The Jensen Huang Nvidia Meltdown is Worse Than You Think

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With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into-- sign up for your $1 per month trial at shopify.com/specialoffice. That's shopify.com/specialoffice. And that's where you'll find your future. That's where you'll find your future. When you're building a company, you learn that trust is what closes deals. You may have the best product, but buyers won't sign without proof that your product is secure, especially if it has AI. Vanta gets you compliant fast with SOC 2, ISO 27001, and more, and keeps you secure with continuous monitoring. Hyperbound, a YC-backed startup, used Vanta to unlock the Fortune 100 in under a year. Snowfire got audit ready in a month and closed a multi-million dollar deal. Finding a CEO of Nvidia is so much bigger than you think. And actually, the story got even crazier as I was making today's show for you. Pete Hegseth was publicly humiliated at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and now he's trying to save face. We dive into how crazy this Scott Cologne, Mississippi situation is. GTA 6 has already taken over the world. And this week's new Beautiful Bastard drop, it just officially broke records for the year. We're talking about all of that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, starting with this. Jensen Huang is out, the co-founder of Nvidia, the man who is synonymous with the chip-making giant and is officially done as CEO. Right, 'cause you had him resigning this morning amid reports that he had a second affair, this time with an executive who reported to him. And then actually, as I was finishing up today's show, you had Reuters reporting that Huang apparently had a third affair with an unnamed Nvidia employee, though right now we don't have any more information. Right, and that news coming just days after he admitted to having an affair with a woman who US intelligence determined is a Chinese spy. For the full deep dive on that one, I'll link to the Monday video. We do a deep dive there. Because super quick to bring everyone back up to speed, about two weeks ago, The New York Times reported that Huang had developed an intimate relationship with a woman named Ashley. Alice Huang, who is not related to him. And Alice, she's a Chinese citizen and the former chief executive of Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, which has bought at least $4.8 billion worth of AI equipment containing Nvidia chips and technology. But according to The Times, US intelligence agencies concluded that Alice was a Chinese asset who was funneling information directly to Beijing as part of an effort to learn more about American AI chips and possibly to influence Nvidia to push for Chinese access to their most advanced chips. Because since the Biden administration, the US has banned companies from exporting the most advanced Nvidia chips to China to give the US a boost in the race for AI supremacy. And that's also key because toward the end of the Biden administration, the commerce department started investigating Megaspeed over suspicions that it was smuggling banned Nvidia chips to China. But then in came Trump, who eased export restrictions, allowing more chips to be sent to China after he started getting all buddy-buddy with Huang, who also reportedly donated at least $20 million to Trump's ballroom fund. And then maybe even crazier is that Trump was reportedly briefed on the intelligence about Alice and Jensen Huang's relationship about a year ago. But he apparently chose not to do anything with that intel because he was worried about disrupting Nvidia's chip sales and the stock market in general. And that's huge for a number of reasons, including Huang, who's been a major influence on Trump's approach to AI and China. So if Trump knew he was potentially being honeypotted by a Chinese spy seeking AI technology and still allowed him to play such a big role in determining US policy, that's fucking insane. Especially because it appears that Trump didn't even tell Jensen himself about Alice. US officials apparently didn't believe that he knew that she was gathering information for China when they briefed Trump last year. But it's also unclear if that's changed and you had senior officials saying it is doubtful he remained unaware. So just so much insanity and so many more questions, but then also with this, you had China denying that Alice was a spy and Jensen Huang, right, for his part, he has not publicly addressed those specific allegations. Though he did confirm they had had an affair, but also he didn't name Alice Huang directly and Nvidia's board of directors announced that it would investigate the matter. But then yesterday, the Times dropping another bombshell report that Jensen Huang had also had an affair with Kimberly Powell, who happened to be Nvidia's vice president of healthcare. And this despite the fact that one, both of them are married and two, Nvidia's code of conduct directs them to avoid situations where our actions create conflict, including personal relationships. And actually, according to the Chinese media, according to reports, Huang's relationship with Powell, it's been discussed inside Nvidia. Right, and the two were also allegedly filmed being affectionate at a hotel during an Nvidia conference back in March, but security workers saw the bystander and sequestered them and then asked them to sign an NDA. And while notably here, you know, it doesn't appear that either Huang or Nvidia have commented