined with a genuine downturn in the U.S. stock market, let's say we had a correction of 10% or something. We are living in a whole universe, I think, at that point. But that would actually lead to, I mean, I can't even imagine, like you would have federal reserve behavior, unemployment could skyrocket. I mean, even right now, the only thing really propping up our economy and hiring is health care spending. And as you and I both know with recession, if income goes down, people unfortunately don't seek out health care. So there's all kinds of downstream effects that could happen right now, directly as a result now of this Bob Almonda situation and the general strategic picture in Iran, which is, this is part of their playbook. This is what they wanted. They want the dial continuing to turn up. Every day that we get closer to the midterm election, they want to see that diesel price go higher. Yeah, that's exactly right. And Trump was hoping that he could sort of put this conflict on the back burner and people would become comfortable with maybe roughly $4 a gallon gas, but it wouldn't go that much higher. And then guess what, when you're in a war, your opponent also gets a say. And so that's part of what's going on here. We've been long saying that it doesn't make any sense that Iran would just accept that state of affairs and do nothing in response. Now, the Houthis are their own actors there in this, you know, war with the previous government of Yemen, backed by Saudi Arabia. So they have their own domestic priorities here in terms of trying to claim all of the territory in Yemen. But it's not crazy to imagine either that there is some coordination here with Iran because we know they are closely aligned Iran has helped them with technical and military assistance in the past. Because there is a question, okay, well, why now? Why did they decide to go on the march now? What was it that happened here? The other wild thing is that reportedly a bunch of their military adversaries, a lot of them were what they're calling like ghosts. soldiers who were being paid but weren't doing anything because they didn't really believe in the cause. I was living-- - Truly Afghanistan, 2.0. - Totally, I was listening to Professor Morandi this morning on with Floon Desen. And he was talking about how, you know, part of the victory for Ansar Alar, the Houthis, is that they were very sort of in terms of standing with Palestine. And that really raised their esteem with their own population and throughout the region. So, you know, if you have people who are actually committed to you who are willing to fight and aren't just collecting a paycheck as a ghost soldier, that is going to give you a tremendous advantage on the battlefield. I do think that is part of what's going on here. You know, another part of what's going on. Put C7 up on the screens, some reporting from the Wall Street Journal is Iran is now working over time producing ballistic missiles. Again, intelligence findings say Tehran is assembling stockpiled components into weapons in underground facilities. They say, despite heavy attacks on their missile sites and industrial facilities during the initial phase of the war, Iran has been busy assembling liquid propellant missiles, which have to be fueled just before launch as well as solid propellant missiles, which can be stored ready to fire, according to officials, points to activity at several underground sites. They're also attempting to build new underground assembly points to avoid getting struck again. So, they are still able to build these ballistic missiles. They have restarted production. Meanwhile, of course, we've got all kinds of problems on our side with regard to munitions and with regard to missile interceptors in particular, which certainly were exacerbated by this last round of fire, where we could all watch the videos of how many of our interceptors were being shot in order to be able to deter the Iranian attack. Admiral Bradley Cooper, however, was asked whether he is concerned about munitions stockpiles and he had this to say this is C6. You have testified about this, a shortage of munitions, especially to defend against Iranian missile and drone attacks. That's become a big issue in this war. How concerned are you about that right now? I'm not concerned at all. We're well armed and ready for any contingency. So, even though there are estimates that the U.S. has already fired 45 percent of its patriot missiles and use more than half of its thad missiles, you're not worried about any future threats. I'm not. Well, super comforting. Yeah, you believe him. I actually do. You know why? Because he's not the president. His job is just to worry about sent comms. So, he definitely has all of munitions he need. The question is, does the Paycom guy, the Indo Paycom commander or Southcom or any of these other people, they're like, whoa, Mr. sent comm, of course you have everything because you stole all of our stuff. So, you should go, this is an interesting piece that ran in the New York Times over the weekend and it was basically about how the vice president has been calling all of these subcommanders bypassing Pete Hegseth and just being like, give it to me straight what's really happening. And of course, this idiot Cooper, I mean, he's pro-Israel