 It's Wednesday. It's 11 o'clock. It's November the 3rd, 2021. Welcome to What Now America. My name's Tim Apachele and I'm your host. Today's title is Biden's Travel Performance Report Card. Joe Biden, President Biden, went to Italy. He's gone to Glasgow. He's met with the G20 in this whirlwind trip of his. And the question is, how did he do? That is the topic for today. And I'd like to introduce my guests, Jay Fidel and Cynthia Leeson-Clair back from Special Assignment. Good morning. Good morning, Tim. Thanks for having us on. Thank you. And Cynthia, so nice to see you in person. We're happy to have you back. Thank you. It's nice to be back. Thank you for having me. Jay, big travel plans. And you and I spoke a little earlier, actually last evening, to talk about Joe Biden and what did he accomplish on his travels, either with audience with the Pope or with the G20 nations, which, of course, Russia and China were not present. And then, of course, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. What stood out in your mind as an important milestone for Joe Biden on that trip? Poor guy. He comes as the President of the United States, but everybody in the world knows right to the last undeveloped country, they know he's got troubles at home. And he can't perform. He cannot perform in Congress. He cannot perform in the country. His party is losing ground. And I think they probably don't feel that he's there for the long term. I think they don't feel that he can follow through. And that hurts him. Let me interrupt you for one second. Let me interrupt. Are you saying that President Biden, after eight months, is a lame duck president? I think I must be saying that. He's been flimflammed by the GOP all this time, and he hasn't been able to achieve any of his significant initiatives. And that means when he comes to your house or mine or to the UN or even to the Pope, he doesn't bring the goods. And it affects his credibility. It affects his ability to get things done there. So although he's a decent man, if Winston were here today, he would say he's a statement of decency. But that doesn't count in the real world. He's got to have power. He's got to project power. He's got to be able to bring home the bacon. And he can't do that. And everyone knows. Well, last week, you mentioned that Joe Biden really didn't have any business taking off when his infrastructure bills were in jeopardy, and he wasn't there to manage it, if you will. But I want to talk about specifically, in fact, I disagreed with you because I said, meeting with a Pope was very important for Joe Biden because there's so many white male Catholics that are over a certain age and that are probably dedicated to Donald Trump and his agenda. But they hold the Pope in high esteem and the Pope's words have a great gravitas to those Catholics, those conservative Catholics. So wasn't it a good thing for him to meet with the Pope and have the Pope say, you're a good Catholic and you are deserving of the communion because even despite your position on abortion and other things that you're a good Catholic and bishops shall not deny you the the sacrament of communion. Wasn't it? This goes back to my childhood again, Tim. It goes back to the plate, the plate of food with the peas and the carrots and the mashed potatoes. And the question is, you know, if I'm eating the peas, my mother is going to be buccinating me. I should go eat the carrots. And if I'm eating the carrots, she wants me to eat the mashed potatoes. It's a question of priorities. And sure, there's a positive aspect of going to see the Pope, but it is nowhere near as important as winning in Congress, about winning with initiatives. I think a lot of Catholics were happy to see him meet with the Pope, but I think they would have been happier still if he'd been able to deliver on all his promises and initiatives. So I think it was actually at the bottom of the priority list and he called that wrong. But what more could Joe Biden do with Joe Manchin in cinema? What more could he do than the multiple conversations he had with him and the fact that, you know, he's in the executive office, not in the legislative branch? You know, other than that, didn't he have fence many to do with France and that bought submarine deal? And didn't he have me a copas to offer to the world about pulling out of the Paris climate accord? I mean, wasn't this a fence many initiative that he took? It's the peas and the carrots. You're going back to peas and carrots. The most important thing for Joe Biden is to show he can do stuff. And he hasn't been able to show that. He's a lame duck president here eight months in. And I don't know what he could do with Manchin. But what's happened is over the past 120 days, Manchin and Sinema, who I don't understand, who I do not understand her, why she sidles up to Manchin and takes precisely the same position and stands in the way of Biden's initiatives every time, every day. It can only mean a wolf in sheep's clothing. Whether Manchin shows as a Democrat or Republican, he's a Republican. And he is joining the Republican group to obstruct everything that Biden is doing. One man, one woman kind of obstruction that has lasted for a long time now. And one could almost assume on a deductive Aristotelian basis that this man intends to hold Biden up. Whatever