60 Minutes/Bari Weiss TEA & the CECOT Segment She Tried to Kill

Welcome to Brief Recess. I'm Michael Foote, I'm Melissa Albranch. Today we're going to talk about how I'm a type a traveler. All of our neighbor tea are paper thin walls in our apartment. Melissa Saga of Ted Lewis and Eleanor to my neighbor Chris Nordy lines like a hoover. That time I saw Susan Sarandon at the Rocky Horror Picture Show and didn't know she was in the movie, The infamous El Salvadoran Prison Seacott. We're going to cover that extensively in the Barry Weiss drama, the sixty minute segment and all the tales from the DM. So stick around about how I was someone to think you had Johndye in the comments. Yeah, people think. People have Even before I was doing the Internet and the show, people

have always felt like they could say whatever the fuck they wanted right to my face.

This is a long time ago. I was coming I was leading Haiti coming back home to New York.

Right.

It was my old passport picture before I had lost weight.

Right, And.

The guy looked at it, He looked at me, He looked at it, and he looked at me and he says to me in French. He was like, madam, you've changed quite a lot. And I said, oh, yes, yes I have. And then he said, because you were really fat, you should probably eat a whole lot. And you know what's really funny about that is like it was it was such a Haitian guy thing to say that. I wasn't even mad. I thought it was really fucking funny, and it's actually very It's so funny, and it's just the way that he was just like, damn, madam. The best thing about it was like he spoke to me in French first it's like the proper way, and then when I was like, oh, yes, I have, and then he switched to Crayle, which is more like familiar, and

he was just like, I was just like, this is just funny.

It was.

It was really it was actually really funny.

Told me most of your like hilarious Haiti stories are around the airport or the plane ride, Like it's it's rarely in Haitio. It's always going to it.

From the thing about I think any anytime you're going anywhere on an airplane or an airport, it's like the subway, right, Everybody in New York takes a subway. Everybody takes a plane someplace, right, absolutely, And it doesn't matter your socioeconomic status and your race, none of it matters because you're all like stuck in the same place. And like people say like this, and I think travel makes a lot of people anxious, and then they just they're just wild and they.

Wild and they physically are restrained, kind of like you can't move around a lot, and it's just it's bringing out the worst in people. The plane. The plane travels bring out the worst in people.

Are you you're anxious to travel?

Are you not anymore?

Okay?

I used to be really nervous to travel, Okay, and now I'm trying to escape my life so much that I love getting on a plane. I'm like, oh hell yeah, this is wait to get on that plane.

Is a better traveler you were bred?

It depends on how we're defining better.

More come less anxious?

Okay. So in my life, and you know what, I have an answer, Okay, thank you. In my life, I am the person who plans and organizes everything, okay. And I know you are too, Okay. And I know a lot of our listeners are too. There's always the person and the couple. Brad shows up to the airport, he doesn't know where his ticket is, he doesn't sometimes know what airline we're flying. I do it all, okay, I get it all organized. It's the night before and he's packing.

I've been packed for a week okay. And we're pulling up to the airport and he's like, oh, we're flying American yo. Yeah, and I picked out your meal too, Like I get I am that one. I'm the one so to say, oh, who's like better at trial? I'm better at it, a more organized. We would not be on the plane if he were in charge.

But he's but it sounds like he's more at ease because you've taken care of everything, right, So he's just like, okay, I've set up this stut.

Yeah. And I will say, if he ever tried to take control of organizing the flights, it would be an absolute riot.

Okay.

There would be blood in the streets. Oh dear, it would be. And no one will ever take that away from me.

Okay.

That is I have to have that control. Even when I book a gig and they're like, oh, preferred airline whatever I say, I'll send you the receipt. I'm handling it all. I'm a control freak like that. I don't want someone getting involved in that way. I can never have someone to help them with that stuff.

Interestingly enough, when we go places, Andre's the one who looks up all the stuff, and he does because he knows that I'll just spend a million dollars on stupid shit. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, I'll just be like, you know what here is. I remember one time we were going on the car. Yeah, I was like, we were going somewhere, and I was just like, so we just say, like fucking do whatever. He was like, no, we cannot.

Yeah, he was like absolutely not.

So that's why he does it, because he's very concerned about how much we're going to pay for things. I mean, and he's right right, but like sometimes I am willing to pay for things so that I don't have to think about it.

And also there is a convenience sometimes where the money is actually worth it if you have it. Yes, we were going we were in Norway and we were going dog sledding in the middle of nowhere. It was like up on a mountain, how was that. It was so fun. It was like one of the coolest, most memorable experiences.

Do you think the dogs are happy?

Thrilled?

Okay?

And now, whenever I see a husky in New York, I'm like, oh god, I've seen what you should be doing, gotcha? And it's not Square Park?

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

Running through the woods in the snow.

I follow somebody on I think TikTok and she has four huskies and they make an unholy noise when they get to end, and each one eggs on the other one the howl, but it's not just like a howl. It's like a it's like a cry for help. Like it's like, like it's really really crazy. No, it is, And I couldn't I think I couldn't do.

I mean, like, I guess the screaming, especially in an apartment.

Yeah, screaming would drive me crazy. And it also makes me feel like maybe they shouldn't be in the house, like maybe this is the kind of dog that needs to be outside playing inside.

People will call and complain and say, oh, this sty I saw this dog sleeping sleeping outside in the snow, and then the owners will film videos and you're like, yeah, they're trying to call it again, and the dog doesn't want to come. The dogs we wants to sleep outside the But we were going. We had to take a train to Lallahammer and then it was like you could either take the bus for three hours to get there or it was a twenty minute cab ride.

