WEBVTT - U.S. Special Forces extract Maduro from Caracas (Operation Absolute Resolve) 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.760 Welcome to today's podcast sponsored by Hillsdale College. All Things 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.440 hillsdalet Hillsdale dot ed or I encourage you to take 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.920 advantage of the many free online courses there, and of 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.280 course I listen to the Hillsdale Dialogue, all of them 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.560 at hue for Hillsdale dot com or just Google, Apple, 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:19.880 iTunes and Hillsdale Good morning, or ain't even greats America? 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:22.000 A good Monday to you. I'm to you at on 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:24.799 the West coast for a few weeks and what a 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:29.120 remarkable weekend. And my head is off to the American military. 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:33.440 Some were wounded in this and prayers for their quick recovery. 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:37.080 According to the government of Cuba, thirty two Cuban security 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:40.800 forces were killed in Operation Absolute Result, but we haven't 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:45.120 had that confirmed by American sources yet. But apparently a 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:49.240 couple of the special forces that entered the Maduro compound 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:53.320 to take the dictator and his spouse out and put 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.640 them into American custody, get them to Brooklyn where he 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:58.880 appeared in court earlier today. We're wounded. Our prayers for 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.680 their family. More detail on that as it occurs. First 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.560 thing I want to say is it was absolutely legal. 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.240 Now I realize we have Steelers fans, and then they 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:09.039 might even be sober yet because of the way that 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:13.240 they won yesterday. Article two, Section one, first sentence, The 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:16.120 executive power shall be vested in a President of the 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:20.520 United States. Article two, Section two, first sentence. The President 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:22.920 shall be the Commander in chief of the Army and 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.199 the Navy of the United States. You know what that means. 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:27.680 That means he runs the Department of Justice, which had 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.360 an indictment against Nicholas Maduro and his wife for many 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.840 years now. So it's a law enforcement operation wrapped inside 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.080 of a military operation that got it done, and it 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:40.360 was absolutely legal. But for the benefit of the people 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.160 who've been listening to mainstream media and a little bit 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.360 confused about can the United States do that? I could 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:48.640 take you all the way back to Jefferson ordering the 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.800 Louisiana purchase when he named they it was constitutional for 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:54.320 the Congress and he to agree to do it. But 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:57.240 let's just stay in the last fifty years. Gerald Ford 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:02.080 in the Maigias incident May twelve through fifteenth, nineteen seventy five, 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:06.120 no prior authorization from Congress for grabbing that boat. President 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:10.320 Carter ordered Operation Eagle Claw on twenty four April nineteen 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:14.040 eighty It did not succeed the famous Desert One debacle, 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.720 but he ordered it without telling Congress, President Reagan and 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.800 the Grenada Operation Urgent Fury October twenty five, nineteen eighty three. 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.919 We could talk about George H. W. Bush in Panama, 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:27.520 and I have, as many people have in December and 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.920 January nineteen eighty nine, nineteen ninety to get mister Norriega 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:33.560 out of there and into the US jail. We talk 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.959 about Bill Clinton's seventy eight day bombing campaign of Serbia 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:40.000 in March to June of nineteen ninety nine. We can 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.600 talk about President Obama bombing Libya, though he was quote 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.720 leading from behind in words attributed to him. Those air 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:51.840 strikes began on March nineteenth, twenty eleven, Operation Neptune Spear 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:55.519 May Tewond of twenty eleven to get Ben Lauden again 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.919 didn't tell anyone before we did it, and of course 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:00.560 he could do it. Some people we'll say, well that 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:05.200 at the AUFM behind it, but f and they are right. 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:08.600 But it does demonstrate we don't have to tell Congress. 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:13.480 The strikes on Solomoni and albag Dottie which the President 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:18.120 Trump mentioned from his first term in Saturday's extraordinary press conference. 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:22.600 Both of them, you don't tell Congress. It's absolutely the 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.080 use of the armed forces. It's covered by the Constitution. 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:30.800 President Biden ordering Syrian air strikes in February twenty eleven, 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:36.680 again no notification of Congress. First, the Donald Trump effect 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:40.200 Trump derangement syndrome has completely shattered the ability of the 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:44.320 American media and the Democratic Party to cover the obvious. 