Latest / The Breakfast Club / Trump Faces Backlash Over Attacks on Abdul El-Sayed, Microsoft Offers Buyouts, and Jay-Z Will Headline the Super Bowl

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Trump Faces Backlash Over Attacks on Abdul El-Sayed, Microsoft Offers Buyouts, and Jay-Z Will Headline the Super Bowl · The Breakfast Club

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: President Trump is facing backlash over what he said about
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: a Muslim candidate running for the U.S.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Senate.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: And one comment in particular is raising eyebrows.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: He would be the only senator that will have to
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: go through a metal detector.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: And Microsoft is offering thousands of employees money to walk
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: away from their jobs while the company pours billions into
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: artificial intelligence. And Jay-Z is getting ready to take the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Super Bowl stage. But there's a reason this halftime show
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: is years in the making. It's Wednesday, October 28th. From
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: the Black Effect Podcast Network, I'm Mimi Brown. This is
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Front Page, and here are the day's biggest stories. Stay
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: with me. At a campaign rally on Sunday, Trump called
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Democratic Senator Abdul El-Sayed a jihadist, accused him of having
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: ties to extremist groups, and even brought up the September
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: 11th terrorist attacks.
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  Speaker 3: I'm here to keep a... jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member from
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: becoming a United States senator.
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  Speaker 2: And that's the fact.
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  Speaker 3: We're not going to let that happen.
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  Speaker 1: Trump introduced the father of Todd Beamer, one of the
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: passengers who fought back against the hijackers aboard the United
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Flight 93 on 9-11. And then the president made another
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: comment about El-Sayed that is drawing criticism.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: He would be the only senator that will have to
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: go through a metal detector before he's allowed to go
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: into the Senate. I want him to have a metal detector.
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  Speaker 1: Now, El-Sayed was born in the United States to Egyptian parents.
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  Speaker 1: He's Muslim, but he denies having any connection to extremist groups,
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  Speaker 1: including the Muslim Brotherhood.
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  Speaker 2: Critics are calling Trump's remark Islamophobia.
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  Speaker 1: And that includes a former leader of Arab Americans for
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Trump who called the president's comments racist. El-Sayed is also
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: firing back.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: I don't care how he pronounces my name.
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  Speaker 1: I don't even care that he remembers my whole name
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: because he can just go on and call me senator
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: after November. El-Sayed says Trump is focusing on his name
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: and religion to distract voters from what they are paying
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: for for groceries, gas and health care. And the White
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: House is standing by the president's comments, arguing that El-Sayed's
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: policies would hurt Michigan families. El-Sayed is running against Republican
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Mike Rogers for a Senate seat currently occupied by Democrats.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: And with Election Day next week, this is one of
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: the races that could help determine which party controls the Senate.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: And Microsoft is offering about 60,000 employees money to quit
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: their job. And it's happening as the company spends billions
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: expanding its artificial intelligence business.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Here's how it works.
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  Speaker 1: Microsoft is offering certain employees what's called a voluntary buyout.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: That means if you agree to leave the company, Microsoft
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: will give you a financial package to help you make
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: that transition. That offer covers workers in the United States, Canada, India,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: and the United Kingdom. And we're talking about more than
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: one out of every four Microsoft employees worldwide. The company
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: is making this move while investing heavily in AI, including
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the massive data centers needed to run that technology. Microsoft
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: expects to spend more than $ 50 billion in just one
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: quarter on AI-related infrastructure. At the same time, it's trying
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: to control costs. Remember, Microsoft already announced 4,800 layoffs back
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: in July. Employees who qualify for the new buyout have
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: until December to decide whether to accept it. Those who
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: take the offer will leave on December 31st. Microsoft hasn't
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: said how many employees it expects to take the deal.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: And it raises a bigger question.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: As companies spend more money on artificial intelligence, what does
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: that mean for people who work there? And finally, Jay-Z
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: is going from helping choose who performs at the Super
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Bowl halftime show to taking the stage himself. The NFL
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: announced that Jay-Z will headline next year's halftime show on
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: February 14th at SoFi Stadium in Englewood, California.
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  Speaker 2: And this is something that's been years in the making.
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  Speaker 1: Since 2019, Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation, has worked with the
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: NFL to help produce the halftime show and choose its performers.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: But when that partnership first started, Jay-Z wasn't interested in
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: performing himself. Now, seven years later, he's ready. NFL Commissioner
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Roger Goodell says when they first made the deal, he
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: had just one request, that Jay-Z would eventually perform at
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: the Super Bowl himself. And the timing is especially meaningful today.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Jay-Z is celebrating 30 years since the release of his
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: debut album, Reasonable Doubt. He just wrapped up a series
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: of sold-out anniversary concerts, including shows at the very same
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: stadium where he'll perform in February. And those concerts featured
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: some of the biggest names, including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: and his daughter, Blue Ivy. Jay-Z has won 25 Grammy Awards,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: and his wife, Beyonce, has already performed twice at the
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  Speaker 1: Super Bowl. So everybody wants to know who Jay-Z is
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  Speaker 1: bringing out during halftime. I guess we'll find out on
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  Speaker 1: Super Bowl Sunday. That's your front page.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: I'm Mimi Brown.
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  Speaker 1: This podcast has been brought to you by the Black
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Effect Podcast Network.