Oh I mean yeah, okay.

And in moments like that, it's like we're going to spend a fifty kroner whatever it was, yes to do that if you can. So in situations like that, the dollar spent on the convenience is it evens out? This is sidebar, Melissa, didn't you miss a flight one time? You told me about this a while I did.

Indeed, I know we've talked about this before, but like one of the few times that I've missed a flight was because of Andre. Really we were in London. And that's the thing about travel, right, is that I am anxious in the sense of I'm afraid to miss a flight, do you know what I mean? Like, so I am I am you know like the rest of my people.

Like I get to the airport right and I remember looking at the clock and the time and I was just like maybe we should go. Maybe can we go? And he was like no, it's fine, we got this. Let's take one more, let's another stroll around the Thames.

Don't be so anxious.

And then I remember, and I have a picture of this, I'll share it with you where I took a picture of Andre looking at his phone and I was like, this is when I knew we were not going to make it. We were not going to make it.

Where were you?

And I was looking at him and I was just like, we're not going to make it, are we? And he's like no, no, no, but we have to hurry up though, and I was like okay. And we get to the airport and the plane hadn't left yet, but they had stopped boarding and we had to spend the night and we spent the night at the airport.

It wasn't just like another flight.

We had to wait till the next day and we spent the night at this airport hotel. But it was like the room was it wasn't this big, it was it's for exactly that exactly, and I mean it was the bathroom was like a wet room, like it was just.

Oh, I hate that. I hate that. When the shower and the toilet and the sink are all connected to the same water line and it's just one.

I mean, this was the smallest hotel room I have ever been in my life. And at that point we just started drinking.

Yeah, you've got to hit the hooch, the airport bar. The drinks are so expensive. They're very expensive because they know they have We were hitting it hard. And I will say I have traveled with people who like to drink no matter what time of day they're traveling eight am vodka sodas. I've witnessed that.

Have you ever done that?

No?

No, oh, I have.

I don't need to drink to get on a plane.

I don't need to drink. So I can't remember where Andre and I were going. And he had a little bit of like a hissy fit at the airport right, a little bit, and it made me you need a drink, yeah, And I was just like, and I put it on TikTok. Actually, I'm like, it's eight o'clock in the morning and I have had to leave my husband and now I'm walking around.

There some news melting down.

He's somewhere I can't be with him right now. We're going to Jamaica, and I was just like, is it too late to start drinking?

No?

And the comments were, no, it isn't hit hit it, Yeah it hit it? And I did.

Yeah. I fallen sucker to the duty free shop too. I've spent money there.

What do you buy in duty free?

Sometimes I'll buy like a like a vodka gin just to have it home, like a big thing of it. Okay, so it is actually like a lot cheaper.

Sometimes do you drink enough vodka origin to have a bottle of it at home or do you just want to have it?

I think I just want to have it. I think I'm bored and I want to go shopping.

Yes.

We were in Peru for New Year's and we're coming back.

Oh.

He had so much time to kill because getting to the airport of Peru is like kind of like a we weren't or if it was going to take forever or twenty minutes, and it ended up taking twenty minutes. So I'm wandering around, you know, buying crap, all sorts of stuff. But they had actually like a lot of cue clothes there. I got a bunch of sweaters at the airport. Oh, improved, because everything's all pack up.

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.

So they sell them and it's not like you know, taurus trappy kind of clothing.

Yeah, it's like real actual Yeah.

Yeah, let's get into algorithm of show. And I want to talk about what's going on in your algorithm? What's perhaps what's the form one one? What you've seen it's wicked and wild on your Actually.

Don't want to talk about my algorithm, okay, I would like to talk about my neighbor if we could.

Oh, Melissa texted me over the weekend a little bit about this. Yeah, I got a text message that said, yo yo.

Was it a yo message?

It was a yo message. I'm going to go back, and then it was a yo yeah yeah like you. Yeah.

So I have spoken about my neighbor before, yes, and if not on the pod, then on my TikTok okay, and so really quick. I call him Ted, That is not his name. Ted used to be married to Lois, and Ted and Lois would fight all the time. And you only ever heard Ted, You never heard Lois, right, Yeah, And then one day I heard him say to her, I come to you with solutions, you only come to me with problems. And then Lois had had enough and she said, fuck you Ted.

You heard her say that? Oh, yes, that's the one thing. She had one line.

She had one line, and she executed it beautifully stage left. And then a couple of days later, I saw her in the hall and I was just like, hey, hey, Lois, how are you getting the fuck out of here?

And I was like, oh, oh, if you're telling the neighbors.

Yeah. So in my building, there's a package room and I was going through looking for my package. And this is maybe several weeks later, maybe a couple of months later, and I saw a package for Ted that said something like it was from divorce dot com. This, dude, gotta they got a divorce. They got a divorce.

Right.

And since then, and since then, I have seen a steady stream of women coming in and out of Ted's life.

Right, Okay, Ted has game. It sounds like it is Ted cute. It's got a stead remote coming in and out of the building.

I think that Ted is cute. He's not hideously unattractive. But what happens is every time Ted breaks up with somebody, the music.

Starts the Barry Manilow adele Al.

And it's on repeat. He also had. He also plays quite a lot, a bit of Barber streisand and Barry dam.

Okay, I think I found the problem and that he's gay.

I don't think he's gay. Ade ade.

A journey okay, straight six straight, very madelow By curious, maybe attending, you know, tap his foot in the bathroom.

Step and then it'll stop once he comes back to himself.

