Bill de Blasio breaks down Mamdani’s meeting with Trump

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Just a couple of weeks ago in his rousing victory speech, Zohran Mamdani, a mayoral act of New York City, said this. Donald Trump, since I know you're watching. up. But today when the mayor-elect met face to face with the president, both men turned the volume way down. Despite having repeatedly called Mr. Zohran Mamdani a communist and a lunatic and endorsing Andrew Cuomo in the New York mayoral race, Mr. Trump struck a genial tone today, saving his jabs for a former mayor of the city. I expect to be helping him, not hurting him. A big help, because I want New York City to be great. Look, I love New York City. It's where I come from. I spent a lot of years there. Now, I'm right here. We took a big setback with the mayor that we had, named de Blasio. I thought it was a tremendous setback for the city. I think this mayor can do some things that are going to be really great. Bill de Blasio served as the mayor of New York City during President Trump's first term. We reached him today in Tucson, Arizona. Bill de Blasio, the U.S. President, as you know, rarely resists an opportunity to take a jab. But were you expecting to hear your name come up? He seems to bring it up quite a bit. I considered a badge of honor, and it's so ironic because Zohran Mamdani has said very openly he wants to emulate a lot of the things I did in office and were, you know, obviously, I was a strong supporter of his, and I love Trump's sort of shape-shifting ability to just see whatever he wants to see, but... I'll take it as a compliment, and I'm glad that somehow they seem to be getting along. To what do you attribute the warmth of this press conference and the warmth that Donald Trump appears to be showing towards Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani? There's a great phrase from the streets. Game respects game. I think Trump, with all his contradictions. And obviously, I thoroughly disagree with Trump on almost every issue. But I do think when he sees someone who's a great communicator, a strategic thinker, he has respect for that. And Zohran Mamdani has basically taken everyone to school on how to run a campaign as a progressive that can win. I think there's also the reality that Trump is hurting deeply right now. I mean, the economy is not working. He is losing popularity constantly. The Epstein files are a huge problem for him. He's trying to distract, and he's trying to seem, I think, a little more reasonable at times because the American public is clearly responding poorly to his extremism. So this is a great, you know, kind of Nixon goes to China moment for him. That said, in a way, Zohran Mamdani didn't have a lot to lose. If they seem to get along, and Zohran Mamdani is a very charming person.

That's in some ways a feather in his cap because it shows he can work with anyone, and that's going to be probably calming to certain elements in New York City. But on the other hand, if Trump had full-throated attacked him, a la Volodymyr Zelensky, a lot of people who supported Zohran Mamdani would have felt very good about that. They would have felt that was an affirmation. So maybe the only danger was to seem too cozy or too close, but I don't think that was really going to be a particularly likely scenario. Yeah, I wanted to ask you if there is a danger for Zohran Mamdani because he campaigned as someone who would stand up to the president. Are you worried that it could alienate people who supported him? I'm not for the reason that I think, you know, we don't want Trump to try and disrupt New York City. It's a battle. I think we ultimately win, but it's messy. It takes up a lot of time and energy. If this is a way of helping to back Trump off, then that has real material value. So a certain amount of diplomacy, if it allows more space for Zohran Mamdani's Trump pursuers program, is a good thing. But I don't think there's anything that suggests that, you know, if Trump crosses a line, Zohran Mamdani's going to do anything but fight back. And the possibility of federal funds being cut off by this U.S. president is still very much a reality, a possibility, right, for New York? Well, I'll tell you something. He tried it in my administration. Trump tried to cut our security funding, the money we actually used to fight terrorism because he claimed we were a sanctuary city. And we beat him in court. And I think, in fact, when you look at the court cases on this issue, That was a decision by John Roberts, actually over a decade ago, that said the federal government cannot withhold funding because of policy differences once it's been authorized by the Congress. So I think the city of New York is in really strong legal position. So I think it's more, you know, bark than bite here. You can certainly relate to that kind of one-on-one meeting. It's just about just under a decade ago that you met during Trump's first term in office while you were mayor of New York City. You were both critical of each other publicly as well. Did you speak to Zohran Mamdani about that experience and how to navigate his own? We had conversations over the last few months about my reality dealing with Trump, you know, generally having to fight him. Sometimes, particularly during COVID, obviously it was in the city's interest to try and find some common ground. And, you know, I went to see Trump about 10 days after his original election in 2016, and knowing I fundamentally disagreed with him, but hoping he would moderate. And obviously that proved not to be the case. But, you know, at least trying to see if there were some areas of agreement. And I think it's a good thing to do so long as you maintain your clarity about what you stand for. But in the end, you know, Trump is, Trump is all over the place. I mean, even during COVID, I had days when he was reasonable and helpful. And other days when he was absolutely unclear. And so I think, you know, trying to have a report is smart.