party he wears on his sleeve, he is dedicated to holding Biden up. Now, what could Biden do about it? I don't know. But Biden could have done more. If it had been you, me, or Cynthia, we would have stood up there on the presidential pulpit and really let him have it. But he didn't do that. It's always been, oh, yeah, well, we're negotiating. And he's a decent man. He's really sincere. History will judge us. And history will say Biden got snuckered and snuckered by Manchin. And so did the country. Manchin is just obstructing. That's all he's doing. I might agree with you on that very point. But like your peas and carrots on your plate, I'm not giving up. I'm seeking an answer from you as to whether there was any positive aspect from Joe Biden's travels for all three meetings. Well, okay. I mean, we've covered the pope. Let's cover the other things. You know, those are great opportunities. That's very important to deal with climate change. It's very important to deal with Europe and the EU. It's very important to be a world leader. But the problem, as I alluded to earlier, is that he's without portfolio. He comes as a president who's been embarrassed, who's been cut off at the knees, a president who can't get anything done. It's a problem. It's a serious problem. It's not only in the context of these meetings. If he says we're going to do remarkable things, you know, India, for example, Modi, he said he was going to go completely non-carbon by 2070. That's a long way off. And maybe it's not a real promise that he won't be around. But he said that if there is at least the possibility that he will be able or India will be able to achieve that. Other countries are likewise making significant promises. But if the Biden makes a promise like that, who in fact is going to help him implement it? All his climate change initiatives are built into that bill. That bill is on the rocks. What can he say to them? He can say I alone in three branches of government, two of which obstruct me. I alone would like to do this. It's aspirational. And that's the problem in COP. It's the problem in the EU. It's the problem in the United Nations. It's a problem on the world stage for us, all of us. All right. Cynthia, I saw you in disagreement. Maybe it was agreement. Your audio was off. Would you like to react to anything Jay said or to the question is what is the report card for Joe Biden on these three meetings, these three trips to Glasgow and the G20 and to the Vatican? Welcome back, Cynthia. It's nice to see you smile and face. I hope you're kind in evaluating my remarks. Hey, don't let him lobby. Don't let him try to sway your opinion. Let loose. Well, I don't agree on some things and I do agree on others. I think that the world doesn't trust America anymore. Period end. It wouldn't matter who is in office. Wouldn't matter if he'd had all of his build back better stuff already passed. People are still going to mistrust America because they know that Trump is running in 2024 and we could be stuck back in that same thing again. So are you suggesting that things could be reversed? Everything Joe Biden does, like Trump did with Obama initiatives? Are you thinking that? Right. The difference is that they were done by executive order and this is going to be law. So there's a difference there. Won't be as easily redone. But the main thing I disagree with Jay about is that that his agenda is on the ropes because this build back better is not on the ropes. It's taking longer than any of us would like, but I don't believe it's on the ropes. I believe that part of the reason why people are so why isn't it done yet is because of the media. The media has listed mansion and cinema as moderates. They're moderates. They're absolutely conservatives that wear a democratic badge. I'm sorry because they absolutely are not acting like Democrats in any way shape or form and they are acting exactly like conservatives and Republicans. So, you know, you got to go by how they act, not by what the media calls them. And I think that has done America a big disservice by the media coddling these two, like there's some kind of, I don't know, justification for the way they act besides money. And I would really love to get a look at their bottom line. I would really like to see how much dark money has poured into their accounts. And there's been a little bit of journalistic stuff coming out about that because I'm really curious to find out what is their motivations? What is their motivation? You know, okay, for for mansion you can kind of see it's cold, but for cinema what what is it? And then she's so disrespectful to Congress that when she was overseeing things, she's wearing a jean jacket. The very thing specifically they're told not to wear. Right. No, I understand that. But how does that play with Joe Manchin's administration, or no, Joe Manchin, excuse me, Freudian slip, Joe Biden's administration. How's that play out? That was truly a Freudian slip. That was a Freudian slip. Well, I'm not exactly sure. And I have from the beginning felt that all this stuff about infrastructure is moot if we don't have voting rights. If we don't have some federal stuff done to make sure that the Republicans can't change the vote if they don't like it. And right now in what four states that's how it is now, that if the Republicans