moron, you know, I've heard all kinds of stories about him, but the Paycom people and others, they're, they're ones who are like, they're like, sir, I'll shoot it to you straight. This is a real problem like this bad. Well, the other thing to keep in mind here is that Hegseth and Trump have both, you know, called their staff and Hegseth called the military based on people who will be loyal. I mean, that's really been the, you know, criteria for remaining in your post. And so, there's no way this guy could go on television and it tell the truth. If he did have concerns because then he'd be out of a job. So, it doesn't exactly foster unvarnished truth telling when you have enforced this sort of code of silence and demands for loyalty up to and including required that you, you know, lie to serve Trump or to serve Hegseth's wishes. Another thing we didn't have the time for the element, but I just saw it is that the Chinese imports are beginning to rebound. Yes. Which you could say couple things. I mean, the conflict's been going on for more than six months. Yeah. So, maybe their stockpiles are low and they just need to buy more oil. Yeah. The other thing is, I'm shee shing-ping. I've got all these annoyances with Donald Trump. You know, you burn a few billion, buying some oil, get those gas prices cranking here in the US, make sure that, you know, you just twist the screws a little bit in your favor. Wouldn't be the worst dollar that you ever spent if you're China. And on top of that, you're providing this new technology to the Iranians. Let's put that last piece on the screen. C7 up here, Iran is producing ballistic missiles again. Intelligence findings say Tehran is now assembling stockpile components into weapons in underground facilities. Combine that with a major story that came out over the weekend, which was that the Chinese providing targeting information, specifically on that Jordanian base to Iran. And then Trump being asked about it. And he basically had to brush it off being like, yeah, I'm sure they have intelligence. We have intelligence too. I mean, this is impotence. You can't do anything about it. First of all, it's obviously correct. But second, it's like, what are you going to do in a sanction them? It's like, yeah, it's like, yeah, yeah, it's like, look at our economy. In fact, they're not them, but, you know, together, they're all in a much better strategic position to outlast and to push against the United States. Their population is willing to suffer. And, you know, we shouldn't diminish that. We're not even people who are suffering right now. We've got gas lines. They've got electricity problems. They've got, you know, economy is just nationalized, complete turmoil. But they're literally under attack and their leader was killed, whereas all we want is $2.82 cents a gallon gasoline. We don't care about what's going on over there. And we definitely want to be paying for what this is on top of the price like with this. So I think considering our first coverage about AI already this morning, I mean, it's still very, very early. But looking, I mean, yeah, I mean, the market is dropping like a rock right now. Who knows exactly where it could be? We could end up like maybe one or two percent down on the entire S&P 500. On the actual tech stocks, let's see, QQQ is already down by about one point. It's not horrible. But we'll see, continue to see where those things continue to be. But if you combine that with very, very high in physical inputs of gasoline and diesel, that is obviously just, you know, it doesn't need a genius to say depression very easily. Yeah. I would say the stock market dropping after all of these guys come out and, you know, sound the alarm and say they're going to unilaterally slow down. Fits very uncomfortably with the idea, but this is all hype to point to Mr. Stock and, you know, essentially increase their their IPOs. But yeah, I mean, the last thing I'll say on this is the Iranians have long had their eyes on the midterm because they understand that the war here is unpopular. They understand that the American consumer is very, very sensitive to gas prices that the ripple effects of diesel throughout the economy are going to be quite grave. So I would certainly expect that they continue to increase the pressure here, you know, between now and November to try to further empower the political horizon for Trump because that's something that they've, you know, basically outright claimed as part of their war strategy. Right. I mean, why wouldn't you? And especially with the screws that are all tightening right now. All right. Let's get to gambling. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the survivor files. You just remember this low-taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. Their stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast. And the argument is, do you want to win? If you don't win, you have no power. It's real. Those are the very people who I always say vote against their own economic interests, and they complained about the very thing they were seeing. It's raw. I knew that the issue of transgender athletes was not going well with a lot of black men. Roland Martin unfiltered. I went off. I said, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Y'all gonna scream at Chanel, but you don't want to see a black luxury company in the same bag. Twelve seats. Those are moving south. So if you Democrats, you don't wait to 2030, you better be hitting the ground going hard in the south now. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast. Wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Britt Coleman, and I'm Trevor Sikama. If you ever watched a game and wondered what really made the difference beyond the final score, that's exactly why we created NFL Pro Strowth, got a man wide open, touchdown, stay locked. Every week we use exclusive next-gen stats insights and NFL content to break down the biggest stories, matchups, and moments from around the league. We go beyond the box score to uncover the numbers, the tendencies, and details that help explain what actually happened on the field. Fires it out and deflect the bark leaf with Pete's one man, spins past another, leaps over a bird. And don't worry, this isn't just a show for stats experts. We use advanced analytics to help tell the story behind the game, turning the numbers into insights that every fan can understand and enjoy. So whether you're a casual fan learning more about football or a hardcore fan You can't get enough analysis. Our goal is to help you see the game in a whole new way. If you've ever wanted to know why a playwork, how a matchup was won, or what most fans missed on Sunday, NFL Pro delivers insights you simply can't get anywhere else. Listen to NFL Pro on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. OK, let's turn now to gambling. So you might think, you know, just because it's me that we're covering this. And that's largely true. But it's also because it is the day after NFL Sunday. And so casual fans, you watch the games, you have a good time, hang out, maybe eat some unhealthy food, and that's the worst of your problems. But increasingly, what has now happened is a deluge of gambling advertising from the traditional sportsbooks now to the so-called prediction markets. And just to take a step back and remind us the Trump administration has effectively legalized gambling in all 50 states, making it available to Texas and California, two of the states with the largest population. So for the first time in American history, this was the first NFL Sunday where you could gamble in all 50 states. The numbers are in, the numbers are in, and they're absolutely shocking to nobody. If you don't see the rise of this addiction, let's go and put D3 up here on the screen. A record of some $14.1 billion was bet on prediction markets just in the last week. Sports that were particularly favorable for these prediction markets included not only the U.S. Open tennis match, but also as they say, the start of the NFL regular season. So that puts you at tens of billions of dollars in a single week that were gambled on these platforms. You might then wonder what exactly are all of these bets going towards, and you would be absolutely shocked to learn that a huge portion of these bets are going to traditional combos, otherwise known as a parlay bet, of which you might as well just be handing your money over to the sportsbooks. This comes on the heels of an advertising push where, you know, this crystal wears, we have no shame in our society anymore. You got LeBron James, who the current whatever net worth estimator has him around, whether it's 1.1 billion or 800 million, it doesn't make a difference. He never has to work a day in his life. Eli Manning, I mean, you know, the Manning brothers and all that. They've got enough bud light money in the can so they could literally do nothing. They do this for a choice. They do it for the paycheck. You got Spike Lee of all people here. That's sad. Yeah, the guy who made me Malcolm X is out here chilling for polymarket. So that's the ad I'm about to show you. Here's LeBron James appearing. By the way, he followed this up with his polymarket picks for the NFL season. Here was his ad for polymarket. Coming in hot! Woo! I'm trading. You got to stand your toes. Morning, Eli. Good morning, LeBron. Always be planning for Eli Manning. Just to hit that button. And now we play. Man, Craig from the office. How could you, Craig? How could you? So you got, let me just look at that. Did all these people pay checks that are out there? And again, it's so funny they call themselves prediction markets. You can literally go on their website. And live bet the spread per quarter. So like literally about who's going to be up per quarter, all the future profit. It is completely indistinguishable from any of the sportsbooks. In fact, I downloaded the polymarket app at one point on Saturday. Or sorry, on Friday or Thursday, whenever the Rams and the 49ers are playing. There were 180,000 people in the live chat who were live chatting about the trades that they were making. And they even gamified it so that there's a little tag next year name about how much money you have on the game and in which way. And they're all shit talking each other and then encouraging each other to put even more on parlay. I've never seen anything like this in my life. Like this collaborative, it's literally like a streaming thing where everybody's just encouraging to pour even more money. Now we've put the 14 billion number up there. We showed you how LeBron