Episode 42 - What is Going On at NBC？ Sacha Baron Cohen v. Roy Moore. School Must Reopen.
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Summary
As parents are becoming anxious about the start of the school year, education secretary Betsy Devos is taking the strong position that they want school to reopen in the fall. But what would happen if schools re-opened in the summer?
Transcript
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you ever watch this guy on television you all were not telling the truth and you should not
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be trusted congressman matt gates thank you for what you did for your country today be offended
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with the democratic whip not house republicans like a machine matt gates
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welcome to hot takes i'm congressman matt gates let's talk about the news school is dominating
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the news as we're in the summer season and as parents are becoming more anxious about the start
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of the school year education secretary betsy devos taking the strong position that they want school
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to reopen they want students back in classes for real instruction and they're willing to impose
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consequences for those districts that buck the trend and buck the desire of the administration
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so here's my hot take schools must start in the fall for a couple reasons first the benefit to
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the student themselves i saw firsthand how online learning and distance learning exclusively in
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the absence of teacher oversight direct engagement tutoring after class discussions opportunities
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for students to get together in person and compare work and share ideas that the absence of that had a
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real effect on pedagogy on learning on the ability of students to obtain and retain information the like and so for
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students themselves we've got to have school back in session but the other reason is that the economic impact
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of not having school is serious the cost of child care the availability of child care the public health consequences
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of going to work and then constantly having a child care dynamic rather than a schooling dynamic could be
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impactful and so whether it's for the students whether it's for the parents whether it's for the economy
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i think we got to get school rolling now there are a few things that i think we need to do to make sure
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that that's a success the first is testing i think we need to be testing not only for the symptoms of coronavirus
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as students enter school be checking temperatures be talking about symptoms education but also testing for
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the antibodies the coronavirus itself i think there's going to need to be sentinel testing surveillance
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testing and we're going to have to have that three-pronged testing regime for symptoms for the viral load
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and for antibodies to truly design an education system that is flexible to you know the the machinations of a
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very contagious virus second thing schooling needs to be a place where we have enhanced hygiene i think
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that's going to require some improvements to the sanitation availability whether that's hand sanitizers
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in classrooms whether that's more hand washing stations i think there's going to need to be a real focus on
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on sanitation and also masks i think in schools it's very likely that if you're unable to space the students
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and teachers sufficiently there's going to be a need for for masks to the extent that that they are proven capable
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of slowing the spread of this virus and then the other thing i think we have to have in our schools
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is a doctrine for what's going to happen when we have positive test results it cannot be the case
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that when a school has a positive test result that all of a sudden you're going to shut down
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that entire school that entire class that entire sports team that that student might have been on
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i think that we need a doctrine that says that there if there is a positive test result
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exactly what type of contact tracing you do after that what type of time duration you're going to look at
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vis-a-vis that student's contact and then how you're going to instill confidence to keep education rolling
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there have been tweets and messages from the administration to recalcitrant school districts
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that if they do not open school that there could be a real consequence when it comes to funding
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now in this circumstance i actually think that the game you're watching is not the game that's being played
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i don't think that the federal government is actually going to withhold money from districts
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that have a hot spot that have a unique concern that shift to more of a digital platform i do think
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that right now you've got teachers unions putting pressure on districts and one way the districts are
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going to be able to leverage the unions into some sort of a negotiation to have in-person instruction
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is to say look if we don't do this we're going to have pressure from the federal government
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we could lose federal funding so this could be a situation where the federal government and some
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school districts could be engaged in a little professional wrestling demonstrating oh well
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we're going back and forth we might withhold funding we might not start school but at the end of the day
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the resolution of that ultimately is what ensures that you actually have teachers there doing the
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in-person instruction that's going to be necessary so let's open the schools let's get the economy
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rolling let's all work together on it great sanitation great testing develop good doctrines
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and get to the business of getting america back to some semblance of normal
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i am trying to figure out what is going on over at nbc news cesar condi the chairman of msnbc