are they're taking the power of the Secretary of State and putting it with. I understand that, but doesn't the Biden administration need to get something accomplished? And isn't that equally important as the voting bill writes? Because why give anyone hope that any Democrat administration is going to accomplish anything in the future if something doesn't get done now? So yeah, I agree. The voting rights is paramount. But you know, one accomplishment at a time, I suppose. And I agree with you there. Absolutely. Because now we're in it. It's too late. We can't just do the voting. Quit the, you know, infrastructure stuff. We can't do that now. It's too late for that. But I think we are closer than people think we are. And to me the most important thing is the fact that we've got the DOJ who is, you know, I'm sorry, but I don't think that Merrick Garland is doing a good job. And I think that he has his roots in the Federalist Society. And I think that's really starting to show now. It's more than he's just taking his time and doing it slow and careful. Because there are things that should have happened with the January 6th Commission and with the January 6th riot and insurrection that have not been done. Well, it's a glacial pace. I acknowledge it's been a glacial pace. And they've squandered way too much time since January. Let me, let me, I'm going to reel back a little bit here, Cynthia. Go ahead. We wouldn't be as worried about this infrastructure stuff if things were going along at a faster pace for the January 6th stuff. Okay. You know, the climate accord in Glasgow came up with two major things. And then one is to address deforestation. And the other was to address methane gas release from all the mining areas around the world. I'm going to go to Jay on this. Cynthia, I'll get back to you on the very same question. Jay, how significant or insignificant was that as far as combating climate change? Both of them are very significant. Both of them are central to address climate change. Deforestation is critical. And I don't know the state of promise, you know, there are various countries will step forward. It's, it's kind of interesting. It's a, it's a, it's a sort of bidding war where they step out of, you know, it's like, it's like a charitable bidding war. I said, I'll give this much. And the other guy says, I'll give that much. And I don't know how the state of promise is, but some of them anyway have stepped up and said, we are going to reforest and we're going to take steps to avoid deforestation. You know, I saw $19 billion dedicated to deforestation issues. It's not a drop in the bucket. It is. We need, we need Herculean efforts now. And it's, it's getting worse. It's so visible. And I think the state of promise is less than what it should be, can be, must be. And so if you judge it on that basis on how many promises have been made and what the size of those promises are, so far it appears that COP is not a success. Yeah. Hey, Cynthia, going to you, your thoughts about the, the two major things that were accomplished in Glasgow. I'll say a question to you. Do you find that as significant accomplishment or is it rhetoric and not actions? Well, in theory, it's great. In rhetoric, it's great. And, and who knows because we have to wait and see, right? But there's been, there was 105 countries, right, that have committed to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030, which is pretty huge. That's a, that's a really big amount. And whether or not they can do it is another story, right? Well, here's the question I have, you know, the EPA came up with a new announcement on how they're going to tackle, you know, drilling and how they're going to attack the release of methane gas. What's been keeping them? Why all of a sudden now, because of this accord in Glasgow, what was the prevent them from doing this in the Obama administration? Or what was to keep the EPA from doing it in the George Bush administration? Why now all of a sudden it's, it's a big deal? Well, because we are getting closer and closer and closer to our, our world just catching fire and burning or getting flooded and completely washed away. And because climate change is starting to really show its ugly face so much more year by year by year by year. So the further we get from the first agreements, you know, the more dire the need is because we can. Well, it tells you a lot though, Tim. It tells you that people, you know, don't see climate as their problem, that no country really has stepped up the way it should. And, you know, if the U.S. is supposed to be a global leader in things, it hasn't stepped up. For one reason or another, it has, it has an inability to make policy, inability to execute policy. And worse than that, an inability to see itself as a climate leader. And so over time, nobody has stepped up. And that's why we EPA, you know, doesn't treat it as a priority. And president after president hasn't made them do it. And certainly Trump didn't. So, you know, what you have is an environmental protection agency that doesn't protect the environment. There was a time when it was, you know, treated as an environment leader, even obnoxious to business because it was so aggressive, but no longer the case. There's no agency, I think, in the country that is really protecting the