We always return to thyself, know thyself.

And one time I was coming in, he was going out. There was a different woman at the door and he was leaving, and she said to him, Okay, Ted, love you. And then I saw his face and he was like, I love you.

Too, Melissa. Okay. Now there's so many also like.

Wait, wait, wait wait. And then fourth of July you can see fireworks from the roof of our building. And after fourth of July they were both there together, and then I never saw her again. Right, there's a new one.

Let's wait, you gotta stop. I can't process all this. It's so insane.

I'm also curious why am I here? Why am I writing? Well, Because what I realized is Ted's bathroom butts up against my bathroom, and so the head of my bed butts up against I guess his living room or something. I can hear what's going on in there, right, So York, you know this is this is one of the reasons why I'm tired of apartment life. I don't want to hear you. I don't want to smell your fish. I don't want it. I don't want I don't want it.

But anyway, I digress. Now there's another one. And they got into a fight this weekend, Eleanor. He and Eleanor are getting into it. But I don't think she was there. I think she was on speakerphone because she sounded really tinmy right, and they have fought before, and Eleanor ain't no Lois. Eleanor is not here for games, and she is just and more than once I have heard her say to him, I don't know what the fuck your problem is dead.

She is eating him up.

Eating him up. And then he was saying to her something like, you know, I had a horrible day. So now Andre's watching TV and I said to him, lower the teeth, lower the lower the TV. And he's like, and he's like why, And I was like, Ted and Eleanor are getting into it, and he's like, Melissa and I was like, listen. And then he came over and then we're both in the bathroom together and we're listening to what's going on.

I'm just imagining you and Andrea were a cup pressed against Oh.

I remember when I said to you, my neighbor can't keep a body. He cannot keep a woman, can't keep a body, cannot keep a boy at a certain point, if you can't keep an employee. And you were like, what roommates are girlfriends? And I'm like, girlfriends wives? And Michael's like, are they leaving or kicking them out? And I don't know. And then and then so he said to her, you knew that I was having a bad fucking day, and she's like, you're always having in a bad faking day. And then I couldn't and then I was getting annoyed because I couldn't hear everything right. And then I was like, all right, let me watch TV because I'm like, no, no, no, I'm going to hear the rest of it.

You adele, did they break up?

I don't know. I don't know if they broke up, but he started playing Adele and.

No, I'm worried what my neighbors are hearing me say and do that.

Was I just want someone with my neighbor.

I don't know.

I don't know why he can't keep a body. And I got to tell you, there are a lot of people in my building who don't like him. He can be really aggressive, but he's been nothing but really nice to me. One day, I was coming in, I had a bunch of bags and he's like, oh, let me help him go. Thank you so much, And I said, that was really sweet of you. He said to me, no one's called me sweets and my mother died, so Ted is clearly somebody only a mother can love.

Well. What's concerning to me is that clearly he is a little bit self aware that he can't keep a body.

I don't know if he realizes that he can't keep a body. I don't know that people who can't keep bodies realize.

There the problems. Yeah, I feel like there's something about this though, there's a little bit of self awareness. There are no all these divorces, and I mean, I.

Don't know if it's it's one divorce that I'm aware of, but there has been.

He's cute. He's kind of cute. Not really, I don't know that.

My type of white guy I don't like.

Okay, yeah see.

Rich maybe this apartment, Yes, he does on his apartment. His apartment is beautiful. He has a really he's an audiophile. He has a really beautiful audio situation with like Vinyl.

Because and it's just one hundred Adele albums and BARBISTI sand that is really funny. Well, I need to know, like where this what happens.

I hope that I see Eleanor again. Eleanor loves Arthur Weasley.

I'm ring for them to leave right right. I'm waiting for the women to find joy.

He keeps on getting new ones.

I do think that there is, like you said, like there there's always a man who drives you insane. I do think that there is also this compulsion that a lot of us have to fix a man, to see a problem and be like, oh I got this, I can figure that out.

Yeah.

I spent a lot of my twenties doing did you I mean I.

Think that my last before my husband, my last long term boyfriend, I did think that I could help him. I don't know that I I was like, I just need to love him more, do you know what I mean? And help him. And when I decided that I was done with him, Yeah, and I was just like, Universe, this is what I need and that's what I got.

Take it away and that's what you got what I got. It's like in Practical Magic where they sort of put together their purple.

You know that there's a sequel, and I can't wait. Really, I am.

Sad for the sequel. Okay, I am going to be really annoyed if the lightning's weird and if it feels like I'm in a video game. I like movies where it's framed and it doesn't look like a video game. Like I can't watch Wicked. That will give me a stomach ache. I can't go to one Imax and watch the Willy Wonka movie. I'll like get Vertigo. You know what I mean?

I hear you. So.

I used to live in what was like a pre war, very old school New York. Like everyone was just like a weird New York. We've been there forever, yes, and we were like I remember we were the Yeah.

Yeah, it was.

Near your auntie's apartment and we were there forever. We were there for years and years and years. And when you're in a building like that, and it's small and everyone kind of knows each other like you're entering an ecosystem, like they know your shit. They're gonna all talk about you. And we had a wall where we could hear our neighbor too, and we had this crazy neighbor war.

Was this a neighbor who was the flight attendant? Yeah, okay, I love this, Go ahead, we'll call him.

We'll call him Chris. Okay, three in the morning. Chris always had and you'd have to buzz to get into the building. Yep, there's always a really late night Friday and Saturday night buzz from a how do I say, a gentleman caller, a younger man of Latino descent, potentially from the oldest profession. Okay, I'm going on dates and that is me throwing judgment on the situation that is unconfirmed.