on the alleged second affair as of recording, you do have a lot of people taking his resignation on the heels of this news as an indirect admission, right, at least of what's been reported and who else knows what's been going on. Right, and then, you know, as far as what happens next, you have Colette Kress, Nvidia's current CFO, now serving as interim CEO. While the company looks for a permanent replacement and you have the board of directors also appointing venture capitalist Harvey C. Jones as its first ever chair. And right now, we do not know the kind of major economic ripples that could come from this resignation. Right, 'cause Jensen Huang, he's not just some dude. Nvidia is not just some company. Nvidia controls 90% of the market for computer chips and big AI projects. Before all this went down, the company was worth $4.5 trillion, regularly going back and forth with Apple for the title of the world's most valuable company. And because of its essential role in American AI production, Nvidia has also become crucial to propping up the US stock market, which is being heavily fueled by the AI boom. And so all of this, it makes it unsurprising and also very concerning that Nvidia stock has totally tanked on this news. Right, shares in the company dropped as much as 14% when markets opened this morning. And while it's rebounded a bit as of recording this, some outlets are reporting that the drop has slashed Nvidia's market value by $2 trillion, falling 35% from a record high back in October. All of this kind of makes Jensen Huang a Helen of Troy figure. They say, "Helen of Troy had the face that launched a thousand ships." And to that, I say, okay, that's cool, but Jensen, Jensen Huang has a dick that blew up a billion 401ks. And if you're not familiar with the guy, his resignation, it makes sense that it would have such a big impact. Right, this is not your typical CEO departure. Huang is as integral to Nvidia as the company is to the US economy. Right, he co-founded Nvidia. He is the only CEO the company has ever had. He has led the business as it's gone from a startup for video game graphic cards to really being ahead of the curve on what those cards could do and the future of AI to then becoming the face of the AI boom and one of the most valuable companies in the world. And apparently saying he was instrumental in the business is probably downplaying it. You had The Times explaining that he ran Nvidia almost single-handedly and was quote, "Unusually central to his company's success." And even like the corporate fabric of the company seemed to be designed for his control to a certain extent. Right, Nvidia operates with a flat organizational structure and an executive team of more than 60 people who report directly to him. So it puts them at the epicenter of day-to-day operations. And so it's believed that that structure could be very hard to unwind and it could complicate the transition to a new leader. And it's a transition that'll also be further complicated by the fact that it's a big deal. That the company literally does not seem to have a succession plan at all. The whole thing, it was built around Huang and his leadership so there's no obvious successor and there doesn't even seem to be a clear internal candidate for the long run. Which is then seemingly in part why you're seeing so many big names in Silicon Valley arguing that his affair, even with an alleged Chinese spy, is a lapse of judgment that should be forgiven. Arguing that ousting him is just gonna be so, so detrimental and some arguing that America cannot actually win the AI race without him. And you have many arguing that same point even after the news of his alleged second affair broke. So we'll have to wait to see what happens with Nvidia and the economic impact that this transition of power is gonna have. But things are also not over for Huang. And I don't just mean like where is he going in the future? What company is he gonna start or be at? Because you're seeing things like Republican leaders of at least three influential house committees asking him to appear for briefings on his interactions with Alice Huang and today with the chair of the foreign affairs committee saying that Huang had agreed to testify before Congress. We've also seen members of Congress on both sides of the aisle calling for congressional and federal investigations. And many lawmakers, including some Republicans, have also called for probes into Trump and others in his administration because while Trump's denied that he was informed about the Alice intel during a state visit to China in May that Huang accompanied him on, multiple outlets have reported that he was personally briefed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio shortly before Huang boarded Air Force One. And then there's also a bunch of sketchy shit about the administration that's come out in the last few days. Earlier this week, the Times reported that investigators at the Commerce Department were deep into a months-long investigation of Megaspeed when the case was abruptly taken out of their hands and transferred to the DOJ after it was compromised by a Trump appointee. And specifically, Nvidia's general counsel allegedly emailed Commerce Department investigators seeking information about their probe and noting that Jeff Kessler, a top official of the department who reports directly to the secretary, had given the company permission to reach out about the case. We were the agents alarmed by that because Kessler's interaction there would violate government