and these others are doing this. But there are all these other competitors. And so my new favorite is called Novig, which decided that gambling, shilling for the sin of gambling was not enough. Let's combine it with soft core pornography of Sydney Swini. So here, take a listen. Thank you, no sports. Prove it. Novig is just sports. So they wanted to show just sports. So yeah, that's America now. It's just Sydney Swini being naked and shilling for just sports. I believe she made some quote where she was like, "Oh, it's better because it's just sports. You can't bet on what color my underwear is." I'm like, "Well, why don't we just advocate for something so we don't have markets for that literally at all? How about that?" Yeah, so that's up in Times Square. Nobody blinks an eye over any of this stuff. All these celebrities, you got Timothy Chalamet, all of these athletes, the US Open, which you're a huge fan of. They partner directly with Kowshi. I mean, this is CNN. CNN's partner directly with Kowshi. There's a rumor that the Times was like this close, signing a Kowshi deal. Are you serious? Yeah, but their employees were like, "We can't do this." I mean, I just, it's just a stick on LeBron for a second. Like, here's this guy has more money than he could ever spend. Right? Like, what? Yeah, why? Why? I mean, if we can resist selling out to Kowshi and Polymerged, like, how is this hard for you? And then, to me, it's just so tragic because obviously, LeBron has all of these fans who are young men. I mean, that's why he's such a prize for them to sign because he's so influential with the group that is the most in hoc to these gambling companies that are those trading companies. And so, LeBron has done a lot of things for his hometown and really tried to uplift people, struggle there, et cetera. And now, here you are, backing and vouching for this company that's directly predatory. There's leads to bankruptcies. I mean, the overwhelming majority of people are going to lose money on these bets. And then, you have a growing subset that are actively addicted, that this will fuel and can lead to just disaster and ruin in their lives. It's so hard for me to understand, but I think it just does come down to the culture where it is just accepted, you know? All the, so many of the YouTubers, the media, like, everyone around you is doing it and no one's batting an eye, so you think, well, why shouldn't I? Now, it is interesting when he posted this on Twitter, a lot of the comments were very negative and really disgusted. But, you know, I guess the overwhelming cultural sentiment is in favor and comfortable with it. So, he doesn't bad mine. Look, as I put, somebody was talking and being like, it's so hypocritical people are going after LeBron James. Michael Jordan famously had no gambling scandals. I'm like, let me tell you something. Michael Jordan is 10 times more honorable. He lost his own money, all right? On his stupid ass bets. Whereas LeBron is taking cash money, encouraging people to put their harder money at risk while they're gambling. He's not the one who's actually doing another use gambling. You know, the other thing that drives me absolutely crazy about this is the ad reads, all right? So, let's put D4 up on the screen. I was listening to a sports podcast and this is literally the ad read I got. They go with Polymarket, you're a trader. Not a better. It's legal in all 50 states. That's why you need to use my code to get $50 in free bets. And as I said, they go on to discuss the trades of the spread on an upcoming NFL game. And let me tell you how you are, if you're trading powerlays on Polymarket, you literally might as well just load up the Fandall app. Put D5 up here on the screen. This is what's so funny to me is that everybody thinks it's some brand new project. So, this is from Nick Devor. He is over at Baron's Online. And he has this phenomenal scoop where they find out, where I've explained this before on prediction markets, how somebody else is taking the other side of your action, right? So, the person who's taking the other side of that action is when you're on Calci and you are doing a quote combo bet, aka Parlay bet, a contingent bet for three different quote legs in your Parlay. The person who it turns out is market-making. Many of those is literally just Fandall. So, the people who have mastered Parlay technology, the sportsbooks by the single game Parlay, when you log into Fandall, that's what's loaded up right up there at the top, they are literally just doing the exact same thing by using the Calci platform. So, whether you use their app or use Calci, you're just getting the same bet. They're offering you the same thing. And as I've told you, that's 60% of their revenue. And they are, you lose with such regularity, they can project in the future. How much they are going to make off of your dumbass. And all of this together, you just can see, we are siphoning. This year will be already gambling eclipsed. All forms of entertainment combined. Hollywood, museums, books. Now with all 50 states, with Novig and Sydney Swini and Draft King's prediction market, Fandall's prediction market, Calci, Polly market. Already this week, put the screenshot guys, D8, I literally took this this morning on the day after NFL Sunday. Take a look at