But you know what, the sex work is work.

Get it? Yes, sex work is for a work like get it, like live your truth really like truly no judgment there, but I like loved it.

I was like, yeah, you know, because it's the sex spicy I have. I have a neighbor who I don't like, and he gets dates. They they're very tall, very thin, sort of Russian looking. Yeah, and he is dumpy and old and that's not Yeah.

And this in this street that I lived on, there was a lot of sex work activity on that street. There were like sex workers working the corner. And so he's got on the stroll. Yeah. And so these guys would show up and it would buzz and like they buzz the wrong unit, and then I'd be letting them in. So I was like kind of involved, were a willing participants, let me tell you. And I'm so boring. I was home on a Saturday night letting in the Puerto Rican hookers like that was that was my Saturday night. Was like, please right this way, Chris. Yes, he's upstairs. The walls though the walls are thin in any and even if they're not thin, you're just in close quarters.

I mean the thing about living in an apartment building, you're basically living with a hundred other people.

Yeah, it's co cohabitation with like without your consent, yeah, totally.

You are held hostage. Yeah.

And so this one night Chris was on a bender, Like Chris was out, he was out in these streets and he came home with this guy and it's three in the morning, and I really can't sleep, and I sleep with earplugs in a saw machine since college. Okay, every night their earplugs in sow machine. He was railing lines so loud. I could hear it. I could hear him railing a line through the earplug in the sw machine on high. That is a man.

That's a hoover.

That that is self harm, like not odad. And he was like narrating it.

He was like chopping up the next one, like he was like hot ha ha like and it was like and it was all night and so finally I went over, like the sun is rising and he's still going crazy on this bender and I knocked on the door and I was like, Chris, you gotta keep it down.

His pupils were outer space seying saucers. Yeah, they bright red. Oh sorry, like slurring like crazy whatever. The next day I get up, he bought me like a nice bottle of like expensive champagne favor and left it on my door handle with just like a little note that was like, sorry if I woke you up last night.

That's actually really classy, Chris, Sorry.

If you woke me up, Chris, honey. And I get to sleep, and you know what, he had so much coconem he was able to go out shopping, run errands the next day. Was he doing sleep? No? Yeah, he's probably still awake. And I will say he was a man of a certain age. He wasn't like nineteen or twenty doing that much blow.

I mean he's been doing it since the seventies.

He's And I was like, I don't know.

This is Jagger's Studio fifty four.

I was like, you, you really are not at an age where you should be doing that much.

I mean he's a little long in the tooth to be doing so much blow.

Yeah, Studio fifty four. Rocky horror picture shows playing there? Oh I heard I went to opening?

Was it fun?

I went to the opening night? It was really fun? Okay, it was actually really fun and I loved the show. I'd never seen anything Rocky Hall. You had never seen any of it nothing. So this is actually mortifying and plaow. If you've been waiting to re me in the comments, if you've been holding back, which I don't think any of you have because you love eating me up, this is your opportunity. Because I'm such a dumb slut, I went up to Susan Sarandon. Okay, yep, pencils down, heads up.

I went up to Susan Sarandon and I said, Hi, miss Surandon, I just have to let you know. This is during intermission because we were like sitting down in the orchestra. I just have to let you know. I'm such a huge fan. I love everything you've been in, love your movies. My mom's a huge fan.

I'm so so nervous.

Do you mind if I take a photo with you? And we're chatting for a while, We're chatting about why I'm there, how I know people in the show, and like all that stuff. We have this adorable que conversation. We take a photo. Actually, she's a real battie because she said, yes, I'll take a photo with you, but we've got to find the good lighting. And y'all know, oh yeah, I'm the same way. I'm like, oh babe, yeah, we can light your face with the glare off my bald head, Like, let's get some go. I said, this is what I'll do, because consent is important. I held up my phone and I said, let's swivel and when there's good lighting, you say go and I'll click the clicker. Okay, So we do this whole rigamarole and I walk away

and I go back to Brad, my husband, who knows everything and is not try to tell me okay, and he says, oh, you're talking to Susan Srandon and I was like yeah, and he says, did you compliment her on how she was originated the role of Janet in Rocky Horror, in the movie that the show is based on. And I said, she was in what Noo? And he said, yeah, that's why she's here because she was in Rocky. She originated Janet in the movie.

I hate you. I hate you everything you. I hate you and everything you stand for.

So mortified? Do you hate me? Like a cruise ship take him out to see and sink him. Wow. It was one of my most mortifying moments because we talked for a while.

But you didn't I mean, Okay, So while I'm horrified that you just didn't know this piece of pop culture that I feel like you should have known, and I feel like this makes you a bad gay man.

Chris, the next door neighbor would have absolutely not put up with this. He definitely knew.

But I mean, it's not like you said anything to her, So.

I'm going to stop you right there. And I appreciate you being really gracious with me, Okay, I don't deserve it, because throughout the entire conversation she was kind of looking at me like I'm an EmPATH. She was kind of looking at me like, are you going to say it? Are you going to say the thing everything's been saying to me here? You know, she was kind of looking at me like you know when someone's kind of waiting for you to say something. You're at the altar and you say I do, and then you're kind of waiting for the next She was waiting for me to say something, and I was like, I wonder what she was waiting for me to say? You know what that yeah? And I was like, oh, I wonder if yeah, she friends

with the lighting designer.

Is she a part of this production?

No? And That's where I'm also mortified, because every every like photo that was taken all over social media in the post was Susan Sarandon attends the show based off the movie she was in, so like everyone was there talking to her and it was reported on because she was there because of.