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.160 He's a bad guy. He's an evil guy. He ran 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:49.640 a cartel, so did his wife. He looted billions of 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:51.880 dollars from Venezuela, which we'll try and get back for 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:55.560 the Venezuelan people. Moreover, the three most important things that 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:58.720 were said in the press conference the President did on 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.040 Saturday morning, which I listen to live while I was 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:05.560 trunneling down at Huntington Beach. Number One something, Secretary Rubio said, 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:10.440 President Trump does not play games. Number Two something President 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.680 Trump also said on that day, Secretary Rubio said he 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:16.479 didn't play games. President Trump said life is a deal, 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.039 and by that he meant everything is on the table, 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:23.119 and I'm negotiating with you. I make you a couple 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.039 of offers and you don't take him, you're stuck with 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.760 the consequences. Iran learned that with Operation Midnight Hammer in 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.000 June of last year, when their nuclear weapons program was 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.040 destroyed by RB twos after the Eleven Day War begun 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:38.719 by Israel with Iran during the course of the larger 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.760 war that Israel actually had launched against it by Iran 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:46.800 and its proxies in October of twenty twenty three. But 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:52.560 I would point out all of this is absolutely with precedent. 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:56.919 It's not unprecedent. It is an unprecedented level of complexity 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.640 as far as I can tell. Listening to General Kin, 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.800 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I was astonished 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:06.440 by the number of moving pieces here, and I'm astonished 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:09.200 in State secret now. Apparently there are reports that both 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:13.080 the Washington Post and the New York Times had heads 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.360 up of the operation, but were requested by the Pentagon 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:18.559 and the President not to say anything, and they didn't 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.200 because they would have put our men and women in 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:24.040 the armed services at great risk. The element of surprise 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:29.279 was essential to grabbing the cartelista, and mister Maduro pleaded 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.839 innocent today, right, we don't believe that second thing that 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:37.680 the president said after he said life is a negotiation. 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:41.560 Life is a deal. He said on Air Force one yesterday, 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:45.640 when asked by one of our terrific reporters, what happens next, 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:49.560 he said that depends. Of course, that's the right answer. 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:54.640 You know, we don't know what the regime, which has 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:58.520 not been changed. We grabbed Maduro and his wife and 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.560 the ability to do that, to blink out Caracas at night, 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.960 and to take out their air control system and to 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.320 get special forces in and out in two and a 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.800 half hours. Sends a message to the acting president, who 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.760 is Maduro's flunky, to the Interior ministry, and their interior 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:18.640 minister is not like our Doug Bergham. He's not worried 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:22.640 about the national parks. Their interior minister is the secret police, 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.320 and there's a lot of secret police in Venezuela. I'll 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.480 talk with Dan Rundy about that later. What does he do, 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.560 What does the head of the military do. Maduro depended 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.680 upon both of them to secure power through two elections 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.640 that he lost, and so he's a corrupt dictator. When 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:40.960 the president says he took our money, he means he 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:45.239 expropriated American assets and did not pay for them. Any 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:49.320 sovereign country in the world can expropriate anything they want, 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.880 but they have to pay for them. And we've had 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.279 We've seen this many, many times since nineteen fifty nine, 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:59.839 and Fidel a lot of people expropriate assets Iran expropriated 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.320 American assets in the nineteen seventy nine Iran revolution, the 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:05.600 one that's coming undone in real time. And I'll keep 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.000 you updated throughout the course of the show as to 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:10.440 what is happening in Iran where the protests and the 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:12.960 riots have gone on. At least sixteen people have been 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.120 murdered there by the moolas the thugs over the weekend, 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:18.400 according to Reuters. I'll keep you posted on that throughout 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.400 the day. But to go back to what the President said, 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:28.360 when it depends if Venezuela is talking to Secretary Rubio 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:31.360 and Director Ratcliff, who runs a CIA, as well as 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.640 