believing that rapport is going to work on any sustained basis is kind of a fool's error. And just before we let you go, I wonder what you think all of this might signal to maybe conservatives who are not supporting Zohran Mamdani as they watch this interaction and this meeting. What might it signal to them? Well, I truly believe it was an attempt to distract from the Epstein-Files situation. So I think one of the things that's happening is a lot of conservatives, a lot of folks in the back of movement are beginning to lose faith in Trump. So this is not helpful on that level. I mean, I think Trump looks for any kind of, you know, shiny thing to go after that will help distract because he's losing ground so clearly politically. But I do think that further alienates his base, and that's his, you know, ultimate danger. In the end, I'm not sure this was a good move for Trump. I think it was the right thing for Zohran Mamdani. I'm not sure it's going to have a good lasting impact for Trump. But I also think his game plan was just to jump at anything he could to get attention off of Epstein. And you'll know, one more point since we're talking. For a while, he loved talking about your nation in a derogatory and inappropriate way. I'd almost forgotten. Yeah, but it's a really great example. For a while, that was all we talked about. Then, thank God, your prime minister won the election and stood up to him, and then Trump moved off. And I think that's the reality. When you stand up to him, and Zohran Mamdani will, absolutely, he moves on to the next thing. He looks for where the weak point is. And I think Canadians in general really, you have tremendous reasons. of you the way you stood up to him, and he moved on. Bill de Blasio, I appreciate this. Thanks for coming on the show. You're very welcome. Take care. You too. Thank you. Bill de Blasio is the former mayor of New York City. We reached him in Tucson, Arizona, and we did double check. We did have the right, Bill de Blasio.

They had just stopped for lunch when a grizzly bear attacked. Yesterday afternoon, a bear attacked a group of students and teachers at Akasalta School, an independent school run by the Newhawk Nation in Belakula, British Columbia. Today, that school was closed on its social media account as a post that reads, It's hard to know what to say during this very difficult time. Belakula Valley is no stranger to grizzly bears, which Tanis Monroe knows all too well. Last month, the mama bear in her two cubs broke into her house. We reached Tanis Monroe today in Toronto. Tennis, you know very well what grizzly bears are capable of, but even given that, were you surprised by the scale of this bear attack in Belakula? I mean, I was horrified. It's awful. And, yeah, absolutely. And in fact, that children were involved is pretty... pretty terrifying. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think everyone who's read the story and seen the headlines and they've gone all over the world feel that same sense of shock. But there was there also, I wonder, for someone who has experienced what you did, a concern that something might happen, something else might happen. Without question. No, without any question. We had actually mentioned that, you know, as you know, there's a... strike going on so our conservation officer was really overworked and getting a lot of calls and one person on and he was working like crazy and so he had an RCMP officer working with him and they have to prioritize what they're doing and where they're going there's only two traps in the entire valley to use they had to figure out what the best thing was to do but we you know given the devastation to our home. We really said that it would only be a matter of time before there will be a human being involved in this and the person could easily be killed. I mean, it's just a matter of time. You said that to them? Yeah, because the bearers kept, and they agreed, actually, and because the bears continued to come back. They didn't just come one time. They came back again and again. Just to go back a little bit, you weren't home, thankfully, when the Grizzlies broke in last month. What did you find when you did come home? So we were there, and it's actually just my husband, who was there, a day after they had come. And so he boarded up the doors. I mean, what we found was the place had just been devastated. We actually have two modest places. I'm a trailer and then a cottage. And both of them had been, the bears had gone in and torn everything apart and, you know, dragged stoves and fridges around and across beds, et cetera. And, you know, then he had to sleep there with just, you know, some two-by-fours between him and the bears.

that could have come back. What did the conservation officer you spoke with at the time? You said they agreed with you that this could be, you know, more dangerous and deadly in the future. But what did they tell you about what they could do? They were doing what they could do so they can set a trap. There's some hesitation, like the words you see by the RCMP officer and the conservation officer was that they were being watched like a hawk, i.e. it's very difficult. to be able to go after a bear because we've got to be absolutely sure that it was that bear, that very bear, that we're going to trap, that was the one that broke in. Now, you know, with some logic and some knowledge of bears, and they would have much more than me, but, you know, it was pretty clear to us that it was the same bears coming back, it was a saddle, and two of her almost full-grown cubs. And, of course, when they find a cache of food, they will come back. The teachers yesterday involved, you know, in this, in this attack used bear spray. Our CBC colleagues are reporting a bear banger as well. Is there a way to stay safe or when you, I mean, you live in an area that is known for bears and grizzly bears in particular. So do you, have you changed the way you behave over the years because of that reality or is it something that people become used to and maybe forget or ignore? No, I would say that toward the end of the year, as we're getting into autumn, there were more bears being bolder from just my anecdotal own personal experience in talking to people. And certainly, I stopped running because I usually go for a run in the day, and there's no way. There was a sow and a cub somewhere around, so that stopped. So as soon as there's cubs around, you know, we just don't go. out and do things very, very much. But we do assume that sticking close to home and making lots of noise, that airspray might protect us. So it's pretty terrifying if that isn't the case because... What more is there? I don't know. To let our listeners know, British Columbia banned all grizzly bear hunting in 2017, with some exceptions for First Nations. The province drafted a plan for grizzly bear management a couple of years ago in 2023. And at that time, some conservationists were in opposition to that because they were worried that it might eventually lead to the return of trophy hunting. You know, you mentioned that... There's that strike. Staffing is an issue. The number of traps you raised is a concern for you. But what would you like to see from officials there in Belakula or the provincial government to try to stem what is happening? Certainly. I'm glad that trophy hunting and grizzly bear hunting is illegal now. But, you know, what I do know again, anecdotally is that people are terrified to if a bear is coming too close and so on. even hitting, like shooting the bear with rubber bullets would be something that someone would be terrified now of doing because they could, we had a very hefty fine for that. So, and I'm not saying that the answer is to let them do that, but I think there really needs to be some discussion because, again, I think it's a matter of time before someone loses their life with what's going on.