The movie Gotcha and you were say in the movie. Okay. I used to go to a Rocky Horror Picture show all the time and like would be in the audience participate. So in the show, yeah are they are they doing the call and response.

So there's been a lot of controversy around this because they're very famous actors in the show. People are paying like five hundred bucks a ticket to go see them do the jump to the left, damn. And you really are paying premium price to see these very very famous people do the show, not the guy from Jersey sitting next to you. You couldn't get a ticket to Lan King. Yeah, you know the cats, we could see boop And so there's been a lot of a lot of Rocky Horror purists have been upset, yes, that people aren't allowed to dance or do the callbacks there. I was there opening night. Yeah, so there were some callbacks and it was very like tongue in cheek, very cute, okay, but it wasn't disruptive.

There were some people would yell out, I would say maybe five times during the show, and the show just kept moving okay, and the actors knew what to do, yes, and we got to see everyone do their incredible performance. Like really, so it's such a star studed cat.

Yeah. Okay, interesting because because I feel like that's like the whole thing I've never got. I've never seen the movie without.

That, without people kicking in this in the aisles. Yeah, because they do these like midnight showings and yeah, yeah, no one was really doing that. I will say they do pull up a couple of people on stage at some point, I think, hopefully to scratch that itch. And when they did it during opening night, they pulled Eric Botcher on stage, our former guest.

Oh wow, shout out to Eric. What he imparted himself? As it was?

It was told twink Yeah, uh demon Twink that was running against her, and they made him do the dance.

Did he do it?

Yeah? Okay, let's move on.

During COVID, I had this neighbor downstairs who got what I call his COVID boo and you would hear them, and the COVID boo was enthusiastic, encouraging and loved Jesus.

I'm at a loss for words.

And at first it was like funny, Oh, she's she's invoking the Rosary, and then at the end I was like, I'm going to set him on fire.

Yeah, because working from home.

I was working from home. I thought the world was ending.

I need to hear you have a nooner. I'm in the middle of a zoom call. We've got to look at the Q three reports. We've got to circle.

Back on my Q four road now watching my CEO cry that. Anyway, let's move.

On, let's go into under oath. I've got some crazy stuff I want to talk to you about. We didn't actually get a chance to cover Barry Weiss CBS, the Sea Cott, censorship journalism in America, the Star Spangled Banner. We didn't get a chance to cover it. So I thought we could get into it today because I have Seacott tea that people have reached out to me about on the internet. I've made a bunch of videos about this.

So a couple months ago, there was an inside Seacott segment on CBS and it was supposed to air on sixty minutes in December, so this was like six months ago. The correspondent with Sharon I'll and the segment featured interviews with former detainees at this prison. Seacot CECT is the prison. This prison is an el Salvador and notorious, infamous for human rights violations. Basically, what's happening right now? And I deal with this a lot in immigration court with Assilis who are seeking asylum in the US from L. Salvador Is.

In L Salvador, there's what's called the state of Exception. And a couple of years ago, the president Bukele decided there's so much gang activity in El Salvador, which is true, and this is very controversial. So you can talk to Salvador and who will say it was great, another we'll say it was awful. Bukelly said, we're going to suspend the constitution, which is like terrifying to think about as in America. Yes, we're just going to pause it and we're just going to start detaining these gangs because there was a lot of gang violence in El Salvador.

I'm just curious right now that he's rounded up all these people who were allegedly in gangs, did the gang activity in El Salvador diminish at all.

A lot of gang members were detained, okay, yeah, However they were detained without any due process. There was no court date, there were no trials, there was no actual checks and Balances. New York Times did a really interesting podcast about this where they interviewed people who were in El Salvador who had sons and nephews detained who were not affiliated with gangs, and they were still grateful for the state of exception, okay, even though their sons and nephews had been detained, because it was just so much safer now because you catch a lot of people. Yeah, there's no way to ensure the actual criminals are being true captured compared to an innocent person, correct.

I say, when you do these sweeps, innocent people are going to get caught up in.

It for sure, right and when there's that's why we have checks and balances. That's why we have a judiciary to make sure, you know, we sort of separate people who have actually committed crimes and should be prosecuted and people who are completely innocent and just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gotcha, It's not like America nails it. Yeah. So anyway, and we'll get to the CBS story in a second. But basically, Bouquela decided to suspend the state of exception, went into effect, suspended the constitution.

A lot of people were detained in these prisons that it's very difficult to sort of describe to a first world citizen, an American, what it's actually like in these detention centers. So there are cells so small you can't lie down, There are no access to food, water, toilets. Overcrowding is like not even a powerful enough word to describe what's happening. Rival gangs are housed in the same space together, which is very dangerous. Many gang members are readily identifiable by their tattoos. They have tattoos on their faces, they're branded by their gangs. And this is not like I don't want this to get picked up by a news outlet of like Michael Foot stands by gang membership and I'll Salvador. But I want to explain that I

have had some clients who were members of gangs, not by choice, that a lot of times gang members or sometimes gang members are victims of circumstance. They have no money, there's no functioning government, there's no food, water resources. A guy shows up and says, join my gang, work for my gang, and I will give you enough money so that your mother has food and medicine.

Gotcha right, Yeah.

These are choices. That we as New Yorkers, very rarely are faced with these sort of life and death choices. So it's very easy for us to pass judgment on a situation that we just probably.

Will never here. Correct.