environment. And Biden has got to make them do that. He is the leader of the executive branch. They work for the executive branch. Surely this could have been, and it's certainly now a priority. But in the larger picture, humanity doesn't see this as critical. Even with the wildfires, the extreme weather, the sea level rise happening all around the world, humanity can't come together. It's a biblical test and humanity is failing it. And I don't know what to say except, you know, the end is not a good story. Speaking of tests, it does seem that they passed a test to limit the minimum corporate of 15% corporations to be taxed around the EU and elsewhere around the world. Is that on the major accomplishment? Cynthia, do you think that was something that was worthwhile trying to obtain so that countries can't skirt around and go to Ireland and get taxed on a far less amount and have an unequal advantage in some foreign countries? And will that stop the flee of corporations from the United States to avoid taxation at a higher rate? I think it's very helpful. I think that could be one of the most positive things that came out of all of this, to be honest, sort of a level playing field, so to speak, so people don't leave America, you know. I was watching the BBC the other night, and there was the chief scientist for the UN environment program was on her name is Andrea Hinwood. And there's a guy on BBC that does this thing called critical climate or climate critical, excuse me, every week. And it's really a fascinating segment that I really recommend people to try to look up and find. But the Andrea Hinwood was saying that 66% of all scientists that are involved in this say that we will reach a 2.7 Celsius by 2100, which I mean, that's like not very far away, so we really need to worry about 1.5 Celsius equals 2.7 Fahrenheit. So that was the commitment at the Glasgow meeting was keep it at 1.5 Celsius or 2.7 on the Fahrenheit scale. Well, she was saying that they're worried that it will be 2.7 Celsius. Yeah, that's that's high. So that's not very many years away to get busy. Okay, you know, before I leave this topic, I'd like to get a grade scorecard from you guys on Joe Biden's trip abroad. So from E to A, Jay, what does he rate? Yeah, first, I want to mention about the 15% minimum tax. Sure. If the EU adopted that good for them. And that probably means that American companies will not be so quick to go to Europe. And now they have a 15% barrier to go to Europe. But the implicit point there is that the United States has not adopted the 15% minimum tax on corporations. And I'm here to tell you, they won't. The Republicans in Congress will never pass that legislation. Never. They're in there protecting the 1%. They're never going to protect the larger group. They're never going to impose a 15% tax on corporations. So what it means, I suppose, is that American corporations won't go to Europe so quickly, they'll do their thing here. And they'll continue to make the kinds of profits they've been making, which is some people say, oh, that's great, profit is good for the economy. I don't think so. They're getting away with something and they'll continue to get away with it as long as the Republicans control Congress. And they do now in their own way with Manchin. So problem is that we didn't do it. It's not a success. And so if you asked me to rate it, I would say Biden not only is a lame duck president in the sense that this is his last term, I would say he's a lame duck president in the sense that he's lame right now, right now. And so a lame duck president who goes to Europe and goes to these meetings, I would give him a six, no more than that. Six out of 10. Okay. Cynthia, your scorecard for President Biden? Well, I want to give him an eight on his actual behavior while he was there. Maybe even more than that, he seemed to calm the ruffled feathers of the French prime minister. He did a lot to try to gain people's trust in America again. I'm afraid he didn't quite make it. So maybe I'll give him an eight, maybe a seven because of it. All right. You want to switch in here? What's your grade, Tim? I'm going to give him a seven. I think it's been eight months since he's been president. Well, it's been nine, 10 months since he's been president. He had some fencebending to do. So from that standpoint, it was an important trip. He had to show the European nations and the world that United States is still engaged in international politics, climate and the important things that will shape our future here. And he had to do it via in-person, not Zoom. So it was a necessary trip. I think he did everything he could about infrastructure before he left. He couldn't nail it down, but he's back and we'll see how that goes. So I'll give him a seven. Cynthia, any reaction to Tucker Carlson's special that's going to be produced on about January 6th? And it's called the Patriot Purge. If you saw the trailer, it's basically flipping the January 6th attack, saying that it's now government that is doing the attacking. And the attacking is upon the American public. I don't know if you've seen the trailer, but what is your reaction to this special that's being promoted by Fox? It's basically on a Fox streaming channel. But it seems to me, as Liz Cheney put it, it's trying to promote a lie and it's trying to