procedure and potentially taint the case entirely. There was some also questioning why Kessler was discussing the case with Nvidia when they hadn't been ruled out as a subject of the investigation. And so as a result, sources say that the case was quickly transferred to the DOJ to avoid compromising the investigation of Megaspeed. Meanwhile, multiple prominent Republicans are calling for the Commerce Secretary to explain why his agency didn't block Megaspeed from buying advanced chips despite the US intelligence warnings about Alice. And then just today, you had Singapore's government saying that when it launched its own investigation to Alice, the US provided very little help. And actually, according to reports, Singaporean authorities seized Alice's passport to prevent her from leaving the country from June of 2025 until February of this year over potential false declarations regarding Megaspeed. And as part of that probe, Singapore tried to get information from an American server maker and close Nvidia business partner called Supermicro, which sources say was a supplier of Megaspeed. But Supermicro, which has also been the subject of chip smuggling probes, they weren't cooperative. Also, when Singapore raised the issue with the DOJ and FBI and requested their assistance in securing the company's cooperation, they received quote, "limited information or assistance." And so very clearly, there are a lot of very, very, very serious allegations that are floating around right now. And while we're gonna see how this plays out in the immediate future, it also feels like you can bet your ass that Democrats are gonna start looking into them when they assume power in January and they go balls to the walls all in on investigating so many things with this corrupt administration. But then, gentlemen, from that to other news, we've gotta talk about why Pete Hegseth is in crazy damage control mode right now. Because while obviously the big conversation surrounding him right now is when is he gonna get impeached? Is he going to get impeached at all? There's also this crazy viral clip where a guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier starts scolding him and his entourage. Right, and it was a rough day for Pete Hegseth yesterday. I mean, just to start, the audience booed when Trump just mentioned his name during the Veterans Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery. - The Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. I had a feeling that was going to happen. - Which was bad enough for him, but then immediately after the ceremony, he managed to tank his reputation even further, because after posing for a photo at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with his wife and advisors, it seemed like they forgot exactly where they were and the type of decorum that's expected, and the US Army guard stationed at the tomb, Specialist Thomas Iglesias, was forced to remind them. - All visitors will maintain atmosphere of silence and respect at all times. - And after what many are calling a completely justified reprimand, you had Hegseth's group, walking away without giving Iglesias any attention, with that clip then just blowing up wildly online, and the backlash was fast and fierce. You had countless people calling Hegseth disrespectful, saying he should be fired, and applauding Iglesias at the tomb. It wasn't just everyday people saying this. You had both current and former lawmakers and even high-profile veterans pushing back, and that includes former representative Adam Kinzinger, who called the situation abhorrent and said, "Pete Hegseth doesn't know how to conduct himself even at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery," saying his behavior is unbecoming of any visitor to the tomb, let alone that which comes from a Secretary of Defense. Also, you had retired Air Force Colonel Moe Davis chiming in, calling Hegseth a "daily dishonor and disgrace." And then there was the more direct approach that you had Paul Rykoff, an Iraq War veteran, a former first lieutenant in the Army and prominent veterans advocate, taking on MSNOW. - Pete Hegseth is a piece of. I have to say it. Like, we can all see it now. The whole world can see it. He's disrespectful, he's despicable, he's dastardly, he's a liar, he's lied to his wives, he's lied to the country, he's lied to the president. And they are bad people, and it's no more obvious and egregious than on Veterans Day, when they act like that. - And all of that, you know, it was just a small taste. This was blowing up. You had people dunking on Hegseth on every corner of the internet and media. And it seemed like even they understood, "Oh, there's no spinning this." Right, you even had the Pentagon itself coming out in support of the Guard with Chief Spokesperson Sean Parnell saying, "While commemorating this solemn day, "a soldier correctly and respectfully reminded everyone "to maintain decorum." But then trying to provide a little spin, saying, "The Secretary and the entire department "have always honored and will always honor "the sacrifices our military men and women "have made to keep America safe." And it seems Hegseth, or at least someone in the PR department at the Pentagon, knows exactly how bad this looked. Right, the old Guard, the regiment of soldiers assigned to the tomb, has been guarding the tomb 24 hours a day, every day since 1948. And they reportedly have to give these types of corrections out a couple of times a shift. But the fact that the so-called Secretary of War, a member of the President