of course people in the White House. Secretary Rubio is 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.360 also the National Security Advisor, and I have former National 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:40.920 Security Advisor Robert O'Brien on later in the program, Chairman 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:43.840 of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Centator Cotton on later in 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:48.840 the program. If they are talking to American officials and saying, 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.160 here's what we're going to do. We're not going to 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:55.200 shoot dissidents. We're going to hold elections. Chevron can begin 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.640 to upgrade all the installations that are here. We're not 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:00.720 going to steal any more money, and we're not going 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.760 to kill people in the streets. And the Chavista movement, 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.360 which is twenty to thirty percent of the population, is 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.480 not going to ride and try and kill America. There 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:12.400 are twenty three thousand Americans in Venezuela right now, twenty 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:17.080 three thousand. So the word has gone forth, do not 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:21.840 threaten or injure those Americans. And I would be worried if, 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:23.840 of course I had a family member. I don't, but 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:25.600 I had a family member in one of the many 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:28.680 industries in America has in Venezuela. If I have a 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:32.240 cruise ship in Venezuela and cruise ships do call on 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:36.600 the islands of Venezuela, I would be worried, but only 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:40.520 if they're morons, because and they might be, I don't 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:42.520 know that they're not. Iran has turned out to be 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.080 full of morons. If they're morons, they will threaten an 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.199 American because you know Donald Trump won't put up with that. 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.280 The Donro doctrine is if you're kill an American, will 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:58.480 kill you. Most recently isis in Syria killed two American soldiers, 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.240 one civilian, and we kicked the living day lights out 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:05.920 of them for two days with air strikes. If they 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:09.760 threaten an American, that threat will be dealt with. That's 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:14.120 Operation Midnight Hammer. The Donroad doctrine is pretty doggone clear. 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:17.720 Do not kill or threaten American. Do not send drugs 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.280 into our country, do not send terrorists into our country. 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.400 Because we had a long arm, we got a military 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:25.439 that is second to none in the world. It's so 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:30.760 astonishing the complexity of that operation. And unlike the Biden administration, 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.240 we have the will and the ability to use the 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:37.120 military that we are blessed with. Unlike the Obama administration. 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.160 It's not all tak talk talk talk talk dot talk 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.880 talk talk talk talk talk blah blah blah blah blah. 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:46.400 It's action after an offer negotiate. Many offers were made 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:49.760 to Maduro, been widely reported. Now he turned them all down. 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:52.600 He's a billionaire who can't get it was billions. His 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:55.280 son's got a billion dollars, allegedly according to some of 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:55.880 the reports. 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:58.440 I'll cover it all with people throughout the day, beginning 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.720 with bethleing Seandark right after the that's her X handle. 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.520 It's Bethany Mandel from the Mom Wars just got back 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:07.160 from Israel. I wonder how she's reacting as an average 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:11.280 American mom who's watching this and wondering, what's it mean 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:13.600 for Israel, What's it mean for China, What's it mean 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:17.800 for Russia? What's it mean for everybody who would play 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:21.679 with the American people or their military anywhere in the 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.200 world or take our people hostages. It means Donald Trump's 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:28.280 got your number, and if he calls, answer and listen 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:30.599 very close to you what he says, because, again the 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:34.640 quote Secretary of State Rubio and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:38.120 Donald Trump doesn't play games. I'm Hugh Hewett. I'll be 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:43.560 right Backstay two. Welcome back to America. I'm Hugh Ewett. 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.000 Joined down by United States Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas. 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.560 Senator Cotton is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee as 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.720 well as of the Republican Conference. Senator Cotton, welcome, Happy 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.199 New Year to you can I start with just your 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.679 reaction to Operation Absolute Resolve. 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.000 Happy New Year to you, Hugh and all your listeners. 