this. The top downloaded apps in the United States, Polly market at number three and Calci at number five. So, you can see how this marketing campaign is working, how they are siphoning literally. literally billions of dollars from a lot of these working class guys, convincing them that they have some sort of edge, live trading, you know, exactly what's going on. And yeah, I mean, it's just, look, it's tragic because we all know the consequences. And, you know, the final thing I'll say is about this insider trading threat, which, you know, still remains one of the, one of the biggest problems is there's no real rules. Put, what does it see, D6, please on the screen? Just to highlight how absurd this whole situation is, why you shouldn't even have markets on this in the first place, is there were a cluster of polymarket accounts that one big on companies audited by KPMG, findings came after the journal reported a KPMG employee is under investigation for alleged insider trading, where he was betting on the earnings of different companies. And somebody put it together that all of the earnings that he was betting on, all were audited by KPMG. So, let me see it inside, access. Ironically, it appears that he tried to do this because with the SEC, there's insider trading loss. So, if you were to short the stock, that's much easier to identify. So, we explicitly used polymarket and these prediction markets to circumvent the robust insider trading law that we have whenever it comes to SEC in the stock exchange, and instead wanted to circumvent it. So, you may ask in the first place, why do you even need this market, you know, at all, and you would be correct. - For insider trading, that's what it is. - Now, in fairness, apparently the Wall Street Journal has reported that federal authorities were preparing to bring charges against a KPMG employee over alleged insider trading, not clear whether it's the same person, very likely the same person. So, his scheme here to skirt the law apparently didn't work, but how many instances are out there that never get caught? I mean, and that's the other part of this. - And you need a US-based idiot. All you need is some guy in, you know, Kyrgyzstan. I mean, this guy could be printing money. - Totally. - Just paying people cash from to the table. - Totally, if he just, yeah, I used a straw purchaser instead to make the bets that no one would have been the wiser. There's no doubt that that sort of thing is happening. So, that's the other piece is like, whatever you're betting on, there may be somebody betting against you who actually has inside knowledge and the whole thing is basically rigged. - So stupid. All right, let's get to the next one. - When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive, what should have destroyed them. - I just remember this low taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. - Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. - I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. - I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. - They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive, listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. - Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast? - Here's what you missed. - It's real. - Those are the very people who I always say vote against their own economic interests, and they complained about the very thing they were seeing. - It's raw. - I knew that the issue of transgender athletes was not going well with a lot of black men. - Roland Martin unfiltered. - I went off, I said, this is exactly what I'm talking about. - Y'all gonna scream at Chanel, but you don't want to see a black luxury company in the same bag. - Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the black information network. - 12 seats, those are moving south. So if you Democrats, you don't wait to 2030, you better be hitting the ground, going hard in the south now. - And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts. - Or wherever you get your podcasts. - I'm Britt Coleman, and I'm Trevor Sikama. - Have you ever watched a game and wondered what really made the difference beyond the final score? That's exactly why we created NFL Pro. - Bro, it's got a man wide open. Touchdown, stay up! - Every week we use exclusive next-gen stats insights and NFL content to break down the biggest stories, matchups, and moments from around the league. - Fires it out, the flat, the markly, who beats one man, spins past another, leaps over a phone. - And don't worry, this isn't just a show for stats experts. - So whether you're a casual fan, learning more about football, or a hardcore fan, can't get enough analysis, our goal is to help you see the game in a whole new way. - If you've ever wanted to know why a playwork, how a matchup was won, or what most fans missed on Sunday, NFL Pro delivers insights you simply can't get anywhere else. - Listen to NFL Pro on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. - Yesterday, President Trump weighed in on an issue that is increasingly on the minds of voters as they begin to head to the polls, flock cameras, let's take a listen to what he had to say. - Speaking of AI, flock cameras, you haven't talked a lot about these flock cameras. A lot of law enforcement say they really help them, would you be willing to back that? - No, I sort of like 'em. 