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universal news group puts out this statement that says as a response to the george floyd death and this
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new workplace wokeness that we're going through that nbc news is going to accept the the 50 percent
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challenge i guess uh the 50 percent challenge being that the workforce would be 50 percent people of
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color and in this case nbc news taking the pledge that they would like to see a workplace in a newsroom
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that is 50 percent people of color and also 50 percent women and then in like precisely the same
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news cycle they announced that their their head of news kind of their chief anchor and someone who
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will get his own evening show is shepherd smith a white guy you see i think there's a real problem in
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america where we start to measure diversity solely in terms of your chromosomes or your skin color
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in america diversity means a lot of different things and of course teams are stronger when
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they're diverse and and can account for and analyze diverse viewpoints but that's not always just
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reflected in the color of our skin or in whether or not we got 2x chromosomes or an xy chromosome
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in a lot of circumstances you see diversity based on you know what someone's ideology is whether they
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grew up in a rural community or in a suburban community or in an urban community age is another
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diversity uh you could say that sexual orientation is a form of diversity whatever the case may be when
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we just become so reductive that the only thing that makes us diverse is whether or not we have a
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sufficient number of women or a sufficient number of people of color we lose out on the rich tapestry of
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americanism where our diversity isn't just reflected by those things but is also found in in how we
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approach problems you know there there are different types of like myers-briggs calculations that show
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how diverse people are also what kind of learners people are you a visual learner are you an auditory
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learner are you one of the learners that that has to speak ideas into existence and workshop them with
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a team so i think that it is likely not going to inure to the benefits of these companies that adopt
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gender-based and race-based quotas i think that ultimately that loses the true meaning of diversity
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and undermines the the special unique features of america that allow us to be treated equally no matter
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what the color of our skin is or no matter how many x or y chromosomes we may have
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sasha baron cohen certainly had a lot of folks on capitol hill worried when he released who is america
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which was one of these spoof mockumentary series where he pretends to be something he's not
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he tries to catch someone in an embarrassing interview and then use that to make a broader
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point about society and its infirmities well sasha baron cohen in this who is america series
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tried to get me and here's how that went now that i had this prat on board i was welcomed into the
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halls of congress where i sat down with the house representative and outlined my common sense
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proposal oh the you want me to say on television that i support three and four-year-olds with firearms
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is that what you're asking me to do uh yes you can typically members of congress don't just hear a
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story about a program and then indicate whether they support it or not so as you can see i didn't
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fall for it i was unwilling to just go ahead and embrace the notion of kindergartners having firearms
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but uh sasha baron cohen did catch some politicians and caught him in some embarrassing moments here was
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the clip from who is america sasha baron cohen and roy moore former u.s senate candidate in israel they
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have developed a machine that is used in schools and playgrounds to detect anyone coming in and if
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uh they detect the pedophile the wand alerts the law enforcement and the schools within a hundred mile
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radius it is very very uh simple to use you just switch it on and because uh neither of us are sex
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offenders then it make absolutely nothing you just put it on you put it nearby
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wait this uh sorry is this your jacket yes i never had an accusation of such things i am not accusing
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you at all this is well then if this is an instrument i that certainly i'm not a pedophile okay no but
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the machine is well i don't know that maybe israeli technology hasn't developed properly this is 99.8
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percent it is not saying that you are a pedophile of course not i am simply cutting this conversation
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right now more was obviously embarrassed by this clip and has actually brought a lawsuit against
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sasha baron cohen seeking damages against him for fraud now i remember when sasha baron cohen came to
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my office in this disguise with his production team they actually made me sign a pretty extensive waiver
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and that waiver was one of the reasons why i was on notice on edge aware that they might be up to
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something fishy because it was an extensive waiver but the news here is that in a recent court decision
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judge more actually survives a motion to dismiss against sasha baron cohen so judge more brings the
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lawsuit cohen replies with a motion to dismiss alleging that as a consequence of this waiver which both
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roy more signed and i signed that there could be no no action brought against more and the judge
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disagrees he says that cohen is able to reassert those arguments in a motion for summary judgment
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but for now the roy more lawsuit against sasha baron cohen marches on it continues in the discovery phase