So, people are detained in these detention centers and the conditions really are truly a death sentence. Many times there were mass graves discovered behind this detention center. Injuries are not being reported, people aren't getting access to blood pressure medication, and just like stroking out and dying, right, So, just really horrific conditions. So with that in mind, the US capitulates in many ways with Seacott and the l Salvadoran government.

If you are Christininome, go there for like a photoshoots?

Yeah, literally, yes she did. And so after she shot her dog, she went there, right, And that's not a joke, it's an actual fucking fact. So they had these photo shoots, and the US capitulates and they have I'm not gonna I mean, like, I'm not going to let anyone off the hook here. This has been multiple administrations have allowed this to happen. You're also if you're salvador in in America and you commit a crime, it can be a very small crime, and you're marked as to put a deportee back to Salvador. They will inform the government, hey there's someone who's a criminal coming back.

They're coming back.

They will meet them at the airport and immediately detain them. So the US government is like check, Yes, we are effectively buying into this, and every human rights organization and the UN have spoken out about this.

Yeah.

So CBS was a long time stallwart of American journalists.

Yes, they were, especially sixty minutes.

Yeah, they were neutral fact finders. Sixty minutes. We're just going to report on this, on what's happening. It is not, you know, polarized opinion. It's very similar to our show, exactly.

Just like us, the same rigid standards.

Three hours before air, CBS News announced it was pulling the segment, which was detailing Sea Caught, the conditions, how people are deported there, and the government's sort of involvement, and correspondent Charnel Fonsi accused editor in chief Barry Weiss of pulling it for political reasons. Weiss claimed it wasn't ready for air, so it was very splashy, made a lot of headlines. But I also think a lot of people missed this, So the timing of this was very suspicious.

Yeah.

Trump recently attacked sixty minutes at the time that they pulled the segment. Okay, so it was right before that, and this was I mean, it's still happening. But this was at a time when he was really going after the networks. Do you remember this, And they were all threatening to slap them with fines, and they were all looking to save millions, and so they were all bending the knee and many of them said they weren't going to do like really negative coverage. He was also finally lawsuits against them. Yeah, so Barry Weis denied political motives.

Critics accused CBS leadership of censorhip and anticipatory obedience with the Trump administration.

Yeah.

It's scary, it really really is.

We're in a bad, bad place, guys.

I saw the plane nineteen eighty four. Not to talk about all my live theater experiences at once, but I keep thinking about nineteen eighty four, right, Like, access to neutral facts is scarcer and scarcer.

Yep.

People are getting information about our government from international sources. People are going to the BBC to find out what's happening here. Yeah, people are going to the Guardian figure out what's happening in the US. I got to comment on my videos all the time. Oh they're reporting on this totally different in Canada.

Not surprising, scary, really scary, but not surprising, not surprising at all.

You were telling me when we were talking about Russia years ago and the war in Ukraine.

And you were telling me that there was this young man who was Russian but living in the Ukraine, and when the war in the Ukraine between Russian and un Paine started, he said that he was really surprised that his father, who was in Russia, had not reached out to see how he was doing. And then he reached out to his father and was like, why are I don't like, I haven't heard I haven't heard from you, And he was just like nothing, but why why about?

What about what? And that just goes to show you like, if a government decides that they don't want you to know about what's going on, they can set it up so that you don't know.

I think that's happening with Iran in many ways. Yeah, Like there was a I saw over the weekend there was an article the Times was reporting on all the buildings that Iran media says they blew up American military sites, and the US government was like, no, everyone's fine, nothing bad's happening, nothing to see here. Obviously Iran is incentivized to say that they've done much more damage than they actually did. Is what sort of the US government was saying?

The Times incredible reporting cross referenced with international satellites, not American satellites. They looked at global satellite footage of all these sites and compared it to what Aram was saying happened, and it was true. It was accurate, right, compared to the information the American government was sharing.

And the problem with that, I mean, there are many problems with that. But if we are not able to trust what journalists in the United States are saying, how are you to make an informed decision when you're at the polls?

Truly?

Right? Because that's where we're hearing a lot of stuff, right is through the news, looking going on the Internet and hopefully accessing real news, not you know, Bob down the block his fucking website. But how are people going to make decisions if the information that we're getting is basically fairy tales?

I don't know, And it's like, truly, the misinformation campaigns as is tremendous and the way that people still consume media and consume stories and trust it, and I don't want to again, like I'm thinking about what AI bought is going to pick up this audio file and say, immigration lawyer Michael Foot says, don't trust information. Like literally that's happened on some of my tiktoks. It's like a fucking web crawler picks it up and then they report on what I said and they never called me for a quote. They're like quoting the video. It's like written by a robot. But the way people consume media it is trust and then later if it's debunked, question right.

And I do think there has to be the shift too. We kind of really do need to question what we're being told.

I mean, I think especially when you think about again going back to CBS, this idea that since very well has taken over, it does feel a little bit like I don't know that I want to watch CBS the way that I used to watch CBS.

And this is why there were so many like Molly jong Fast is an incredible journalist. She and many journalists were freaking out about this happening at CBS then pulling this sixty minutes because CBS was one of the last few reiraining neutral reporters. Everyone else has fallen to this polarized.

Opinion going away or another yeah.

Reporting, and so they were. Weeks later, CBS aired the segment with only minor editions referencing government responses. So they eventually aired the whole thing, but after this whole drama. So it was originally set to air during this time when there was going to be a ton of viewerships because of the NFL game, and then they waited three weeks and aired it during a competing game on a different network to basically effectively bury it.

And they didn't renew the contract of the report.

They didn't renew it.

Yeah, they didn't renew it.

So she's basically fired. That's a shorthand way.