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:09.040 It was a very happy New Year achievement early Saturday morning, 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:17.120 an amazing operation by our military and intelligence professionals to 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:21.400 remind not just Nicholas Maduro but every bad guy around 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:25.720 the world that the long arm of American justice is long. Indeed, 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:31.480 it's hard to overstate how exceptionally well executed this operation was, 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.720 but that's really become kind of the hallmark of President 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:38.640 Trump's military operations over five years in office. If you 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.640 think about the raid to kill the ISIS leader in Syria, 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.320 to kill Iron's Paris mastermind in Iraq, to blow up 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:49.400 Iron's nuclear program last June, and now to capture Nicholas Maduro. 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.440 All were flawlessly executed and involved no loss of American life, 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:56.559 and greatly advanced to America's national interest. This actually may 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.360 be the most impressive of all when you hear how 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:02.959 General Kane described so many different elements of our joint 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:06.520 force and the fact that the capturing and exiltrating the 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:10.360 target is in some ways harder than killing one or 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.520 destroying something. So kudos to all those who are involved 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:15.760 I don't think in overstate what a great operation it was. 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:18.000 Now, Senta Cotton, you are a part of the Group 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:21.400 of eight as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, along 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:24.199 with your House counterpart, the ranking Democrat. I think it's 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:27.000 Mark Warner and the ranking Democrat in the House and 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:29.640 the leadership of both parties in the House of the Senate. 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:33.000 When did you first get notice that this had happened? 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.880 I know you weren't worn beforehand for security reasons, but 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:37.040 when did you first find out? 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.320 When missus Cotton, who's a lighter sleeper than I, began 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:46.680 elbowing me in the side on three point thirty Saturday 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:50.640 morning Central Time and saying, why is Marco Rubio calling you? 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:53.440 And I said, I don't know, but I bet it's exciting. 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:59.880 So he used to do what you are. 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:01.560 I mean, he used to be in the Group of eight. 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:04.560 He was the chairman of the Intel Committee. Do you 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:09.640 consider yourself timely and adequately notified by the executive branch 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:10.959 of what they ought to do? 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:16.040 Yes, no question you and they have kept me in 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:19.080 my committee and my other committee, the Armed Services Committee, 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:22.800 apprized of the operations we've had in the Caribbean and 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:27.920 the Eastern Pacific all along, and I think within twenty 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:33.240 four hours, gosh, you less than that, Probably within maybe 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:36.360 twelve or sixteen hours. I had spoken not just to 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:40.600 President Trump, but every man that was on stage behind 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.160 him Saturday. That's his core team, the people who are 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.320 the architects of this policy and who carried it out. 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:51.560 Marco Ribio, Pete Heexas, General Dan Kine, John Ratcliffe, Stephen Miller. 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.800 Had spoken every single one of them before Saturday night. 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:58.679 I did not get advanced notice or correct nor what 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.880 I expect to ever advanced notice about such a mission. 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:05.160 This is an operation, as we heard from the President, 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:09.320 General Kane, that was heavily dependent on contingent factors like 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:14.280 light and weather conditions in Venezuela and precise knowledge of 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:18.760 Maduro's whereabouts at any given moment. That's not the kind 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.880 of thing that you expect advanced notice to Congress for, 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.120 nor for that matter, do expect advanced notice every time 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:30.040 the executive carries out and arrest of a drug trafficker, 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.880 whether it's in Venezuela or in Arkansas. Again, just in 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.520 the ordinary course of affairs, that's not the kind of 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.520 thing that the Executive branch calls up to the legislature 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:41.280 and gives a notice. 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:45.040 Of now, Sarah Cotton, the President's setting Saturday morning press conference. 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.840 Congress leaks, and we know by that that sometimes political 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.000 actors leak. But I also thought the Chinese and the 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:55.800 Iranians are heavily invested in Venezuela. They probably try and 0:14:55.920 --> 0:15:00.720 monitor our electronic activity and our signals intelligence. I don't 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.240 I think that there's even a risk of leaking by 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:05.240 people who don't intend to leak. If they just say 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:08.320 the wrong thing and the wrong cell phone, is that 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:09.360 part of the issue. 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:13.840 It could be hugh. And you don't even necessarily have 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:15.360 to know what people are saying all of a sudden. 