of the United States' Cabinet, needed that reminder, especially this guy, where he was trying to make the military and its quality and conduct his whole thing. There was no wonder that, you know, this got such a strong reaction. And in fact, so strong, you've got Hegseth trying to do some damage control. With photos dropping this morning of Pete Hegseth awarding Iglesias the Joint Service Commendation Medal, quote, "for the execution of his duties at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on November 11th, 2026." He posed with him and other members of the old Guard inside the Pentagon for pictures, which Hegseth then shared on Twitter with the caption, "We love soldiers. We love standards. Well done, Specialist. Carry on, Patriots." So there, you saw a lot of the replies just not letting that go, calling Hegseth disrespectful, a war criminal, disgraceful, and demanding a real apology. But then also I'll say, you know, speaking of him being seen as a war criminal, it's worth mentioning that this whole thing, it's happening just days after Democrats dropped the ball on getting him removed from office. Because earlier this week, House Republicans were able to kill the effort to impeach Hegseth that Republican Representative Thomas Massey had gotten rolling, with Republicans voting and pulling off a 211 to 204 win to send the matter back to committee. And a huge key thing there is that 11 Democrats missed this vote. And you know, we should put them on screen and list them. From California, you have Julia Brownlee, Lou Correa, and Nancy Pelosi, then Laura Gillen of New York, Stephen Horsford of Nevada, Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, Brittany Peterson of Colorado, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, Marilyn Strickland of Washington, Frederica Willis, the Wilson of Florida, and then finally, good old Haley Stevens of Michigan. And you've got them facing some serious heat, both from their constituents and their colleagues. Right, with the reportedly representative Catherine Clark of Massachusetts as the second in command of tracking down votes started coming down hard behind closed doors yesterday. You also had Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed doing the public option, going on CNN to bluntly tell Democrats, quote, "Show up and do your job." But as far as why these 11 didn't show up, they seem to all have varying reasons. Some said it was traffic delays, some said personal emergency, some said medical procedure. Nancy Pelosi said she was receiving a lifetime achievement award from a veteran's group, and then others blamed Republicans. So you've got many saying, you know, "Whatever your reason or excuse, "your absence costs the vote." Saying the American people gave Democrats a huge victory because they expect them to try to do something. And to that point, we've seen some of them apologizing for dropping the ball on this one. Or with, for example, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico posting a four minute long apology video online, saying that she had been stuck in horrible rush hour traffic with a motorcade blocking the street. You had many saying her absence specifically was a huge deal because she has been actively trying to get Hegseth impeached for a while now. Now with all that, you do have a number of people saying, "Hey, it is not "fully confirmed that these absences "lost the vote for Democrats." Right, people noting that there were some absences on the Republican side as well, and who knows how things would have gone down on any other day. But still, for what seems to be most people, it just is not inspiring confidence that they're gonna take advantage of the majority that the people have handed them. Well, of course, come January, you're gonna have a different Congress. At the very least, you had people critical of these 11 as well as Dem leadership. But hey, in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts on all of this, including the whole Hegseth Veterans Day situation. And then there's even more we gotta dive into in just a minute after a quick break with our sponsor. This is basically where the calendar stops asking permission and just starts putting things on itself. Right, work gets busier, holiday plans start multiplying, food gets a little more questionable, and somehow every free night disappears. And that's why I keep today's sponsor, AG1, in my morning routine. 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So hey, for a limited time, visit drinkag1.com/devranco and get a free immune support bundle, including omega-3 fish oil and vitamin D3 plus K2 with your first subscription of AG1 Next Gen or AG1 Pro. Drinkag1.com/devranco, or hey, scan that QR code. But then, Devin, right back into the news, we've gotta talk about this insanity. 