Of righting again. So what are we to do?

Right?

So a reporter who tried really hard to do really good work, detailed work, put all her energy into it, trying to report the facts, and she did that, which is what we want reporters to do, right, And now she's out of a job.

What the fuck. Yeah, Barry Wise, what the hell?

I mean?

She will go down in history as the American censor I know.

But she doesn't care.

She's not minted, She's got her Golden Parish exactly. She doesn't care.

She doesn't care.

A government can censor journalists in like very specific instances, and there you have to go into an emergency hearing in front of a judge, and it's priorate straints. You basically have to argue that the government would have to argue that this would jeopardize national security in some way that is imminent, like there's an actual operation happening and the soldiers will be at risky if this goes to air, right, which is not the situation that this is not this at all? Right, Right, this was just going to cause outrage about Trump's immigration policy, which it should.

It should, But that's not Barry Weiss's agenda.

What is her agenda? I mean, my god, I mean, I mean.

Well, I mean everything that I've read about her, you know, they keep on calling her Maga codd, right, So that's her agenda. That's her agenda. Her agenda is to support this particular president as opposed to being an actual good news person right, her her agenda is to support this particular president because for whatever reason she either agrees with him or whatever. And that's the problem, is not that. Listen, there are many people who think the president has the right idea right, and that's fine. You're entitled to do that. However, that should not stop you from doing the work that you're supposed to be doing. So if you are a doctor who is a sort of maga coated as well and thinks that abortion is murder, but you've got somebody

in front of you who is going to die if she doesn't get one, your obligation is to take care of that person humanity, to do no harm. And that is not what's happening. I mean, and I don't like saying this, and I don't like feeling this way, this this feeling of like we are fucked.

I'm not there yet, but I might be next week. You never know I'm there. Let me put it this way. I feel like legacy media is dying in many ways. It has been slowly. Would be the death rattle, we don't know. I do see some hope for I hate saying this, but like the next generation, but also independent media, like there are some people that I follow where I'm like, I really fucking trust this guy, yeah, or this person I like did the research, or I now have, through the internet, have access to this person who's a literal expert who does this every day. And I've talked a bit about how like I'm a little bit more ethical, or I do more research on my videos before I post them because I'm like, oh, thirty percent of gen

z gets their news from people like me on tikbook and you you know.

And again, you're it's a platform that you have, You've got a really good following. You want to do your best, right, It's not it's it's you know, it's different if you're sort of goofing around or whatever, but you are trying to provide people with real information so that they can then take that information and hopefully do something good with it. Right.

And at first I was like, oh, well, there's no like checks and balances keeping me making sure that I'm doing things the right way. But then it was like there's none for legacy media out there.

Right, And it's also you are your own you should be your own checks and balances, right.

Honestly, my fans and people that follow me are my checks and balance. They clock me all the time and they're like, you're wrong on that, and I'm like cool, issue correction or they're correcting me, correcting me in the comments and like people have access to that, like I do sort of love that. Yeah, anyway, so this story was horrifying.

Yeah, I mean I think it's we're going to see more of this.

You think Mary Wise is going to get ousted? Do you think she'll get got? Not yet, No, because I feel like probably the board Yeah all.

Right, I mean but you know what, they'll actually let me let me take that back. CBS is getting trounced in terms of ratings now a right.

Yeah.

People who used to watch the evening news the CBS, they're not anymore.

Wow.

I mean I think people like seeing Tony Dekopple in the morning, but they don't trust him as much in the evening for whatever reason. So crazy, but it happens all the time, do you know what I mean? Like, sometimes you see somebody I'd rather see you sort of do morning TV, and for some reason, when you're it's like it's.

Like fluffy, it's like less hard news. Yeah. I stopped watching Survivor because it's on CBS.

Oh, I never watched Survivor.

Also, I didn't really feel like watching this season.

Okay, I couldn't tell you anything about Survivor.

Take a break, We'll come right back. Okay, with all your burning questions from the Dmsure this is tales from the DMS. These are all the questions that you send us to our show. You could send us a question at brief recess at exactly Wrightmedia dot com.

Friends, what do I always say? Michael is a lawyer, but he's not your lawyer, So shop around, shop around, shop around.

Someone said you have jarndice.

Yeah, I saw that. I responded to her, What.

Did you say?

I said that I didn't.

You don't have John.

I don't have jndice.

It's like this red dot on my head. People.

They were very concerned that you have John. Yes, very concerned.

I mean that's kind of nice.

I guess, or I mean, I mean, I don't think you look like you have. I mean, I don't know.

Maybe, well, I will say I've never clocked someone's jaundice before. I've never been at the club and been like, that's John, Tess.

You should see somebody.

I've never done that. I did read something. Actually, this is so funny. Okay, this reminds me of the weirdest thing. This girl was talking about how she worked at Hooters and these guys were like, you know, the guys who come to you Swooters are creeps. But this guy came up and he was like, Hey, you don't have to go to me, but I'm a dermatologist and there's a mole on your left booby. Okay, you should go get a checked out.

Did she?

And she did and it was cancer?

Oh wow.

See, so he was like, I know, don't have to come to me. I'm not trying to get you alone. I'm not going to give you my card, but just go get that looked at.

Yeah.

So sometimes I mean, you never know, you never know.

I mean I can't remember. There was a there was a show on HGTV. Yeah, his name is Tark and he was MERSI this woman Christina. Anyway, he was on. He was on his show and there was a nurse watching and she noticed something in his neck and she said basically exactly that. Listen. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think you should really go check get this checked out. And he had cancer. He's better now.

