Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at background briefing. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news. We'll begin with the flow of alarming revelations emerging from research going on about who Trump's pick for vice-president is.

Although J.D. Vance was recommended by Don Jr., his real champion who convinced Trump was Peter Thiel,

who, along with Vance, consider Curtis Yavin, the techno-authoritarian

who believes unproductive people should be converted into biodiesel to power municipal buses,

their House political philosopher.

Joining us to discuss Vance's ties to the Prince of Dark Money, Leonard Leo, is Andy Kroll,

a reporter for ProPublica covering voting elections and other democracy issues. He was previously the Washington Bureau Chief

for Rolling Stone and a senior reporter at Mother Jones, where his work on self-dealing

during the Trump administration sparked multiple congressional investigations.

He's the author of A Death on W Street, the murder of Seth Rich and The Age of Conspiracy.

And we will discuss his latest article at ProPublica.

In private speech, J.D. Vance said, the devil is real and praised Alex Jones as a truth teller. Then we'll look into Kentucky

Governor Andy Bashir as a possible running mate for Kamala Harris and speak with Dewey Clayton,

Professor Political Science at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, and an expert on American

politics and U.S. social movements. We will discuss Bashir's popularity with Republicans in his red state,

and how that might translate nationally as votes for Harris from Republicans disenchanted with Trump.

Then finally we'll assess today's White House meeting between Netanyahu and President Biden and Vice President Harris,

followed by his meeting tomorrow with Trump and speak with Stephen Simon, who served on

the National Security Council staff as senior director for Middle Eastern and North African

Affairs from 2011 to 2012. He also worked on the NSC staff from 1994 to 1999 on counterterrorism and Middle East

security policy. He's currently a fellow in international affairs at the Massachusetts Institute

...