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.160 If there's a flurry of activity of you know, calls 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:20.760 going out to certain key congressional leaders, you can probably 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:23.840 figure out that something must be up if you've had 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:25.640 access to that knowledge. I don't want to confirm or 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.240 deny any such access, but I think it's the best 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.600 when you we've invested as much time and effort as 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.880 our government and tracking the Duro's movements in putting the 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:39.960 forces in place to affect this arrest, that there's under 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:44.280 no circumstances you want to risk operational security, and what 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:48.480 incredible operational security we had what's going on for more 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:49.360 than four days. 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:54.760 The other thing that's incredible is the level of unfamiliarity 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:59.040 with special operations by our national news anchors yesterday, and 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:03.120 Secretary Rubio spank them all. But my question to you is, 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:05.600 when President Trump was asked on Air Force one, what 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:08.400 happens next, he said, it depends, which I think is 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.840 exactly the right answer. What will you be looking for 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.840 from the Venezuelan regime which is still in place, including 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.960 their interior secretary minister is not like Doug Bergham, that's 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.560 the secret police down there, head of their military, and 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:22.840 their new acting president. What do you think they ought 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:23.760 to be doing right now? 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:27.920 It depends heavily on their actions. As Secretary of Rubio 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.680 said just before me on facination yesterday, we're not going 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:34.680 to listen to what they say in speeches or press releases. 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:38.040 We're gonna or what they say to us privately. We're 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:42.720 going to monitor actions. And until just two days ago, 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:47.800 those folks that you just mentioned, the Vice President, Interior minister, 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.880 the Defense Minister, were I to the hip in league 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.760 with Nicholas Maduro. They've been sanctioned, some of them have 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:58.040 been indicted like him. It's always possible to turn turn 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:00.880 over a new leaf. We've seen it in Syria with 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:04.560 Akhmad al shara, a former altia Isis leader. We saw 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.080 it in Libya with Kadafi after he came in from 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:10.840 the cold when we scared him straight after the Iraq invasion. 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:18.600 But those cases involved concrete, clear concessions to US interests 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.600 or a longer track record of moving in the right direction. 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:24.520 We don't have either of that yet in Venezuela. So 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.240 the Venezuelans need to take certain actions, I would say, 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:30.479 to prove that it's going to be a new day 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:34.760 in Venezuela. They could release all political prisoners today, kick 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.640 out the worst of the worst, the Iranians, the Cubans 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:41.760 has Belah Loss and so forth. They could welcome back 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:46.840 the opposition and guarantee their safe passage into Venezuela. These 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:49.840 are all actions that could be taken immediately that don't 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:53.840 prejudice any future actions on the nature of Venezuelan's government, 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:56.200 who's going to lead it, when there might be elections, 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:58.600 so on and so forth. Those are things that they 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.000 can do to prove that they got the message that 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.000 it needs to be a new day in Venezuela. And 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:07.879 as President Trump said, if they don't, well, he reserves 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:12.600 the right to do something to Rodriguez and anyone else, 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:14.240 just like we did the Maduro. It may be worse. 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:19.119 Now, last question, Senator Cotton, the President has threatened the 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.960 Iranian regime if they murdered dissidents in the streets. What 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:25.040 ought they to be thinking right now? If they're the 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.320 molves or the IRGC or the head of the army. 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:30.399 We got one minute, well, I mean, Hugh between the 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:34.000 President's threat, which I welcomed very much, to stand up 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.360 to the Iranian regime if they massacre their citizens protesting 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:39.680 unlock what Barack Obama did in two thousand and nine. 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:44.040 You can add they're great concern when they saw the 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:48.359 American military swimp into Venezuela and now Venezuela's legitimate dictators. 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:52.640 I imagine they're a little antsy in Tehran today and 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:56.560 I would urge them. As Secretary Ruber said, to take 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.840 Donald Trump seriously. Don't believe he's bluffing, don't believe that 0:18:59.880 --> 0:19:03.320 you can play play him in this, and don't massacre 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:07.000 your own citizens soon effect the changes they're demanding. 