It might not be this year, it might be next year, whatever. But the bears are really bold and apparently pretty desperate. And I think most people in the valley really respect bears, but when it comes to a human life, then we need to make sure that people are able to protect themselves, taking precautions. Tennis, I appreciate this. Thank you. Thank you very much. Tannis Monroe lives in Belakula Valley in British Columbia. We reached her in Toronto earlier today. This is old by old and young with joys of the men that were done for the John. Boy, ah, pretty girls don't fit. This is the song Johnson Boy by the Grant Brothers, recorded in 1928. Only a handful of physical copies on vinyl have survived into the 21st century. And the man who saved that song from oblivion and thousands of songs like it was the legendary record collector Joe Bassard. He passed away a few years ago. But for most of his 86 years on the planet, he hunted for old records, traveling back roads and knocking on doors, eventually building a collection of tens of thousands of recordings, mostly blues, bluegrass, and Prohibition-era jazz. And now anyone in the world with an internet connection can dig through that collection. The nonprofit music preservation organization Dust to Digital has partnered with the University of California Santa Barbara Library to make its entire archive, including the... Joe Bassard Collection, accessible to all online. Lance Ledbetter is the co-founder and co-director of Dust to Digital. We reached him in Atlanta, Georgia. So Lance, knowing now that all that work has paid off, these songs are available to anyone has a Wi-Fi connection. But it used to be that the only way was to be invited into Joe's basement in Maryland. You had that kind of imitation. You made that trip. When you close your eyes and think back to being in that basement, what comes to mind? I just remember, let's see. When you walked down the stairs at Joe's house into the basement and it opened that door, it was like being teleported back in time. You smelled the old records, the old artwork, the old posters and photographs, and then all you could see as far as your eye could go down the wall was floor-to-ceiling records. I just remember Joe had a big smile on his face. And he said, what do you guys want to listen to first? And there we went. He just almost like put on a show where he would just sort of be the DJ and keep playing things for you, get you more and more excited. He would get excited.

I think he was locked in on showing us things that he had come across listening, like, hey, you can hear the engineer at the end of this record. And you can hear the artist. He says a bad word after he makes a bad note at the end of this record. And, you know, he liked to sort of surprise you with things he had sort of noticed in his records. But then... As he played more and more, I think he got more and more the rare records out. And so these were records you had to, like you said, you had to be in this basement to get to hear them. Some of them were the only known copies. I want to play one of those songs, those rare songs for our listeners. This one is from 1927. It's called Original Stackley Blues by the Down Home Boys. Well, he bullies to Chicago Town with her tinsentucket night. And it's called Snigley. This is one of those songs. The only known copy of that song in existence is that one. And I think a lot of people, we just assume now that there are archives and backup copies, master recordings out there. How often is it the case that there are songs and records like that one that without collectors like Joe would be lost forever? More than you would think. Back in that era, like you said, that was made in the 1920s. The record industry was not even called the record industry. It was just they were trying to sell Victrola. And so it was more of a tangential industry within the furniture industry. And so their goal was to try to make records that people would come in, they'd buy the Victrola, and they could take some records home and listen to them. Even today, I would say less than 5% of the music from the 20s and 30s. the original master recordings still exist. They were discarded, thrown away. And so, you know, somebody like Joe Bassard goes out in the 1950s and early 60s and saves this music. And at the time, I think he was just excited to get to hear these songs. He didn't realize that he was actually getting, like you said, some of the only known copies that we have. And if, like that track you just played, It's never turned up, except the one that Joe found. What did he think about newer music? Um, he did not mince his words. He, uh, he, uh, I think he called rock and roll the cancer of music. Oh, come on, Joe. I know. I think he was always, he always felt like, you know, he, he would go, I remember he would tell me, uh, if you went to the gas station. And it, I think it drove him insane when the, the, um, the speakers at the pump, the gas pumps would play rock and roll and he'd say it, it's a barrage. I can't escape it. But, um,