'Cause this is history and also kind of the biggest FU to MAGA and Trump from the whole midterms. Mississippi's Scott Colombe has pulled off an insane historic upset, beating Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. And while you had to take in more than a week of ballot tallying, the Senate race was finally called last night, with Colombe a district attorney and seventh generation Mississippian, leading by about 4,700 votes. And in addition to being the state's first Democratic senator, since 1982, Colombe is Mississippi's first black senator since Reconstruction. In his victory speech, he had the Senator-elect reflected on keeping the faith throughout his campaign. - For me, this journey started with a prayer, y'all. And in Mississippi, our prayers have often changed the course of history. You need faith. And I'll tell you, throughout this campaign, there were many times where I had to have faith. There were times that I couldn't get donors to answer the phone. They did not believe a moment like this was possible. But I kept the faith. - But also, on top of this being, you know, an unbelievably historic, important moment, and just generally shocking, you have a lot of people saying, "This is karma for Hyde-Smith." Because you see, back in 2023, then-President Biden nominated Colombe to serve as U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Mississippi. And you had Democrats and Republicans alike supporting that nomination, except for Hyde-Smith, who blocked it. And Colombe has actually said that he would not have run for Congress if he'd been convicted. And so I guess, in a weird way, we should, let's do it all together, class. Thank you, Hyde-Smith, for leading us to this delicious moment. And making this even juicier is that, on election night, she referenced that whole situation and was all excited to prematurely announce, - I blocked Scott Colombe from being a federal judge, and you blocked him from being a U.S. Senator. - Knock, knock, surprise, no you didn't. And actually, there were also questions about whether or not she would concede the race. 'Cause you see, a few days ago, Hyde-Smith was requesting that Mississippi election officials preserve certain ballots and election records seemingly preparing for a legal challenge. But in the end, you did have her acknowledging her loss. - While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters. I want to congratulate Scott Colombe and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state. - And so now that this has actually happened, you have more and more people asking, how is this even possible? How did this happen in Mississippi? Because it's Mississippi. When you think of what's one of the most red states ever, you think Mississippi. Trump won Mississippi by 23 points in 2024. And while, you know, you've had people generally attributing the blue wave to voters being furious about Trump's war in Iran and the ongoing affordability crisis, Colombe seems to have just really figured out how to capitalize on that frustration and how to effectively communicate with voters. And honestly, he did most of it alone because Democrats, they weren't even paying attention to this race until the very end. It was widely seen to be a given that this would be a Republican win. But among several key things, you had him energizing the state's black population, which was key, right? Because Mississippi actually has the highest percentage of black residents in the country, right? Clocking in at around 38%. And he won more than 90% of black voters and about 25% of white voters, which it turns out is all he needed. Newt Cologne really focusing his messaging on affordability, accessible healthcare, and saving rural hospitals, AKA shit that really matters to Mississippi voters. And he also had a lot of success roasting Hyde-Smith's fuck-ups. 'Cause you see, for example, when Hyde-Smith was asked about rising beef prices during a TV interview, she gave just maybe the flop response of the year, suggesting that Mississippians, they should just choose another protein. And Columbus team, they were like, "Okay, we can work with that." And they dropped this hilarious response ad. - The price of beef continuing to go up. - You know, you have so many proteins to choose from. - Pick another protein? - Shit, I'd rather pick another senator instead. She done lost her damn mind. I'd rather pick another senator. What the? - Pick another senator instead. - With that ad going viral, the Columbus campaign just really leaned into it. You had them driving around to pick another protein truck that offered free tacos. And then after all the attention from the ad, you had the Democratic Party finally starting to take this race seriously. You had them swooping in at the 11th hour and throwing cash at the campaign. About two weeks before the election, the PAC associated with Chuck Schumer donated $1.2 million for ads. And also on top of that money, you saw a bunch of major influential Democrats joining Cologne on the campaign trail. People like Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Bill Clinton, and Raphael Warnock. And hey, yeah, maybe that ultimately helped him get over the finish line. But again, 99% of the credit should really go to Cologne and his personal team and local organizers because they just taught the party a huge lesson. Pay attention. If you actually try to reach the voters and relentlessly focus on the issues that they actually care about, you can have a winning campaign even in the most unexpected places. And while this win, it also then makes what happened with the Democratic Party and Angie Nixon in Florida extra infuriating, you had Cologne maybe putting it best. - I've been in this city 15 years. Most of the times the Democrats conceded the state. Morally, how could you not compete in a state where people are denying folks healthcare? How could you not compete in a state where folks are getting betrayed on tariffs, farmers getting betrayed, consumers, small businesses? How could you not compete in a state where voting rights are being attacked left and right? When you say, listen, I can't win those voters, what you're saying, I don't care enough about those voters. - But then jumping from that to other news, we've got to talk about how AIPAC spent