Episode Details

5️⃣ Trump Spares Putin's Refineries as Diesel Hits $6.23

Diesel hit a record $6.23 a gallon Monday, the 10-year Treasury touched 5 percent, its highest since October 2023, and Costco began rationing motor oil. Trump posted his fix at 11:05 AM: Ukraine has agreed to stop hitting Russian refineries. The player Trump is helping most is Russia. Lev Parnas: Houthi drones took out Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline on Friday, so somebody else's oil fills the gap, and "you got two players right now that Donald Trump is very close with" — Venezuela and Vladimir Putin.

Lev Parnas says his sources tell him Trump, Putin and Xi Jinping will meet in China in November. Why would a president want oil climbing into an election — unless he is banking on a crisis so deep that only he can solve it?

4️⃣ Brennan Subpoenaed the Day diGenova Quit

Justice Department prosecutors served John Brennan with a grand jury subpoena Thursday — the day Joe diGenova quit as lead prosecutor with zero charges — Brennan's lawyer disclosed Monday. Brennan testifies October 15 in Fort Pierce, Florida. A subpoena compels testimony; it is not a charge. Lev Parnas spent three years beside diGenova and says diGenova signed the Brennan subpoena before he left (Narativ has not verified the signer), then fell out with Todd Blanche after CIA Director John Ratcliffe came back from Moscow with information and the department wanted to expand the "grand conspiracy" case into Mar-a-Lago and Jack Smith. "DiGenova was not ready for Jack Smith," Lev said. Prosecutors are flying in from Washington, Judge Aileen Cannon has the case, and the indictments, Lev said, are "the October surprise."

Anne P. Mitchell broke news mid-segment: a district court gave the DSCC, LULAC and the NAACP everything they asked for in a 24-page order, and the Postal Service is enjoined from using its mail-ballot rule through the midterms. Red states have already handed over their voter rolls voluntarily, and Florida rejected a batch of ballots before reversing. If you live in a red state, check your ballot.

3️⃣ DeSantis' Guards Caged 79 Immigrants in "Calming Areas"

Homeland Security's inspector general found immigrants held in outdoor metal cages at Ron DeSantis' Alligator Alcatraz — 4 feet 3 inches on a side. Guards put 79 detainees in them between July 2025 and January 2026, an hour on average, called them "calming areas," and hung a sign on the door: "Respect, Care and Dignity." The inspector general called the practice "unprecedented." Lev Parnas served federal time; the prison segregation unit, he said, "is maybe double the size of this or triple this."

Lev said ICE is now taking Ukrainians with paperwork off the streets of Florida, and Americans who couldn't prove citizenship sit in detention beside them. Anne P. Mitchell asked whether Putin is pressing Zelensky through the diaspora. "100 percent," Lev said. Her forecast: "I expect that inspector general to be out now."

2️⃣ Trump Calls AI Danger a Hoax "No Different From Russia"

Trump named Dario Amodei at 9:58 Monday morning — "Dario (Anthropic!)" — two days after Amodei's open letter asked the industry to slow down, Sam Altman and Elon Musk backed him, and Amodei told CBS "for too long the industry lied to people." Trump called the push for controls a "SICK conspiracy," said the only guardrail AI needs is "a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT," reminded the companies his government holds "tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power" over them, and signed off: "Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE!" The Nasdaq fell. At 1:33 PM, with the show on air, Trump posted again and Zev read it live: "AI taking over the World, destroying Humanity, and all other things bad, is a HOAX, no different from RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA." "Here he goes again," Zev said. "Russia, Russia, Russia was a true thing."

JD Vance said the CEOs begging to be regulated "feels a little bit t