Now, he had the very specific beliefs on when he thought certain genres ended, like country music. He felt like when Hank William Sr. passed away. That was the end of country. He thought drums did not belong in country. I mean, he... Just very opinionated. Specific. I didn't agree with a lot of those statements. But at the same time, you know, everyone's entitled to their perspective. You could debate him, I'm sure, as you're listening. I never tried that. Yeah, you never tried debating him. He wanted the invitation to the basement. That's right. That's right. You know, I let Joe get it off his chest. And then I say, well, let's hear another record, you know. And what do you think, given that side of his personality, what do you think he would think about this collection being available to everyone and available online so they can listen, whether it's in their basement or wherever? Yeah. You know, when we put this, this idea to him, it was in 2011, and it was all laid out. Like, you know, he knew what he was signed up for. We were, our foundation, the Dusted Digital Foundation was going to digitize his collection so that people could hear it on an online database. And he knew that. And I think, you know, it took us a lot longer than we had hoped. And sadly, Joe passed away in 2022. So he never was able to see this part of the project where people are getting to hear it. And, you know, I wonder. You know, I wonder if, you know, I think Joe, like his main objective, I believe, through his radio shows, and he'd make cassette tapes for people, send them through the mail. He wanted this music to be shared. And so I believe the fact now that anyone can hear it, I think he would be really happy about that. Lance, it's been a pleasure. I'm so glad we could speak. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate the invitation. And thanks for your interest in this project. Lance Ledbetter is the co-founder and co-director of Dust to Digital. We reached him in Atlanta, Georgia.

In the movies, there's only one guy in Gotham City who wears a molded rubber suit with tall, pointy ears and his own logo on the chest. And yet repeatedly, criminals are like, I'm sorry, and you are? What are you? I'm Batman. You're... You are? Yeah. I'm Batman. The hell are you supposed to be? I'm vengeance. Now, the Batman effect sounds like the name of a phenomenon where you start talking like that. Or where the barista asks your name and you say, I am vengeance. When they put your pumpkin spice latte on the counter, it says Benji. But that is not what it is. The Batman effect is when people become kinder and more altruistic in the presence of Batman. Don't ask me what I'm talking about. I didn't do it. Psychologists from the Universita Catholic de Sacroquare in Milan did it. And here's exactly what they did. They sent a woman who appeared pregnant onto the Milan subway, and they monitored how many people offered her their seats. Then they sent the pregnant woman onto the subway again. But this time, Batman, probably just someone dressed as Batman, entered the same subway car through a different door. When Batman was not on the car, 37% of people offered the woman their seats. When Batman was there, 67% of passengers gave up their seats. The researchers say this suggests that unexpected events cause people to be more pro-social, that the surprise makes them reassess their surroundings. It might suggest that, but I suggest that it suggests that people are respectful of Batman because he is vengeance. Try sending someone dressed as Garfield on the train next time. He's not vengeance unless you have lasagna. Where was I? Right. No one gives up their seat because of a surprising Garfield. In conclusion, science can be confusing.

We are going to take a short break now. When we return, Ukraine's foreign affairs chair tells us the only way to fix the current peace plan is to delete most of it. He says he's wondering if the timing has more to do with Donald Trump's interest in a Nobel Peace Prize than it does with the actual possibility of peace. And Jarbonara. Italy's agriculture minister demands an immediate investigation to the presence of a grotesque parody of Carbonara sauce in a jar at a store within the European Parliament, which reminded us of another Carbonara-related kerfuffle. Stay tuned. I'm Chris Howden. And I'm Neil Kirksel. Still waiting in line? Again? That's time you'll never get back. Save time and money with Stamps.com. Over four million businesses have skipped the line with Stamps.com. Join them to save up to 90% off carrier rates from your computer or phone right now. Print postage for certified mail, registered mail, and packages in seconds. Then schedule a pickup right from your home or office. For a limited time, go to Stamps.com and use code podcast for a free welcome gift. Taxes and fees apply. This week on two blocks from the White House. A sudden escalation in the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada. Donald Trump is imposing 50% tariffs on many Canadian exports. We're asking, what's up with these new tariffs and what does it mean for the Canada-U.S. relationship? Join me, Willie Lowry, and my fellow Washington correspondence, Mike Crawley and Katie Simpson as we break down U.S. politics from a Canadian perspective. Find and follow two blocks from the White House wherever you get your podcasts.