at least over $55 million on losing races this past election cycle, right? That's what you had the responsible statesmen reporting after election day, meaning that they lost two thirds of what they spent on this year's midterms. And AIPAC, of course, they're the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. They're a pro-Israel lobbying group, and they gave hundreds of candidates money this election cycle throughout the primaries and the general. The key thing is that AIPAC gave directly to candidates itself and through its donors, and it also has a super PAC, United Democracy Project, which focuses on independent expenditures like ad buys. And according to a review The Intercept did specifically looking at the primaries, it spent in over 300 races and in the vast majority, its candidates won or advanced. So that painted this positive picture for AIPAC on its surface. Then, like I said, they still threw a huge chunk of cash down the drain this year. You can see marked by these orange dots here, especially in Democratic primaries, it lost some of its most expensive races. And ones where candidates advanced, there are some where they had no opponent or it just wasn't a close race to begin with. So actually to get a greater sense of AIPAC's role in these midterms, as well as where it stands going into 2028, we spoke with Akayla Lacy, The Intercept's senior politics reporter. And you had her noting that in recent years, AIPAC's been very vocal about who it's backing. - It's been very, you know, sort of proud and public about, you know, saying, you know, pro-Israel politics is good policy and sort of taking credit not only for incumbents that it backs winning, but also for ousting, you know, these very prominent critics of US military support for Israel from Congress. - Right, but that is a strategy that has led to a lot of backlash. Polling shows that Americans do not approve of Israel's actions in Gaza. And about one-third of US adults believe that it has committed a genocide against Palestinians. Well, yeah, there was a lot on voters' minds this year. It does seem like AIPAC's association with some politicians backfired. - Many of the candidates that they spent the most on lost their races. You know, we saw candidates who were openly critical of our policy towards Israel win in key races. Key races that, you know, helped Democrats win control of the Senate, namely Michigan. - And we've talked about this in the past, but AIPAC spent $30 million alone on the Michigan Senate race and adds either attacking Abdul El-Sayed or supporting his primary opponent, Haley Stevens. And then, huge thing, after El-Sayed advanced, they started backing his Republican opponent in the general, Mike Rogers. But now you have Michigan Senator-elect El-Sayed, and it appears that he was able to make AIPAC's spending against him a key part of his campaign. - We got people who are sick and tired of watching our foreign policy get dictated to us. By a foreign government because of AIPAC spending. Do you want a politics where big corporations and AIPAC get to spend tens of millions of dollars to mis- and disinform the public on 30-second glossy ads? - To the super PACs and special interests who tried to beat us, we are coming for your system of politics. - And while AIPAC was definitely most central to this race, it also came up in others. Right in a video shared by Scott Colom, who just flipped a Senate seat in Mississippi blue, which is mind-boggling, you see a voter ask, - Have you taken any money from AIPAC? - Absolutely not. - And to the ear defined by an affordability crisis that saw the richest man in the world spend historic amounts of money on the election, or it's almost around half a billion dollars, voters cared who their candidates were taking money from. And that was regardless of whichever side of the aisle they were on. And with this, you had Lacey saying, - The fact that both parties are beholden to, you know, the AI industry and corporate PACs and the financial industry and, you know, the real estate industry. Like these are things that voters are waking up to more and more. The fact that AIPAC gives money to both parties is not necessarily surprising to voters. It's more of an indictment of this system, right? That allows people to, you know, wear, you know, different jerseys, but effectively legislate in the same way. I think the energy around, you know, calling out these sort of, these similarities between both parties is something that, that did motivate voters of all stripes. - And now you've got AIPAC already shifting its strategy. Just before November, you had the group announcing that it was going to refrain from endorsing candidates and making direct contributions to their campaigns. In upcoming elections, even called this election cycle, one of the most challenging environments in recent memory. And that seems to be largely in response to the mounting criticisms against them. - They are very aware of the issues that they're facing as, as we just discussed, but I don't think they're going anywhere. I think that's sort of the big takeaway, at least from the analysis that we did this cycle. - Because as Lacey's report noted, even if they're very visible and direct spending gets dialed down, AIPAC's not disappearing overnight. For one, it'll continue supporting candidates via its United Democracy Project Super PAC. And two, the group had actually already been tested testing out strategies where they gave in more hidden ways that voters could not immediately notice. So for example, The