'Cause of that, 'cause of law enforcement, but some people don't, they think it's an infringement. - They help catch a lot of courage. - I like 'em. - They like 'em, okay. This comes on the heels, of course, of saying that if you don't like data centers, you wanna be backwards and poor, of saying all sorts of things about. It doesn't care about the financial needs and concerns of the American people. Lots of stuff that Republicans are absolutely loving from him. Kevin Hassett was recently on television, asking about some of the dire economic polling with regard to Trump and his performance, had quite an interesting spin on it. Let's take a listen to that. - The bottom line is that Biden's economy, right before that election, was truly horrible. We're heading up towards almost close to, above 10 to 12% inflation. Real wages are dropping by about 3,000. And so then you ask yourself, okay, if that's a reasonable estimate of what people think about the economy, how come now that we have this booming economy, they say that it's worse? And the answer is that they're surveying Democrats who hate President Trump, that's all. And so therefore, I disregard that number. - polls are fake. They're just surveying Democrats' soccer. They don't know what they're talking about. It's all just fake news. The economy is actually doing amazing the real problem by the way it was Joe Biden. - Very possible. Polls have definitely been off. I believe what I saw was one of the bets that the tech right people are making, and a lot of the Republicans are hanging their hat on, is because of the way the House is structured, if the polls are off enough where it's just D+4, then they could still hold the House of Representatives. That's what they're trying to sell to the people. Now that's certainly possible. I mean, we've seen many polling errors here in the history of our show, so it wouldn't exactly be novel. Let's put E2 up here though on the screen. Just check in where things are. This is where I generally find where the D+ stuff is always difficult to analyze whether any of that's true, especially because it's so off back in 2022, but approved, disapprove generally seems to be a pretty long-held metric, which equalizes over time, and usually absent like a roversous-weight situation like back in 2022, could end up mattering and being the metric that you could point to. And that's where, when you see Trump at 39% approve and 61% disapprove, if he got nearly a two-thirds majority of the country, saying I disapprove, then why would they vote for the Republicans in the first place? It's issue by issue. They have immigration minus 10, Iran minus 28, economy minus 32, inflation minus 46. These are not just numbers where even if the polling error is what plus or minus 6, like what are you still minus 40? - On inflation. - On inflation? - Yes, it's still not exactly-- - It seems important. - Place to be. Remember what I said there about the generic ballot where I said that they could survive in D+4? Well, if you want to do the math, that's D+8 in terms of the generic ballot right there. So, even again, if we're plus or minus 2, 3, something like that, you're still in a situation. We're almost certain to lose the house. - Well, and pause this one for a second here, 'cause I think this slide that's up is also really important. They ask people, okay, if Democrats win or you're gonna be better off financially. Numbers here, not exactly impressive. 36% say I'll be better off, 36% say worse off the others say no change. But the numbers are even worse for Republicans where you've got near a majority, 46% saying they're going to be worse off if Republicans win. Let's go to the next slide. We've got some more numbers from this CBS news, you go of poll. Vote for Congress if you said that higher prices have created difficulty or hardship for you. So, of likely voters who said that higher prices have been a bad thing for them, that they are struggling because of higher prices, 62% say they're voting Democrat. And only 38% say they're voting Republican. That might be the most devastating number in this poll because so many people feel that they have been, you know, financially set back by high prices. Let's put the next piece up on the screen. This is their house tracker right now. They're projecting 228 seats for Democrats, 207 for Republicans. And then last one we can put here up on the screen. Among MAGA Republicans, how do you feel about Trump not being on the ballot? Does it make you more interested in the election, only 16 percent? Less interested in the election, only 12 percent, 72 percent said it doesn't matter to them. Some of the other numbers in this poll also indicated that Democrats are highly, highly motivated to vote against Trump. Republicans are less motivated in general, but also less motivated vis-à-vis Trump, even though Trump has come out and said, pretend that I'm on the ballot. So this polling in line with a lot of other polling that shows a lot of antipathy among the Republican base and a lot of problems among the broader electorate, and especially deep, deep, deep discontent with Trump's handling of the economy. So Trump's big ploy to try to get people to come out and vote for him, get excited, and give them a reason to come out and vote for Republicans was this promise $5,000 check, which I'm sure we're all going to get right after our doge checks and right after our tear-free fund checks. Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about this $5,000 ploy and had an interesting way of describing it, and overall he's asked about it multiple times, seemed very less than enthusiastic, let's say, about the idea. Let's listen to that. Where would the money come from? We're already $40 trillion in debt, and this would put about $1.3 trillion additional onto that debt for your kids and my kids to have to pay off. It's a new creative idea. The president debuted it at the convention. We have had zero time, of course, to process it, deliberate, discuss it. As you know, I got to build consensus every day on everything. But we applaud the president for thinking outside the box. He's the president, probably the strongest in that regard of any we've ever had. And of course, we're worried about our fiscal stability and the nation's debt. We had plans to reduce the debt. So he says there, it's a new creative idea, but soccer notably refuses to actually back it. Right. Which seems to be the most important thing. It's like, so are you actually going to pass it? And this gets to Trump too, where Trump yesterday was asked about it aboard Air Force One, and they said, well, how serious about this? It's like 100%. Meanwhile, John Thune and Mike Johnson are like, yeah, that's an interesting idea. You know, we'll see whether any of that's going to happen. And so Trump's trying to manufacture a reason that you should vote for Republicans in the first place, except the other Republicans won't even get on board with it. Somebody actually should just go Ken Paxson and all these other people be like, what do you guys think about it? I would love every candidate on the record should say what they think. Yeah. Oh, 100%. I mean, the thing is like, it's obviously fake. It's obviously not going to happen no matter what. And Republicans are very likely to win, lose the House, if not both chambers, as well. There was checking in on some of the critical Senate races. There was a debate in the Alaska Senate race where Mary Peltola, the Democrat, seems to have an edge, at least in terms of the polling, and certainly seem to have an edge in the primary vote she got more than her opponent Dan Sullivan. Interesting moment here, where they're asked yes or no on a fishery question, and Sullivan has to cheat to get the answer. Let's take a look. Do the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and NOAA fisheries adequately consider impacts on subsistence users, salmon migration, habitat, and indigenous ways of life? We have two notes. Thank you. So if you're just listening, she holds up her no sign and then Sullivan looks over and then picks up his no sign as well. So I'm not sure that that is going to land well, but mostly it's just a funny moment for the debate. And last one here, this is no worthy, because this is an infamously Republican leaning pollster, Rasmussen, polling in the Iowa Senate race. This is a state that no one would have thought would be in play for Democrats, but it is very much in play for Democrats. Let's put E5 up on the screen here. If this poll is to be believed, Josh Turk has a five point lead that's the Democrat over Ashley Hinson, the Republican and a large lead among independent or unaffiliated voters. He's at 49 percent and she is at 28 percent. Again, this is from Rasmussen. So worth noting. And I do definitely think that the Iowa Senate seat is in play. Will he be able to pull it off? You know, it's Democrats have a long way to work back with rural voters, but Iowa is also one of the states that has been hard to hit by both the tariffs and the Iran war, and they already had economic difficulties to begin with. So would not be shocking if there was a political earthquake in the state given how dire the economics there have been. That's totally agree. And even if I didn't, I couldn't say any more because I keep breaking into coughing. I have time to wrap this up. Yeah, I think the tickle is telling me that there's all right, here I'll close the show today. Guys, thank you so much for watching. We will be back tomorrow with much more on all of the various things that are going on in the world. So we will see you then. It's real. It's raw. And I'm sitting here going. They are playing y'all for foals. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the IHOT radio app Apple Podcast. You'll have fresh content in your feet every day all season long. That game winning drive. Maybe it's Herbert. Maybe it's Gino. Maybe it's my homes. If Fernando Mendoza or any of those rookies are balling out, we'll break down the tape. Join me. Greg Rosenthal and an all-star cast of co-hosts as we preview and recap every game. Listen to NFL daily on the IHOT radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHOT podcast. Guaranteed Human.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Houthi forces in Yemen have seized U.S.-backed Saudi military assets and taken control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, creating a major strategic and economic choke point that threatens regional stability and drives oil prices up to $109 per barrel.