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse have gotten used to waiting. For years, the extremely well-connected financier dodged prosecution for abusing and trafficking girls, some as young as 14. Now, six years after his death in prison, dozens of women are waiting for the release of the so-called Epstein files. This week, President Trump approved a bill that orders those files be made public, but the Justice Department still has 30 days to make that happen. There are concerns that the department could withhold files that it determines are related to acts. active criminal investigations or that invade personal privacy. Jess Michaels was sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein in 1991. We reached her in the eastern part of the United States. She didn't feel safe disclosing her location. Jess, I wonder how you are handling this latest waiting game, again, to be so close to these files being released, but they still haven't been. So how are you dealing with that? I wanted to make sure everybody understands that, though this is a waiting game, in this moment, we're celebrating the win. Because we know that it's been not only decades, but in this last... three to four months, it's been a marathon that we have all been in and we succeeded and we got an overwhelming support. a mandate from the American people to Congress and Congress agreed and they voted with the American people. So we feel very good about that. I feel excited about it. I am exhausted. I'm exhausted. So we haven't gotten to the point of, okay, we're in our next waiting game because we already know that we're just at the bottom of the next hill. So we're taking a breath. We're trying to... absorb the win and just get ready for, you know, bracing for what's next. Does it feel that you're all being seen and seen in a way and heard in a way that you had not been before? Definitely. When you are standing in the house gallery in that mezzanine area and the votes come in to the house, 427 to 1, and they all stand up and look up to us and start cheering and clapping and the heartfelt support that we could see in their eyes, that is a unique experience for us. It sadly should never have happened. We shouldn't have had to be there. This shouldn't have gotten this. I shouldn't need an act of Congress to deal with. This is very, very nonpartisan issue of accountability and justice for sex trafficking.

Yeah, I was going to ask you about that fact that it did take an act of Congress, that it did take you and other survivors and Republicans pushing and pushing to get the U.S. president to reverse his position on this. As you celebrate this win, do you allow yourself a moment to wrestle with that reality as well? That that is what it took. Yes, because we're forced to you. You know, I did have a moment. Everybody's been asking how I'm feeling. And I, you know, I've said elated. But I also went through some pretty serious feelings of rage and sadness that we've had to work this hard. But I feel like it is a... a hardening and a reckoning for what we know is going to be coming next because we've seen this playbook before. We know that there's going to be distractions. We know that there's going to be delays. The difference is we're not going into this next phase alone. We're going with Congress and we're going with the American people. One of the things Marjorie Taylor Greene said at the press conference was that it was unprecedented, the volume of calls and emails they had gotten from the American people. Unprecedented. And so we're We're apprehensive about what comes next and we know we're not alone. What ultimately might these files shed light on or answer? What can they do when they are released? That's a great question. And every survivor has their different answers. Answers I hadn't even heard, you know, until the press conference where I heard, you know, some of the girls are, they've gone through such tremendous trauma. They're like, I just want help remembering what I went through, you know, because there's parts of it that are just blocked from my own traumatized brain. And that's... a sad and beautiful step in healing. So it could be it could be healing that we get from the release of the files. It's ultimately Two things, that the people involved will be prosecuted and that we never let something like this ever happen again. So that what we learn from these files is how it all happened and how to never let it happen again. But there's something that's really important for, I hope that people will take out of this and start to understand. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were not unique in their playbook. This playbook of... having young people, young vulnerable teenagers and young women go recruit other young children to be part of this ring, vulnerable, abused girls. This is the playbook of every single sex trafficking ring in the world. So the only thing unique about it is that the buyers were elite men.

There is concern being raised by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, as you've likely seen. He's saying he's worried that Donald Trump is perhaps opening new investigations intentionally to perhaps provide cover for some of the documents that may not be released so that you may get incomplete documents or, you know, large parts, large swaths redacted by the Justice Department. Is that a concern for you at this stage? It is. I think we're bracing for any number of delays and distractions because this is. this administration's playbook. And let's be fair, this has actually been going on for five administrations. This is something that has plagued all of them. But you know what? Now it's in Donald Trump's lap and this DOJ's lap. And they have to do the right thing by the American people. So though I agree with that concern, I've also talked to many attorneys that are third party attorneys. They're not with the government. They are not with any specific survivor. And they have told me they have teams waiting to be combing through these files. And you have to remember, there are survivor victim statements that were put together by attorneys. So attorneys know. The attorneys for the survivors know a lot. There are people that have combed through these files for a long time, long before this administration ever took over in January. So we know. that there are people that know what are in the files. And when things are amiss, I think we're going to see whistleblowers. We're going to see leaked information. We're going to see people advocating for us in spaces that we're not in. And will you see prosecutions? Is that the goal as well? It is one of the goals, yes. Well, Jess, I appreciate this. I know it's not easy. to keep telling your story over and over again and to keep fighting. But I appreciate it. And I think our listeners will as well. Thank you. Thank you so much for being willing to listen. Jess Michaels was sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein. We reached her in the eastern U.S.

