Niles Edward Francis, contributor to election forecasting site, Decision Desk HQ, and an 18 year old from Georgia, join’s MSNBC’s Craig Melvin to talk about how he got involved in politics and election forecasting at such a young age, what needs to be done to engage young voters this November, and how serious of a chance Democrats have at winning in Georgia. Aired on 9/16/2020.
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About Craig Melvin: Craig Melvin is an MSNBC Anchor and NBC News Correspondent. He currently anchors “MSNBC Live” on Saturdays and Sundays, contributes reports for “TODAY,” and fills in as host for Lester Holt on “Weekend TODAY.”
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18 Year Old Election Forecaster On The Need To Engage Young Voters | Craig Melvin | MSNBC
In his book Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie tells the inside story of the data mining and psychological manipulation behind the election of Trump, the Brexit referendum, and the connecting to Facebook, WikiLeaks, Russian intelligence, and international hackers.
Mindfk goes inside Cambridge Analytica’s “American operations,” which were driven by Steve Bannon’s vision to remake America and fueled by ghoulish billionaire Robert Mercer’s money, as it weaponized and wielded the massive store of data it had harvested on individuals—in excess of 200 million—to disunite the US and set Americans against each other. Bannon had long sensed that deep within America’s soul lurked an explosive tension. Cambridge Analytica had the data to prove it, and in 2016 Bannon had a presidential campaign to use as his proving ground.
Christopher Wylie was only twenty-four when he got a job with a London firm that worked with the U.K. Ministry of Defense and was charged with helping to build a team of data scientists to create new tools to identify and combat radical extremism online. In short order, those same military tools were turned to political purposes, and Cambridge Analytica was born.
Wylie’s decision to become a whistleblower prompted the largest data-crime investigation in history. It has not only laid bare the profound vulnerabilities—and profound carelessness—in the enormous companies that drive the attention economy, it has also exposed the profound vulnerabilities of democracy itself. What happened in 2016 was just a trial run. Ruthless actors are coming for your data, and they want to control what you think.
At 24, he came up with an idea that led to the foundation of the company Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics firm that went on to claim a major role in the Leave campaign for Britain’s EU membership referendum, and later became a key figure in digital operations during Trump’s election campaign.
In 2014, Steve Bannon – then executive chairman of the network Breitbart, was Wylie’s boss. And Robert Mercer, the secretive US hedge-fund billionaire and Republican donor, was Cambridge Analytica’s investor. And the idea they bought into was to bring big data and social media to an established military methodology – “information operations” – then turn it on the US electorate.
By that time, Bannon had become Trump’s chief strategist. Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL, had won contracts with the US State Dept and was pitching to the Pentagon, and Wylie was genuinely freaked out. “It’s insane,” Wylie said. “The company has created psychological profiles of 230 million Americans. And now they want to work with the Pentagon? It’s like Nixon on steroids.
Cambridge reached out to WikiLeaks to help distribute Clinton’s stolen emails in 2016. Wylie offers a unique, worm’s-eye view of the events of 2016. Of how Facebook was hijacked, repurposed to become a theatre of war: how it became a launchpad for an extraordinary attack on the US’s democratic process.
Russia, Facebook, Trump, Mercer, Bannon, Brexit. Every one of these threads runs through Cambridge Analytica. Paul-Olivier Dehaye – a data expert and academic based in Switzerland, who published some of the first research into Cambridge Analytica’s processes – says it’s become increasingly apparent that Facebook is “abusive by design.”
Millions of people’s personal information was stolen and used to target them in ways they wouldn’t have seen, and couldn’t have known about, by a mercenary outfit, Cambridge Analytica, who, Wylie says “will work for anyone”. Who would pitch to Russian oil companies, who would subvert elections abroad on behalf of foreign governments. They’re mercenaries. They’ll work for pretty much anyone who pays.
At this moment in history nothing matters anymore. Apart from getting Trump and his squatter family out of office, everything else is just noise.
David J Thank you for spreading the truth. 👍
BLM is mostly peaceful
DNC is mostly pedophilia free
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FIRST FIND A CANDIDATE WHO IS ALIVE WILL HELP…
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Smart Man
If he were smart, he would never even think about voting for a demoquak
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smart brother, great name!
Freedom and Liberty Bot we know you’re stupid and naive
@Freedom & Liberty Bot Republicans are all in at this point:
If republicans stopped acting like stupid naive brainwashed children-
they would loose all their voters
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Wow, he’s impressive!
@Elkslayer You wouldn’t know a fact if it hit ya upside your fat dumb head… Go away ya lazy ashed adult dependent….
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@Freedom & Liberty Bot again- Unless you can prove anything I have said is a lie- You are spreading FAKE NEWS….🤪
Does insulting people you disagree with make you hard….that is sick
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@Elkslayer What did you say that needed to proven fake news fool?
I wasn’t expecting that voice ❤️
Yes! I thought the same thing. Can’t imagine drilling down on election data at 16. Good for him. Clearly such a bright young man.
Tina Alicia … what voice was you expecting? “Yo, what’s zup y’all?!”
Butch Dye calm down. I was talking about the deep tone of his voice.
@Butch Dye She said his VOICE… not his accent or speech. Given his age and slight build, I was also surprised at his deep voice. Relax.
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I was not expecting his voice to be that deep
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Wow what a cool guy.
He’s a legend see you in 10 year’s young fella.
This guy is gonna go far.
Hope he don’t get killed by the Nazi’s
Pam Deshane gee you trolls don’t give up, do you
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@S. H. : Highs Boson! Upper cut- KAPOW! Too good 🙂
@S. H. Meant too cool. My bad.
Great kid, makes me (slightly) more hopeful for the youth + our future.
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“I’m a very Stable genius : Herd Mentality, man, woman, camera, T.V & Me & covFeFe & MAGA, MAGA.” DJtRump quote
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– Can’t fight against the youth!
first time voter, VOTING REPUBLICAN, as well as all my friends. we will NEVER bow down to the democratic party of HATRED.
Awesome, Niles. You can finally vote. Good for you! I’m 69 years old and I thank you for taking on our democracy in peril. It’s time for y’all to take the mantle. Get out there and get them to vote. I pass the torch, an old baby boomer, to people like you. TY.
Young people have been so very impressive in our communities for a while! Thanks for listening to them! 🙏🏿
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Awesome
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I’ve followed Niles on twitter for about year. It’s so cool seeing him on here, he definitely knows what he’s talking about
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I would love to hear more from Niles, and I hope he considers Craig Melvin’s mention of an internship when the time is right.
Yess I love seeing youth get involved in politics! 👏🏿 Y’all need to listen to their perspective more 🗳
first time voter, VOTING REPUBLICAN, as well as all my friends. we will NEVER bow down to the democratic party of HATRED.
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I am also from Georgia, very smart, intuitive young man! You have a great life ahead of you keep on keeping on😊😊‼️‼️
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He’s an “election forecaster”, yet he just became voting age this year? 😆😂🤣
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The new OBAMA kneel snowflake at his wisdom
Lol utilize the ‘ weak!’
Please please our citizenry of sane mind; on November 3rd, 2020 legally vote to preserve our democracy. The alternative is dictatorship.
Vote Biden-Harris for a sane and democratic future.