provoke more violence in the future about January 6th. Your initial thoughts and we'll wrap up here shortly. Well, right now a new poll shows that 82% of people who watch Fox News believe that the 2020 election was stolen. And it's because they continue to push these lies, these misinformation. And this is the mother of all, you know, misinformation. They're trying to flip the whole script. They're using just ridiculous projections of trying to blame the FBI and call this a false flag, and that it didn't really happen, that nobody really got hurt, that it that's all just propaganda, when in reality what that whole thing is propaganda. And I believe that if Biden doesn't do something about the misinformation in this country, and I mean now, not believe it for the DOJ to handle because they're obviously not handling it. To step in and say, no more, we are going to stop this. We are going to make sure that these people that are, you know, promoting this stuff, and the best thing I can think of, right, that sort of goes behind what I'm trying to say here. It wasn't too long ago that Tucker Carlson was sued, right, in court for the things that he was saying as being lies. This was what Fox News said, and the reason why he wasn't able to be sued. They said no idiot would believe him. That, you know, he is just opinion, and that's how he ended up winning the suit, was because Fox News said, well, he doesn't really, he didn't really mean it. He's just, it's just opinion, right? It's not news. So they couldn't go after Fox or Tucker. Well, this goes beyond that. And if they don't do something about it, well, then we're lost. We have no hope. You know, thank you for bringing that point up. You know, Jay, for, I don't know, for maybe weeks, months, years, I've been suggesting that some government agency intervene in some of the falsehoods that are being purported by Fox and Newsmax and the American only channel, which is sponsored by AT&T. Is there a point to that? Is there any government entity that can stop a slow moving train to sedition or perdition? We're flawed. We're flawed. The first amendment has failed us. And governmental regulation of it is now impossible, even if it was possible in another time. Have you heard any congressional inquiry on this? No. And will you hear any congressional inquiry on this? No. Not a chance. You know, can you imagine any congressional inquiry on this? No. It'll never happen. The FCC is either incompetent or impotent. Biden isn't saying, even saying anything about it. The press itself doesn't criticize Fox News. I don't know why not. And I think it's a flaw. When you find 82% of a very large number of people feel that way, you're talking about disinformation on a huge scale that people believe. So, so many people believe that. And if the media continues to distort the truth, turn the truth upside down, how can we have a democracy? Our democracy is lost. And the big misconception, Tim, as I've told you many times, which increases in a possibility for me, is that the country is lost. It's going to affect all of us to lose the country to people who lie. And that's not... Wasn't it worthwhile then to energize the FCC, the good housekeeping seal of communication, if you will, and re-energize it and put forth a new impetus and put a bug in their ear to crack down on this stuff? Isn't now the time to do that? And if it is against the First Amendment, then take it to court. The courts, you mean the same courts that said that Tucker Carlson could get away with that? Those courts? A lot of those courts have been subverted, man. We have a lot of federal judges, for example, that are not worthy, all appointed or many appointed within the Trump administration. So all I'm saying is that it's not something that we can easily fix. Nobody sees it as a priority right now. They're all confused about the peas and carrots and potatoes. And at the end of the day, it's going to wreck us, among all the other things that are presently wrecking us. And my point, maybe it's for another show, is how is that going to affect the three of us and all the people we know? It's not going to be pretty. Okay, we've run out of time. Cynthia, in 30 words or less, your last thoughts? The media, this mainstream media needs to get off its butt and start calling this misinformation out for what it is. And it's hotdling man's cinema. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. It's good to see you back. Jay, your quick last thoughts? Virginia and New Jersey are extraordinary disappointments to me. And I don't know what happened there. I don't know whether that was a good election or not, good elections or not. But I am very disturbed about the possibility that that will happen in other states. And we either have an election system that is completely off the track, or we have a public electorate that is off the track. One way or the other, it's the wrong direction. All right. Well, that could be a topic for another show because I think there are blunders committed all the way through. And the vote should have been, not what it turned out to be, but that's for another show. I want to thank everyone for attending Jay Fidel, Cynthia, Lisa and Claire. Join us next week, Wednesday at 11 o'clock for What Now, America. And I'm Tim Appichella, your host. We'll see you then. Aloha.