Volodymyr Zelensky is caught between Iraq and a hard place. In an address to the nation today, the Ukrainian president said his country faces a tough choice, lose its dignity or risk losing a key partner, the United States. He said that in the wake of a peace proposal drafted by the Trump administration and Russia, one that reportedly demands major concessions from Ukraine. Olexandra Moreshko is the chair of Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee. We reached him in Kiev. Alexander Marischko, when the Ukrainian president says this is a choice between losing dignity or risk losing a key partner, what choice do you think your country should make? Well, I'm absolutely sure that it's no coincidence that president used this phrase today because today's anniversary of the revolution of dignity. And to me and to president, to Ukrainian people, the answer is absolutely clear and even obvious. We choose dignity. even if you have to lose our close partner. You've seen the details of this 28-point plan, as I understand it. Little was known when we were talking about this yesterday with our other guests. We have heard that it contains concessions for Ukraine, including big ones, giving up territory, seeding territory to Russia. How are people there reacting to hearing that? Well, we still can't believe that this is a serious plan because it's totally absurd not only to politicians, to members of parliament, but also to any Ukrainian citizen. It's absolutely clear that it's non-starter. And the only sort of real or normal item on the whole plan is the first one. This is about information of Ukraine sovereignty. And I would leave only this first item and I would delete all the others. Given what you're saying, given that you feel your country would choose dignity, and that President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with American officials, including Vice President JD Vance, about the plan today, do you see any path forward for what is on the table right now? No, I don't see. I don't believe that this plan is workable, that it's realistic. I just believe that our president is trying to be polite, trying to be respectful with regard to President Trump. He's trying to be also diplomatical and political. And I understand that he's in favor of starting negotiations, but everyone understands that this text is absolutely unacceptable for us. You've also said before our listeners heard a clip from you yesterday, you know, that this is almost exactly like what you've seen before. Why do you think this is being presented now in this way? Well, it's hard to say there can be different sort of versions or hypothesis with this regard. One of them actually might be that the deadline for nomination for Nobel Prize is the end of January. Maybe President Trump is in a hurry. He's trying to produce a tangible result to deserve nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and Nobel Peace Prize. Who knows? I don't know.

is our truly weapon against Russia. And of course, Russia Vladimir Putin is trying to undermine unity within the country. Of course, in Ukrainian society, there can be different views again. It's natural for democracy. But at the same time, firm majority, decisive majority of Ukrainian people, they understand what it's all about. And despite being tired for almost four years of brutal war against Ukraine, we understand that we have no right to succumb to pessimism or deftism that we should continue fighting because our lives, our future, our future of our children depends on our struggle. So we have no choice. You know, we will continue to fight no matter what. Alexander Marechko, I appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Alexander Mureshko is the chair of Ukraine's Foreign Policy Parliamentary Committee. We reached him in Kiev.

The European Parliament is a place where Europe's leaders gather in pursuit of unity and diplomacy. But a recent development could put the 60-plus year-long peace project in jeopardy. In a store on European Parliament grounds, there appeared jars of a pale, creamy sauce. It was labeled Carbonara. But Italy, which calls on the European Union for help in protecting its sacred culinary traditions, is adamant that... It is not Carbonara at all. For one thing, one crucial thing, it uses smoked pancetta and not Guantale. This substitution is so subpar that Italy's agriculture minister, Francesco Lelobrigida, has called for a quote-unquote immediate investigation. That diplomatic nightmare brought to mind another similarly saucy scandal when U.S. food manufacturer Heinz rolled out Carbonara in a can. Renowned Italian chef Alessandro Pipero, also known as the Carbonara King, found that whole idea uncanny. My opinion is, I do not say, I have not problem with Ains. Maybe I have a problem with people that buy the Carbonara from Ains and say good, and they buy again. And why do you have a problem with that? No, because in Italy the carbonara is completely different. We cook pasta very hot in eight minutes, al dente, and we dress with special fresh eggs, and then on the top we put the crispy pork, the black pepper and the fresh Roman pecorino cheese. This is completely different. The pasta there is not al dente, the eggs is not fresh, and maybe there is not pecorino. It's completely different. Maybe it's not to call Carbonara, maybe. So when you heard that Heinz made this Carbonara in a can, how did you feel? I think that they are genius. Okay. Genius. Because if they invented the bag of Carbonara to eat and they sell a lot of bags, they are genius. Not idiot. Okay. So you think they're genius, but they're making your famous dish and putting in it... Yes, I'm a Roman man and I love the real Carbonara. But I'm not the stupid man. I love the industries, the industries about food that make money and make, I don't know, to say, advertisement about the food. Maybe I will never buy the bag of carbonara from mines. But... Because I don't like, because I like the real Carbonara, like in my place to do every day. But Heinz is industrious, is genius, it's business. Why not? What is most important for people, Alessandro, to understand about the classic carbonara? Okay, I believe that... In Italy, the people that are born in Italy and live in Italy is completely different. The people from another place is not Italy. Because in Italy, there is very real tradition about food, traditional about flour, ingredients, and they love food, like to love the life and, I don't know what to say. It's very important. What do you remember about the first time you ever had it, maybe as a boy?

I said, Mama, I want another one. Was it your favorite? Yes, I have two dish that I love in my life. One is the carbonara, and the second one is a spaghetti al dente with the garlic and clams. Ah, Alvongale. Le Vongole, yes. Your English is better than my... Your Italian is better than my English. That's a first for me, Alessandro. Grazie. Thank you. If someone gave you a bowl of carbonara from Heinz out of a can, what would you do? I don't know. Because maybe the Heinz Carbonara in Italy, the cell is not good, but in the world it was good. Would you eat it? No, never. But maybe I will buy just to check, not to eat, to check. I see. To find out what their secrets are. I prefer Coca-Cola in the bag, not carbonara. You agree with me. Oh, I'm not endorsing any product. Yes. Alessandra, good to talk to you. Thank you. From our archives, that was Italian chef Alessandro Pipero talking to guest host Tom Harrington last August.