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:10.159 Center. Tom Cotton, Chairman of the Intel Committee, thank you 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:12.000 for joining me on a busy day for you, and 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:14.520 I appreciate the time. Happy New Year to everyone. If 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:16.040 you get those calls in the middle of the night, 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.399 try and answer them and let your wife sleeton. Thank you, Senator. 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:22.080 I'll be right back in America. Pache even grace in America. 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:26.160 I'm due huit. Joined by Ambassador Robert C. O'Brien, formerly 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:29.280 National Security Advisor to President Trump in term one of 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.760 Donald Trump's first term as president, is now the Chairman 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.760 of American Global Security and I'm so glad to add 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:40.000 Mona after this incredible weekend. Ambassador O'Brien, welcome. Let me 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:43.560 begin with getting your reaction to Operation Absolute Resolve. 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.199 Well, Hugh, was good to see you in Happy New 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:50.879 Year to you as well, my friend. There was an 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:56.640 exquisite operation performed brilliantly by first of all our choir professionals, 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:59.639 the CIA guys who were prep for the battlefield. And 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:03.040 we're down in the in the jungles and the urban 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:07.200 areas of Venezuela for months prepping this thing. In the 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:12.200 Intel right laying the ground where for you know, traders 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:17.200 and treasoners and treesons u Venezuelans and and patriotic Venezuelans 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:19.800 who wanted to see that the regime change to cooperate 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:23.159 with our guys. And then Delta Force assisted by the 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:27.480 hundred and Safety Airborne or Air Air Assault Regiment and 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:31.760 Aviation Regiment, the n Ice Soccer's getting down there and 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:34.800 into Venezuela in the middle of the night, and and 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:38.040 Holly Maduro out of his fortress and brand of justice 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:42.200 in America. Just one hundred percent exquisite operation from start 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:43.320 to finish. 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:45.080 Do you believe it is legal to have done this? 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:51.560 We got, we got There was a warrant out for 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:54.879 his arrest, It was indicted for drugs. This is not 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:57.479 There was a lot of political reasons to do it, 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:02.280 but this was a strict enforcement effort backed by the 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:05.119 Biden administration when they were in office, and it was 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:08.800 one hundred percent legal. He's now facing justice, and look, 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:11.080 he's pretty lucky to be in a New York court 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:14.600 when New York courts haven't been very generous to Donald 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:17.800 Trump over the past few years. So well, you know, 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:22.239 he's got a fair and impartial Clinton appointed judge, and 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:26.320 we'll see how the case goes. But it looks pretty 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:27.080 rock solid to me. 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.639 Asked on Air Force One yesterday, what happened is next, 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:35.200 President Trump answered that depends I think that made a 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:36.800 lot of sense to me. But what do you think 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:39.639 it depends upon? Most ambachelor O'Brien. 0:21:40.840 --> 0:21:43.480 Well, it depends on how Delasi Rodriguez in the Tough 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:47.760 East as the decided to play this. Look, they're a 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:51.399 political party in Venezuela. They have some support, maybe twenty 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:56.040 thirty percent of the votes in Venezuela. They continue to 0:21:56.080 --> 0:21:58.800 participate in the process, have free and fair elections and 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:01.800 maybe have a role in a future sure, or they 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:06.240 can be debathified like they would like the Saddam Hussein 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:11.760 loyal in Iraq. And I think what President Trump and 0:22:11.800 --> 0:22:14.080 Marco Rubio and John Radcliffe are looking at is in 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:17.640 Pete hayesith is what happened in Iraq, and we disbanded 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:21.800 the Iraqi Army and disbanded the government and then that 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:25.720 was chaos and isis arose and I think they're looking 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:30.440 for a reasonable transition. There's a very well forward opposition 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:35.639 in Venezuela led by Edmunde good Gonzalez, who was elected 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:39.440 president with like two thirds of vote and just last 0:22:39.520 --> 0:22:42.200 year he's in Spain. He'll be coming back. You've got 0:22:43.320 --> 0:22:47.760 Ridam Machado, the Nobel Prize winner. You've got Juan Guido, 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:50.159 who is the acting president and the foreign president of 0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:53.480 National Assembly. He's an excellent he'll be coming back to Venezuela. 0:22:53.480 --> 0:22:56.600 So that is a very strong opposition. I'm sure they're 0:22:56.640 --> 0:22:59.920 learning into the negotiations with Elsi Rodriguez, the current vice president, 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:03.359 and we'll have a transition government and then get onto 0:23:03.440 --> 0:23:05.080