Intercept found that in some primaries this year, the group's donors put money into races where AIPAC did not officially endorse candidates. And United Democracy Project, they also gave money to other committees, including so-called pop-up PACs, or which registered just before the primaries and were able to delay disclosures until after the election was over. And in fact, during the democratic primaries, they spent $13 million by giving money to committees whose names had no tie to Israel-related policy. - The spending that we see from AIPAC in these races like the ad spending, never mentions Israel policy because they know this is an unpopular issue. And so that's why we saw them funneling money through groups with names like elect Chicago women or pro-choice majority, or, you know, like groups that have sort of these, you know, anodyne names. - The ads, they don't mention Israel. They just use other issues, whether it be women's rights or whatever to sway voters' minds on the candidate that AIPAC wants elected or stopped. But with this, you had Lacey noting that even as they hide behind this, knowing the brand is toxic, they still use some of their ads to fuel racism and Islamophobia against various candidates. And because AIPAC's been increasingly using tactics like this, as well as heavily relying on the United Democracy Project, Lacey said that their choice to not publicly endorse candidates or spend directly, it may not actually mean much in the end. - We see them retreating from that publicly, but again, privately, they're going to still be spending from this super PAC, and I can only imagine that we'll see them spending more. - Because as she reported, AIPAC, it might be weakened, but it's still dominant, and it is going to be this issue that both political parties are going to have to deal with. Even as you have people celebrating this blue wave, this blue nuke, there are very real questions about whether or not the Democratic Party will meet this moment. And largely, that is the Democratic establishment. And at least as of right now, the two people most likely to lead the chambers of Congress are Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, both of whom were shouted out by AIPAC in a post that celebrated the election results. And that's as, among other things, Jeffries got almost $280,000 from AIPAC in the primary. And this is, meanwhile, you had Bernie Sanders rallying donations and spending a million dollars himself to try to counter AIPAC spending against Al Sayed. So even within one party, there are two very different stories happening. And then with the Republicans, you're seeing things like in his novel-length post-mortem on the election, J.D. Vann said that the U.S.'s relationship with Israel was one of the top issues for Republicans. And so it seems like at least some of them know that this is something that they might have to recalibrate with their voters on. But this is also coming from an administration that had no trouble turning on Thomas Massey, who was defeated in his primary after AIPAC and UDP spent around $4 million opposing him. And so this sets up this very important and interesting dynamic heading into 2028, as the hundreds of candidates who take AIPAC money have to try to navigate this. - Five years ago, like, a general person, like, did not know what AIPAC was, probably, right? I don't know that there's a way that they can fix the damage that's been done to their reputation. And so that raises really interesting questions about, like, what will the pro-Israel lobby look like in, you know, 10 years? - And with that, you've got some groups seeing this as an opportunity. Earlier this year, for example, you had a group called American Priorities announcing itself as a PAC dedicated to countering AIPAC. You had it throwing its weight behind pro-Palestine candidates, though they didn't have nearly as much money as AIPAC. But according to Axios, it spent over $6 million this year, and they do plan to spend more in 2028, but it's also kind of nothing compared to what AIPAC's showing us. Though I will say, for their part, AIPAC has pushed back on the narratives that it's been weak in. Right in response to a Politico report noting its allies in Congress are dwindling, you had the group tweeting, "So far, more than 245 candidates supported by AIPAC members won, including dozens of incoming freshmen," saying AIPAC members support Democrats and Republicans. So yes, unfortunately, 10% of the candidates they backed lost in a wave election. But then a spokesperson telling the outlet that they're looking forward to working with both the returning and newly elected lawmakers. And you had Lacey noting that, yes, they faced significant losses this year, but it just may not impact its financial power. - Even sort of, you know, with all these candidates coming out and rejecting AIPAC money, you know, they gave to more than two thirds of, of the people who were running in primaries. Like this is still a very widespread sort of normal thing in Congress. - And so while we wait to see how a lot of this is gonna start playing out come the new Congress, and as we immediately start now rolling towards the primaries for the 2028 election, I'd love to know your thoughts, opinions, and reactions on the current state of play. And then there's a few more things we gotta dive into after a quick break with our sponsor. Have you tried Z Biotics pre-alcohol yet? 'Cause at this point, I genuinely do not know another way I'd rather do a night out, especially during the holidays, right? 