There have been beatings, a torched mosque, even assaults on their own security forces. In the past weeks, groups of Israeli settlers have rampaged with impunity through villages in parts of the occupied West Bank. After burning down the mosque, settlers left a warning in graffiti to army commanders reading, quote, we are not afraid, we will come back, unquote. As the violence has escalated, even traditionally pro-settler elements of Benjamin Netanyahu's government have tried to contain it, blaming small groups of extremists. And last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself convened an emergency meeting to address the situation. Nimrod Schaffer is a former chief of staff for the Israeli Air Force and currently a candidate for the left-wing party, the Democrats. We reached him in Nataf, Israel. Nimrod, what do you think is behind this recent serious escalation in Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank? I think the settlers getting a real backup from the Israeli government, which was never the case. I mean backup for being very violent against Palestinians in the West Bank. And I think that we can see that this backup starts holding place in the settler's mind, meaning they know that. they would hardly be punished by anybody, you know, by the Israeli military, the IDF or the Israeli police. So what they understand from that is that they can do whatever they want to without being charged by the Israeli... system, judicial system. So I think what happens there is that the reaction of the political system in Israel first, the political, the Israeli government first to the declaration of the United States president, the American president, that there will be no annexation. I believe they try to get the area to be more and more and more active, which is... As everybody understands, can be very, very risky. If you ask me what the reason might be, I think this is the most reasonable reason that I can see. And from where you sit, your experience and what you would like to see happen, what should, in your view, the current government be doing to try to quell that violence, to stop it? It's a very good question, but I don't think the current government wants to stop it. So the whole analysis begins with what would be the government's goals in the West Bank. And the current Israeli government, I'm not sure, wants to see the situation getting cooler and cooler. Probably the opposite. So if the situation in their minds is okay, And the trend of getting warmer and warmer is okay with them. I don't think they will do anything. But the right Israeli government should apply all means they have to calm down the situation and stop the violence. In recent days, current and former...

members of the government or the military have been speaking out and saying, you know, things have gone too far in the occupied West Bank. What does that suggest to you? That public, you know, people speaking out publicly, that they're concerned, people at high levels, and then that meeting we were, that meeting that our listeners heard about, does that suggest to you that the will, that that will is now there? I think that the low-level officers or the medium-level officers really understand the situation in the West Bank and wants to stop it and to calm down the situation. But those are the medium-level officers like colonels in the IDF. We heard that they called upon the chief of staff and told him we have to stop it by all means. I'm not sure that the higher levels in the IDF are definitely not the political action on the government share this direction or share these thoughts with the IDF officers. I would say basically it's a lack of will from the government side, probably even more than it, even to the other side, trying to promote violence, if I could say that, which I think play to there, to the right extremist. vision about the West Bank. In addition to the settler violence we've been talking about, Israeli forces just overnight, as you may have seen, killed two Palestinian teenagers. Reuters in its reporting says it has counted six minors, all under the age of 18, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces so far this month. Police quoted by Reuters. you know, describe them as, quote, hostile elements seeking to harm security forces and provoke violent disorder, unquote. You're a former Air Force chief within the IDF. What do you blame? Who do you blame for what is unfolding? So I don't know about specific incidents, but as long as we don't try to go to us. some kinds or even more than one political agreement and try to use diplomacy to stop the violence. Applying only force will never cause stable situation. It's not enough. And when I look at our government currently and looking at them during the last two years, I don't see they are pushing to diplomatic solutions. If you ask me who is to blame, I claim responsibility, first of all, from my government, also from the other sides, but before anything else from my own government. Nimrod, I very much appreciate your time. Thank you for this. Thank you, Emil. Nimrod Schaffer is a former chief of staff with the Israeli Air Force and currently a candidate for the left-wing Democrats Party. We reached him in Nataf, Israel.