  2. The East-West oil pipeline has suffered damage, with initial estimates suggesting 4% of global oil supply disrupted, leading to sharp increases in U.S. fuel prices—gas now averaging $4.31 and diesel at $6.23—triggering widespread consumer anxiety and economic strain.
  3. A surge in gambling activity across all 50 states, fueled by celebrity endorsements and prediction markets like Polymarket and Fandall, has led to massive financial exposure, with $14.1 billion bet in one week, while evidence shows these platforms often replicate traditional sportsbooks and enable insider trading, exploiting consumer vulnerability.

Summary:

A major geopolitical crisis is unfolding in the Middle East, as Houthi forces in Yemen seize key military assets and control the Bab el-Mandeb strait, disrupting global oil flows and pushing fuel prices to record highs. S. 23—leading to widespread consumer distress and a sharp downturn in the stock market.

The situation is compounded by strategic vulnerabilities in Saudi oil infrastructure and growing evidence of Iran’s ballistic missile production, supported by Chinese intelligence and targeting data. , with celebrities like LeBron James and Spike Lee promoting prediction markets, many of which operate as fronts for traditional sportsbooks. These platforms, including Polymarket and Fandall, are found to be structurally identical to conventional betting, with over 60% of revenue derived from parlay bets, and are linked to insider trading risks.

The financial and social toll is significant, with growing evidence of predatory gambling and economic hardship, especially among working-class Americans. S. economy ahead of the 2024 elections to amplify public discontent.

Amid this, bipartisan skepticism grows over the military’s readiness and transparency, while polling reveals deep public anger over inflation, the economy, and Trump’s economic policies. In a separate narrative, survivor testimonies from abduction and control highlight the resilience of individuals facing trauma, while the show underscores a broader cultural shift toward normalization of gambling and misinformation in media. S.

FAQs

Houthi forces in Yemen have seized U.S. military assets and gained control of the Red Sea Strait, disrupting global shipping and causing a significant oil supply shortage. This has led to a surge in oil prices, with Brent crude reaching $109 per barrel and gasoline prices rising sharply in the U.S.

Gasoline prices have increased significantly, with the national average reaching $4.31 per gallon and diesel hitting $6.23 per gallon. These spikes are directly linked to the oil supply disruption in the Red Sea, which has reduced oil availability and driven up costs for consumers.

Iran is reportedly producing ballistic missiles again using underground facilities and has received targeting intelligence from China. The U.S. government and military have reported concerns about Iran's missile capabilities, which are being developed despite ongoing attacks.

A record $14.1 billion was bet on prediction markets in one week, including major sports like the NFL and U.S. Open. These platforms, such as Polymarket and Calci, often replicate traditional sportsbook bets, with a large portion of wagers being parlay bets that are essentially the same as those offered by established bookmakers.

Celebrities such as LeBron James have directly marketed prediction platforms like Polymarket, appearing in ads and sharing their betting strategies. This normalizes gambling culture and targets young audiences, contributing to increased participation and financial risk.

There are reports of individuals using prediction markets to circumvent insider trading laws by betting on company earnings before public release. A KPMG employee is under investigation, and such activity suggests that these platforms may be used to hide illicit financial activities.

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