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and it'll be interesting to see whether this uh whether this model of sasha baron cohen is sustainable
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in the era of litigation even when he has folks signing a release form i think the world's better
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when we've got sasha baron cohen mocking politicians and trying to catch him but he won't catch me
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brooks brothers goes bankrupt lauren hirsch has the story for cnbc brooks brothers the iconic brand
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founded in 1818 filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy this is a company that generated almost a billion
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dollars in sales last year the 200 stores in north america 500 stores worldwide they have over 4 000
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employees they boast having adorned over 40 presidents uh in brooks brothers gear and this
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follows uh the bankruptcies of neiman marcus j crew jc penny uh that have occurred during coronavirus
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uh brooks brother spokesperson putting out a statement that they are waiting for the right
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buyer to lead their iconic brand and that they hope that they find one that matches up with their core
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values look i think that this brooks brother story the neiman marcus story jc penny it paints a bigger
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picture about what the status of retail is in america today retail is tough and i think ultimately what
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will disrupt retail will be virtual reality like when the buyer can have a digital experience where like
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you get celebrities curating specialized wardrobes where you can see based on your measurements and
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shapes what types of styles or clothes would fit on you and you could observe that in an avatar
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ultimately i think retail faces a very grim fate and so uh we'll see what happens but obviously
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coronavirus accelerating a trend that we were already seeing real pressures on big box stores a real
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impact to the american workforce and i think a real future for innovation in buying
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stanford university sending a letter to their students and alumni that they are discontinuing
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11 collegiate varsity sports uh fencing sailing wrestling synchronized swimming a number of other
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activities will not be collegiate varsity sports anymore at stanford this was an institution
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at one point that offered more varsity sports than any other in america uh they are going to
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continue this for the 2021 season and then discontinue uh the these these opportunities uh 240
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student athletes participate in them 22 dedicated coaches will see their positions discontinued and
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ultimately this was the consequence of financial sustainability and the realities of declining revenue
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as a result of coronavirus and if stanford with their broad alumni base with their expansive network of
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donors with their deep deep endowment if they're unable to maintain these programs i do think it's a sign of
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the potential things to come for other programs i mean if you see revenue for football fall off the table
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you are going to see non-revenue sports men's and women's get canceled across the country and so it it really
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highlights the extent to which a few of these revenue sports absolutely drive the opportunities across these
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platforms here's a hot take if we created some flexibility within title nine just in the several
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years following coronavirus to allow revenue sports to be able to have a greater offset against non-revenue
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sports then maybe you wouldn't have to see as many activities canceled you would you would still see
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activities canceled but some title nine flexibility might create opportunities for greater sustainability
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in the long-term health of collegiate athletics now that's it's not a politically popular thing to say
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it goes against some some political correctness uh mores of some in society but but i think that sports
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unequivocally are a force for good in the lives of young people particularly at the collegiate
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level i admire those who can play sports my own athletic career ended short due to a complete
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lack of talent so i admire those capabilities in others i hope that we're able to get back to
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a consistent revenue model with revenue sports so that more young people can take advantage of
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these opportunities and that we don't see widespread cancellations i think it's likely that we will see
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those in the future and the depth and i think the extent will largely depend on when
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we can get things back to normal president trump and mexican president obrador were recently together
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and shared public comments here's a little of what the two presidents had to say with this visit
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president lopez obrador and i have the opportunity to strengthen the bond we have forged since
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his impressive election victory more than two years ago a victory the vice president and ivanka joined in
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celebrating at the swearing in i was a very exciting day for them each of us was elected on the pledge to
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fight corruption return power to the people and put the interests of our countries first
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some people thought that ideological differences would inevitably lead to confrontations
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and i believe that towards the future there will be no motive or need to break our very good political
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relationship or the friendship between our two administrations you have treated us just as what we are a country and a dignified
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people a free democratic and sovereign people long live the friendship of our two nations
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thanks so much for listening to hot takes this is congressman matt gates tune in tomorrow make sure
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you subscribe give us a rating a review let us know what you think i'll be back tomorrow with more hot takes