Wow. Yeah, Okay, we've got some crazy reviews to read.

Are we going to Are we going to read the ones where people are upset with you?

Yeah, let's do it.

It was one that that was really funny. He's never going to let her forget.

By the time you kicked someone on the subway. I'm never going to let you go. I know it's fine because it's something I would do and you finally did it, so it's the only thing I can lurd over you. He will never forget the boot subway emoji. So the boot subway emoji? Oh, this person said, uh not the Debbie Reynolds just so dance Jose Debbie Reynolds Puma eight six five three said, smiled so big, trying not to belly laugh out loud on my morning commuter train during your algorithm is showing that my AirPods fell out. Okay, when that happens, that's.

Sorryful, be careful, be careful.

They're expensive killing him with the interviews lately. Afroman Emily Almanza Timar love hanging out with you to on my way to work. Oh, thank you, I love that too. I love those interviews too. Afroman was wild. We actually didn't tell people bts getting Afroman interview what y'all didn't see? And I did record a TikTok. Maybe I'll post this was the six of us in the studio trying to get that man on a zoom link that we could record was wild. And I've never seen so many people scurry.

Yeah, it was a scurry. It was a flurry of activity.

And I'm and I get like updates from CJ in my ear of so he afreman is pulled over on the side of the road. He can't access to the zoom link. He doesn't have a Zoom account, so we are trying to get him registered with Zoom right now, if you could just hold for a minute. But it all worked out yet, it all worked out great.

Yet.

But he talked about Jesus a lot, but he's not religious hysterical.

That was the best part of it though, Like I'm not religious at all, but Jesus wept. Here's one that I I nightcrawler his on Instagram. My god, you never let her talk like we want to know about more about the incident. Sis Unicorn says, yes, unfollowed him and following her instead. Jay Jonesoon says same, like, shut up, dude, tell us your little ursula story. Once she's told hers and I I said to both, to all of them, thank you. You guys are the best. He can't help himself.

You you jumped into a mommy on my turncoat, my own friendsoat, I said, he can't help it at too brutus. I love when people eat me up in the comments because I think people think that I.

Do you think that people think what.

That I'm watching my videos at like what and I admire them. I'm also eating me up like I'm also like fuck this guy, Like, I'm also like you, you are cutting her off, Michaels, stop doing it. And it's because I'm so excited to talk to you. So people come to the comments to read me. I'm there too, Yeah, the calls coming from inside the house, it is.

I mean, I think the other thing that people couldn't possibly know is that when you and I are alone and we're talking about stuff, we can never get to the end of anything. Do you know what I mean? Like it'll be like, oh wait, let me circle back around and tell you this other thing. Yes, right, we were pretty chaotic in that way.

I don't think either of us have ever told each other a full story, not one sitting ever. No, And it's usually I call you after you'd be like, oh, I forgot to tell you this one.

Oh by the way. Yeah, and it's worse. It's worse when Alyssa's involved, well, because we're drunk. Well you know what I think. The other day, we were on this chat with another friend of ours and then it was Alyssa's birthday and then he was like, wait, you guys are all tauruses. It was like, yes, and that's why it's chaos all the time.

Remember when I think I got I think you got kind of drunk with Alyssa that one night. Do you remember that like Tuesday? But I remember being like, Melissa is drunk.

Acting crazy.

You get even more opinionated, like you're so like our responses to any stimuli question is like an opinion of a seven. Yes, you were an opinion of a ten. It was like rather than like oh, it was oh like it was like everything is just amplified Melissa and HD.

Yeah yeah, so good time though, it is really fun.

I took you to boxers once you and Alyssa. I took you to box Yes.

And I am still convinced. I am still convinced that in the nineties Boxers was another club. I'm sure it was, but like, but like the same kind of club.

You guys don't understand. The whole time we were at Boxers, a gay bar with shirtless men. Melissa's like, you know, this used to be a different bar. I can't remember the name. For two hours, you know, I don't remember the name.

I was googling it. I was googling it. I texted an old friend of.

Mine, bronzed, lubed up, bouncing pecs surrounding her, and she's googling what this establishment used to be in the nineties.

I knew it used to be something.

Everything was something else in the nineties.

Sure, but like it was. I mean, I just thought it was interesting, Michael, that it was. It was a gay bar today and it was like the same gay bar last time in the nineties.

A man with big bouncing double ds was doing pull ups on a bar right in front of you. Yeah, and you were like, I think this used to be a TJ Max. This has been briefly says, thank you everyone for watching and listening. Follow us on YouTube, Follow us on Instagram, TikTok talk, follow me home.

Don't follow me home safe?

No, you know I love attention. We'll see you next week right here. Attention Michael, iHeart exactly Right Media, and I'll see you in court not me, because I'm so you're for stalking me. This has been an Exactly Right production recorded at iHeart Studios, hosted by Me, Michael Foot.

And Me Melissa Malbranch. Our producer is CJ. Ferroni.

This episode was edited by Nicholas Galucci.

Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain, and our guest booker is Patria Cottner.

Our theme song was composed by Tom Brifogel with artwork from Charlotte Delarue MNSA Lilac with photography by Brad Obono.

Brief Recess is executive produced by Karen Kilgareff, Georgia hart Stark and Danielle Kramer.

You can find me on Instagram at Department of Redundancy Department or on TikTok at Michael Foot and.

I'm on both Instagram and TikTok as Melissa Albranch.

Got legal questions, reach out at Brief Recess at Exactlyrightmedia dot com Listen to brief Recess on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, and of course we're a podcasts with video. Search for brief Recess on YouTube.

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