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And the comparisons in context here are crazy. With GTA 5 back in 2013, that also hit a billion dollars, but it at least took three days of actually being on sale to get there. And we'll take two, right? The company behind the game won't give exact numbers. Their CEO did say that the orders are at, quote, "unprecedented levels." And you've got both Sony and Microsoft saying that it's already the most pre-ordered game in the history of their stores. And interestingly, about three of every four of those orders, it's PlayStation. And making this extra insane, when GTA 5 launched, that broke the world record for the most money made by any entertainment product in a single day. And GTA 6 has already passed that before launch, and analysts actually think it could pull up to $5 billion in its first week alone. Honestly, who knows how much money is gonna be made over the years, and how much money they'll make later with the online version. Then, jumping from that to much heavier news, at least eight people are dead, including two children, after a building collapsed in Brooklyn. And as far as what we know as a recording, at around 4:00 PM on Wednesday, a three-story building on Flatbush Avenue suddenly just came down, collapsing into a construction site right next door and tearing the side off the building on the other side. People nearby saying that the whole thing started shaking, just fell, with witnesses describing hearing screaming from blocks away, new firefighters and getting there almost immediately, and more than 250 emergency responders have been digging through the rubble ever since, working overnight in what officials have called a race against time. And as of now, they believe that people still may be trapped. And in addition to the eight who were killed, nearly 20 more people were hurt, at least four of them critically, and at least seven of the injured are kids. Right, and then also with this, there's a part that's gonna be under investigation, where there was active excavation work happening at the construction site next door, and several of the victims are believed to be construction workers. But to be clear, officials have not yet said whether the work caused the collapse, and right now, that's what they're trying to figure out. And as you have crews still searching the rubble, and this is still developing, Mayor Zoran Mamdani said that he was heartbroken, and adding, quote, "There are no words "for a loss of this magnitude." And then finally today, you had a gunman killing a man, and shooting four other people in a situation that people are now calling a senseless act of gun violence. With all of this happening around eight o'clock in the morning in the D.C. neighborhood of Logan Circle, about a mile away from the White House, with sources saying that the suspect is Dr. Matt Lambert, and apparently he just walked into a gym and shot his first victim in the neck. With witnesses then saying that someone else rushed over to help, but it looked like he died almost instantly. And from there, you had people scrambling, both because of the gunshot, and because alarms had gone off after this guy had reportedly also set parts of the building on fire. And in that chaos, that's when the shooter ran out as well, and that's when reports say that he shot the four other people who were all outside of the gym, and what seemed like random fire. But then the whole neighborhood was scared, police responding, shutting down nearby streets, and placing armed officers on surrounding rooftops. And at that point, officials say that this guy had run to his nearby apartment and barricaded himself inside. And that's where this story starts to come together, because apparently, he had been in litigation with his building's management over mold and moisture problems in his apartment. And authorities believe that the first man that he shot was one of the building managers. He'd even been sharing a lot of his frustrations with that process online. Though I will say, technically and officially, that has not been named as the motive. But still, you had city officials saying that this was a targeted attack, and that it's just so sad and so senseless to kill someone over a dispute that should be worked out reasonably. But with all that, after locking himself in his apartment, he apparently fired more shots. But then at some point, they got him on the phone with negotiators. They apparently talked for over an hour before then reports say they heard a gunshot. And at that point, he stopped responding, and that's when officers forced their way into the apartment, but he had already killed himself. And as far as the victims that he shot after he killed the first man, they were all taken to the hospital. And as of recording, only one is in critical condition. And now we're also getting reports that he apparently confessed to the shooting in a phone call shortly after the fact, when someone else on the apartment's management team was calling around to check on residents. But as of recording, this is still developing, so we'll have to keep an eye on this. And that, my friends, brings us to the end of your Thursday show. But there is more for you to dive into right here, or I'll even include a link in the description. No matter what you do, let me just say, thank you for watching, liking, subscribing, sharing these daily dives into the news. And of course, my name's Philip DeFranco. you've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you right back here next time.