In March, 5,000 dead goldfish appeared on the banks of a pond in Ottawa's Celebration Park. Nine months later, hundreds more, possibly a thousand, have popped up, according to the city, and this time they are alive. A goldfish may not seem intimidating or scary, but they are feckoned. Prolific procreators that can fill a body of water with little swimmers exceptionally quickly. So before this invasion of goldfish gets out of hand, the city of Ottawa plans to step in. Stephen Cook is a fish expert in the biology department. at Carlton University. We reached him in Ottawa. Professor, the city of Ottawa tells our CBC news colleagues that right now in this pond, there's anywhere between 500 and 1,000 living goldfish. Your expertise might suggest that there are more in there. How many? Yeah, it's impossible to know how many. You can't just stand on the bank and, you know, gaze down over the water and say there's 500 or 1,000 goldfish. The reality is these animals... produced lots and lots of babies. So maybe there's 500 or 1,000 adults, but I'm going to guess there's tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of babies. Oh, my. And how did they get there in the first place? So somebody decided that their goldfish was perhaps a little bit too big for the bowl. It wasn't one person who was probably multiple people. So, you know, doing what they believe is the right thing, releasing an animal into the wild. But goldfish are domesticated animals, just like we don't want domesticated cats running around in the forest, eating birds. We don't want goldfish in our aquatic ecosystems. What happens if they were to continue to multiply? And they will continue to multiply. It's what goldfish are really good at. So first of all, they become such a huge part of the biomass. They tend to smother and outcompete other things that are in small water bodies, which is the case here. We're talking about a stormwater pond in an urban environment. They also like to root around in the bottom. And when they do that, they mobilize the sediment. And they basically make the water muddy. And so that reduces the clarity. That makes it more difficult for the sunlight to penetrate. The sunlight is needed to fuel the growth of plants. Plants produce oxygen. And so you end up with a muddy soup without vegetation, with low oxygen, and it's a perfect place for goldfish and nothing else. And the city, though, is blaming the cold weather and the lack of oxygen for killing the 5,000 goldfish that were found washed up. I mean, it's such a horrific sight to imagine, even when we're talking about little goldfish. But clearly some managed to survive and repopulate the pond, as we've said. So how were they able to survive? So exactly why those fish died in the spring. It's hard to say. Sometimes we have harsh winters that kill fish. But goldfish are really robust. So it's equally possible that it was a disease outbreak where you have lots of fish of the same species in the same area, or it could have been something like a pulse of road salt, which happens in the spring during runoff. So the exact mechanism that killed them, you know, uncertain, and that may or may not happen this year.

So there's need to think about ongoing control. How do we either reduce the population or ideally try to eradicate them? So if the city's plan goes as they intend, they want to catch them in nets and then euthanize them, do you think that will be effective? They will certainly catch goldfish, and for every goldfish you remove, you're theoretically decreasing the population. But these are animals that they produce lots of babies. They do it fairly quickly. They mature quite early, so they don't have to live long to be able to start pumping out offspring. So yes, the city will certainly catch more, but there'll be plenty that they miss because fish are cryptic, fish are good at hiding and evading nets. and they will reproduce again next year. So sadly, this cycle will have to repeat to try and keep the population down. There are other things one can do. Probably the most effective approach is to use a piscocide, which is a pesticide that targets fish. The only problem is that it targets all fish, not just goldfish. So if they were to use a piscocide, it would essentially make the pond entirely lifeless. That is something that might make sense to do, but because that involves using a chemical in an urban area around waters where kids might frolic, there's conversations that you need to have with the community to make sure everybody understands what's involved and why it's necessary. And so those Piscocytes might not be the best, might not be a realistic solution at this stage, it sounds like. It's a tough one, right? It's a lose-lose. You know, you either have to keep throwing money at it each year going down and netting, trying to keep the population down, or you go at it hard with the chemicals, trying to literally wipe them all out. So there's not a single male or female left. But really, what it does is it reminds all of us that prevention is where it's at. So if we prevent these introductions in the first place, it saves us. money. It saves us tax dollars that need to be devoted to this kind of thing. It protects our aquatic ecosystems. It's good for biodiversity. So, you know, when you have a goldfish or a piranha or a beta, whatever fish and you're wondering if, you know, maybe it's not grown its bowl, it's time to get rid of it, you need to rehome it. So that doesn't mean releasing into the nature. It means, you know, going back to the pet store, maybe getting on Facebook marketplace. Will they take back the fish? Some will, some won't. It really, really depends. It is remarkable that they're lasting that long in the first place. I mean, I think we've all in our childhoods had one or two goldfish. I know them to be fragile, but maybe we just didn't take care of them. Well, is that our fault? Yeah, yeah. I usually don't think of goldfish as being too fragile. That's why they actually make an ideal pet for kids. Yeah, at the end of the day, it's about making sure that our, you know, this is Canada. We have incredible freshwater resources, and we want them to look like they did, you know, several hundred years ago. And that takes work, that takes effort. It requires all of us to step up.

And this is a simple thing we can do. We can make sure that goldfish, which are not native to North America, don't end up in our freshwater systems. That's good for everybody. I should say it is illegal to release goldfish into the wild, but I don't think the enforcement officers are walking around slapping handcuffs on folks for doing that very often. I imagine it happens pretty cryptically. Professor, I appreciate this. Thank you. Thank you. Stephen Cook is a professor of biology at Carlton University. He's in Ottawa. You've been listening to the As It Happens podcast. Our show can be heard Monday to Friday on CBC Radio 1 after your world tonight. And you can, of course, also listen to our show online at cbc.ca.a slash AIH or on the CBC Listen app or of course wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Neil Keogsel. And I'm Chris Howden.

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